Tip jar

If you like CaB and wish to support it, you can use PayPal or KoFi. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the site - Neil.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Support CaB

Recent

Welcome to Cook'd and Bomb'd. Please login or sign up.

March 28, 2024, 01:10:43 PM

Login with username, password and session length

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Started by Mister Six, December 13, 2010, 08:26:51 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Mister Six

Looks like another Elder Scrolls game will finally be rolling along, and this one's got dragons. Oooh! CGI teaser trailer now up, with 11/11/11 being the planned release date. It's also using a new engine, too, which is good news because the Havoc one's pretty creaky now (cf. New Vegas).

Oblivion was the first ES game I'd ever played, and while I found the exploration side of things riveting and some of the side-quests pretty cool (particularly the thief ones) the world itself seemed like a bog-standard Tolkein fantasy land with added demons and furries. Oh, and the combat was awful. But I still get urges to go tromping off into the woods now and again, so this is definitely on my radar. Whether it's a first-day purchase or a used copy down the line depends on reviews.

Is anyone more excited about this than me? What would you look for in a new ES game? Personally I'd like some characters with, well, character, improved combat systems and some slightly more outlandish fantasy elements.

papalaz4444244

Totally excited by this. Although I think Morrowind was a better game. It had more varied and imaginative locations and it had a much more complex character system with more skills.

Cerys

Hominahominahominahominahomina....

Pedro_Bear

Quote from: Mister Six on December 13, 2010, 08:26:51 PM
What would you look for in a new ES game?

I'm the goddamn Arena Grand Champion, would you care to repeat that cocky threat Mr Bandit? Didn't think so.

And how about you guardsmen just fuck off and let me put the apple back instead of foolishly trying to administer a beatdown? I clearly misclicked. Are you seriously going to fight the muthafucking Archmage to the death over an apple? Yield, you twat.


Stuff like that. And banks to rob. And the ability to set fire to stuff. And a fixed number of guardsmen so we could take out a whole garrison and enslave the local populace, until they send out an army to try stop us. You will give me that apple now. And I want to be a pretty vampire. Or, conversely, how about a Healer class that actually had something to do, game-wise, in-character? A non-combatant way of playing the game, or even completing it that way?

Marv Orange

leaked next gen engine game play footage ... no honest..ahh you got me

Oblivion Weedcraft (Parody)

Treguard of Dunshelm

*comes in pants*

November 2011? Fuck off.

QuotePersonally I'd like some characters with, well, character

Yes, and more than 6 voice actors (gruff male, nice male, sexy lady, rustic lady, Sean Bean and Patrick Stewart) would be nice.

Quoteimproved combat systems

I bet this does not happen.

I found it incredibly hard to be  mostly magic-using character in Morrowind and Oblivion, the latter of which seemed to favour stealth. Which is fine if it's a stealth game. So I'd also like more varied ways of getting the most out of the game.

Morrowind is probably one of the worst best games of all time - it's brilliant, but there's so many things wrong with it, it really has no right to be.

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

I've not played any of these. Does Oblivion play like Fallout 3, or its it just the graphics that are similar?

Marv Orange

Quote from: Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth on December 13, 2010, 11:23:06 PM
I've not played any of these. Does Oblivion play like Fallout 3, or its it just the graphics that are similar?

Oblivion + Guns - Magic + lots of brown - 90% green - the stoopid 'game levels with you' mechanic = Fallout 3

Mister Six

Quote from: Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth on December 13, 2010, 11:23:06 PM
I've not played any of these. Does Oblivion play like Fallout 3, or its it just the graphics that are similar?

The 'roaming about, finding quests' stuff plays the same, but the combat's totally different. No VATS, for a start, and aside from spells and the (useless) bow and arrow it's all hand-to-hand combat. The hand-to-hand stuff is actually quite nice and crunchy but also kind of tedious. The lockpicking minigame is completely different (and fucking impossible) and there's a really annoying dialogue minigame to get people onside. The controls are roughly the same, though.

Basically you'd be able to pick it up and play it without too much trouble, but you'd really miss VATS and decent ranged weapons. It's also got far less character and humour than Fallout.

Mister Six

Quote from: Treguard of Dunshelm on December 13, 2010, 11:17:58 PMI found it incredibly hard to be  mostly magic-using character in Morrowind and Oblivion, the latter of which seemed to favour stealth.

Really? Because I went for a sneaky thief-type archer and found that method to be pretty much useless the farther I got into the game. Sure, I was head-shotting goblins at the start but once I got to level five or six it was no longer possible to take enemies out with a single arrow, which meant they'd come running the moment I twanged one of them. Especially annoying when the combat basically degenerates into me running backwards, firing a seemingly endless series of arrows into the monster's face.

Shoulders?-Stomach!


Famous Mortimer

The game worlds have been getting smaller since whatever part 2 was called, I remember reading, so a bigger world with the detail of Oblivion would be a cracking idea.

Now's the time to stalk their lead developer and get him to put some good arrow-ability in the game this time, I suppose. Man, I've loved all these games and am excited for more.

Treguard of Dunshelm

Quote from: Mister Six on December 14, 2010, 01:15:33 AM
Really? Because I went for a sneaky thief-type archer and found that method to be pretty much useless the farther I got into the game. Sure, I was head-shotting goblins at the start but once I got to level five or six it was no longer possible to take enemies out with a single arrow, which meant they'd come running the moment I twanged one of them. Especially annoying when the combat basically degenerates into me running backwards, firing a seemingly endless series of arrows into the monster's face.

As Famous Mortimer mentions, archery is shit and needs fixing. I found that if you had a character that was good at sneaking and lockpicking you could go pretty much anywhere you pleased.

The problem I have with the magic system is that the spells mostly just replicate other abilities[nb]Apart from levitation, which was taken out of Oblivion and definitely needs to come back[/nb], but aren't worth the effort.

Jemble Fred

I'm so fucking sick of identikit Fantasy games – Elder Scrolls is the daddy in my opinion, the only one who can get away with it. But check out Kingdoms of Amalur – MILLIONS of dollars spent on building a fantasy world from the ground up, and not a single interesting idea in the whole thing – nothing but cunts in armour fighting dragons and the like. And the writer was given absolute freedom to put anything his imagination could possibly dream up into it!

Same goes for Two Worlds – don't believe a word of the hype for Two Worlds II – or the UTTERLY INSANE European reviews – it's barely a single grain better than the first abomination. Well okay, it is bad enough to be genuinely funny in its amateurishness, but that's it.

To sum up, then: hooray for Elder Scrolls.

Still Not George

Completely agreed, Jemble. I mean, it's not as if the tabletop RPG market has particularly stagnated in this time period, either - we've got stuff like Exalted and Earthdawn floating around which blows the setting of pretty much any current CRPG out of the water without even delving into the extensive setting books for both games. Even D&D 4th Edition has a more interesting setting than fucking Dragon Age or Fable.

Again, and I know I'm banging this same stupid shitty drum for the 400th time, it's the fucking publishers. As long as people whose idea of what makes a good game consists of metrics and marketing numbers hold the purse strings over the industry, big-investment projects like RPGs (and they are, unfortunately; old-school 2d top downers on XBLA can break this mould, but full-price current gen RPG titles are INSANELY expensive to make) are always going to be samey, predictable, cookie-cutter bullshit. Just as with shooters and sports games, in other words.

Father O`Blivion

I think by 11/11/11 I may have finally forgiven Bethesda for all that bollocks about radiant AI.



Marv Orange

Quote from: Jemble Fred on December 14, 2010, 01:50:56 PM
I'm so fucking sick of identikit Fantasy games – Elder Scrolls is the daddy in my opinion, the only one who can get away with it.

I'm looking forward to Witcher 2 more than this. I know the combat isn't everyone's cup of tea but its predecessor is the only game in a long time where I've listened to cut scenes and haven't skipped dialogue (unlike mass effect, mass effect 2, the majority of Dragon Age and Fallout 3) to get to the bit where you get to make a decision.

Big Jack McBastard


MojoJojo

Quote from: Marv Orange on December 14, 2010, 06:50:51 PM
I'm looking forward to Witcher 2 more than this. I know the combat isn't everyone's cup of tea but its predecessor is the only game in a long time where I've listened to cut scenes and haven't skipped dialogue (unlike mass effect, mass effect 2, the majority of Dragon Age and Fallout 3) to get to the bit where you get to make a decision.

Are you sure it's not just cos it's got tits in it?

small_world

Ah...
I don't know what to say.
I really enjoyed Morrowind (my intro to the franchise) and Oblivion.
I think I'd be hoping for something as varied as Morrowind, but as aesthetically pleasing as Oblivion. The fighting does really need sorting out. And I'd rather be the hero, as opposed to the person who helps the hero to victory.
Other than that, amuse me and steal a few days of my life.

Mister Six

From the Game Informer issue featuring Skyrim:

On levelling:
-No more class selection at the start of the game.
-Every skill you level contributes to your overall level. With each new overall level you get extra health plus the ability to get either more health, magicka or stamina.
-Each level also brings you Fallout-style perks.
-50 is the soft cap.

On skills:
-No more Mysticism.
-18 skills, down from 21 on Oblivion, and 27 on Morrowind.
-Tries to balance between specialization and general aptitude.

On the story and lore:
-Set 200 years after Oblivion in Skyrim, a region north of the imperial city, where the Nords live.
-The dragons are returning, and the player is striving to stop the wicked dragon god.
-The protagonist is a dragon hunter.
-Also, there is a war of succession in the kingdom.

On combat:
-Each hand gets a function: magic, weapon or shield. Go 2-handed or dual-wield.
-Sprint at the cost of stamina.
-Any NPC can be duelled.

Other:
-Improved third person view.
-There is an option to play without a HUD.
-Five massive cities, more variation in caves and underground stuff.
-There's fast travel.

On quests:
-Quests are much more dynamic now, determined by how you build your character and individual actions. Examples provided: If you are more of a magic user, some other mage may approach you who may not have had if you were just a melee character. Or if you killed some dude who owned a store that was going to give you a quest, his sister would inherit the store, but she may resent you before giving you it. Also, if you drop a weapon in the street instead of selling it, it may just disappear, some kid may get it and give it back to you (which would lead to additional content), or some dudes may fight over who gets it.

On Conversations:
-Conversations aren't done in a zoomed in static shot any more.
-Conversations will be conducted more realistically, with NPCs looking at you occasionally and walking around a bit and also continue doing a task if they were doing one while talking.

On Weapon smithing:
-You can make weapons in forges.

On level-scaling:
-"The game eventually logs a huge storehouse of knowledge about how you've played, and subsequently tailors content to your capabilities and experiences. Entering a city, a young woman might approach you and beg you to save her daughter from kidnappers. The game will look at the nearby dungeons you've explored, automatically set the mission in a place you've never visited, and designate opponents that are appropriately matched to your strengths and weaknesses."

Mister Six

Oh, and here are images (scanned from Game Informer, hence the low-def quality):














kittens


Shoulders?-Stomach!

ERRRRGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHUUSAAAUAHHHHHHHHHHHEEEHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

uglybob1986

Seen any... Elves? AHAHAHAHAHA!

Treguard of Dunshelm

A lot of snow in those shots as you might expect, but at least there's some green forest too as well as what looks like coastal cliffs, which is good because it would be a shame if was set in a generic videogame iceworld.

Slaaaaabs

Can't wait to smash the shit out of some mudcrabs with snow on 'em.

Mister Six

I'm really looking forward to seeing videos. Those shots don't look dramatically different from Oblivion, but I reckon that seeing it in motion will be a different story.

Mister Six

Yet more info...


http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=26018198&postcount=1


The French Official Playstation Magazine has some new information about Skyrim... Apparently there's some new screenshots too, but so far, I haven't been able to locate any scans. Anyways, here's the info, straight from Bethesda's own forums. Of course, lock if old.

- 'Magnetism' is used to prevent friendly fire in combat, by slightly 'pulling' your attacks towards enemies
- Some, apparently unique, enchanted weapons will have "concealed" effects. You won't know what those are until you try the weapon.
- You cannot block if you have a sword in one hand, and a spell in another. Only players wielding two-handed blades or sword and shield can use block.
- The Spell Shield effect returns.
- Taverns will play a large role in the game. You will be able to overhear people's conversations, start quests, acquire information, and much more.
- They mention breaking and entering to find out more about people, but I'm not sure as to what extent - "Because of the open world set up you can even progress by snooping around - following people, looking out for strange behaviour and even some light breaking and entering".
- Quest givers can give you more or less information about their quest depending on their disposition towards you.
- One dungeon is called 'Bleak Falls Barrow', and it is inhabited by the Draugr (the undead Nord warriors we first met in Bloodmoon). As you proceed through the dungeon, you'll eventually encounter a 'ghostly dragon priest', and eventually the dungeon boss, a giant 'Frostbite Spider'. It is said the dungeon is 'terryfing'.
- The quest to Bleak Falls Barrow is given to you by a shopkeeper called Lucan, whose priceless Draconic family heirloom (a golden claw) was stolen recently.
- Several new spell effects, including "Ice Trap" (only triggered when an enemy walks over it), "Circle of Protection" (push the enemies in your vicinity away), "Fury" (make enemies fight each other), and so on.
- One of the finishing moves involves "plunging your sword into your enemy's chest", coupled with gurgling death noises.
- The 'free-form' activities you can perform include cooking, woodcutting, mining and metalwork.
- A Dragon Shout that slows down time (a la Bullet Time) is mentioned.
- Some Dragon Shouts are found in dungeons.
- There's a city called Riverwood. It is described as 'A smattering of timber buildings, including a sawmill'.
- Radiant Story is in part inspired by the random encounters in Fallout 3.
- The game apparently looks amazing in motion, with great environment effects such as the wind making the water swirl and making waves.
- It is possible to raise all skills to 100 but not possible to get all perks.
- The death of the King of Skyrim has sparked a civil war in the country.
- Dragon encounters aren't scripted. If one comes across a town in its travels, it might decide to attack it without warning. This may or may not involve setting it ablaze. ;)
- It talks about the improvement of NPC's and Radiant AI.
- Every big settlement is unique. The city of Markarth Side, for example, is set into "dramatic stone cliffs, with buildings teetering on the end of sheer drops."
- Haarfingar is said to be home to the largest trading port in Skyrim.
- The game apparently includes 'meteorogical effects': clouds gathering around mountaintops, etcetera.
- The glorious return of the Dwemer ruins is once again confirmed.
- One of the cities in Skyrim will apparently be heavily inspired by the Dunmer (Dark Elves), and may even be a full-fledged Dunmer settlement.
- They're trying to go back to the "eccentricity" of Vvardenfell. Every Nord faction will have their own customs, colors, and so on.
- The economy of the game is better developed than in Oblivion. If you destroy a city's means of income (for instance, their crops) they'll need to buy crops from another nearby city, and prices in the city will go up.
- Archers can 'hold their breath' while aiming. This consumes stamina, but gives the archer a better chance of hitting the enemy.
- A wounded dragon has a chance of crashing into the ground.
- You can cut dialogue short by walking away from the NPC.
- Dragon Shouts are assigned to the R3-button on the PS3 gamepad.
- Not every NPC will have a complete set of dialogue like in Oblivion. It'll be more like in Fallout 3, where only the 'important' NPC's have anything substantial to say.

An interview with Todd Howard in the same magazine gives us some more info (some of this may be badly translated, so don't immediately believe everything you see here).
- Quests can influence each other. Quest A may be changed for you because you completed Quest B beforehand.
- Quest givers now give more detailed instructions, in a style that's apparently akin to Morrowind. They might even escort you to the road, to show you where to go.
- The game has 120 unique dungeons, worked on by 8 designers.

Some non-magazine news:
- A week or so ago, Pete Hines remarked a trailer "may or may not be around a month away". A trailer at the GDC? It seems possible.
- A site redesign is coming soon as well, probably to coincide with the trailer reveal.

Viero_Berlotti

Quote- A Dragon Shout that slows down time (a la Bullet Time) is mentioned.

- Dragon Shouts are assigned to the R3-button on the PS3 gamepad.

Sounds like Dead-Eye from RDR, some of the other stuff on that list sounds as if it has been cribbed from Fallout 3. Genuinely excited about this though.

However my heart says I should buy this game on release day, but my head says wait a few months because it will probably be a bug fest à la New Vegas.

If it's a November release I might have to ask Father Xmas for it, hopefully by the end of December they will have released the first patch at least.