Skyblivion, a mod created within the Skyrim game engine, is revamping the original Oblivion to make it a better game. While the Elder Scrolls Skyblivion project isn’t fully finished (and has no official release date yet), its volunteer team has recently made significant headway on the world details and environmental design, among many other facets. The current state of the mod looks much better than its predecessor, and that’s a good sign for those Elder Scrolls fans eager to play it in the future.
About six years after the release of Oblivion (2006), and two years after Skyrim (2011), the Skyblivion project took off in 2013. Originally, the thought of converting Oblivion‘s game files over to Skyrim‘s was more to see how far modders could go, but Kyle Rebel saw it as an opportunity to fully recreate one of his most beloved games in Bethesda’s updated engine. The idea, of course, is to make the game have a similar feeling of beauty and vastness that Skyrim was able to achieve, which was one superior to Oblivion‘s experience. Since starting, the Skyblivion mod has received big updates, including showcases of in-game footage and gameplay.
There are many reasons why Skyblivion is looking much better than Oblivion, but the main ones are the enhanced graphics and textures, custom-made weapons and armor, precise and aesthetic world details, and available Skyrim mods that Oblivion can’t use. On April 2, the lead dev, Rebelzize, livestreamed a gameplay demo on YouTube that showed off all that the TESRenewal modding group had been working on. From the video alone, it’s clear to see that Skyblivion has come far in the development process and has undergone some serious polishing. However, with no release date mentioned, it’s hard to determine just how far off it is from being in the hands of fans eagerly awaiting its arrival.
Skyblivion’s Elements Are A Massive Upgrade From Oblivion’s
One of the most obvious improvements that Skyblivion brings to the table is its enhanced graphics and textures; they undoubtedly compete with Skyrim for the best out of every mainline Elder Scrolls game. And, because Skyblivion is utilizing Skyrim‘s game engine to rebuild Cyrodiil from Oblivion, it makes sense that the graphics and textures are essentially the same. Seeing the region of Cyrodiil rebuilt on this model is staggering though, and it revamps and refreshes everything that Oblivion offered in terms graphical fidelity. Not only are the graphics much better in general, but the official Skyblivion website states that players will be able to customize their experience even more by downloading certain graphical overhauls.
One area in particular that truly pays justice to the graphic and texture enhancements is the newly customized gear that the TESRenewal team made. Elder Scrolls modders are known for their ability to craft interesting new gear, such as one creator developing a Skyrim mod that turns furniture into a weapon. Skyblivion has taken it to another level, however, creating some of the most beautiful weapons and armor ever seen in the Elder Scrolls modding community. All categories of armor, ranging from light to heavy, have at least one (if not more) new set specifically made for use in Skyblivion. This goes for the weapons categories too; staffs, one-handed and two-handed swords or axes, bows, and shields. And that’s not even mentioning the original Oblivion outfits that are getting overhauls as well.
Another one of Skyblivion’s improvements from Oblivion that makes it look better is the enhanced location-specific world details. Skyblivion is a recreation of Oblivion‘s Cyrodiil but on a whole new scale, and it can be seen in areas like the rebuilt Elder Scrolls Imperial City. While the layout of the world is the exact same, the TESRenewal team has revamped each region of the map, making these areas feel more fleshed out than they did in Oblivion. Elements such as color saturation, high vegetation density, and improved land geometry are only a few of the new incorporations that bring Skyblivion to life in a way that Oblivion never could. As one dev mentioned in the recent gameplay demo livestream, “we’re also restoring our memory of the game as well.” That means that Skyblivion isn’t just a copy and paste – there’s a lot of creativity that’s gone into creating it.
The last major improvement that sets Skyblivion apart from Oblivion is the ability to use some of Skyrim‘s best mods to have a better tailored experience. For example, players can use the famous Skyrim SkyUI mod, which significantly improves the inventory, and it’s because Skyblivion is technically a Skyrim mod that it can utilize other creator content. Some might think that the UI in games doesn’t necessarily matter when it comes to making a game look better, but that’s certainly not the case for Skyblivion. Here, it not only makes the game look better but gives it a better feel too. Of course, not every Skyrim mod will be able to run with Skyblivion, but the fact that many can makes it all the better.
Skyblivion Still Needs Some Work To Reach Its Full Potential
During the livestream, it was still noticeable that Skyblivion had some polishing work that needed to be done with it before it was ready for a full release. Like the original Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, Skyblivion also has glitches. Some of the bridge assets couldn’t be traveled on because players would fall right through the map. The project also has a lot of quest importation to do as well, which could take some time, especially considering it’s a small volunteer dev team. Rebelzize acknowledged that there was still a lot of work to be done, but that the list of things to do was getting shorter.
Despite some of the flaws that the Skyblivion project team must still fix, the mod is in decent shape, and it looks a lot better than the original Oblivion. Based on the most recent updates, it’s still hard to tell how far out a finished project is, but hopefully, it’s sooner than later. Until then, it might be time for players to either replay or tackle their first playthrough of Oblivion. If anything, it’ll make Skyblivion more fascinating once fans can finally get their hands on it. All in all, Skyblivion looks like it can be one of Skyrim‘s most ambitious mods ever created.
