Announcing Beyond Skyrim: Cyrodiil

[1shoedpunk]

Umaril was a fool. His thirst for vengeance held his reason prisoner.

He chose his hour poorly, and he paid the price.

But now, the Temple of Our Ancestors stands empty.

The children of the slaves squabble amongst themselves.

Celediil shall be ours once more.

And by the eternal might of Gordhaur the Shaper, the pale mortal gods shall fall!

 

Introduction

The 3rd century of the Fourth Era is proving to be a bleak time for Cyrodiil. Once the undisputed power of Tamriel, its dominance now hangs by a thread. Across a province scarred by the Great War, the people are growing uneasy. News of the Civil War in Skyrim, rumors of a potential new Dominion invasion, and an Emperor who is but a shadow of his predecessors undermine the authority of the Mede Dynasty. Several powerful factions are openly questioning whether the Mede Dynasty is still capable of ruling the Empire - although they all have their own ideas about who should replace them.

And to make matters worse, unfinished business left over from the ancient First Empire is stirring deep in the ruined Ayleid city of Ninendava. Far more dangerous than the squabbles of powerful mortals, it watches patiently, preparing to settle a score that was long ago left unpaid...

What is this mod all about?

The ultimate aim of our project is to enable players to travel to a version of Cyrodiil which is contemporary to the events of TES5: Skyrim. All areas of the Imperial Province will eventually be fully playable, and the completed mod will include all the familiar locations from The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion (though without all those Gates, this time around). There will be a host of new NPCs and factions to interact with, new enemies to battle, new items, weapons and armor to collect, trade and use; as well as new quests to complete.

Is this just going to be a remake of TES4: Oblivion with Skyrim's graphics?

Certainly not. Firstly, 200 years have passed since the events of TES4: Oblivion, and we will be updating the province to the same time period as Skyrim in order to take this into account. Our heightmap is also slightly larger than Oblivion's and we will use that extra space to its full potential.

For example, players may be able to visit the "lost city" of Sutch, which was famously featured on early maps of Cyrodiil but was cut from TES4 before launch. Other "lost" locations mentioned in lore but not shown in Oblivion may also make an appearance at a later date. Finally, we will also be putting our own spin on some familiar locations - including a reconstructed Kvatch, an interpretation of Leyawiin inspired by Bethesda's original concept art, and a sprawling, battle-scarred Imperial City.

Each city will have a unique atmosphere that extends far beyond just a differently colored banner. However, they will be kept similar enough to TES4 that they are recognizable. In addition, despite the destruction caused by the recent wars, we will be sure to show off Cyrodiil's natural beauty as a contrast to Skyrim's harsh whites and grays.

Screenshots:

Note: All meshes shown are 100% modder created.

No porting of content from previous games is allowed within our project.

Bruma, the Gatekeeper of Cyrodiil

Additional screens: 1, 2, 3

Imperial Cathedral

Imperial Wall Tileset

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Chorrol Architecture (WIP)

Leyawiin Architecture (WIP)

Cheydinhal Architecture (WIP)

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Ayleid Ruin Exterior Set (WIP)

Ayleid Well

Original Soundtrack Samples:

Anthem for the 4th Empire

Dusk in Cyrodiil

Cyrodiil Tavern Instrumental No.4

Ayleid Ruin Ambient No.1

F.A.Q.S:

When will this mod be ready?

Our emphasis is on quality rather than speed, and drawing on some of our members’ experiences with past modding projects, we are well aware that large mods like this are often subject to delays or unexpected obstacles. Consequently, we will not be committing ourselves to a release date at this time, though we will of course post updates as we work on the mod and the timelines involved become clearer.

Is this project anything to do with Tamriel Rebuilt?

Although in a sense Tamriel Rebuilt, as the prototype TES “province mod”, is the ultimate inspiration for our projects, we are not affiliated with them. They have, however, generously allowed us to make use of their concept art and lore research for inspiration, as well as giving us permission to include some of their in-house literature in our mod.

Are you planning to do the rest of Tamriel?

Our project forms just one part of a much larger modding collaboration known as Beyond Skyrim, which currently consists of projects attempting to recreate all or parts of High Rock, Elsweyr, Hammerfell, Cyrodiil, Morrowind and Valenwood. Please check the threads of these other projects for more information.

Can I help?

Absolutely! We are always looking for new contributors. Whether your speciality is landscaping, interiors, exteriors, modelling or scripting, you would be most welcome. We have several writers currently hard at work at shaping our questlines, but when we start full development we will need dialogue and lore book writers. If you want to help out, please head over to our forums, which are hosted on the Dark Creations modding website. While you're over there, make sure to check out the other Beyond Skyrim mods which share the forum (not to mention the many other independent mods which are also hosted there).

News

7/26/2013 - Game Informer has interviewed Deeza, read the full article here.

 

Credits:

Full Credits TBD

 

Morcroft for creating the All-Tamriel Heightmap
Tamriel Rebuilt for sharing some of their expertise
Dark Creations modding website for hosting the Beyond Skyrim Modding Collaboration

Visit Beyond Skyrim on Facebook

www.facebook.com/BeyondSkyrim

[thingyperson]

I'm not on this team, myself, but I daresay Cyrodiil has the biggest momentum out of all the provinces.

[prod80]

holy crap... that's a lot of work.

Goodluck, I'll be sure to check it out when it's ready :)

[1shoedpunk]

It's so hard to judge where we are because province mods like this take a huge amount of work, but what you see and here is just the tip of the iceberg. If anyone sees what we have here and is interested in joining up, please stop by. We posted so early in development precisely because it is the perfect time for new members to get involved.

[Derok]

Awesome music, awesome art. Totally the most promising Skyrim project I ever seen.

Good luck! I hope this mod will be awesome.

[ElvenHeroine]

I think there is already such being made by the same guys doing Skywind called Skyblivion. You should try joining forces so a cyrodiil travel from Skyrim in Skyrim is possible.

[LargeStyle]

Just listened to the first couple of audio tracks...

 

Although I never want to criticise others work, especially since I haven't properly ventured into composing some Skyrim-type music (hopefully my next project) I have one thought...

 

The violins sample used perhaps could do with variation as it seems to over-rely on expressivo strings with a heavy accent at the start - using either more legato or DXF (dynamic cross-fade) sample sets would make it sound more authentic and ironically more expressive.

 

Other than that, great work, I'll keep an eye out for it.

[1shoedpunk]

I think there is already such being made by the same guys doing Skywind called Skyblivion. You should try joining forces so a cyrodiil travel from Skyrim in Skyrim is possible.

As I understand it, while they are making efforts to be independent from assets from previous games, their current asset practices are incompatible with our policies and Nexus rules.

 

Also, we have two very different goals in mind. While they aim to recreate Cyrodiil as it was in Oblivion, we want to see what it looks like now.

[Kraeten]

It's a very impressive goal you've aspired to, and you certainly seem to have the 3D modelers necessary to get the job done well. I would nevertheless urge you however to make this project of yours a saga split up into short chapters. I've seen a good number of promising projects over the years and I'm sad to say a large number of them never saw completion. The common flaw, to put it bluntly, is the team bit off more than it could chew.

 

I'd hate to see the same happen here when there's clearly so much talent involved. So maybe just focus on Bruma for now and only include one or two introductory quests. Keep things very manageable. There's nothing to stop you from fleshing it out later after all. With that said, I wish you all the best of luck and thank you for sharing this information with us!

 

Edit: Is there any chance you'll be releasing any of the building models as a modders resource btw? They look great!

[1shoedpunk]

Oh we are definitely taking a measured approach during development. Though, as far as our current plans go, we do not plan on releasing the mod in chapters, mainly because it is all on the same heightmap and that could get problematic. We will likely have an open beta when the cities are ready, as well as closed betas prior to that.

 

As for modder assets, yes, some of our modders plan on releasing pieces and sets in the future. For example, Varlaisaran has already independently released his Ayleid set on the Nexus and is working with on plenty of additions, some of which will be used internally for development and some of which will be added to his currently released set. I can't speak for anyone else at the moment, but I can say that we've encouraged modelers in Cyrodiil and other provinces to share their work if they want to. Considering that we have relied so much on modder resources in this and other provinces, it would be appropriate.