DSOGaming reports that the mod-expansion The Tempest Isle is now available:

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim just got a new DLC-sized expansion mod with a fully scripted/voiced storyline

Modder ‘Cryptdick’ has just released a new DLC-sized expansion mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, called The Tempest Isle. This mod packs a fully scripted/voiced main storyline arc with multiple quests and interesting characters.

According to the modder, the mod was built to feel like a true Skyrim expansion. It’s also said to be highly immersive and lore-accurate. Moreover, it has hand-sculpted worldspace and various dungeons to explore and loot. Players can also expect to find new items, spells, enemy variants, environment objects, and more. So, this is pretty much a full free DLC. It will most likely be rough around the edges, but it’s cool nonetheless. At least in my opinion.

[...]

Thanks Couchpotato!

Exputer interviewed Kiria - one of the team leads of the Lordbound mod:

Lordbound Interview: From A “Portfolio Piece” To A Massive Skyrim Mod

It started as an “Orcs against Wizards” conflict with few small map locations.

Story Highlights

• Lordbound is an upcoming massive DLC-sized mod for Skyrim.
• The project has been in development for around a decade and is finally nearing its release.
• We spoke with Kiria, one of the lead developers of Lordbound, to learn more about this mod.

It takes a lot for a game to be considered “timeless” in the day and age we live in today, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim perfectly fits the bill in this regard. While the game itself has superb replayability, the abundance of mods is what ensures there is always something new for players to try out. It has kept the Skyrim community thriving to this day, but the one mod that the community is most looking forward to right now is Lordbound.

Skyrim: Lordbound has been in development for almost a decade, and rightfully so. It adds an entirely new area filled with around 60 hours worth of content, making it a free massive unofficial DLC. Considering how the project is more ambitious than most games out there, we spoke with Kiria, one of the team leads, to learn more about Lordbound and the challenges the team went through over the course of a decade. 

[...]

Thanks Couchpotato!

The Nolvus v6 mod is really in it's early stage of development:

Remastering SKYRIM | 2024 YOU ARE NOT READY - THIS IS THE REAL NEXT GEN SKYRIM - NOLVUS V6 AWAKENING

DSOG reports that modder Arx Vallium released a new mod called Easthaven for Skyrim:

Skyrim gets an Icewind Dale Prologue Remake Mod

Modder ‘Arx Vallium’ has released a cool new mod for Skyrim Special Edition that remakes the prologue area of Icewind Dale. As such, you can now get a glimpse at what a remake of this classic RPG could look like.

In TESV – Easthaven, players can explore the quiet fishing village of Easthaven located in the northernmost region of the DnD world of Faerûn. Players will be able to uncover omens that tell of a sinister plot unraveling in the Spine of the World Mountains. So, if you are a fan of Icewind Dale, we highly recommend downloading it.

To get to Easthaven, you’ll have to start a new game (that’s what the modder recommends). Then, as soon as you have access to the open world of Skyrim, immediately fast travel to “Portal to Faerûn” north of Winterhold. And that is that.

You can download The Elder Scrolls V: Easthaven from this link. Below you can also find its announcement trailer.

[...]

Thanks Couchpotato!

With the new Skyrim update paid mods are coming back:

Let's talk about Skyrim's new paid mods

Couchpotato spotted a new update for Skyblivion:

Oblivion Remastered In Skyrim | Our Scariest Update On The Road To Release

Couchpotato spotted a showcase for Skyblivion:

Oblivion Remastered Official Quest Gameplay Showcase (Skyblivion Mod-Con 2023)

Oblivion Remade in the Skyrim engine. Remaking Oblivion in the Skyrim engine is what we set out to do when we started the Skyblivion project. Ahead of our 2025 release goal, For this year's Creation Mod Con, we put together a gameplay showcase completing one of Oblivion's most iconic side quests, Mazoga the orc. We hope with your support to finish the final steps in completing our dream, maybe even beating our own estimation. 

The Skyblivion release is planned for 2025:

Oblivion Remastered Road to Release (Skyblivion Roadmap 2023)

Gamesradar reports that Skyrim sold 60 million copies:

Skyrim has sold 60 million copies, making it the seventh best-selling game ever

Never bet against The Elder Scrolls 5

Skyrim has sold more than 60 million copies, making it the seventh best-selling video game of all time.

Speaking during an IGN interview, Skyrim game director Todd Howard was asked about how many of Starfield 1,000 planets that game's main story might push players towards. In the course of his response - which focused on the idea that we'd see only a "small fraction" of the galaxy through that quest - Howard noted that "we're sitting here, it's 12 years after Skyrim, we're looking at a game that has over 60 million copies [sold]."

[...] 

For those wondering, the best-selling game of all time in Minecraft at 238 million, followed by GTA, Tetris, Wii Sports, PUBG, Mario Kart 8, Skyrim, Super Mario Bros, and Red Dead Redemption 2, with The Witcher 3 and Overwatch rounding out the top ten with 50 million copies sold each.

Thanks Couchpotato!

Henriquejr spotted a Skyblivion gameplay demo:

SKYBLIVION Live Gameplay Demo and Q&A 2023

Skyblivion, which is Oblivion being remade in Skyrim, promises a 2025 release date:

The Elder Scrolls Skyblivion | Official Release Year Announcement Trailer

Henriquejr spotted that modders are adding Deep Learning Super Sampling, FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 and Xe Super Sampling to Skyrim:

Skyrim modders are adding DLSS, FSR2, and XeSS support

Upscale your Dragonborn

Canny members of the Skyrim modding community are working on a plugin to enable support for DLSS, FSR2, and XeSS upscaling in the Special and Anniversary Editions of Bethesda's sprawling RPG. Modder PureDark is working together with a small team on the unofficial plugin, called Skyrim-Upscaler, and it should help bump up those frame rates somewhat. It's available to download now from Github if you want to give it a go yourself, but there’s no plan to release the plugin publicly until the modders sort out VR compatibility. 

[...]

Skyrim is now available on GOG with both Special Edition and Anniversary Edition variants. Currently the Anniversary Edition is 50% off with the Special Edition also discounted for 67% off.

Winner of more than 200 Game of the Year Awards, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim celebrates 10 years of adventuring in stunning detail. The Anniversary Edition includes a decade worth of content: the critically acclaimed core game and add-ons of Skyrim Special Edition, plus entire pre-existing and new content from Creation Club including quests, dungeons, bosses, weapons, spells, and more.

---

EPIC FANTASY REBORN
Skyrim reimagines and revolutionizes the open-world fantasy epic, bringing to life a complete virtual world open for you to explore any way you choose.

LIVE ANOTHER LIFE, IN ANOTHER WORLD
Play any type of character you can imagine, and do whatever you want; the legendary freedom of choice, storytelling, and adventure of The Elder Scrolls is realized like never before.

YOU ARE WHAT YOU PLAY
Choose from hundreds of weapons, spells, and abilities. The new character system allows you to play any way you want and define yourself through your actions.

BATTLE DRAGONS
Battle ancient dragons like you’ve never seen. As Dragonborn, learn their secrets and harness their power for yourself.

INCLUDED CONTENT
The Anniversary Edition includes the core game, pre-existing and new Creation Club content, plus all three official add-ons: Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn.

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---

GOG notice about the DRM-free version

• compatibility with most mods via Nexus Mods Vortex v1.6.12 and newer
• compatibility with Skyrim Script Extender (SKSE) mods
• game version rollback and disabling automatic updates available

Global Circulate reports that the co-op mod with quest syncing will be released this week:

'Skyrim' co-op mod with quest syncing to release this week

Co-op Skyrim mod Together Reborn has received a full release date from its developers, and it's this week.

Skyrim Together Reborn, as the name suggests, is a multiplayer mod for Bethesda’s 2011 RPG. The precursor to this mod was called Skyrim Together. However, this was scrapped in 2019 after the mod’s code was found to contain code copied from the popular Skyrim Script Extender (SKSE) without permission (via PC Gamer). After this huge setback, the codebase was scrapped and a new team was formed to develop the mod.

The mod is set to release on July 8 at 5PM BST, for free.

[...]

PC Gamer reports on a Skyrim Special Edition mod that makes characters say your name using AI.

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Thanks to AI voice-acting tool xVASynth, modders have a way to generate new dialogue in the voices of existing NPCs—or at least a half-decent approximation of them. Its creator, Dan Ruta, has demonstrated another use for xVASynth by modifying existing dialogue in Skyrim: Special Edition so that NPCs refer to your character by whatever name you enter. 

Yes, even if it's xX_dragon_killer_420_69_Xx.

The mod's called Say My Name, and you can see it in action in the video above. It's not perfect, but it's not as robotic as text-to-speech software used to be, and if you were annoyed by how often characters would call you the Dragonborn, now you can change that. Dragons will still call you Dovahkiin, however, because that's how they roll. (And also because their voices are harder for xVASynth to get right.)

[...]

Skyblivion, which is Oblivion being remade in Skyrim, has received a large update which is talked about in dev diary #4.

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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim left a big impression on us in 2011. With our Oblivion remaster we try to inspire a similar feeling of awe when exploring the world and everything it has to offer. With that said, welcome to: The Making of SKYBLIVION.

TechRaptor reports that the modpocalypse has been averted for Skyrim due to early access being provided to mod creators and the ability to downgrade the anniversary edition to play old mods.

With the release of the new version of Skyrim, a lot of people were worried about mods. Would they still work? Would players continue to have the same experience that they have been enjoying for the last decade? Worry not, for Skyrim Anniversary Edition SKSE version has now been released due to Bethesda giving the mod creator of SKSE early access to release SKSE64 in time, which The SKSE Team has done.

One concern many players had was about Skyrim Anniversary Edition disrupting mods, but Bethesda's actions in giving the script extender team early access has helped mitigate the problem. This is due to the Skyrim Anniversary Edition SKSE version, which is essentially the pillar of Skyrim modding. Many mods use it, as SKSE "expands scripting capabilities and adds additional functionality to the game." It may not sounds like much, but under the hood it's a incredibly useful tool, and the backbone of many mods including the famous SkyUI.

patcher, which will downgrade Skyrim from its Anniversary Edition to its Special Edition. If there's mod you can't live without and you've already upgraded, you can use this patcher to downgrade and play until your favorite mods are updated.

[...]

WccfTech reports that Skyrim: Anniversary Edition is out, and that there is a free update to the Special Edition as well.

Skyrim Anniversary Edition Out Now; Free Update Weighs 5.3GB on PC

Today is the tenth anniversary of the release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, arguably one of the most influential roleplaying games ever made, and Bethesda is celebrating it with the launch of Skyrim Anniversary Edition.

The latest version of the game includes all previously released Creation Club creations for the game as well as brand new content, such as Ghosts of the Tribunal and The Cause.

You'll have to pay for it, of course. Skyrim Anniversary Edition is priced at $49.99 for brand new customers, while owners of Skyrim Special Edition have the choice to upgrade at $19.99. However, they can also just enjoy the following free four DLCs as part of the Skyrim Anniversary Edition update 1.6 (out now on PC, weighing 5.3GB).

[...]

The upgrade overview video for Skyrim: Anniversary Edition highlights some new additions.

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Join members of the development team for a deep dive into what to expect with the 10th-anniversary celebrations of Skyrim, as well as details on the free, four new creations for owners of the Skyrim special edition, including a look at the Saints and Seducers expansion which features new armor sets and weapons, and more. The video also gives a look at the Rare Curios creation and Survival Mode, as well as the Fishing Mode.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition arrives on November 11, 2021 and comes bundled with all previously released club creations, along with the four free creations, new gameplay modes, and more.

Eurogamer reports that the upcoming Anniversary edition of Skyrim will disrupt many mods due to the new entry being an update of the existing Special Edition. This will apparently force modders to rewrite many function calls.

The Anniversary Edition release includes the Special Edition version of the game along with all mods available in the Creation Club and more yet to be announced.

However, as reported by PC Gamer, rather than releasing the game as its own version on Steam, the Anniversary Edition will be available as an update to the existing entry. This will have a major impact on mods using the SKSE.

"Bethesda has decided to update the compiler used to build the 64-bit version of Skyrim from Visual Studio 2015 to Visual Studio 2019," explains one of the SKSE developers on Reddit. "This changes the way that the code is generated in a way that forces mod developers to start from scratch finding functions and writing hooks.

"Plugins using the Address Library will need to be divided in to 'pre-AE' and 'post-AE' eras. Code signatures and hooks will need to be rewritten. We will all need to find functions again. The compiler's inlining behavior has changed enough that literally a hundred thousand functions have disappeared and been either inlined or deadstripped, to put it in perspective," explains the developer.

[...]

Bethesday Softworks announced Skyrim's 10th anniversary fan celebration, yesterday at QuakeCon 2021 (which celebrates its own, 25-year anniversary), and at this occasion, a new edition of the game.

On November 11, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim commemorates a decade of adventures.

From epic battles with mighty Dragons across Tamriel’s snowy peaks to countless numbers of pilfered cheese wheels, one common element defines the Skyrim experience: you!
That’s why this fall, we’re celebrating Skyrim’s 10th anniversary by focusing on the players who made Skyrim theirs. From displaying your artwork to a special concert performance, you don’t want to miss it!

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[...]

FREE CREATION CLUB CONTENT, NEXT-GEN ENHANCEMENTS & THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Finally, we have some exciting announcements for the game itself. Current and future owners of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition on any platform including Xbox Game Pass Subscribers will receive access to three free pieces of Creation Club content: Fishing, Survival Mode and even new quests with Saints and Seducers. Additionally, Skyrim Special Edition owners on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X | S, as well as Xbox Game Pass subscribers on Xbox Series X|S will receive a free upgrade to an enhanced version on November 11 for their respective PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X | S systems!

We’re also excited to announce the most definitive version of Skyrim to date: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition. In addition to the three free Creation Club items mentioned above, this version contains the full game plus all three expansions and over 500 pieces of unique content from Creation Club, including pre-existing and new quests, dungeons, bosses, weapons, spells and more!

Existing owners of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition and Xbox Game Pass subscribers will also receive the option to purchase an Anniversary Edition upgrade for their Special Edition version of the game to gain access to all the additional content found in the Anniversary Edition.

After ten years, we can say with certainty that Skyrim’s fans are what make the game shine and its anniversary worth celebrating. This coming November, we can’t wait to revisit a modern classic and share the festivities with you, so don’t miss out!

MAHak spotted a new official development video for the Skywind mod:

Skywind - Official Development Video #6

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@DSOGaming A newly released mod for Skyrim Special Edition lets you explore the entire province of Valenwood. There are more screenshots at the link.

Modder ‘theblackfist’ released a pretty cool mod for Skyrim Special Edition. Assault on Valenwood is 2.6GB in size, adds a new quest, and lets you explore the entire province of Valenwood.

In this mod, players will team up with the Imperial assault forces as they and their allies travel within Valenwood, taking the province back city by city. The native Bosmer and Khajiit populations will also join your cause.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

NeverKnowsBest has uploaded his 3rd episode on the Elder Scrolls series, this time he focuses on Skyrim:

An Elder Scrolls Analysis - Episode Three: The tragedy of Skyrim the wise

 

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Thanks Redglyph!

NeverKnowsBest asks the question why noone copies Skyrim:

An Elder Scrolls Analysis - Episode One: A New Type of RPG

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@DSOGaming The overhaul mod Skyrim: Extended Cut for Skyrim expands the main quest with new stories and characters.

According to the developers, the mod will strictly focus on the main quest only, at least for the initial release. The writers have created a lore-friendly storyline that preservers the feel of vanilla Skyrim. The questing experience will resemble titles such as The Witcher & Dragon Age.

The essential additions and changes include an expanded third act, an integrated Dragonborn DLC into the main quest, more characterization for Alduin & Miraak, an overhaul of the Blades faction, and much more.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

A new gameplay demo for Skyrim mod Skywind.

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It’s been one year since our last gameplay demo and a few months since our last developer update. The “Battle at Nchurdamz” represents some of the progress we have made in every avenue of development - world region design, sound effects, quests, 2D concepts, 3D modelling, implementation, mechanics, weather/atmosphere, voice acting, and more.

One of the most exciting things in this video---although it may not look like much right now---is that we finally have simplified the process for creating custom creature skeletons and animations! Our Dwemer spider was the first test using these tools, and in fact uses a different skeleton than the Skyrim Dwemer spider. This marks a major milestone in our development, as these tools have been in the works for years. This opens the door to all sorts of new creature animations, such as for the guar, betty netch, silt strider, kwama, and much more.

The lifeblood of Skywind is the passion of its volunteer team. Our motivation is to do justice to a game that helped define the RPG genre, and we'd love to have more contributors help bring this mod to life. As we continue to finalize quests and dungeons like those shown in the demo, we are seeking applicants with voice acting, level design, coding, 3D modeling, and Creation Kit experience to join our team.

GrubMagnet compares Skyrim with Witcher 3:

Why Witcher 3 is Better Than Skyrim

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PC Gamer reports on Beyond Skyrim and a new video for an expansion called Roscrea.

The Beyond Skyrim project is a collective of modders working together on a series of compatible zones to expand Skyrim's world. Their goal is to expand Skyrim to encompass more of The Elder Scrolls' world, like the province of Cyrodiil originally detailed in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, but also smaller locations like Roscrea. 

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Thanks Farflame!

DSOGaming reports on a large mod for Skyrim called Apotheosis.

Apotheosis will feature a dark, epic story set across hand crafted worlds, sprawling dungeons and exotic locations. Players will scour the 16 Realms of Oblivion, Dreamsleeve, home of the forgotten dead, and Battlespire.

This mod will have unique setpiece boss encounters with challenging mechanics. It will also have fully voice-acted quests with memorable characters and personal stories.

[...]

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DSOGaming reports on Developer Diary #5 for Skywind.

The team behind the ambitious Morrowind Remake mod for Skyrim, Skywind, has released its fifth developer video. According to the team, the project has made immense progress since the last video. Therefore, this video will give you a better idea of where the project stands now.

[...]

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DSOGaming reports that a mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim makes the game an RTS. The demo for this mod has been released.

DisgruntledWombats is working on a pretty interesting mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Skyrim RTS Mod Revamped. As its title suggests, this mod aims to bring RTS elements into Skyrim with a Campaign – as well as separate battle ‘modes’/maps. The modder and his team aim to release this mod in 2020. Furthermore, there is a demo that you can download and test right now.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

TheEpicNate315 recommends five Skyrim mods:

Skyrim’s Largest Mods Ever – 5 DLC-Sized Mods for The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim

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DSOGaming reports on a mod for Skyrim that overhauls its roleplaying mechanics.

Requiem aims to make the game “more immersive, semi-realistic and coherent, with the tend to find a compromise between old school mechanics and more modern approaches.”

According to its description, the mod changes nearly every aspect of the vanilla game. This includes basic gameplay concepts such as combat, magic and player statistics. It also re-balances items across the game world, introduces interface and aesthetic treatments, and so much more. Furthermore, it completely de-levels the game world’s challenges and rewards.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

@DSOGaming A new mod for Skyrim allows you to play the entire main quest of Daggerfall in Skyrim.

This project took oracus0 almost two years to complete. Its main purpose is to bring some of its magic and lore to Elder Scrolls fans of the Skyrim generation that would never otherwise experience it. It also aims to delight those fans of the original game that would love to see the Main Quest in an new engine. It’s also worth noting that Skygerfall comes with voice acting, re-mastered music and better graphics.

[...]

Henriquejr spotted a Skywind gameplay demo on PC Gamer:

Here's eleven minutes of Skywind, the mod porting Morrowind to Skyrim

After Skyblivion's new cinematic trailer, it seems Skywind won't be outdone.

In a proper answer to last week's new cinematic trailer for Skyblivion (the big modding project porting Oblivion to Skyrim's engine), we've now got a full 11 minute gameplay video for sibling mod project Skywind, which is, yes, Morrowind recreated in Skyrim. The video shows off a few key features that Morrowind fans have asked the TESRenewal team about in the past.

[...]

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Henriquejr spotted a new trailer for Skyblivion:

The Elder Scrolls: Skyblivion - Teaser Trailer

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We have been hard at work these past few years and recently a lot of that work has fallen into place, finally shaping up to what we can call a proper video game.
We are super excited to see all our hard work pay off, more importantly though we are excited to show those who have supported us all this time what it has been for. It’s been a long ride but we are finally at a point where the end is almost in sight. 
We still need help with the project though, mostly in the 3D and coding departments but concept artists, CK modders and texture artists are always a welcome sight.

Our exterior world map is nearing its final stages of development meaning its close to being completed. Creatures, flora, weapons, armors and 3D assets in general are being implemented and produced at a rapid pace and as a result the world is starting to feel alive. The world is now inhabited by wild animals walking about and monsters trying to kill you at every corner. 
Quests have also made some great progress though a lot of debugging still needs to be done to make everything work as smoothly as possible. 

If you are simply a fan of the project and you want to help please share our video where you can, you might just reach someone that will help us finish this monster of a project sooner.

Wccftech reports on a new trailer for Skyrim mod Beyond Skyrim; which aims to recreate the entirety of Cyrodiil.

Beyond Skyrim: Cyrodiil adds the entirety of the Imperial Province of Cyrodiil to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim as a fully-explorable ‘expansion-style’ region. Your adventure will see you explore sprawling wilderness, bustling cities and perilous dungeons as you complete epic, all-new quests. An all-new adventure awaits.

[...]

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Thanks Farflame!

PCGamesN reports on an interesting magic mod for Skyrim called Arcanum.

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Perhaps most interestingly, Arcanum is built so that players have new considerations to make when choosing a school of magic in which to specialise. And each of those schools has branches within it to further refine the way you play. You might think about it like choosing a class and subclass in Destiny 2, although here in Arcanum, you’re able to combine spells from whichever schools and focuses interest you the most. There are combinations to discover whether you specialize in one branch of magic, or browse from several.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

DSOGaming reports that the closed beta for Skyrim Together mod has launched.

The Closed Beta testing for Skyrim Together features a fully working UI to invite friends and start private sessions, health bars and a party overlay on the UI (which can be hidden), player and NPC synchronization, the ability to interact with objects such as levers, buttons, puzzle elements, as well as the ability to pick up placed items in the world, such as soul gems and sacks of gold.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

@Wccftech The co-op mod for Skyrim will be entering closed beta soon.

A team of fans has been working on Skyrim Together for several years now, with the community’s funding support via Patreon. In November 2017, Bethesda denied them the chance to distribute the mod via Steam, though they allowed it as long as they used other means of distribution. This set the mod back as its developers intended to rely on the Steam API for the lobby and party systems, but a message shared with the community a few hours ago reveals that the Closed Beta test for Patreon supporters is due soon, with public testing scheduled not long afterward.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

Beyond Skyrim: Morrowind is an ambitious mod that aims to bring the other Provinces of Tamriel - like High Rock, Cyrodiil, Hammerfell and Morrowind - into the game and timeline of Skyrim. Read the FAQ here.

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New Year... New North. Beyond Skyrim: Morrowind presents the first look at our pre-release! Venture to the northern islands of Morrowind, featuring Bleakrock Isle and Sheogorad. Experience new, fully-voiced quests, locations, dungeons, equipment, and more in this expansion mod for Skyrim.

RELEASE DATE: We have no scheduled release date at this moment and have no plans disclose one for some time. Stay tuned for more updates, livestreams, and beta testing in the meantime.

BEYOND SKYRIM: MORROWIND is looking for more volunteers to help in the development of this pre-release and in the continued development of the rest of Morrowind.

To apply, fill out our application form at https://goo.gl/forms/M5vmx93f0lJte1eI3

**Please note that applications without valid samples of work will not be considered**

Beyond Skyrim: Development Diary 1. Beyond Skyrim is a massive multi-team mod project that opens the borders and brings Skyrim’s neighboring provinces to life.

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Welcome to the first in a new series by Beyond Skyrim where we showcase the progress with have made. Remember to keep up to date or join visit: beyondskyrim.org

We hope you enjoy and we'll see you in Tamriel!

@PC Gamer A mod that adds World of Warcraft to Skyrim.

Originally, Azeroth in Skyrim was a mod created back in 2012 by two modders known as Hellscreamy and Celsiuz, but they abandoned the project a few years later. It seemed the dream was dead until yesterday when Fled1 released a new update to the mod that features a ton of improvements, like the addition of Westfall and Scholomance. "I've got to the stage where I feel this is a pretty substantial upgrade on the previous version 0.1 and felt it should probably now be available for you to download and try," Fled1 writes.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

An environment update teaser video for Skyblivion.

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A short but sweet update video showcasing our new and improved environments. We have a big update video scheduled for December during which we will showcase gameplay elements and much more exciting content but we didnt want to leave you in the cold for another 2 months without any visual updates so here it is.

@DSOGaming A high quality texture pack has been released for Skyrim by Modder 'Pfuscher'. Screenshots at the link.

Modder ‘Pfuscher’ has released a brand new version of his high quality texture pack for Skyrim Special Edition. This 2018 high quality texture pack replaces numerous textures with better ones, and adds cubemaps to metallic objects.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

@PC Gamer A new mod for the fastidious among us called the Skyrim Supplemental Patch. The mod fixes the item placement errors found all through Skyrim.

...
Spend some time in Skyrim and you'll probably come across something that doesn't look quite right. Maybe it's an object that is supposed to be sitting on the ground but is instead hovering a bit above it. Maybe it's a small gap in the terrain that lets you peer through the world, or two bits of architecture that don't quite meet properly at the seams. Modder brytag certainly noticed, and has spent years creating fixes for these little imperfections, thousands of them. The resulting mod is called the Skyrim Supplemental Patch.

[...]

Thanks Henriquejr!

Beyond Skyrim: Three Kingdoms is announced with a trailer.

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Beyond Skyrim: Iliac Bay is proud to present its first trailer! Beyond Skyrim: Three Kingdoms is the first planned release from the Iliac Bay: Tower of Dawn project. If you enjoyed this update, please join our team and help us to deliver the release sooner. We particularly need artists (both 3D and 2D), scriptwriters, coders, voice actors and experienced mod-makers who know their way around the Creation Kit.

Join us: BS Community Discord server:

https://discord.gg/kbKVEsX

Iliac Bay Community Discord server:

https://discord.gg/ESagg52

[...]

Here's the trailer for an interesting new Skyrim mod: Project AHO:

Project AHO

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Project AHO - is a large quest modification, in size, comparable to a medium sized DLC. In this expansion, you will get acquainted with the history and inhabitants of Sadrith Kegran - a hidden settlement of Great House Telvanni, built on the ruins of a great Dwarven city. Uncover the secrets of the most grand Dwemeri invention - Aetherium Hyperspace Observatory.

Farflame spotted a new teaser video for Beyond Skyrim:

Beyond Skyrim: Morrowind - Official Teaser #1

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Henriquejr spotted a new Skyblivion teaser trailer:

Skyblivion Teaser Trailer - Glory of Cyrodiil

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It has been a while since our last update video, and we are very excited to show you what we have been working on this last year. Without going into too much detail I recommend you to look closely at the video. You will be able to spot new colorful weathers, new trees and flora, new clothing, new custom designed weapons, NPC schedules, remade textures and models, custom made creatures using custom behaviors and animations. Also, if you listen closely you will also be able to hear part of the new OST. We are not quite at a stage where we are able to talk release dates, though we do have a lot of progress to showcase in terms of quests which we are saving for a charity stream that we will announce in the near future. We always get messages about people wanting to donate money to us but since we are not interested in money, being able to use the project to raise money for a good cause seemed much more rewarding for us.

[...]

@GameRant Skyrim has a new expansion sized mod called Lordbound in the works. The mod now has a trailer and is expected sometime in 2018.

It is well known that The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is no stranger to mods from its faithful gaming community. One of the new and upcoming mods for the game goes under the title of Lordbound, and the developers behind the mod have released a new trailer showcasing the environment of Druadach Valley, a region between High Rock and Skyrim.

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Farflame spotted a new mod for Skyrim called Lordbound on DSOGaming:

Skyrim: Lordbound

Skyrim: Lordbound is an expansion-sized mod packing 30+ hours of gameplay, new screenshots released

Modder ‘Arcky’ and his team are currently working on an expansion-sized mod for Skyrim, Skyrim: Lordbound. Skyrim: Lordbound will feature a whole new storyline and region for players to explore and promises to offer 30+ hours of new content, non-linear quests, new weapons/armor and more.

The team aimed to release this mod in Q4 2017, however it appears that it needs some extra time in order to complete it. The modding team still needs some additions and rewrites before everything is in a releasable state, however it will release next month a gameplay trailer for it.

[...]

DSOG has some new screenshots for the Skyrim total conversion mod Skyblivion:

New beautiful screenshots released for the Oblivion total conversion mod for Skyrim, Skyblivion

The team behind Skyblivion, an Oblivion total conversion mod for Skyrim, has released a new set of screenshots. These screenshots will give you an idea of the mod’s current state. And from the looks of it, Skyblivion retains the same atmosphere as Oblivion did when it came out.

In case you weren’t aware of, Skyblivion is a total conversion by the TESRenewal modding group, aiming to bring the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion to a new generation of gamers and re-introduce it to long time fans of the series. The team is currently in the process of porting and rebuilding Cyrodiil along with all of its quests, locations and characters into Skyrim and Skyrim: Special Edition.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

DSOG reports that a new version of the Gothic Orpheus Mod has been released:

This mod brings the world of Piranha Bytes’ Gothic to Skyrim, featuring 32 hand crafted quests

Orpheus Project has released a brand new version of its mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. This mod, called Gothic Orpheus, brings the world of Piranha Bytes’ Gothic to Bethesda’s RPG. Sounds cool? Well, it sure does.

According to the team, there are 32 hand crafted quests and 52 custom items. Moreover, this mod’s quests were voiced by professional voice actors from the Skyrim Voice Alliance. This latest version of Gothic Orpheus supports both the original version of Skyrim, as well as its Special Edition.

In version 2.1, the Orpheus Project team added more AI mesh so companions have less chances of getting stuck under rock or something. Moreover, the team fixed a great amount of bugs that plagued the previous version.

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Thanks henriquejr!

A mod for Skyrim that allows you to play with a friend called Skyrim Together.

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Skyrim Together

Published on Oct 15, 2017

Us devs gathering together to try out the current state of the mod. As you can see, it looks like we're getting there but there are still some minor things to address. Here we demonstrate some new features, such as:

- Disabling of pausing in menus

- Staffs, ingredients and scrolls working

- Improved cell changing

- Plenty of crash and bug fixes (and still more to go)

Some clips did not record my voice, apologies for that.

Feel free to use the video material in any way.

Credits, shoutouts and linking to us would be appreciated.

A big shoutout to our Patrons supporting the development of this mod!

Check out our subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/SkyrimTogether/

Chat with us on Discord: http://discord.gg/UG884dP

Consider backing this mod: https://www.patreon.com/skyrimtogether

KeenGamer made a list of the top 10 Skyrim immersion mods:

Top 10 Skyrim Immersion Mods

You will never guess that Elder Scrolls: Skyrim is a game that is six years old if you refresh your game with some of the mods on our list that blow even the Special Edition out of the water. So let's dive into its amazing game world with the best immersion mods.

[...]

10. Dead Body Collision Fix & Dual Sheath Redux
9. Frostfall - Hypothermia Camping Survival
8. Hunterborn & Campfire - Complete Camping System
7. OBIS - Organized Bandits In Skyrim & Immersive Patrols
6. The Joy Of Perspective & Player head tracking
5. Guard Dialogue Overhaul & Immersive Player Dialogue
4. Real Shelter
3. Open Cities Skyrim & Immersive hold borders & Distinct Skyrim Landscapes
2. Sounds Of Skyrim Series
1. WARZONES 2015 - Civil Unrest & The Honored Dead & Skyrim Battle Aftermath

Thanks Farflame!

@GameRant A new mod called Social NPCs for The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim (original) has been developed that adds alot of sophistication to the NPCs.

The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim brought a bit more realism to non-player characters when it first released, giving each NPC a unique personality, daily set schedule, and new features like the ability for the player to marry certain NPCs. However, fans of The Elder Scrolls aren't content to leave the game as-is, and one mod has taken NPCs to the next level.

The Skyrim mod, called Social NPCs, expands vastly upon the standard functionality of NPCs in the game. Through complex programming, NPCs gain likes and dislikes and the ability to interact meaningfully with one another. The player has the ability to interact directly with the enhanced NPCs in The Honningbrew Meadery, as well as a new house that comes with the mod called "Comme il Faut House," which is named for the Comme il-Faut (CiF) AI architecture the mod is partially based upon. The work that went into the mod has been considered such a success that a team of computer science researchers are now publishing a paper based upon the mod and its underlying programming.
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Orpheus is a Skyrim Mod that continues the Gothic storyline:

Orpheus

Today I wanted to present to you one of biggest projects ever made for skyrim. The mod is called Orpheus. It'll be a mod set in the universe of the famous German game, Gothic. It'll be total conversion of the game so you'll be able to see a lot of famillar things from Gothic implemented into the mod. The story starts a couple of years after death of the main hero. You'll be able to visit famous location from Gothic 1 and 2. The storyline itself will be based on the fall of the Myrthana. Scattered towns of the kingdom are weakened after the civil war, but that's not the the most prevalent danger. Massive hordes of orcs have started roaming and pillaging lands of Nordmar. Your story begins when you're caught by orcs and forced to sail with them to the nearby islands of Khorinis, where you wait for execution. The game will run on skyrim engine with a couple of tweaks and fixes. We"ll do our best to recreate the dark climate of Gothic.

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Thank you for the info, Farflame!

The Beyond Skyrim - Bruma mod (plus hotfix 1.1) has been released:

EA Mod Review by TheEpicNate:

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Features:

• The city of Bruma, reimagined and recreated from scratch in exhaustive detail, containing over 70 residents, each with their own unique dialogue, stories and routines
• A fully-explorable County Bruma, larger in size and scope than the Dragonborn DLC, packed to the brim with new dungeons, points of interest and secrets - brought to life with more custom art assets than any comparable Skyrim mod
• All-new Cyrodilic weapons and armor
• Seamless integration with the base game - cross the border with your existing character or start a new one
• Innumerable all-new quests and storylines
• Over 24,000 lines of high-quality voiceover from a professional and semi-professional cast whose combined credits include Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dust: An Elysian Tail, Apotheon and Heroes of Newerth
• Over three hours of original music
  

@GameRant Skyrim has a new Bloodborne mod called Project Glenmoril.

While many would argue that The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is already chock full of plenty mystical and magical gameplay moments from its base game to its DLC, the Japanese modder Vicn has decided that it needs to have even more and could even stand to learn some tricks from the PlayStation 4 exclusive Bloodborne in the process. In order to make this happen, the incredibly talented modder has decided to to transport Yharnam to Tamriel with quests, weapons, and armor sets inspired by From Software's 2015 action-RPG in an expansive mod called Project Glenmoril.

As seen below in the trailer for Project Glenmoril, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim fans will be able to utilize such familiar weapons as Bloodborne‘s Hunter Blunderbuss, its Saw Cleaver, the mace-like Tonitrus, and more. Not to mention, the action-RPG's Crowfeather gear, Yharnum Hunter armor set, Gehrman's Hunter garb, and more can be worn as apparel while traveling around Bethesda's fantasy role-playing game.

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Beyond Skyrim: Bruma is a content rich mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim which will launch on the first of July.

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The time has finally arrived. We're pleased to announce that Beyond Skyrim: Bruma, the first part of Beyond Skyrim: Cyrodiil, will officially launch on the 1st of July, 2017.

The return to the Heartland begins in July.

Beyond Skyrim: Bruma will release for PC on Skyrim and Skyrim Special Edition. An Xbox One version will be released at a later date. No PS4 version can be released due to Sony's policy on mod assets.

Pre-release copies of the mod may be offered to journalists, press, YouTubers and others. For press inquiries, please contact us at BeyondSkyrimBruma@gmail.com.

Full development on the remainder of Cyrodiil is proceeding at a rapid pace. Anyone interested in joining the development team should post here, in our General Signup Thread: https://www.darkcreations.org/forums/...

Fans and prospective new recruits alike should also consider joining our Discord server for the latest news on Beyond Skyrim: Cyrodiil as well as all the other projects in the Beyond Skyrim collaboration: https://discord.gg/979zVy6

And follow us on Facebook for the latest development updates: https://www.facebook.com/BeyondSkyrim...

Kotaku interviewed developer Brett Douville about his work on LucasArts (time 38:12) and Bethesda (time 57:40) - Skyrim and Fallout 3.

Thank you for the info, Farflame!

@TechRaptor The script extender (SKSE) for Skyrim Special Edition has been delayed with no new release date mentioned.

Bad news for mod developers wanting to develop for The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim Special Edition using the Skyrim Script Extender (or SKSE). According to the mod's developer, time constraints have delayed the release of this widely used plugin, which played an instrumental part in many of the mods available for the original version of Skyrim.

In a forum post on the Nexus Mods forums, SKSE creator Ian Patterson talks about why the SKSE has been indefinitely delayed:

I don't really have any good news. A large amount of the core code (papyrus support, scaleform support, etc) is ready, but the layout of most of the game data classes still needs to be verified as unchanged from the 32-bit version.

I haven't had any time to work on this for the past few months due to work, and I assume the same is true for Stephen. Making time estimates for full-time professional engineering projects is very hard, and this is far from that.

Again, sorry for getting people's hopes up.

Alas, that is the downside of voluntary mod development: it sometimes has the take the backseat when reality comes calling. Other people in the same thread appreciate that Patterson has posted an update, even if the news wasn't what people wanted to hear.
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@PCGamesN An updated version of Skyrims script extender will be available in beta this March.

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The most grave of these casualties was the loss of Skyrim Script Extender, which is vital to running many useful Skyrim mods as it increases the amount of commands that Skyrim can handle and manage.

One of these such mods was SkyUI. This mod not only vastly improves Skyrim’s menu system, but it provides players with the ability to easily customise and toggle mods on and off. While mods do work without SkyUI, some features may not work in game and it is harder to change what mods you have active while playing.

Seeing as SKSE was vital for a large number of mods, the team are planning to release an update sometime in mid-March, allowing SKSE to work with Skyrim Special Edition. Based on a developer update back in late December that you can watch above, progress is coming along well but it won’t be until March before a compatible version of SKSE will be available. Even then, the SKSE release in March will be for a beta version, with a completed Script Extender to be ready some time after that.

PCGamesN made a list of the 100 best Skyrim mods:

What are the best Skyrim mods for PC? Gosh, there are a lot of them, aren't there? More than 28,000 Skrim mods to download on the Steam Workshop, and countless more on Skyrim Nexus. They’re the work of a thriving and diverse scene; an army of fans and bedroom coders determined to make the game a photorealistic fantasy utopia. Or just transforming farmyard animals into deadly explosives. But when you’re looking for Skyrim mods, just where do you start?  

Here, actually. That’s where we come in. These are the 100 mods we think are essential to improving Skyrim above and beyond the out-the-box experience. They'll make the vanilla 2011-released game look better than even the 2016 Special Edition version. And best of all every one of these Skyrim mods is free!

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

Gamesradar made a list with descriptions of 11 epic mods for Skyrim:

Completed Skyrim? Here’s 11 epic story mods you should get hyped for

I know what you're thinking. Why bother playing Skyrim: Special Edition when you've already sunk what my mother assures me is an unhealthy amount of hours into the original game (needless to say, I disagree)? I'll tell you why: mods. Let me tell you the tale of the quality fan-made stories that are equal to Bethesda's colossus itself. Wondrous sagas await with enigmatic characters swaggering by your side, mind-boggling dwemer gadgets, and mysterious locations begging to be explored. As an added bonus they promise hours of gameplay as these mods have a ton of content. Some are even DLCs in their own right. All of the quests below are stand alone ones, meaning you don’t have to bother with joining a faction to trigger them. At last there's an excuse to neglect going outside for as long as humanly possible, just like when Skyrim first came out. Ah, good memories.

1. Inigo
2. Clockwork
3. The Forgotten City
4. Aethernautics: A Space Travel Mod
5. Blackreach Railroad
6. Falskaar
7. Moon and Star
8. Moonpath to Elsweyr
9. Enderal: The Shards of Order
10. Castle Gonduin
11. Faction: Pit Fighter

The TESRenewal team has released another Skyblivion teaser trailer:

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To end this year on a high note I wanted to show you all how far the Skyblivion project has come during its development cycle, we still have a lot of work ahead of us but the end is in sight and the ''to do'' list grows shorter every month.

If you want to help take a look at their website.

RPGFan has reviewed the Special Edition of Skyrim:

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition

"Perhaps more so than any other RPG by Bethesda Game Studios, Skyrim does a superb job of making sure that you have a genuine presence in the game’s world."

I’m not exactly sure of when I realized that three hours had flown by since I loaded up my save file, but I do know it was somewhere between my helping of a man with a necromancer problem and my fleeing from the lair of an angry mountain troll that I had happened to come across during my travels. Not even my potion of invisibility, which I had created in a happy accident while randomly mixing ingredients in order to increase my alchemy level, could help me avoid this fearsome foe. Just as quickly as the encounter had started, it was over, with the troll proving victorious. As my High Elf character Ysmin took her last breath and I was confronted with a loading screen, I finally remembered that I wasn’t actually in the land of Skyrim—this was just a game.

[...]

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition has a lot going for it. It’s a game that’s full of interesting story content, secrets to discover, a gorgeous soundtrack, mods to enhance the already wonderful experience, and offers up plenty of fun to be had...provided you’re either a Skyrim newcomer or are looking to revisit a game you no longer own. The pretty scenery and addition of mods just aren’t enough new additions to justify the price tag for those who already own the game on last-gen consoles, but there’s a high chance that those looking to see what all the fuss is about will quickly become obsessed with it, and those who already beat the game but are looking to revisit it will find that it’s an experience that’s just as captivating as they remember it being.

Score: 82%

Five years out from release, it's more obvious for some how weak Skyrim was in certain areas, and the new Special Edition doesn't fix that. RPS pens an editorial on what they'd like to see Elder Scrolls do next time.

With Skyrim’s Special Edition managing to feel not that special, it’s put me to thinking about what it is I want from the next Elder Scrolls game. What are the features I would love to see in The Elder Scrolls VI: Hammerfell? What are the series’ tropes that could use a tweak? I’ve expounded on this below.

Restarting Skyrim in its marginally better engine with its equally dreadful NPCs, it’s hard to entirely settle back into a once-familiar game and enjoy it all over again. Five years is a long time in gaming, and with what I can only ascribe to Bethesda’s singular dedication, they’ve made a special effort to preserve all the bugs and weaknesses of the original release, rather than fix them like a lesser developer might think to do. So this is a game that not only feels a bit ragged (albeit occasionally rather pretty), but one that really goes to some efforts to frustrate by still featuring all the things that were rubbish with it half a decade back. (I mean, five years to create a special edition, and at no point did anyone think to maybe even speed up the achingly dreary and agonisingly slow opening sequence.)

@PCGamesN The Falskaar mod for the original Skyrim has been ported over to the Special Edition.

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The mod went down well on the original Skyrim, and its port over to the Special Edition should allow a bunch of new people a chance to sample its Nordic wares.

Created by Alexander J. Velicky, the mod adds that aforementioned landmass, complete with different points of interest, NPCs, and dungeons.

Those NPCs are fully voiced, too. In other audio-related news, the soundtrack contains 14 brand new tracks composed by Adamm Khuevrr just for Falskaar, adding more than 40 minutes of new music.

There are 26 new quests - nine for the main story and 17 side-quests - contained within, along with a new Dragon Shout and new spells.

All-in-all, there's around 20 hours of content. Have a watch of the trailer above for a taste.

@PC Gamer they report that Bethesda is working on a fix for the Special Edition's audio issues.

We're currently testing a fix and hope to have an update out next week," Reddit user Gstaff wrote. Gstaff claims to work for Bethesda, having spoken for the developer in the past. We've contacted Bethesda for an official statement on the issue and will update this article as we receive more information.

The audio issue was originally explained by Reddit user LasurArkinshade, who said the Special Edition's sound assets were "very aggressively compressed."

"The vanilla game has sound assets (other than music and voiceover) in uncompressed .wav format," the post states. "The Special Edition has the sound assets all in (very aggressively compressed) .xwm format, which is a compressed sound format designed for games. This isn't so bad, necessarily-it's possible to compress audio to .xwm without significant quality degradation unless you crank the compression way up to insane levels."

Bethesda did exactly that, the post stated. LasurArkinshade compared the original game's audio with the Special Edition, and the difference is quite noticeable through good speakers or headphones.

Gaming Bolt has reviewed the Special Edition of Skyrim:

The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Special Edition Review – Still Captivating

A must play for newcomers.

Bethesda have brought back one of their finest games of all time, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim on current generation consoles. It’s quite amazing that almost five years have passed on since the original was released and yet Skyrim is regarded as the epitome of video game design and role playing mechanics. Having sunk hundreds of hours in the original Skyrim, playing the remaster with the same amount of intrigue is just a testament to how addictive this game is. The remaster brings back the same good old feeling…it almost felt like 2011 all over again.

You take on the role of Dovahkiin, the Dragonborn which instantly gives you powers like Dragon shouts, and you’re the only one that can free Skyrim from the Nordic Dragon, Alduin. However this is easier said than done. This is not due to game’s difficulty but the amount of stuff you can actually do in the game will easily distract you from playing the main campaign. Fighting against a dragon while an epic score is being played in the background really brings the entire atmosphere alive. It’s amazing how the game’s score still holds up five years after its original release.

[...]

THE GOOD
Impressive remastering, intriguing gameplay, huge world to explore with tons of things to do, includes all DLCs although Dragonborn is the only one which is worth your time.

THE BAD
Glitches and dumb AI are still present, character models don't look great, PS4 mod support is disappointing compared to Xbox One's.

Final Verdict
The legendary role playing game is back on current generation consoles and it's a must play if you haven't already played it on last generation hardware.

Score: 9/10

The Special Edition of Skyrim has been released today. Henriquejr spotted an article about the save game compability at PC Gamer:

How Skyrim Special Edition works (and doesn't) with your existing saved games and mods

You can transfer vanilla saves easily, but modded saves probably won't work at all.

With Skyrim: Special Edition arriving Thursday, we realized we had a few questions about how it's all going to work in terms of mods, saved games, and most importantly: modded saved games. 

Here's what we know so far, and unfortunately it's not all good news. We'll update this post with any additional information we discover.

Skyrim and Skyrim Special Edition are two separate games

You probably know this one, but just in case: if you own Skyrim and its expansions, you'll get Skyrim Special Edition for free, and you don't need to worry about Skyrim SE overwriting or replacing your original copy of Skyrim.

They are two completely separate games. If you have saved games and installed mods for Skyrim, you will still be able to play them with your original copy of Skyrim after the Special Edition appears.

Existing unmodified saved games can be used with Skyrim SE

If you've got saved games from the original Skyrim, you can use them with Skyrim SE. According to an email from Bethesda, it's just a matter of copying and pasting the files:

"Existing save games from the original PC game will work in the PC version of Skyrim Special Edition. Simply copy your old saves from My Games/Skyrim to My Games/Skyrim Special Edition."

So, you'll be able to pick up in the Special Edition right where you left off in the original. This is only for unmodded saved games, though, and here comes the bad news.

Modded saved games most likely won't work at all with Skyrim SE

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Here's the trailer for the Skyrim Special Edition:

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Epic fantasy. Stunning details. Winner of more than 200 Game of the Year Awards. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim returns with Skyrim Special Edition, available for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC on October 28. Along with the critically acclaimed game and add-ons, Skyrim Special Edition has all-new features like remastered art and effects, dynamic depth of field, screen-space reflections, volumetric god rays, and more. Watch the new trailer to see Skyrim Special Edition in action.

For so many RPG fans, the name "Morrowind" is a holy word, a bar that Bethesda has yet to reach again. VICE examines why Skyrim and other later Elder Scrolls titles remain in Morrowind's shadow.

The differences between Morrowind and its immediate successor are vast. While Oblivion is recognizable as a sequel, it tossed out a lot of what made the series so appealing, much of what connected its predecessor with a passionate audience. The Eastern-inspired, alien world of exotic fauna and giant mushroom trees was cast aside in favor of a distinctly Tolkienian setting, with its European architecture, European wildlife, and European forests. This was a disappointment for many of the preceding game's admirers, and the differences were more than cosmetic. Oblivion's job was to be The Elder Scrolls but accessible, palatable to a wider, more general audience at a time when the big-budget cinematic adaptation of The Lord of the Rings still felt fresh. It didn't matter if some of the old magic was lost—it was all about bringing extra punters to the party. For the first time, Bethesda was genuinely gunning for the console market—however, these guys achieved it, they had to sell The Elder Scrolls to living rooms, not desktops.

And the gambit worked. The accessibility of Oblivion propelled The Elder Scrolls from a niche PC gaming pastime to a sat-on-the-sofa phenomenon. The game sold 1.7 million copies in a month, a figure that's since risen to closer to 10 million, and critical coverage was incredibly positive. Skyrim followed five years later and preserved that accessibility—and yet the fifth Elder Scrolls game proper also attempted to return the series to what made Morrowind special, pulling back where Oblivion had been so keen to push away. Because, despite being the least commercially successful of the 21st-century Elder Scrolls games—the original, Arena, and its sequel, Daggerfall, date from 1994 and 1996 respectively—Morrowind dominates the fanbase's discourse. Skyrim struggles with itself to invoke Morrowind, and emulate it, at every possible opportunity—but it's difficult to understand why unless one examines Bethesda's relationship with its "core" audience.

...

However, Skyrim would almost allow people to return to Morrowind in its final expansion, Dragonborn. Revisiting the island of Solstheim, the location of Morrowind's Bloodmoon expansion from a decade earlier, it gave fans a tour of old haunts, a chance to wander the ruins of places they once visited and—perhaps most significantly—a front-seat view of the smoldering remains of Vvardenfell.

It's tempting to think, as I do, that this was symbolic. Bethesda wants to move on from Morrowind. It wants its fans to move on from Morrowind. But you can only see the ruins of Vvardenfell from Solstheim. The journey comes full circle. The Elder Scrolls remains locked in a Morrowind-shaped prison, doomed to keep referencing itself for eternity. You can visit Morrowind in The Elder Scrolls Online. You can even run into M'aiq the Liar. For Bethesda, it's impossible to escape, and perilous to ignore.

Maybe it should remaster Morrowind.

The team behind Skywind, the impressive-looking Morrowind reboot for Skyrim, has released a progress update video for October. While it looks awesome, it might be nice to have more updates in other ways too. Still, it's nice to see it in production.

@PCGamesN The Skyrim Special Edition has gone gold which means the discs have been printed and the system specs released for its October 28th release.

If you didn't already know, this remaster of Bethesda's RPG epic overhauls art and effects, and also adds god rays, dynamic depth of field, screen-space reflections and even new snow and water shaders.

All this makeover work obviously means it won't run on the same potato you used to play Skyrim the first time around, so here are the new system requirements:

Minimum

Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-bit Version)
Intel i5-750/AMD Phenom II X4-945.
8GB of ram.
12 GB free HDD space
Nvidia GTX 470 1GB /AMD HD 7870 2GB

Recommended

Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-bit Version)
Intel i5-2400/AMD FX-8320.
8GB of ram.
12 GB free HDD space
Nvidia GTX 780 3GB /AMD R9 290 4GB

It's still pretty easy to run, then, thankfully.

Great news for anyone who already owns Skyrim, as us PC players will be getting the upgrade absolutely free. What a time to be alive.

Andy Kelly from PC Gamer goes back to Skyrim to talk about how well the game has aged in the years since its release. While he has a lot of the same gripes we do, his view is flattering overall.

The varied geography is what makes it one of the best open worlds on PC. Each region has a distinct atmosphere and personality. The Rift is gold and autumnal, with forests, lakes, and vineyards. An incongruously idyllic setting for the hotbed of crime and corruption that is Riften. Eastmarch is a volcanic, volatile landscape of bubbling hot springs and jagged rock. You can almost smell the sulphur in the air. To the far north, Winterhold is perpetually battered by blizzards and blanketed in thick snow. At night the sky is illuminated by vividly colourful aurora, a sight that never stops impressing. Whiterun is a vast, treeless tundra, freezing, grassy plains surrounding its central city.

At the centre of the map is the Throat of the World, a colossal mountain that you can’t help but feel the urge to climb when you first see it tickling the clouds. Your pilgrimage up it, and the view when you reach the peak, is one of the game’s best experiences. Just watch out for the frost troll lurking near the summit.

As is the case with a lot of RPGs, it’s the side quests where the best stuff lies. Joining the Dark Brotherhood and becoming a master assassin. Rising in the ranks of the Thieves Guild. Investigating a brutal murder in the city of Windhelm like some kind of fantasy gumshoe. Teaming up with a talking dog that’s actually a demon. Becoming a werewolf. Picking sides in a civil war. There are so many quests in Skyrim, from the epic to the absurd, and your journal is always fat with things to do. There isn’t much in the way of choice or branching paths, however, and far too many quests involve trekking through samey dungeons with a meagre reward at the end.

Read more.

@PCInvasion Sadly Bethesda have inflated the price of The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim legendary edition to take advantage of those looking to get the legendary edition ahead of the free upgrade for said edition to the special edition.

In what appears to be a blatant effort to take advantage of people looking for a cheap version of Skyrim: Legendary Edition on PC (and qualifying for a ‘free' upgrade to the Special Edition), Bethesda inflated the price ahead of the Steam sale.

Technically speaking, it was even more devious than that. Perhaps in an effort to avoid another run-in with the UK's Advertising Standards Authority (which eventually cleared Bethesda of similar shenanigans with Wolfenstein: The New Order in the 2015 Steam summer sale), the version of Skyrim: Legendary Edition currently on sale through Steam is (semantically speaking) a different one.

The prior version, listed in this pricing database for $40.00 USD (some $25.00 cheaper than the present version) actually no longer exists on Steam. Bethesda's current version of Skyrim: Legendary Edition is now a ‘bundle' of the regular game and the individual DLCs, rather than a single title.

It's exactly the same, content-wise, but it allows the publisher to re-list the game at an inflated price, and exploit those who want to get in on the Legendary Edition before the Special Edition update shows up. So, rather than the Legendary Edition being on sale for $15.00 (or possibly even less) as it has been in prior sales, it'll instead cost you almost $27.00; and no doubt more in Europe.

All (probably) nice and legal, thanks to the "no no, it's a bundle now" dodge. But all rather unpleasant from a customer's point of view.

Pete Hines took to Twitter today, announcing that Skyrim's new special edition will be 64-bit and that your old saves "should transfer" over to the new one.  However, they'll require a separate creation kit to upload mods to bethesda.net.

The souped-up Skyrim Special Edition for the PC and current-gen consoles announced by Bethesda during its E3 press conference will offer all sorts of visual improvements to the game, like volumetric lighting, dynamic depth of field, and improved water shaders. On Twitter today, Bethesda's Vice President of Marketing and PR Pete Hines expanded on that, saying the PC edition of the game will be 64-bit, and that saves “should” transfer from the original game to the new one.

Read more.

Eurogamer gives us a look at how the new, (hopefully) improved special edition of Skyrim will compare to the vanilla version.

Also: The mods you've been using in your Skyrim game will be compatible with the new version.

An enhanced remaster of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim releases on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC this October. This new Special Edition is the first we've seen of this series on either console to date - it's a native 1920x1080 production, and based on trailer footage so far, it's also seemingly set to run at 30fps. We're promised quite a bit more though, and indeed the game borrows features from the more modern iteration of its Creation Engine, adding the rendering techniques for volumetric god rays and water shaders seen more recently in Fallout 4.

It's great news for PC crowd as well, and those who own all DLC of the original (or bought the Legendary Edition) receive this as a free update. Based on our tests, there's a visible difference between this remaster and the vanilla 2011 release, with the landscape improved by new assets; plants, mushrooms, stones and extra trees are more liberally dotted around the initial Riverwood village. A new depth of field effect is brought in too. As plucked from Fallout 4's settings menu, this allows backgrounds to dynamically fall in and out of focus depending on a player's line of sight.

Another element we noticed in matching our PC footage with this reveal trailer is that textures are identical. Bethesda's press materials offer up seven high quality BMP shots of the game - tellingly archived in a folder labeled 'Xbox One.' We've matched each of these with the PC game at maximum settings, and there's little to no difference in the quality of the texture work (barring one mountain-side near Riverwood). Assuming these are Xbox One screengrabs, it's pleasing to at least see texture filtering matches PC's top 16x anisotropic filtering setting, but the ground detail underfoot is precisely as it was before.

The more striking change is in this Special Edition's lighting. A glowing, sun-kissed appearance is in effect across its reveal trailer, notably in an overview of Solitude castle. It replaces the distinctive, colder hue of the original, and each comparison shot differs wildly from the tone of the vanilla release on PC. Actual geometry is untouched, and draw distances for objects and grass are identical to the PC's top setting in this wide overview. However, it's an undoubtedly warmer, hazier take on the world, with a post-process bloom effect also helping to fill the space.

Read more.

PC Gamer discusses Skywind and how it is reinventing an old favorite.

A mushroom towers above you, reaching for the sky. The place feels familiar, but the light has changed. Plants have taken root in previously barren land, new rocks jut from the earth like gnarled fingers. It’s the same, but different—a place inspired by what came before. “A complete remake and re-imagining of Morrowind,” in the words of Brandon Giles, one of the lead developers of the ambitious community project Skywind. The mod aims to draw players fresh and old to the world of Bethesda’s 14-year-old RPG. 

Skywind had its inception in 2012. The seeds can be found in Morroblivion, which ported Morrowind’s content into Oblivion’s engine. Once the project came to an end, some leftover team members decided to attempt a similar feat—this time using Skyrim as their base. 

“It wasn’t until late into the following year that the project evolved into what it is now,” Giles says of the Elder Scrolls Renewal Project, of which Skywind is a part. “[We] aspired to do something greater than a mere port of Morrowind. No one really knows the exact point that this switch happened, but I think as we got more and more talented individuals on board, we really broadened our horizons and looked to make something much more special. Since then the vision has only grown.” 

Skywind’s global team was brought together by a love of the Elder Scrolls series. They’re all volunteers, and their ultimate reward for the thousands of hours invested will be the finished project itself. The challenge they have set is to take a classic and renovate it, improving it graphically and bringing the world’s density, life and interactions up to the standards set by today’s open-world games.

Read more.

Whispers waft through the strained corridors of the gaming press ahead of E3.  Is a Skyrim remaster on the way?  If it is, it may not have anything new...

Bethesda Softworks will announce a remastered version of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim during their E3 2016 press conference on June 12, according to the latest internet rumors.

The rumors come from industry insider Shinobi602 and NeoGAF user Enter the Dragon Punch, both of who were part of the Kotaku-corroborated Dead Rising 4 leak earlier today.

Speaking on the latest H.A.M. Radio Podcast (59:06), Shinobi602 said, “I would expect a remaster of sorts [at Bethesda’s press conference]… for something.”

After GamePro.de went up with a story assuming it’s a Skyrim remaster, Enter the Dragon Punch added in the corresponding NeoGAF thread that “it’s real” and the remastered release will include all of the game’s downloadable content, mod support, and improved graphics.

Bethesda Softworks will host its E3 2016 press conference this Sunday, June 12 at 7:00 p.m. PDT / 10:00 p.m. EDT. Get the full E3 2016 schedule here.

Eurogamer talks about Holds: The City Overhaul for Skyrim. The mod itself has spent three and a half years in development. Reddit user Thallassa has a two part review here.

A big (4GB) fan-made modification for The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, that overhauls cities and even adds new settlements, has arrived after nearly three-and-a-half years' work.

Holds: The City Overhaul rebuilds Falkreath, Winterhold and Dawnstar from scratch, fleshing out the cities with more buildings, more people, and more background and history - more personality, in other words. The other holds, such as Whiterun and Solitude, have also had work done to them.

"The aim of all of this is to create a more memorable and diverse experience," wrote the mod's author, Galandil, on Nexus Mods, "making the cities actually feel like cities hopefully without ruining the natural and realistic design of the vanilla game.

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The Elder Scrolls Renewal Project shows their progress with Skywind:

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The Elder Scrolls Renewal Project is proud to present the 4th installment in our developer video series! This time with a heavy emphasis on recruitment, we are ready to share what the team has been hard at work on in the year since our last video. Thank you to all the fans for their continued patience and support!

Thanks Couch!

The Skywind team has released a new trailer for the long-anticipated mod.

Skywind Official Channel has shared some alpha footage, where they've cruelly combined stirring music and impressive visuals with a disclaimer that Skywind may never be released.

Happy Holidays.

There are huge changes and updates ahead for Skywind. As we draw closer to the new year, we wanted to share some of the things you can expect to see out on this channel some time in 2016. All of this is alpha footage and there is no set time or date for these videos, or guarantee they will happen. This is just a preview of what you might expect to see.

More information.

Eye told us that PC Gamer has news about the Skyrim mod Forgotten City, in which a murder needs to be solved and where you can time travel.

Everyone loves a good murder mystery. Time travel is a crowd-pleaser. And mods that don't just tweak a game but add hours and hours of new content? I'm talking about The Forgotten City, a Skyrim mod that's been in the works for several years but is now available, and features those tantalizing elements plus an original score and over a thousand lines of custom dialogue. You can watch the launch trailer above.

The mod, created by Nick James Pearce, takes place in a sprawling underground city, one you'll need to explore to uncover its secrets. What's more, you'll need to explore it along multiple timelines as you travel through a time-warping portal in order to investigate a murder. Interrogate the city's inhabitants, learn their secrets, fight enemies, solve puzzles, and make choices that will have consequences on the story.

Tech Insider reports about a modder UnrealSkyrim who mixed 1000 mods the enhance Skyrim:

It's been nearly four years since "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" debuted, and it's still one of the world's most popular games, selling millions of copies across PCs and consoles.

A big reason for the game's continued success is the “mod” community, where programmers and enthusiasts develop creative modifications to the giant fantasy world of "Skyrim" for others to download and enjoy on their PCs.

Some "Skyrim" modifications can be ingenious and funny, like replacing all the dragons in the game with Thomas the Tank Engine. But "Skyrim" modifications can be absolutely gorgeous, too.

One PC modder based in Spain, who goes by the name of "UnrealSkyrim" on YouTube and Facebook, has mixed over 1,000 different modifications from hundreds of different creators. He's taken "Skyrim" to a whole new level.

Some new video scenes from the upcoming Skyrim total conversion:
Enderal: Shards Of Order.

The TES Renewal Project has released a new Trailer: 'Rekindle' for Skywind.

A short preview for the latest developer update for August 2015. As always, this is early footage and everything is subject to change. This video shows a tiny fraction of what we have been working on, we mainly just want everyone to know we are still alive and working just as hard without spoiling too much.

For more information on the project, visit TESRenewal.com

The German website PC Games has previewed the alpha version of Enderal: Shards of Order. The spoiler-free video looks fantastic. For the text use this Google-translated webpage.

The Enderal team has already invested 24000 working hours in this full Skyrim conversion. The game release is expected in spring 2016.

Bethesda's Pete Hines about talks about paid mods and future plans:

[...] "I think our stance on it is we're going to re-evaluate it going forward," Hines said. "I think that we feel like there is a case to be made that people who spend a lot of time working on mods ought to be able to have a way of monetizing what they're doing.

"Certainly some of the folks that we talked to were very interested in and supportive of the idea," he added. "We had creators who said, 'I've been asking for donations for years and never saw anything, and I made more in one day.' So why would I not support that?"

One of the issues that some brought up around the Skyrim paid mod system is that creators aren't paid enough. As part of the now-scrapped plan, the breakdown for mod revenue looked like this:

• Bethesda - 45 percent
• Valve - 30 percent
• Modders - 25 percent

"Is this the right split? There are valid arguments for it being more, less, or the same," Bethesda said back in April. "It is the current industry standard, having been successful in both paid and free games. After much consultation and research with Valve, we decided it's the best place to start."

Hines told us that, if the paid mod system does return, Bethesda would still expect to get a cut of the revenue-- even if the percentage might change. [...]

GameStar.de reports that German gamers can now sign up for the closed alpha test of SureAI's Skyrim total conversion Enderal: Shards Of Order. An English alpha will be made available at a later point.

You can expect ca. 30 hours to solve the main quest and ca. 85% of the side quests. The developers hope to have Enderal feature complete soon.

Here's the product description from the official page:

So, what exactly is Enderal?

Enderal is a Total-Conversion-Mod for Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Basically, a Total Conversion (TC) is a new game built from from scratch, using the original game`s ressources as well as additional ones. Skyrim and Tamriel do not exist any more. However, by using Skyrim´s Engine and its models a new game is developed. It comes with its very own story and world, and new as well as changed and complemented gameyphsics. In conclusion, for you Enderal is a brand new game that will approximately provide you with 30 - 150 hours of gameplay.

What distinguishes Enderal from Skyrim? 

One could say that we try to combine the concept of open world gaming with a complex and profound storyline. Furthermore, we try to merge the strengths of various open world games into one RPG. Enderal is a mixture of The Elder Scrolls and Gothic, added up with a multi-faceted and complex story. Enderal comes with a big world filled with, ruins and ancient fortresses and lots of interesting landmarks to explore. We will also add new features such as experience points, special classes and talents and set-items.

The developers of Skywind (a Morrowind remake with the Skyrim engine) released a new video of the game's starting area:

The first look at the starting town of Seyda Neen! Our 3D artists have recreated and re-imagined this iconic town with updated buildings and clutter. Prepare for the nostalgia trip of a lifetime and be sure to leave a comment below!

TheRealJojo at moddb.com:

Good day!

The first days of summer have finally arrived and the temperature’s rising. But don’t worry, despite the temptation to go outside, Enderal is advancing well.

Regarding the recent events, namely the furor around the announcement of the “Paid Mod”-feature, we would like to take this opportunity to express our thanks to all those who, since the early stages of development, supported is by donating. Even though Enderal is realized on an entirely non-commercial basis, there are still costs we have to cover, such as server maintenance. Whenever there’s a plus, we invest it in ways that benefit Enderal – for example, by means of new tools and software.

Take a look at some new Leather armor, a Kilean Saber and a new episode of the Butcher of Ark, too.

In-case  you missed the news yesterday Bethesda and Valve now offer modders the option to sell mods for Skyrim. Lets just say it does not sit well with most gamers.

Still I'm more interested in what the modders think of this so here are a few links. First up we have a new update from the Nexus owner who is not a happy person right now.

Obviously this news has been a huge deal, and probably exploded far more than Valve and Bethesda realised it would (and not particularly positively, lets face it!). Some of the spotlight has been shined on the Nexus as a result of that. Some people have expressed concern we'll go the same way (they obviously don't read the site news) or that it'll affect us negatively some how. Everything you see here is completely free, and it's definitely staying that way. About 40 mods have been hidden in the Skyrim Nexus section since this announcement, most of which are people afraid their mods are going to be stolen and uploaded to Steam for profit.

Next SureAI the team behind Enderal:The Shards of Order posted an update with news they will not be selling the mod. I salute you guys, but still donate if you can.

Short news of the day: We won't sell Enderal via the Steam Workshop. We keep our promise and Enderal will be available for free.

Thanks to a few members we also have a link to Reddit with more modders opinions. Seems this is a PR disaster for Bethesda and Valve. What do you all think?

Update: A petition for removing paid content from Steam Workshop was started.

Thank you Aditya for sending in the link.

Well it's official now as Bethesda and Valve now offer modders the option to sell mods for Skyrim. I wonder how this will affect the Nexus sites?. Here are the details.

We’ve had a long and excellent relationship with our good friends at Valve. We worked together to make the Workshop a huge part of Skyrim, and we’re excited that something we’ve been working together on for a long time is finally happening. You can now charge for the mods you create.

Unlike other curated games on Steam that allow users to sell their creations, this will be the first game with an open market. It will not be curated by us or Valve. It was essential to us that our fans decide what they want to create, what they want to download, and what they want to charge.

Many of our fans have been modding our games since Morrowind, for over 10 years. They now have the opportunity to earn money doing what they love – and all fans have a new way to support their favorite mod authors. We’ve also updated Skyrim and the Creation Kit with new features to help support paid mods including the ability to upload master files, adding more categories and removing filesize limit restrictions.

What does this mean for you?

As a modder, you now have the option of listing your creations at a price determined by you. Or, you can continue to share your projects for free. For those shopping for new mods, Valve is making sure you can try any mod risk free. See Refund Policy.

For full details on these changes to the Skyrim Workshop, check out Steam’s announcement page and FAQ.

Modding has been important to all our games for such a long time. We try to create worlds that come alive and you can make your own, but it’s in modding where it truly does. Thanks again for all your incredible support over the years. We hope steps like this breathe new life into Skyrim for everyone.

The SureAI team has released a new video update for Enderal: Shards Of Order with more footage this time showing us the the mods Heartland & Farmers Coast.

Have a look at our Heartland & Farmers Coast landscapes for our Skyrim Total Conversion Enderal!

Thank you Farflame for sending the link.

The Beth Blog has a new interview with modder BigBizkit about his latest mod called Pirates of Skyrim. You can download his mod on the nexus with this link.

What features in the project are you most proud of?

When I created “Pirates of Skyrim”, I wanted it to be its own “system” so to speak. I could have made it into a quest mod where you would set sail, pillage some ships, return and mission accomplished, but instead I went for a radiant system where the player would have a reason to set sail to the sea of ghosts repeatedly, where you would want to pillage ships over and over. That is why the naval battles are randomly assigned and the loot is different every time, and so are the things you may or may not find on the ocean floor. In my opinion, the randomness of the battles, the loot, the ocean, etc. — in combination with the achievements you can unlock by collecting treasure that you may or may not find, contributes to the mods longevity and constitutes the best feature – and that is what I am most proud of.

Do you plan to continue supporting the project? And if so, what can you share from your current plan?

Sure. I have pretty much already shared my future plans in the forum tab at the mod’s file page. There are two main features on my list that I want to implement:

A Pirate Port — I envision a safe haven for pirates on a small island. It would be rundown at first and only a few NPCs would hang around there initially. But as the player continues to bring in loot from his/her pillages market stands and decoration would be unlocked and more and more NPCs would appear there showing the place flourishing.

A Privateering System —  You would be able to obtain a “letter of marque” from either the Imperial Legion or the Stormcloaks. This would give you permission to hunt down ships of the opposing faction. The player would need to set sail to the sea of ghosts, dispose of a crew of the opposing faction, and then return with proof of the deed (e.g. a banner) to Solitude/Windhelm to receive a reward. Doing so would earn the player a positive reputation with his/her faction, and a negative one with the opposing one. This would obviously come with some consequences like being blocked from ports, attacks from opposing privateers.

The developer of the Skyrim mod called Skywind uploaded a new YouTube video called Revive eailer ths week that gives a glimpse of the mods latest development.

An exclusive look at the latest developer update for Skywind! While there is not much to show visually, major progress has been made on environmental and architectural 3D assets to finish fleshing out the game world. Enjoy this small preview and expect more to show in the next update!

Regarding the update version. 0.9.6 does no necessarily mean we are close to a 1.0.0 release. When the project first started, it was originally going to be a direct port, in which case version 9.0 WAS very close. However, as goals changed, we realized there was so much more to do than initially thought. 0.9.5 came out in October, and there is a lengthy gap between each major update. These versions are not an accurate representation of overall progress towards a release, but instead milestones to keep track of. When we have more information on a beta or a release, we will let you know. Sorry if this is misleading, it was not our intent.

Contributor Paul Tassi of Forbes published a new article about Skyrim.

With 20 million sales, you would think Skyrim would have spawned at least some measure of serious competition, but it simply remains untouched, the high king of the open world sandbox genre. The power of a focused, high-quality single player experience should not be forgotten by developers, even in this “social” age. We don’t always need to connect with others, to share worlds. Sometimes we want to exist as the king of our own little universe, and not let anyone else in. That’s what Skyrim excelled at above all else, and why it remains immortal today.

Bethesda posted a new blog post about the removal of the mod size limit for Skyrim.

Get ready for bigger mods on Steam’s Skyrim Workshop. This week we’ve pulled the restraining bolt that restricted mod sizes to 100 mb – allowing you to upload mod projects to the file size your project demands!

Before we go live with this feature for everyone, we’re beta testing things this week – both for Skyrim’s PC launcher and the Creation Kit, too.

This only affects Steam’s Skyrim Workshop as the Nexus never had any size limits.

Bethesda interviewed Johannes, and Nicolas of the Sure AI team on their Beth Blog.

How many folks are working on Enderal?

Nicolas: Altogether, we’re 14 people on the core team, of which around eight spend a lot of time on the development. Then, there are a lot of external contributors, mainly 3d artists, and, of course, voice actors and a German recording studio, 2day Productions, who help us with the localization.

For fans of Skyrim, what do you think players will appreciate most about Enderal’s world?

Johannes: Enderal has a different feeling, a different “flair” in comparison to Skyrim – which also results in it feeling more like a separate game than a mod. We spent a lot of time on the creation of an interesting world, and in total, I’d say that Enderal´s world is a little bit more “European”, especially when it comes to cities and locations. We draw a lot of inspiration from medieval places and cities in Germany and Europe in general. There’s also something hidden everywhere, be it a quest, an interesting sight or a dungeon – that altogether makes exploring Enderal a lot of fun.

What would you say is radically different about Enderal when compared to Skyrim?

Nicolas: The story and leveling/skilling mechanics. The story, because it puts, in general, more emphasis on “mature” themes — as in politics, philosophy and psychology — and the the leveling system because Enderal has no level scaling and learning-by-doing anymore. Instead, the player has to traditionally gather experience points to level up, which can be done by killing monsters, exploring, completing quests, or being witty in dialogue.

That allowed us to reward the player for a variety of accomplishments, rather than just combat. When leveling up, he (or she) then gets skill, perk, and crafting points which he can use to improve his character. The “perk system” has also been entirely overhauled — to the point that we use a custom menu coded in flash instead of the beautiful “star-menu” – and is now a mixture between a traditional class-system, which still has all the advantages of a sandbox-system.

To sum it up: While fans of Skyrim will also like Enderal, it is different. You could say that it is a traditional RPG mixed with hand-crafted design and a beautiful, open world to explore, tactical and challenging combat, and an emotional, psychological story that differs from the usual.

The SureAI team has released a new update about the mods progress on Facebook.

For everyone, who was wondering about the silence in the past two months. The simple answer, as usual: We're working like madmen (and women) and unfortunately, the work we're doing isn't as visually rewarding as other tasks; Balancing, Bugfixing and Quest-Implementation take a lot of time. Furthermore, the German localization got rolling, and we've started the English translation.

A thing some of you might be intersted in: After past years trailer, we were contacted by PCGamer UK. In next months issue, we're represented with a 6-page article about Enderal, with some exclusive information. Here's a Link to the announcement (We're flattered!). As soon as the article goes online, we'll link it here. To wrap it up: Stay tuned! We're doing our best to deliver some new impressions as soon as possible.

The developers of the new Skywind mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim have posted some new Development Videos on the mods website. I can't wait to play the finished mod.

Please watch our development video series to get the best idea about what Skywind, the development team and community behind the game is all about.

Well here is a new Lego web series based on Skyrim from the The Guildmaster Studio.

The young Nord, Bregolas, is caught in an Imperial ambush on the border of Skyrim and Cyrodil, from which he cannot escape. After being captured, he finds himself sentenced to the chopping block, along with a group of Stormcloaks, lead the murderous rebel Ulfric Stormcloak.

I thought it wasn't that bad, but it does  have a few sound problems.

The developers of the new Skywind mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim have released a new trailer that previews the Archipelago,or as they call it a preview of Sheogorad.

A short preview showing the latest alpha-build footage and concepting for the Sheogorad region in Skywind. We wanted to give this region new assets to help it stand out from other areas of Morrowind, and in turn, have changed it's original formations. As always, remember that this is early footage. Be sure to leave comments below! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: (don't hurt me!)

A few scenes showed some real stutter and I apologize. This could be due to my system specs, recording system, the unoptimized region, meshes, weather, etc. The list goes on but it is what it is. Any issues with FPS drops will be dealt with in the final release, so rest easy! Please do not comment on the matter. Thanks!

I came across this new Skyrim mod that was part of the Top 100 mods on moddb. The mod is called I Am The King. and looks very interesting, Lets hope it gets finished.

It is said the Empire of the Septims was born when a man became a god by conquering a whole continent. Among those who opposed Talos were the Bretons. Those vanquished in the battle of Sancre Tor did not all join Tiber Septim. Some fled his domination. Led by Grégoire de Sistre, they founded a new kingdom, New High Rock, in a remote area.

Shadows blends with light in the fate of this land. Noble knights serve tyrannical lords; learned enchanters hold conclaves in high towers while necromancers plot malevolent schemes in dark vaults; paladins and priests fight horrors spawned by the Old Forest. Here, ancient legends are still alive and mingling with new epics.

In his castle, an old king worn out by years of feudal wars witness his reign’s twilight. Who will wield Saarthul, the sword of Grégoire de Sistre, to restore glory and unity to the kingdom of New High Rock? Will you be the next king? Or will you only be one more name on the long list of victims of the War of the Broken Sword?

“I Am the King!” will make you travel in an immense region between Skyrim and High Rock in which dwell numerous wonders and dangers in its vast cities, castles, woods and dungeons. Overcome its perils and rise to the kingdom’s elite by sword, magic or scheme in a setting blending Western Middle Age and Elder Scrolls lore

The SureAI team has released a new video blog for Enderal: Shards Of Order. The video talks about how housing and crafting will work in the Skyrim mod.

Well met, after a year's time and thanks to both St. One - a German Let's Player who has played Nehrim for what seems like an eternity - and our talented and commited scripter Sam, the time has finally come: The second episode of our devblog just went online!

This time we'll shed some light on the topic of crafting and housing in Enderal, the former with a brand-new, self-coded system that will hopefully provide for a lot of fun.

Before showing you the video, a shameless plea to all those who haven't done it yet: The moddb.com - awards, in which we were nominated for the category "Best Upcoming/Most anticipated", have almost come to an end. If you haven't done so already, we'd greatly appreciate a vote for us!

The feedback for our trailer so far has been a blast, which we totally didn't expect. Thanks again!

The SureAI team has released a new trailer for Enderal: Shards Of Order.

Greetings, the time has come: The Moddb.com – Voting has entered its second phase, and, thanks to you, we made it into the top 100.

This means no less that in the following ten days, it will be decided whether we reach our big goal and gather enough votes to be awarded the first place in the category “Best Upcoming 2014”. In that sense: If you support our project (and us, as a team, since the prize awarded for the winners would really help us for our future planes), please visit our page on Moddb and cast a vote for us. There’s no registration required.

To give you an additional motivation, we prepared something special: Enderal’s first trailer. At that point, thanks once again to Benjamin Britton and David Riedel for lending us their voice.

Skyrim hit the west like a thu'um, and it made a huge impact here in America, where I live.  But why was it so huge?  Rice University attempts to examine that in a new course.

In a fantastic refutation of the snobby derisiveness most of academia levels at video games, Professor Donna Ellard is offering a course in Skyrim to her students at Rice University. It isn’t a development or game design class, either. “Scandinavian Fantasy Worlds: Old Norse Sagas and Skyrim,” which first hit the course catalogue in 2012, is interdisciplinary but leans towards the humanities–students play the game, of course, but they  also read Norse mythology and Freudian psychoanalysis to try and determine why Skyrim holds such appeal for American audiences. “We have no historical relationship to the British mediaeval past, and, even further afield than that, we’ve got no cultural kinship with Scandinavia…so the class is really interrogating why we have such strong cathexis to a medieval period that is not our own and also to a medieval period that is markedly Viking,” Ellard told the New Statesman.

Professor Ellard believes that connections can be drawn between the setting of Skyrim and the current state of American politics–not the jazzy fantasy bits where the dragons are returning, but the tensions between empires and their unhappy subjects.  “[Skyrim] comes in a world post-9/11. [This] was a moment in which the US started to realise it was an empire on the rocks and its popularity through the beginning of the 2000s very much corresponded both to its insecurities as a nation and as an empire that recognised itself as no longer the tour de force that it thought it was,” said Ellard.

Odds are, most Americans bought the game so that they could hack wizards to death with a battle axe, and that’s fine. Ellard does have a point, though: the stories that a culture chooses to tell are good indicators for what that culture cares about. So for America, that’s the murky morality of an imperial system of government, and dragons. Sounds about right.

More information.

The SureAI team has released a new teaser trailer for Enderal: Shards Of Order. They've also announced they have been nominated in the "Best Upcoming" category in Moddb.com's "Mod of the year" awards and have asked for your support. If you want to help them, head over to Moddb.com and vote for their project.

I'm probably one of three people on this planet who haven't played Skyrim yet (it's collecting dust in my Steam library, though), but IGN has an article with 9 Skyrim Secrets You Probably Didn't Find.

One of the more spooky secrets in Skyrim, you can find a Headless Horseman roaming the wilds on his spectral steed. He can be hard to locate, but if you manage to find and follow him to his final destination, you’ll find yourself at Hamvir’s Rest, where along with a number of undead enemies, you can find a coffin with a helmeted skull. Too Spooky For Me.

For more information, head over to IGN and find out which (if any) of the secrets you already know.

Gamespot has made a video guide to the top 5 best Skyrim mods. One of them is a weapons mod, another one of them is called Weaponized Whippersnappers. You can watch all 5 of them here. 

It's a good thing to see Skywind progressing as beautifully as it is.  The team shows us how they're doing with this latest development video.  Thanks, lostforever.

Sure A.I posted a new development update for their mod Enderal: Shards Of Order.

Greetings,A lot has happened recently. Thanks to both dedicated and skilled growth in our team (A UI-Programmer, an animation artist, and a new scripter), we're finally able to reach the level of professional quality we were aiming for from the start. And you can look forward to a load of new video-updates, demonstrating new features, in the next year.

PR has fallen a little short lately, as you've probably already noticed. This is due to the fact that we simply need every free minute we can get to work on Enderal. Nonetheless we've prepared some new material, which will hopefully sweeten the waiting for you.

The developers of the new Skywind mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim have released a new trailer that previews the games latest build of the mod.

The latest developer release has finally hit! Take an inside look at newest content for Skywind version 0.9.5. This version is NOT available for public release, and does NOT mean it is close to a release. This is our largest update yet and we are very happy with the work that has been put in. Progress is being made as usual, but there is much to be done. If you want to support this project, visit https://tesrenewal.com/ for details!

Jodie Rodgers of Continue-Play posted a new article that talks about in her opinion the Defining Moments of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. As usual here a small sample.

Skyrim is a journey that will last with you long after you put the controller down or turn the computer off. Every aspect of the world that Bethesda has created for the player is designed in such a way that immerses them into the life of their character. Although decisions don’t affect the story in such a way as other RPG’s sometimes do, I still felt like my presence made a difference in the world. I wasn’t just playing as the Dragonborn. I was Dovahkiin, Dragonborn, hero of Tamriel and the woman who would learn the language of the Thu’um in order to rid the world of the menace that was Alduin.

More so than any other game has before or after it, Skyrim changed my life (which sounds completely cliché, I know). It was the game that truly rekindled my love of video games and is the reason I became so interested in their development. Without Skyrim, I’d probably be studying to be a social worker at university. Instead, I’m learning more about how this industry works, how games are created, talking to developers and seeing the passion that every single member of this community puts into the products that they create, or even play. I wouldn’t be here sharing this experience with you as a writer.

Honestly, I don’t think the RPG genre as we now know it would be the same. The question that is always raised when a triple-A RPG is set for release is: “Is this game the next Skyrim?” or “How does this game compare to Skyrim?” It helped set the standard for the genre and is used as a comparison, not only in terms of success, but in terms of quality. It truly is an experience which will change the perspective of just about anyone who plays.

Technology Tell has a new article for Skyrim about some of the games amusing collision glitches. I found it hilarious as some them have happened to me while playing.

As you may have suspected from the plethora of articles I’ve written about it, I play a great deal of Skyrim. It’s a wonderful game, with beautiful graphics and amazing gameplay. But sometimes, things don’t exactly work the way the programmer planned it. People wind up in the air, or inside of things that they’re not supposed to be inside of. Case in point.

Yes, those are floating mammoths. I don’t know why they’re floating up in the air, but there they are. They hung there for a while, too, choosing not to fall down even when I ran jup to hit the giant with my sword. Mammoths aren’t the only thing that float, though.

The SureAI Team released two new screenshots for Enderal: Shards Of Order. I can't wait to play the the final build of the mod hopefully sometime early next year.

Two brand-new samples from Enderals interior-design. 

The developers of the new Skywind mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrimhave released a new trailer that shows the modders progress on the Bitter Coast.

An exclusive look at the latest work on the Bitter Coast. As always, many models are placeholders and everything is subject to change. Please enjoy!

The developers of Enderal: Shards Of Order have posted a new update on the Mod DB page with a new video that gives us a preview of the Frostcliff Mountains area.

The Northwind Mountains are a region situated in the far north of Enderal. Though being inhospitable due to their extreme cold and perilous fauna – Lost Ones, Frost Myrads and Glacier elementals, only to mention a few -, they used be well-travelled in the past. This fact was due to the Northwind-mines, where the valuable Northwind rocks were mined, which are rumored to be close to indestructible, thus making them a highly sought-after material for the construction of castles, treasure chambers and fortresses. After the closing of the mines, however, the region was left abandoned, leaving behind ghost villages and dangerous, semi-collapsed mineshafts, which still attract adventurers and treasure hunters.

The developers of Enderal: Shards Of Order SureAI have posted a new update on the games Mod DB page with a new video about the bard system.

Today, we want to introduce a feature which has been in the works since the early stages of development: The bard-system. Aside from several new instrumental lute and flute-pieces, we work closely with our lector and composer, Holomay to compose bard-songs which can be heard on several occasions ingame. The objective here isn't simply to make the songs beautiful, but to also have them transport lore and the Endralean culture in general.

Pixlbit has a new article that names The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Game of The Generation.

So, to address Todd Howard’s perspective, how does Skyrim make you feel? It makes you feel that the world is a massive, beautiful place that beckons you to discover and tempts you to chase the horizon. It reminds us that there is always knowledge to be learned, a tale to share, and an adventure to be had. It tells us that we write our own legend, and dares us to branch out in an effort to better know ourselves and to leave our mark in the world. Most importantly, it informs us that the answers we seek in life can often be found by simply doing what we love and immersing ourselves in a great work of art. For these reasons, and so many more, The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim stands as my undisputed Game of The Generation.

Nathan Hughes of Onlysp has written a new article for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim where he talks about hoarding. and why he can't stop doing it while playing the game.

If there’s one thing that can be said about gamers everywhere, it’s that we love to hoard stuff. By having an inventory full of legendary enchanted equipment that’s just gathering dust, I admit that I, or my characters in games, have a serious case of hoarding. As a result, I decided to peel back the layers of games like Skyrim and uncover the real reason to just why I have a house full of cheese wheels and fur boots. I wish I was making this up.

The  developers of Enderal: Shards Of Order have posted a new update on the Mod DB page with a new video that shows the Heartland area you will visit in the mod.

The "Heartland" is the most commonly used name to describe the densely wooded region in the middle of Enderal. It is home both to Ark, the majestic capital city of the country, as well as to several highly-travelledtrade routes connecting Enderals villages and trade-posts. Awry oaktrees and tall scot pines provide for a dense vegetation, and both small and big rivers weave their way through the winding thickets. From time to time,the daring traveller might find an old crypt or an old ruin, the latter most likely an abandoned trade post from the times of the "Isolation".

Spawnfirst has a posted a new article called Games You Love and Why You Shouldn’t, and this time they take a look at The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Everyone is familiar with the mega-hit The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Transcending popularity among only gamers, the game is a major mainstream hit. Skyrim  made it cool to talk about elves and magic in public; too many times to count, I overheard people swapping stories and comparing dragon slaying strategies. The game consistently earned near perfect and perfect scores, giving it the adoration of gamers everywhere. However, I don’t fall into this category. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed playing Skyrim. But I did find some egregious errors that no one else seems to discuss. I’m sure I’m the odd man out here, but here are some reasons why Skyrim  isn’t that great.

It's been a while since I checked up on the mod Enderal: Shards Of Order, and surprise the game has a new update on the Mod DB page from last month.

As this year slowly strolls towards summer (well - in Europe, at least), we're happy to tell you that we're making quite some progress at the moment. Frankly, we haven't shown a lot of ingame-material in the past months, which is, however, apt to change pretty soon. A great part of the regions and levels are now reaching their final stage, and we're also progressing pretty well in terms of gameplay-programming and quest-implementation.

PC Gamer's Andy Kelly has posted a new article for Skyrim as part of the magazines new column called On The Level. Here is a small sample of his article.

On The Level: Skyrim, The Elder Scrolls V

Every week Andy celebrates a great map, level, or location from a classic PC game in On The Level. This week it’s the snowy land of Skyrim from the fifth Elder Scrolls game.

Journey from one corner of Skyrim to another and you’ll encounter a range of varied and atmospheric landscapes. Each hold has its own look and feel, which makes the map feel a lot bigger than it actually is. You get a sense that this is a vast country, rather than a small section of a larger world. Each area has its own history, cultures, and climate, resting in the shadow of the colossal Throat of the World—the tallest mountain in Skyrim, whose icy peak stretches far above the clouds.

Expansive DLC has a new podcast for Skyrim about gaming addiction, and modding.

Skyrim Addicts Podcast Interview

The Elder Scrolls series is fortunate enough to have a community that is as vast as the games themselves.  No doubt you’ve either experienced or at least read about the variety of mods constantly being developed for the various titles in the series.

The more recent titles such as Skyrim are constantly receiving updates and expanded content and even in some case complete graphical overhauls in the case of Skywind and Skyblivion. In addition to this fans of the series are constantly sharing and discussing their various experiences within the game, through forums and wikis, and of course showing their passion for the games through works of fan fiction and fan artwork.

It truly is a fanbase to be admired and one that if even if you have just a passing interest in the Elder Scrolls Series, then you should certainly consider jumping in and becoming a member yourself.

A particularly interesting corner of the The Elder Scrolls community is the Skyrim Addicts Podcast, a podcast where the host Michael David chronicles his journey through the game. I spoke to Michael we got to discuss all things Elder Scrolls and the Elder Scrolls community, it really is quite fascinating to hear how engaged and involved the Skyrim community can become with the game.

Games.On.Net intervirewed Bethesda’s Pete Hines who shares his thoughts on modding, and why he thinks Skyrim was so successful. As usual here is a small preview.

With Bethesda widely expected to announced a major new RPG at this year’s E3 conference next month, we asked the company’s Global Director of PR and Marketing what he thought made Skyrim such a breakout success for the company. While Skyrim did herald major changes to the game’s appearance and continued tweaks to the formula, Hines said that there was more to it than just simple continual upgrades.

“I also think that comes down to ‘right game, right time’,” Hines said. “At that point in the console life cycle, to have that big of a game come out, with that big of an audience already out there and ready and able to play that game, it was just… almost a perfect storm of potential for a game like that.”

Hines countered my assertion that Skyrim was the most important RPG for the company by saying that, in fact, “the most influential or game-changing Elder Scrolls game was Morrowind.”

“That was the first one that we did that was not just on PC. We did it on Xbox, and it opened up that kind of a game to a console audience, and at the time people said to us ‘That is never going to fly. Console gamers will not get a game like this, it’s too complex, blah blah blah.’ But it did awesome. It sold and sold and sold for years and years and years.”

“I think the success of that was really a big watershed moment for us as a company when we realised like, gamers are gamers, and people like fun stuff regardless of what platform they play. And that was where we felt like we really started to grow our audience out of just PC only to a much wide, broader audience that made games like Oblivion, and Fallout 3, and everything we’ve done since then a real possibility. It helped Bethesda go from being one internal studio and a dozen external ones to all these internal studios that are doing different things but that share a kind of common design philosophy.”

Smosh Games released a new honest trailer for Bethesda's released open world RPG Skyrim. I found it to be the best representationof the game.

Warning: Video is meant to be humorous do not take it seriously.

From the developers of everything Elder Scrolls comes a game so immersive you'll forget to eat, sleep, or make any friends at all. You'll spend countless hours trapped in a far off land; and when you finally emerge from the game, you'll only find disappointment and boredom back in the real world.

Eurogamer's Tony Coles has written a new article for Skyrim where he writes about how Bethesda's open world game remains as fresh as ever. Here is a sample.

How often have you gone back to a game you thought you'd exhausted, only to find it full of prospects and potential? In a fallow period for vast open-world RPGs, a lazy visit to see my Skyrim house opened more than furniture filled with hard-earned goodies. Nostalgia took hold and prompted a look at my open quests list, and from there I was picking up the threads of a game that had laid dormant for a good 18 months.

Hardcore Gamer has a new article that takes a look at the success of Skyrim.

With Skyrim showing that mainstream success doesn’t have to come at the expense of freedom and depth, what does this mean for the future of the industry? Whether or not you like Skyrim, there’s really no arguing its success will have a positive effect on the greater gaming industry. Skyrim is a game with hundreds of hours of content, no microtransactions or payed cheats, DLC that is priced right and offers dozens of hours of content, and developer sanctioned modding tools that result in hundreds more hours of great community made content. A game that does all this and also happens to be one of the most successful games of all time can only ever be a positive influence on the industry.

If your interested in virtual reality then Cyberith has a video you have to watch. They play Skyrim using their Cyberith Virtualizer, Oculus Rift, and a Wii Mote.

In this video, you see me as a Dovahkiin in SKYRIM with the VIRTUALIZER, the OCULUS RIFT and a WII MOTE. And again my brain decoupled from reality and i was in the world of Skyrim. It was an amazing experience to interact in that beautiful environment.

Gamespot has news The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has been bought over 20 million times.

Bethesda Game Studios' acclaimed single-player role-playing game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has now sold more than 20 million copies since launch in November 2011.

Bethesda announced the news as part of a recent press release, but did not say if the sales figure refers to sell-in (shipped) or sell-through (sold). We've asked a Bethesda representative for comment.

The SureAI Team has a new update for Enderal: Shards Of Order with some concept art.

Some time has passed since our last update - But rest assured, this is mainly due to the fact that we're working quite a lot at the moment and are making very good progress. But enough of the words! :)

OverlordGaming has a new article with a guide to help people mod Skyrim.

With the Elder Scrolls Online MMORPG several months away, gamers are filling the gaps between their beta session times by revisiting the last Elder Scrolls release, known as TES V: Skyrim.

Now with three official DLCs and over two years of user third party mods available, Skyrim has set a high benchmark for both ESO and the yet unconfirmed TES VI.

Today I am going to discuss various mods and tweaks that I use and have used for the majority of my Skyrim playing. Subjects to be covered are graphics, audio, game play, monster diversity, AI/Intelligence, convenience (e.g. horses that follow you while you’re on foot, and horses for companions) and much more. The guide will be broken down into three parts with the first two covering a visual overhaul.

Before we get started, lets mention where you will find the majority of the data and files, which is at the Skyrim Nexus. Here will be available to you all manner of user made mods, of which you can search by various categories or directly by name. There is also a manager for your modifications, aptly titled Nexus Mod Manager which is available from the front page. Please note that downloads of over 2mb in size require a user to be logged in. The registration is free.

A modder by the name of sheson has released a new memory patch that allows Skyrim to fix infinite loading screens, and other memory related CTD freezes.

Time for Skyrim Memory Patch 3.0

It has been a while since the first memory patch that fixed 4GB LAA that made it into the official game. Thanks to Boris we have the second memory patch ENBoost taking care of textures not wasting main memory anymore. In this naming tradition this third memory patch will allow Skyrim to use that available space right from the start to fix ILS (infinite loading screen) without side effects and other memory related CTD (crashes to desktop) or freezes. After many hours of peeking and poking it turns out there is a simple fix and one has to wonder why this is not something that is implemented as an option or parameter for the PC version of the game.

How it works

When tesv.exe is started it allocates two 256MB blocks of memory. When the first block gets full, the engine will allocate more blocks. This can cause the known troubles. Thankfully, by telling the engine to request a bigger block from the start it magically makes use of it without any further ado. This isn't the case with the second block. Thankfully again, the second block does not fill up as quickly and once it is full the engine does not trip over itself when allocating more blocks.

To make the engine allocate a larger block of memory it needs to be patched. This needs to happen very early in the process. This can not be done by a SKSE plugin because they are executed much later. However, SKSE loader already patches tesv.exe before the game starts and since SKSE sources are provided adding the patch is straight forward.

Enderal: Shards Of Order was interviewed by a German site called GamersGroundDE. Now before I forget the video is in German , but you can use subtitles.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun has a guest article with infomation about modding Skyrim.

An occupational risk of Christmas is that the great mead (Jaffa Cakes) hall of my in-laws’ living room will inspire me to reinstall Skyrim, post a few fancy screenshots, and sure enough get a few emails asking for some mythical mod guide. Then comes the abuse: “He doesn’t want anyone to have his secret sauce!” Or: “His Skyrim doesn’t look like that – *snort* – those are Photoshopped.” Only they don’t capitalise Photoshop because they didn’t have to sit through that publishing meeting, lucky old them.

They’re almost right about one thing: my Skyrim doesn’t look like that. Likewise, when someone asks me what English weather is like, I don’t answer: ‘It’s like that evening drive between Dorset and Wiltshire when a torrential downpour gave way to just the best sunshine that lit up the faces of distant historic buildings and cast painterly shadows across dale and field.’ What I tell them is that, nine times out of ten, ‘it’s shit.’

What posters of modded Skyrim shots fail to mention is that their game only looks like that 1 per cent of the time, from 0.01 per cent of the vantage points on the map. The numbers are only slightly better for any videogame screenshot worth a damn. Whether you’re an industry screenshot artist or a Steam Community superstar or whatever, what you’re doing is marketing. Selling. Lying by omission.

What the posters also don’t mention is that the mountainous challenge of taking those shots is precisely why many people play Skyrim now more than ever. Alduin is dead but the quest for ultimate graphics goes on… and on. The fallacy of asking ‘how to make Skyrim look like that’ is that you simply don’t know what Skyrim might look like whenever you fire it up. That’s the point.

Think-Entertainment has a new article that takes a look at the design philosophy of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

The opening sequences of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim aren’t exactly Imperial propaganda material. The player has been kidnapped alongside members of the Stormcloaks, a revolutionary faction, and an Empire bigwig decides that the best policy is “execute now, ask questions later,” despite the player being conspicuously absent from her naughty list.

Although the Imperial with a mediaeval clipboard sympathises, the player is soon face-to-blade with a rather large axe; but before said axe is introduced to the player’s neck, the person wielding it is distracted by an altogether unfriendly dragon, who has turned up to rain fire on the Empire’s parade. Still, the player escapes the chopping block; it seems that even clouds hiding dragons behind them have silver linings.

My point here is that the beginning of the game actively influences the player in favour of the Stormcloaks. We naturally feel hard done by, given that the Empire has ordered our execution for no apparent reason, and it goes somewhat beyond General Tullius’ birthday present getting mysteriously lost in the post. Even if the player decides that sticking with the Imperial soldiers would increase the chances of surviving the dragon attack, we find a rather unpleasant torture chamber (and an even more unpleasant torturer) whilst looking for the back door keys to escape the town.

Sure AI has a short trailer for Enderal: Shards Of Order with a look at the class system.

It's been four month since we released the first episode of our devblog, in which we demonstrated Enderals brand new class-system with its unlockable memories. We've been working on it for quite some time now, scripting new talents, testing them (only to find out they would crush our Gamedesign completely), discarding them and rescripting them again. But it's been worth it: Our class/memory-system with all its talents, new spells and perks is now fully implemented!

The following video is a small cut-together showing some more talents in action. Of course this is only meant to whet your appetite, but hopefully you'll like it nonetheless.

Have you ever played Skyrim and thought the game world is barren. If you did a talented modder at the Nexus has a few mods to repopulate the game world.

Populated Cities Towns Villages

Now all cities, towns and villages have new NPCs, with their AI, daily routines and actions. Compatible with everything (I suggest you to use with Immersive Settlements and Inconsequential NPCs), this mod does not use scripts. All new NPCs are respawnable, with different aspects.

Populated Forts Towers Places

How is possible that few bandits may conquer and keep a fort? Why most of them are inside when only 4-5 bandits are patrolling the walls? Now these oddities are fixed. More bandits, more immersion, more challenge and much, much other. Without using scripts, compatible with anything.

Populated Dungeons Caves Ruins 

Now a lot of locations (mainly caves and ruins) are more populated by enemies. This mod aims to give you: surprises, more challenge, more immersion and much other. PDCR is script-free and should be compatible almost with anything.

SureAI has released a new development update for Enderal: Shards Of Order. They also have a new story trailer if your interested.

It would be a lie to say that mod development is always easy, because it isn’t. Realizing the vision of a mod project of such great scale doesn’t only require creativity and a whole lot of passion, but above all a lot of stamina, reliability and an eye for the feasibility of one’s own goals. It is so easy to get lost in the invention of countless, unrealizable features!

So now the year has come to an end, and with new experiences under our belt and many miles closer to our goal, a new year is awaiting us – hopefully as productive and insightful as this one! The constant support of our fans, the commitment of our voluntary voice actors, and tokens of appreciation such as achieving the 2nd place in this years “Mod of the year”-awards (Category: Best upcoming) will help us a lot with that. The last one wouldn’t have been possible without your support, and we sincerely want to thank you for all your votes. As well with these words as with a “end of the year”-bundle we have put together to express our gratitude as well as to grant you new insights into the game Enderal will be. We were actually planning to release the second episode of our devblog, but we postponed it since we wanted to give you all something “special”, which you will find at the end of this post. We were unsure on whether to release it or not, but we did – and we hope you will all like it.

That being said, we wish you both a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2014!

Gamer Headlines has posted a new article showing off the different ways you can can improve Skyrim. Now most of us already know how to do this, but this may help some new gamers.

Closing thoughts

I’m going to stop here, since there are so many great mods that I could talk about, that my fingers would most likely fall off sooner than I would finish. The fact is, Skyrim is a great game, and has so much fun content to play with, that it can keep players busy for months. I haven’t even mentioned some of the mods that add actual new islands to the game with hundreds of new quests. The point is, modding Skyrim is a time-consuming process, but it’s well worth the investment. You can add hundreds of hours to the game for free, while making those hours even more enjoyable.

The best place to find mods for skyrim is on skyrimnexus.com, a website that not only offers a collection of mods and info on what they do, but also offers tutorials on how to properly mod Skyrim to avoid crashes and errors. You can also download the Nexus Mod Manager from their website, a small program that makes downloading and installing mods convenient. Added to that, I recommend using WryeBash, a small program that provides management and safety protocols for Skyrim modding.

So, what are you waiting for? Re-install Skyrim, get to modding, and enjoy the ride!

The Sixth Axis has posted a new article taking a look at Skyrim, and trying to put in perspective to our world. Weird I know but it's interesting.

On our planet we humans are without a doubt the most dominant species, adapting to and, more often than not, changing the very landscape to fit our wants and needs. During that process how many species have we harmed or driven to extinction with our own demands coming before any others? What if those species could rise up and start a war or even have the ability to overthrow the oppressive humans. Would we sit back and let it happen or fight for our survival and status to remain at the top?

A scenario similar to the hypothetical one I just described occurs in Skyrim, though it’s not the humans that are being overthrown, but doing the overthrowing. In this world the Dragons ruled for centuries, stepping on the humans to advance their own species, even using the humans as slaves to do their bidding.

When the slaves revolt of course the Dragons do what they must to maintain order in their kingdom. However, the slaves are strong and clever which leads the Dragons to take more and more risks to fight back. The war becomes so desperate that the humans can’t kill Alduin so they send him to a different part of time where he and his army have already lost.

ENBSeries creator Boris Vorontsov has released a new video for Skyrim with some new water effects in his upcoming ENBSeries update.

Procedural caustic generated from water textures and dispersion. Upcoming effect of ENBSeries graphic enchancement for TES Skyrim

As promised here is the interview were Fluent talks to the creators of the Nehrim mod about their next undertaking Enderal: Shards Of Order.

Being a big fan of Nehrim, I recently thought it would be a good idea to reach out to SureAI, the creators of Nehrim, and see if they would answer some questions about their new project, Enderal: Shards Of Order. Thankfully, they obliged (thanks, fellas!), so I typed out a few questions and sent them off.  Here is what they had to say.

As a bonus here is a new video talking about the mods class system.

Press2Reset has a new editorial asking,"Is Skyrim the high point of this generation?"

One of the more facile comments gamers occasionally level at one another is the instruction to play the game the way the developers intended it to be played. We should resist this command when we hear it and embrace those developers who also eschew it. And no studio rejects this mantra more so than Bethesda.

The developer’s internally made RPGs (Fallout 3 and The Elder Scrolls series) are underpinned by a freedom of player choice. Go where you want, do what you want. Play the main story, or ignore it. Pursue a widening network of missions across the whole map, or while away your days in a quiet retreat. Ultimately, player agency is a core tenet of the games themselves.

And that’s before you’ve even got to the modding.

It took a PC to reveal to me the true depths of Skyrim. An unashamed console gamer for years, I had enjoyed (but no more than that) the fifth Elder Scrolls title when it released on Xbox 360. I passed a good number of hours in its company and even delved into the first DLC.

However, around this time, a minor domestic accident caused me to upgrade my bog standard laptop (damned cat). I decided to invest a few extra quid and get myself something capable of running some games. It proved to be momentous.

If you are a fan of Dishonred and Skyrim a mod called Gifts of the Outsider is pefecrt for you. It can be downloaded from the Nexus.

GIFTS OF THE OUTSIDER

Imagine if the worlds of Skyrim and Dishonored were merely different realities in the same universe. What if the Outsider, a being beyond worlds, could traverse across these realities? Well this mod explores that idea by bringing the Outsider, the void and Corvos abilities to Skyrim.

Features

This mod adds the six signature abilities of Dishonored into Skyrim through a quest featuring fully voice acted Outsider.

The spells are as follows:

Blink: Leap across distances instantaneously.

Void Gaze: See in darkness and detect beings through walls

Devouring Swarm: Summon a horde of rats to distract or kill your opponents

Possession: Take control of a being directly behind them once the effect has ended.

Wind Blast: Blast away your opponents with a powerful gust of wind.

Bend Time: Slow time to a crawl for everyone but yourself. Great for escaping a difficult situation.

IGN has a new editorial article for Skyrim were Richard Wordsworth explains how modders have vastly improved the game on the PC.

The greatest secret of the Glorious PC Master Race is that – shh - most games on PC and games on consoles are basically the same, whether you're herding it along with a keyboard or a games controller. But the PC modding communities for games like Skyrim are the exception to that rule: talented individuals (or teams) working long hours to create all manner of extra content and gameplay tweaks, while console players must wait like Dickens characters for their next serving of official DLC. The PC is an immeasurably better place to play Skyrim than on console, and its modding community is why.

The jump-off for Skyrim's legions of modders is the Creation Kit - a suite of world-building tools that let players and would-be designers play around with the game's toybox of items, characters and dungeons. The Creation Kit is free to download (as are its equivalents for other Bethesda games) and very powerful: depending on your skill level you can create anything from simple dungeons to fully-voiced, ten-hour questlines with new animations, weapons, spells and lighting effects. Or, if you're Scott Caunce, you can cover everything in palm trees.

GameInformer has a new article showcasing and interviewing the makers of a mod called Beyond Skyrim.

Beyond Skyrim is a fan-made, unofficial expansion pack for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which aims to allow players to visit every corner of Tamriel. A goal as ambitious as this is no easy undertaking, so we talked to community modder Will Hillson about how the team came together and how they’re constructing environments that have never been featured in a game before.

How did the project get started? How many people are involved?

I suppose that the idea of recreating the whole of Tamriel has existed ever since Bethesda released its first modding tool with The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind back in 2003. But Beyond Skyrim itself was started in a discussion thread on the Bethesda Forums back in 2011, during the run-up to the release of Skyrim. We originally envisioned it as a talking shop for separate projects working on building different areas of Tamriel, so that we could co-operate and avoid duplicating work. But it’s grown to become much more than that. Today, Beyond Skyrim is a full-blown collaborative effort between six autonomous teams working on different areas, all of which are housed together in a dedicated section on the Skyrim modding website Dark Creations.

When do you expect this project to be completed?

We’ll progressively release in several stages. To keep the file sizes under control, each nation is going to be released as a separate package. We are currently working on the regions, which directly border Skyrim, and once that is completed, we plan to slowly spread out from there to the rest of Tamriel. All being well, we are aiming at releasing these first slices of Tamriel in the first half of 2014.

Rock Paper Shotgun gave the Falskaar Mod for Skyrim a try and find it very well done given that it was created by an amateur.

The article, like this snippet contains spoilers.

If the exploration is a little bit lacking, it’s only because the quests have been obsessed over. It’s a remarkably well-crafted soap opera of men fretting over what they have and trying to defend it. It begins with a few bandit raids, but soon I was escaping from burning cities through secret passageways. Or I was raiding armouries for secrets, fighting my way though a multi-level bandit-hovel that took a few tries to get right. I don’t know if the AI has been tweaked, or if it was the fact that my character was brand new, but that dungeon was a tough fight, with multiple opponents crowding around me, and it wasn’t the only time I had to redo a dungeon. That said, they’re well designed, and most will allow you to leave without backtracking.

Even if it is just a Nordic head-butting contest, those heads are wearing crowns. A lot is at stake, and it manages that odd Skyrim trick of presenting interesting challenges through interminable speeches. But the fact that those are happening at all is proof of the ridiculous steps that have been taken to make Falskaar what it is: hours of dialogue have been recorded for the mod. Vast speeches spill out of mouths that should be silent. The writing even manages to capture Skyrim’s weary Nordic pretty acutely. Even NPC barks have been recorded, with one commenting on my Elvish appearance. This is ridiculous: a fully committed cast of hopeful amateurs very nearly catches up to Bethesda’s efforts. They should be proud, and Bethesda should be a little bit ashamed.

SureAI the makers of the best Oblivion mod called "Nehrim: At Fate’s Edge" has released the first in-game footage of their next project "Enderal The Shards of Order." The only sad thing about this newsbit is that there is no ETA yet.

Enderal is an upcoming Total Conversion for Skyrim by SureAI, the modding team who released "Nehrim: At Fate's Edge"in 2010.

Nehrim is a stand-alone TC for Oblivion with its own world, story and modified gameplay, offering a total of 80+ hours of gameplay. It was awarded Moddb.com's prestigious "Best Singleplayer Mod 2010"-award, as well as PCGamer's "Best Mod 2010".

Enderal: The Shard's of Order will be Nehrim's sucessor with it's, own world, lore and characters. It runs completely independent from Skyrim and will feature an overhauled gameplay system, a huge landmass to explore - ranging from peaceful heaths to lush forests, over sandy deserts to snowy mountains - and a mature, thought-provoking plot. The above grants is a small insight into the world of Enderal.

We just wanted to stress that this is not a real "teaser" or "trailer".

While Nehrim included only German, professional Voice-Acting, we're aiming to include a complete, English synchronization for Enderal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlZCm...

There is no set release date yet, but the development is going fairly well.
Be excited!

http://www.sureai.de/?lang=en

http://www.moddb.com/mods/enderal

https://www.facebook.com/SureAI?fref=ts

PCGAMER has an interview with the mod author Alexander J. Velicky. If you recall he wants a job with Bethesda, and used his first try at modding Skyrim to get their attention.

I organized everyone involved, but the voice actors themselves recorded all the dialogue and submitted it to me,” Velicky told me. Though over 100 people contributed in some way, including composing an original soundtrack, Velicky took their contributions and plugged them into Falskaar himself. “I had some people help me out with a few models and textures, someone wrote a book or two for me… But otherwise all content was implemented, written and developed by me.”

So how does a 19-year-old take the helm of a creative project of this size? Velicky wants a job. He graduated from high school over a year ago, and instead of finding a design school, he turned Bethesda’s Creation Kit into his classroom, spending 2,000 hours over the last year building Falskaar.

“[My dad] was incredibly supportive and allowed me to live here, paying for living expenses and charging no rent,” Velicky says. “I was able to not go to school and not have a day job. Meaning, more or less, that Falskaar was my day job.”

The mod is fully voice-acted by 29 voice actors playing 54 characters (Velicky held auditions), and the quality is much higher than most community-made content. “I’m still kind of shocked at some of the talent I got on the project… and every single one of them surpassed my expectations by leaps and bounds.”

A massive dungeon, “Watervine Chasm,” may be Falskaar’s crowning achievement. It took Velicky three weeks to build and players report it takes an hour or two to complete. The community response has been overwhelmingly positive.

“Falskaar isn’t perfect,” Velicky says. “I’m not an expert who’s been crafting game experiences for the last 20 years, so I certainly still have a lot to learn, and I always will. I’m always looking to learn and improve, and Falskaar was a huge chance for me to do this.”

According to Velicky, Bethesda is aware that he’s out there, and he isn’t shy about putting his goals right out on the table. “The best way to show Bethesda Game Studios that I want a job there and should be hired is to create content that meets the standards of their incredible development team.”

GamesRadar recommends fourteen mods we must have to make the game look like a next generation game.

A whole new world

A few weeks back, we suggested that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim needs a next-gen re-release on the PS4 and Xbox One. Why? Because it's a vastly superior experience when playing on a gaming PC compared to current-gen consoles.

Whether or not you agree that Bethesda should put resources into a next-gen makeover, there's no denying that player-made mods have given us an infinite number of reasons to revisit those icy, dragon-infested lands.

In fact, if you have a decent gaming rig already--or are interested in building a gaming PC--you can find out right now what a next-gen console release could potentially look like. Just install the following mods, and voila--you're on the next-gen level. But keep in mind, the more mods you install, the harder the hit on your performance.

It's time for another mod for Skyrim that needs attention and it's called Falskaar. The mod adds over 20+hrs to the game, and is made by a modder that wants a job at Bethesda.

It can be downloaded from Skyrim Nexus.

Falskaar is a new lands mod that adds an entirely new worldspace to the world. It's accessed by a dungeon the first time, then by boat from then on out. Falskaar's goal was to act as a DLC, adding content in almost every area. There is a new land, places, people, quests, dungeons and more for the player to experience. It adds roughly 20+ hours of content, and favors all types of characters.

Features

- An entirely new land independant of Tamriel, roughly the size of 2-3 Skyrim holds.
- 20-30+ hours of gameplay.
- 26 quests, including a 9 quest long main story, and 17 side quests! (Along with some unmarked content)
- New items including new books, recipes, weapons and armor sets. (A mix of brand new, and retextured)
- Two new spells and a new shout.
- A bard with several unique new songs.
- A soundtrack containing 14 brand new tracks composed by Adamm Khuevrr just for Falskaar, adding more than 40 minutes of new music!
- A fully voiced experience, featuring almost 30 semi-professional and professional voice actors and actresses.

Not all quests in this mod blatantly hold your hand. If you seem to be stuck, look around and think through the quest. All quests were rigorously tested for complete-ability, so it's more likely than not that you just have to figure it out without a blatant quest marker telling you what to do.

"I'm going to wait until the bugs have

 been patched."

With all due respect, prospective downloader, you are crazy! Falskaar was rigorously tested nonstop by a very dedicated quality assurance team for the entire duration of its development. This means that there are very few bugs, if any, that you will encounter. (This does not include mod compatibility issues, for which I can only test so much) Every quest was tested and ensured to function, every script should go off without a hitch, and your experience should not be marred by broken or buggy content. Granted this engine isn't exactly perfect, but this mod should provide a very polished experience, and expecting there to be bugs and waiting for them to be patched, in the case, is foolish! So get downloading, and get to adventuring!

GameInformer has a brief retrospective article on The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Skyrim nicely ties its crafting, enhancements, and smithing (and I don't even dabble in cooking or mining!) with its multi-faceted skill constellations for complementary systems that not only give you a tangible object at the end of your hard work, but also improve your character. I spend hours plotting out exactly which perks I want to get on the constellations and then work backwards from there to see what I have to do to achieve them.

There's also the necessary process of decluttering your inventory from all the potions, unused weapons, and other miscellanea, which ties into another time suck for me in the game – arranging my houses. Apart from upgrading the place, it's nice to have a well-appointed storehouse of stuff – you never know when you might need a particular item that you don't necessarily want to carry around with you all the time.

None of this is revolutionary for a video game. However, Skyrim is so well constructed that the allure when you place it all in the context of the game world and your moment-to-moment existence is powerful. Legends are created through grand adventures, but scratching out a living that has an impact on the world both large and small is immeasurable.

Every few weeks I come across a new mod for Skyrim I think needs some attention. The mod this time is called Helgen Reborn. It can be downloaded off the nexus.

INTRODUCTION

From the author of Fallout: New Vegas' 3rd most endorsed quest mod of all time, comes my most ambitious adventure yet! Simply put, Helgen Reborn is THE definitive quest mod for rebuilding Helgen! Learn the legend of The Keepers of Hattu as you reunite two old soldiers and are thrust into a decades old feud with a ruthless and powerful Justiciar from the Aldmeri Dominion. Recruit and train your own town guard or ask for protection from the Empire or Stormcloaks. From uncovering an underground slavery ring, to fighting for your life in exciting battles in a secret new arena, many other adventures await as the workers rebuild the town step by step! You'll be rewarded with your own private tower in Helgen which includes the most interactive and dynamic display museum in Skyrim!

If you enjoyed other Mike Hancho mods, you will be blown away by Helgen Reborn as this is my biggest project yet, and has been in development for nearly a year! And of course Helgen Reborn sets the same quality standards for a quest mod that you've grown to expect from a Mike Hancho project!

FEATURES

• Fully voiced with 20 of some of the best actors in the community
• Easily 4 to 6 hours of game play (that is a VERY concervative estimate)
• Three new sets of armor
• Mike Hancho's meticulous attention to detail
• Great story and characters
• Private Tower player home
• Interactive display room that transforms as you play the game
• HUGE cavern to display stuffed creatures
• Completely transforms Helgen into a vibrant community

A talented modder called ApolloDown has restored cut content based on the civil war that was cut from Skyrim before release. The mod can be downloaded from the nexus.

I have painstakingly restored the civil war in the spirit of what Bethesda intended, before they decided to ship the game half-done. This feature restores battles for Morthal, Markarth, Falkreath, Fort Greymoor, Dawnstar, Riften, and Winterhold - and puts them all back in the game.

Skyrim's civil war is a much bigger animal than you could possibly imagine. The underlying framework of the civil war was designed to be a completely dynamic series of campaigns for holds, incorporating elements of strategy and diplomacy to bring your opponent down. In the planned version, it's my guess that the designers were going to create some kind of map menu for the player to decide which hold he wanted to hit next, and allow the enemy to counterattack as well. Regardless, each hold was to be won by doing up to TWELVE RADIANT QUESTS, as opposed to up to TWO in vanilla skyrim.

There were quest rewards, series of dialogue, and it was far more dynamic than any other kind of radiant quest in Skyrim. Dialogue was recorded, scenes were created, and scripts were set up. Somewhere along the line, likely in the last stages of development, the devs look like they ran out of time and could not complete the dynamic campaign. So what they did was hardcode the gears of this radiant masterpiece to ONLY allow a very limited set of quests that operated entirely linearly.

Just let that soak in for a sec. The civil war is nothing more than a facade.

Therefore, in order to restore the civil war, I have certain challenges that I must constantly fight off:

1) Rebuilding broken parts - Much of what is behind the civil war is epically huge and dynamic and prone to bugs. It has also NEVER been updated by Bethesda. That means I have the work of multiple patches ahead of me for every new function I use.

2)Building parts that weren't complete - Much of the coding and quests for unused material looks like one day the devs just got up, went out to get a pizza, and never came back. This is probably the easiest thing to fix, because I already know where they were headed, and am basically already there, with a few holes to fill in.

3)Building things that were referred to, but never built - This is pretty easy for me to do, as it gives me total creative license on how to use the assets that were left behind. Unfortunately, I need to get the basic framework solid first before I spend my time adding to its accouterments.

4)Tearing down the "vanilla civil war" - The vanilla civil war is a problem, because all it really is is the hardcoding of the dynamicism of the original design. To put it in car terms, Bethesda decided to only let the car go one way. A normal person would say, "Let's just use one of those U lock things to hold the steering wheel in place." However, Bethesda, wanting to make it absolutely error proof (I assume to keep the console kiddies happy), decided to BLOW TORCH THE AXLE TO THE FRAME AND TEAR OUT THE STEERING WHEEL. Then let a family of badgers nest in the hole left behind by said steering wheel, because badgers. This is the hardest thing to work against in making this mod, because while I can just flip a switch and turn on a quest, it usually breaks EVERYTHING when it runs up against the vanilla civil war.

Bethblog has a interview with David Hodgson the maker of the Skyrim Legendary Edition Guide.

So what exactly IS the Skyrim Legendary Edition Guide, then?

Well, by now you’ve seen the frankly ludicrous (but factual) charts and statistics regarding the latest (and final) version of our strategy guide for Skyrim. This edition is designed to function as a massive and complete reference book filled with officially approved content for the Legendary game.

How difficult was it to write?

Initially panic-inducing. I remember looking at my calendar after four weeks, and realizing I hadn’t figured out where more than a tenth of everything was on the map. So I concentrated on writing the quests, of which I counted 368 (Legendary Edition).

These were instigated first, with a cavalcade of Bethesda documentation to help me figure out just what was going on (as I was working from a build where everyone was sporting the same head texture). The first time around, the quests took two months alone to complete (these were sent to each designer to double-check for accuracy), after which I concentrated on making the Training as easy to follow as possible, and Bethesda began to offer advice on character archetypes, and correct my mistakes (in the crafting section especially).

Bethesda supplied a deluge of stats for the Bestiary and Inventory, and then I checked in on Steve Stratton who was doggedly wandering through the different holds, writing up every cave, crypt, and dungeon he could find. As all of this was going on, I was approving maps, tracing the hold boundaries and numbering every map location without missing anything (correction; I was numbering every map location, missing one, cursing, renumbering, and reviewing all the interior maps that were streaming in from our cartographers).

Then Steve Stratton almost lost his mind counting up all the collectibles, traders, skill books, and other material for the Atlas. I then wrote all the Hold Capital and Secondary Location text, and took every single screenshot. Bethesda had also been approving the design for the guide, after which I started to see pages coming in.

I checked them for accuracy, made sure the text was just small enough so that anyone over the age of 40 needed to squint to read it, answered all the copyeditor’s queries, played the game for well over 700 hours, added glossaries to all my chapters so the Indexers didn’t throttle me, and then slogged through the laid-out book with the designers to fill in page number references and correct any mistakes.

What was your favorite part of the project?

Aside from the first time you come over that ridge and walk down by the White River rapids to see Whiterun for the first time? And the countless other moments of excited panic when you realize you’re out of potions and magicka, and that Giant just won’t let up with his bone club? I think in terms of seeing the guide come together, it’s when the World Map was completed, and my computer almost broke trying to open the file.

When I asked for the map to be accurate “down to the individual tree”, I didn’t expect Sonja Morris and 99 Lives to follow my request to the letter. But that’s one of the reasons why I’m so proud of this work; we treated the subject matter with an almost fanatical reverence. We wanted readers to open up the guide looking for information on (for example) Movarth’s Lair, and end up researching the entire hold of Hjaalmarch; which mimicked the way the game works, essentially.

I'm sure most people by now know about this but here we go. After an early release in North America The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Legendary Edition has been released in Europe today. You can find it at retail for €49,99 (Xbox 360/PlayStation 3) and €39,99 (PC).

In a short mail Bethesda let us know that the Skyrim Legendary Edition is available now.

We’re pleased to announce that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim^® Legendary Edition is now available in retail stores across North America for $59.99.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Legendary Edition includes the original critically-acclaimed game, official add-ons – Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn – and added features like combat cameras, mounted combat, Legendary difficulty mode for hardcore players, and Legendary skills – enabling you to master every perk and level up your skills infinitely.

The official Bethesda Softworks blog has a new interview with Scott Chaunce (aka Soolie). The interview is about his popular Tropical Skyrim mod.

Who helped with the creation of the project?

Originally I planned on creating the entire project myself. However I came across a number of assets created by other modders that were perfect for Tropical Skyrim. So rather than re-inventing the wheel I decided to use the content created by others (with permission of course). However, I did end up modifying most of this content to fit the tropical atmosphere.

You can find a complete list of people who contributed to the project on Tropical Skyrims download page. Nevertheless the main contributors were:

• Ga-Knomboe Boy, who created most of the trees that were tweaked to fit Tropical Skyrim.
• Tamira, who adapted a number of plants produced by Yughues to be usable in Skyrim.
• Muppetpuppet, who allowed me to use some of assets from his Moonpath mod.
• lookout21, who retextured some of the wild animals for me.

Any plans to continue updates for the mod? If so, can you give us a sneak peak of what you have in store?

YES, I plan to continue updating this mod until I can show it to the most hardcore Skyrim fans without them recognizing a single thing. As of right now I have changed/added the following things since the previous update.

• Windhelm has been retextured to fit the tropical landscape.
• Most of the foliage including trees, bushes and grass has been improved. Rather than the foliage being dense and cluttered, it is now slightly more sparse, but also a greater emphasis has been placed on making it look more tropical and lush.
• The Reach has had a complete makeover; it now features dense cypress trees, which gives it more of a sinister feeling than the other areas.
• A lot of the meshes and textures have been optimized to improve performance.
• Most textures have been modified so that they blend together more realistically.
• New high resolution rock textures.
• The caves have now been tropicalified (Is this even a word??). They are now a lot more green and mossy. Also, some of the larger trees that block off some sections of the caves have been removed.
• The distant trees have been significantly improved, (correct lighting, proper sizes, and they don’t look 2D anymore).
• New high res textures for the distant terrain. In some cases, it looks even better than the close up terrain.
• A lot of ivy and other small plants have been added to the cliffs and mountains.

Before I release the next update I would also I would also like to replace some of the common sets of armor and weapons found within the game. Let’s be honest… thick fur coats aren’t really the most appropriate apparel for the jungle.

I have also added real 3D clouds to the game which react to the weather and time of the day. Adding a whole new layer of depth and immersion to the world (and also creating some truly majestic views from the mountain tops). It definitely suits the snowy version of Skyrim well, but I’m still thinking about whether it would be as appropriate in a tropical climate. Therefore I will most likely release this as a separate mod

Well this news is a little late, but I just came across the blog last night. The whole topic gives insight to how Bethesda develops their games.

While many developers understand the basic concepts behind a modular system, and some have dabbled in it for a project or two, very few have made a career out of it.  That’s exactly what Nate and I have done, however.  Our current project will be our fifth together in the near-decade we have known and worked with each other.  Every one of these projects has taken this kit-based approach, including those we worked on before joining Bethesda.

We recently realized that there are many unspoken understandings we and our colleagues share; expectations and assumptions taken for granted as part of our process. We've struggled to explain ourselves in detail for new artists and designers who had joined our team.  This talk was a way for us to explore and articulate this accumulated knowledge.

To understand our approach, it’s useful to know where we’re coming from as developers, and where Bethesda Game Studios is coming from as a whole

The slide presentation to the topic is also available here.

Bethesda has announced that a Legendary Edition for Skyrim is currently planned for a June 4th release in US and June 7th in Europe.

     

Today we’re happy to announce plans to release the complete Skyrim collection with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim^® Legendary Edition.

Coming to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on June 4th for $59.99 (European territories will see its release on June 7th), this package includes the most up-to-date version of the original game (employing the 1.9 title update),as well as the game’s three add-ons: Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragoborn.

It's a slow day for news but I came across this mod, and I just had to share it. One modder Higeyoshi adds the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Skyrim.

The turtle shells can also be placed on normal characters too if that's your thing. Just seeing this brings back memories of watching the cartoon in my youth.

          

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!
TMNT's symbolic shell, now in armor form. Comes in a set with shell-armor and a mask. Masks are available in colors matching those of all TMNT characters, with the addition of a "Mask of Zoro"-esque black version.

All Games Beta has a link to an image of a Polish store page that lists The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Legendary Edition.

The game was also Unearthed by Eurogamer Poland. The Legendary Edition contains all pieces of Skyrim’s DLC including Hearthfire, Dawnguard and Dragonborn. It’s apparently set for release in June this year.

A complete edition coming out soon isn't that surprising since the news that Bethesda is finished with the game. I guess the saying that good things happen to those that can wait is true.

Bethesda has news on there offficial blog that their work on Skyrim is concluded, and that aside from minor patches they won't release any more content.

Skyrim has been a labor of love for us since we started designing it in 2006. We never imagined it would become the phenomenon it has. And that is because of you, the fans. It was all of you who made it a success. We can’t thank you enough for embracing the game, spreading the word, and making it your own.

For the last year and a half we’ve been working on new content for Skyrim; from the game updates, Creation Kit, Steam Workshop, Kinect support, to DLCs. Parts of our team have also been in pre-production on our next major project, and that game is at the point where it requires the studio’s full attention to make it our biggest and best work yet.

Even though we’re moving on, we’ll still have minor updates to Skyrim as needed. We’ve invested so much of ourselves into Skyrim and will never truly say goodbye to it.

We loved hearing your stories, your in-game triumphs, and your suggestions. One thing stuck out to us through those emails, letters, and postings. And that is – video games matter. They’re as important to you as they are to us. It’s not just about entertainment, it’s about your time. And you chose to spend it with our game.

Thank you again for all your support. We hope you stay engaged in the gaming community here and elsewhere. Keep spreading the word. Games are the world’s best entertainment because they can do what other forms cannot – fill you with the wonder of exploration and the pride of accomplishment. We look forward to sharing our next adventure with you.

Until next time,

Bethesda Game Studios

The Dragonborn DLC for Skyrim has been reviewed by Gamebanshee.

One of the new shouts in the DLC pack also gives you the ability to ride dragons, but this feature isn't implemented especially well.  You're only given minimal control over a dragon, so you can't use it like a traditional mount, and combat while mounted isn't fun at all, as dragons still take their time circling and sweeping when attacking a target, and so battles take forever.  That being said, you can use spells and shouts while mounted on a dragon (but not bows for some reason), and so dragon riding might be a better fit for spellcasters rather than the melee specialist I was playing.

Sort of oddly, Dragonborn is mostly aimed at mid-level players.  I started the DLC using an old save from my first character, and then I took him from level 30 to 38 while exploring Solstheim.  Some of the battles were tough for him (mostly because his magic resistance was minimal), and he had to keep his weapon charged, but he died almost not at all, and the final battle against Miraak was a yawner.  If you have a character who can defeat a dragon priest, then you should be able to play the DLC without any problem.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun has a Wot I Think for Dragonborn. The dragon riding is disappointing but it seems the DLC delivers:

Fan service abounds, but in sweeping ways that will make Dragonborn visually exciting for new as well as lore-drunk veteran players. Mushroom forests, houses inside giant crustacean shells, even a lone (sadly static) Silt Strider: it’s like Morrowind’s greatest hits out there. Perhaps it’s a little more contrived and too evidently zoned, but it brings some of the much-needed weird back to Tamriel after two games with relatively homogeneous environments. It pleases me enormously, both as a fan of Morrowind and as a fan of seeing strange new worlds on my monitor.

The weird also makes itself known in a new Daedric realm, which the ‘main’ campaign in Dragonborn weaves in and out of. We’ve previously seen the hell-plane of Oblivion and we’ve had multiple visits to the dark prince of madness’s crazyland, but this time around we’re visiting the realm of the self-proclaimed lord of knowledge. Imagine if Cthulu ran a library, essentially. Squid-faced priest-horrors patrol impossible towers of books, while pages flutter in the air like malevolent pigeons, Giger-esque corridors rotate and contract, and gruesome tentacles swipe at you if you get too close to the slime pits all over the place. Progress through these areas is all but linear, but presented in maze-like, consciously confusing style, to the accompaniment of dramatically strange vistas. It’s very different to Skyrim as we know it, and its deeply sinister, mixed-motive ruler, Hermaeus Mora, also seems as though Bethesda’s artists have finally been allowed to takes the brakes off. 

Atomic Gamer has a review of this game - the score is 8/10 and here's a quote about the nostalgia touching the feelings for Morrowind in the DLC:

Bethesda smartly tried to pull on the strings of nostalgia that are woven into some of our gaming memories, and so they've carefully slipped in music, architecture, weapons, ambient sounds and even a couple of returning storylines from the Morrowind era here....... Sure, you'll find the Skaal village, a Telvanni tower, some of the Morag Tong, that iconic Dunmer bone armor and architecture, and even an old, decrepit Silt Strider, but don't expect to get the best of both worlds at once here. The feeling's nice for a little while, but it doesn't last long......... The voice acting in this add-on is really pretty good and I thought it sounded generally better than what I usually expect from Bethesda, but it's not exactly Voice Acting of the Year material, either.

Remember the official Hi-Res Texture Pack for Skyrim? It's now been updated to support the released DLC packs:

In a continued effort to support our PC fanbase, we’ve released a Steam update to Skyrim’s (free) HD Texture Pack. In addition to high resolution textures in the main game, the update adds improved textures for Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and the newly-released Dragonborn.

Before you download, make sure your PC has the horsepower to support it. Make sure your system requirements exceed Skyrim’s recommended specs before attempting to install, and that your PC has Windows Vista/7, a minimum of 4GB of system RAM, and a DirectX 9.0c compatible NVIDIA or AMD ATI video card with at least 1 GB of RAM and the latest drivers.

If you already have the Skyrim texture pack, be aware that you’ll be downloading an update that’s approximately 4.7 GB in size.

Edge Online has an editorial about why the most barren environment in Skyrim, The Reach, is a world most bountiful.  Here's a snip from the editorial:

The Reach is arguably the most distinct locale in Skyrim. Yet it is also a microcosm of Skyrim’s identity as a nation – held together by the very tensions that threaten to destroy it. First impressions matter, and there are many first paths a new player can take into Skyrim’s expansive world. But few will find themselves venturing to The Reach before they experience Skyrim’s other regions. The nation’s contours bend the player away from its murky paths. None of its landmarks stand out on a distant horizon, hidden as they are behind the mountains.

And another snip:

In this way, The Reach makes Skyrim feel more complete, more convincing. Pushed to the edge of the game's world, The Reach stands out most for how it is unlike the rest of the nation. But instead of jarring, its different cultures and geography contribute something vital to making Skyrim's virtual world truly feel like a living nation - a mottled patchwork that forms a beautiful, improbable whole.

Bethsoft sends word that Dragonborn for Skyrim is has been released via Steam:

We’re pleased to announce that Dragonborn^™ is now available to PC users. The English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish versions can be downloaded from Steam for $19.99.

With this official add-on for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim^®, journey off the coast of Morrowind, to the island of Solstheim. Encounter new towns, dungeons, and quests, as you traverse the ash wastes and glacial valleys of this new land. Become more powerful with shouts that bend the will of your enemies and even tame dragons. Your fate, and the fate of Solstheim, hangs in the balance as you face off against your deadliest adversary – the first Dragonborn.

For more information on The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim^® or Dragonborn^™, please visit www.elderscrolls.com.

The Official Bethesda Blog has been updated with the release dates for the NA and English PS versions of Dragonborn, Dawnguard, Heartfire:

Update (2/4): We now European release dates for the English versions of Dragonborn, Hearthfire, and Dawnguard. They are:
Dragonborn releases Wednesday, February 13,
Hearthfire releases Wednesday, February 20,Dawnguard releases Wednesday, February 27

For folks with the French, Italian, German, or Spanish release of the game, we continue to work with Sony to finalize these dates. We’ll update this post when we have the dates.

Original Post: Let the official countdown to Dragonborn, Dawnguard, and Hearthfire on PS3 begin. This week Dragonborn, Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and the 1.8 title update have all cleared certification with SCEA. As we speak, we’re working with Sony Europe to finalize certification for other territories. What does this mean? It means we now have the official release dates for Skyrim add on content in North America.

They are: Dragonborn releases Tuesday, February, 12,
Hearthfire releases Tuesday, February, 19,
Dawnguard releases Tuesday, February, 26,

Don’t forget: all three add-ons will be marked down to 50% during their first week of release.

You can now preorder Skyrim Dragonborn on Steam in anticipation of the February 6th release date. A reminder of the features:

• Explore Beyond Skyrim – Leave the province of Skyrim and travel to the coastal island of Solstheim. Encounter the Dark Elven settlers of Raven Rock and the native Skaal, as you unravel the mystery of a Dragonborn’s return.
• Become the Ultimate Dragonborn – Harness the power of the Voice as you face off against the first Dragonborn. Wield new shouts and spells including Dragon Aspect – allowing you to summon the inner power of a dragon to deliver colossal blows and strengthen other shouts.
• New Powers – Discover dark powers as you journey into a new Daedric realm. Collect books of forbidden knowledge and choose new paths for your skills and abilities.
• New dungeons, creatures, weapons, and more – Suit up in Bonemold and Chitin armors and wield Stalhrim weapons as you navigate through a myriad of dungeons. Battle formidable foes like Ash Spawn, Rieklings, and more.

This is a different slant - Geo-HeritageScience has a piece on the geology of Skyrim:

So what I want to do tonight is take you through a little tour of what I think the geology would be in Skyrim. Namely, I think looking at the process of questions a geologist asks themselves when working out the geology of an area, and applying this to something cool and accessible like Skyrim.

The first question to ask therefore is what? What kinds of rocks can you find in Skyrim? Luckily, for most of this work, there are a whole host of other people in the world who are much geekier than me who have actually taken and collated and all I have to do is ask the right questions!

Anne G from the forums at Gameboomers tells us that Bethesda has set a release date for
the PC and PS3 version of this DLC for Skyrim. Here's the announcement:

PC: On Tuesday, February 5th, Dragonborn will be available on Steam, including the English, French, Italian, Spanish and German versions of the content. PlayStation 3: Dragonborn will be the first add-on arriving on PSN in February. Hearthfire will release next, followed by Dawnguard, and all three should be out in February. The 1.8 update will also release, just prior to Dragonborn. We'll keep you posted as release dates get finalized both on our end and with Sony for each and its various languages. Last but not least, each one will be 50% off during their launch week on PSN.

Giant Bomb has done of their commented Quick Looks for this DLC.  It features more than an hour of gameplay the DLC. The footage includes encounters with the local fauna including bull netches, the first look at Raven Rock and the people there, draugers, ash spawns and the very start of the DLC and much much more.

This Interesting NPCs mod for Skyrim has been doing the rounds of a number of major sites, such as Kotaku and PC Gamer, and certainly looks worth a look - particularly if you like voiceovers. The mod adds 100 new characters and 20,000 lines of dialogue with 50 voice actors. From the description on Skyrim Nexus:

Of the 18 followers, 7 are being expanded to include commentary on every quest and location in the game, including bonus conversations during or after major questlines. Currently, these followers, whom I have dubbed "Super Followers" because they fly and wear capes, have approximately 500 lines each, with the ultimate goal of having thousands. However, any follower can be expanded, it simply requires a willing actor.

The size of the mod is over 1GB, and will only get larger. If anyone is interested in constructing smaller, child mods for specific followers or NPCs, you have my approval. Just beware that some NPCs are still expanding, and you will constantly have to add new content as I update.

Cinelinx has an 2-page editorial about why Fallout: New Vegas is the better game
compared to Skyrim.  Here's a qoute about storytelling in the two games:

The basis of Skyrim's story - for all purposely fantastical - just isn't all that interesting. A bunch of dragons died years ago...now they're back and plan to take over the world [insert overly-complicated reason why]... oh, by the way - you're the ‘chosen one', the only one who can stop them [insert almost non-existent reason why]... get to work.

Compare this with Fallout's very real threat of nuclear war and the devastating effect it would have on the planet. As a mere courier, you are instantly aware of just how expendable you are in New Vegas. The Mojave Wasteland is almost the perfect setting, as it drives home a desperate scenario of desolation. The reinvented New Vegas; overrun with gangs and thugs battling for both power and survival is almost certainly how our fickle human race would act if placed in similar circumstances. Battling your way to the top in order to save New Vegas from itself and being forced to decide who you can trust; kill or let live, all makes for gripping storytelling.

More Dragonborn DLC reviews, just in case you were wondering if there were some more.

Short & Sweet Reviews, 7.75

The latest expansion features a grand new environment to explore, with loads of new content to experience.  Despite some forgettable dragon riding and a mundane main storyline, Dragonborn is still worth the hefty price tag.

Canadion Online Gamers, 90

Complaints aside, the Dragonborn DLC is really great.  There is lots of new areas to explore and items to craft and find. The main quest can take about six to eight hours to complete, but there are tons of great side quests and ruins to explore that add about twenty plus hours to your playtime. This truly is a Skyrim expansion pack, and is a great purchase for any fan of the series who’s hungry for a new adventure.

HollywoodChicago, 3.5/5

So, “Dragonborn” is more of the same. It’s not a game changer. But it’s made well and provides great value for fans of the franchise. So while it not be my cup of tea, it’s entirely possible that it’s yours.

CBS news

Dragon riding gripes aside, "Dragonborn" is another expansion worthy of your coin and your time. The story and setting are interesting and beautiful and more "Elder Scrolls" adventuring is never a bad thing.

Gamers Temple, 69%

Personally, I liked Hearthfire, and before that, Dawnguard, better than Dragonborn. The "epic" quest felt like it was cut for time and the dragon riding was nowhere near what I wanted it to be. The questing here will surely be enjoyed by tons of players, but the missed opportunities made this my least favorite Skyrim expansion yet.

My Xbox Live

The best way though is to take your time with the content. If you rush through, you will be loosing out on so many new additions, the armour, the weapons, new shouts and spells, new enemies and the rest! So if you are on the fence about buying this, I really do urge you to give it a go! If you are abit unsure because you weren’t too keen on the previous content (Dawnguard and Hearthfire) then don’t worry. This DLC blows those out of the water! Much bigger than both and much more intriguing. Please treat yourself and give your eyes and your brain the explosion of gaming goodness they need.

GamePlanet, 8.5

Skyrim players gladly pay the price of such glitches for the chance to adventure across the game’s epic landscapes, though, and Dragonborn delivers another helping of these adventures in a package that may not be entirely new material, but still has more than enough novelty to make the whole game feel fresh again.

Here are a few more reviews of Skyrim's Dragonborn DLC.

IGN

The requisite new armor pieces and weapons look very cool – and can even benefit higher-level players – but by and large Skyrim isn’t going to wow you, visually speaking. This is still Skyrim, albeit one year later, and Dragonborn is an expansion pack in every sense of the term. But there’s enough new stuff here, highlighted by the spectacular island of Solstheim itself, to make Dragonborn the best piece of add-on content for Skyrim yet.

The Guardian

Earlier downloadable content gave you a side story about vampires and the ability to build a pre-fabricated McMansion for your character, but somehow failed to capture the essence of the game. All that changes with Dragonborn, which lets you leave Skyrim for the island of Solstheim, an entirely separate land mass. It comes with new monsters and towns - best of all, though, is the impression of virgin territory: seeing a suspicious light in the distance or ruins on a hilltop and galloping off to see what's going on. It provides a hearty slab of exploration along with an interesting mystery to unravel.

GamingBolt, 8.5

In spite of its fairly obvious limitations, Dragonborn is brilliant. To any Elder Scrolls fan with Skyrim, it is recommended. To any Morrowind fan, it is recommended. To any Skyrim fan, it is recommended. To anyone who possibly feels that Skyrim somehow needs to provide them with more value for money than it already did, Dragonborn is recommended. It is a rare example of DLC done right, and is flat out the best Skyrim DLC available at the moment.

Games.On

Long story short: if you enjoyed Skyrim, you will absolutely enjoy Dragonborn as well. It’s like taking your vanilla Skyrim cake, making a smaller cupcake out of the ingredients, and adding a pinch of ash and mushrooms (Mm-mmmm!). The main quest is interesting and engaging, as are the surrounds you explore. My only suggestion would be to perhaps wait for a patch to fix some of the bugs and crashes — or of course, wait until it comes to the PC.

Here are two more reviews for Skyrim's Dragonborn DLC.

Polygon, 7.5

Getting back into a game like Skyrim after an extended absence is something of a toll itself. You have to relearn systems, try to remember what gear you were using, what power set, etc. While "Dragonborn" is certainly a worthy addition to what I consider one of the best games of last year, the rewards don't justify a return trip for an adventurer who's already moved on.

GameInformer, 8.5

Dragonborn delivers a great adventure that rarely apes content from the core game. The dungeon designs are inventive – especially the water temple – and flow nicely from quest to quest. Solstheim is a fun island to explore, offering a wealth of side content and locales to uncover. The dragon-riding and battle against Miraak in the final act are rough, but the story stays strong and is tied to one of of Skyrim's most enjoyable quest lines.

Here are two more reviews for Skyrim's Dragonborn DLC.

The Escapist, 4/5 stars

As well as all the exciting new stuff you get to explore, you'll also be able to return to some unfinished business as you enter Hermaeus Mora's library of forbidden knowledge. If you do manage to pass the trials he sets before you, you'll wind up with a few new abilities to choose from including an incredibly useful one that prevents companions from taking friendly fire damage. If you've ever had to explain to your would-be wife why a dead body suddenly spawned in the middle of your marriage ceremony, or even just to reload from a previous game save because you accidentally burned Aela to death with a fireball, then you'll appreciate this perk. You can now hack away with your sword indiscriminately, knowing that only your foes will feel its sting.

GameInformer, 8.5

Dragonborn delivers a great adventure that rarely apes content from the core game. The dungeon designs are inventive – especially the water temple – and flow nicely from quest to quest. Solstheim is a fun island to explore, offering a wealth of side content and locales to uncover. The dragon-riding and battle against Miraak in the final act are rough, but the story stays strong and is tied to one of of Skyrim's most enjoyable quest lines.

Here is a collection of Skyrim's Dragonborn DLC reviews.

GamesRadar, with a buy-it verdict

The main quest alone is lengthy, lasting roughly five hours depending on your pace. Were it the sole reason to fork over 1,600 Microsoft points ($20), you might feel a little ripped off. But the size of the landscape, the amount of new weapons and shouts to score, and the fact that it’s almost impossible to not happen upon a laundry list of optional side quests makes Dragonborn a meaty, worthwhile expansion to the main game.

OXMOnline, 7.5

Though you’ll find plenty of side quests and new dungeons to explore, that uneven main quest (about a seven-hour jaunt) is the high point of the whole affair. Dragonborn’s supposed crown jewel — the ability to temporarily tame and ride dragons — turns out to be its most bitter disappointment. The first time you climb onto a dragon’s neck is a thrill, but best of luck getting your new slave to do anything terribly useful. Even if you can tolerate its awkward combat targeting and glitchy flight patterns, its laughably lackadaisical attack speed means you’re better off staying on your own two feet than trying to get a dragon to burn or bite your foes.

God is a Geek, 9

Dragonborn actually is the greatest Skyrim DLC to date but, while Bethesda have matched the scale and scope of Fallout 3′s Point Lookout, they have fallen a dragon’s scale short of Oblivion’s Shivering Isles in terms of personality and imagination.

Digital Spy, 4/5

While it's true that dragon riding promises so much and delivers so little, and antagonist Maarik is somewhat underdeveloped as a villain, 'Dragonborn' is exactly what Skyrim fans have been waiting for since exhausting the main campaign. Solstheim is a fantastic location, packed with interesting landmarks, challenging enemies and a wide variety of quests, and reigniting that initial sense of awe.

Joystick

But hey, this is Skyrim. The story is secondary. Dragonbon's quests might be "go there, do that, then do it again", but there's ample room for pointless tomfoolery in this massive fantasy world. Again, I didn't have to steal that cell key. I just wanted to see what was in there. That lead to a dead cop and permanent damage to my reputation in Raven Rock, but it also to the discovery of an underground lair with hidden treasure and more than a few deadly bad guys. That sheer open-endedness will entertain you for hours even if you ignore the quests. And in that regard, Dragonborn is the best of Skyrim's DLC so far, offering a significantly more substantial update than Dawnguard or Hearthfire. It's more than reason enough to return to Skyrim

GamingTruth, 9.75

Overall, Skyrim‘s new Dragonborn DLC is definitely the best add-on so far, featuring a plethora of weapons, armor, powers, shouts and a dynamic quest that arcs across the daedric realms. The return to Solsthiem is a fantastic journey that rekindles nostalgia within the seasoned Elder Scrolls gamer, and is a welcome vacation from Skyrim’s frosty expanse.

RPGFan

For those who haven't stopped playing Skyrim since its release, the Dragonborn DLC will come as a fire-warmed hovel for the starved and bereaved. This infusion of new content could probably occupy the thorough player for 15 or 20 hours. That in itself will please innumerable fans. There's an emphasis on quantity over quality, however, and the island of Solstheim is more Skyrim than Morrowind. The content just isn't very compelling, except for Apocrypha, and the Elder Scrolls V is getting old and exhausted. Let's send Skyrim to Sovngarde before the wise and venerable becomes crippled and insane.

Also at the Bethblog is a small list of Dragonborn reviews, which I'll rip until we put together our own roundup. Bear in mind these were selected by Bethsoft:

• Attack of the Fanboy (Loved It) – Dragonborn is the best Skyrim Expansion to date because it gets back to the roots of what made Skyrim fun in the first place.
• Xbox 360 Achievements (9/10) – “… Bethesda have created here is exactly what Skyrim fans would have been crying out for… and that’s an experience that captures the brilliance of the main game but in a much more bitesize manner.”
• Videogamer.com (8/10) — “After completing the main quest in 11-12 hours, I still have a lot of side quests to complete, a majority of the map lies undiscovered and I haven’t even begun gathering all the new loot.”
• Kotaku – “Worth playing, worth exploring, worth leaping into like you’re starting Skyrim all over again.”
• While OXM UK and CVG haven’t completed their reviews, they’re already sharing live impressions from their experience.

They also have some comments on the PC and PS3 versions and other upcoming news:

For those that are playing the content already, we hope you’re having a blast in Solstheim. And as noted in Monday’s blog post, we’re hard at work to make this content available early next year on PS3 and PC. On PS3 in particular, we turned our attention to Dragonborn, as we thought it was the best content to release first, and we didn’t want folks to wait longer. Once it’s ready to go for everyone, we’ll continue our previous work on Hearthfire and Dawnguard for PS3. Each one takes a lot of time and attention to work well in all circumstances and all combinations of DLC. Once we have a better idea of release timing and pricing, we’ll let you know.

And we also have some more stuff planned for everyone next year as well.  We do everything we can to return the support you have given us, whether it’s The Creation Kit, Steam Workshop, game updates, or DLC. Thanks for your continued support and for sharing your adventures with us!

Eurogamer has the first review of the Skyrim DLC Dragonborn we've seen, with the writer saying he has "fallen back in love" with the game, praising this package as a worthy "expansion". The score is 9/10 and here's a snip:

Just as I'd resigned myself to the thought that it was time for me and Skyrim to part ways, along comes Dragonborn and all the wonder, the thrill, the passion comes flooding back.

This isn't DLC. This is an expansion, like in the good old days. It's an entirely new area, a blank map waiting to be filled in as you roam, packed with new quests, miscellaneous tasks, dungeons, barrows, ruins and crypts. It's an absolute beast, with a main storyline that lasts a good few hours and enough supporting content to keep you playing for weeks more.

Bethsoft sent word that the Dragonborn DLC for Skyrim is now available on Xbox Live for 1600 points.

We’re pleased to announce that Dragonborn^™, the next official add-on for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim^®, is now available worldwide for download for 1600 Microsoft Points on Xbox LIVE^®.

With Dragonborn^™, journey off the coast of Morrowind, to the island of Solstheim. Encounter new towns, dungeons, and quests, as you traverse the ash wastes and glacial valleys of this new land. Become more powerful with shouts that bend the will of your enemies and even tame dragons. Your fate, and the fate of Solstheim, hangs in the balance as you face off against your deadliest adversary – the first Dragonborn.

For more information on The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim^® or Dragonborn^™, please visit www.elderscrolls.com.

Rowan Kaiser's weekly RPG column at Joystiq talks about how he can't connect with Skyrim, despite a year of trying:

And Skyrim is full of these occasions. Bethesda's latest title in the longstanding franchise has the relative beauty of Ultima VII, the magic of Daggerfall, and the emergent narrative of Far Cry 2. I get sequences in Skyrim where I'm faced with an impending dragon attack, introducing a beast much too powerful for my character. Worried about my survival, I duck into a tomb for safety only to be greeted by the most powerful undead adversary I've yet to meet. Stuck between both, and at the edge of a cliff, I fall and hope to catch tiny ledges on my way down. If I survive, the music calms and I can limp into town to lick my wounds and consider my next step.    

But as fantastic as those moments are, they're matched by problems elsewhere throughout the game. Skyrim's quest system is a constant annoyance to me, with compass arrows proving both necessary and over-deterministic, ruining the exploratory feeling that was Skyrim at its best (I wrote on the quest issue specifically before I had this column). Its characters and plot, to me, felt thin. Its character progression and crafting progress are occasionally effective, but more often the experience was lukewarm. Its world is big and beautiful but the only task I felt players could effectively accomplish was to go out and kill monsters via a combat system that lacked any kind of depth.

Zero1Gaming has previewed the Dragonborn DLC for Skyrim that is to be released next week for Xbox360.

The timing of Dragonborn is pretty optimal too, coming as a welcome boost to playability and new challenge to a game that, let’s be honest, has been around a while now. More than any other company it seems, Bethesda are adept at extending a game’s relevancy and lifespan beyond its traditional length. Without the DLC packages, Skyrim would most likely be relegated down many gamer’s playlists currently, but the steady stream of fresh content has helped it beat out newer titles to retain its place in disc trays and hard drives the world over. In some ways it’s a demonstration of the idiom that beauty is temporary, but class is permanent. Skyrim, while aesthetically beautiful, is already starting to look dated visually when compared to new games such as Halo 4, but under the hood its excellent mechanics and gameplay still allow it to hold its own, with regular once overs of its paintwork.

All Things Xbox took a closer look into the Dragonborn DLC for Skyrim coming up with screens a video and some text.

So Dragonborn, as the name suggests focuses on the Dragonborn… but not the Dragonborn we know… a different one… in fact the first one!

We travel to the island of Solstheim, an island to the north-east of Skyrim. It was the host of a mass evacuation when the Red Mountain forced thousands of Dunmer to flee Morrowind at the beginning of the Fourth Era. It’s similar to Skyrim in climate and geography, with mountainous peaks and a bitter permanent cold.

OXM UK has an editorial about the nine places in the Dragonborn DLC for Skyrim they'd love
to visit.  The Dragonborn DLC will take place in Solstheim. They would like to go to various places, including the Telvanni Tower:

5. The Telvanni Tower

The fourth icon to appear in the patch notes is a 'TelvanniTower'. House Telvanni is the richest of the Six Great Houses of Morrowind's Dark Elves. Telvanni wizard lords (often necromancers, liches or vampires) tend to live in isolation and be contemptuous of all other living creatures, even other Telvanni, explaining this lonely tower (which may have no staircase, given the Telvanni's excessive use of levitation magic). Despite these negative associations, House Telvanni was proactive in closing Oblivion gates during the Oblivion crisis.

Bethsoft has released Skyrim v1.8 for the X360, according to the Bethblog:

Skyrim Update 1.8 (all platforms unless specified)

BUG FIXES

• General memory and stability improvements
• Fixed rare crash when using vampiric grip
• Fixed issue where Arnleif and Sons Trading Company could become permanently locked
• Fixed issue related to duplicate NPCs
• Fixed rare issue where exterior door would not open properly

Bethsoft sent over a fact sheet for Dragonborn, revealing a December 4th release date for the X360 version. Presumably the lack of a PC date means a few weeks of exclusivity, as per the previous DLC efforts:

PUBLISHER: Bethesda Softworks®

DEVELOPER: Bethesda Game Studios®

RELEASE DATE: December 4, 2012

PLATFORM: Xbox 360®

GENRE: Role-Playing

DESCRIPTION:

With this official add-on for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, journey off the coast of Morrowind, to the island of Solstheim. Encounter new towns, dungeons, and quests, as you traverse the ash wastes and glacial valleys of this new land. Become more powerful with shouts that bend the will of your enemies and even tame dragons. Your fate, and the fate of Solstheim, hangs in the balance as you face off against your deadliest adversary – the first Dragonborn. 

KEY FEATURES:

• Explore Beyond Skyrim – Leave the province of Skyrim and travel to the coastal island of Solstheim. Encounter the Dark Elven settlers of Raven Rock and the native Skaal, as you unravel the mystery of a Dragonborn’s return.
• Become the Ultimate Dragonborn – Harness the power of the Voice as you face off against the first Dragonborn. Wield new shouts and spells including Dragon Aspect – allowing you to summon the inner power of a dragon to deliver colossal blows and strengthen other shouts.
• New Powers – Discover dark powers as you journey into a new Daedric realm. Collect books of forbidden knowledge and choose new paths for your skills and abilities.
• New dungeons, creatures, weapons, and more – Suit up in Bonemold and Chitin armors and wield Stalhrim weapons as you navigate through a myriad of dungeons. Battle formidable foes like Ash Spawn, Rieklings, and more. 

Bethsoft has posted the first Dragonborn screenshots on their Elder Scrolls site:

IGN's Rewind Theatre steps through the freshly released Dragonborn DLC trailer to find new elements and hints about the game.

As previously announced, Bethesda has made a trailer public today, which is the trailer for Dragonborn the new DLC for Skyrim.

Watch the trailer for Dragonborn, the next official game add-on for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. 

Dragonborn will be available for download for 1600 Microsoft Points on Xbox LIVE on December 4.

Skyrim v1.8 has been officially released:

Skyrim Update 1.8 (all platforms unless specified)

BUG FIXES

• General memory and stability improvements
• Fixed rare crash when using vampiric grip
• Fixed issue where Arnleif and Sons Trading Company could become permanently locked
• Fixed issue related to duplicate NPCs

Fixed rare issue where exterior door would not open properly

A Skyrim Premium Edition containing a t-shirt, novel and post-cards has been outed on Amazon.de for the UK, Germany and Benelux. Surprisingly, none of the DLC is included. From VG247: