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Inside the quixotic team trying to build an entire world in a 20-year-old game

February 25, 2026
•Ars technica

Here's something that might surprise you — there's a dedicated team still building an entire world inside a 20-year-old game. It’s all about <em>The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind</em>. Now, you might think, 'Well, wasn’t it already massive?' But according to Daniel Larlham, Jr. writing in Technology, Morrowind was actually pretty small compared to its predecessor, <em>Daggerfall</em>, which was mostly procedurally generated. Fans, however, weren’t satisfied — they started modding Tamriel into the game, creating a universe comparable in size to a small country. What’s fascinating, as Larlham reports, is that a dedicated group keeps this alive through small, steady updates — avoiding burnout and keeping the project sustainable. These mods aren’t just add-ons; they're a labor of love, handcrafted and painstakingly detailed. So, what does this mean for gaming? It shows how passionate communities can breathe new life into old worlds — and maybe even redefine what’s possible inside a game’s universe.

Despite being regarded as one of the greatest role-playing games of all time, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind disappointed some fans upon its release in 2002 because it didn't match the colossal scope of its predecessor, The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall. Almost immediately, fans began modding the remaining parts of the series’ fictional continent, Tamriel, into the game.

Over 20 years later, thousands of volunteers have collaborated on the mod projects Tamriel Rebuilt and Project Tamriel, building a space comparable in size to a small country. Such projects often sputter out, but these have endured, thanks in part to a steady stream of small, manageable updates instead of larger, less frequent ones.

A tale of (at least two) mods

It's true that Daggerfall included an entire continent’s worth of content, but it was mostly composed of procedurally generated liminal space. By contrast, Morrowind contained just a single island—not even the entire province after which the game was named. The difference was that it was handcrafted.

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Despite being regarded as one of the greatest role-playing games of all time, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind disappointed some fans upon its release in 2002 because it didn't match the colossal scope of its predecessor, The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall. Almost immediately, fans began modding the remaining parts of the series’ fictional continent, Tamriel, into the game.

Over 20 years later, thousands of volunteers have collaborated on the mod projects Tamriel Rebuilt and Project Tamriel, building a space comparable in size to a small country. Such projects often sputter out, but these have endured, thanks in part to a steady stream of small, manageable updates instead of larger, less frequent ones.

A tale of (at least two) mods

It's true that Daggerfall included an entire continent’s worth of content, but it was mostly composed of procedurally generated liminal space. By contrast, Morrowind contained just a single island—not even the entire province after which the game was named. The difference was that it was handcrafted.

Read full article

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