Game News Todd Howard explains Skyrim

[hakuroshi]

Hmm... it sounds not very retarded from summary.
I may even consider to pirate the game.

 

[Mastermind]

I'm racking my brain trying to remember a real-time game which did it reasonably correctly.

Diablo 2 and Titan Quest both did a decent job with it.

 

[Mastermind]

-Adding more skills instead of the current system would have been easier for the designers, but less interesting for the player

so (balance + variety + uniqueness) would have been easier for the devs?

he's lying so bad.

No, he's saying that skills as they were done before would be easier since it's just a name and a number. Right now they have the perk trees which increase the skills' depth considerably. I prefer the new system. I just wish they wouldn't remove fucking attributes (which it looks like they did, though it hasn't been explicitly confirmed so far, still got a bit more to watch). Then I'd be perfectly happy with the character system they have now.

 

[Jokerman89]

Todd Howard seems like an honest guy to me, refreshing.

 

[Mastermind]

there's around 280 perks. and no, you can't get them all. around 75 appears to be the maximum possible level.

transcript here for my fellow readingfags:

http://forums.bethsoft.com/index.php?/t ... i-podcast/

 

[thesheeep]

Wtf?
Most of those actually sound good...

Except:

-Character Creation jut pick race/aspect, races have different skill increases and spells and racial abilities
-No class

I'm not sure here, I just hope this doesn't limit the player too much.

-Don't expect to ride dragons

- Regular handcrafted quest "You walk into town and someone comes up to you saying his child was kidnapped and is in a specific dungeon" Radiant story quest "You walk into town and a random npc you've already met with a good disposition towards you says his child was kidnapped and is in a randomly selected dungeon nearby you haven't visited yet, dificulty and reward is scaled to level or to what they think you might "need"/want to face or to "things you've done before""
- Some quests have no "dynamic" elements, others have more, being balanced
-They want to avoid it feeling like it's a random thing over and over

Again, this could be good, but has lots of potential for completely screwing up. But in that case, it might end up being unintentionally funny as hell

-small compass bar at top for direction that right now is always there
-they love achievements
-thinks the mix between specific quests, leveling up collection achievements and in fallout 3 was pretty good
-says levelling faster and getting perks more often is more fun

-you don't know you're dragonborn when you start

Now I do. Thanks for that.

 

[Excommunicator]

I will admit that their system for handling weapons is probably going to be an improvement. It seems like it may have a slight element of synergy between weapon types (depending on the variables considered under one & two handed vs. specific weapon types), which lets a player try multiple weapon types before specialising, reducing the chance of "wasted" skill investments. Makes more sense than completely discrete weapon skills, too.

 

[Twinfalls]

There's a lot of incline spoken by Howard here. Weapon-specific perks are a good thing. This is shaping up to be a pretty damn good game.

Of course, the writing... the quests... the lore....
?
?
?

 

[Mangoose]

I loled most at "We don't want an intrusive HUD" and then "BUT WE LOVE ACHIEVEMENTS!"

 

[Zed]

fuckers breathe into the mic, unlistenable.

 

[Mastermind]

fuckers breathe into the mic, unlistenable.

I posted a link to the transcript earlier.

 

[SharkClub]

-Radiant story could have allowed you to make anyone a companion(but won't)

 

[DraQ]

I loled most at "We don't want an intrusive HUD" and then "BUT WE LOVE ACHIEVEMENTS!"

Anyone capable of saying that and not seeing the problem should be shot.

There's a lot of incline spoken by Howard here. Weapon-specific perks are a good thing. This is shaping up to be a pretty damn good game.

Of course, the writing... the quests... the lore....
?
?
?

Well, if you love the TES lore but also indulge in some rape fantasies you should be satisfied.

 

[Luzur]

- Regular handcrafted quest "You walk into town and someone comes up to you saying his child was kidnapped and is in a specific dungeon" Radiant story quest "You walk into town and a random npc you've already met with a good disposition towards you says his child was kidnapped and is in a randomly selected dungeon nearby you haven't visited yet, dificulty and reward is scaled to level or to what they think you might "need"/want to face or to "things you've done before""
- Some quests have no "dynamic" elements, others have more, being balanced
-They want to avoid it feeling like it's a random thing over and over

feels like we are going to get kidnapped kids all week long, from the same town.

 

[Xor]

Todd Howard seems like an honest guy to me, refreshing.

You should read some of the claims he made while Oblivion was in development, and then decide how honest he is.

 

[torpid]

- Your first quests you will do in a small and surrounded by mountains settlement called "Wood River".

Sounds appropriately generic.

- At the beginning of your first quest is a dealer named "hatches" a gold necklace in the form of a dragon claw stolen. Your job is to find this gem again.

Fargoth quest all over again, or is that the main quest?

- Your quest givers will no longer marked, but mentioned in a conversation.

There'll still be a quest compass, I'm sure.

- An association which is called "Grey Beards" familiar with the dragon language very well.

Wood River? Grey Beards? They aren't even trying. "Dear Dragon Knight, please go to the Dark Tower in the Snow Mountains to face Greenscale the Dragon. Yours truly, Elder McMagicson."

- If Dovahkiin defeated a dragon, he can take his soul.

derp.

- Each hand is controlled separately. That is, with a game pad the left and right joystick and a mouse, the left and right buttons.

That's not really different from Oblivion, unless I'm misunderstanding -- if you had a shield equipped the left hand was controlled separately with the block key. And casting spells was also done with the left hand, though you used shortcuts instead of the mouse. Sounds gimmicky.

- The difficulty level is set at the first visit of a unique environment.

Derp.

- Objects in the inventory can be rotated and thus examined from all sides.

I'm willing to bet this will only be useful in one or two quests.

- Wind gusts are stirring up snow and move the plants.

Teh Graphix!!

- There are no landscapes created by the computer. They were created by eight level designers by hand.

I put more trust in a computer than in Bethesda's artists and designers.

- If the player has missed a major event, such a management system ensures that he is made aware.

I don't know what this really means. To be on the safe side, I'll assume it translates to more handholding.

 

[Mastermind]

Grey Beards? They aren't even trying.

Grey Beards have been a part of the lore since Redguard.

 

[Excidium]

Todd Howard seems like an honest guy to me, refreshing.

You should read some of the claims he made while Oblivion was in development, and then decide how honest he is.

I can't believe some people here still take him seriously, after Oblivion and Fallout 3.

 

[DraQ]

Grey Beards? They aren't even trying.

Grey Beards have been a part of the lore since Redguard.

torpid is trying too hard. Damn 2010 newfags.

 

[Cimmerian Nights]

Todd Howard seems like an honest guy to me, refreshing.

You should read some of the claims he made while Oblivion was in development, and then decide how honest he is.

Don't shortchange the rest of them :

Which Oblivion Dev Lied The Most?
http://www.rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=15427

 

[torpid]

Grey Beards? They aren't even trying.

Grey Beards have been a part of the lore since Redguard.

Eh, that's lazy.

torpid is trying too hard. Damn 2010 newfags.

Not everyone is a TES aspie who finds pleasure in clicking through pompously-written books in a video game.

 

[circ]

WELCOME TO CODEX FLIP-FLOP ALLEY. MAKE PORTAR GOGOGO.

 

[DraQ]

Grey Beards? They aren't even trying.

Grey Beards have been a part of the lore since Redguard.

Eh, that's lazy.

torpid is trying too hard. Damn 2010 newfags.

Not everyone is a TES aspie who finds pleasure in clicking through pompously-written books in a video game.

Butthurt detected.

 

[torpid]

Grey Beards? They aren't even trying.

Grey Beards have been a part of the lore since Redguard.

Eh, that's lazy.

torpid is trying too hard. Damn 2010 newfags.

Not everyone is a TES aspie who finds pleasure in clicking through pompously-written books in a video game.

Butthurt detected.

Vivec's milk-finger is too deeply lodged in your throat for you to acknowledge it.

 

[DraQ]

Grey Beards? They aren't even trying.

Grey Beards have been a part of the lore since Redguard.

Eh, that's lazy.

torpid is trying too hard. Damn 2010 newfags.

Not everyone is a TES aspie who finds pleasure in clicking through pompously-written books in a video game.

Butthurt detected.

Vivec's milk-finger is too deeply lodged in your throat for you to acknowledge it.

It's in yours, but not before having pierced your second aperture.