Luftahraan is a mod for Skyrim that—yes, yes, I know I talk about Skyrim mods a lot. How can I not? When ambitious projects such as this collaborative work from modding team Archon Entertainment challenge the depth and scale of Bethesda's own professional add-ons, it's only proper to acknowledge their quality. That's why I'm looking forward to stepping foot onto the streets of Luftahraan (bless you), the titular city-state of Nordic flair housing a full storyline, voiced NPCs, custom music, and optional activities.

Sitting west of Skyrim's capitol township of Solitude, Luftahraan emerged as an escape from the political power struggles plaguing the rest of the province. The main quest guides you through the city's own problems with a troubled monarchy and factional backstabbing, but you'll also be able to strike your own path and explore the boulevards and districts for side-quests. A few exterior areas surround Luftahraan with Skyrim's staple crags and wooded valleys, and the team plans to pepper several dungeons about the zones.

City mods are excellent opportunities for modders to flex their writing and lore chops, as the hub-like nature of an established settlement is a useful stage for exposition or dispensing tasks (which I have a feeling will involve Draugr, because everything in Skyrim involves Draugr). Luftahraan's size is about three times that of Whiterun, Skyrim's most recognizable hold, so there should be plenty to do and see.

Track Luftahraan's progress on Mod DB, where Archon is also looking for testing and modeling help heading into the mod's release later this year.

Here's a few more screenshots:

I remember the Bionicle toys as one of my earliest obsessions—I even memorized all the cool Maori-sounding character names. File this one under "all of my childhood wants," then: the early concepts for Skyrim's Legend of the Toa mod is just the beginning for a planned total conversion to the island of Mata Nui and its biomechanical guardians.

Emphasis on "early." So far, the small Russian modding team has produced a few character models, weapons, and a region-grid of the island's planned dimensions, but a lack of experienced modelers and texture artists means slow progress. If the project comes to fruition, it could meet enormous popularity—the Bionicle universe features a surprisingly rich lore of disgraced gods and factional power struggles, and the modular nature of the toys' masks and weapons fits pretty naturally with Skyrim's loot system.

Check out Legend of the Toa's Mod DB and official page for more info. If you've got Creation Kit or modding experience, the team would also like your help.

The frigid fjords of Skyrim constantly remind you that it's cold. Freezing gales howl down from ridges and sweep in fresh flurries of frost, and the arctic air means anything less than a full-blown mammoth pelt wrapped against yourself will probably cause some Seinfeldian shrinkage. It's time for an escape. It's time for a change. It's time for toucans. I can already feel the warmth blasting my face after installing the Tropical Skyrim overhaul to turn the Nords' bleak homeland into a lush jungle sprawl.

The mod not only replaces every environment texture with verdant flora and striking amounts of green and red, it also boosts color saturation and bloom to emphasize the tropical-ness even further. You won't find a trace of Skyrim's original appearance anywhere, except perhaps in the enduring Nordic homestylings of the various townships. Even then, they're surrounded by sand.

Take a look at some more screenshots below, and head over to Skyrim Nexus if you want a Tropical Skyrim for yourself. It's almost too easy to lose yourself in the seas of green rolling off into the distance—until you realize dragons adapt just fine to dripping humidity.

Plenty of gameplay-tweaking mods for Skyrim sparkle like Ayleid gems in our roundup, but LogRaam's Duel Combat Realism overhaul somehow evaded our stealth detection. It's one of the oldest mods around for Bethesda's RPG, restructuring enemy and weapon behavior for a more realistic level of challenge above the game's stock hack-and-slash design.

Duel Combat's plethora of slight changes to stamina, block, and damage values add up to a rebalanced combat system. With the mod enabled, avoiding hits and waiting for a timely opportunity to strike becomes far more important than charging in screaming your lungs out. (Unless, of course, that's your angle—Skyrim is a wacky role-player's paradise, after all.) Shields reign supreme in saving your hide, but successfully blocking an attack drains stamina—in fact, nearly everything you do sucks up your green bar, so you'll quickly run out of breath if you're unaware.

Enemies won't statically stand still during combat, either, preferring to circle around and hammer down with power attacks and bash combos. Don't expect to shrug off an unblocked blow as easily, either, as your health will plummet dramatically if something sharp or blunt connects with you.

For the sneaky types, dropping a foe from long range or from behind still causes everyone nearby to start searching for you, but they'll keep it up for a far longer period of time. Lightly armored enemies such as archers and mages will try and hide themselves behind objects or structures for an ambush if you get too near, and enhanced lines of sight means you'll get spotted if you aren't patient. That just means clearing an entire camp without a single detection becomes all the more sweet.

Duel Combat Realism sits on Skyrim Nexus for any Dovahkiin up to the challenge, and you can watch a short comparison video below of Skyrim's combat using an earlier version of the mod. Be sure to bring your Rusty Spoon, the mightiest weapon of all.

For all its overabundance of sweet rolls and murderous dragons, Skyrim is absolutely beautiful. Mods enhance the windswept plains and craggy mountain peaks of the Nord homeland into a truly spectacular vision, but it all arose from the RPG's original, bleak, Scandinavian-style landscape.

Among the artists responsible for illustrating the first fledgling looks during development was Adam Adamowicz, a concept artist best known for his numerous Fallout 3 designs. Adamowicz is no longer with us—he passed away due to lung cancer complications last February—but his exceptional skill lives on through the piles of environment and character concepts he created for Skyrim. Beyond marveling at the amount of Adamowicz's ideas that appear in the final game, it's worthwhile to appreciate these illustrations as standalone works of art.

Click through for more of Adamowicz's masterful work.

Bethesda are planning to release Skyrim's upcoming 1.9 update at the end of the month. The end of the month?! That's slightly under a month away! Fortunately, given that patience has never been among a Dragonborn's required skillset, you can test out the patch's beta version right now. With it you'll gain access to a new Legendary difficulty level, as well as Legendary Skills - a system that removes the level cap by using what sounds like a CoD-style Prestige system.

"Skills of 100 can be made Legendary," Bethesda explain on their blog. "This will reset the skill to 15, return its Perks and allow the skill to affect leveling again. This effectively removes the overall level cap."

A screenshot of the new system hints at how it will work. Plus side: the character is now at a previously unreachable Level 106. Downside: they've completely forgotten how to do Smithing twice. Presumably that playthrough's economy has nosedived in response to all the hastily crafted steel daggers that must be flooding the market.



To access the beta, you'll need to right-click Skyrim's entry in your Steam library, pop into the properties menu, skip over to the Beta tab and opt-in from the drop-down box.

You'll also gain access to this giant list of bug fixes:


General memory and stability improvements
Fixed issue with quest scripts that were not shutting down properly
Companions will equip better weapons and armor if given to them
Fixed rare issue where player is unable to learn the Clear Skies shout during “The Throat of the World”
Fixed rare instance where Alduin would become invincible during “Alduin’s Bane”
Fixed a rare issue where player could become stuck in Night Mother’s coffin during “Death Incarnate”
Fixed rare issue where protected companions could be killed from poison damage
Fixed rare issue with certain ash piles left from resurrected NPCs not clearing properly
Fixed rare issue with NPCs and creatures respawning improperly after player fast travels
Fixed rare crash when entering Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary
Fixed rare crash when entering a player owned home
Random dragon attacks will no longer occur during “Battle for Whiterun”
Fixed a rare crash when attempting to save your game during “Waking Nightmare”
Fixed issue where “Glory of the Undead” would not start properly if player is in combat with Eorlund Gray-Mane
The white phial is no longer consumed if given to a follower
If player marries Aela, the “Totem of Hircine” quest will be available
Unused briar hearts can be dropped after finishing “The White Phial”
Fixed issue with paying off a crime against the Companions that prevented player from getting Companions quests properly
Thieves Guild caches are now properly enabled in the appropriate cities
The Dragon Infusion perk now works properly when taking Esbern’s Potion
Cragslane Cave properly resets if player receives a radiant quest to clear it out
Fixed rare issue with bounty quest objectives not properly clearing after completion
Gallus’ Encoded Journal is no longer a quest item after completing the Thieves Guild
In “No Stone Unturned” Vex will now accept Unusual Gems if you’ve collected them all before starting the quest
Vekel the Man now gives rewards for completing “Toying with The Dead”
Fixed rare issue with being unable to turn in stolen items in “The Litany of Larceny”
Fixed issue with followers becoming over-encumbered after being repeatedly rehired
Fixed rare issue with visiting Kynesgrove on horseback not progressing “A Blade in the Dark” properly
Fixed issue with receiving a duplicate radiant quest from a Jarl
Fixed conflict with clearing Driftshade Sanctuary before starting “Trouble in Skyrim”
Fixed issue with using shouts while in jail and having guards unlock the jail cell
Fixed rare issue with quest NPCs not properly moving to quest locations
Fixed issue with NPCs not selling master level spells
Fixed rare issue where player gets control locked outside the Thalmor Embassy at the start of “Diplomatic Immunity”
Fixed rare issue with disappearing containers after upgrades in player owned house
Fixed issue with being erroneously attacked while as a werewolf during “Ill Met By Moonlight”
The Ebony Blade is now only improved by two handed perks
Locked door to Proudspire Manor can now be unlocked by proper key
Fixed issue with merchants not receiving the proper additional gold with the Investor perk
Fixed a rare issue where the player would be unable to learn a word after leaving for several days during “The Way of The Voice”
The Nord Hero Bow can now be improved
The Purity perk no longer requires the Experimenter perk
Fixed rare instance where Lovers Comfort would not be applied properly
If you approach Frostmere Crypt from the north, “The Pale Lady” will start properly
Fixed rare issue where player could be prevented from speaking with Atub to start “The Cursed Tribe”
Fixed rare issue where a dragon could appear in the Mind of a Madman realm and kill the player
Fixed instance where player could get stuck in Japhet’s Folly
Fixed rare instances where Arngeir would not teach Worldwind Sprint
Fixed issue with “Ill Met By Moonlight” if Sinding dies before the quest starts
Gharol can now properly train up to level 75
Fixed conflict with visiting The Karthspire before starting “Alduin’s Wall”
Reduced the instance of random dragon attacks after fast traveling post main quest
Recruited Blades now have appropriate dialogue while at Sky Haven Temple
Fixed rare issue where an incorrect dungeon could appear as a location during “Totems of Hircine”
Fixed rare instance in “Fetch me that Book” where books found before getting the quest would not be properly recognized
Fixed rare issue with traveling to Thalmor Embassy with companions during “Diplomatic Immunity”
Fixed issues with Matching Set perk not working properly with certain pieces of armor
Fixed issues with Custom Fit perk not working properly with certain pieces of armor
Fixed issue with NPC dying in a bear trap blocking progress in “Time of My Need”
Fixed rare issue with swinging door becoming stuck and blocking an entrance in Volunruud
Imperial Light Armor can now be crafted
Fixed issue with “Vald’s Debt” where Vald was not leveled properly
Fixed issue with Vilkas not giving proper greeting after completing “Battle for Whiterun”
Fixed issue with respawning actors that were raised by using the Ritual Stone power
Fixed issue with the Ancient Knowledge perk not calculating properly
The Palace of Kings now has patrolling guards on upper floors
Reduce percentage chance of getting a werewolf loading screen while player is a werewolf
Pantea’s flute is no longer a quest item after completing “Pantea’s Flute”
Placing an unread Oghma Infinium on a bookshelf in the player’s house no longer allows the book to be reused again
Adjusted dialogue priority to improve chances of hearing more combat dialogue from certain NPC enemies
Fixed issue with falling damage on high difficulty levels
Fixed bad collision on certain clutter objects
Fixed rare instance of couriers who would appear only dressed in a hat

Today's jaw-dropping VR hack comes not from the Oculus Rift, but the Virtuix Omni - a sort of half baby walker, half Moonwalk simulator. Between the device, the glasses and the Kinect sensor, we see some amazingly responsive (as prototypes go) tracking of Skyrim being played. Just think, a No Fast Travel playthrough could end up an effective exercise regime.

This is the second video showing the device running in Skyrim. You can see the first here. Just beware: the head-tracking sensitivity hasn't been tuned for this one. Watching the pronounced head-bob can double as a simulated motion-sickness experience.

According to the device's about page: "The Omni is the first locomotion device that is affordable for household consumers, fits in a living room, and above all, enables the user to walk freely and naturally in virtual environments." Virtuix is currently prepping a Kickstarter to ensure its launch.

(via Reddit)