These shots are separated by only a couple of minutes. First, a completely black Masser emerged from the clouds, hovering over Vivec with its bulk. Wow! Then it appeared clearer, gained color and hovered over the statue of St. Delyn, keeping him company. Years go by, and Morrowind is still able to amaze with its graphics.
Sometimes I remember this funny comment to my interview about Morrowind Screenshots, which was published last year. There is a grain of truth in every joke. Do you know what insanity is? Insanity is when you photograph Morrowind for 15 years in a row, posting a new screenshot online every day!
There is a house in the Skaal Village that persistently gets into the frame, and it is impossible to throw out this shot every time.
I once wrote that, as a rule, the player never appears in the frame in Morrowind Screenshots. But there are always exceptions to the rules, and here are two more. One of the screenshots is an old one, where the player came to inspect his growing wizard tower. Here the player is needed for the plot. The other shot is new and not mine, where the hands of the player praying to the Sixth House are visible. Without hands, there would be no prayer.
Lightning flashes in Morrowind have always made an indelible impression with their sharpness, brightness, and ruthlessness to the eardrums. I have long wanted to capture the moment of a flash, which is what happened in this shot. Of course, there is no visible lightning in the sky, but it flashes brightly for a moment, illuminating everything around. The role of the “reverse lightning” here was performed by a brightly lit tree in the background.
In fact, there is nothing surprising about this, but if you go to the folder with Morrowind textures, you can find 32 files with water textures. If you put them together in order, you get a short looped animation of the water surface. And when all the modern water shaders are disabled, the game just plays these 32 textures, repeated many times on a translucent surface stretched to the horizon. The result is water.
I’ve heard rumors that this skeleton hanging by its legs in the ice cave from Bloodmoon is a reference to Star Wars.
Jeremy Soule has made a huge contribution to how The Elder Scrolls series is felt in the mass consciousness. He literally breathed his soul into these games with his music. Unfortunately, Jeremy disappeared from the radar several years ago due to vague accusations against him. There is still hope that he will triumphantly return with the new part of The Elder Scrolls, although everything suggests that this will not happen. But we remember him and hope that we will still hear his new works.
I dug out my screenshot from Oblivion, made back in 2007. It served me as a desktop wallpaper for a long time.
Usually I try to capture the scene without making any changes to it, that is, the way any player would see it (except for an unusual angle, of course). But if there is not enough light in the scene, sometimes you can improve the situation by giving the character a torch or a lamp, thus highlighting the foreground. The light source itself is not visible in the frame. But here is a rare case when the added light source is visible right in the frame, and it becomes part of the composition.
When you are waiting for TES VI, but you get TES IV again. A prophetic frame from the “Moonlighting” TV series.
There is a special moment in Morrowind when the ash storm is about to end, or vice versa, it is about to begin. At this moment, you can catch an unusual purple sky with red flashes.
I ran yesterday’s shot (the second) from Morrowind Screenshots through AI. A bit of uninvited horror. The guys in the last photo look the most menacing.
To capture this phone wallpaper, I had to put the monitor on its side and run Morrowind in portrait mode. This gave an interesting new perspective on the game, expanding the view in an unusual direction. I will definitely do more shots in this format.
When I need to ponder something, I often listen to the atmospheric soundtrack from The Talos Principle, composed by Damjan Mravunac. This music was created to accompany the solving of puzzles with a philosophical undertone, and it fits perfectly. It mentally immerses you in the ruins of ancient civilizations, where there is no concept of time. You have an eternity to think about something. The game itself is also wonderful. There is a sequel, and the recent remaster of first game.
soundtrack from The Talos Principle
From similar screenshots taken at the same time, in the same place, I always choose one. But sometimes there are shots from the same place and from a similar perspective, separated by years. This happens almost unconsciously, and I don’t think there is anything wrong with it. It’s even interesting to re-capture the same place with the accumulated shooting experience. It’s like a remaster.