After 19 years in development, absurdly ambitious Morrowind mod reveals new roadmap

There's still quite a long wait ahead of us for The Elder Scrolls 6, so instead of looking impatiently into the future why not turn the clock way back to 2002? Tamriel Rebuilt is an incredibly ambitious mod for The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind that adds a huge landmass to the map, several hundred new quests, scores of original NPCs, creatures based on The Elder Scrolls lore, and hours of exploration and gameplay. 

If this isn't the first you've heard about Tamriel Rebuilt, I'm not surprised. The mod project has been in development for almost 20 years now. (We spoke to the modders several years ago, in fact.) According to the modders, they want to realize the original intent of Morrowind: that the game would encompass the entire nation and not just the island of Vvardenfell. That's what the modders have been doing for almost two decades, adding in the entire mainland, piece by piece, and they reckon they're now at about the 50% mark. And they've just shared a look at what their plans are for 2022 and beyond.

The next regions they're tackling are the Velothi Mountains along the western edge of the continent (which form the border between Morrowind and Skyrim), and some original locations called the Roth Roryn badlands and the Armun Ashlands.

"These regions are quite sparsely settled and suitable for more higher-level characters than our previous releases," reads the post on the mod's site. "The release area also contains our first major Hlaalu city—Andothren—which will be the main focus point for the more than 140 quests currently on track to being included in this release."

Also on the roster is expanding to the southeast. "The Thirr Valley region hugs its namesake river as it gently meanders towards the southern part of Lake Andaram," reads the post. "This area is home to a multitude of small to medium-sized Hlaalu trade towns and tanna plantations, all nestled between thick mushroom mangroves. The Redoran Waters March, almost entirely pushed out of the region by Hlaalu expansion, holds on to a precarious existence in the twin river fortress of Ald Iuval and Ald Marak. Overtly, the region is peaceful, but players may soon find themselves entangled in webs of vicious underworld rivalry."

The mod team is also working on an overhaul of some of the work they've done previously, with a bigger version of Firewatch (a major city from The Elder Scrolls: Arena) and additional quests that will take place in the expanded location.

There's loads more planned for the near future, which you can see in the new Tamriel Rebuilt roadmap, including lots of screenshots and concept art. And unlike a lot of ambitious mods, which aren't playable until they're more or less completely done, you can try Tamriel Rebuilt right now. All you need are the mod files and a copy of Morrowind, plus the Tribunal and Bloodmoon expansions. There's a music addon as well and some other recommended files—get all the info you need right here.