Morrowind on steroids: 20 minutes of Skywind mod gameplay is now available — Oblivion remaster has a serious competitor

Skywind’s development team showed a fresh 20-minute gameplay of a fan-made mod that transfers the world of Morrowind to the Skyrim engine.

The demo focuses on the redesigned «Rescue Jonesis Dalomax» quest. The video shows how far the project has progressed over the past two years. In addition to the gameplay video, the developers reported on progress in various areas.

But first, let’s note that Skywind — is a complete fan conversion of TES 3: Morrowind (2002) powered by TES 5: Skyrim. The free project has been in development for many years, and although there is no exact release date yet, the team is not stopping first video with gameplay appeared back in 2022, and this is a new full-length video.

This time, the players were shown:

• Completely redesigned original quest from Morrowind.
• A new spell system, including mysticism magic (Mark and Recall spells).
• Updated weather and visual effects.
• Underwater battles.
• New jumping mechanics.
• An interface that combines elements of Morrowind and Skyrim.
• Book art and traps in dungeons.

The video ended with an update on the project’s status and a list of what the developers have done over the past few years. Here is what is known:

• 2D Art: the main graphic elements are ready, now we are adding additional details.
• Writing: the main text is completed, atmospheric additions are being worked on.
• Coding: spell creation mechanics and UI are almost ready; character creation interface is being finalized.
• 3D Art: Almost all the main creatures are modeled, three sets of tiles are still to be finalized.
• Animation: they are actively working on the movements of creatures.
• Implementation of assets: gradual implementation continues along with 3D tasks.
• Interior design: 60% completed, awaiting finalization.

• Exterior design: we still have to work on Krasnaya Gora, Pustki and Zafirbel Bay.
• Navmesh: Steady progress.
• Visual effects: improving weather effects, 75% of spells have already been implemented.
• Sound effects: work on the sounds of the world and creatures in progress; armor noises are ready.
• Quality control: testing is ongoing.
• Implementation of quests: gradual implementation.
• Voice acting: Several key roles remain to be filled, including Dagoth Ur, Vivek, and Jagrum.
• Voiceover mastering: record-breaking pace of work, improving processes and documentation.
• Audio file processing: steady progress in labeling voice recordings.
• Music: new applications will be opened soon, they are looking for composers for combat themes.

The Skywind team is also looking for volunteers. Especially specialists in 3D modeling of clothes, sound, and work with the Creation Kit. They also need «hands» for file cropping, localization, and navigation maps. At the same time, Skywind should get a full-fledged voice acting, because Morrowind was limited to only a few lines. Players will be able to hear NPCs say names like «Ashurnibibi» or «Addadshashanammu».

Skywind has no release date yet. Interestingly, the modders are not letting go of Morrowind, because recently the oldest fan mod received the biggest update in 22 years. At the same time, Skyblivion — another large-scale mod that ported Oblivion to the Skyrim engine is still scheduled for release in 2025. And it seems that the modders were not deterred by the fact that Todd Howard was the first to release a highly successful remaster of. Let’s place bets on whether the Bethesda troll will release another remaster of an old classic «two days before Skywind’s release.

Source:  PC Gamer / DSOGaming