Okay, I’ll bite: Just when you thought Skyrim had infected all platforms possible, someone came along and found another way to remake the 12-year-old Bethesda title. A creator just completed a Skyrim derivative using the turn-of-the-century classic, Age of Empires 2. The cities are accurately modeled (mostly). Not much is known about the gameplay, but it sounds like an intriguing RTS spin on the over-remade RPG.
A user on the r/skyrim subreddit has recreated The Elder Scrolls V map within Age of Empires 2. Redditor Grouchy_Bluejay4511 showed off his creation with screenshots of a few of the major cities in Skyrim. Some are only accurate in spirit, while others hit a little closer to spot-on, but AoE2 limitations made it hard to get every hold pixel-perfect.
For example, Riften’s upper boardwalks are more or less accurately configured (masthead), but AoE2 maps are strictly two-dimensional, so the lower boardwalk levels are impossible to make. The wooden walkways are also much farther away from the buildings than in Skyrim. Of course, these are only a nitpicking differences. Grouchy did his best with the tools available in the game; for the most part, the most notable features are there. Solitude is particularly recognizable (below).
The Redditor didn’t stop with just recreating the cities of Skyrim. There are over 50 quests and 100 unique characters to interact with. He didn’t mention if these missions are ripped straight from the Skyrim script. The gameplay primarily revolves around the AoE2 mechanics. Players can take control of their favorite hold and try to take over the rest of Skyrim.
If we look very carefully at the image of Solitude, we can get a brief idea of Grouchy’s take on gameplay.
“P8 (GREEN) controls the Dragonborn!” the game reads. According to the legend P8 GREEN is the town of Falkreath. So we know part of the scenario involves “controlling” the protagonist of Skyrim. “The Dragonborn can complete quests to unlock bonuses and locations in each Hold,” the game’s text continues. “A new Dragonborn will respawn after 15 minutes if killed.”
Unfortunately, it’s not available to play just yet. Grouchy said he wants to do some bug hunting before he releases the custom scenario. He said he plans to post it to Steam Workshop “soon.” In the meantime, visit his Reddit post to checkout more of the holds he replicated.
The most fascinating thing about the mod is that it uses a nearly quarter-century-old game to “reboot” Skyrim, which itself is over a decade old. It is rather fitting, though. Bethesda’s classic RPG has been remade and rebooted almost countless times on various platforms.
At last count, Bethesda released The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 17 times on 10 different platforms if you include DRM-free releases. It also released a frustrating and somewhat satirical choose-your-own-adventure-like version for Alexa. Nobody asked for yet another Skyrim remake, but if you are still playing Age of Empires 2, Grouchy’s Skyrim map might be a nice change of pace.
