A Concept Realised – Anticipating The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Far to the north of Bruma, over the lofty Jerall Mountains, lies an untamed land from whence men first came. There, among frozen pinnacles and rugged wilderness, the Nords of Skyrim dwell in mighty halls.
“They call Skyrim the Throat of the World, because it is where the sky exhaled on the land and formed them [...] The breath and the voice are the vital essence of a Nord. When they defeat great enemies they take their tongues as trophies. These are woven into ropes and can hold speech like an enchantment. The power of a Nord can be articulated into a shout, like the kiai of an Akaviri swordsman [...] Shouts can be used to sharpen blades or to strike enemies. A common effect is the shout that knocks an enemy back, or the power of command. A strong Nord can instill bravery in men with his battle-cry, or stop a charging warrior with a roar. The greatest of the Nords can call to specific people over hundreds of miles, and can move by casting a shout, appearing where it lands.”
It’s been five years since players closed shut the jaws of Oblivion, and within the two centuries that have passed between the ending of the Septim bloodline and the start of this new adventure, much has changed. Civil war has left the once glorious Empire in tattered disarray, and a new threat now looms, casting a gargantuan winged shadow over a radically improved world. Akatosh was just the beginning. Here be dragons!
"I can see my cave from here!"
Facts have been seeping out since the December release of the teaser trailer, from Game Informer’s solid month of coverage to podcast interviews and multiple accounts of a recent demo. However, the scale ofthe game means information is still, relatively speaking, pretty thin on the ground. Various gameplay elements are still being adjusted, and it seems that for every other question about the game, director Todd Howard gives one of two answers: “We’d like to have that. We’re playing around and seeing if it works. If it does, we’ll put in in,” or the old classic: “We’re not talking about that yet.”
Perhaps what makes every snippet so enthralling is merely the five years of anticipation for a sequel to one of the industry’s most immersive and time-consuming single player experiences. Compelling though the retro-futurist dystopia of Fallout 3 was, the lack of beautiful vistas and vibrant cultures made it difficult to remain immersed for the same duration. I must have cleared 1000 hours on Oblivion across numerous save games, but only a quarter of that time traipsing through the Capitol Wasteland. Personally, I simply found it a lot harder to engage with a dead world.
The long development time of Bethesda titles guarantees a great many significant changes and refinements since the previous offering. Rest assured, this will not be the Tamriel you left behind. Far from the instantly recognisable Tolkienesque fantasy land of Cyrodiil, with its combination of Middle English and Renaissance architecture and a capital city lifted a little too directly from The Return of the King, Tamriel’s northernmost province sports a far grittier visual style that retains the romanticism while grounding the world in an ancient reality.
Aside from some scattered fort ruins and hints of the older Alyeid civilisation, the cultural differences in Oblivion were area-specific, largely dependent on the nearest bordering province. In contrast, Howard explains how layers of history through diverse architecture within a given location stop entire towns from looking like they were built on the same day. No doubt there will be more of an Imperial influence in southern Skyrim than in the north and perhaps a slight Dunmer vibe in the eastern regions, but the generally more varied appearance of settlements should convey a greater degree of depth in addition to providing visual interest.
Morning mists bring a gorgeous landscape to life.
As so much of the gameplay currently remains unknown, it seems only right to concern ourselves primarily with the visuals, and by the Nine, they’re something to behold. Gone are the all too familiar hills in Oblivion that had seemingly been assaulted with Photoshop’s smudge tool. The mountains of Skyrim (and everything else for that matter) are fantastically detailed at any distance. Every inch of forest and tundra has been hand-crafted, further lending the impression that rather than a game map that’s been generated, the home of the Nords is a world that has grown organically. The characters too have received a monumental overhaul, with the few screenshots available depicting humans that look encouragingly like people, and an orc whose muted skin tones are a welcome departure from the dayglo green pallor of his ancestors.One developer diary even shows conceptual illustrations for the various different meats, from venison to mammoth. Mmmm… mammoth.
Orcs look a lot meaner without fluorescent makeup.
The awe-inspiring landscape of Oblivion, with its mightily impressive draw distances, was always somewhat marred by an apparent lack of atmosphere; there just didn’t seem to be any air in Cyrodiil. Thankfully this has been rectified in Skyrim with gorgeous volumetric light presenting a world with more accurate atmospheric density, retaining the player’s ability to select a point on the horizon and set off, but without that very computer-generated-looking pale blue haze. Combine this with foggy microclimates at high altitudes and procedural snowfall, and you have a persistently gasp-worthy fantasy land with glorious views at every turn. Indeed the lighting appears to be the biggest improvement. The implementation of full shadows, used to great effect in Assassin’s Creed and Red Dead Redemption, helps to integrate the dynamic elements (characters, enemies and so forth) and the fundamentally static environment. It’s another step in making Skyrim a completely convincing world as opposed to merely a visual representation of one.
The series has always pushed the boundaries of scope, but translating such an incredible concept into reality has been fraught with difficulty. Oblivion was developed largely without knowledge of the technological capabilities of the platforms it would come to inhabit. Indeed, some of the more intense sequences had to be pushed to the outer edges of the disc in order to be accessed quickly enough. From what we’ve seen the new Creation Engine is more than capable of the mammoth task (mmmm… mammoth), and through all the interviews and trailers, there is a feeling of terrific confidence. It finally feels like the technology has caught up with the artistic vision.
Bethesda’s long-standing “start from scratch” approach is refreshing in an industry that has an unfortunate tendency to generate hundreds of virtually identical sequels for fear of upsetting players. This outing sees a complete redesign of the core systems of the Elder Scrolls, with the intention of giving far more control to the player and cutting a certain amount of redundancy. The attributes (strength, intelligence, agility etc.) are no more, making character progression a much more direct affair based around skills and perk trees, while trashing the class system allows players to determine their character’s traits and specialities over time as opposed to a single snap decision. There’s a distinct possibility that the shift to a less number-heavy system will enrage the twenty-sided dice brigade, but it’s a necessary departure from tradition if a truly immersive experience is to be achieved. The gratification of improving a character cannot and should not be solely attained by staring at a spreadsheet of steadily increasing digits. Players should feel the improvements as they play, not when they pause.
On a more personal note, I’m ridiculously excited about the revised magic system, which promises to render the arcane studies a feasible speciality rather than merely an interesting sideline. Even at a high level, I found it difficult to churn out more than a couple of decent spells in Oblivion before my magicka ran dry, and would inevitably resort to my blade in order to finish anything more dangerous than a mud crab.
The hype surrounding the next title in any successful franchise can usually be reduced to one general sentiment: it’s bigger and better than the last one. All studios take experiences from past development and improve upon them, but typically the lessons learned are very much in the technical sphere. Not satisfied with simply pushing more polygons, Bethesda carries the lore from all the previous games forward, further enriching Tamriel. While the bulk of the fiction was set out in the early days, it is being perpetually refined.
This ruined fort is a remnant of Imperial occupation
In no other franchise do you get a clearer sense of history, politics, racial prejudice and cultural attitudes. Whether from a book or an overheard conversation in the town square, almost everything is justified by some obscure piece of backstory. The widespread Elven resentment of humans that you frequently hear in conversation with an Altmer can be traced back to the Nordic conquest of the Colovian heartlands. Excited about these new dragon shouts? Their foundation was set down in Children of the Sky (see above), a book first seen in Morrowind. Nords are commonly considered the first humans in Tamriel, crossing the ocean from their homeland of Atmora and conquering Skyrim, later spreading into Cyrodiil. However, in Frontier, Conquest (found in ES III & IV), the author states that men inhabited most of Tamriel long before then. I’ve yet to play another game that goes to such lengths to create a convincing mythology that it even includes revisionist historical accounts, but Bethesda realised that inconsistencies and contradictions are just as important in inventing a civilisation that feels thousands of years old.
All the signs so far point to a remarkable sequel that achieves what, until recently, hasn’t been possible on such a scale. The substantially more rugged design aesthetic roots the game in reality, making the ridiculous high fantasy elements less jarring than in the technicolour storybook world of Oblivion. Detailed, hand-designed environments of far greater diversity make each area a unique experience rather than a series of identical dungeons to be endured, and a radical new approach to leveling promises to make character progression streamlined and intuitive without compromising on depth. Throw in a complex mythology and a thousand other refinements and what emerges is a living world fully realised.
It’s almost as if the past four games were beta versions; impressive but slightly unfinished iterations of a design concept that has finally come to fruition. Those who were discouraged by the Cyrodilic trip through uncanny valley five years ago can venture into the windswept unknown with no such reservations. Though the previews we’ve seen thus far reveal some tantalising new aspects to the franchise, they can never adequately describe the true nature of the game. The Elder Scrolls series has always been so much more than a list of cool gameplay features. It’s the surge of a Viking choir and the mist circling the mountain tops. It’s creaking of the timber houses of Riverwood, the distant roar of an unknown creature yet to be vanquished and the sunset over a sleepy harbour town. In short, it’s no mere game to be played, but an experience to be lived.
The truth dawns in fire on November 11th.
http://www.gamepad-dojo.com/?p=3761
New Skyrim Details Surface
The reported details are minor, but any Skyrim news is good news, right?
Source – Bethsoft Forums
Update#1
GTTV’s released an exclusive gameplay demo from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
The video’s a gameplay walkthrough basically, which gives you the first proper look at how the game looks and plays. It’s pretty awesome and fans of the series would feel at home after watching it.
The game’s slated to release on November 11 on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. Watch the trailer below.
http://www.vg247.com/2011/06/06/elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-gameplay-demo-goes-live/#more-176767
Far to the north of Bruma, over the lofty Jerall Mountains, lies an untamed land from whence men first came. There, among frozen pinnacles and rugged wilderness, the Nords of Skyrim dwell in mighty halls.
“They call Skyrim the Throat of the World, because it is where the sky exhaled on the land and formed them [...] The breath and the voice are the vital essence of a Nord. When they defeat great enemies they take their tongues as trophies. These are woven into ropes and can hold speech like an enchantment. The power of a Nord can be articulated into a shout, like the kiai of an Akaviri swordsman [...] Shouts can be used to sharpen blades or to strike enemies. A common effect is the shout that knocks an enemy back, or the power of command. A strong Nord can instill bravery in men with his battle-cry, or stop a charging warrior with a roar. The greatest of the Nords can call to specific people over hundreds of miles, and can move by casting a shout, appearing where it lands.”
- A Description of Nords from Children of the Sky
It’s been five years since players closed shut the jaws of Oblivion, and within the two centuries that have passed between the ending of the Septim bloodline and the start of this new adventure, much has changed. Civil war has left the once glorious Empire in tattered disarray, and a new threat now looms, casting a gargantuan winged shadow over a radically improved world. Akatosh was just the beginning. Here be dragons!
"I can see my cave from here!"
Facts have been seeping out since the December release of the teaser trailer, from Game Informer’s solid month of coverage to podcast interviews and multiple accounts of a recent demo. However, the scale ofthe game means information is still, relatively speaking, pretty thin on the ground. Various gameplay elements are still being adjusted, and it seems that for every other question about the game, director Todd Howard gives one of two answers: “We’d like to have that. We’re playing around and seeing if it works. If it does, we’ll put in in,” or the old classic: “We’re not talking about that yet.”
Perhaps what makes every snippet so enthralling is merely the five years of anticipation for a sequel to one of the industry’s most immersive and time-consuming single player experiences. Compelling though the retro-futurist dystopia of Fallout 3 was, the lack of beautiful vistas and vibrant cultures made it difficult to remain immersed for the same duration. I must have cleared 1000 hours on Oblivion across numerous save games, but only a quarter of that time traipsing through the Capitol Wasteland. Personally, I simply found it a lot harder to engage with a dead world.
The long development time of Bethesda titles guarantees a great many significant changes and refinements since the previous offering. Rest assured, this will not be the Tamriel you left behind. Far from the instantly recognisable Tolkienesque fantasy land of Cyrodiil, with its combination of Middle English and Renaissance architecture and a capital city lifted a little too directly from The Return of the King, Tamriel’s northernmost province sports a far grittier visual style that retains the romanticism while grounding the world in an ancient reality.
Aside from some scattered fort ruins and hints of the older Alyeid civilisation, the cultural differences in Oblivion were area-specific, largely dependent on the nearest bordering province. In contrast, Howard explains how layers of history through diverse architecture within a given location stop entire towns from looking like they were built on the same day. No doubt there will be more of an Imperial influence in southern Skyrim than in the north and perhaps a slight Dunmer vibe in the eastern regions, but the generally more varied appearance of settlements should convey a greater degree of depth in addition to providing visual interest.
Morning mists bring a gorgeous landscape to life.
As so much of the gameplay currently remains unknown, it seems only right to concern ourselves primarily with the visuals, and by the Nine, they’re something to behold. Gone are the all too familiar hills in Oblivion that had seemingly been assaulted with Photoshop’s smudge tool. The mountains of Skyrim (and everything else for that matter) are fantastically detailed at any distance. Every inch of forest and tundra has been hand-crafted, further lending the impression that rather than a game map that’s been generated, the home of the Nords is a world that has grown organically. The characters too have received a monumental overhaul, with the few screenshots available depicting humans that look encouragingly like people, and an orc whose muted skin tones are a welcome departure from the dayglo green pallor of his ancestors.One developer diary even shows conceptual illustrations for the various different meats, from venison to mammoth. Mmmm… mammoth.
Orcs look a lot meaner without fluorescent makeup.
The awe-inspiring landscape of Oblivion, with its mightily impressive draw distances, was always somewhat marred by an apparent lack of atmosphere; there just didn’t seem to be any air in Cyrodiil. Thankfully this has been rectified in Skyrim with gorgeous volumetric light presenting a world with more accurate atmospheric density, retaining the player’s ability to select a point on the horizon and set off, but without that very computer-generated-looking pale blue haze. Combine this with foggy microclimates at high altitudes and procedural snowfall, and you have a persistently gasp-worthy fantasy land with glorious views at every turn. Indeed the lighting appears to be the biggest improvement. The implementation of full shadows, used to great effect in Assassin’s Creed and Red Dead Redemption, helps to integrate the dynamic elements (characters, enemies and so forth) and the fundamentally static environment. It’s another step in making Skyrim a completely convincing world as opposed to merely a visual representation of one.
The series has always pushed the boundaries of scope, but translating such an incredible concept into reality has been fraught with difficulty. Oblivion was developed largely without knowledge of the technological capabilities of the platforms it would come to inhabit. Indeed, some of the more intense sequences had to be pushed to the outer edges of the disc in order to be accessed quickly enough. From what we’ve seen the new Creation Engine is more than capable of the mammoth task (mmmm… mammoth), and through all the interviews and trailers, there is a feeling of terrific confidence. It finally feels like the technology has caught up with the artistic vision.
Bethesda’s long-standing “start from scratch” approach is refreshing in an industry that has an unfortunate tendency to generate hundreds of virtually identical sequels for fear of upsetting players. This outing sees a complete redesign of the core systems of the Elder Scrolls, with the intention of giving far more control to the player and cutting a certain amount of redundancy. The attributes (strength, intelligence, agility etc.) are no more, making character progression a much more direct affair based around skills and perk trees, while trashing the class system allows players to determine their character’s traits and specialities over time as opposed to a single snap decision. There’s a distinct possibility that the shift to a less number-heavy system will enrage the twenty-sided dice brigade, but it’s a necessary departure from tradition if a truly immersive experience is to be achieved. The gratification of improving a character cannot and should not be solely attained by staring at a spreadsheet of steadily increasing digits. Players should feel the improvements as they play, not when they pause.
On a more personal note, I’m ridiculously excited about the revised magic system, which promises to render the arcane studies a feasible speciality rather than merely an interesting sideline. Even at a high level, I found it difficult to churn out more than a couple of decent spells in Oblivion before my magicka ran dry, and would inevitably resort to my blade in order to finish anything more dangerous than a mud crab.
The hype surrounding the next title in any successful franchise can usually be reduced to one general sentiment: it’s bigger and better than the last one. All studios take experiences from past development and improve upon them, but typically the lessons learned are very much in the technical sphere. Not satisfied with simply pushing more polygons, Bethesda carries the lore from all the previous games forward, further enriching Tamriel. While the bulk of the fiction was set out in the early days, it is being perpetually refined.
This ruined fort is a remnant of Imperial occupation
In no other franchise do you get a clearer sense of history, politics, racial prejudice and cultural attitudes. Whether from a book or an overheard conversation in the town square, almost everything is justified by some obscure piece of backstory. The widespread Elven resentment of humans that you frequently hear in conversation with an Altmer can be traced back to the Nordic conquest of the Colovian heartlands. Excited about these new dragon shouts? Their foundation was set down in Children of the Sky (see above), a book first seen in Morrowind. Nords are commonly considered the first humans in Tamriel, crossing the ocean from their homeland of Atmora and conquering Skyrim, later spreading into Cyrodiil. However, in Frontier, Conquest (found in ES III & IV), the author states that men inhabited most of Tamriel long before then. I’ve yet to play another game that goes to such lengths to create a convincing mythology that it even includes revisionist historical accounts, but Bethesda realised that inconsistencies and contradictions are just as important in inventing a civilisation that feels thousands of years old.
All the signs so far point to a remarkable sequel that achieves what, until recently, hasn’t been possible on such a scale. The substantially more rugged design aesthetic roots the game in reality, making the ridiculous high fantasy elements less jarring than in the technicolour storybook world of Oblivion. Detailed, hand-designed environments of far greater diversity make each area a unique experience rather than a series of identical dungeons to be endured, and a radical new approach to leveling promises to make character progression streamlined and intuitive without compromising on depth. Throw in a complex mythology and a thousand other refinements and what emerges is a living world fully realised.
It’s almost as if the past four games were beta versions; impressive but slightly unfinished iterations of a design concept that has finally come to fruition. Those who were discouraged by the Cyrodilic trip through uncanny valley five years ago can venture into the windswept unknown with no such reservations. Though the previews we’ve seen thus far reveal some tantalising new aspects to the franchise, they can never adequately describe the true nature of the game. The Elder Scrolls series has always been so much more than a list of cool gameplay features. It’s the surge of a Viking choir and the mist circling the mountain tops. It’s creaking of the timber houses of Riverwood, the distant roar of an unknown creature yet to be vanquished and the sunset over a sleepy harbour town. In short, it’s no mere game to be played, but an experience to be lived.
The truth dawns in fire on November 11th.
New Skyrim Details Surface
The reported details are minor, but any Skyrim news is good news, right?
- The map is 3D, but you can’t make notes on it
- Some dragons are friendly, at least to the point of holding conversations with the player
- Some level of economic simulation is in, with the prices of goods reflecting the state of the world
- Blowing wind will whip up the surface of bodies of water
- Lockpicking: still a minigame
- In addition to the five major cities, there will be eight or nine smaller settlements to visit
- You can buy houses again
- Children will appear in some form in-game
Source – Bethsoft Forums
Update#1
GTTV’s released an exclusive gameplay demo from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
The video’s a gameplay walkthrough basically, which gives you the first proper look at how the game looks and plays. It’s pretty awesome and fans of the series would feel at home after watching it.
The game’s slated to release on November 11 on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. Watch the trailer below.
http://www.vg247.com/2011/06/06/elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-gameplay-demo-goes-live/#more-176767
Last edited:
I love explosions.
