Modder's Interview: Kalinter

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

I've been modding Elder Scrolls games since around 2008 or 2009. The first game that I learned how to mod was actually not Morrowind, but Oblivion. I taught myself to mod mainly by learning how to make personal tweaks to mods released by other mod authors. The first mod I made independently was a landmark mod that added a giant statue of Tiber Septim to the Imperial City Waterfront. At the time, I knew nothing about how textures and distant land objects worked, so the statue was only visible when you were close to it in game, and at the scale it was at, it looked absolutely terrible. However, my teenage self was proud enough of it to publish it, so I uploaded it to Planet Elder Scrolls.

When I moved on to modding Morrowind, the first mod I made and published was Broadsheets and Notice Boards. I had been playing a lot of Dragon's Dogma at the time, which was the game I had gotten the idea from. My vision for it was very ambitious at the time I created it. I had originally planned to add a notice board to every tavern, inn, and guild hall in the game. That proved to be far too much before burnout took its toll, so I completed a proof of concept version and published it to Nexus in 2015.

After a nearly 7-year hiatus from modding Morrowind, Broadsheets and Notice Boards was also the mod that brought me out of retirement. I had begun watching Danae's Morrowind streams, and she had the mod installed. She mentioned the bugs that were present in the mod on her stream, so I finally got inspired to sit down and finish it. I fixed all of the bugs, rewrote everything in the mod, and cleaned up all of the unfinished content.

How do you approach modding?

I'd say these days I mainly let Morrowind's lore and art-style influence me. While my mods aren't always strictly lore-friendly, I try to keep them very lore adjacent, and decently believable. Basically, when I want to come up with an idea for a mod, I usually try to find a bit of in-game lore or a mechanic that I want to explore further and expand upon it.

For my workflow, it depends upon what kind of mod I am making. I am probably best known for my exteriors and interiors. Once I have a vanilla location scouted out, I usually begin by dumping a bunch of statics into the cell I am working on. I usually just try to fit them together as if they were Lego pieces into something that looks good. I usually don't plan out my exteriors or interiors more than that, other than maybe having a list of things I want to include in my head.

My writing and quest mods are a bit more organized, but I still approach them pretty free-form. These days, I usually write out everything in a Google Doc first, then copy it over to the Construction Set when I'm ready.

What's your favourite thing about modding?

I'd say that the cathedral aspect of modding is my favorite part. While I do enjoy creating my own mods, what I really like about modding is putting many wonderful mods from different authors together, and thereby transforming the game into something completely new.

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

I could probably narrow it down to two:

The first would probably be Memento Mori. It was the most fun mod to create. It was a Madness mod, and my team (Globemallow, ProfArmitage, and Amalie/ChenXing) worked really well together to create a cohesive mod. It was also the first and, so far, probably the only mod for which I wrote a lot of lore and background information. Putting all of the lore together was a really fun process.

The second would have to be Song of the Grazelands. It is the mod that I am most proud of the end result of. I feel that out of all my mods it has the best world building (both physically and lore-wise), the most cohesive quests I've ever made, and some of the most interesting characters. I really feel like I was able to put together everything that I've learned about modding over the years into one nice package with Song of the Grazelands.

Are you working on a mod these days?

I'm taking a bit of a hiatus from modding these days. I've got a few bits and pieces floating around that are works in progress, but nothing that I'm sure exactly what I want to do with yet. I'm fairly comfortable with guaranteeing at least one release per May Modathon, so you can expect something from me then.

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

Not that much these days to be perfectly honest. I'm usually able to start at least one playthrough per year, but I am hardly able to get that far before the urge to add more mods to my install takes me. On my last serious playthrough attempt, I think I did not even reach Ald'ruhn once.

How did you discover Morrowind?

I discovered Oblivion first. I fell in love with the lore and world of the Elder Scrolls through it. Naturally, I wanted to experience more of what this series had to offer, so I started playing Morrowind not long after.

What makes Morrowind special for you?

In terms of the game itself, it is just such a unique game that I don't think any game will ever be able to match. It is a product of its time, and as such it bridges the gap between classic RPG elements and more modern action RPGs in a way that no other game does, and for me, it is the perfect balance of the two.

What really makes it special is the dedicated modding community that has formed around this game. It is nearly a quarter of a century old at this point, and yet there is still such a large and vibrant modding scene around this game. The people who comprise this community are so incredibly talented, and it is such a pleasure to be a part of this community.

What are the mods you simply cannot play without?

Two classic mods that have never left my load order since I first added them are Julan and Uvirith's Legacy. Julan is still by far the best companion mod out there in my opinion. His writing has seemed a little bit dated the last few times I recruited him, but it still has an undeniable charm to it. As for Uvirith's Legacy, it has everything I could possibly ever want for a late game player home. I've had many, many characters who have called it their home throughout the years.

As for modern mods, there are just too many to count that I consider impossible to play without. If I had to pick the most important ones for me though, I could probably say Ashfall and Perfect Placement. Ashfall changes the game in such a fundamental way, that I couldn't possibly imagine playing without it. It also integrates itself seamlessly with not only the entire base game, but most mods as well. As for Perfect Placement, it has saved me incredible amounts of time. By far one of my favorite things to do in game is home decorating, and Perfect Placement makes it such a pleasant experience.

Are there any underrated mods that you really enjoy?

I don't think it's necessarily underrated, but one recent mod that I would highly recommend everyone play is Under Masser's Gaze. It was an incredibly well-written mod from the most recent Madness competition, and it had an incredibly heartfelt and touching story to it.

Do you play other games?

I still play Oblivion and Skyrim from time to time. I've most recently been on a Skyrim kick, and have been setting up a small mod list for it.

Outside of the Elder Scrolls, my favorite game by far is Dragon's Dogma. I love its gameplay and its character customization systems. I'm still waiting to upgrade my PC so that I can play the sequel.

Beyond that I love games with building and simulation mechanics. I still boot up Cities: Skylines and Minecraft from time to time to get my fix of these types of games.

Do you mod other games?

I do a bit of modding for both Skyrim and Oblivion, though nothing nearly as robust as I've done for Morrowind.

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

It was the name of one of the first characters that I played in Morrowind. It seemed fitting to use it when I began to mod the game.