I recently wrote a post about the geology of Skyrim and posted on my personal blog geoheritagescience.wordpress.com. It was a transcript of a stand-up set I did at an event in London that details the basic questions needed to be asked about how to understand the geology of the area, and the interpretations gained from them.
My idea to start this project comes from a love of the game and the amazing scenery in-game. I am also a geologist with an undergraduate and masters degree in geology and geological conservation in museums. I have a passion for communicating science, especially geology, and thought that Skyrim is a fantastic medium to reach out to lots of people who might not know about geology. I believe that through the game I can help people realise that geology can be cool, and can bring an extra something to gameplay next time they sit down to play.
My mission is now to take the short set I did and transcribed on my blog to the next level, by making a better map of the geology of Skyrim and then translating this to a mod, so that gamers can see the interpretations of the geological history for themselves. In addition, I would like to create a quest for the game which allows players to map the area themselves, and make inferences about the geology to reach the ultimate goal of the quest.
To make this a reality I will need someone – or a team – of modders who are very familiar with Bethesda’s Creative Kit modding software and can advise me on what is possible with the software. I would love it if anyone interested in taking this project forward could contact me via Twitter @JLizRob or email janeliz.robb [at] gmail . com.