Welcome! We've been at this for a little while now, but as we are all Mod DB fans, we felt it was important to put up a profile here.
First, a little information about what SWS is:
SWS is a vast modification set in a lore inspired by the Warring States period of Japanese history. While many of the concepts are inspired by history, this mod is also heavily influenced by Japanese Pop Culture, and how it has portrayed this time in history. In order to better fit the Elder Scrolls universe, this mod will include fantastical elements such as magic, demons and other RPG staples.
And now a few FAQ:
Q: Is SWS an Anime mod?
A: Not exactly. You won't see anything cell-shaded here. We aren't trying to emulate the look of anime, but we are focusing on story elements and concepts that are often found in Anime. Why? Think about it like this: For us Americans, the standard world for a fantasy set in the past is the ol' dungeons and dragons archetype. Thus, skyrim has many of the same elements you will find in Lord of the Rings. Is Skyrim a Lord of the Rings game just because it also has dragons, orcs, magic, bows, swords, rangers and the like? We all know that isn't the case.
In Japan, Anime and Manga are primary sources of lore, legend and fantasy. This mod will draw from those sources, but will not nessisarally be 'Anime' in its own right.
Q: When will this be out?
A: As soon as the basics are ironed out, we'll released a public beta, which will be updated as we add new content. Because of how robust Skyrim is, we can simply drop in new content as it is generated. But first we need to create a base set of assets, such as buildings, locations, races and the associated armor and weapons for them. This is going to take several months, depending on how much help we get.
If you find this mod especially interesting, and you can type up a simple bug report, or deal with work-in-progress content, we have no problem added you as a beta tester for the internal build. The whole point of keeping the initial build internal is to keep new players from losing interest in the mod when they see incomplete content.
Q: Why are you making this?
A: I'm doing it because I love the content, and I want to have it in Skyrim. I also know that there are others who like that same content, and so I feel I might as well share my work. As for Zigan (the other member), he's my roomate, and an artist who is both a fan of Skyrim, and is interested in modding, so he's helping out.
I don't expect this mod to blow up like Counter Strike or Project Reality, as I know our audience is a small one.
Q: How can I help?
A: If you have any modding skills, send us an email with example work. Anything you can do takes some of the workload off of us. Even if you have ZERO artistic skill, if you wanted to volunteer to edit Nifs for us, that would seriously speed us up.
If you have art skills that don't apply to modding, we have several things that need doing too:
- Voice Acting
- Writing (lore and dialog)
- Music composition
- Sound effects creation
- PR management
- Motion capture artists / animators
Keep an eye out for new content. We've got a lot coming down the pipe!
