Skyrim is getting remastered. It looks very pretty. The best part? It won’t drop a load of dragon doo on the game’s long-running PC modding scene.
On Twitter, Bethesda’s Pete Hines was asked whether old Skyrim mods will be compatible with Skyrim Special Edition. “Basically, yes,” he replied (as spotted by PC Gamer), as Thomas The Tank Engine and Macho Man dragons the world over breathed a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, well-known modders on well-known projects like Skywind — a years-in-development mod that aims to bring The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind into Skyrim’s engine — have weighed-in optimistically. The mod’s landscaper, MicahGhost, pointed to one likely (though not confirmed) upgrade: a 64-bit engine. “A 64 bit engine is great news for us,” he wrote. “It gives us more power and better stability to make Skywind even better.”
He added, however, that the process won’t be entirely seamless. “The only thing that will need porting/updating is Skyrim Script Extender. SKSE is a special tool that gives creators more freedom with the engine, so an upgraded engine would require a new SKSE update. I do not believe it will take long at all, because the same team has already done a script extender for Fallout 4, which uses a 64-bit engine most likely almost identical to the new engine Skyrim Special Edition most likely uses.”
Like Fallout 4, Skyrim Special Edition will allow mods on consoles. Unfortunately, anything that uses Skyrim Script Extender will probably be off-limits, because script extender mods directly alter games’ underlying code. That means mods as elaborate as Skywind might not be able to make the jump.
Of course, in the particular case of Skywind, the mod actually needs to come out before we start worrying about console ports. Someday. Sooooooomeday.
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10 responses to “Skyrim Remastered Will Work With Old Mods”
Honestly they just changed the lighting so xbox users could get something similar to ENB, i couldnt see any new textures
If they at least make the game 64 bit we should be able to pile on more of our own textures without the game freaking out.
One of the major points in favour of the remaster over the very cynical commentary at the moment of, “Isn’t this just Skyrim + the beautifying mods we were already using?”
Im over the moon about this but I wish they showed some more footage. That trailer pissed away so much hype, 2 minutes of brief comparisons is a shame and quelled my excitement. Despite the negativity I would assume most of the gaming community is happy
They will be, unless it eventuates that the changes aren’t as good as the mods, or the mods start breaking for some unknown reason. But the lighting is going to be amazing! Imagine Riverwood at dawn, or dusk!
The game will never look as good as a pc version with mods but I don’t care, have you seen some of the pc versions? They look amazing but at the same time some of them colour wise look over the top, in some cases it looks less like skyrim. I like the grey that washes over everything. Hopefully with the upgraded consoles skyrim can take ANOTHER leap in the near future for console users.
Have I seen them? Pfft, my wife and I practically lived in the PC version of Tamriel from 2012 onwards! :p I’m with you on the over saturated colour mods, it’s a bit too sickly sweet for my tastes. For me, Skyrim is a cold, unforgiving place at times and the slightly drab, stark tones reflect this perfectly. Yet oddly enough, the mods that add Elsweyr, Yokuda or the Summerset Isles and their respective bright, colourful tropical locales bug me, despite being contextually appropriate. I feel like I’m being bludgeoned by the colours. I think that’s why I’m struggling with Fallout 4 at times.
Godamn im half jealous I never had a pc that could ran anything other than vanilla but half happy because it means I can experience it for the first time even if it’s not as technically impressive something about the Bethesda touch (excusing fallout 4) should make that okay. Those mods looked awesome, I was just telling my friend how Skywind looks like a Bethesda project. Hopefully there’s something in this for PC users but I do think its a way of making the console players feel remembered
Why’re you talking about Skywind being released on consoles? Maybe if Bethesda like what happens when it’s finally released and decide to back it officially, but on PC you also need a copy of Morrowind as well as Skyrim. As far as I’m aware Morrowiind isn’t on the current gen of consoles.
I’m more interested in whether Falskaar and other DLC-esque mods will make it onto the remaster. Oh, and the most important of all, A Quality World Map so you can finally see roads on the console map
Also whether the mod size will have been expanded beyond 2gb by the time Skyrim is released. At least most of the texture packs shouldn’t be needed, but monster mods and what have you aren’t small.
Skywind/Morrowblivion. I want to believe it’s not vapourware, but the pace is stultifyingly glacial and they’ve already had a high turnover of modders… 🙁