Overview
The Iliac Bay is an ample region in western Tamriel, according to the game manual it's about the size of the United Kingdom. Of course there is a wide range of regions and other places of interest throughout the bay, from landscapes to cities and towns to famous structures. Because of the immense dimension of the region it would be impossible to list every single place, but the following list, which hopefully will grow in size in the future, contains many interesting and notable places within this bay.
Location Types
The Iliac Bay is a very large area, within which are a variety of locations to explore.
- Dungeons
- This generic category includes any location which is not immediately known to the character on his or her map. This does include all covens, the ancient and secretive sisterhoods who might summon the Daedric Princes - for a price. Some cemeteries are also included in this category since they are unknown to the character at the start of the game.
- Settlements
- These are the permanent dwellings of civilization. This broad category includes everything from cottages and roadhouses to the largest of cities. While the smallest of villages lack many of the services characters desire, the larger towns and cities are more generous. It is within these locations characters may buy a house or shop at the various markets. These larger settlements are typically walled, which may offer some difficulty to the character's entrance depending on the time of day. Some cemeteries might also included in this category since they are known to the character at the game's start.
- Temples
- Not all temples are located within a town or city. There are many wilderness temples to be found within each of the provinces. This category also includes the several shrines dedicated to the numerous Aedra, prophets, and heroes.
Places of Interest
Dimensions of the Iliac Bay
Since the game's release, several have wondered how large the bay actually is. The following table gives an overview of the total number of locations found within the bay.
| Region | Total Locations | Dungeons |
|---|---|---|
| Alik'r | 344 | 152 |
| Dragontail Mountains | 912 | 310 |
| Dwynnen | 778 | 151 |
| Isle of Balfiera | 67 | 49 |
| Dak'fron | 197 | 129 |
| Wrothgarian Mountains | 1833 | 685 |
| Daggerfall | 1331 | 268 |
| Glenpoint | 445 | 141 |
| Betony | 25 | 8 |
| Sentinel | 549 | 111 |
| Anticlere | 719 | 173 |
| Lainlyn | 368 | 73 |
| Wayrest | 851 | 187 |
| Orsinium Area | 80 | 58 |
| High Rock sea coast | 3 | 1 |
| Northmoor | 380 | 79 |
| Menevia | 211 | 35 |
| Alcaire | 159 | 42 |
| Koegria | 128 | 23 |
| Bhoriane | 190 | 45 |
| Kambria | 310 | 99 |
| Phrygias | 191 | 41 |
| Urvaius | 279 | 64 |
| Ykalon | 560 | 137 |
| Daenia | 291 | 62 |
| Shalgora | 233 | 52 |
| Abibon-Gora | 232 | 65 |
| Kairou | 123 | 31 |
| Pothago | 53 | 9 |
| Myrkwasa | 144 | 36 |
| Ayasofya | 143 | 48 |
| Tigonus | 334 | 83 |
| Kozanset | 49 | 9 |
| Satakalaam | 156 | 40 |
| Totambu | 902 | 239 |
| Mournoth | 363 | 94 |
| Ephesus | 214 | 63 |
| Santaki | 36 | 15 |
| Antiphyllos | 49 | 8 |
| Bergama | 58 | 13 |
| Gavaudon | 51 | 11 |
| Tulune | 140 | 38 |
| Glenumbra Moors | 173 | 37 |
| Ilessan Hills | 596 | 217 |
| Cybiades | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 15251 | 4232 |
In addition, a mathematical formula can be used to estimate the area of the bay.
Technical Introduction
Daggerfall uses a clockwise three-dimensional coordinate system with the x-axis for the North-South direction, the y-axis for the East-West direction and the z-axis for the altitude. To the contrast of the usual procedure, the coordinate system's origin is not 0,0,0, for whatever reasons the developers had. In the usual game mode the actual coordinates of the player can not be checked. To enable this feature the line cheatmode 1 must be added to the Z.CFG file, which is located in the Daggerfall game directory. If this feature is enabled the player's location can be checked by pressing the F9-Key. This will display the player's location along with the currently active quests and quest flags. The location is displayed as follow:
PLAYER: y-Coordinate, z-Coordinate, x-Coordinate
Pressing the F9-Key once again will disable that additional information.
The point with the lowest coordinate-index is the lower left corner of the map with x = 40,961 and y = 51,200. The point with the highest coordinate-index is the upper right corner of the map with x = 16,332,801 and y = 32,389,120. The leveling in the game is also unusual, because it is not standardized to marine level. The altitude at marine level is -80 units and there is a maximum of 1228 units one can ascend over the ground by using a Levitation spell.
Calculations
According to the maximum coordinates of the map the overall dimension of the Iliac Bay is:
| 16,291,840 units x 32,337,920 units = 526,844,218,572,800 units2 |
|---|
The linear measure used by the game is very likely the imperial or survey inch, which is approximately 25.4 millimeters. Since the inch is a common linear measure in Anglo-Saxon regions and the player's character jumps exactly 10 units high, while standing, it is pretty reasonable to make this assumption.
| unit = inch → units2 = inch2 with 1 inch2 = 6.4516 cm2 → 526,844,218,572,800 units2 ≈ 341,608 km2 |
|---|
35.7% of the overall bay are covered by water (ocean and inshore waters) that are about 121,954 km2 (or about 46,851 mi2), thus resulting in an overall dry area of 219,654 km2 (or 84,385 mi2). The area of England (not Great Britain) is 130,395 km2 (or 50,346 mi2), hence according to the overall calculations the land mass would be about 1.685 times the size of England.
Mountains
Although Daggerfall possesses heightmap data, the game doesn't appear to render 3D mountains (excluding the 2D mountains which can sometimes be seen in the background skybox). This may be due to the noise bump filter added to the ground and the extremely short draw distance. However, it is possible to observe "mountains" at specific points in the game world, recognizable as sudden rises in the terrain elevation.
The first spot is on the Isle of Balfiera, as seen here:
The second spot is east of the capital of Sentinel:
