Tamriel Rebuilt

Tamriel Rebuilt is a third-party modification for the Bethesda Softworks 2002 role-playing video game The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Founded in 2001, the Tamriel Rebuilt project is a long-term, collaborative effort by volunteer modders to expand the content of Morrowind to include wider settings consistent with the setting of the Elder Scrolls' universe of Tamriel. Since foundation, the project has published eight releases for Morrowind, described as 'expansions', that allow the player to travel to and explore the mainland of the province of Morrowind, featuring new factions and quests. In 2006, Tamriel Rebuilt briefly launched a secondary project to recreate the province of Hammerfell in the succeeding Elder Scrolls game, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, although the project was cancelled in 2009. Publications have praised Tamriel Rebuilt for the scope and detail of the project, the faithfulness of its additions to the source material of the original game, and noted their content has since eclipsed the size and features of the original game. The current release, Andaram, was published on 31 October 2023.

Gameplay
Gameplay in Tamriel Rebuilt is identical to the gameplay in Morrowind, with the content serving the same function as an expansion to the game. Content in Tamriel Rebuilt is not a total conversion or overhaul of the game, but introduces an additional landmass, the mainland of Morrowind, which the player can freely travel to directly or by ship. In contrast to Morrowind, Tamriel Rebuilt does not currently feature a main quest, but provides factional quests that sit alongside the questlines in the original game, including for the Great Houses Hlaalu and Telvanni, guilds, vampire clans, and miscellaneous quests. As of the Andaram update, Tamriel Rebuilt features over 600 quests, in contrast to the 506 quests in Morrowind and its expansions.

Setting
Tamriel Rebuilt expands the world of Morrowind to the mainland of the province of Morrowind in Tamriel, enveloping the original game's setting, the island of Vvardenfell. As of the Andaram release, Tamriel Rebuilt have released content that covers the northeastern to southern part of the province, controlled by a wide set of factions seen in the original game. The northeast of Morrowind's mainland spans the land owned by the Great House Telvanni, including the faction's capital, Port Telvannis. The southeast includes the holdings of the Tribunal Temple and the Great House Indoril, including the cities of Akamora and Necrom. In the south are lands controlled by the Great House Hlaalu, with cities including Andothren and Hlan Oek that border the western end of the Thirr River south to Lake Andaram. Scattered across the mainland are the forts and outposts of the Cyrodiilic Empire, who control large inner coastal cities including Firewatch and Old Ebonheart.

Development for Morrowind
The Tamriel Rebuilt project was conceived in 2001 prior to the release of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Previous Elder Scrolls titles, including Arena and Daggerfall, were set across several large, procedurally generated open-world provinces in the continent of Tamriel. In contrast to initial assumptions that Morrowind would provide a similarly large scope, early previews of the game by developer Bethesda Softworks revealed the setting would be limited to Vvardenfell, an island within the province of Morrowind, to provide greater detail. Disappointment about the scope of the game prompted several fan proposals to create the remainder of Tamriel with the game's announced Construction Set. In 2001, Ender, a member of the Elder Scrolls Forums, posted an idea for users to create a modification that would expand the game to all of Tamriel, with the post leading to several forum users collaborating to create a website and forum to organize the project. Upon release of Morrowind, the Tamriel Rebuilt project assembled as a "consortium of largely autonomous modders" of different levels of commitment and experience, with the project co-ordinating claims to create different areas using the game's grid-based exterior cells. Later years have seen development become more comprehensively planned, to ensure a higher level of quality and consistency across the project.

Development for Oblivion
From 2006 to 2009, Tamriel Rebuilt diverged to develop expanded content for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion with a project to implement the province of Hammerfell into the game. Initial concept and design work was undertaken by the project, including the publication of a forty-page concept art book. On 14 February 2009, the project made its first and only formal release, Stirk, which implemented a small island in Hammerfell of the same name off of the western coast of Cyrodil. In December 2009, the Tamriel Rebuilt project announced an end to its work on Hammerfell, citing a lack of manpower to create assets, which were of a higher level of quality compared to those in Morrowind.

Releases
Tamriel Rebuilt has formally released eight 'expansions' for Morrowind for download, and one for Oblivion:

Reception
Publications have praised the Tamriel Rebuilt project for its ambition and large scope, with some remarking that the project provided ample reason for players to revisit Morrowind, and many noting the additions met or exceeded the amount of content found in the original game in terms of the size and number of locations and quests. Describing it as a "must-play", Will Nelson of PC Games Network praised the mod as "next-level stuff" due to the "sheer amount of content" added to the game, and highlighted the project's close adherence to the "official lore" of the Elder Scrolls universe. PC Gamer awarded the Tamriel Rebuilt project as one of the best single-player mods in 2009. Also writing for PC Gamer, Luke Winkie highlighted its faithfulnes to the "canon, themes and tone" of Morrowind in contrast to other recent representations of the Morrowind mainland as in Elder Scrolls Online, stating the project "intends to fill in the blanks of Morrowind as honorably and dutifully as they can", citing the inclusion of fan-created literature in in-game books. Game Rant, who cited the mod as one of the best for Morrowind, noted that whilst the game was an "enormously ambitious project" compatible with the "general look and feel" of Morrowind, the additions looked a "little dated" given the age of the original game. Dr. Matthew S.S. Johnson of Southern Illinois University has written on how Tamriel Rebuilt is a unique example of community-based authorship of game-inspired texts, where the "serious dedication and participation" of the community blurs the line between the authors and audiences of video games.