Mere days after Skywind got its first progress update in a long time, the sister project Skyblivion was also shown by the TES Renewal team in the fifth entry of the developer diary series.
Skyblivion is far closer to the launch window than its brethren, having previously confirmed a release slated for next year. That said, there's still some work to do, and the team is seeking 3D artists with some experience in creating cloth and/or plant assets.
The video began showcasing the Great Forest, a huge stretch of Cyrodiil woodlands that goes from Chorrol to Bruma. The forest is divided into three sections: the Redwoods, where enormous trees litter the land; here, players will find not only humans and elves but also rabbits, foxes, wolves, boars, and a few trolls. To the west, there's an oak forest that provided an endless supply of lumber for the founding of Chorrol. Old forts and some dark, mysterious hamlets can be encountered in this part of the Great Forest. To the north lies arguably the most pleasant part of the forest that goes along the aptly named Orange Road with its lush grass, calm lakes, and aspen trees. Hunters abound here, although there are also Spriggans, the protectors of the forest who don't take kindly to intruders.
In this part of the forest, players will also find the infamous Ayleid ruins, the remnants of a once great elven civilization now long gone from Tamriel. Despite the extinction of the Ayleids, their ruins won't be empty, as they have since been occupied by Wights, Liches, bandits, and possibly some beasts. The team has worked hard to ensure Skyblivion would feature very distinct Ayleid ruins depending on the area of Cyrodiil they are located in.
The developer diary then moved on to talk about the progress made in the user interface. It had been a few years since we got a peek at the Skyblivion UI, and there have been many improvements since then. To start with, players will be treated to an animated birth sign menu during character creation, whereas the original game had a simple list-based menu.
An enhanced version of the class menu lets players choose their favorite class or create their own class, just like in Oblivion. The modders also restored attributes that had been removed in Skyrim, and each race will get specific attribute buffs. The overhauled level up screen also looks great, allowing players to see the effect of their choices in real time (for example, endurance increasing the total health points). New messages have also been written for each level up while ensuring they fit the theme of the original messages, and some messages will be specific to the race and Warrior/Thief/Mage specialization. The Mastery perk system is being brought back, automatically unlocking new perks when your character has passed certain skill thresholds.
Lockpicking has been wholly remade in Skyrim's engine and comes with full gamepad support. The lockpicking system was inspired by Oblivion as well as The Elder Scrolls Online. Furthermore, the TES Renewal team introduced 50 unique loading screens to Skyblivion. The dialogue and inventory menus will be shown in a future developer diary. The final part of the video is focused on showing the large city of Chorrol, remade in Skyrim's engine.
