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One of the recent posts unexpectedly garnered a large number of likes. This is a record to date. At the same time, the screenshot itself isn’t even new and has already been posted for the second time.

I decided to recreate some pre-release screenshots from Morrowind in a higher resolution. I found the location, set the angle, picked the time of day, weather and weapons for the first such shot. All that remains is to call the opponent.

Bethesda seems to have done this once too. The last frame is from an earlier build during development, which they clearly recreated for the release.

I updated my website a bit. I made everything bigger — the previous version was too small. I split the links into groups: Download, Follow, Write — so they are easier to perceive. And I added a page about this blog.

What if a follower sent a great screenshot for Morrowind Screenshots, without any violations, but it does not fit into the square? The project has rigidly defined and familiar proportions of posts, part of its identity: square shots, square compilations, horizontal and vertical wallpapers… Each aspect ratio has its own type of post.

I thought about this question for a long time, even postponing the shooting of new screenshots. And the solution was finally born and implemented. It’s simple: each post type now supports more than one aspect ratio. But you can always understand what kind of post it is by the proportions of the image. As before.

What has changed for the content? There is a new 3:2 format for regular shots. This is what is needed for many of the followers’ works. Previously, they had to be ruthlessly cut to a 1:1 square, losing details around the edges, or compromise, believing that we are not looking at an ordinary shot, but a desktop wallpaper. Now it is much easier to preserve the author’s idea and the harmony of the frame in such cases. A vertical 9:16 format for clips has appeared, which is not yet used, but it provides a basis for the publication of reels in the future.

Well, the wallpaper is now universal: you can lay out both a horizontal landscape 16:9 and a vertical one for a smartphone 9:19.5, and all this is one type of post. In addition, the collections have become more logical: if earlier they were strictly square, now they can be of any of the available aspect ratios, which allows you to create collections not only of ordinary shots, but also wallpapers and clips, if they are all of the same aspect ratio.

Here’s the last thing for the calendar — a magnetic cursor made of wood. Thanks to @valentyfire and my wife for helping me make it. Everything else is ready. The edition is in print.

I started by compacting the list of parameters on the Morrowind Screenshots website. Left — before, right — after. I’m worried that the project has been on autopilot for a couple of months, without new screenshots. I need to fix this.

Once upon a time, I was very impressed by the performance of the song “Blood Type” by the Korean band YB (Yoon Do Hyun Band). Here is a completely different sound, different vocal presentation, the text is in Korean, but this version is as beautiful as the original.

the performance of the song “Blood Type”

the original

There is a AI that can zoom in on a piece of an image, much like forensic scientists in Hollywood movies zoom in on a surveillance camera image to any infinite resolution. I decided to check how AI would zoom in on the statue of Saint Delyn from a recent shot. There is an old theory that Lenin is a mushroom. Now we know that Delyn is a mushroom too.

old theory

I taught Morrowind Screenshots to work with stories in Telegram. I checked the auto-post on this channel, and it worked. However, boosts and a Premium subscription were really needed here. In the future, we will see if it is worth it. In general, why do I bother with stories so much? Oddly enough, this is due to septims – small coins with the image of the Emperor. Septims appear on the site for all posts that are published in the project channels. The idea is that everything that falls into the Posts or Extras sections should be published and get its own septim. But some of the planned types of posts from the Extras section are not very suitable for the usual feed, and they need to be published somehow. The format of stories for them – just right.

I implemented and tested the auto-posting of stories from Morrowind Screenshots to VK. It wasn’t difficult. I’m not sure that anyone will see them there, but it will be possible to avoid overloading the main feed with secondary content. It seems that Telegram stories will be more difficult. Here, either a Premium subscription is required for their publication, or the channel needs to collect votes. Please help me check how it works, using this channel as an example: https://t.me/boost/dhlight

I was impressed by the fresh tech demo of The Witcher 4 and Unreal Engine 5.6. Among the highlights: Ciri pushed a man with a box of apples, and they scattered, the merchant and the buyer at the market very cleverly handled the fish, the one-legged man naturally limped on a crutch, and one man was thrown into a puddle, and the puddle made a splash. It was interesting to see how the new 3D/voxel vegetation works. It looks very natural. Maybe I just rarely watch this, or maybe it’s really a new level of graphics, animation and interactivity. Now the question is what of this is scripted, what will remain in the game, and what Bethesda has prepared for us in response to all this.

fresh tech demo

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.

Tenhi has always been perceived as a company of forest spirits wandering through the dense Finnish forests and singing about what they see. For the most part, this is a mysterious studio project, but they also have live performances. This video captures one of their rarest performances, but it seems that no one in the hall appreciates it. Stop making noise, this is a historic event!

This video

Last year, I created the Morrowind Screenshots website and automated the posting of screenshots across the project’s channels. This allowed me to spend less time on its preparation and publication, and more time on the creative part. And it really helped to plan the release of posts in advance when I wasn’t online at the right time. Now these well-established systems are ceasing to function one after another. The site continues to update only once in ten times, despite efforts to fix the problem. Now Instagram and Telegram also periodically and unpredictably crash. So far, only VK has not failed. I continue to deal with the causes, and for now I do part of the work manually. Of course, this situation spoils the development plans a little, but in general, it is a great experience of how to support a project from so many related parts.

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!

Recently, the voice assistant wished me a good morning and turned on All’s Well from the Oblivion soundtrack, announcing that flowers grow well in the garden to this music. I guess I agree with him.

All’s Well

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.

Morrowind Screenshots sometimes publishes thematic collections of four screenshots that have already been published on the channel. This is a new look at the old shots, enhanced by their combination. I am considering the idea of supplementing this format with selections of screenshots that have not previously been published on the channel, but seem too weak to be published separately. It’s a pity to throw them away altogether, but together they will look stronger.