"A mentor and an inspiration to many": Skywind devs pay tribute to modder Kettlewitch, whose death has left another Skyrim mod's future up in the air

"I hope you will remember him for his genuine desire to help people"

The team behind Morrowind remake mod Skywind have paid tribute to modder Kettlewitch, a veteran of the Skyrim modding scene, following his death on June 15th. Kettlewitch, real name David Purcell, also worked on a number of other ambitious Skyrim modding projects over the years, including Oblivion remake Skyblivion and Thras: The Coral Kingdom, with the latter's future now looking uncertain.

"After 6 months of fighting, Kettle has unfortunately passed away on the 15th of June due to lung cancer," Bork, one of the modder's fellow developers on Thras, posted to that mod's Discord server last week (via r/skyrimmods). "He had always been really private, so few people were even aware of his condition."

"He loved Thras - it was truly his passion project, and he kept thinking of new stories, and ideas despite his illness," they continued. "Whether you’re someone who knew him, worked with him, or even argued with over NIF or texture conversion issues over these years, I hope you will remember him for his genuine desire to help people, to teach, and to nurture." Bork closed out by thanking "everyone who’s supported, contributed, or even briefly glanced at this project", while also noting that Thras' future has been left uncertain by Purcell's passing. "It’d be a shame to lose the hard work and love that’s been put into it over all these years, so hopefully we’ll figure out a way to continue, if not at least incorporate what’s been done already elsewhere," they wrote.

The Skywind team have since put out their own tribute post to Kettlewitch. "Kettle was a longtime, active figure in the Bethesda modding community, and a prolific contributor during critical years of Skywind's development," they wrote. "He implemented complex 3D assets, animations, and weathers, and creatively used NifSkope to bring Morrowind mechanics to Skywind. At a time when determination and direction were direly needed, Kettlewitch took the reins of Skywind's 3D team and pushed the project forward. He was a mentor and an inspiration to many. Widely used knowledge in the modding community wouldn't exist without his curiosity and experimentation. His passing is a loss to us all."

Purcell was also a former key developer on Oblivion remake mod Skyblivion. I've reached out to that mod's team for comment.

Rest in peace to Kettlewitch and best of luck to the modders carrying on work on projects he helped shape.