Last year, we spoke with a modder by the name of Will Hillson about an ambitious Elder Scrolls project called Beyond Skyrim. The fan-made, unofficial expansion seeks to bring the rest of Tamriel to players as one complete experience. On the third anniversary of the endeavor, we have an update on how the team is faring.
The team has prepared a video, showing off its work on the regions of Cyrodiil, High Rock, Hammerfell, and Roscrea. Bruma, a city featured in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, is featured along with the Jerall Mountains and other local points of interest. For now, the other areas of Tamriel, like Morrowind, are on the back burner as the team focuses its efforts.
The team tells us that it is preparing to release the city of Bruma in Cyrodiil as the first content drop sometime in 2015. This will happen once the quests, NPC dialog, and voice acting are implemented.
River Kanoff, who played General Gaius in Dust: An Elysian Tail, has signed on to lend his voice. The Beyond Skyrim team has also tapped actors that have contributed to other Skyrim mods. They will be backed by an original soundtrack.
A representative from the project tells us that the team is growing rapidly, and progress is starting to move faster. High Rock is now 80 percent complete at “first pass quality,” and multiple other regions are concurrently in development.
It’s still going to be a while before this dream is fully realized. But given the adoration fans have for Skyrim, we suspect there will be a gleeful audience when the work is done. For more, check out our coverage of the project from July 2013.