Modder's Interview: Billyfighter

How long have you been modding and what was your first complete mod?

I started modding in 2004 after buying a PC just for Morrowind (I played on Xbox when Morrowind came out), my first mod was a pirate island to the east of Vvardenfell. I actually found it back in 2017 on MMH, but thankfully it looks like they have removed it since then. I was able to redownload it back then and try it out, it was terrible!

How do you approach modding?

Usually my mod ideas come to me while playing the game. A lot of my mods are quests/adventures because I already played all of what vanilla Morrowind has to offer, so I feel the game needs more adventures for long-time players like myself. I'll usually write notes and ideas in Notepad on my phone until it becomes an entirely fleshed-out draft from beginning to end. I'll go down the list when making the mod, adding or removing ideas in the list as I go. A couple of times I've scraped ideas entirely when they didn't feel like they could make a fun mod. After completing a mod I usually go back to playing Morrowind until I'm inspired again.

What’s your favourite mod that you’ve made so far?

Probably Mudcrab Imports, though if I made it today I'm sure I could have made it much better. I'm sure most people can tell I enjoy adding pirate-themed mods to Morrowind.

Is there a mod you are especially proud of?

That'd have to be Silent Island, which is probably my most complex mod. Getting the scripting to work in vanilla and OpenMW was a nightmare. I'm not sure if I can make a better mod than that one.

Are you working on a mod these days?

Yeah, I actually picked up a mod I scrapped after Mudcrab Imports. This mod was merged with a couple of other projects and it is becoming a faction mod. When I got Covid I put it down, but after recovering I started on something really cool for Starwind. Making the faction mod has proven to be a ton of work, so I hope I get the motivation to pick it back up.

How much do you play Morrowind, not counting play testing?

When I first started modding, I played a lot. But I play much less since I have made bigger projects. I would never let myself get to the point where I never play the game at all.

How did you discover Morrowind?

My childhood friend got it on Xbox and told me to come to his house and watch him play it. I was immediately impressed with the game and I bought it soon after.

What are the mods you simply cannot play without?

Besides graphics replacers, Westly's heads, and Better Bodies, I always play with Emma's Lokken mod. I played with tons of mods since 2004, but that one feels like a part of the game for me. Also, I love the old Windows Glow mod, but Melchior's Glow in the Dahrk is now my must-have for that, and probably his Graht Trees and Glowbugs mods now too.

Are there any underrated mods that you really enjoy?

There's a really cool project Jade Springs, which is like the Underground and really well made too. It's not done yet but they are constantly updating it and I've helped with some of the script fixes too.

Do you play other games?

Not as much as I used to, but I enjoy many of the Final Fantasy games. I don't play many new games, but I play some of the popular old games I missed out on.

Do you mod other games?

I've made projects in RPG maker, but unfortunately, I don't believe those games exist anymore. A couple of them were quite good.

And by the way, what's the story behind your user name?

It was a high school nickname I decided to use as a username, Billy was actually my bus driver and without going into too much detail I was called "Billyfighter" after an altercation with him. I was kind of a bad kid who got into a lot of fights.

Anything else you’d like to share that we haven’t talked about?

This year I may not be as active in modding as last year because I'm trying to read more books again. I didn't get to read as many while I was modding, and failed my Goodreads challenge!