Riven (Cyan, 2024)

Riven (2024) – Miscellaneous Contributions
PC, VR, Meta Quest 2/3

This post highlights a variety of my contributions to the Riven remake that don’t fall neatly under the more focused island-specific work shown in my other ArtStation entries. For a closer look at major areas I contributed to, please check those out as well.

I joined the Riven team shortly after wrapping up work on the Myst (2020/2021) remake. By that time, some high-level design decisions had already been made regarding which areas would diverge from the original. It was still early in development, and alongside another artist, I began massing out environments across the entire game. While we had access to assets and layout guidance from the fan-made Starry Expanse project, we ultimately used very little of it—primarily due to differences in design direction and to better align with Cyan’s internal tools and pipeline.

The game opens in D’ni—the direct continuation from Myst’s ending. While this level was originally built by another artist for the Myst project, I was responsible for porting it into Riven and re-integrating it with our updated material pipeline. I aimed to respect the original artist’s vision while enhancing it with our newer tools to achieve a richer visual result. Design requested specific lighting changes to focus attention on the desk area and minimize distractions elsewhere in the room. This gave us the opportunity to elevate the desk props to a more “hero” level of quality. I created several of these props, including the desk lamp and the new linking book lock box.

The newly explorable Starry Expanse was one of my larger contributions. I was involved in getting this area up and running, starting from a collaborative blockout between Tech Art, Design, and our Art Lead. Once the initial layout was established, I took ownership of the area and carried it to completion. While the primary walkway kit was pre-identified, I was able to kitbash new pieces as needed to solve layout and traversal challenges. The walkway materials went through several iterations—originally a bright brass—but shifted over time based on design input. Some elements of the early versions are still subtly visible in the final asset.

A major system I helped develop was the pneumatic tube network, which connects critical structures like the PMD and the large golden dome on Temple Island. This network spans across every island and was a significant design and technical challenge. I worked closely with Tech Art to build a spline-based system that could dynamically adapt to Riven’s varied terrain—whether rocky cliffs or open water. We also built an automated support system that intelligently places structural beams with adjustable lengths and concrete footers to meet the environment.

I also contributed to the Maglev Rail system, which connects key locations throughout the islands. Using the original game as reference, I rebuilt the rails using our modern powermaterial workflow, allowing for subtle variation between instances so the rails felt grounded and hand-placed rather than procedurally repeated.