One year of a 19-year-old's life turns into the Falskarr Skyrim Mod
Remaining dedicated to a long, difficult task can be tough for many of us, but 19-year-old Alexander J. Velicky was determined to finish his project, and from it was born a mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim that's large enough to be an expansion. So what does it take to create a fully voice-acted Skyrim mod that adds new lands and around 20 hours of gameplay to one of the biggest titles in gaming. A lot of time and support.
Velicky spoke with PC Gamer about what it took to pull off the massive undertaking that is the Falskarr Skyrim mod.
"Falskaar isn't perfect," Velicky told PC Gamer. "I'm not an expert who's been crafting game experiences for the last 20 years, so I certainly still have a lot to learn, and I always will. I'm always looking to learn and improve, and Falskaar was a huge chance for me to do this."
Now he has a year of experience under his belt, and a Skyrim mod that is receiving many positive reviews from the community. So what made Velicky decide to spend thousands of hours and a year of his life developing a mod for Skyrim? Quite simply, he's looking for a job.
We all know that college degrees aren't instant job creators these days, so after graduating high school Alexander and his dad decided that he would spend his time using the mod creation tools that Bethesda had provided for Skyrim to gain experience and take a shot at crafting something epic with them.
"[My dad] was incredibly supportive and allowed me to live here, paying for living expenses and charging no rent," Velicky says. "I was able to not go to school and not have a day job. Meaning, more or less, that Falskaar was my day job."
One look at the Falskarr Skyrim mod and you can tell that he took his day job seriously. Over 100 people contributed to the project with voice acting, writing, and original music, but it was Alexander who designed, developed, and put the project together. He said that each and every one of those people surpassed his wildest expectations.
The Watervine Chasm dungeon that Velicky created took three weeks to build on its own, and he has over 2000 hours of work put into the Falskarr Skyrim mod. The area he created is a third the size of the original game area.
Velicky says very plainly that Falskarr is his attempt to get noticed by Bethesda and other game development companies, and to show them what sort of skill and dedication he could bring to a development team. "The best way to show Bethesda Game Studios that I want a job there and should be hired is to create content that meets the standards of their incredible development team."
I think he's gotten some peoples' attention.
