Skyrim VR mod uses a fan to blow air in players' faces
It's not a wind up.
Have you ever wished you could enhance your Skyrim experience with a freezing blast of real-life wind? No? Oh, ok, well um... there's a mod for that now, anyway.
Today in the world of weird and wonderful mods, I present Immersive Winds: a Skyrim VR mod which connects your PC with any old house fan so you can experience some true Nordic airs. The mod, which is available to download on NexusMods, promises to "push immersion to the next level" by using a fan to blow air at players depending on "the current location you're at in-game".
So how in Azura's name does this thing work? On simple mode, the mod will just turn the fan on and off - after stepping outside The Bannered Mare following a nice mead, for instance, you could be greeted with a bracing force 9 gale.
Intermittent mode, however, has a few more settings: the fan's strength will vary depending on the player's altitude and the weather, or if the player has entered a cave. The seven different fan strengths are created by intermittently "switching the state of the plug at different intervals".
For a low wind, the plug will stay off for 2 seconds, then the power will return for 1.2 seconds: a cycle that continually repeats in order to create a constant breeze. Higher winds will have shorter "off" intervals and longer "on" intervals. Simple, yet effective. If you're a real glutton for punishment, you can even customise the mod to make the winds stronger. You maniacs.
Players that want to experience the VR mod will require some extra hardware to make it work. The fan is self-explanatory - but needs old mechanical buttons, and must be able to switch on instantly when powered - and you'll have to grab a TP-Link HS100 or HS110 Smart Plug too.
Wind enthusiasts will also need to install the SKSE mod (Skyrim Script Extender), and there's a small amount of configuring required to set up the smart plug and fan. It sounds relatively easy though, and modder madrum has created a short guide explaining how to do this.
Although hilarious and utterly bonkers, the ingenuity of this mod is pretty impressive. I suppose the next logical step for Skyrim modders is immersive temperatures. Stand outside your freezer and repeatedly open the door, I guess?