The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Thread starter Brother None
- Start date
maximaz
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
The theme song is pretty awesome, no question about that.
I know, however to Todd anything with such elements equals RPG. He's said stupid shit like that in the past if I'm not mistaken.
I know. However it's ironic that Todd makes fun of JRPG tropes, when his games often fall into the same ones. Oblivion? Saving the world from the big bad evil guy/whatever. Fallout 3? Saving the world while having daddy issues.
maximaz
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
New article titles Technology Behind TES Skyrim is up. It includes a screenshot and I have to say, they are making one good looking game.
Some bits of note:
The new tech is the Creation Engine.
Lots of attention to the way draw distances are handled.
Shadows are now on everything.
New in-house developed foliage system, which allows more freedom in terms of animation and reaction to wind.
Some bullshit on the engine calculating where snow should land and how much.
Radian AI wasn't very sophisticated in Oblivion, it is in Skyrim.
NPC's are now engaged in more believable tasks in towns' farms, mines, mills, etc.
NPC's "develop feelings" about you.
If you are "friends" with an NPC, and barge into their house at night, they won't ask you to leave but offer you lodging. They will react negatively if you start throwing shit or stealing.
A new animation tool called Havok Behavior is used for the first time in a "real big game".
HB had some major impact on how the game plays in third person.
HB is most impressive when it comes to dragon animations.
Radiant Story is inspired by Daggerfall and Fallout 3 random encounters.
The siblings of someone you murdered will still give you quests but might exact revenge later on. This is basically their solution to important NPC's dying early.
"The story manager is always watching you"
Some bits of note:
The new tech is the Creation Engine.
Lots of attention to the way draw distances are handled.
Shadows are now on everything.
New in-house developed foliage system, which allows more freedom in terms of animation and reaction to wind.
Some bullshit on the engine calculating where snow should land and how much.
Radian AI wasn't very sophisticated in Oblivion, it is in Skyrim.
NPC's are now engaged in more believable tasks in towns' farms, mines, mills, etc.
NPC's "develop feelings" about you.
If you are "friends" with an NPC, and barge into their house at night, they won't ask you to leave but offer you lodging. They will react negatively if you start throwing shit or stealing.
A new animation tool called Havok Behavior is used for the first time in a "real big game".
HB had some major impact on how the game plays in third person.
HB is most impressive when it comes to dragon animations.
Radiant Story is inspired by Daggerfall and Fallout 3 random encounters.
The siblings of someone you murdered will still give you quests but might exact revenge later on. This is basically their solution to important NPC's dying early.
"The story manager is always watching you"
Ilosar
Vault Fossil
Wow, even if the screenie is modified in any way, this still looks very pretty. So, maybe I fail at reading comprehension, but is Creation is not an updated Gamebryo, but something totally new, yes? If so, about time Beth got rid of that shit.
The rest is of little interest to me. Oblivion notoriously overhyped it's AI, and until proved wrong (read; playing the game) I assume Skyrim does the same. And based on past Bethesda experiences, that Radiant Story stuff seems like a gimmick that will only be used a few times and/or have little real impact, but again, not the time to truly judge.
The rest is of little interest to me. Oblivion notoriously overhyped it's AI, and until proved wrong (read; playing the game) I assume Skyrim does the same. And based on past Bethesda experiences, that Radiant Story stuff seems like a gimmick that will only be used a few times and/or have little real impact, but again, not the time to truly judge.
Much PR ado about nothing, as usual. The could've at least had the decency to release more than one screenshot (low-resolution, at that!). Looks like they're finally (!) catching up with the graphics side of things. By the time Skyrim is out it will look up-to date graphically with games released 1-2 years ago from today.
I mean yeah, sure, looks somewhat nice and all, but frankly it doesn't show much and there are already games that look better than that. I mean really, if you think this looks good, go check out screenshots for Divinity 2: Dragon Knight Saga, they might blow your mind. And it's been out a few months already, too.
Ugh. Fable. The mechanic I hated in it the most, too.
I mean yeah, sure, looks somewhat nice and all, but frankly it doesn't show much and there are already games that look better than that. I mean really, if you think this looks good, go check out screenshots for Divinity 2: Dragon Knight Saga, they might blow your mind. And it's been out a few months already, too.
Ugh. Fable. The mechanic I hated in it the most, too.
maximaz
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
Ausdoerrt said:
They did. Only GI just put one up on the site, there are more in their magazine.
I don't know man. I looked at Divinity 2 screens and this one still looks a lot better to me. It could be due to the kind of games TES are but I'm impressed with the visuals so far.
maximaz said:
I dunno man. The Skyrim screenshot doesn't look bad, but Divinity 2 after the engine change looks very spunky, too. THIS vs THIS is IMO fair competition. Thing is, we're comparing an unedited (except for removing HUD) in-game screenshot for last year's game to a promo shot that was (knowing Beth) likely touched up significantly, for a game that will come out in a year if they manage to release it on time. Not to mention that there've been a number of open-world games in other genres released anywhere 1-3 years ago that look this good or better. I was just playing Just Cause 2, and the promo screenshot for Skyrim pales in comparison to pretty much any panoramic view in the game (and my laptop can't even run it on high settings).
So yeah, I'm pretty skeptical on the whole "OMGITLOOKSSOGOOD" thing. It does look good for Beth, but they've been behind the times with graphics for a while despite emphasizing visuals in their PR.
The way I'm reading it, it'll probably mean that the quests you get will be tailored to your class, i.e. easier to complete.
maximaz
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
Ausdoerrt said:
That is definitely the better looking Divinity 2 screenshot I've seen. I don't know what kind of game Divinity is but maybe I'm this impressed with the Skyrim screen because I know that the town will be full of life and infused with some kind of setting, not just a gameplay sequence. It's the same reasoning as behind why Mafia II is considered to be a good looking game even though it's preceded by games like Batman AA. Also, I know that Skyrim will look at least as good as Oblivion upclose, don't know about Divinity.
Besides, by the time Skyrim ships, we will still have current generation consoles and while that's the case, I don't expect many games to make any significant leaps in graphics, as they haven't in the past several years. Crysis is still the best looking game out there, Crysis 2 included (which probably looks worse because of consoles as well). If Skyrim does look like games from 1-2 years ago then it will probably not look much different than the good ones 11 months from now, which still makes it pretty since a lot of games nowadays are very pretty. Fallout 3 looked like shit and was definitely outdated but this one is up to date and thats a compliment, considering. Anyway, that's the way it seems to me, this screen is a bit tricky to judge, maybe next one will prove me wrong.
aenemic
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
there's a lot of nitpicking about graphics here for a forum where the general idea is that graphics comes second, story/gameplay comes first.
that screenshot is pretty good and even if it's not 100% true to how the game will look, I really like the scenery and style and if it comes even close to that I will be more than happy. what I'm more interested in aesthetically is animations and npc faces. those things affect my feelings towards a game way more than textures, lighting, shadows, reflections and so on.
most important and interesting in this case though is the AI and storytelling. which they make big promises regarding. knowing Bethesda, it could turn out being a complete lie or at least a half-truth. at least it seems like they have the right idea - a living vibrant world, where your actions affect people around you. hell, they're even trying to make quests interesting for once. but, again, knowing Bethesda, there's no guarantee it will be well implemented and actually functional.
either way I can't say I'm not curious about the game.
that screenshot is pretty good and even if it's not 100% true to how the game will look, I really like the scenery and style and if it comes even close to that I will be more than happy. what I'm more interested in aesthetically is animations and npc faces. those things affect my feelings towards a game way more than textures, lighting, shadows, reflections and so on.
most important and interesting in this case though is the AI and storytelling. which they make big promises regarding. knowing Bethesda, it could turn out being a complete lie or at least a half-truth. at least it seems like they have the right idea - a living vibrant world, where your actions affect people around you. hell, they're even trying to make quests interesting for once. but, again, knowing Bethesda, there's no guarantee it will be well implemented and actually functional.
either way I can't say I'm not curious about the game.
aenemic said:
Yes. Second. As in it does come in at some point, it doesn't come in "not at all".
UncannyGarlic
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
They brought it up and have a history of lying, so it's only fair to call them on it. If it weren't a jpg it would be easier to see where they touched up the image but I'd guess that they smoothed edges, especially to make the domes more round. The textures are probably what are in game and I agree that it looks pretty good.aenemic said:
Same old promise and they have yet to come through on it. Excuse me being a pessimist when they have a documented history about lying about this, pretty much verbatim to boot. At best we can expect some post release, "We had to scale it back because it was overambitious," bull.aenemic said:
They claim that it's an in house developed engine, I'm interested to see how true that is and whether or not it's as buggy as I suspect.
Depends what you see as nitpicking. REmember we are talking about Bethesda here. Or do I really hvae to point you in the direction of the Oblivion review by the Codexaenemic said:
?Tehehe ...UncannyGarlic said:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KN7cKO8-P0[/youtube]
UncannyGarlic said:
Ah yes, the AI being so realistic that it was nearly impossible to play the game as often the NPCs themselves solved their own problems or that of others and already stopped the demon invasion before the player could finish the first half of the game.
maximaz
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
Anything Beth says regarding their AI or anything with the word Radiant is definitely to be taken with a grain of salt. They tend to hype things that end up being very gimicky and annoying, if at all.
I bet my left nut that the whole dropping and item thing will be some glitchy and unnatural looking shit, with NPC's going "HMMM, look at what I found, I think I will keep this item for myself." "No! I saw this first!" and this breaks out:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FR3AzDo3xU&feature=related[/youtube]
Why not just fucking concentrate on writing and story and basic mechanics before attempting all the "innovation" crap. It's like if I don't know how to drive a normal car and sign myself up for an F1 race.
I bet my left nut that the whole dropping and item thing will be some glitchy and unnatural looking shit, with NPC's going "HMMM, look at what I found, I think I will keep this item for myself." "No! I saw this first!" and this breaks out:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FR3AzDo3xU&feature=related[/youtube]
Why not just fucking concentrate on writing and story and basic mechanics before attempting all the "innovation" crap. It's like if I don't know how to drive a normal car and sign myself up for an F1 race.
Hmm, maybe they can pull this shit off now, as they actually have a good engine now, seeing as GameBryo was a cranky piece of crap that hated any attempt at making something that was complex. Well, if they aren't lying about how "awesome" this engine is.
Hopefully, this game'll at least be a fun action adventure game, like how Mass Effect 2 was. I'm not expecting any major role playing; the most there will be is the basic, "Kill shit with weapons, magic, or stealth," kind of role playing.
Hopefully, this game'll at least be a fun action adventure game, like how Mass Effect 2 was. I'm not expecting any major role playing; the most there will be is the basic, "Kill shit with weapons, magic, or stealth," kind of role playing.
because there is no need to concentrate on such things. I have no doubt that some quests will be a bit more interesting and rewarding compared to Oblivion as even most of their die hard fans had here some criticism. But I doubt we can expect anything of the level of Fallout or Planescape. Definetly not. Its not what they fanbase is demanding and the people at Beth pretty much know about that.
As strange as it souds but I think the people ... really love the dull world of Oblivion. Together with its super boring NPCs and all that stuff. I mean there have been people which got enjoyment of collecting spoons ... like garden gnomes in Fallout 3
I mean ... wtf. Do I really play a game just for that ? YOu know the kind of people which bought all homes and decorated them in their game with the weirdest stuff. I mean the idea to give the player a homw was not new. Morrowind had that already but there it was at least somewhat interesting and entertaining. Not only had you to buy the ground, but get some architect, hire people to populate your house etc. Definetly more entertaining then Oblivion.
As strange as it souds but I think the people ... really love the dull world of Oblivion. Together with its super boring NPCs and all that stuff. I mean there have been people which got enjoyment of collecting spoons ... like garden gnomes in Fallout 3
I mean ... wtf. Do I really play a game just for that ? YOu know the kind of people which bought all homes and decorated them in their game with the weirdest stuff. I mean the idea to give the player a homw was not new. Morrowind had that already but there it was at least somewhat interesting and entertaining. Not only had you to buy the ground, but get some architect, hire people to populate your house etc. Definetly more entertaining then Oblivion.Just a small update today. A little screenshot from 2009, some art shown at various states of progress, and some music from the game.
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2011/01/18/skyrim-the-time-lapse-art-video.aspx
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2011/01/18/skyrim-the-time-lapse-art-video.aspx
Their idea of Radiant Story sounds strange....
Switching a story written by some human for a 'randomly' computer generated quest, sounds quite stupid imho, for a game claiming to be about some real story. Especially because the dark Brotherhood quest (and he's speaking about assassinations) was recived a lot better than other quest-lines they got in Oblivion.
But well... a lot too soon to speculate too much about how the story will look.
Switching a story written by some human for a 'randomly' computer generated quest, sounds quite stupid imho, for a game claiming to be about some real story. Especially because the dark Brotherhood quest (and he's speaking about assassinations) was recived a lot better than other quest-lines they got in Oblivion.
But well... a lot too soon to speculate too much about how the story will look.