Valheim Player Spends 20 Months Building Middle-earth in the Game

A Valheim player has completed an in-game recreation of Middle-earth after 20 months of labor. The early access title’s Creative Mode has been a hit among fans, with many players taking advantage of it to flex their impressive crafting and design skills, often replicating environments from other media. As Valheim inches ever closer to a full release, its community is hard at work pushing its current build to new heights.

Many players claim Valheim is one of the best open-world games for crafting, and it’s easy to see why. Its item creation system is intricate and in-depth, and while that may pose a barrier to some, it opens up a world of opportunity for others. Activating the game’s debug mode to build without needing resources opens it up even further, and players have taken the chance to use that dev setting to its full advantage.

Player Reveals Middle Earth-Inspired Valheim Map That Took 20 Months to Finish

A player by the username mrholmestv posted a YouTube video on August 22 to show off their impressive Lord of the Rings-inspired map. The very same Valheim player revealed their recreation of Amon Sul a year ago, but they didn’t stop there. The finished map encompasses many iconic locations from the LOTR franchise, including Mount Doom, the Argonath, Edoras, and even the white city of Minas Tirith. According to mrhomlestv, it spans over 24 individual areas and took over a year and a half to complete, which is understandable considering the sheer scale of their accomplishment.

The map, dubbed The New World, is more than just something pretty to look at. Other Valheim players can download it to explore for themselves, with both modded and vanilla versions available. Despite already sinking 20 months into the project, mrholmestv isn’t done with it yet, saying they have plans for future updates. Upcoming expansions such as Valheim‘s promised Deep North update could give mrholmestv even more to work with, so it will be exciting to see how the passion project unfolds from here.

This expansive fan-made map isn’t the only connection Valheim has to LOTR. Tolkien borrowed several of The Lord of the Rings character names from Norse mythology, making Valheim‘s Norse-inspired setting and content an appropriate backdrop for Middle-earth-inspired locations. Anyone not satisfied with the current lineup of licensed LOTR games could scratch the itch by diving into The New World, and Valheim fans can look forward to the game’s 1.0 update as its eventual release draws nearer.

Valheim

Systems

Released

February 2, 2021

ESRB

r

Developer(s)

Iron Gate AB

Engine

Unity