May is finally upon us, and that means three things: The weather is starting to suck less, Canada’s oldest official holiday is approaching (happy birthday, Queen Victoria), and it’s time to catch up on what’s happening with Skywind, the mega-mod that seeks to recreate Morrowind, the greatest Elder Scrolls game ever, using the newer technology of Skyrim.
I’ll cut right to the chase here: There’s no release date, or even a target window for launch. This is very much a work-in-progress update, detailing advances made since the last check-in but also revealing (not that it comes as any great surprise) that there is much left to do. Some aspects of the game, like 2D art, writing, and voice acting, are nearly complete, while others—animation, voice mastering, SFX, and localization—are not.
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As is the way with projects like this one, the team is also (still) on the hunt for volunteers. “A common misconception is that Skywind has been worked on by the same small group of people, chipping away at it for a decade,” narrator Joy Hayward states. “In reality, the project has functioned more like a relay race, with the initial contributors having long since passed the baton.
“Over the years, more than a thousand contributors have given what they could, when they could, to an idea they believed in. Today, nearly every active volunteer was once a follower of the project, just like you, and the hurdles ahead can only be overcome as long as people—like you—continue to volunteer.”
These roles are the team’s current priorities:
Even though there’s no big news here, the update video is a pleasure to watch because it looks so good. Morrowind is a uniquely beautiful, alien fantasy game, and seeing it renewed in this glorious new(ish) tech—yes, I’m aware of the irony that Skyrim is older now than Morrowind was when the Skywind project began—brings me real joy. I’m not generally one for remasters, but for Morrowind, I’ll make an exception—not anytime soon, no, but someday.
If you’re interested in helping bring Skywind across the line, you can sign up at the Skywind website.
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