400 hours of work, 100 unique characters, and 50 working quests: One Skyrim fan's year-long journey to recreate the RPG in Age of Empires 2 is almost over

One Skyrim superfan has been working to recreate the iconic fantasy RPG within another all-time classic, Age of Empires 2, for a year now, and is finally nearing the finish line after some 400 hours of work. 

Over on the Skyrim subreddit, user Grouchy_Bluejay4511 – a throwaway account, they say, preferring to go by their AOE2 name Bubbabaelor – recently shared an update on their massive project. "I remade all of Skyrim in AOE2," they casually announced – specifically Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition on Steam – complete with some impressive screenshots to prove it. 

I remade all of Skyrim in aoe2 from r/skyrim

In Reddit replies, Bubbabaelor explained that the mod "has 50+ quests, 100 unique characters, and you can play as one of the Holds vying for control of Skyrim." Their plan is to polish off the remaining bugs this week before soon uploading the mod map to the AOE2 Steam workshop for others to download. I reached out to talk through the mod's creation, and this mega project is even more impressive than I thought. 

Bubbabaelor says their journey to recreate Skyrim actually started with a similar, but incomplete quest from another player. "It actually goes back a bit... before they came out with the definitive edition of AOE2 there was the HD version on Steam," they begin. "Lots of people were making maps on HD of different books, movies, and of course originals. You had Game of Thrones Overhaul, Siraak's [Lord of the Rings], and Brendan's Warhammer, etc. 

"So there was this guy Zarko who had a Skyrim map, but it was totally unfinished and it really bugged me," they add. "So last year around this time I started working on my Skyrim map. My map is all my own original work, but was inspired by Zarko's start." Altogether, they've been working on this recreation since "last year around this time," and they reckon "400 hours [of work] would not be hyperbole" given that they've put in 50 hours in the last two-week push alone. 

"I've had to pick it up and put the project down a couple times," Bubbabaelor says. "I would work on it during breaks but have been making a big push recently to finish it the right way bug-free." They've made AOE2 maps before, too, including a Holy Land 1128 AD and Khorasan map, though they aren't listed online and were instead meant for friends and the game's "small but dedicated mapmaking communities." 

Amazingly, this Skyrim map "is entirely made with assets from base AOE2, which is why some areas aren't perfectly 1:1 with Skyrim," though they are nevertheless incredibly accurate. The only mod used is duhyung2h's Designer's Dataset, which "allows for free placing objects you wouldn't normally be allowed to, so getting the perspective right with Solitude and Whiterun would be impossible without it."

"Markarth was tough because everything is really packed together in game, but I wanted to make sure this would be a playable diplomacy map in AOE2, so there had to be room for unit pathing, etc," Bubbabaelor says of the mod's most troublesome areas. "Solitude's Arch was also a pain in the ass."

More locations from my Skyrim in aoe2 map! from r/skyrim

Speaking of perspective, Bubbabaelor says they used a variety of images as references to get the perfect view of Skyrim's world to bring over to AOE2's isometric view. "I used a variety of things... there's an interactive map I used for scale, but the cities were made using maps from the game and concept art. Some things got stretched a little given that AOE2's map is a diamond."

Beyond the accuracy of the architecture, the reactivity and playability of the mod is what really blows me away. "The map has the entire main quest of Skyrim scripted, so seven players control different Holds and one player (Falkreath, the most boring city) gets to control the Dragonborn. All the main side quests are also scripted, from Azura's Star to the Dark Brotherhood. You've got Blood on the Ice and Waking Nightmares, etc. Over 50 quests for the Dragonborn player, and the more you complete the more OP your Dragonborn gets. All the buildings are named and there's something like 75 unique heroes/characters you earn by in-game kills. 

"Researching quests and uniques was another time sink. But I really enjoy the crafting side of it. AOE2 gives you a lot of power to change unit names/icons. You can also be creative with your triggers. Like visiting certain places trigger new things. Walking across the right bridge will introduce you to Barbas (Clavicus Vile's dog). Enter Windhelm and a murder will take place, etc. Komodo Dragons can get buffed into an Alduin. The most difficult thing with quests is just getting the scripting right... one small mistake can lead to a lot of work to track it down." 

Another, um, creative Skyrim player recently spent 20,000 gold buying all the food in the realms, only to eat it all at once and instantly, explosively die.