The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

[el badman]

Can't believe I missed this, this trailer apparently surfaced a few weeks ago already. This is the first official trailer for the new game in the Elder Scrolls series, called Skyrim, and to be released on 11/11/11:

phpBB [video]

[Lamrock]

If they don't fix the leveling system, this game will be as useless as Oblivion.

[el badman]

That was just a detail, Oblivion was one of the greatest RPGs ever made...

[Lean]

That was just a detail, Oblivion was one of the greatest RPGs ever made...

Agreed. One thing I wish they remove from Skyrim is the sliding physics-thing because melee combat sucks when you have that.

Though I never finished Oblivion (one time in my only playthrough I decided to close all Oblivion gates before going on with the story), the game challenged me for being a difficult one -- especially in combat. While I'm still fan of RPG's with tactical combat, Oblivion won it for me as one of the first RPG's that I played with real-time combat.

[Lamrock]

It really wasn't a detail. There was no reason to level up!

[Lean]

Any of you guys got their Jump skill in Oblivion too high that you can jump as high as the doors?

[|)e8*]

Can't wait for this!!!

[el badman]

It really wasn't a detail. There was no reason to level up!

Of course there was. The additional damage you'd get with your weapons and magic was more than enough to become largely superior to most foes after a while. I agree that it was buggy and that you shouldn't have to struggle with fucking bears when you're at level 30 with a badass sword. But it certainly wasn't game-breaking and was simply making it a bit more challenging if anything.
Calling one of the most praised games ever "useless" because of something like this is just nonsense.

[StupidBoy]

Actually, some scans from the February Game Informer magazine (they're doing a month long coverage of Skyrim) have been posted already.

Confirmed Features:

-2-handed weapons and duel wielding confirmed.

-A variation of level scaling.

-18 skills.

-Perk picking at every level-up

-Finishing moves, unique to each weapon and enemy you fight.

-Dynamic Shadows

-Kids

-Overhauled Combat-system Example: (Dual wielding spells, able to pick diffrent spells for each hand, or put the same in both for a more powerful effect.)

Radiant story

-5 Major Cities

-Improved Faces/Improved Models Example: Faces have been dramatically overhauled. Characters now exhibit more emotion show of distinctions between different races and just plain looks better.


-Radiant AI

-Updated Engine Snow falls dynamically (not as a basic texture on the ground)
Trees and branches move independently with the wind
Water flows and huge draw distances !

-The Hero has a mentor: His name is Esbern and Voiced by Mark Von Sydow (Surviving Blade)

-The game takes place 2 centuries after Oblivion

-Initiating a conversation between a NPC no longer zooms: Quote (Conversations aren't done in a zoomed in static shot anymore. Start a conversation with some and they will act like someone would in real life, looking at you occasionally and walking around a bit and also continue doing a task if they were doing one while talking.)

-Sprint is added !

-Randomly generated quests.

-Beards

- Dialog will pop up when you approach an enemy

- You can't run backwards as fast as you do forward.

- 10 races to choose from

- confirmed creatures: zombies, skeletons, trolls, giants, ice wraiths, giant spiders, dragons, wolves, horses Elk, mammoth, saber-toothed cats

- presumeably open cities (as dragons can attack)

- cooking/farming/mining/woodcutting/blacksmithing

-Hud-free first-person view and improved third-person perspective

-5 Magic Schools Destruction Alteration Conjuration Restoration Illusion. (Alchemy Enchant (now added) are not magic schools (?) )

-very unique landscapes! Also unique dungeons! In other words, lots of uniqueness!

-Character creation improved, body features customizable

-Radiant story

-Plot: The plot is that you are possibly the last Dragonborn, a group characterized by their ability to hunt dragons. The Septim line was a prominent Dragonborn line protected by the Dragonguards which eventually became the blades. After the death of the Septim line, the Blades were hunted down and killed one by one and now are almost completely gone. The return of the dragons was foretold in the Elder Scrolls and was ushered in by the destruction of the Staff of Chaos, the creation of the Numidium, the events at Red Mountain and the Oblivion Crisis. The last event to unfold before the dragons return was the people of Skyrim turning against each other which is happening at the beginning of the game. Dragons start to appear in greater and greater numbers as the game goes on and will eventually culminate with Alduin possibly coming into the world, but we have no idea yet.

-Combat: The combat system has once again been overhauled. Now you may choose what you place in each hand, whether it be a sword and shield, dagger and sword, two swords or even a weapon in one hand and a spell in another. Assaulting with your shield is now apart of melee combat, being able to shield bash them to stagger them to give yourself an advantage in combat. Spells can now be dedicated to a certain hand meaning you can fight with your left hand aflame while your right hand is charged with lightning. Ranged combat has been improved by increasing the damage bows deal significantly, so much so that it is possible for one to one shot an npc from stealth but also so the draw time of your bow has been increased. Ranged combat shouldn't be able to be abused from stealth like in Oblivion due to the fact that NPCs are FAR more intelligent than any TES game ever and possibly any game to date, we shall see.

Scans:
http://i.imgur.com/4M3Mr.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Gfvmf.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/9lGZr.jpg
http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/3391/1294436166308.jpg
http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/9150/1294437115139.jpg
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/1619/1294438061177.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/am5rV.jpg

[Lean]

Oh lord, because of this EA may force BioWare to release Dragon Age III in November. 10 races to choose from? WIN!

[el badman]

Some additional details about the game. Liking what I see so far.

[kevin02]

This game is going to be amazing!

[Patr1ck]

I don't like RPGs. But, I played oblivion for a long time. I hope the graphics engine is updated.

Lamrock was right about the leveling. You can beat oblivion without doing much because of it. Hope they fixed it, or at least made a reason to level up.

[el badman]

Here's another preview from IGN with the first screens, comparing the technology used in Oblivion with the new one. Good stuff.

[Lean]

Oblivion


Skyrim

Skyrim looks like serious business.

[Patr1ck]

They had that facegen technology back then, which is the same thing EA uses for gameface.

[el badman]

Here is a longer version of the trailer that features actual gameplay footage:

phpBB [video]

This stuff is gonna be freaking epic.

[Patr1ck]

Damn! November? I hate releases around the holiday. I wonder if we shall see a Fallout game later with the same graphics engine.

[Lean]

I want this now to spill the guts of BioWare out.

[Sauru]

lamrock is right there was no point in leveling. if they went to a xp based leveling system and stopped mobs from leveling with you then oblivion would have been the best game ever (rpg wise anyway) imo. i made a char and took all magic skills as my main skills then i never used them. i just leveled all my other skills and suddenly i was one shotting everything in the game.

skyrim has the potential to be fucking amazing but if the leveling system remains it will only be amazing for a few weeks

[Patr1ck]

If fallout is any indication, I believe they have improved the leveling system.

[el badman]

New details about Skyrim in this interview with Bethesda's director.
And for the previously skeptical:

IGN: Is the auto-leveling system from Oblivion that leveled enemies alongside your character returning in Skyrim? If not, will there be a modified version, and what informed the changes in the design?

Todd Howard: We've always had some amount of that in our games, from Arena to Fallout 3. You do need some in a game like this, it's just a matter of how and when you do it. It's clear Oblivion had places it didn't work well. That's something I think we addressed well in Fallout 3, so Skyrim works similarly to Fallout 3. We want peaks and valleys, where sometimes you're really challenged, and other times you feel really powerful. The trick is telling a player in a wide open game, without locking stuff off, that "this area is too hard for you, come back later."

[el badman]

New interview with Todd Howard regarding the role of the dragons in the game.

[Lean]

Oh yes. Dragon shouts.

[Sauru]

i am obsessed with skyrim now. looks damn good so far. like a lot of the mistakes will be fixed. the game also looks way better