In Search Of Virtual Growth Myst Game Creators Scramble To Extend Their Initial Success

The imaginations of Rand and Robyn Miller created a virtual world that has spawned success they find … well … virtually unimaginable.

The success of Myst, a cerebral CD-ROM computer game that has defined the standard of creativity and quality in that emerging medium, has presented the Millers and their Spokane company, Cyan Inc., with almost limitless opportunity.

“We’ve got doors and resources opened to us that we never dreamed off,” says Rand Miller, the company’s president. “This is all pretty hard to believe for a group of people who set up a little company in a garage.”

The irony of it all is that as sales of their virtual world continue to mount, they find the real world getting realer all the time.

“We’re kind of at the stage,” says Miller, “when we have to make the move from an entrepreneurial company to a professional company.”

When the Millers and their fledgling company were creating Myst, they didn’t really have to sweat the real world all that much.

The creative process was the reward.

The price of failure was cheap.

Back in those building-Myst days, if reality beckoned, Chris Brandkamp was designated to answer.

Mostly, Brandkamp was the sound engineer, but he doubled as Cyan’s chief financial officer. He was the one the creditors came looking for.

But even Brandkamp could escape - into Cyan’s sound chamber.

Which was a cardboard box.

One that a refrigerator came in.

“But now,” says Rand Miller, “Chris gets a ‘sound studio.”’

He resonates those last two words with a tone of mock grandeur.

But that transition from refrigerator box to sound studio is Cyan Inc.’s problem, and opportunity, in a nutshell.

It’s one thing to sit down in your garage and jury-rig a company that manages to produce the best-selling CD-ROM computer game in the industry’s history.

But then you have to do it again.

And the next time, you have the best equipment and technology money can buy. You have deals and distractions lurking at every turn. You have employees who expect your success to put dinner on the table.

Brandkamp is still in charge of paying the bills, only now, the bills are a whole bunch bigger.

So the Myst sequel has to be that much bigger, better, and more cutting edge or, as Miller says, “You can’t prove that the first one wasn’t just a fluke.”

Miller weighs the “then and now” of it all, and observes carefully, “You don’t ever get something for nothing. We worry so much now that we do stuff right.

“When we were doing the game, the first one, we didn’t have the worry. But maybe we didn’t have as much satisfaction either.”

Brandkamp rolls his eyes at that.

He worried plenty back then. He worries more now.

“We’re dealing with a company of 11 people,” he says. “And I’m feeling - I don’t want to say pressure - but a lot more responsibility to make sure that this boat floats for a long time.”

Success changes mind set

It’s time for Cyan to grow up.

But how do you do that in a creative medium that puts a premium on a childish sense of wonder? How do you mature the company, and not risk outgrowing the very qualities that produced its success? Once, it was enough for the Millers and Cyan’s handful of employees to marvel at the way they made Myst sound and look and move. It was enough to applaud themselves for building “a cool game.”

But they are leaving the north Spokane garage where it all happened. They are constructing a 10,000 square-foot headquarters that costs almost as much as it took to produce Myst. When Cyan moves into the building later this year, the staff will double to 20 employees.

Disney has paid $1 million to purchase the rights to three Myst novels. A movie will follow the first novel. Myst topped 1 million copies in sales in March. At $50 a copy, the math makes the potential pretty clear.

“And now we’ve got to make sure we maximize the potential,” Miller explains earnestly. “We can’t abuse it. We can’t waste it.

“It’s a subtle change of mind set.”

And no matter how they might try, the process by which Myst was created cannot be duplicated in the production of its sequel, Myst II.

Brandkamp, in particular, feels the difference.

“I’m waiting for that point where I can really focus on the new game and see it evolve and get excited about it,” he says. “But I’m fearful that won’t happen, at least for me, simply because there’s so much else to deal with.”

The sole production focus of Cyan now is Myst II.

The world is waiting - waiting to spend a lot of money.

With the resources now at their command, the Millers and Cyan can accomplish in minutes what it took days to produce in the original game.

But the Myst II project moves at a painfully slow pace.

When people ask when it will be ready, “The general answer we give is that in about a year, we’ll know what time frame we’re looking at,” says Bonnie McDowell, executive assistant to the Millers and Brandkamp.

That’s partly because of the Millers’ quality standards for the new game, and partly because of this concern over protecting that creative spark.

“The original four to six people who did Myst can’t do all of the things we have to do now,” Rand Miller says.

“So not only do we have to manage our financial resources, we’ve got to manage the people resources to make sure we aren’t compromising as we grow. And, in fact, know where to draw the line if we do start compromising.”

A daunting puzzle, yes, but then the Millers are good at puzzles.

Myst is a puzzle.

The information storage capacity of the CD-ROM platform creates Myst’s illustrations, animation and sound effects that are lavish in comparison with the 8-bit and 16-bit computer cartridge games upon which Nintendo and Sega have made millions.

The CD-ROM and cartridge platforms have spawned two different game-playing societies. The cartridge games emphasize action and the physical skills of manipulating the computer. The CD-ROM games are more cerebral, emphasizing problem-solving and intellectual skills.

The Myst mystery, which takes about 40 hours to unravel, is solved by recognizing and interpreting clues that emerge along the way. Like many CD-ROM games, it is interactive. Different paths entail different problems, and create a different experience for each player.

But along with its “story,” Myst set itself apart by taking illustration, sound effects and animation to eerie new levels of quality and realism.

Myst was Cyan’s breakthrough product, but it was preceded by a series of games that weren’t big hits. The quality of those games, though, attracted attention in the industry. Among those taking notice was Sunsoft, a Japanese company.

The Millers convinced Sunsoft to back Myst to the tune of $330,000. The game eventually cost $650,000 to produce, still a bargain by CD-ROM standards.

Unhappy with the publisher that brought out their previous games, the Millers approached Broderbund Software with Myst. Broderbund’s initial response was that they were not particularly interested in computer game products. But the Millers convinced them to at least take a look at Myst.

And when they saw it, Miller says, they said, “Oh, wait. We do want this.”

Quality will always rule at Cyan

While they may be searching for all the things that Cyan will be and how it will get there, the Millers and the other key players at Cyan know what it will not be.

“We’re not a quantity company,” says Miller. “We’re never going to churn out titles. Coming out with a title is going to be a long process, and result is going to be good.”

“Good” means continuing to raise the level of technological quality. Myst set the standards for the industry. Myst II, currently in the works, must raise those standards if the Millers are to be satisfied.

In the interactive software entertainment industry, the Millers want Cyan to be what Disney is to animation.

“There are standout companies that deliver movies and television shows,” Miller says. “There are certain people who do it right, and are recognized for it. As small as we are, that’s what we want to be. We want to be recognized as the people who are consistently able to do the interactive stuff right.”

But in pursuing that goal, Miller is equally adamant that they will not risk loss of control.

The first of three Myst novels to which Disney has publication rights is being strictly supervised by the Millers. They came up with the story and hired the writer.

But for the time being, they’ve put off the movie that will be based on that novel.

When word of a Myst movie got around, production companies lined up to acquire the project.

“The book wasn’t even finished,” Miller recalls. “Nobody even knew what the story was, but all these people were chomping at the bit, throwing around numbers … Talk about a good way to lose control.”

Some of the companies were willing to allow the Millers to direct the movie if that would land the deal.

“That was real intoxicating,” Rand Miller says. “Ahhhh, ooooh, direct our own movie. But then we took a step back and realized that was ridiculous. We don’t direct movies. We have more important things to do.”

As president of Cyan, Rand focuses on contracts and business development while still keeping his hand in the creative process. Robyn is chief executive officer, focusing primarily on creative development. Brandkamp remains the chief financial officer.

While many companies hire a president or chief executive officer once their company reaches a certain level of business complexity, the Millers and Brandkamp feel that a careful, common sense approach to growth applied by the three of them will do the job.

“If anybody screws up this company,” Miller explains, “we want it to be us.”

By virtue of its original investment in Myst, Sunsoft has a small equity position in Cyan that, “we are going to buy back,” Miller says.

If cash is needed, the plan is to enter into agreements whereby other companies obtain rights to some of Cyan’s products rather than ownership interest in Cyan itself.

“People are dying for content at this point,” Miller says. “Content is king, and we do content. So there’s plenty of potential for us to raise capital without selling off pieces of our company.”

The resources will be there.

Nurturing that creative flame while managing those increased resources is going to be the trick.

“Look at Disney,” Miller says. “He managed a lot of people early on in his company, and got it to turn out right. But there’s other companies that can’t grow much bigger than a group of a dozen people.

“At some point, we may feel that we’ve lost it, somehow, that its not coming out right. And at that point, we’ll need to re-evaluate.

“But I don’t know what that point is.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Two Photos

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: The road to success 1987 - Rand and Robyn Miller collaborate on The Manhole, a children’s computer game, in their spare time. 1988 - The Manhole wins a Software Publishers Association award for best new use of a computer. 1989 - They follow The Manhole with another successful game, Cosmic Osmo. 1990 - The brothers decide to go into the computer game business on a full-time basis, then move to Spokane and form Cyan Inc. to develop Spelunx. 1991 - Spelunx is published, and in the fall, Japanese computer company Sunsoft provides the financial backing for the development of Myst. 1992 - Cyan signs contract with Broderbund Software to publish Myst. 1993 - Myst is released and becomes hottest seller in CD-ROM game history. 1994 - Walt Disney Co. pays $1 million for rights to three Myst-based novels. 1995 - Myst sales top 1 million copies in March.