Fans of the Elder Scrolls series are likely looking at a pretty long wait until the franchise's next installment releases. The game, which is only known now as The Elder Scrolls VI, won't come out until after Starfield, which is still without a release date and, as of yet, only has a teaser trailer.

For fans of Oblivion and Skyrim, though, the next triple-A adventure in Tamriel might be coming sooner than that, thanks to the most ambitious modding project of our generation: Skyblivion.

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The mod began as the passion project of a single modder named Zilav less than a year after Skyrim's 2012 release. Zilav's idea was to create a tool that could convert and load all of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion's data into Skyrim's creation engine. As detailed in the recent Dev Diary on Rebelzize's official YouTube page, this didn't exactly go according to plan, and a second modder was brought in to help get the tool running properly. After reaching a somewhat stable build, the team's ambitions only grew. Eventually, Rebelzize was brought in to help market the project and create a presence online to get help with funding and reach out to modders who may be interested in joining the project.

Even with the evergrowing team of modders, the undertaking is a massive one. For a rough idea, consider the map size. Skyrim's map was 37.1 square kilometers, while Oblivion's map is 51 square kilometers (including the Shivering Isles). Take into account that inaccessible mountains took up much of Skyrim's map and you begin to get an idea of the scale involved simply in the landscape.

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The mod will, of course, go much further than recreating Cyrodil's iconic landscape. The final product will include the entirety of the main storyline, including every city, town, location and every character, quest and all of the available Oblivion DLC. However, it doesn't stop there. For Skyblivion, the modders are rebuilding the game from scratch. This means that instead of a simple upgrade to the engine, or the textures, they are completely redesigning character models, weapons, interiors, monsters, structures, and environments. Based on the concept of art and the images of in-progress models found on the project's website many of these redesigns will look even better than what can be found in Skyrim.

All of this is a monumental undertaking, and on top of this, the team is upgrading many of the game's systems and mechanics so that it will be more than just a prettier looking version of Oblivion but one that plays like it was designed for this generation of games. Finally, they are adding in their own signature elements, specifically certain loot items and easter eggs, which will be hidden in hard to find locations around the map that will act as rewards for those players who explore the newly upgraded game world to the fullest extent.

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There has never been a mod nearly as ambitious as this one, and at this point, it almost seems strange to refer to Skyblivion as a mod at all. This raises an interesting question about the nature of mods. At the point when this project is completed, whose game will it really be? Fans, particularly those of the nerdier variety, demonstrate a sense of ownership over the properties they love, but this sort of project takes things several steps further. A Star Wars fan can cut together a trailer, and a Marvel fan can make detailed fan-art of Cap or Spider-Man, but to fully recreate, update and upgrade the thing you are a fan of is nearly unheard of.

Skyblivion has become big enough to warrant comment from Bethesda, but fortunately, it was positive. According to a post on the Nexus mods website, Bethesda Global Community Lead Matt Grandstaff reached out to the developers working on the project. While he did not formally endorse the mod, he went as far as he could to acknowledge the hard work they put into the most incredible fan love letter to a video game ever made.

This should come as good news to those looking to get back into the world of the Elder Scrolls. While many fans have been around since the beginning of the franchise, there are likely far more players who were introduced to Bethesda's iconic fantasy universe through Skyrim, and there's no better way to prep for the next installment in the franchise than to play through the previous game. This will be an excellent way to relive the experience in fully restored glory for those who've already played through Oblivion.

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