Metajoker

In the last couple decades, we've seen great changes in the way animation is presented and created, from hand-drawn 2D to today's computer-driven, 3-dimensional animation. As someone who has worked with both forms, what would you say are elements of 2-dimensional animation that can't be delivered in the same way in computer animation, and vise versa?

Also, taking my little brother (10 years younger) to go see Wreck-It in a week or so! We both can't wait.

I had not so much a question, as a message I've wanted to give to you my whole life. Not sure I'll ever get another opportunity, so here goes.

When I was a young boy, my family relationship was often strained. I was too young to really understand why, but my dad had a job which caused him a lot of stress, and which made it difficult for us to bond at all; he was either not in the mood to do things with me, or he was simply too tired. My older sister was also going through a lot at the time, and she didn’t particularly want to play with an annoying little brother. I was a really lonely kid at that time.

I wasn’t more than 5 when my dad first picked up Myst in early ‘97. He wasn’t, and isn’t, a gamer of any kind, but like with many other adults at the time, Myst pulled him in in a way that no other game had before or since. I remember that he got me and my sister to sit next to him when he would play, since it was an activity that didn’t exhaust him after a long day of work. I have fond memories of sitting on his lap, pointing out clues and ideas for how to solve the puzzles (though I wasn’t particularly clever) and even drawing in a little pad book to solve the infamous maze puzzle (we couldn’t hear the little noises you put in, and I didn’t even realize they existed until about 2 years ago). Over many days and hours of my sister and me arguing over how to solve a puzzle, and my dad calmly helping us sort it out, we managed to beat the game and I was sorely disappointed. I wanted more of it, so that my dad and I could keep playing together.

As you can imagine, I was incredibly pleased when I learned that there WAS a sequel, Riven. My dad really enjoyed playing Myst with us and immediately bought its successor. I remember how shocked we all were at how beautiful it was, and how excited we were to beat it. The specifics of our time playing Riven are faded by now, but I do remember looking forward each day to playing it with my daddy. My dad had to buy a walkthrough for certain parts near the end, but always made sure that my sister and I had time to figure things out beforehand. I remember that the first time we played through, we screwed up and Atrus and the Stranger both died, and I was shocked; I’d never died in a video game before, having grown up with Nintendo, but I remember my dad simply going back and letting my sister and I figure out how to end it differently. In the end, we beat that game as well.

A few years past, and my sister and I still had issues getting along with one another. My dad was having an even more stressful time at work and this reflected in our home lives. I remember replaying Myst and Riven on my own and eventually picking up more games, though none of them gave me quite the same feeling. It was only in mid-2000, when I read a technology magazine for kids (the name escapes me) that featured TIntin, my favorite comic, that I found an article about the third Myst game, Exile. I remember being so excited that, in my eagerness, I ran to my dad and begged him to take me to Best Buy to get it. We couldn’t find it and, since I wasn’t an internet user back then, I had no way of knowing when it came out. Eventually, in late 2001, the game was released and once more my father, sister and I connected in a way that we have not quite been able to through any other means. Myst IV and onward, I played by myself since my father and sister had moved on, but I’ll never forget how your games made my childhood what it was.

Gosh, that was a long message; I guess what I really wanted to say, all in all, is thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for bringing my family together in a time where I felt so alone. Thank you for influencing my life today, as an aspiring programmer and musician, and for bringing memories to me that I will cherish forever, and which allowed me to see my father for the wonderful man he is in a time when the unseen life he led outside our house had made me forget. I don’t know if you’ll actually read this, but either way, getting the chance to say these things has brought it all back. I can’t wait to play Obduction and relive the happiness you gave me.

TL;DR: The Myst series brought my family together in a way that nothing else ever during the time I needed it most. Thank you.