WorstUsernameEver Posted January 17, 2011 Posted January 17, 2011 GameInformer Hub: The Technology Behind The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Starwars Posted January 17, 2011 Posted January 17, 2011 That article reads like a blowjob to Bethesda. Still, some of the stuff sounds neat, but yeah... I can't help but get flashbacks from the PR stuff for Oblivion, and then comparing that to how it actually looked and worked in-game. Having random encounters in is good though. Listen to my home-made recordings (some original songs, some not): http://www.youtube.c...low=grid&view=0
WorstUsernameEver Posted January 17, 2011 Posted January 17, 2011 Ahahahahah oh God. The censoring filter censors "****" as in "****roaches" but not "blowjob"? AHAHAHAHAH. GOD. Also, I'm not sure what exactly the improved AI is supposed to be about. They don't even detail the improvements. There's a lot of details about the engine, let's hope they don't tone everything down before release.
Wrath of Dagon Posted January 17, 2011 Posted January 17, 2011 (edited) That screenshot certainly looks impressive, in the art design sense as well. Edit: As far as AI, I think this explains it Bethesda has populated them with mills, farms, and mines that give the NPCs believable tasks to occupy their day. In the forest village we visited during the demo, most of the citizens were hard at work chopping wood, running logs through the mill, and carrying goods through the town. The improved Radiant AI technology is also more aware of how a citizen should react to your actions. As you perform tasks for them or terrorize them by ransacking their home, the NPCs develop feelings about you. If you're good friends with a particular NPC and barge into his house during the middle of the night, he may offer you lodging rather than demand you leave the premises. “Your friend would let you eat the apple in his house,” Howard says. If you swing your weapon near an NPC, knock items off their dinner table, or try to steal something of value, they'll react with an appropriate level of hostility given their prior relationship to you. It'll be nice if NPC's react when I jump on their table and start stepping into the food. Edited January 17, 2011 by Wrath of Dagon "Moral indignation is a standard strategy for endowing the idiot with dignity." Marshall McLuhan
Thorton_AP Posted January 17, 2011 Posted January 17, 2011 I miss stuff like that from the old Ultima games, where your kleptomania was harshly judged by observers, party members or otherwise.
Tigranes Posted January 17, 2011 Posted January 17, 2011 Of course GameInformer previewing a TES game is going to be pretty much advertising - they have a cozy deal where they did "World Exclusives" on Skyrim and Oblivion, and they're not going to blow it by being anything other than lapdogs. If we just take the useful stuff from it; -> Engine is designed to have dynamic lighting (almost?) everywhere -> NEW PRECIPITATION SYSTEM THAT MAKES SNOW FALL REALISTICALLY! This will either be awesome, or the same as Oblivion Soil Erosion. Take your pick. -> Radiant AI better, NPCs react to what you do = since they were meant to do that the first time round, we'll see. -> Use of havok animations lauded as a "tippy-top-state-of-the-art". I thought everyone and his dog used it by now? Maybe they're doing something more with it. -> Completely unscripted dragons! Sounds great, we'll see if it's true. -> Radiant Story, same examples about generating quest destinations or storekeeper's daughter taking over (get used to this, they will use this example about 50 more times before they give us any more detail). Apparently storekeeper's daughter will give you the quest if you kill the storekeeper. But then she also remembers what you did and may try to exact revenge? Either that's going to be brilliant or nonsense. -> Oh, a new Radiant Story example - the best swordsman in the land or something might seek you out and challenge you if youro skill is really high. Seriously? That's been happening in RPGs for like 20 years now. Also radiant story gives you random encounters! Whodathunk! (This is actually good news, Morrowind/Oblivion did miss random encounters. Just don't know why it has to be Radiant Story.) So there you have it, we have some cool news, some things that will be really kickass if they really did them but their track record shows they don't, some things that will either turn out kickarse or idiotic, and then some things that everybody else is already doing but they are scamming as revolutionary. Combined it all calls for a brilliant response of facepalm+excitement! Let's Play: Icewind Dale Ironman (Complete) Let's Play: Icewind Dale II Ironman (Complete) Let's Play: Divinity II (Complete) Let's Play: Baldur's Gate Trilogy Ironman - BG1 (Complete) Let's Play: Baldur's Gate Trilogy Ironman - BG2 (In Progress)
Thorton_AP Posted January 17, 2011 Posted January 17, 2011 the best swordsman in the land or something might seek you out and challenge you if youro skill is really high. Seriously? That's been happening in RPGs for like 20 years now. Really? I can't really think of anything off the top of my head.
Tigranes Posted January 17, 2011 Posted January 17, 2011 Scripted encounters that trigger when a player hits a certain skill level, experience or possesses a certain item? The sky is falling on our heads! I have no problem with the actual duels they described happening, it's certainly an improvement from their last game. Mechanically it's just not any sort of innovation or Radiant Revolution. Will we see "Radiant Story" actually deliver new kind of experiences and new kind of mechanisms? Or just help Skyrim do some new things that Oblivion didn't do, even if other games have done similar things? Or neither? The point is that all this Radiant talk is making it harder to be optimistic. I do hope it will be used well in Skyrim, certainly interesting random encounters and NPCs having memories that feed into quest design would rock. Let's Play: Icewind Dale Ironman (Complete) Let's Play: Icewind Dale II Ironman (Complete) Let's Play: Divinity II (Complete) Let's Play: Baldur's Gate Trilogy Ironman - BG1 (Complete) Let's Play: Baldur's Gate Trilogy Ironman - BG2 (In Progress)
WDeranged Posted January 17, 2011 Posted January 17, 2011 Hm, according to the Bethsoft forums a few things have been removed from the article. "For some reason, a couple bits about random encounters of assisting giants track a mammoth and fighting off dragons with some soldiers was removed." Curious
HoonDing Posted January 17, 2011 Posted January 17, 2011 Random encounters? I'm expecting a new drove of naked Nords standing in the middle of the road. The ending of the words is ALMSIVI.
WDeranged Posted January 17, 2011 Posted January 17, 2011 Random encounters? I'm expecting a new drove of naked Nords standing in the middle of the road. When I first saw one of those it dawned on me that I really should have chosen the better bodies mod with underwear...nord sausage fest
Hurlshort Posted January 18, 2011 Posted January 18, 2011 Today I read the Game Informer article while in the bathroom, and I got really interested in it, and so when I finished I said to myself, 'Self, this would be a good time to finish up that Oblivion game that I keep losing interest in.' So I got out the CD, and I put it in, but then the launcher came up and I grew bored immediately. So I decided to post here instead of playing.
Pop Posted January 18, 2011 Posted January 18, 2011 -> Use of havok animations lauded as a "tippy-top-state-of-the-art". I thought everyone and his dog used it by now? Maybe they're doing something more with it. They're talking about Havok Behavior, which seems to be an animation blending / pipeline simplifying tool, different from the Physics toolset that's been in use for years. I remember it being announced around the time of the Aliens RPG, actually (can't remember if that game was to include it). Doesn't look like they were lying about Skyrim being the first large game to use it, either - according to Havok's site the only games to have used it are SEGA's Golden Axe reboot and a whole lot of Disney games (including Epic Mickey). Hard to say whether it's just hype, but they probably paid enough for the tools that they think it's worth it. Join me, and we shall make Production Beards a reality!
Tigranes Posted January 18, 2011 Posted January 18, 2011 Thanks for the clarification, anything that improves animations in RPGs is long overdue and good news. Let's Play: Icewind Dale Ironman (Complete) Let's Play: Icewind Dale II Ironman (Complete) Let's Play: Divinity II (Complete) Let's Play: Baldur's Gate Trilogy Ironman - BG1 (Complete) Let's Play: Baldur's Gate Trilogy Ironman - BG2 (In Progress)
sorophx Posted January 18, 2011 Posted January 18, 2011 So I decided to post here instead of playing. happens to me all the time Walsingham said: I was struggling to understand ths until I noticed you are from Finland. And having been educated solely by mkreku in this respect I am convinced that Finland essentially IS the wh40k universe.
Bos_hybrid Posted January 18, 2011 Posted January 18, 2011 I just hope Bethesda doesn't see the need to have a voiced PC. I don't think I can think of anything worse in a Bethesda game....... Well maybe romances.
WILL THE ALMIGHTY Posted January 18, 2011 Posted January 18, 2011 I just hope Bethesda doesn't see the need to have a voiced PC. I don't think I can think of anything worse in a Bethesda game....... Well maybe romances. I don't think they will. Their biggest selling point with their games is how enormous and open they are. If they add PC voice they couldn't get as much content in, too many lines. "Alright, I've been thinking. When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade - make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don't want your damn lemons, what am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life's manager. Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons. Do you know who I am? I'm the man who's gonna burn your house down! With the lemons. I'm going to to get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!"
HoonDing Posted January 18, 2011 Posted January 18, 2011 Bethesda pioneered gay romances as well, with Crassius Curio. The ending of the words is ALMSIVI.
Kaftan Barlast Posted January 18, 2011 Posted January 18, 2011 I just hope Bethesda doesn't see the need to have a voiced PC. I don't think I can think of anything worse in a Bethesda game....... Well maybe romances. Im hoping for full voice-over AND Witcher-like romance with collectible "I totally did it with this NPC" achievements. HAH! DISCLAIMER: Do not take what I write seriously unless it is clearly and in no uncertain terms, declared by me to be meant in a serious and non-humoristic manner. If there is no clear indication, asume the post is written in jest. This notification is meant very seriously and its purpouse is to avoid misunderstandings and the consequences thereof. Furthermore; I can not be held accountable for anything I write on these forums since the idea of taking serious responsability for my unserious actions, is an oxymoron in itself. Important: as the following sentence contains many naughty words I warn you not to read it under any circumstances; botty, knickers, wee, erogenous zone, psychiatrist, clitoris, stockings, bosom, poetry reading, dentist, fellatio and the department of agriculture. "I suppose outright stupidity and complete lack of taste could also be considered points of view. "
Tel Aviv Posted January 18, 2011 Posted January 18, 2011 Bethesda pioneered gay romances as well, with Crassius Curio. Never gets old.
Slowtrain Posted January 18, 2011 Posted January 18, 2011 -> Oh, a new Radiant Story example - the best swordsman in the land or something might seek you out and challenge you if youro skill is really high. COuld be good... As long as he/she isn't freaking level-scaled to be just "a bit of a challenge but not really a threat." If a "best swordsman" in the land seeks me out, he should be a badass who makes me bleed. Not some wimp who dies in two hits. Can anyone say "ARENA CHAMPION AT LEVEL 1!"? I knew you could. Notice how I can belittle your beliefs without calling you names. It's a useful skill to have particularly where you aren't allowed to call people names. It's a mistake to get too drawn in/worked up. I mean it's not life or death, it's just two guys posting their thoughts on a message board. If it were personal or face to face all the usual restraints would be in place, and we would never have reached this place in the first place. Try to remember that.
Slowtrain Posted January 18, 2011 Posted January 18, 2011 I just hope Bethesda doesn't see the need to have a voiced PC. I don't think I can think of anything worse in a Bethesda game....... Well maybe romances. Im hoping for full voice-over AND Witcher-like romance with collectible "I totally did it with this NPC" achievements. HAH! Will Beth go the boobie card route, do you think? Trade them on the internet? Maybe make a boobie card minigame? Notice how I can belittle your beliefs without calling you names. It's a useful skill to have particularly where you aren't allowed to call people names. It's a mistake to get too drawn in/worked up. I mean it's not life or death, it's just two guys posting their thoughts on a message board. If it were personal or face to face all the usual restraints would be in place, and we would never have reached this place in the first place. Try to remember that.
HoonDing Posted January 18, 2011 Posted January 18, 2011 If a "best swordsman" in the land seeks me out, he should be a badass who makes me bleed. Not some wimp who dies in two hits. That will probably be Umbra again. The ending of the words is ALMSIVI.
Slowtrain Posted January 18, 2011 Posted January 18, 2011 If a "best swordsman" in the land seeks me out, he should be a badass who makes me bleed. Not some wimp who dies in two hits. That will probably be Umbra again. The amusing thing here, iirc, is that Umbra's ARMOR is level-scaled. It looks like regular Ebony plate, but if you run into her early in the game it actually has lower stats or something. lol. Bethesda was so out of control with level scaling that it made Oblivion reeeediculous. Notice how I can belittle your beliefs without calling you names. It's a useful skill to have particularly where you aren't allowed to call people names. It's a mistake to get too drawn in/worked up. I mean it's not life or death, it's just two guys posting their thoughts on a message board. If it were personal or face to face all the usual restraints would be in place, and we would never have reached this place in the first place. Try to remember that.
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