The downside of Creation's power is that it's easy to get carried away with the possibilities, as when I sat down to create my debut magnum opus - the epic total conversion 'Azeroth vs. There are some very impressive ones though, including Open Cities, which makes the major cities part of the full overworld map rather than their own isolated zones, Midas Magic for mages bored with casting the same handful of spells all the time, and Improved Interior Lighting for improved interior lighting. Most mods so far are relatively small scale - gameplay and world tweaks rather than new quests and areas. Yes, yes, you used to be an adventurer until you took an arrow in your sweetroll. There are over 4000 of them on the Steam Workshop, with others lurking elsewhere if you'd rather do naughty things like removing Lydia's clothes instead of just her catchphrase. Instead, you create mods that are added onto the top and can be switched on or off individually, stacking them up to create whatever Skyrim experience you want.

The master data file is locked down and you don't get to mess with it.

The good news is that nothing you do in Creation Kit can break the main game - at least, not permanently. It's all there to be played with, and in case you haven't noticed, Skyrim is a pretty big game. It's the same tool that Bethesda itself used to create Skyrim (at least, officially - there's always a chance it just pressed a big red 'Make Game' button and this is all a big ruse) and opening it up is to see the whole thing laid out in front of you. Make no mistake, the Creation Kit is amazing - but it's also incredibly intimidating. Did I have what it took to be its master? I tinkered a bit with the previous version in Fallout: New Vegas, but that game's world of radioactive dirt and cold metal simply has nothing on the epic sweeps of Tamriel's chilliest corner. Skyrim is a world I've spent many, many hours exploring, questing my way through, and burning fools with fireballs for my own amusement and sometimes justice. Specifically, sitting down with a pen to watch a couple of hours worth of YouTube videos created by Bethesda, with the goal of transforming its Creation Kit from 'Oh my god.' to 'Oh, I see!'

My latest trip back to Skyrim didn't start with a dragon attack.

Bethesda creation kit wiki