Modder's Interview: Lord Zarcon

How long have you been modding?
I first started in the mid-2010s. Back then, my work was very sloppy, and I had no real idea of what I was doing. One of my earliest mods was a player home for Skyrim. It was kit-bashed, and I didn't even know about grid snapping at the time. For Morrowind, I started around 2022 when I was bored with how some parts of the game looked and felt and wanted to see what I could do with it.

How do you approach modding?
Usually, I come up with an idea, think about it for a while, and then start working on it. When I worked on Northern Strongholds, I originally was just going to do Rotheran since it was such a forgettable dungeon. Eventually, as I went along and finished the mod, I felt that some of the other strongholds could use the same treatment: more detail, additional loot, and more interesting level design.

Are you a pen and paper person, or fully digital?
I go full digital. Generally, I like to play around with my ideas by looking at what assets and modder's resources are available and seeing what I can use them for. If it's a dungeon overhaul, I look at the layout, see what can be kept and swapped out, and work from there. I generally like everything in a cell to have some sort of purpose even if it's something funny, like an Easter egg. (I absolutely love posing the skeletons from OAAB.)

You've done a lot of exterior and interior design, do you tackle them in a similar way? Do you have a preference?
I mostly work with interiors. I do like exteriors as well, but I find that interiors are easier to work with. I do tackle them the same way, but when it comes to exteriors, I generally like to make sure that I keep the affected areas contained since there is always the risk of mod conflicts.

What's your favourite thing about modding?
For me, it's making your own personal touch on a massive game and allowing it to be experienced alongside others. Some modders have a very unique style that can sometimes be easily identified. I think Seelof is one of the best examples of this. So much of his work can easily be identified due to the sheer amount of references and detail. I like to think of him as a friendly rival of some sort.

What's your favourite mod that you've made so far?
Personally, it would have to be The Skeeve Den. I always found the concept of Namira's followers to be morbidly fascinating: individuals stricken with extreme poverty choosing to live in absolute filth and follow a god that represents it. So, they flee from society and live caged in a dirty dungeon filled with infected kwama. There were several things I wanted to address when I made that mod:

• Why do only the four corners of Vvardenfell have ruins?
• Why are egg mines not worth going into unless you're sent there by a quest?
• Why is it possible to easily get a Daedric Katana for free if you know about it?

Is there a mod you are especially proud of?
It would have to be Into the Abyss. It was my first time managing a team for the Morrowind Modding Madness event, and I would say we delivered. Anime-inspired mods are mostly known for just taking something from a mainstream battle shonen and putting it in the game. Into the Abyss, on the other hand, tries to implement one such idea in a more lore-friendly way. Not only that, but we also made a landmass mod, town mod, dungeon mod, and quest mod in only one month. I'd like to shout out SoulOEater here since he was the one who came up with the idea. Made in Abyss is one of my favourite mangas, and I'm really glad we were able to make a large mod inspired by it.

Would you encourage modders to do team-based events or projects?
I say yes. It's a great learning experience—not only with making mods, but also with how to work with someone on a project. You can learn a lot from another person.

Are you working on a mod these days?
Unfortunately, not at the moment. There are a few ideas I have in mind, but I would like to do another playthrough of Morrowind with several recent mods so I can get a good idea of what I want to do next.

How much do you play Morrowind, not counting playtesting?
Not as much as some might think. I’ve only beaten the main quest about three times. The funny thing is, whenever I'm in the middle of a playthrough, Tamriel Rebuilt drops a new expansion. Guess I better play more if it will speed them up!

How did you discover Morrowind?
I was only seven when the game was originally released. However, I first played Morrowind around 2015 or 2016. I was still in college and picked the game up during a Steam sale. Having already played Oblivion and Skyrim, I wanted to give Morrowind a try, and I'm glad I did.

How would you compare Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim?
I find that Morrowind, despite being older, is easier to work with. Setting things up is much simpler, and I even learned how to do things that I couldn't figure out in the other games. I have worked with Skyrim as well, but there is almost always the risk of crashing, especially when you try to load an exterior with all the markers and references. I haven't looked at Oblivion much, and it doesn't seem like the modding scene over there is as enthusiastic as the Morrowind and Skyrim ones are though I am probably wrong.

What makes Morrowind special for you?
I think it would have to be how well it stands the test of time, despite some things that most would call "dated." Sure, Skyrim might be more popular and have better combat, voice acting, and less-empty dungeons. However, Morrowind has a charm you can't really get from the other games. Plus, the modding community has done a great job of modernizing the game.

What are the mods you simply cannot play without?
Oh boy, there are so many answers to that question that we might be here a while! I'll start with the biggest one: OpenMW. (Yes, I'm one of those players.) It makes the game much more stable and better suited for modern hardware.

Are there any underrated mods that you really enjoy?
I'm not sure if this counts, but I would say Valley of the Wind Overhaul. I like how it makes one region of the map stand out more.

Do you play other games?
Yes, absolutely. I used to play Pokémon a whole lot when I was younger. Much more recently this year, I played Frostpunk, Tropico 6, Hollow Knight, Tears of the Kingdom, and Daggerfall Unity.

Do you mod other games?
I haven't done a whole lot with other games, but I’ve tried here and there. I’ve dabbled with Fallout 4 and Skyrim a few times. As for non-Bethesda games, I tried to mod Gmod once, but I found the Hammer editor to be a bit tricky to use.

What's the story behind your username?
To be honest, I picked it out when I was still in middle school, and it stuck with me ever since. No, it's not supposed to be a Voltron reference—I just think it sounded cool.

Anything else you'd like to share?
I would like to see more mods that take place outside of Vvardenfell. Let's be real: after 22 years of mods, Vvardenfell is getting full. I also hope to see more repositories being upgraded or created for more consistency between mods. I’ve seen a lot of mods use the Helluva weapons and armour, as well as other item resources on the Nexus. Maybe someone can make something like "Fligg_Data" as both an archive and a modder's resource.