LE Better Cities?

[Deleted2558536User]

I personally think, with Whiterun as an example, a lot of housing, a few pubs and stores should be added around Whiterun. The best positions would be along the farms and the brewery, as these spots are nearly 100% safe, meaning less scripting to protect the NPCs. It is also pretty flat allowing better integration and town planning. With Solitude the same can be complete but this time down to the Mill, and similar again for Windhelm. I think just by adding a poor district it will add a lot, as the cities really do lack that "real" factor like the the rest of Skyrim has.

[ColonelSanders]

They need more people in the cities I don't feel that interested in a city when theres only 5-20 people in a city. I'd defiantly like to have big cities.

[ColonelSanders]

They need more people in the cities I don't feel that interested in a city when theres only 5-20 people in a city. I'd defiantly like to have big cities.

[forplugins1]

We need much bigger cities, much more populated! I

[cppcooper]

I just want to be able to run around on the rooves. To use them as escape routes.

[AssyMcGee]

Running around on the roofs would be neat, I was able to do that in Dawnstar rather easily haha. That however would require open cities to really work out well. Which I'm assuming is being planned.

 

And I agree with you forplugins1, the cities do need to be bigger and more populated. Even if they are just fluff npcs there for the ambiance. I mean look at the cities of Morrowind or Oblivion, those were pretty big and they had a lot of houses and npcs whose sole purpose in life was to add to the world. If you play as a thief that'd be a boon to your profession, you have more houses to steal from. Even if you don't steal from everyone in town it'd just be nice to feel like you're in a sprawling city.

[firsTraveler]

Winterhold needs at least one big haunted underwater ruin, maybe the castle that fell into the sea carrying the princess to her watery undeath.

[erehwonnz]

Winterhold needs at least one big haunted underwater ruin, maybe the castle that fell into the sea carrying the princess to her watery undeath.

 

Yes! If nothing else, we should really see more rubble beneath the city. Imagine a new questline surrounding an underwater ruin...pretty compelling.

 

As it is, I don't really feel like this is a place where a disaster occurred. Where are the signs that the city stuggled onward after its ruin? Did no one build their shacks and homes around the old ruins, make cornerstones and walls of rubble?

 

I think I want to look out at the sea and feel this sort of aged atmosphere:

http://assets.vg247.com/current//2010/11/frontEndRuins.jpg

or

http://www.mmocrunch.com/wp-content/gallery/guild-wars-2-images/concept1.jpg

 

It's a pity that some of the richness of the conceptual design work didn't appear in-game. Compared to the slightly whimsical, verdant Riverwood put down on the page, the in-game Riverwood seems a pale sibling. Knowing little of the logistics of modding a town, I wonder whether there's a way to restore some of this lost whismy and some of the greenery to Riverwood, to give a stronger sense that the town is among the trees and mossy stones. I really miss the moss or grass-covered rooftops that seem to make the houses look like hillocks.

http://conceptartworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/The_Art_of_Skyrim_05a.jpg

The link text notes that Riverwood became the template town, and I think that factor (coupled with its early introduction) make it feel weary and a little dull (as much as I love this world as a whole).

 

Markarth has that waterfall set back in the cliffs; that might be a place to add new structures (I really don't know the logistics--I'm just imagining), especially since the concept art suggests a much taller city. I find it somewhat disappointing that Markarth's iconic tower is entirely empty. Moar towers!

http://parkablogs.com/sites/default/files/images/skyrim-03.jpg

 

Solitude has some decent open spaces to add houses or businesses. The concept art suggests something more akin to Bree in Fellowship of the Ring, with the building rearing and leaning out of the night.

http://images.wikia.com/lotrgames/images/1/1a/Bree.jpg

 

Side note: all this water around Solitude and Riften and no seabirds floating along? Makes the space feel a little dead.

 

Whiterun seems like it could stand to gain another ring of city altogether: as it is, it has quite a bit of structure leading into the gated part of the city. I'd like to see the innermost ring gain a gate, creating multiple tiers implying breadth.

 

And, most importantly, roof-climbing! ;)

[AssyMcGee]

Wow those concept art pictures are beautiful. It sure would have been nice if some of the cities stuck to the concept art design. One that comes to mind is the Solitude art that I've seen. http://www.uesp.net/wiki/File:SR-concept-Solitude_Street_Scene.jpg This shows a clearly large city with winding streets and lots of houses and buildings. Imperialistic and sort of overbearing with the sharp, pointy roofs and overhangs. There was another picture I can't seem to find which showed the harbor under the stone arch, lots of ships and docks. It looked really impressive and like an actual harbor.

[PsxMeUP]

What I don't like about the big cities is how few of everything they have. If you're a thief you need houses to rob. There's maybe half a dozen houses in the big cities. I blame production. They wanted every NPC to have their own house, and every NPC to be voiced. When you get a city the size of Damascus in Assassin's Creed or Liberty City (GTA), it becomes impossible to voice all the people you'd expect to see in the streets, and if they repeat their lines it would eventually get unbearable. Skyrim's detailed voicing came with a high price, I'm afraid.