Deeza

Hi, Vouivre! To cut a long story short, we solved the "large worldspace" problem by cutting our heightmap up into smaller regions. It was a painful choice to make, but a necessary one. So we have three primary worldspaces now - one containing High Rock and Hammerfell, another containing Cyrodiiil, Elsweyr and Valenwood, and a third containing Morrowind and Black Marsh. If you're interested in contributing, please send me a PM, either here or over at the Dark Creations forums.

NOW RECRUITING: BEYOND SKYRIM Calling all modelers, texturers, landscapers, level designers and scripters! This is your chance to be part of one the largest and most ambitious modding projects of all time! Beyond Skyrim is nothing less than a community effort to recreate all the lands of Tamriel in the Skyrim engine. Perhaps you are skeptical that such a group of projects can succeed? Then we invite you to visit our Tumblr and Facebook pages, and our forums, to see just how much has already been completed - and how much we are still working on. As you can see, a great deal of progress towards our goals has been made. But we're still in need of your help! ---------------------------------------------- Modding Tamriel is a slow and painstaking process, and the more hands that we have on deck, the faster that we're going to be able to get Beyond Skyrim's various projects released. If you have skill and experience with the Creation Kit, 3D modelling software, texturing, or Papyrus scripting, and you've wanted to see all of Tamriel in a single-player Elder Scrolls game, then please join us and help make that a reality! We've also attached a list of the highest priority current jobs lower down this post, so if you're interested in any of those in particular, you can contact our Administrator directly and he'll point you in the right direction. Otherwise, head over to our forums and introduce yourself - we'll soon find you something to get to work on! ---------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------- Game Informer Article on Beyond Skyrim Kotaku Article on Beyond Skyrim Game Rant Article on Beyond Skyrim ____________________________ PROJECT STATUS Cyrodiil - Fully Active. Bruma Region nearing completion, multiple other regions commenced. High Rock - Fully Active. Landscaping for the majority of regions well underway. Roscrea - Fully Active. Landscaping largely completed, dungeons in progress, quests in planning stage. Hammerfell - Partially Active. Several regions in the early stages of development. Valenwood - Partially Active. Planning for the Islands region underway. Elsweyr - Planning Stage. Additional recruitment badly needed. Morrowind - Planning Stage. Additional recruitment badly needed. Lost Isles - Planning Stage. Newly commenced project. Black Marsh - Inactive. Alinor - Inactive. Note: We are not currently planning to start any additional Beyond Skyrim projects, unless it is by accepting a pre-existing external team to join our collaboration (as recently happened with Valenwood and Lost Isles). POSITIONS AVAILABLE Actively Recruiting = Green At Full Capacity = Red Cyrodiil Team High Rock Team Roscrea Team Hammerfell Team Valenwood Team Elsweyr Team Morrowind Team Note: I'm sorry to say that the only two areas we don't have any vacancies for at present are general writers and lore scholars. This is because both of these areas are hugely over-subscribed, and we already have more would-be contributors in these areas than we could possible find work for. It is always possible, of course, that this may change in the future, but in the meantime we will most likely not be accepting any additional applications in these areas. *** We may be open to applications for dialogue & quest writers or voice actors for individual, specific quest lines (please see below for details) PRIORITY JOBS We would be particularly eager to receive applications from interested individuals or groups who would like to perform the following high-priority tasks for Beyond Skyrim: Conversion of several hundred custom meshes originally created for TES4: Oblivion mods, which we have permission to use but now need to be converted to the TESV .NIF format Nature assets such as trees, rocks, flora and landscape textures. Design and modeling of a Yokudan Ruins tileset for Hammerfell. Completion of missing meshes from a recreation of the Ayleid Ruin Interiors Set for Cyrodiil. Unique Cyrodiilic and Breton clutter and furniture. Dialogue and scripting for High Rock introductory quest - "the Penumbrae". Dialogue and scripting for Roscrea's main quest. Concept art for architecture and clutter for Elsweyr and Morrowind. Weapons and armor (various projects). Creature creation. A BRIEF HISTORY OF BEYOND SKYRIM (FOR THE CURIOUS)

Cheers!

Thankyou for your interest! I'll be updating my post as and when I have more to show you.

THE ELDER SCROLLS V: ARCHIPELAGO "To kill Man is to reach Heaven, from where we came before the Doom Drum's iniquity. When we accomplish this, we can escape the mockery and long shame of the Material Prison. The Ysmir line is dead and so is His stranglehold on the mythic. We're coming for you in every one of your quarters, Sons of Talos. None shall survive." Introduction Six centuries ago, after years of warfare and skirmishing, Tiber Septim launched his final, devastating assault on the Summerset Isles. So overwhelming was the attack that the Islands surrendered in less than an hour, finally uniting Tamriel under a single ruler. Bards in the human kingdoms still sing tales of that day, whilst the Altmeri Phonocrafters weave bitter crystals of tears and curses at the devastation of their ancient homeland. But what they do not sing of is what the soldiers could not have seen. They know nothing of the unseen battles, of the numiditions and the Crysalides, and the true reason why the Altmer were so quick to surrender. The repercussions from the Siege of Alinor in time and space stretch outwards from the Merethic Era to the dwindling days of the Fifth. And they are not over, even to this day. This project will see your Dragonborn pursue a new and relentless enemy across the face of Tamriel, from a storm-tossed rock off the Northern coasts of Skyrim, to the gentle landscapes of the Iliac Bay, through to the lush tropical rain forests of the Valenwood Isles, all the way to the mystic shores of the Summersets and even the mazelike halls of Direnni Tower, at the heart of the Isle of Balfiera. You will battle against ageless Altmeri wizards, treacherous Breton politics, Sload soul snares, Bosmer cannibals and, of course, pirates. You will uncover ancient secrets, solve arcane mysteries, and break the boundaries of time and space. Prepare to embark on your farthest voyage yet... What is this mod all about? This mod will add a series of islands to Skyrim, in their own separate worldspaces and accessible as part of an ongoing quest line which will ultimately link together all of the islands in a single story. Players will be led on an epic journey across the oceans of Tamriel in pursuit of a deadly enemy and the artifacts that enemy seeks. It will strive to be as lore-accurate as possible. The separate nature of the islands will allow me to release the mod episodically, with each new episode revealing more of the story and taking the player to new islands. What is this mod all about? Since I started modding in 2008, I have been involved in numerous projects which sought to add new, lore-friendly landscapes to Oblivion. These included the legendary Silgrad Tower and the still unreleased Black Marsh and High Rock. Ironically, what inspired me most about such projects was also what frustrated me the most - their sheer scale. Magnificent though the thought of being able to wander across High Rock or Hammerfell is, when it comes down to it, I have learnt from much experience that what you actually end up spending most of your hobby time on is boring landscaping and tree-placing grunt work, and far less of it on the quests, settlements and exciting new stories that got us all into modding in the first place. In my opinion the sheer amount of grind that a province mod requires is the number one reason why almost no province mods get off the ground (the two Elsweyrs, Black Marsh and Silgrad Tower being honourable exceptions). This mod, therefore, is a response to these difficulties. It will allow you to travel to unseen regions of Tamriel and experience new cultures and locations, but on a much smaller, more achievable scale. Islands are, in a sense, miniature worlds, and my ultimate plan is to allow players to visit each province in miniature, experiencing a little of the lore and background of each area through interactions with new characters, whilst still fitting in some good old fashioned story telling and dungeon crawls along the way. What's with the name? An Archipelago is an ocean studded with islands. Whilst the islands of this mod aren't all continuous, nevertheless I hope to give players the feeling of traversing a great ocean, hopping from island to island and following a complex story which links them all together as part of the same world. Concept art: Direnni Tower The Isle of Betony South Sea Islands Screenshots: South Seas Heightmap Iliac Bay Heightmap Isle of Betony Betony House Mesh Akatosh Shrine Cypresses Valenwood Map Sketch New Valenwood Architecture Overview Valenwood Tropical Palms Valenwood Architecture Interior Note: These were taken using the TES4: Oblivion engine. However these meshes will be ported/updated to the new Skyrim engine. Videos: Note: these were taken using the TES4: Oblivion engine. However these meshes will be ported/updated to the new Skyrim engine. F.A.Q.S: When will this mod be ready? At the moment, the Creation Kit has not been released yet. Although the mod is already planned, there could be unforeseen difficulties involved with implementing the heightmaps, mesh transfer to the new engine, and so on. Consequently I will not be committing myself to a release date at this time, though I will of course post updates as I work on the mod and the times involved become clearer. Why aren't you working with Onra's heightmaps? This mod is a spiritual successor to several of the Beyond Cyrodiil mods for TES4: Oblivion. Consequently I will be using the assets from those projects, and already have heightmaps finished and ready to port to Skyrim. In any case, this mod will use separate worldspaces for each group of islands, meaning it will most likely be completely compatible with many mods based off Onra's heightmaps. Are you planning to do the rest of mainland High Rock/Valenwood/Summerset? For the reasons I outlined above, I am reluctant to embark on a full-scale province mod due to the huge amounts of landscaping grunt work involved. However, were enough other people to help out (and I'm talking significant numbers of committed and skilled modders here), I might possibly be persuaded to change my mind. Alternatively, I may try expanding the mod in the future to add even more islands off the coasts of other provinces. Can I help? Absolutely! I would gladly accept any offers of assistance with anything other than plot writing (since that is the only thing that's finished). If you want to help out, please head over to the Dark Creations forums, where a subforum devoted to this project will come online in the next few days: Dark Creations While you're over there, make sure to check out the Black Marsh for TES4 and Elsweyr for Skyrim landscape mods that share the forum (not to mention our gracious hosts, the Dark Brotherhood Chronicles). Credits: The Old Ye Bard for numerous High Rock meshes and hours of lore research Noirgrim for the original Iliac Bay Heightmap Windsurfer for the original Valenwood Islands mod and cave tileset Morcroft for the coral reef meshes Mormacil and the old Beyond Cyrodiil: Valenwood team Braggi and the old Beyond Cyrodiil: High Rock team Silgrad Tower website and forum for hosting both those projects

Dear All, Sorry it's been so long since the last update. There is still a possibility that I may release this "as is" as a modder's resource. However, I am currently working on a spiritual successor to this mod for Skyrim, and was wondering who would be interested by that? I will post a full-length post shortly. Kind Regards, Deeza

While we're on the subject of the Vv mod, any idea when Phitt's is going to see a release?

Thanks for the welcome everyone! So, can someone explain to me how the modding school works? I'd be very interested in learning how to script while I'm here, as I've noticed that many of the tutorials available online are rather... lacking in some respects. So do I need to post somewhere to sign up? And how do I "graduate"? Will I need to upload finished scripts for someone to review?

Thanks for showing interest! I'm afraid that before we get to the beta testing stage there is still some quest scripting that needs to be done. Would anyone here be able to help us out with that?

Thankyou. I should say that the videos are not mine - they were made by Windsurfer, the founder of the project (now semi-retired). But I will see if I can get in touch with him and get hold of a copy of the video files.

Thanks. I don't suppose the Beta Testing Guild here would be interested in helping work the bugs out of this in the run up to the release?

For those who are interested, I have posted a WIP thread for the first project I am involved with here: There are still a few things that need doing before release that I could use some help with (as they're not my areas of expertise), if anyone is interested.

TES IV: VALENWOOD ISLES Trailers: Trailer 1: Trailer 2: Estimated Timeline For Release: 28/02/2011 Requirements: Oblivion 1.2.416 Description: At long last, one of the oldest continuously running Oblivion mod projects will finally be getting a release. Started way back in 2008, this mod was originally hosted on the Silgrad Tower forums as part of the sadly now-defunct Valenwood Province mod, but it is now approaching completion as an independent mod in its own right. The current version still requires some scripting and beta testing, and any help that anyone can offer in this area would be very much appreciated. This mod will open up passage to the tropical southern province of Valenwood, home of the Bosmer. Travelling by ship from Anvil, players will find themselves shipwrecked on a group of poorly-charted islands off the southern coast of Tamriel. Cut off from the mainland, the survivors are at the mercy of a hostile local tribe. Yet some of their fellow castaways may not be what they seem either... Players will have to decide whom they can trust, and quickly, if they want to survive long enough to return to the mainland in one piece. The beta release will include: - A unique new worldspace to explore, dramatically differing from Cyrodiil in flora, landscape and creatures - Many new meshes, including new architecture and items exclusive to this mod - A new and richly detailed culture to encounter: the tribal Bosmer, as described in Elder Scrolls lore - New ingredients, items and quests available for enterprising adventurers - A complex storyline to follow which will introduce the culture of the islands and their interactions with the outside world - Over 15 minutes of brand new original music, specially composed for the project by SolarRainUK Current Active Team: Deeza - Storyline Author and forum admin morcroft - Modeller, Texturer and Landscaper The Old Ye Bard - Quest Modder, Modeller and lore expert Credits (in order of date of joining the project): windsurfer - Founding Leader, who originally planned and developed the project for many years. The original landscaping, interiors, and several of the new models are all entirely his work SolarRainUK - composer of all of the original music featured in the mod. It was written for the exclusive use of Valenwood and the author retains copyright Deeza - wrote the story for the main quest and acted as caretaker admin of the forums in windsurfer's absence drmccoy - completed majority of scripting for the main quest before his sudden and untimely disappearance morcroft - many additional models and landscaping of the offshore coral reefs The Old Ye Bard - currently working on completing the quests and adding some additional models and resources Special Thanks To: Sandor - for providing hosting space for the project on Silgrad Tower simonp92 - for getting the project out of a sticky situation involving some backup files FLESH, mormacil and the rest of the original Valenwood Team - for advice, support and encouragement of the project Razorwing - for originally hosting the project on Silgrad Tower Licensing/Legal The original creators of this mod wanted the new assets in this mod to remain unique until it is released in a final version, and the current team is honouring their wishes. Following the final release, requests to use resources will be decided case by case. The files may not be re-used or re-hosted without the team's express permission. Screenshots: New screenshots will be available soon. In the meantime, a selection of older screenshots can be viewed here: http://www.silgradtower.net/Websites/Valenwood/9550-I.htm