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[nenjin]

Familiarity breeds contempt. Suck it, long-lived!

[Sergius]

Elves were the first emo.

[jmancube]

Everyone hates the elves. Even the elves hate the elves.

Can you blame them?

[Sordid]

Everyone hates the elves. Even the elves hate the elves.

Can you blame them?

Of course I can. For everything.

[Cheese]

For my first game, I will be a pretty high elf prancing through Skyrim, picking flowers to stop the evil dragons with sheer prettiness!

[Shadowlord]

What? You won't be a pony?

[Cheese]

I may ride a pony. But I wouldn't be able to pick flowers as a pony.

[buckets]

I may ride a pony. But I wouldn't be able to pick flowers as a pony.

Why pick when you could eat?

[Cheese]

A couple interviews and some other stuff.

RPS article with some infos and links to the interviews.

Interesting stuff from the interviews with Todd Howard(It's translated from Norwegian, so there are some grammatical errors);

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

What ressources do you use when you use shouts?

- Right now they only balanced by cooldowns, which means you have to wait a while before you can shout again. It allows us to balance the system better.
There are 3 levels of each shout, level 3 is the highest. Since the cooldowns limits your use of shouts, you must decide if you want to use a powerful shout and how great the need is at that time.
You may suffer from using a powerful shout if you need the shout later on, in combat. This is because of the cooldown of each shout.

Can you combine shouts?

- It was possible at first, but we found out it was really confusing, so we removed it. Instead, the game will combine shouts for you, automatically, whenever possible.


Can you explain the experience-system of Skyrim? Is it forcing you to go up in level? Is there any maximum limit?

- We think we've solved that problem this time. All skills will make you go up in experience level, but the higher the amount of experience you have in a skill, the greater the impact it has on leveling.
One thing we've noticed is that people look at their character and use the skills they have trained most.
Now you can be a magician and find a sword and use it for a long time without affecting your level of experience much. You will always be best served by focusing on something,
but this game makes it very easy to vary. Using the weapon in two hands independent of each other was actually something we came on late in development, because it felt so natural with the new control system.

In the intro it is mentioned that our character is on the way to his execution. Can you tell us more about the background of the main character?

- We give him no decided background. In this game-series, the player always starts in prison, and the player is to find himself his character's own background.
If you want a good or bad past then you could have it, we will only send you across the border to Skyrim.

In some of the combat we have seen the finishing-moves. Is this something that needs to be activated, or is it performed automatically?

- These animations are only for show, and is linked to different types of attacks. The animations you saw belongs to the powerful version of the melee attacks, and there is no special ending attacks.


Can you explain the dynamic of their storytelling?

- We developed a system for Fallout 3, which generated random encounters with different beings. And we thought, "what if we put this in the system? ". Therefore, we chose to integrate it in all missions in Skyrim.
And it turned out that it sucked, because it is too flat and transparent. So we went back to writing all missions and stories by hand.

Some of the missions will still contain dynamic storytelling. Instead of very fixed roles, for example a specific client that sends you to regain the specific child,
this system can be specified to interpret it as "the child of a person in the city have disappeared," and "find a random cave where it might be. "

One thing we have struggled with in our games is control. Because some players are not experienced enough to handle the freedom that we offer.
This system allows us to guide them to a greater extent. It ranges widely, from small random assignment to larger assignments where we ask the game to bring
out "the next character who hates the main character" or something like that.
We used that fact in one of the missions you saw. If your client dies, his sister will take over his store, and be quest-giver.

Is there a limit to the highest level of experience?

- No. That is, there's probably a mathematical limit, but like in Oblivion, it is resolved so that we do not put a permanent roof on it. We'll let things happen.
We have tried to balance it to the better, by allowing you to increase faster in experience-level. We look at Oblivion and Fallout 3 as level 1 to 25-games. This is a level 1 to 50-game.
But we have only increased the pace of leveling. Much of the character's strength lies in the skills, and there are many of them. We wanted quick things up a bit.
But the mathematical limit is probably around level 70

How to scale the PC version compared to the console version?

- I believe that it scales as expected. There are certain things we do with the PC versions of all our games. For example you can make the textures as large as you want.
In addition, you will of course have other solutions available. Something we have focused on is that the game will look the same no matter what distance you are sitting on,
so it suits for both console- and PC-players.

How big is the world compared to Oblivion, and how diverse is the environment?

- If you put the maps on top of each other it is about as big as its predecessor. But Skyrim is different because of all the mountains that form our routes.
The terrain makes it smaller in practice, but you spend more time trying to move through it because they often can not be crossed. So it probably seems bigger.

- About variation. You have already seen the spruce forests and mountain-ranges. We also have grassy tundras, a volcanic tundra, an forest in the theme of autumn and a glacier.
There are about six or seven distinct types of environments. The changes are much more obvious than in Fallout 3 and Oblivion.


Does the enemies level up together with the player, or is their strength set from before?

- We have had some dynamics of this system in all our games, but it was too much of it in Oblivion. The short version is that the current is very similar to the one in Fallout 3,
but we are trying to signal the areas that are harder than others. We would like that the players pounded their heads against the wall and shouting "I'm a wimp," if they enter the wrong area,
but they should be able to use all their resources to push through a difficult area if they wish.


-Second part-


- Changes in the seasons? Another thing: when you used the bow before you had a zoom effect, and that time went slower as you would shoot. Are these special abilities?

- The seasons do not change, just the weather. In relation to the arrow and bow system they have two different properties. They also have different levels so that you can get different degrees of zoom or bullet time [tidssakking].


- Are there mounts in the game?

- There are boats, but you can not sail them. In relation to horses and other mounts, it is something we want, but we are still experimenting with how. We exclude them, definitely not, but we will ensure that the game adds something. Horses have evolved much in the game, and we will do it properly if we choose to include them.

- Can you say a bit about the differences between the caves?

- We stock them still in kit form, and it's something we've done since Terminator: Future Shock. The difference is that we have become better at it. We have been better to make the environment more organic and uses several building blocks. For example, many types of caves in the game. Overgrown moss caves and ice caves are a few of them. We also have a cave inside a glacier and an imperial fort. Altogether there are probably five or six general construction sets, but within them there is much variation.


- How do you handle the level design of the game differently from Oblivion

- In Oblivion we let the visual designers take care of the caves, also we had a couple of specific "level designers" who went over them afterwards. There was nothing wrong with them, but they could have been better. So now we have a bunch of the eight-nine is really talented. At last count we had about 120 real caves, and more than 100 common points of interest outside. The game is actually too big.

- Is there a set number of dragons in the game?

- No, there is an unlimited number of dragons. One of our designers actually put in a random event I encountered, where I ended up being chased by three dragons and I thought "who the hell did this?" I felt like Frodo in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and was really frightened. So I asked him to remove it. But no, dragons are generated automatically (in addition to that there are a number of specific encounters, of course).


- Are all dragons aggressive towards the player?

- All dragons speak, it's actually what they do when they are spouting fire. Fighting games are debatering for these creatures. There are some dragons who speak the "common tongue" and make themselves understood to people, I cannot divulge more right now.

- Why did it take five games before we got to see dragons?

- Everyone asks us about - multiplayer and dragons. For one thing, we think that it is a bit cliché. We have never seen a game dealing with dragons as Jurassic Park handles dinosaurs. We wanted to do it properly. What happens if they chase me? How does a city if I go on? How does it feel to fight a dragon? When we first decided to take them so was Skyrim right setting. -Bethesda realise it's cliche!

- What can you say about the game's cities? In Fallout 3 screenshots from different cities were very iconic. In Oblivion, they were less recognizable. Have you worked with this?

- Definitely! We have five major cities, and they are very, very unique. Have you seen the trailer? There you will see a couple of them. Furthermore, we have nine different regions, each ruled by its earl. Five of these cities, also we have four with some smaller villages. It's probably eight or nine small towns combined.

- Have you considered being able to ride on dragons?

- Have we considered it? Yes. Do we allow it right now? No. But we can decide to support it at some point.

- In Oblivion, it was possible to find a unique unicorn. Is there such a thing in Skyrim too, for example an abominable snowman?

- I will not reveal everything here, this is a treat in the game! But yes, we have a hidden content, and it's not a unicorn.

- Morrowind and Oblivion had huge modding development community among the players. Is there anything they have created which you have chosen to integrate into Skyrim?

- Yep, a lot actually. Much of what goes on the balance sheet. For example, where quick progress should be, or how difficult the game is. One modification we've learned a lot from is actually very simple, and played on how archers works. Bows were much harder to draw back and cause more damage. It's something you feel good in Skyrim.

- In Oblivion game performance began to decline after a while. Have you fixed this?

- This is actually something we sorted out with a patch for Oblivion. I feel that we have much better grip on the platforms we are developing now. This is still a game people can come to play over 500 hours, and it is a challenge for us. We are much better, but cannot guarantee that you can play so long without problems.


If one core attributes such as strength and endurance in addition to the more specific?

- Okay, so you have 21 different skills. Then there are three core attributes: magic, health and stamina. A fan can come to say "you removed my eight favorite capabilities," and I reply "what do you want?". "I must have intelligence, because it affects my magic." Well, now you have a simple statistic of magic. Want to increase your skills in magic as you put points in magic, you do not have to detour through intelligence.

- Skyrim will be the first involvement many have with The Elder Scrolls series. Do you do anything to make the start of the series smoother?

- We assume always that you have not played any of our previous games. All games are on their own feet. I think that this is easier to get into because of the way it starts. Many players are introduced to our games because they are might be accustomed to the Call of Duty and thinking "alright, I will try role playing." Our experience is that these players can handle the depth after a few hours.

- If do you get perks by increasing the skills or by going up in level?

- It's by increasing skills. You invest points in them, and given the opportunity to select various special attacks and such things. It is basically like a regular perk tree, just that there are certain requirements before you can unlock various perks. What they typically do, so you can see if there is a special attack you like, before deciding whether to use the sword more often to unlock it.

- In the previous games many characters shared the same voice acting. Have you improved this?

- Definitely. We are continuously working on this since Morrowind and it was better in both Oblivion and Fallout 3 We have many more voice actors this time.

- Are there children in the game?

- Yes, there are children in the game.

- Can they be knocked unconscious?

- No, they can not be unconscious. This system is like in Fallout 3

[Vibhor]

Holy moly.
I was dissapointed before reading that. Now I am so hyped that I would jizz in my pants with just the mere mention of the game.

[Africa]

Whoa, including kids? How did kids work in FO3?

[jmancube]

They were there, but you couldn't really hurt them. Kinda lame, if you are going to have them there, might as well go all the way, although I do understand why they did it. But I liked the fact that there were some kids, gaming worlds seem kind of strange if there aren't any younger characters. That felt kind of weird in Oblivion, that there were all these characters, but no one had any kids.

[Yoink]

Yeah, at least there -were- kids, although it sucked I could never blow up

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

those little assholes in that mine shaft place!!

I'm so excited for Skyrim!
I had a magazine with a huge preview feature on it, and I just leafed through it repeatedly for DAYS.

[Zorgn]

One of our designers actually put in a random event I encountered, where I ended up being chased by three dragons and I thought "who the hell did this?" I felt like Frodo in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and was really frightened.

Hell yes, this sounds awesome.

So I asked him to remove it.

I am so sad...

[PTTG??]

Wow, he has apparently completely forgot what the letters RPG stand for.

That's really amazing. You have something that really gives you an emotional reaction, and you take it out. How did this guy get to be a lead designer?