The organisers of speedrunning marathon Games Done Quick have breezed past their previous charity fundraising record, gathering $3,003,889 ( 2.4m) across the week-long event. They d already set their own speed record by hitting $1 million on Thursday the biggest rush of donations always comes at the end so it s a multi-record setting event and all in order to give people medical care. Everyone bask in the feel-good glow for a minute.

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To this day, the jaunty static of the opening jingle to Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town brings me back to a simpler time. Summer evenings spent hunched over my Game Boy SP, a pane of glass between me and nature s suburban bounty as I tilled my little squares of land, pet my happy little chickens, and bribed a town s worth of reticent heartthrobs into falling for my little blonde avatar, Pepper, with an onslaught of ores, animal products, and various culinary delights (but never cucumbers, ya gummy-mouthed fish-man).

Harvest Moon was about as wholesome as wholesome gets, my first videogame love, but as the days turned to years, we grew apart. Since then, I ve filled the hole in my heart with the usual suspects, (Stardew Valley, Rune Factory, and so on) until there was only one thing left to do: make my own Harvest Moon. And so began my ongoing personal quest to turn every game I own that is unfortunate enough to not be Harvest Moon into the farming simulation game they were always meant to be. Here, in true naturalist fashion, I present my field notes in the hope that we may go on to tame this new frontier together.

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Another winter, another new Skyrim save file. You may be asking why I own this particular game on multiple different platforms, and sometimes more than once on one platform (looking at you Special Edition). You may think it s because I like to create a different character build each time, a wise mage, a heavy melee warrior, or a stealthy archer. You may think it s because I want to change whose side I m on, the Stormcloaks or the Imperials. You may even think it s because I really want to give playing as a Khajiit another go because they just look so damn cute, but are so horribly bullied it actually affects my real-life anxiety. If you re thinking it s because of any of these. You re wrong.

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There must be something in that icy water that makes the Elder Scrolls mod scene so volatile. Skyrim Together, a project to convert The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim into an online co-op adventure, was raking in a staggering $25,000 a month on Patreon up until allegations of code-theft from the Skyrim Script Extender (SKSE) torpedoed it. The good news is that it’s still in development, but you might be waiting a while. Yesterday on Reddit, the developers confirmed that the project is still alive despite the “entire codebase” being “scrapped”, later clarified as just being in the middle of a major restructuring.

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While fast travel is convenient in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, teleporting around loses the wonder of roaming an open world. If only we could have the convenience of automatic travel without atmosphere ruining-loading screens. Friends, with the wonders of modern modding, we can now set a destination for our Dragonborn and watch them automatically walk or ride to your destination in real time. Call it slow travel. Call them self-driving characters. Call it a game to idly watch. Call it… new mod SkyTrek.

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The Elder Scrolls 6 is still a (long, long) ways off, but Bethesda have confirmed the only news about it that truly matters: YouTuber and grandmother Shirley Curry will be included in the game. Last year, fans rallied to get her added as an NPC, and the developers have obliged, inviting Curry to their studios have her likeness scanned and saved for use in their development magic. The future is here and it s nice sometimes, actually.

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There are so many elements of this story which elicit slow, confused blinking from me, but honestly, the revelation that an Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim mod has been pulling in $25,000 per month from Patreon was the one which really twisted my melon.

Unfortunately, the rainbow which leads to online multiplayer mod Skyrim Together‘s pot of gold has lost a little of its lustre this week, following an acknowledgement that its developers had pilfered code from another mod.

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Enderal: Forgotten Stories is out now on Steam, making it the first Skyrim mod to launch as a (mostly) standalone game with achievements, cloud save support and even its own mod workshop. Set in its own, somewhat darker and grittier fantasy universe, Enderal is a well-known total conversion mod from SureAI, with this free Steam release being an expanded and polished edition. You’ll need the original version of Skyrim, but otherwise it can be installed as a totally separate game. Sadly, if you only have Skyrim: Special Edition, you’ll need to grab the original version too.

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After some behind-the-scenes wrangling with Valve, Enderal: Forgotten Stories hits Steam next Thursday, February 14th as a free, standalone game for anyone who owns Skyrim. Originally a mere mod (set in its own world entirely separate from The Elder Scrolls), you won’t even need Skyrim installed to play this version of Enderal. Developers SureAI say the Forgotten Stories version boasts more quest-lines, new character classes, a new (hidden) ending and other upgrades – it even has its own Steam Workshop for mods. See the very dramatic new trailer below.

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Here’s one to put on your Fus Ra-Dar. A Skyrim multiplayer mod is about to enter closed beta, and will soon offer you and up to seven friends the chance to explore the snowy bit of Tamriel together. The devs say the closed beta won’t last long, and an open one will be hot on its heels.

It is worth bearing in mind that they said the mod was almost ready back in 2017. You’d be forgiven for thinking it would (Duh) Neh Viir come out, but if you Lis Slen Nuz your doubts should be set to rest.

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