This is a project I've been doing on and off for a lot of months now. The idea is basically to extend the length of Skyrim's existing dungeons mainly through the addition of new cells. For example in Bleak Falls Barrow, after you slay the giant Frostbite Spider and cut down the dark elf, you'll find that the passage into the catacombs is suddenly blocked by debris, and instead you'll find a new hallway to your left leading into the new cell, leading down to a new canols section you have to go through, then up again to reach the catacombs section of the previous cell.

There are a couple of principles I try to adhere to for this:

-Difficulty with regards to enemies, puzzles, traps etc should be the same as the original dungeons, to ensure a seamless experience and compatibility with any rebalancing mods.

-Lighting, ambiance or any specific themes/quirks related to the original dungeons should carry over into the new cells and not deviate too much, again for a cohesive and seamless experience.

-Editing of the original cells should be minimal, only to connect and accomodate entry into the new cells.

-No editing to exteriors/worldspace.

I have already gone through several iterations and deleted entire cells that I thought weren't up to quality standards, and it will probably happen again in the future. I had started working on a new cell for Ustengrav with some added Greybeard themes but felt that it just didn't work. Lorewise I am unsure if the Greybeards actually built the place themselves or if it's just a dragon cult place retrofitted for their needs. I've also extended the tilesets with new models (both mod resources and retextured vanilla ones) for added flexibility, though it isn't heavily used yet.

So after scrapping Ustengrav I only have work done for Bleak Falls Barrow and Alftand so far. Main Quest dungeons are my biggest priority, with faction-related dungeons after that. Saarthal is probably next on my list. The cells are a pretty mixed bag in terms of how finished they are. I feel Alftand is the furthest even though it's the latest one I started just a few weeks ago. General ambiance and cluttering is far from finished, and I won't start on enemy placement/navmeshing until that is done.

General screenshot disclaimer: The only post-processing mods I have running for ingame screenshots is Dynavision and Climates of Tamriel (unsure if this one inherently edits interior lightning or on a per-cell basis). No ENB used. High resolution textures are used. My character is present to give a better sense of scale.

Bleak Falls Barrow

The overall themes here are a mix of caverns, natural overgrowth, bandit activity at the start and spider infestation.

http://imageshack.us/a/img402/1224/qv2a.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img703/2833/nhgo.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img59/6391/1i0m.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img833/643/gohk.jpg

Alftand

The overall themes here are frozen ruins, signs of expedition activity, and falmer activity later on.

http://imageshack.us/a/img62/9409/zhg7.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img521/7774/qcfk.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img833/9236/ycc5.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img822/234/w871.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img694/6953/czbe.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img826/3945/r28g.jpg

I expect this to be a very long term project that I'll just keep adding to over time. It'll probably be fit for initial release when I have 2-3 dungeons more or less finished. I sure wouldn't mind some help down the road though if there turns out to be interest.

Very nice! The dungeons in Skyrim, while far better than in Oblivion, still feel a little small to me. In Arena and Daggerfall I could get lost for days in a single dungeon.

What I don't like in Skyrim is how *every* dungeon has a convenient exit right by the end treasure. Backtracking as in earlier games may have been slightly irritating, but vanilla Skyrim seems like a power-gaming move - "found the treasure, now move to next quest as soon as possible". It takes the roleplaying, realism and some of the feeling of adventure away from the game. I'd like some of the smaller dungeons to force some backtracking, maybe with new spawns or avelanches (triggered when killing the big bad or collecting the treasure) to make returning via the same route you came a little more interesting, or some creative use of traps or other features that wouldn't have been an issue if travelling one way, but that come into their own when travelling the opposite way. Or, failing that, a new cell or two by the current convenient exit so it takes a little longer to get back would be appreciated. It makes no sense to me that all the precious treasures, artefacts, etc. are one false door away from the entrance to the dungeon. (Ah, the days of the Passwall spell!)

If you're planning on looking at Labyrinthian, would you consider making it a little more...labyrinthian?

Knowing the dungeon from TES1:Arena (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Arena:Labyrinthian), I had high hopes for Skyrim's version - only to find it smaller and less challenging in terms of navigation than the Hampton Court Palace garden hedge maze.

If you're not familiar with the original Labyrinthian from Arena, there's a walkthrough starting at at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZsWqR2GULw&t=3m36s

I don't know about the shortcuts, most of them could be extended to lengthen the dungeon even further. Bad guys having a secret escape is a fantasy staple. As for the project it seems like a perfect thing to do as a group; people could contribute without having to be commited, making a cell and then using the version control, or maybe another tool, to add-in to the project. Just set up a page or forum so people could pick a spot and post updates as they go. Also any plans on making useless areas in some places, big cells off to the side and such? Any plans on making some of the places very massive?

I agree; it'd be nice to set up a project like this in the way that Unique Landscapes was set up for Oblivion. There was a claim map/directory that people would choose from, and those involved would post their progress for all to see on the main thread for the project. And I would say Gecko is definitely making some cells pretty big. Just take a look at those screenshots of Alftand!

Agreed. But every bad guy in every dungeon? It gets to the point where I just switch my brain off at the end of a dungeon and go into auto-pilot mode, looking for a pullchain. It'd be nice to have a bit of variety. If there's a secret exit then maybe it should be a little more secret - otherwise everyone who has ever been in the dungeon would know about it!

This does sound like a really good idea, and is another way to inject a little variety into the dungeons - each mod author would have their own style to bring to the table, much like (as Matthew_Kaine mentions) the UL series for Oblivion.

Not to shamelessly plug my mod videos, but the compilation video I did for http://youtu.be/lqe0DAAN64I should give people a good idea of the kind of beauty that's possible when modders collaborate on projects like this. There was a Unique Dungeons project in the works when I still played Oblivion, but I have no idea how far they progressed since I moved on to Skyrim.

I must say that you should start recruiting level designers and contact DarkCreations to make a Beyond Skyrim-like subforum with claims.
This design would work well, IMO:
-Unique Vanilla Dungeons-
--General Discussion
--(Claim 1) The Reach
---[Insert Specific Dungeon Name]
--(Claim 2)...
Etc, etc, etc....