Let's Play Riven (2024) - part 7 - Gehn's journal

We find out more about what Gehn's been up to during his imprisonment.
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[@henke37]

The classic "close the door after entering" puzzle. One of the most devious puzzles, yet something people would do naturally in real life.

[@WarthogDemon]

I like Gehn's office to the point where I want that as a room in my dream house. Also it took me three domes to realize there are no golden symbols on the domes. All this time I thought it was KZbin's video compression, but it makes sense they're not there since you learn the symbols a different way. So excited for the next island! Until the end of the second video I thought changes were going to be pretty subtle on the islands. Now I'm just trying to imagine what might be drastically different on this upcoming island.

[@BigGator5]

I love that you are putting D'ni Numbers in the thumbnails. 😎 Now I wonder how the D'ni Numbers would work in fractions and dividers, because base 25 isn't exactly an even number.

[@micahbush5397]

For that matter, how does multiplication work?

[@BigGator5]

I would love to see a mathematician tackle how the D'ni Numbers would practically work. Go with God and Be Safe from Evil. 😎 👍

[@Mirality]

You can do multiplication and fractions exactly the same way regardless of base; there's nothing special about base 10. The only question is whether they have a different notation for it.

[@sameaston9587]

I noticed that, too. It's a nice look :}

[@BigGator5]

Mirality ...I still can't wrap my head around D'ni fractions, as whole numbers are fundamentally different from fractions. Our "5.1" in base ten is dramatically different from "5.1" in base twenty-five. Go in Peace and Walk with God. 😎 👍

[@nickymay9887]

If you look at the butterflies in the drawer, one of them is the same shape as the Moiety symbol. This is where you get the connection.

[@Nero_Jero]

"...clearly a direct reflection of the minds that authored the texts I used to compose this Age..." Does Gehn just copy and paste other works to make his ages?

[@theoldhip]

According to several sources, Riven Started in 1807 (human) or 9463 (D'ni) - IF Ghen is dating from there, then 1807 + 79 (1st entry date) = 1886 in human (9463 in D'ni) (didn't take in for 'months' & 'days') - Note: Since D'ni exist in the Earth, D'ni years and human years are exactly the same length, also D'ni was established a bit less than 10,000 years ago.

[@YouFightLikeACow]

Thank you for the Myst 4 slider callback. Also, that whole contraption was very Spire.

[@PDTopGun]

I can't believe I missed that you could activate the "teapot." So cool!

[@jonnyfavors7585]

This remake walkthrough has been very entertaining so far. Great job!

[@danielash1704]

Gehn was trying to reproduce the books he could not have. So the age suffers from the starting point the.whole assembly line of this world is destructively so much more than he realizes

[@PerryWhyte]

6:30 Watch out Graham there's a POI-sonous frog!

[@theoldhip]

Thank-you - I read it, but having it read to me, again - Really helped. 🙂

[@NoirAngel921]

So are we starting off videos with "I keep wood in my drawers" now?

[@ShadowzGSD]

i have always thought Gehn's journals proved that writing an age probably is creating an entire new world, at least writing changes actually alters the existing world and not create a link to a different dimension. how else would Gehn be able to notice alterations that are happening as Atrus makes changes to try to stabilise Riven.

[@micahbush5397]

If writing created worlds, then an Age would contain _only_ what is described in its Descriptive Book; we know that this isn't the case and that the people on inhabited Ages have memories of events before the Age was written, indicating that the Descriptive Book merely describes a pre-existing reality. In _Myst: The Book of Atrus,_ it was mentioned that the gateway image of the Descriptive Book was blurry until the first link to a new Age was made. This likely indicates that the Book only "locks" onto a particular Age when the initial link is made, and that before this, it is switching between worlds as the writing is added. Once the Descriptive Book locks onto an Age, it is possible to make changes, but these must be carefully thought out, or the whole world could become unstable. I suspect that this is because the Art, while not creating Ages, does have the power to influence events and processes within an Age, and changes that are not carefully controlled can have unintended consequences. For example, when Gehn wanted to alter Age 37 to get rid of the mists that were generated by the warm sea colliding with the cold ocean, he did so by triggering changes that increased the geothermal heating of the surrounding ocean; the unintended side effect of this change was increased volcanic activity that led to the whole shelf of rock on which the island rested being uplifted by hundreds of feet. When Gehn tried to correct this by simply deleting the changes from the Book, it simply shifted to a parallel universe, since changes in the physical world must have viable physical mechanisms and can't simply be "undone." Presumably, making changes to an Age that were not physically possible would have the same effect. Such unexpected consequences are why the D'ni virtually never allowed Ages to be altered. The whole issue does raise the question, though, of whether Riven was always unstable, or whether it was Gehn's doing. I believe it's the latter, because Catherine claimed that the Age began deteriorating only after Gehn's arrival, and an inherently unstable Age could not have produced Riven's ecosystem and civilization. Instead, when Gehn linked to Riven, the patchwork description that he made set off numerous changes that pushed the previously stable world out of balance, causing it to deteriorate.

[@ShadowzGSD]

@@micahbush5397 man you go on, i am not reading a thousand word lecture, if you could keep it to a couple of lines then i might read your reply.

[@danielash1704]

Tomulock the native barrister of the garden is a literal expression of history you've never heard before hearing the story of the universe itself as a tiny speck of a greater understanding of the whole universe forever reaching from end to end looping infinity so large it can't be seen as suchlike a thing ❤

[@Versurer]

I really like that they have actually handwritten all the journal entries instead of using a stylized font like everyone normally does. Seeing the slight variations in the letters, the scratched out parts, and the stains on paper that can still be seen even when you flip to the next page are lovely little details that add to the immersion. Also, Sven, just wanted to say a big heartfelt thank you for all your Let’s Plays! I played Myst and Riven back when I was a kid, but thanks to you, I now have an even deeper appreciation and respect for these games.

[@theoldhip]

Yes - The Ytram is a frog. The one you release in Ghen's lab is an Ytram frog.

[@JaneXemylixa]

The complexity addiction runs in their veins

[@Quickshot0]

Thinking about it, the page with those 'tetris' pieces on it can actually be assembled in to a regular form. Specifically one could slot the two bottom pieces together, and the 3 on top could be slotted together as well so that both form regular rectangles. And then if you stacked those on top of each other you'd get a 5x5 grid of blocks, which certainly would fit with the belief that the number 5 was important that Ghen seemed to have. No idea if it actually matters, but it's certainly a consistent theme they seem to pursue. And those under water tunnels are then opened up by heat or some such I guess. Would the fire marbles also give a relevant effect to the local water then? Or would it need to be heating elements? Well whatever the exact case, I guess that explains why the underwater tunnel had those rings with glowing elements along the way then. Guess if those went out the tunnel would fill in with water again. Which would then logically imply that the water filling in that hole at the village was probably because a heating element was turned off then. Pretty mysterious water/life, but I guess how it was manipulated is a bit more clear now then. Also I wonder if that paper with adjustment factors meanwhile is in some way relevant to the exact setting on those marble devices inside the domes. Or if that's some kind of prior calibration one has to do... Guess that will become clear as one pokes them.

[@ManafKAMIL]

This is a really great play-through. Thank 6ou so much. Do you plan to upload playing Riven in VR? Please say yes!

[@danielash1704]

By the time I get to playing the game I'll have a good idea of what I can expect 😅😅😅

[@micahbush5397]

Based on _Myst: The Book of Atrus,_ the water isn't entirely safe to drink, so the Rivenese have developed a powder to counteract its effects on the digestive system. They also have special cookware with locking catchment lids and valves that only open when the vessels are tilted a certain way to keep the water contained while it is heated.

[@JaneXemylixa]

There's a question then... if these guys evolved in this environment, why do they need a special powder? And why do these germs seem to inhabit salty and fresh water alike? (Are Riven seas even salty?)

[@micahbush5397]

@@JaneXemylixa Good questions. Assuming Riven's seas are salty, then there could easily be two strains of the microbe. As for why the people haven't adapted to deal with the microbes, maybe Gehn's "creative" writing style caused some kind of mutation that made the previously harmless microbe cause stomach aches?

[@swirm621]

Oh! Amazing timing!

[@zangetsu2k8]

I had 9 as the base value in both of my playthroughs as well...

[@eduardovillacis1049]

Gehn just wants to make D'ni great again

[@danielash1704]

The water turns to ice and shapes a new bridge 😅😅😅

[@danielash1704]

The leaves are viabilities for 3books purposes of printing and keeping there strength for longevity and quality

[@JaneXemylixa]

Rifts: happen five times Gehn's confirmation bias: Bingo! Now nothing of interest will ever happen again, shut up I just know that! Time to peace out, wheee~ Rifts: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@IceFennec]

Me: (Don't tell him there's a sixth. He'll flip. Like that one time someone set the thermostat to a temperature that wasn't a multiple of 5.)

[@danielash1704]

Each location has a long term relationship with the original design to create a unique portaling but they only need to be closer to each other but not to close that they destroy each other 😅So each booklet is separated from their own character of vibrations

[@BelbozUnderhill]

So many changes, from the original game. As you said, Sven, a game that is Riven but also isn’t. Let’s call, then, RIVEN’T. 😅

[@SomeKindaSpy]

But honestly, still a great game!

[@BelbozUnderhill]

@@SomeKindaSpy Sure, sure. It's only a bit disconcerting. But the cave, for example, was great.

[@theoldhip]

Trivial - You read the 86-10-24 date as 86-2-24...

[@danielash1704]

Thusly the spheres in uru have been rideing the waves and directional settings for a reasonable amount of distance from earth's surface density is lighter than expected in other ages they have to be exactly the same ingredients as both density is more important to consider the heating element of the water is showing the intelligence of the water's surface that have been rideing the waves as well as checking the frequencies they're making a similar pattern of the books only in a different environment oriented

[@danielash1704]

I wonder if a book was hidden in the furnace latter on to hide a rebel age?😅

[@NikaNakaidze]

Yes really sven this game has gorgeous graphics

[@JaneXemylixa]

Don't you think the fire marbles in this game are A LOT like the algae food pellets in Uru?

[@danielash1704]

Adding living water to fire marbles is a literal storage unit of thought there's an age Gehn couldn't have imagined the tallow flow of harmony's vibrations and the women who had a very important component of the ages of the spheres in uru butterfly were everywhere there was spherical balls in the lakes that were in the billions and everything glowed brighter than they should be getting into the diver train the railway line was just one rail line that split along the paths Rivens submerged trolley was tiny compared with this one it can hull a ton of water in it's bed the next conflict begins

[@blanketfox]

I think the strike force is always 9, I got that several times doing multiple playthroughs.

[@TheLazarop]

I just got 11

[@blanketfox]

@@TheLazarop 😮

[@caittscott]

The 4th drawer down at 2:11 Looks like varieties of Sand Dollars (not sure what they're called in other countries), and they all have 5 segments. the drawer is also divided into 25 compartments (5x5). Typing it out makes me mildly annoyed that it was the FOURTH drawer down. Cyan, do better. 😋

[@NikaNakaidze]

Love when u read sven

[@danielash1704]

Liveing water feeds the ages of the people who have been useing it the crylas of books in the mindset looking at one up close to an electron microscope shows a tallow flow of Energy projecting the thing about it all is the attraction of every single entanglement in them .purely hyperbolic theory the fire marbles are a variety of different types the ones that white did everything that the other ones but even more importantly each one is a different separate form of spherical light bubbles within bubbles like a lazor beam the environment is the most important thing harmony's in vibrations increases and brightness is like a detectors that can easily be used

[@NikaNakaidze]

Fire marbles r so cool

[@NikaNakaidze]

Opps bridges no more

[@NikaNakaidze]

Goodnight sven

[@NikaNakaidze]

Hi sven