Skyblivion

Skyblivion is a massive mod for 'The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim'. The aim is to bring 'The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion' into the newer version of the engine, and remake various areas of the game by utilising the new mechanics available.

I joined the project back in 2015, when the project was extremely small and their objective was to batch convert everything to the newer engine. It was already amazing to me that the majority of the plugin data and 3D models were converted by using a custom built tool, and I wanted to help make the teams dream come true. Sadly, a few years passed on and not much was achieved. During these years I worked on learning the pipeline of converting and rigging a model to Skyrim's skeleton, and producing a working model by using 3DS Max, and a modding tool called 'NifSkope'. By using these custom tools and plugins, it fired up a passion inside of me which had a desire to learn how to reverse engineer the file structures of games, and build modding tools to enable modders like myself, and give them the abilty to push the limits of the said game and allow them to have as much creative freedom as possible.

During 2016, A good friend of mine, Kyle Rebel, decided to improve communication by creating a Discord server and enlarge the skope of the mod. With Discord now being used, this improved communications massively. Previously, a small forum was used to discuss changes or updates, which deemed to be extremely inefficient. However, with Discord this enabled to begin meetings over voice, and have instant messaging from our phones. This introduced the "remake" element. I opted into working on the UI, which happens to be using a piece of middleware called Scaleform. Throughout the next few years, I learned ActionScript 2, and the basics of how Scaleform worked. New menus were created, as well as new functionality to existing menus by using an extremely useful mod called SKSE. This extended Skyrim's modding support and enabled for custom plugins, developed using C++, and extend scaleform functionality. Sadly, little of this content was implemented but some pictures and videos still exist. Here is some footage/pictures below.

After improving my knowledge of scaleform, I am now one of the lead members of Skyblivion, helping with communication, implementing new content into the mod with our own custom pipeline, and managing monthly merges to keep the other departments working with the new content. Furthermore, I now focus on development on new mechanics such as Spellcrafting, Disposition minigame and Attributes, which were removed in Skyrim. Last year I also assisted with building a new conversion tool named "ck-cmd". I mainly helped develop the smaller areas of the program, such as scanning the models for errors or converting shader/material properties to the newer engine.

Developed Skills

• Teamwork: constant cooperation with other members across the world.
• Scaleform: developed and modified new UI elements.
• Organisation: using Trello board for outstanding tasks, and planning ahead.
• Dedication: I have been working on this volunteer project for many years.