Skyrim's Landscapes

[Corakus]

I came across by accident two maps of skyrim, one which I think is from a behind the scenes video on skyrim,

 

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/File:MapS0.jpg

 

And one which is a cleaned-up version of that map,

 

http://images.uesp.net/0/08/SR-WorldMap.png

 

Two things here that took my interest.One was the "tundra marsh" and that next one was the "volcanic tundra".Does anyone know what a volcanic tundra or a tundra marsh is?I tried googling images of the two terms but I didn't find anything that I thought would be used in skyrim.

[kibblesticks]

In the real world the tundra is a vast, dry, barren expanse of mosses and other ground flora. Trees can't grow there because the ground is made of a thing called "perma-frost", which roots cannot penertrate (it's harder than re-enforced concrete).

 

I suppose marsh tundra would be an area where there has been a significant amount of rainfall. The water can't be absorbed into the ground because the perma-frost is made of ice and frozen soil. Neither can the water evaporate because the air never heats up enough for evaporation to occur. The water will just sit in any dip in the ground.

 

Volcanic tundra would presumably be the same kind of environment but with volcanoes in it?

 

And just in case you can't tell, I just did a lesson on tundra at college last week :tongue:

[Corakus]

In the real world the tundra is a vast, dry, barren expanse of mosses and other ground flora. Trees can't grow there because the ground is made of a thing called "perma-frost", which roots cannot penertrate (it's harder than re-enforced concrete).

 

I suppose marsh tundra would be an area where there has been a significant amount of rainfall. The water can't be absorbed into the ground because the perma-frost is made of ice and frozen soil. Neither can the water evaporate because the air never heats up enough for evaporation to occur. The water will just sit in any dip in the ground.

 

Volcanic tundra would presumably be the same kind of environment but with volcanoes in it?

 

And just in case you can't tell, I just did a lesson on tundra at college last week :tongue:

Nice answer, very detailed....So a tundra marsh would be an area that's very swamp-like but with ice underneath?I like the sound of this, the blackwood swamps in oblivion were a huge let down, they were basically just large ponds.I'm guessing a voclanic tundra is an area where it's mostly flat, black, ashy ground where there are also volcanoes.

[LordWushin]

I like how the city name and the regions (if that is what they are) are named like Winterhold or Whiterun. Eastmarch is a very interesting name that stands out to me, I might have to spend extra time there! The Reach I guess would be where those Greybeard guys are.

[marksman_sniper]

I'm sure I read something within the "Technology behind Skyrim" article which says that they've created a new engine specifically for trees and another engine to determine how the weather shall react. Do you think it's possible that Skyrim will have an environment changing engine other than snowfall, browny snow sludge and similar things? If they created a special engine for the tree's physics and for the weather could it be possible that after a harsh storm (if they implement it) there would be tree carcasses and visible remains?

Would be an excellent feature if they've thought about it, would make the world seem way less static as well. I've always admired the woods and forests in Oblivion but some trees just live forever apparently and do not rot or decompose.

[Corakus]

I do hope their new precipitation system applies to more than just snowfall, it would be weird to see snow accumulating on objects and then to see rain just falling through objects like in Oblivion.Also if there are volcanoes in Skyrim, maybe they're active volcanoes and when they erupt ash floats everywhere, perhaps the precipitation would apply to ash as well, it would be interesting to see your character have ash on his clothing and gear.I also think there were too many trees in Oblivion, and the fact that they used speed tree to make them made it even worse.If Bethesda sticks to the realistic definition of what a tundra is (And I hope they do) then we'll regions that have a lot of trees, like the forests and mountains, and we'll see some places where there are no trees, like the tundras.That would definitely add more diversity to the environments, something that I felt was lacking in Oblivion. Edited March 9, 2011 by Corakus

[kibblesticks]

Yeh, for a good idea of what tundra is, just think of the dead marshes from The Lord Of The Rings.

 

As for realism, the trees look amazing in the trailer! Looks like the forests will have both young and old trees as well as undergrowth and different forest types will have different "decor".

 

For example: The pine forests were sparsely populated with a lot of older trees but little undergrowth, whereas the birch forest have bracken, fallen logs and larger canopy. Also trees and flora seem to be everywhere including towns which is great because that's how it would really be.

 

I know I sound like a enviro-nerd but this has got me so excited to start exploring. It's clear the Devs did their research. :biggrin:

[bishop278]

the part where it says "divine birth" to the right looks extremely interesting...