Skyblivion Newsletter
November 14, 2021
Image of the month
A stroll through the finalized Fall Forest by TheLootist
General Development
Departments Working Together
As the year slowly winds down, we’re once again gathering our newest works to show off. This newsletter will focus on Daedra and their cults. In the last two months, many associated assets were created by our artists in different departments. Daedra have always featured heavily in Elder Scrolls, but are center stage in Oblivion. Other than the pivotal Daedric invasion by Mehrunes Dagon, we have other Daedra who have their footholds in the mortal realm.
The Prince of Domination
Here you see a concept by Hinimoto of the Daedric Prince of domination, schemes, and enslavement, the one and only Molag Bal. We put great effort into redesigning our daedric shrines because they give the player their first impressions of these almighty beings and their realms.
The Prince of Madness
Sheogorath is the Daedric Prince of madness and ruler over the Shivering Isles. Here you can see the 3D WIP for the statue and the original 2D concept by Cynthia and Hinimoto.
Additionally, Knecksewn finished the 3D work for Wabbajack which was designed by Gees.
Lesser Daedra
The Daedric realms don’t consist purely of the almighty princes. Many lower Deadra inhabit the different realms. One of them is the Dremora that can be summoned by the player and is a footsoldier for many Deadric lords.
Here we have the new Dremora body by Heartattackman, the Dremora robe by Knecksawn, and Hatred’s Heart by Justin Dewey.
Level Design
Cyrodiil is filled with interesting landscapes from the warm Gold Coast to the damp marshes of Blackwood. Some even existing outside the physicial world. The team has not been sitting still this last period and has been chipping away at areas such as the Great Forest, Colovian Highlands, Niben and even the realm of Vaermina, Prince of Dreams and Nightmares which you can see below.
While many of the original 52 forts have been created ther are still a few being worked on. Below you can find our first teaser of the redesigned ruined City Sutch by ClefJ which was originally cut from Oblivion and turned into a small fort. Below we have Fort Empire by Lootist overlooking the beautiful Imperial City.
Work on Cyrodiil continues but two specific regions had a lot of work put into them since our last newsletter. The Great Forest is the first we want to highlight. Our new landscaper Caro has been doing wonderful work as you can see below.
The Great Forest is a biome dominated by massive Redwoods. These forests are very iconic due to the large pines covered in red bark as you may have noticed. There is more to this area than just large pine trees however, Ayleid ruins can be found dotted around these ancient forests. Some of the trees may have even seen a glimpse of the ancient masters of these long forgotten cities.
The second biome we are highlighting is the Niben. This stretch of land reaches from the Heartlands all the way down to the swamps of Blackwood and contains various biomes from grasslands to thing forests along the riverbanks.
Deekeyes has been chipping away at the area and as you can see the results are very pleasing. The picture above is a grass field found near the Heartlands.
Moving on we can find the settlement of Cadlew, formerly a single chapel and now a proper settlement. On the right we see one of the many Doomstones scattered across the map, rumor has it they turn starlight into magic.
Concept Art
Recently Hinimoto took on the claim to make portraits of important Oblivion characters with status. This claim is a new addition that will subtly enhance the immersion of the game.
Here are some characters that will be depicted:
Janus Hassidor
The beloved and reserved count of Skingrad. His people adore his rule though he rarely shows himself. Many people believe he is just shy, but some suspect a darker reason for his absence.
Narina Carvain
Known as a cunning and ruthless negotiator, Narina is the proud countess of Bruma. It is a challenge to rule a nordic city as a woman of Nebanese heritage, but Narina has proved herself to be a competent ruler.
Andel Indarys
A Dunmeri immigrant from the house of Hlaalu. He worked his way up to the top and now is the proud count of Cheydinhal. His private life is scarred by tragedy with the loss of his wife.
3D
A lot was done in the 3D department. We have recently processed a large merge of clutter and furniture assets, including Andre’s lower-class furniture sets. Deisabri has reviewed and expanded the list of clothing claims, and our 3D artists have been giving their best to complete a list of remade and renewed assets.
Architecture
Kazuhide is spearheading the development of the Imperial City architecture, including modelling the White-Gold Tower.
A lot of pieces that can be reused to finish the tileset for the Imperial City.
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It’s Set in Stone
Here is a small collection of the many statues that Cynthia finished in the last few weeks:
Interiors
There’s been an influx of members into the Interiors Department, and subsequently, more claims are on their way to being completed. We want to start the presentation of interiors with a “super scary” vampire cave by Shpek. He did an amazing job bringing a horrifying and mysterious atmosphere to this secluded part of Cyrodiil.
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The Mysterious Tomb of Amelion
Some spooky interiors by Carot, who in the last few months knocked out interiors left and right. Here is the Amelion Tomb, which the player enters for a fetch quest.
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Carrots Haunted House in Skingrad
It is an unanswered secret why the spirits haunt this specific house in Skingrad. Some suggest a past tragedy, others think that a necromancer bound those poor souls to this place. Regardless of the true nature of this place, it’s safe to say that not many live to tell the tale of this place.
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Horror of Poverty
Nobody should underestimate the horrors of poverty that are part of the lives of many Cyrodilic citizens. Carrot did an amazing job of representing that anguish.
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A collection of recent interior work this month
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Implementation
An often overlooked part of gamedevelopment is implementation. In the case of Skyblivion we have a large group of people who are responsible for implementing quests and 3D assets into the game. Below are some highlights.
With the huge number of quests and assets that get added into the game every single day it is easy to make mistakes. Even though this is technically a Bethesda game we try our best to create a smooth experience which means we need to find fix any bugs we may come across. Bugs can be simple like an object that is invisible or more complicated like dogs talking. Below you can see both of these and more.
