Todd Howard Answers Fans Questions, Summary

Over 1600 comments, many were multiple questions.


-Werewolves are "being looked at", and so are Vampires. My guess is that they will be in the game since they were such an integral part of morrowind and oblivion

-There are no classic spears in the game. (but something new may replace it)

-Two handed Weapon Skill, One Handed Weapon Skill, then Archery. The Rest is magic.

-Within in each of those skills there are perks, each skill has a perk tree.
(within each of the trees you can specialize)

-Todd suggests Skyrim mounts are currently being developed, but not sure if they will be back. Im guessing they will be. Says that it would be weird not to have horses, but they want them to feel more like an animal and not a jeep.

-You will be able to craft weapons (smithing), Alchemy is back, and enchanting. Alchemy is the most magical of the stealth skills. Todd mentioned cooking.

-Spellcrafting is a wild card, its not removed from the game, but Todd said they want to work at fixing it. Todd said main goal is to make magic feel more like this arcane awesome feeling, rather than a spreadsheet where you spells like groceries.

-Mysticism is removed, but thats only the label the mysticism spells have been added to another school of magic.

-Game has 280+ perks. So if you get up to level 50, youve only picked 50 perks.

-Character Creation is based on race, you no longer pick a class. Then specialization goes from there. Its like you start out like a blank slate in the beginning and your actions in the world determine what you will become.

-Character Creation has been really revamped, all new face system. Example when your making a nose, you can pick from tons of pre made noses and then customize, or make it from scratch. All the races look cool and unique.

-The Dragons will be epic boss fights, example a mix between big daddy and the helicopter you see in half life. Dragons have been worked on for 2+ years from Bethesda. They can dive bomb, breathe fire on streets, can go anywhere, random encounters. Very Intelligent Dragon AI. There are multiple types of dragons. You cant ride dragons, because they are enemies.

-Companions will be able to be hired, and they can become your friends. You have a larger number of companions to pick from in comparison to oblivion.

-Radiant Story allows many possibilities to occur. Such as anyone becoming your companion. (But Bethesda is cutting that out, may confuse the whole story line)

-Radiant story is a tool used to make quests.

-You can make quests via Radiant Story, example is a common quest such as a guy in a town who has a child who is kidnapped. With radiant story that becomes a template, so when you walk into a town/city, you may see a guy who may want you to explore an unexplored dungeon close by to rescue his son, or some other random thing which relates to your skillset. ALL IN RELATION TO YOUR CHARACTER.

-Factions are back, Dark Brotherhood and similar factions are back. It will be different than the rest of the games. Some factions will return, but many new ones!

-11/11/11 is the exact confirmed date, Todd says there is no changing it the game will be out 11/11/11.

-Starting out in prison has become a tradition, it lets you in your head tell a quick little story about yourself says Todd.

-Oblivion was a traditional fantasy setting, Skyrim will have its own unique style and it will be grittier. Age of structures will be important.

-Skyrim is about the size of Oblivion, good portion is mountainous, parts of the world that have mountains are more "compressed." There will be about 5-6 different environments, pine-forest, forest, tundras, volcanic tundras, glaciers, etc.

-It will have a M-Mature rating. Todds assumption is that they will get an M

-There is a HUD, it comes and goes as needed. Small compass on top for direction. Magicka, health, Stamina come up when they need to. Example if your walking around if your on full health, the bar doesnt show up. But if your wounded it will show up, comes and goes.

-Youll definitely be able to run the PC version at HIGHER RESOLUTIONS says Todd.

-PC interface will be different from console versions.

-Alot more quests from Oblivion.

-There is no Kinect involvement, but theres a chance it may happen (0.00001% chance)

-When you start out with your Character, he doesnt know hes Dragonborn. There is an event that happens with a Dragon, you find out your dragonborn. The graybeards, who find out about this, they call your name in a Dragonshout (dovahkin) to walk up the 7000 steps. It will have exactly 7000 steps.

-The leveling system works like Oblivion, there is no maximum level (such as limit cap of 25), and you level faster. The theoretical maximum is from 50-70 but you can go beyond that.

-Todd did not speak about whether or not the Enemies will level with you.

-A Gameplay trailer is not too far off.

Morrowind Theme on Guitar

this is me covering the Morrowind Theme on guitar.

you can download it here: http://www.zshare.net/audio/853885955f44c9ee/

Gameplay Details for Skyrim!

The new Elder Scrolls will feature:

• Revamped leveling: every skill you use progresses you towards next level
• On each level: extra health and either more health, magicka or stamina
• 18 skills (previously 21)
• Mysticism gone
• Steps to allowing both specialisation and a more general character
• Set 200 years after Oblivion
• Revamped combat
• Better weapon feel
• Third person camera better
• Much more variation in dungeons
• Quests much more dynamic, suit your character
• Better conversation animations, no more face zoom

Bethesda's Technology Behind Skyrim!

Its been five years since Bethesda has revisited Tamriel, what have they done to improve the Elder Scrolls Series. What kind of technology are we looking at here?

Oblivion offered gamers a beautiful open-ended landscape to fulfill their every whim, from the renaissance feel of the huge city of Cyrodiil, to the dark brooding underground caves, the lush forests, and the hellish landscapes of Oblivion. TES IV: Oblivion was hailed by critics and gamers as one of the best single player rpgs ever to come forth from Bethesda's creative labs.

THE CREATION ENGINE


Now Besthesda has created a newly dubbed Creation Engine and Kit. This will enable violent waterfalls, steep cliffs, even denser forests will sporadic wildlife, and epic battles.

In an interview with lead director Todd Howard, he explained “The big things for us were to draw a lot of stuff in the distance so we have a really sophisticated level of detail, more so than what we've had in the past for how things stream in and how detail gets added to them as they get closer to the camera."

The draw distances look pretty on a postcard, but gamers were also worried about the close up gameplay. Need not worry though, Bethesda has explained that there will be an extensive revamp on shadows and light on the entire Elder Scrolls world.

The Foliage system in Skyrim has been overhauled, we are talking much much more foliage (I cant wait to see this!). The creation engine allows players to modify almost anything in the game. Say for example you are making tree on a steep cliff, you can alter the weight of the branches so they look as if they are swaying in the mountain winds!

Radiant AI System

Remember when you were playing Oblivion, and the NPCs would walk around the town going about their own duties?

Well thats been improved, and I mean really improved a hundred fold. Now each denizen in Skyrim will go about duties that actually make sense to the environment. For example in the forests villages most of the villagers would be seen chopping logs, building houses made out of wood, etc.

Now the improved AI system is more conscience of the Player as well. Suppose the player goes to a town, and drops a very valuble piece of loot. Now the villagers will pick up the item, one might return, others may fight over, one villager may even use it against other villagers if its a weapon. Many possibilities can now occur!

Skyrim has also taken some hints from Fable, if you terrorize or take care of the villagers they will develop feelings for you.

“Your friend would let you eat the apple in his house,” Howard says

This will make for some interesting gameplay.

HAVOK Engine Animation


Remember how robotic the NPCs were in Oblivion, well say goodbye to that.

Now Bethesda has introduced a Havok Animation system, making NPCs movements more realistic.

“We looked at a bunch of [animation solutions], and this is about the tippy-top state-of-the-art stuff out there,” Howard says. “I think we're the first real big game to use it.”

The Havok Engine allows developers to make blended animations with a few simple clicks of the mouse with minimal code support. NPCs now transition more realistically between say walking, jogging, running, attackng, eating, sleeping, talking, etc.

Bethesda has also revamped the third person perspective and allowed better timings when switching to third person.

“We definitely have made a significant jump in how it plays [in third person perspective],” Howard proclaims.

Not only that but when you have conversations with NPCs it switches to a cut scene now, and the NPCs dont just stand around and talk to your face, but now they be walking, eating, running, etc.

For example a bar maid may continue to clean glasses or cups as you speak to her.

Official Elder Scrolls V Skyrim Theme

To download the theme just go here:

http://www.zshare.net/audio/8537189982e398ae/

Welcome to the Official Elder Scrolls V Blog

We are all excited about the new Elder Scrolls Skyrim game, specifically me I'm very excited.

The release date for the new Elder Scrolls is 11/11/11, so between now and then I will be updating this blog for any changes I find out about the game

Welcome and enjoy, I will be posting many videos of my shenanigans in Oblivion as well as videos of me updating the blog about Elder Scrolls V Skyrim.