Preface

In all versions of Myst, a completed 100% run involves retrieving the four red and blue pages scattered throughout the ages, including the ones next to the books, and then retrieve the white page and hand it over to Atrus to win the game. The 100% listed here is routed for realMyst, but will also work for Myst as well.

The realMyst: Masterpiece has diverged so much beyond standard 100% that it merits its own page as linked below.

realMyst: Masterpiece Editon 100%

Setup

Since so many of the unlocks are so close in proximity to each other, it ends up a lot faster to unlock most of the ages at the same time versus completely separating them individually. This route finishes 5 out of 7 marker switches and unlocks 3 out of 4 ages within 1:30.

From the start of the game-

• Planetarium/Star Imager/Dentist’s: Flip the marker switch. This is the only convenient time to do so, believe it or not.
• Generator: Flip the marker switch and head inside. The pattern that provides 59 volts with the least button presses is:

• Log Cabin: Flip the marker switch and head inside. Turn the gas wheel all the way, unlock the safe with 724, light the match, and light the boiler system to start up the tree.
• Clock Tower Control Box: Enter the time 2:40 and hit the button.

-As a minor nuance, in realMyst, the animations for the wheels can overlap, so a half second, at most, can be saved by hitting small-big-small-big and big for six, instead of hitting small-small-big-big and big for six.

• Clock Tower: Flip the marker switch and head inside. One of the many fastest ways to complete the puzzle is right and hold for one, left, right and hold for one.

-realMyst: Aim for the animation skip to skip at least a second.

After the setup, either Selenitic or Channelwood can be run first:

• Myst, there’s no difference, since the gear animation is inescapable.

• realMyst, Selenitic is more advantageous if the rarest animation skip isn’t achieved, since the tree will be at max height at the end of the gear animation.

With the rarest skip, however, the tree will not be at max height,so time will be saved from both the tree reaching max height and from coming all the way down.

Channelwood Age

Before entering Channelwood, turn around and pump the gas valve to the minimum tree rise volume (barely enough to have it rise)

The age begins.

On the way to the windmill, hit switch 2 to enable the submersible bridge. Continue all the way to the valve and click it open.

-realMyst: Wait for the audio cue of three “squeaks” before leaving the building - otherwise, you experience a glitch where the water will not flow and the valve will constantly “squeak” until you return to the building and finish those squeaks.

Head to the submersible bridge and pull the switch to bring up the bridge, leaving that animation as soon as possible.

Make your way to switch 4, flip it, then switch 6, flip it, and then head into the elevator to second floor.

Move over to the switch that unlocks the stairs and pull it, then move to the stairs and down, unlocking the door on lowest level.

Go to switch 1, flip it, and return back up the stairs to go up the elevator up to the third floor.

Since you’ll be collecting both pages, it doesn’t matter which you get first, but at least make sure to get one of them.

In Achenar’s room, the page is on the floor next to the recorder. In Sirrus’s room, it’s in the drawer by the window on the left side.

-realMyst: Once you enter either of the rooms, the door WILL close behind you, so you are forced to stay in the room until the door fully closes and then you fully open it again.

Head all the way back down to switch 1, flip it, then head to switch 6, flip it, and then head across the now-unsubmerged bridge to the crank, click the crank (best bet is center of of the handle), and run back to the book elevator and ascend to return to Myst.

• realMyst is unique in that you can control how you leave the ceiling screen lock from returning from any other age. By making small movements with the mouse to the left, you will face Sirrus’s book, while making small movements to the right will face Achenar’s book. Too big of movements will turn to the tower rotation map and fireplace, respectively, while no movement will face the bookshelf. Doing this on all eight returns from ages will save 15-30 seconds total, so a minor optimization, but still important.

Toss the page into the book and run back to the log cabin.

Turn off the boiler system. Since the tree is at max height, do the stoneship puzzle now. Run back to the model ship pool, hit the marke switch, hit the leaf, turn around, hit snake, hit beetle, and run back to the tree to wait/enter. By doing the stoneship puzzle during the wait, you save five to ten seconds.

Enter Channelwood, and head to switch 1 to hit. Continue all the way up to the third level and retrieve the other page, then go all the way down, hit switch 1 on the way back to the book elevator, and return to Myst, putting the other page in its book before continuing to the next Age.

Selenitic Age

Spaceship: Flip the marker switch and head inside.

• The audio puzzle is complete trash if you do it wrong, but there’s a couple ways to do it with confidence. Starting with the most secure is counting clicks from the bottom which, from left to right, is 7, 19, 22, 12, 5. This ensures you will get the solution, but is pretty slow. The next fastest is position/graphics, since the pattern looks like this:

However, doing it by sight alone can be difficult unless you have graphics cues from low graphics - enter realMyst on low graphic setting. Due to the grain of the pixels, the sliders can be set up according to these cues:

File:MystSpaceshipPatternCues.jpg TBF

The fastest, but riskiest, method is by ear alone. This requires a lot of play through to be pitch-perfect.

So, either by counting, visual, or audio cues, the pattern should be solved first time every time.

Achenar’s page is located near the oasis, while Sirrus’s page is located near the selenite crystals.

Move to the entrance to the underground passage and zoom to the panel. The pattern appears as below, and is much more discrete than the Spaceship audio puzzle, so position is sufficient:

Continue all the way down to the Mazerunner and enter it, beginning the puzzle by hitting “Forward”.

This is, by far, the longest and most autoscrolling part of the run. Little to no minimization can be made to cut into the 4 minutes of animation that occur between the 14 directions made - and the Mazerunner sequence happens twice. The sequence is the same for both sessions and for all three games, and there’s a couple ways to memorize it.

As a string, the directions are N, W, N, E, E, S, S, W, SW, W, NW, NE, N, SE and end.

As a diagram, this mnemonic graph can be used:

Recall that the graph is literal, not a map, so it implies directions, not turning, since the track curves away from the cardinal direction it was started.

-realMyst: Holding down on a button will give frame-perfect inputs for maneuvering the Mazerunner, so hold down on the buttons, if possible.

After that, leave the Mazerunner and enter the Myst linking book. Toss the page into the book and return to the spaceship to retrieve the second page and do the Mazerunner over again, handing in the page when done.

Mechanical Age

Sunken Gear: Flip the marker switch and enter the mechanical age through the book.

Once inside the age, move to the button panel and enter in 2851 to get this pattern:

Enter the island and grab either page - Sirrus to the left, and Achenar to the right. Both are acquired through the hidey-hole on the sides of their thrones.

Exit the age through the return book unlock by the combo, put in the page, then return back to the Sunken Gear to retrieve the second page and put it in its place.

Stoneship Age

Stoneship Bookroom: Travel to the Stoneship Age.

Once inside, head to the right and hit the rightmost button to pump the lighthouse dry. Turn around and head all the way down the basement of the lighthouse, draining the chest and then reclosing it.

Return to the pump and hit the middle pump for dual-purpose. Return to the lighthouse, unlock the locked chest to get a key, and unlock the padlock up to the generator.

• Myst has issues with cranking the generator for enough power, with about three full revs giving enough to finish the age for first go through.

• realMyst, realMyst: Masterpiece both need only about one rev to go through the entire age.

Go over to Achenar’s tunnel and head all the way down to retrieve the page off the bed. This is the only age where routing is faster for getting a page first, in this case, Achenar’s. Return halfway up the tunnel until you reach the secret tunnel. Head through, enter the heading of 135 degrees (second red arrow from North) and continue to Sirrus’s side and up all the way. Put the pump on the rightmost setting and continue to Atrus’s study. Click the table to watch weird physics and exit the age.

Toss the page into Achenar’s book and return to the ship to get to Stoneship Age.

Go to the pump and hit the middle button and continue down Sirrus’s tunnel to his room. His page is in the bottom drawer in the drawer on the left. Continue back to the pump, hit the right button, and go back to Atrus’s study to go back to Myst. Toss the page into Sirrus’s book..

The End…?

This is the final stretch that basically follows the Any%, since all of the pages have been grabbed and the final route of 100% is to win like Any%. Move to the spawn marker switch and flip it twice. Grab the white page and return to the library, heading into the fireplace and entering pattern 158. Enter the green book. The ending, much like Any%, is recorded as so:

-Myst- When you hand the page over the Atrus, flip sight to the left side and flip back. He will be gone and that’s time, since you no longer have player control to speed up the cutscene.

-realMyst- Hold click on Atrus to hand the page over frame-perfect. Time is when he’s holding the page.

-realMyst: Masterpiece- Spam click is the best you got. Sorry. Time is when he’s holding the page.

Atrus will proceed to praise you, kill his sons, ask a favor, and leave you stuck in Myst. Great. What a way to win.