This interview is outdated and does not contain any useful information
Interviewer: What is your goal with this project?
Indiana Bones: It may sound selfish, but it's mostly for myself and the team, other modders will understand this! It gives such a great feeling to create something, to create something beautiful! Within oblivion nothing pleases me more than creating something pretty and see it work in-game. But of course it's not only for myself and the team but also for other players. Of course a created world of which I know everything is of no use to me. Someone should enjoy it, and if you create something really nice you want to share it! And I hope people will like it too.
Interviewer: I understand you have been using models from the original Oblivion to build the island. Is there any specific reason for that?
Indiana Bones: Yes, everything has it's reason. At first the island wasn't meant to be this big but it has grown this way! And now I see we need every little thing that has been done so far, if people hadn't helped me as much as they did, this mod would've ended up like a crappy average mod! So for the sake of download size I wanted to keep it as small as possible and I wanted to stay true to Oblivion too. I've seen mods which consist of 90% new meshes, these meshes can be better than the vanilla ones, but they just don't fit in, and i wanted to avoid that. Though people will see a lot of new meshes and textures for the simple reason oblivion wasn't based upon my fantasy and models were "missing". It's in my nature to avoid as much 'unnecessary' trouble or effort as possible I often said "these vanilla models will suffice" but other team members persuaded me that things would be way better with new meshes. But we can guarantee everyone that everything fits in really nice.
Interviewer: What is so special about this island? What is it's story? All in one I'm asking what is my reason to go there?
Indiana Bones: Well the island features an extended Elder Scrolls storyline on a frozen island. It sticks to The Elder Scrolls lore, although you will not find the characters on any official Elder Scrolls site, the character "could well exist". The problem with new world spaces is often the link between Tamriel and the new world. We've solved this using The Imperial Navy as a bridge. The navy is not extensively mentioned on any site, so this gave a lot of freedom to use the navy. In Morrowind the Imperials could only reach Morrowind by boat and deducing from the vanilla game, Oblivion should be situated around 900 a.D. No guns and stuff though long sea voyages have been done and maritime activities are common, so the empire will definitely have a navy. The story starts with the player signing up for the navy and goes to Thorlak Island and the player will be guided through the storyline from that point on, but the player will have EXTENSIVE options in dialogue but also in playing the storyline, every action has it's consequence! You should go there if you like snowy landscapes (not like the annoying rock surface walking that pesters me when walking around in the vanilla snow landscape), great storylines, awesome features that never have done before and if you like to truly experience a story.
Interviewer: What do I do when I complete the story? Will I have any reason to stay on the island for a bit longer?
Indiana Bones: First of all ending the main quest will truly feel like you've accomplished your goals and WILL make you feel good! Of course if you like to make the island your home, you have plenty of options in staying there in one way or another! Exploring the island never tires! Well maybe if you get lost for half an hour but the player will probably remain on the island due to extensive sidequests! There will be around 21 sidequests and many of these are extensive and consist of multiple objectives. Every single quest will have it's own neat thing! Obvious things happen, give a half naked man a lot of money for instance and he will buy clothes! A lot of quests will have turning points and plot twists to keep the player alert and ready to draw his blade!
Interviewer: So I understand Thorlak Island will have a lot of replayability?
Indiana Bones: Yes definitely! Due to the high amount of quest options the player will be able to play the main quest in a lot of ways! For instance the ending part of the main quest will have at least 4 options (and probably more!) each with their own ending and consequences. Maybe some people know it: "one man can change the world". in Thorlak Island, this is most definitely true! In every single quest the player will have a lot of options to play it with each their own consequences, I think it will really test the player's real life personality, while one person will be blood covered in a quest the other only needs to kill a few beasts or a few bandits. It will be rewarding to play the mod in 2 different ways, you won't know what's going to happen!
Interviewer: In the first of the three released trailers you mention hidden cultures and cave men. What exactly is the meaning of this?
Indiana Bones: In the main quest just when you think you've found what you wanted, something will go terribly wrong, the player will not be happy because of this and he will require the help of other people, he will search for these men and find them, eventually. He will discover these people have a totally different culture and their owns beliefs and this will make it hard to convince them. These people live in caves and a lot of surprising events will occur thanks to these people.
Interviewer: I see. What is the religion on Thorlak Island? Do they worship The Nine Divines or the Daedra or no one at all?
Indiana Bones: Like I said there will be many different cultures on the island, the Imperials will worship The Nine of course, and the largest Nord town will mostly worship nature and they believe Hiricine wanted a home for his people and created the island. The other hidden cultures have got their own way of thinking and living, I can not tell you more about their habits and religion. This would take away some fun while playing that part of the questline.
Interviewer: That is understandable. Will I be able to read more about the island through in-game books and through talking to people?
Indiana Bones: Yes definitely! Every part in the mod has been given thought on it's history. No contradictions can be found within the lore of Thorlak Island. One of our final modding objectives is adding a lot of books written by both sides on the island each from their own point of view. By talking to people you can learn a lot about the island and it's history. A lot of this lore leads to sidequests which makes reading books more interesting!
Interviewer: Do you have any people you want to thank or any last words for the readers?
Indiana Bones: Well I think it's best to see this mod like it is standing on docks. There are a few very important pillars which carry a lot of weight and have put a lot of effort in this mod and support it! Also the mod rests upon the deck of the dock, though they don't carry as much psychical weight, they are essential! These are the people who've shown their support on the forums and by commenting on the videos and so on. So thanks a lot everyone! You made this mod!
Interviewer: Well then I say thank you for participating in this interview.
Indiana Bones: Any time!
