Skywind

''Skywind'' is an upcoming non-commercial fan-made mod for '' The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim'' (2011), which aims to recreate the world of '' The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind'' (2002) in the Creation Engine. It features improved smithing, crafting, and combat system. In order to run ''Skywind'', ownership of both '' Skyrim: Special Edition'' and ''Morrowind'' (likely the ''Game of the Year Edition'') is required. As of 2025, the game was still in development.

''Skywind'' began development in 2012 as part of The Elder Scrolls Renewal Project (also known as TES Renewal). Earlier, a mod was being developed as a porting of ''Morrowind'' into the ''Oblivion'' engine as part of the ''Morroblivion'' project, which inspired ''Skywind''. While the characters of ''Morrowind'' shared only a few voice actors, ''Skywind'' will contain voice acting for the majority of in-game characters. Pre-release reception has been positive.

Background

''Skywind'' is part of a fan volunteer effort by TES Renewal Project to recreate and remaster through total conversion the video games in ''The Elder Scrolls'' series, and is approved by the publisher Bethesda Softworks. This began with ''Morroblivion'', a ''Morrowind'' remaster on '' The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion'' (2006) engine, prior to ''Skyrim''s release. The mod was publicly available on the team's website in 2008, and was coordinated through the ''Morroblivion'' website's forums.

In 2012, after the release of ''Skyrim'', forum members began work on ''Skywind'', intending to begin the same result of ''Morroblivion'' but in the ''Skyrim'' engine. That same year, ''Skywind'' inspired other modders within the Renewal Project to attempt porting ''Oblivion'' assets into the Creation Engine, starting the development of what became ''Skyblivion''. ''Skywind'' is a recreation of ''Morrowind'' (2002) in the ''Skyrim – Special Edition'' (2016) game engine. All original game assets, including textures, music, quests, and gameplay, were planned to be redesigned.

Development

The development of ''Skywind'' began in 2012, roughly one year after ''Skyrim'' and its various downloadable contents and add-ons ('' Dawnguard'', '' Hearthfire'', and '' Dragonborn'') were released. Much like its predecessor ''Morroblivion'', ''Skywind'' began life as a fan-made port of ''Morrowind'', meant to be playable in ''Skyrim'' engine with ''Skyrim'' mechanics. The project began with about eight modders, and the team expanded by January 2014 to 70 volunteers. Since then, the team came to involve over 70 volunteers in artist, composer, designer, developer, and voice acting roles who released several videos highlighting their development progress. On January 4, 2014, the team released on YouTube their first development video.

In September 2012, the first videos and screenshots of an early version of a ''Skywind'' mod to port ''Morrowind'' into the ''Skyrim'' engine were released. That same month, while the team was still struggling with buggy files, it was suggested that they take ''Skywind'' in a different direction. Rather than use ''Morrowind'' assets, as had been the case with ''Morroblivion'', they should instead focus on remaking or replacing everything: new models, new textures, new voices, music, and landscaping. This was a mammoth undertaking compared to the creation of a simple port. As the scope of ''Skywind'' expanded, so did the need for talented individuals to turn the ambitious plans into a reality. The project attracted professionals, aspiring professionals, and amateurs alike, and standards continually rose until ''Skywind'' quality could compete with other AAA productions. The creators stated on July 6, 2014, that the alpha version (an unfinished test version) was "nearing its first public release". That summer, an alpha version was released for download. It was later taken down due to the large number of questions about unfinished content saturating the forums; the game's first public alpha was soon withdrawn also due to its "very alpha state".

In November 2014, the team reported to have finished half of the remaster's environment, over 10,000 new dialogue lines, and three hours of series-inspired soundtrack. Players were able to download and play an unfinished version of the release until late 2014, when the volunteer team chose to divert assets to development instead of user support. A March 2015 update showed updated levels. The developers wrote that they were not close to a release despite technical indications from their project's software versioning. In September 2015, it was observed that the game had recruited more voice actors than ''Skyrim'' itself (over 100) to re-record the game's lines. In March 2016, the project team released its fourth update, which was designed to solicit volunteers for the remaining work. In October 2018, a further major trailer was released, and another in July 2019 and January 2020.

In 2021, the game marked the milestone of 100 completed dungeons. In May 2023, the 21st anniversary of ''Morrowind'' release, the ''Skywind'' team released a 21-minute video of gameplay footage. In the video, the narrator stated that the team was "finalizing major game elements". By May 2024, after nearly thirteen years of development, level design was estimated to be 70 percent complete, while voice acting was 80 percent done, with nearly all the quests written. Additionally, in contrast to the base game of ''Skyrim'' and its about 1,100 non-playable characters voiced by 70 actors, ''Skywind'' has over 3,000 different characters voiced by around 300 performers, three times as many as ''Skyrim''; the significant amount of work required to rebuilt ''Morrowind'', itself a very large world despite its age, explains the long development. As of January 2025, the mod is still in development.

Reception

Pre-release reception

In 2014, Nathan Grayson of ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' praised the trailer of mod's first areas as "incredibly nostalgia-provoking", describing the visuals as "splendid" but saying that he was "impressed yet skeptical", citing the lack of gameplay shown; he added that he was "very, very hopeful for ''Skywind'' continued progress". Also in 2014, ''PC Games'' said the 0.9 version of ''Skywind'' looks "absolutely professional" and even in its unfinished form the playable elements leave "an excellent impression". In 2023, Christopher Livingston of ''PC Gamer'' stated that Skywind's latest trailer, about the quest "Necromancer in Mawia", looked "fantastic", and described the world as "beautifully recreated", citing the mod's faithfulness to the original game. In 2024, Rory Norris of ''PCGamesN'' described it as "the ''most'' ambitious mod on the way for Bethesda's nearly 14-year-old RPG" and said "it would be hard to argue against ''Skywind'' being one of the best ''Skyrim'' mods of all time".

See also

* Fan game
* Fan labor
* ''Enderal''
* ''Skyrim'' modding
* User-generated content

References

External links

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Frequently-Asked Questions

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