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Skyrim: E3 gameplay in OP and no the Dark Brotherhood isn't gone
Set 200 years after the events of Oblivion, Skyrim takes place in the frozen North where a hero must defeat an ancient evil (again). Most of the gameplay will revolve around drinking ale and ordering bar wenches around while occasionally killing dragons and exploring dungeons. The character you play as is the last of the Dragonborn, this means you have access to powers and abilities that others do not, one of these is the Dragon Shouts which are a special type of magic you improve by discovering new words and killing dragons.
And here is the first in-game video of Skyrim, (which the Devs have said was all recorded from the 360):
We've heard a fair amount of infomation so far, here are some key facts:
-The game world is said to be much more alive and detailed than in Oblivion, and boast incredible draw distances. Everything is said to be traversable.
-The game world is populated with a variety of animals from saber-tooth cats to woolly mammoths.
-Lesser dragons roam the game world, they are a big part of Skyrim and won’t be held back until the end.
-Through quests, the game will encourage players to go places they’ve never visited. For instance, a woman might ask you to save her kidnapped offspring and the game will send you to a dungeon you’ve never been before. It’ll then set enemies that are appropriately matched to your strengths and weaknesses.
-NPC's faces have been dramatically overhauled, giving them more emotion and making them as realistic as they ever have been in a Bethesda game.
-Conversations are revamped and no longer zoom in on a rigid character. Instead, characters will often get on with what they are doing with the occasional glances at the player character.
-There are finishing moves now that are weapon and opponent specific. (can be seem in the above video when the character smashes his axe into the undead warrior's skull.)
-Players can learn unique abilities called “dragon shouts” by absorbing the souls of dragons – one of the benefits of the dragonborn - of which there are over 20 in the game and each is formed from three words of power. They can push enemies away and slow down time amongst other things.
-There is no class system in Skyrim and how a player plays depends on what skills the character gains. Use a one-handed weapon, watch that skill increase, etc. You get experience for everything.
-There are 50 main levels, with Howard mentioning levelling up to 50 is roughly the same time as it would be to level an Oblivion or Fallout character to 25. You can level up past 50, but it’s a dramatically slower increase than before once you get past that threshold.
-Todd Howard confirms that Skyrim will use the perk system that they used in Fallout 3, noting that there was an automated perk system in place in Oblivion, but in Skyrim, the user has control over it. There are dozens of perks to choose from, that may increase dagger damage during stealth attacks and may mean your mace attack may ignore your foe’s armour skills.
-It has been said scaling will use the Fallout 3 model, not Oblivion's.
-80 spells among which some are entirely new
-Dialogues : most "inimportant" NPC like simple villagers won't have any dialogue tree (instead they'll directly comment on rumors or on what they're doing) ; only important NPCs will actually exchange dialogue with you, you CAN cut short the dialogue simply by walking away.
-Dynamic shadows
-In Oblivion there was only 1 guy working on the dungeons, this time for Skyrim, 8 devs are working on them and there are around 120 dungeons in the game.
There is quite abit more info that I've either missed or forgotten so here are some links.
First question on the Special Edition Podcast: Are there going to be spears?
Todd Howard: Nnnnnooooooo...?
I :lol:'d
I saw some people mention the 'Borrowind' mod or whatever. What is that? Also, link?
Brorrowind is a compilation of mods to enhance the visuals of Morrowind, one of 2-3 different ones that have popped up recently and one which appears to be blessedly free from controversy.
Podcast transcript. For those that enjoy reading Todd dancing around every damn question. I'm largely taking his (total non-)response to the 64-bit question as practically confirmation there isn't one (which would fit with the fact that it's being built on a "rebuilt" version of Gamebryo.
GaslightIt's not your faultVideo games are amazingRegistered Userregular
edited February 2011
Our joke was Oblivion would have been better if the Random button was renamed the Ugly button on the face creator.
Please, all the faces in Oblivion were ugly. Actually I found it's often much easier to keep randomizing faces until you get a decent one and then adjust it than it is to try to make a face from "scratch."
It didn't relly matter if you were Khajiit or Argonian though
cause you looked ugly anyway
In a sense this was an advantage. It was impossible to make a bad Khajit or Argonian face because who's to say what the standards of attractiveness are. And did anybody ever pay attention to what Khajiit or Argonian NPC's looked like aside from maybe coloring differences?
Spoiler:
Yes I am a huge racist.
Not to furries they weren't
Is there a "scaly" subculture?
On second thought if anybody knows the answer to this don't tell me, I don't want to know.
So I'm playing a Breton stealth marksman game in my definitely-the-last-time run in Oblivion. I'm going about it pretty differently from previous attempts. Basically I am avoiding the fast-travel except for stupid fetch-quests. It's been pretty nice running into various sidequests "naturally".
Anyway, where this story is going is that it feels pretty weird playing a non-Khajit stealth character, even if the 50% magic resist is delightfully overpowered. Plus I can pass off ugliness on beast-races given that they are half animal. But the humans just look terrible.
I mean, ok, the romans used them pretty effectively. But they suck for standard combat in video games, ruins the immersion when you wait your turn to poke a guy and then he swipes at you, and repeat.
I mean, ok, the romans used them pretty effectively. But they suck for standard combat in video games, ruins the immersion when you wait your turn to poke a guy and then he swipes at you, and repeat.
I mean, ok, the romans used them pretty effectively. But they suck for standard combat in video games, ruins the immersion when you wait your turn to poke a guy and then he swipes at you, and repeat.
Something to whine about
Also nostalgia.
The Spear of Bitter Mercy in Morrowind was pretty cool. But, time marches on etc.
It's pretty easy to be a condescending dick, I guess.
Some people are just rather tired of the old sword/mace/axe/bow quartett, and the ES series having spears isn't some aberration. The concept art in the GI videos seemed to confirm it, and the reasons given for them not being in are frustrating. It's also somewhat emblemic of the steady cutting of gameplay mechanics, skills, and weapon types over the TES series.
And could we please, please, stop with the "oh it's just silly old Morrowind nostalgia" bullshit?
I really liked how he clarified the Radiant Quest system in the podcast.
I feel much better about it now. Basically makes me 85% confident that it will be awesome.
Basically:
Quests will vary in how random they are. Some quests will be completely rigid and have no dynamic elements. Some will consist of mostly conditional dynamic elements.
Generally, the larger and more important the quest, the less conditional dynamic elements are used. Aka, the minor quests such as fetch quests will be mostly dynamic. Most of the Main Plot quests and/or major sidequests will be largely or completely linear/rigid.
Each dynamic element is hand crafted by a writer, like a puzzle piece. Some stand completely on their own, some require other conditional elements to be in place before they are triggered. Some of these triggers are required before the quest even becomes available in the first place, such as: To get a quest in which you rescue a child from a dungeon, you must be friends with at least 1 male NPC with a child.
They are aware of the issue of quests becoming too random, and /or the player experiencing the same type of quest over and over, and they have prioritized making that a non-issue, to the point where you would have to compare notes with a friend to figure out which parts of some quests are dynamic and which were not.
I mean, ok, the romans used them pretty effectively. But they suck for standard combat in video games, ruins the immersion when you wait your turn to poke a guy and then he swipes at you, and repeat.
Something to whine about
Also nostalgia.
The Spear of Bitter Mercy in Morrowind was pretty cool. But, time marches on etc.
I had a Dragoon class (modelled after Kain from FFIV) which specialized in spears, acrobatics, and athletics. Using a modest (20 pts for 2 seconds) Jump spell I was droppin' down on dudes with that spear and feeling awesome about it.
It was also possible to abuse the reach of spears in Morrowind by side-attacking with them as fast as possible and keeping enemies from getting close. Or jabbing at them from a perch on a rock that was just out of reach of their puny weapons.
Variety in weapons types is nice. Even if one class of weapons ends up being superior, it's fun to have the option of going with something else, especially if the attack style differs between weapons. It's why I preferred swords and axes in Secret of Evermore to the higher-damage spears, the charged attacks with them were so much cooler.
no more need for the old empire
when the indigo children come
We made a little team of people to work on dragons and put some of our best people on it. They worked on it for two years. They really came out like... We got to go past the list we had and then more. We're ecstatic with how they came out. They can dive bomb and breathe fire down a street. They can get on the ground and march around now. They can pretty much go anywhere. So we can call them and do random encounters. When they come, they generally now just work. You can throw multiples of them in a scene. They just, you know you just... like... when I get bored in the game I just summon dragons now and they can terrorize the town.
A dedicated dragon team? For two years? Damn, I'm impressed - color me excited!
If you do ask her and she says no, then I will know, because I'll notice the planets aligning above me as Hell freezes over below me. I might be distracted though as I would have just been struck by lighting (twice) while winning the lottery, all upon the back of a velociraptor I had just tamed in the wild and ridden around all day without anyone noticing.
-Every city and town is bound to some particular resources meaning if you burn their mill or mine, you affect their economy and they'll be forced to buy flour or mineral somewhere else and when you'll want to buy these resources here again it will be more expensive. (good thing for evil characters and maybe desctructible environnement?)
I played oblivion to death and despite its flaws I loved it. I'm just glad they are fixing many of those problems, if they do deliver on all their promises thats great but what I've seen about the varied terrain, improved animations and combat is enough to satisfy me.
I hope that them taking away the "backpeddle" technique will make them realize that swinging at a dude for 30 seconds, at like two swings a second, is just not going to work out anymore. The only reason it kind of works in Oblivion is because of the backpeddle. If they want to give weight to our movement, they better give weight to our attacks, or else we will literally be just standing there hammering on a guy forever.
But its been like five years, right? They must have observed some of the games that have sense given significant weight to melee combat, such as Dark Messiah and Zeno Clash.
Then again Fallout 3 and New Vegas both had pretty poor melee combat as well. I know that RPGs are always going to be restraining on how actiony it can get, but there must be some middle ground here. There can be character and item progression that goes beyond bonuses to damage, I think
"Working for Khorne? It's ok, I guess, but I worry about my future prospects. You know how I'm probably going to die? Not enough blood left in my neck. You know how those Slaanesh dudes over there are probably going to die? Too many orgasms.
I mean, ok, the romans used them pretty effectively. But they suck for standard combat in video games, ruins the immersion when you wait your turn to poke a guy and then he swipes at you, and repeat.
Something to whine about
Also nostalgia.
The Spear of Bitter Mercy in Morrowind was pretty cool. But, time marches on etc.
I had a Dragoon class (modelled after Kain from FFIV) which specialized in spears, acrobatics, and athletics. Using a modest (20 pts for 2 seconds) Jump spell I was droppin' down on dudes with that spear and feeling awesome about it.
It was also possible to abuse the reach of spears in Morrowind by side-attacking with them as fast as possible and keeping enemies from getting close. Or jabbing at them from a perch on a rock that was just out of reach of their puny weapons.
How would people even expect spear combat to be like? You have one poke animation which you clicketyclick with while standing still. I'm thinking they aren't doing spears because it would be hard to implement in a fun way.
-Every city and town is bound to some particular resources meaning if you burn their mill or mine, you affect their economy and they'll be forced to buy flour or mineral somewhere else and when you'll want to buy these resources here again it will be more expensive. (good thing for evil characters and maybe desctructible environnement?)
That is really cool.
it seems he says that when most NPCs give you a quest, they'll give you precise directions or accompany you to the road showing you which direction to take to go on on you quest.
This is really cool as well.
Concerning skills : Athletics (they surely meant Acrobatics) doesn't exist anymore (to prevent the player boosting this only by jumping on stand)
Also, I totally called this, too. Just so you know.
I hope that them taking away the "backpeddle" technique will make them realize that swinging at a dude for 30 seconds, at like two swings a second, is just not going to work out anymore. The only reason it kind of works in Oblivion is because of the backpeddle. If they want to give weight to our movement, they better give weight to our attacks, or else we will literally be just standing there hammering on a guy forever.
But its been like five years, right? They must have observed some of the games that have sense given significant weight to melee combat, such as Dark Messiah and Zeno Clash.
Then again Fallout 3 and New Vegas both had pretty poor melee combat as well. I know that RPGs are always going to be restraining on how actiony it can get, but there must be some middle ground here. There can be character and item progression that goes beyond bonuses to damage, I think
I believe the Combat article on Game Informer covered that issue. They are indeed removing that fast backpeddle technique. If you really want to get away or put some distance between you and an enemy, you're actually going to have to turn your back on it to run.
Posts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9eGtyqz4gY
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Todd Howard: Nnnnnooooooo...?
I :lol:'d
I saw some people mention the 'Borrowind' mod or whatever. What is that? Also, link?
This made me far to happy
Brorrowind is a compilation of mods to enhance the visuals of Morrowind, one of 2-3 different ones that have popped up recently and one which appears to be blessedly free from controversy.
http://pastehtml.com/view/1cq4cvf.html
Podcast transcript. For those that enjoy reading Todd dancing around every damn question. I'm largely taking his (total non-)response to the 64-bit question as practically confirmation there isn't one (which would fit with the fact that it's being built on a "rebuilt" version of Gamebryo.
Old PA forum lookalike style for the new forums.
Please, all the faces in Oblivion were ugly. Actually I found it's often much easier to keep randomizing faces until you get a decent one and then adjust it than it is to try to make a face from "scratch."
cause you looked ugly anyway
Not to furries they weren't
In a sense this was an advantage. It was impossible to make a bad Khajit or Argonian face because who's to say what the standards of attractiveness are. And did anybody ever pay attention to what Khajiit or Argonian NPC's looked like aside from maybe coloring differences?
Is there a "scaly" subculture?
On second thought if anybody knows the answer to this don't tell me, I don't want to know.
I don't know, they all looked the same to me after I put an arrow through their head.
>_>
<_<
Blogs: Endless Space - galaxy seeds | Diablo 3 duels
Anyway, where this story is going is that it feels pretty weird playing a non-Khajit stealth character, even if the 50% magic resist is delightfully overpowered. Plus I can pass off ugliness on beast-races given that they are half animal. But the humans just look terrible.
Steam (Ansatz) || Planetside 2 - Vanu (Ansatz) || GW2 Officer (Ansatz.6498)
I mean, ok, the romans used them pretty effectively. But they suck for standard combat in video games, ruins the immersion when you wait your turn to poke a guy and then he swipes at you, and repeat.
Something to whine about
Also nostalgia.
The Spear of Bitter Mercy in Morrowind was pretty cool. But, time marches on etc.
I never asked for this!
Some people are just rather tired of the old sword/mace/axe/bow quartett, and the ES series having spears isn't some aberration. The concept art in the GI videos seemed to confirm it, and the reasons given for them not being in are frustrating. It's also somewhat emblemic of the steady cutting of gameplay mechanics, skills, and weapon types over the TES series.
And could we please, please, stop with the "oh it's just silly old Morrowind nostalgia" bullshit?
Old PA forum lookalike style for the new forums.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEavARJOptg&feature=related
I feel much better about it now. Basically makes me 85% confident that it will be awesome.
Basically:
Quests will vary in how random they are. Some quests will be completely rigid and have no dynamic elements. Some will consist of mostly conditional dynamic elements.
Generally, the larger and more important the quest, the less conditional dynamic elements are used. Aka, the minor quests such as fetch quests will be mostly dynamic. Most of the Main Plot quests and/or major sidequests will be largely or completely linear/rigid.
Each dynamic element is hand crafted by a writer, like a puzzle piece. Some stand completely on their own, some require other conditional elements to be in place before they are triggered. Some of these triggers are required before the quest even becomes available in the first place, such as: To get a quest in which you rescue a child from a dungeon, you must be friends with at least 1 male NPC with a child.
They are aware of the issue of quests becoming too random, and /or the player experiencing the same type of quest over and over, and they have prioritized making that a non-issue, to the point where you would have to compare notes with a friend to figure out which parts of some quests are dynamic and which were not.
I had a Dragoon class (modelled after Kain from FFIV) which specialized in spears, acrobatics, and athletics. Using a modest (20 pts for 2 seconds) Jump spell I was droppin' down on dudes with that spear and feeling awesome about it.
It was also possible to abuse the reach of spears in Morrowind by side-attacking with them as fast as possible and keeping enemies from getting close. Or jabbing at them from a perch on a rock that was just out of reach of their puny weapons.
Variety in weapons types is nice. Even if one class of weapons ends up being superior, it's fun to have the option of going with something else, especially if the attack style differs between weapons. It's why I preferred swords and axes in Secret of Evermore to the higher-damage spears, the charged attacks with them were so much cooler.
when the indigo children come
A dedicated dragon team? For two years? Damn, I'm impressed - color me excited!
LURK mod for SoC|Backloggery|XBL|XFire|Steam|Zune
http://forums.bethsoft.com/index.php?/topic/1163088-skyrim-french-coverage-summary/
French magazine info dump.
I really like this:
Old PA forum lookalike style for the new forums.
Remember: it's easy to generate hype and make super-awesome promises about super-awesome features (dragons! wow!)...
...it's hard to deliver on them.
Currently playing: Animal Crossing: New Leaf, FFXII: Zodiac Edition
3DS: 2766-8409-2693 (add me, pm me so I can add you)
But its been like five years, right? They must have observed some of the games that have sense given significant weight to melee combat, such as Dark Messiah and Zeno Clash.
Then again Fallout 3 and New Vegas both had pretty poor melee combat as well. I know that RPGs are always going to be restraining on how actiony it can get, but there must be some middle ground here. There can be character and item progression that goes beyond bonuses to damage, I think
Well shit, now I have to try this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EbaYjk9SiI
That is really cool.
This is really cool as well.
Also, I totally called this, too. Just so you know.
All right, people. It is not a gerbil. It is not a hamster. It is not a guinea pig. It is a death rabbit. Death. Rabbit. Say it with me, now.
Athletics can eat a dick and die, though. Speed serves its function just fucking fine.
Join the Wang Defense Force and help stop the insect menace!
Help a poor bastard out! Read (or at least visit) my Bright Hub articles!
All right, people. It is not a gerbil. It is not a hamster. It is not a guinea pig. It is a death rabbit. Death. Rabbit. Say it with me, now.
Step 1. Sneak into a corner.
Step 2. Place cat on spacebar.
Step 3. Profit.
Currently playing: Animal Crossing: New Leaf, FFXII: Zodiac Edition
3DS: 2766-8409-2693 (add me, pm me so I can add you)
Hmm, looks like they're making archery more realistic. That works for my snipey characters. Hopefully the same can be said for low level NPCs.
I believe the Combat article on Game Informer covered that issue. They are indeed removing that fast backpeddle technique. If you really want to get away or put some distance between you and an enemy, you're actually going to have to turn your back on it to run.