Possible to edit RealMyst ages, models and textures?

[T-Squared]

I recently read that in 2010, someone here on the GoW was able to get a good look at the file format for various realMYST resources, including the models, textures, and ages themselves. Could the resources be edited? If anything, I'd like to see a few changes put to use in realMyst to make it look more the original, or to correct mistakes I think need to be corrected.

Myst:
Proper sunlight shadow cycle, if possible, or corrected alpha shadow maps for various structures around Myst Island.
Correct one font in the rocketship powerhouse, replace with

Selenitic:

Extensive modifications to the cave system and the tracks. For some reason, the system doesn't remind me of the original:
*Darker cave, definitely. The environment looks too light on today's systems.
*Rounded tube-like tracks. The textures also don't work. (see last option for ending tunnel)
*The ending tunnel always bothered me. It doesn't look like the original. The original looked more technology-based, had automatic doors covering the entrance, light bars every few yards, and the tunnel looks too small considering the size of the Mazerunner. (Also happens with a pair of walls in the cave that the Mazerunner looks like it has to squeeze through.) The design of the tracks coupled with the tunnel makes it look more suitable for a minecart ride. (Also, the Mazerunner enters the tunnel way too quickly and slows down a bit too much when entering the final station.)

Channelwood:
Proper Day-Night system. Lower the volume of the birds, insects, and other wildlife.

Stoneship:
Nothing wrong here, except maybe for a higher-quality image of the design on the compass rose?

Mechanical:
Nothing wrong here!

D'ni:
Maybe a darker atmosphere scheme/fog? After all, this is supposed to be a dark room we're in.

Rime: Would a twilight scenario be too hard to implement?

[Sirius]

Dustin did indeed manage to create broken versions of realMyst Ages to be used for PotS. He never completed it, though, and left the community a while ago.
I seriously doubt he would work on anything Myst-related anymore.


As for your modifications, even in Uru it would be really incredibly super-hard. Things like sound intensity wouldn't be too hard to edit, but visual and lighting are simply madness to edit. And Plasma 1 (the game engine for realMyst) wouldn't like dynamic shadows for Myst (it's an old game engine...).
And then you have to repack the data files with your modifications...
In short that's feasible, but only if you are very good at programming stuff and know how Plasma works.

I would love to see some new things in realMyst, such as higher resolution textures, normalmaps, improved lighting, etc...

Channelwood:
Proper Day-Night system.

Cyan DID create a day/night cycle at some point, which was really awesome, but it never made it to the final version of the game (I think they didn't have time to fix gliches).
There is a picture of it here

[Tsar Hoikas]

As for your modifications, even in Uru it would be really incredibly super-hard. Things like sound intensity wouldn't be too hard to edit, but visual and lighting are simply madness to edit. And Plasma 1 (the game engine for realMyst) wouldn't like dynamic shadows for Myst (it's an old game engine...).
And then you have to repack the data files with your modifications...
In short that's feasible, but only if you are very good at programming stuff and know how Plasma works.

I think Plasma 1 stores its geometry a lot differently than Plasma 2 does, but I'm no expert on Plasma 1. There is actually some old P1 code in the MOUL codebase--it's mostly been scrubbed from our fork, but it's likely still present in legacy codebases, such as that used by OpenURU. The packing system in Plasma 1 makes me sad.