D'mala Untìl Uru Shard FAQ
What is Uru?
Uru: Ages Beyond Myst (sometimes called "Uru Prime") was a Myst themed computer game released by Cyan Worlds and Ubisoft in the Fall of 2003. It was meant to be the first adventure-game based multiplayer online game, but the Uru Live 'Prologue' was shut down in early 2004 by lack of funding.Where Uru fits into the Myst storyline is often confusing. Although Uru features a member of Myst protagonist Atrus' family, the Uru story was meant to take place in real time, while the Myst games were fictional creations by Cyan, based on actual data collected by the DRC in Uru. In other words, the Myst games were 'pretend', while Uru is 'real'. In many places (especially on the DRC forum) you will find events in Uru being discussed "In Cavern", the Uru version of In Character.
What is the DRC?
The D'ni Restoration Council was the organization who, in Uru, discovered the location of the ancient D'ni civilization, and was working to rebuild D'ni, seemingly at cross-purposes with Yeesha, Atrus' daughter. When Uru Live ended, the DRC abandoned the restoration effort and left the cavern. When Untìl Uru began an "in cavern" message was given to the explorers, letting them know the DRC was still absent. Recently, members of the DRC resurfaced on their forum, lending hope to explorers that they would be returning to their efforts.
What is Untìl Uru?
From Wikipedia's Uru entry:
In August 2004, Cyan, in cooperation with fan-based communities opened up Untìl Uru, where privately-owned, fan-run servers could be used to meet as if they were in Uru Live. Cyan stressed, however, that this was not Uru Live: there was to be no new content, bug fixes, or updates of any kind. In fact, Cyan has revealed that "untìl" was actually intended to be two separate Sumerian words: "un," meaning people or community, and "tìl"(with an accented i), meaning to live or keep alive. Thus, "Untìl Uru" means roughly "the community keeps Uru alive."
Untìl Uru provided the same content and errors as the public beta test (known as the Prologue), with two exceptions. First, server administrators have additional access (for example, cones and barriers in the style the DRC had put them up can be positioned inside the caverns). Second, voice chat, which was unavailable in the Prologue for technical reasons, has been re-activated. Other than that, the same content is available: Prime, the Ahyoheek and Gahreesen Wall mini-games, and the ability to access large parts of the city together.
What is D'mala?
D'mala, which means "return" (lit. "come again") in the D'ni language, is the recently opened Cyan Worlds run UU shard. It was announced in a letter to the community from Rand Miller on Feb 14th, 2006, a few days after the community had gathered in memorial of Uru Live's shut down.
How is D'mala the same as other UU shards?
D'mala has the same content, bugs and issues as other existing UU shards. It is, essentially, a place to gather for socialization.
How is D'mala different from other UU shards?
Based on the newly edited UU FAQ from Cyan, and from Rand's letter, we know that Cyan employees and 'surveyors' will be coming into the cavern to ask explorers questions, to get input on what works and what doesn't. Because of Cyan's involvement, bugs and other issues that plagued the end of Live and the UU shards have the potential to be fixed.
Is there new content?
No. However, several things point to being "cautiously optimistic" about the appearance of new content. First, the increased 'in cavern' activity of DRC members leads to the potential for new story. The UU FAQ states that Cyan hopes to release age-creation tools in the future, allowing for fan-made content, and of course, Cyan's direct involvement gives hope that things will progress further.
What do I need to join?
You will need a copy of Uru: Ages Beyond Myst or Uru: Complete Chronicles, the Untìl Uru patch, and an invite. Please see the UU Getting Started page for complete setup directions.
How to I get an invite?
You can get an FREE invite by asking an existing player (most are more than happy to invite people, and breathe new life into Uru), emailing ambassadors@mystembassy.net or by emailing Cyan directly at uuinvitations@cyan.com
How to I use an invite?
Gadren has made a simple tutorial on using an invitiation:
How to I send an invite?
If you are already visiting D'mala, you can send invitiations to others, so they can join us underground:
INVITING OTHERS TUTORIAL
Can I visit other shards?
It depends. The Cyan invite only allows you into Cyan's D'mala. The other shards were opened by purchacing a $6 Kagi Key. Those keys are no longer available, so if you are a new explorer to UU, D'mala will be the only shard available to you. If you previously visited UU with a Kagi Key, the other shards will still be open to you. None of the existing shards have plans to shut down, at this time. How long will this last?
No one knows. As Rand says: "...although we hope that this is the beginning of grand new things, there is of course the chance that this is just a brief reprieve".
Can we use the User KI, and other mods?
No. D'mala is a 'hack-free' shard. You can uninstall the User KI (if you have it) by moving the userki.pak file to another directory before going to D'mala, and then later on put it back for the other shards (If you have access to them through a Kagi Key). Or, D'lanor has created a useful tutorial for creating both User KI enabled and disabled desktop shortcuts:
DESKTOP SHORTCUTS TUTORIAL
How do I use D'mala, and still keep my single-player game?
Because installing the UU patch in essence 'breaks' the single player install, many people have chosen to make a dual install of Uru, one for playing single player, and one for playing UU. Gadren has developed a simple tutorial on installing more than one copy of Uru:
MULTIPLE INSTALL TUTORIAL
Where can I find out more?
Please explore the Cyan Untìl Uru FAQ; the official Untìl Uru forum; the D'ni Restoration Council forum; Uru Obsession or the Myst Embassy Nexus
Where can I buy Uru?
Uru: Ages Beyond Myst or Uru: Complete Chronicles can easily be found at Amazon or on Ebay, often for under $10 US.
To the Embassy Book Room
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Cyan, Cyan Logo, Myst, Riven, Uru, are trademarks of Cyan Worlds, Inc.