That's not very helpful, then. I'd update my data on that image on my site, but not without some form of evidence that it's real. Again, it doesn't help that they used a generic backdrop for it that they used pretty much anywhere they needed a "cavern" look. As it stands, the reason why I thought it was the pub was because it's overall shape fits what the pub interior looks like. If nothing else, though, I may mention that as a "thought to be".

This is true of Uru but not of Myst 5. Myst 5 was a game made by Cyan from the account of Dr. Watson when he freed the Bahro, thus like the other games there is room for artistic licensing.

Actually if you want to see the "concept" art for that its online. Has been for some time before the Opera House was moved off Ae'gura do to sizing down the Island.

All of the ages were substantially changed for Myst V, even Descent went through major revisions. For instance Descent was much more accurate to the books prior to Myst V than any other place. The area was heavily updated for Myst V because it looked better with higher resolution graphics, and to make it a more explorable starting area.

That small structure doesn't look very much like the building in the opening animation, except that it's round and has a projection on top. I can't really believe that was ever intended to be an opera house. Not unless the performance consisted of two singers and maybe ten audience members. While I'm willing to grant you that there is a chance you're right about the other building being an opera house even without any evidence, this isn't a picture of it.

That picture is one of a set of concept art pieces for the guild hall. The tower you see behind that small outbuilding is the guild hall, which is a free standing building with at least one level below the courtyard around it. That in turn is set atop the tomb of the Great King. The outbuilding is more likely to be a part of the guild hall complex.

The guild hall in that picture never made it into Uru, of course. It was originally going to be on a chopped off stalagmite island somewhere near Tokotah alley and near the waterline, judging by these pictures.





The small building your picture shows was on the street leading to the guild hall, separated from it by a stalagmite ridge. There was a short tunnel through the ridge, and a bridge to the island on the other side.

All of the ages were substantially changed for Myst V, even Descent went through major revisions. For instance Descent was much more accurate to the books prior to Myst V than any other place. The area was heavily updated for Myst V because it looked better with higher resolution graphics, and to make it a more explorable starting area.

I can tell you for a fact that originally that structure was going to be the opera hall. But here is a clearer view of the lake along side the image Chloe linked to.

Incidentally, Venalem was not a part of EoA, Venalem was still in concept art stage (aside from a few models of the machinery that Thom modeled in Max).

I had forgotten how much magnetic north moved (especially over nine and a half thousand years).

For anyone that wants them (according to Wolfram|Alpha; I have no idea how accurate it is), the approximate magnetic declinations for Eddy County:
Leefo 1 0 DE: 61.94°E

The cavern is supposed to be 6 miles by 10 miles.

No the true north on the map marked "the D'ni Cavern" would be going straight north from where Ae'gura is located (in the north direction as that map notates) through the City Proper. If you look at the original map Eleri posted it does have a N in the top right corner denoting the north direction, however they rotated the map to fit in the books pages. In my image I have rotated it 90 degrees CCW which would be the correct placement.

As for that view of the cavern you are talking about, (I'm sure I mentioned this in an earlier post) but that view is from DIRT, when the players arrived into the Cavern via the south entrance that was the view they saw. Now in terms of Cavern layout that view is incorrect (you'd be seeing the back/south side of Ae'gura and Katha Island if you really came in to the Cavern that way) but I can appreciate why Cyan used that view, it's a grand majestic "welcome to D'ni" view which is a nice payoff for making your way down the tunnels.

Given the cavern layout here is where you'd have to roughly be in order to get that view (note I used Eleri's map which has the placement of K'veer in the wrong place), unfortunately KI coordinates are not really too reliable for location placement, they are often hit or miss.

Larry, why do you assume that the library on Ae'gura is the "Great Library" that Me'erta based his GZ line on?

D'ni was not oriented to true north, it was oriented to magnetic north. Magnetic north and true north only match by coincidence; the difference not only varies by where you are when you measure it, but also by the date.

When drawing or reading a D'ni map, there is a very big difference between D'ni "north" and true north. True north has a very specific meaning; it's the direction to the north pole of planetary rotation, as opposed to magnetic north. Magnetic north is where the planet's northern pole of magnetism is at any given time, and it constantly moves, a phenomenon called polar drift. The D'ni never knew what direction true north was, because they didn't have any contact with the surface. There was no way for them to calculate it. D'ni north is a hair under 62° east of true north, since that was the direction of magnetic north when D'ni was founded.

That's a problem that real world map reading has to deal with too, because the difference between the two directions, called declination, changes and has to be accounted for when matching a map to a compass heading. The current rate of polar drift is around 55 to 60 kilometers yearly. I was trained in map reading when I was in the Army long before the days of GPS navigation, so I have experience with it and never forget that maps and compasses are not linked to each other at all.

I'll agree to disagree with you on that one. I believe that Ki coordinates are meant to be exactly as advertised, and have not yet seen a real reason to disbelieve it.

The point I'm trying to make about the view in the preprodution art is this: In the view you see, you're looking at the Great Arch with the central stalagmite behind it. Trace a line from the peak of that stalagmite through the arch, and the extended line passes to the east of the city. Even on the D'ni Cavern map you posted, that line at best traces to the eastern edge of the city. Your illustration shows it too; from the POV you marked, you'd be seeing the arch almost side on, and the stalagmite isn't in the shot at all.

Still, it's a minor quibble just for the sake of discussion. That backdrop is always placed in models where it's not intended to be seen clearly or at all. The only place where it is clearly visible is a brief panorama in the opening animation, and that's fogged over.

The KI navigation reading for the lower platform in the Er'cana Silo in Ashem'en is (direction) 1,912 torans, (distance) 1,562 shahfeetee, and (elevation) -164 shahfeetee. That’s a distance of four miles, or 6.3 kilometers, east by southeast from the Great Zero, and lower than the lake level around the island, which is about -94 shahfeetee;[...]