The Lore-Accurate Scale of the Imperial City | A Portrait of Tamriel in UNREAL ENGINE 5 [4K]

Long requested and awaited… the Imperial City! Part of an ongoing project to visualise a more realistic and lore accurate scale to Tamriel’s cities – here we have the Imperial City, capital of the Tamrielic Empire – now with sixteen times the detail!

Pretty much the biggest Elder Scrolls project I’ve done so far in terms of scale. The purpose of this was to get a large-scale concept of what a city of this size would really be like in real life, removed from gameplay and technical limitations. References included Ancient Rome and Tenochtitlan, and of course, the original depiction from Oblivion and its concept art.

From a playability standpoint, I’m not sure that you’d actually want something this big – it’s a lot of work for the artists and you run the risks of making a big, empty world with not much to do. But for lore visualisations like this – not really an issue!

Rendered out in Unreal Engine 5.4 on a 3090. Using a mix of third-party models and custom assets modelled in Blender, textured in Mixer. Nanite was used for all models and foliage; Lumen for global illumination and reflections.

Please NOTE: This is a FANMADE cinematic lore visualisation for the Elder Scrolls. It is NOT a mod!

Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound.

Soundtrack: ‘Uncharted Lands' - Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen.

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[lion_towersd]

Long requested and pretty much the biggest Elder Scrolls project I’ve done so far in terms of scale... The purpose of this was to get a large-scale concept of what a city of this size would really be like in real life, removed from gameplay and technical limitations


Soundtrack: ‘Uncharted Lands' - Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen

[kakemot]

you mean to say the emperor does not only rule over seventeen people

[eleven]

That's a lot of buildings for the 50 inhabitants that dwell within the Imperial City in Oblivion

[tiagomakosch]

Now this gives you the feels of an *Imperial City*

[DigitalApex]

Now THIS feels like the capital of the Empire, embedded in the heart of Cyrodiil. A huge, sprawling city built by the Ayleids at the very height of their power. A white stone fortress with titanic walls that are strategically incapable of being scaled, wrapping around the entire city, dotted with sentinel bastilles, reinforced doors, and lined with nearly endless streets. The harbor being a nexus of trade, commerce, and travel, the beating heart of the city. The White-Gold Tower visible for miles and miles, from almost every corner of the province, an unmistakable landmark that shows the very size and might of the Empire. A symbol of the emperor and a reminder of man's humble beginnings and just how far St. Alessia's prayers have come.

I know we will never see a fully-sized and to-scale Tamriel, but this helps paint that picture.

[ChristianGarcia-ygpp]

The side quest "Finding the cat for the old lady" would be hard here!

[saladinbob]

You could set an entire TES game in the Imperial city accurately scaled to Lore and it would still be the largest TES we've had since Daggerfall.

[AlshainFR]

The waterfront is probably my favourite part. It feels so alive with all the ships

[SebastianWeinberg]

I still remember that moment as I was walking along the road from Chorrol to Bruma, halfway up the mountains, when the trees on my right fell away and I had an unobstructed view over the game's landscape.  Seeing the White-Gold Tower jutting up out of the landscape — not a painted skybox, but an actual 3D object I could see from a distance of several in-game miles away — was a _revelation_ at that time.  Bethesda didn't _invent_ the use of low-LOD impostors, but they used it to _such_ great effect in Oblivion.

That's why the tower has a special place in my heart.

[Anchor-Supreme]

A game set inside of the Imperial City where you’re a detective trying to solve a murder or take down a group of thieves would be awesome. Clearly a lore-accurate Imperial City would be big enough for something like that.

[XOPOIIIO]

Searching for Armand Christophe will be difficult.

[Toaster_Weevil]

Seeing it at this scale puts into context how horrifying the sacking of the Imperial City during Great War with the Dominion must’ve been

[boreanknight]

Reminds me of Rome, Constantinople and Tenochtitlan, 3 in 1.

[GhANeC]

I remember Michael kirkbride commenting on his satisfaction regarding the final result and release of Oblivion, EXCEPT for its rendering of the City, which he felt that, as much effort and time had been put into, was quite shy of the epicness and grandiosity that the Empire’s capital deserved. More than any other city that could be depicted. I wonder if he would smile watching this video.

[Practitioner_of_Diogenes]

The sheer size of each district is the size of a middle size town, hot damn.
Now THAT, *THAT* is the seat of an Empire worthy of Tiber Septim's' rule.

[caffiend]

Now THAT'S the seat of an Empire.

[maxthibodeau]

first day on a Minecraft lets play: dirt house

second day after a "little bit" of off screen grinding:

[ricrosa]

Imagine being a Thief's Guild and the number of houses, chests, locks that you can open >:D

[prodicalking]

I still remember playing Morrowind and imagining the Empire far off, living in the ruins of an ancient Elvish city, imagining it still swallowed by jungle... but millions of people living there.

[TheWolf]

the white-gold tower is too small. it's established in Arena, that all the major towers on Tamriel are absolutely COLOSSAL.