[PART 01] Todd Howard interiew.

[Zaldir]

Translation:

 

 

SALT LAKE CITY (Gamer.no): We have just participated in an extensive press event sponsored by the American game publisher Bethesda Softworks. Here, we were able to look at alternative Prey 2 for the first time, in addition to talking with a veteran of the game's developers. The trip gave us the opportunity to finally play Rage though.

 

The most anticipated, however, was the view of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the sequel to the huge success, Oblivion. It gave us plenty of information about one of the biggest releases, and even better was when we got to take part in a one-hour question session with the game's producer - Todd Howard. Last week we published the first part of the massive group interview, here you have part two.

Does the seasons change? 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 Archery-system the mentioned are two different abilities. They also have different levels so that you can get different degrees of zoom or slowdowns.

 

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 definitely won't exclude them, but we will ensure that they add something to the game. Horses have evolved a lot in games, and we will do it properly if we choose to include them.

 

What about factions in this game?

- This we do not talk about yet.

 

What was the idea behind designing skill tree look like constellations?

- I worked with the interface and would take a step away from Excel spreadsheets and the typical system we find in RPGs. So I tried a number of options, including one where you look over your right shoulder to look at your weapons, left shoulder to check out the magic and the stars to see who you are. It was the foundation. In the previous Elder Scrolls games, we have also had the asterisk, and we would gather all these into one system.

 

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

- We still make them using tile sets, 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. There are 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 Imperial fort. Altogether there are probably five or six general construction sets, but within them there is much variation.

 

 

How do you design the game now compared to 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 eight-nine who are 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 into a random event I came by, where I ended up being chased by three days 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 dragons, 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 is debating for these creatures. There are some dragons who speak the "common tongue" and make themselves understood to people. I will not divulge more right now.

 

Can you say something about the fauna in the game? We've seen fish in the rivers and dragons, are there other animals?

- Yes! We have a couple of designers who only work with "world interaction." Say you lose a sword. It happened once before we let you zoom in on the weapons that I would inspect the appearance of a sword. So I throw it on the ground, and before I know it it's one that picks it up and give it back to me because he likes me. Another example of world interaction is how we have wolf packs that hunt mammoths, and it takes us fifteen minutes to implement something like that.

 

When you killed the dragon you said you had to take his soul. Can you elaborate on this?

- It's a very interesting topic, but I am unfortunately not allowed to talk about it yet!

 

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 dinosaurs handles. We would do it properly. What happens if they chase me? How does a city if I take it with me there? How does it feel to fight a dragon? When we first decided to include them, Skyrim was the right setting.

 

Can you say a bit about the factions and reputation system?

- This is also something we do not talk about yet.

 

Is there a skill for voice capabilities, such as persuasion game in Oblivion?

- It's a skill for it, but there is no such persuasion wheel. We do not talk much about it yet, but I can say that it is a far simpler system and not a mini-game.

 

How do you lockpicking?

- It is a mini game for it. I hate the concept of mini-games! "It's also a mini game for battle!". What I mean is that if it is a skill for it so there must be some kind of interaction into the picture, so it is not a roll.

 

Inventory system looks very good, but can you compare objects?

- Right now there is support for it, but it is a bit halfway through. You will see green and red arrows indicating whether items are up-or downgrades, but you have to compare objects individually. We want to organize it in a list where you see all the objects that are better than your current one.

 

Can you say something about Alchemy? Is it improved from Oblivion?

- It's improved, but we choose to elaborate on it at a later date.

 

What can you say about the game's cities? In Fallout 3 a screenshot from 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 are cities, and four with some smaller villages. It's probably eight or nine small towns combined.

 

What items are found, are they random or fixed?

- We vary it. Sometimes we want to give you a special item that fits with the area you are in. Sometimes you get random objects that match the level of the area you are in, like in Fallout 3 The enemies will drop a corresponding amount of different items as in our other games.

 

You have talked about that the dialogue system is simplified, and that one gets much of the backstory by passive conversations. Can you say more about this?

- One thing we've noticed is that few wants to lose something, then we will arrange it so often that you have a dialogue choices that are like "Do you want to hear my life story?". Sometimes they give you the background story of a cave for instance, and then we feel it is better to present it as a normal conversation that you can only listen to.

 

Does crime work in the same way as in Oblivion, with burglary and theft and such?

- It's a little different, they share many similarities, which I unfortunately can not talk about yet.

 

Is there a way to determine the characteristics and weaknesses of different monster?

- In relation to the interface - no. We try to collect that into books. For example you can find literature about the various enemies that give you information about their weaknesses. We try to package it into a more gentle way than "this is stronger, it is weaker" like many games do.

 

Can you finally sleep in someone's bed when they are dead?

- This is actually on our to-do list, and I have personally suggested it!

 

Have you considered being able to ride on dragons?

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

 

 

[AurianaValoria1]

120 Caves? Holy cow! :wacko:

 

No persuasion mini-game...hallelujah! :tongue:

[OpalEyedFan]

Translation:

 

 

SALT LAKE CITY (Gamer.no): We have just participated in an extensive press event sponsored by the American game publisher Bethesda Softworks. Here, we were able to look at alternative Prey 2 for the first time, in addition to talking with a veteran of the game's developers. The trip gave us the opportunity to finally play Rage though.

 

The most anticipated, however, was the view of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the sequel to the huge success, Oblivion. It gave us plenty of information about one of the biggest releases, and even better was when we got to take part in a one-hour question session with the game's producer - Todd Howard. Last week we published the first part of the massive group interview, here you have part two.

Does the seasons change? 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 Archery-system the mentioned are two different abilities. They also have different levels so that you can get different degrees of zoom or slowdowns.

 

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 definitely won't exclude them, but we will ensure that they add something to the game. Horses have evolved a lot in games, and we will do it properly if we choose to include them.

 

What about factions in this game?

- This we do not talk about yet.

 

What was the idea behind designing skill tree look like constellations?

- I worked with the interface and would take a step away from Excel spreadsheets and the typical system we find in RPGs. So I tried a number of options, including one where you look over your right shoulder to look at your weapons, left shoulder to check out the magic and the stars to see who you are. It was the foundation. In the previous Elder Scrolls games, we have also had the asterisk, and we would gather all these into one system.

 

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

- We still make them using tile sets, 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. There are 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 Imperial fort. Altogether there are probably five or six general construction sets, but within them there is much variation.

 

 

How do you design the game now compared to 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 eight-nine who are 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 into a random event I came by, where I ended up being chased by three days 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 dragons, 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 is debating for these creatures. There are some dragons who speak the "common tongue" and make themselves understood to people. I will not divulge more right now.

 

Can you say something about the fauna in the game? We've seen fish in the rivers and dragons, are there other animals?

- Yes! We have a couple of designers who only work with "world interaction." Say you lose a sword. It happened once before we let you zoom in on the weapons that I would inspect the appearance of a sword. So I throw it on the ground, and before I know it it's one that picks it up and give it back to me because he likes me. Another example of world interaction is how we have wolf packs that hunt mammoths, and it takes us fifteen minutes to implement something like that.

 

When you killed the dragon you said you had to take his soul. Can you elaborate on this?

- It's a very interesting topic, but I am unfortunately not allowed to talk about it yet!

 

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 dinosaurs handles. We would do it properly. What happens if they chase me? How does a city if I take it with me there? How does it feel to fight a dragon? When we first decided to include them, Skyrim was the right setting.

 

Can you say a bit about the factions and reputation system?

- This is also something we do not talk about yet.

 

Is there a skill for voice capabilities, such as persuasion game in Oblivion?

- It's a skill for it, but there is no such persuasion wheel. We do not talk much about it yet, but I can say that it is a far simpler system and not a mini-game.

 

How do you lockpicking?

- It is a mini game for it. I hate the concept of mini-games! "It's also a mini game for battle!". What I mean is that if it is a skill for it so there must be some kind of interaction into the picture, so it is not a roll.

 

Inventory system looks very good, but can you compare objects?

- Right now there is support for it, but it is a bit halfway through. You will see green and red arrows indicating whether items are up-or downgrades, but you have to compare objects individually. We want to organize it in a list where you see all the objects that are better than your current one.

 

Can you say something about Alchemy? Is it improved from Oblivion?

- It's improved, but we choose to elaborate on it at a later date.

 

What can you say about the game's cities? In Fallout 3 a screenshot from 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 are cities, and four with some smaller villages. It's probably eight or nine small towns combined.

 

What items are found, are they random or fixed?

- We vary it. Sometimes we want to give you a special item that fits with the area you are in. Sometimes you get random objects that match the level of the area you are in, like in Fallout 3 The enemies will drop a corresponding amount of different items as in our other games.

 

You have talked about that the dialogue system is simplified, and that one gets much of the backstory by passive conversations. Can you say more about this?

- One thing we've noticed is that few wants to lose something, then we will arrange it so often that you have a dialogue choices that are like "Do you want to hear my life story?". Sometimes they give you the background story of a cave for instance, and then we feel it is better to present it as a normal conversation that you can only listen to.

 

Does crime work in the same way as in Oblivion, with burglary and theft and such?

- It's a little different, they share many similarities, which I unfortunately can not talk about yet.

 

Is there a way to determine the characteristics and weaknesses of different monster?

- In relation to the interface - no. We try to collect that into books. For example you can find literature about the various enemies that give you information about their weaknesses. We try to package it into a more gentle way than "this is stronger, it is weaker" like many games do.

 

Can you finally sleep in someone's bed when they are dead?

- This is actually on our to-do list, and I have personally suggested it!

 

Have you considered being able to ride on dragons?

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

 

 

Thank you for doing this :)

[Corakus]

120 Caves? Holy cow! :wacko:

 

No persuasion mini-game...hallelujah! :tongue:

I think it's supposed to be 120 dungeons, not caves.It would kind of suck if there were only caves for dungeons, and almost every other article I see says it's 120 dungeons.