Cities in Oblivion were bigger

[Sarpedon]

I like the small towns in skyrim.

 

I especially like the wide variety of small settlements in the countryside. Until recently, the bulk of the world's population was rural, and Skyrim has that. The five big cities obviously revolve around the political power centers, just like a medieval castle town.

 

The villages, farms, mills, mines and so forth scattered about the countryside seem to represent the 'real' skyrim.

 

The cities in Oblivion were kind of dumb, huge systems of walls sheltering tiny populations, with detached, suburban style houses. Then you walk 100 yards out of the capital of a continent spanning empire, and get eaten by wolves.

[Dan3345]

I like the towns in skyrim but I agree with the poster on the other page that they're are too many guards for the amount of people living in them. I think the only which can accommodate all the guards it has (for a small town) is Dawnstar. But it doesn't explain where all that man power came from in the first place. See they have the barracks but there aren't enough houses for these to be local soldiers.

[Brandy1123]

I don't think a comparison in the cities between Skyrim and Oblivion is really a fair assessment of anything. The map itself should stand as a marker. I loved Oblivion and still do. Just to have a game that even somewhat compares is remarkable. The ammount of marked cities, villages, hamlets, towers, forts, strongholds, camps, hideouts and other miscellaneous hovels is almost rediculous in Skyrim. There's a lot going on in the City vacinity. The Cities of old were made up of the surrouding villages. They supported the City proper. So, just look at what goes on and around a City proper and count that as "part" the City. Look at Oblivion. Outside the gate, you had a gaurd and a stable. If your lucky, a farm. There is a thriving community in and around each City in Skyrim. I think Modders will have a hay day with all that can be added and done with the City regions.

[dianacat777]

Hmm. I agree that it feels like the cities have gotten smaller. TBH, only Markarth, Windhelm, Riften, Whiterun, and Solitude have the right to be called 'cities' at all in my opinion. The rest range from 'large town' to 'a few houses'. I mean, the Imperial city's going to be huge in comparison to everything, but even places like Anvil and Leyawiin dwarf most Skyrim cities.

 

There is a thriving community in and around each City in Skyrim. I think Modders will have a hay day with all that can be added and done with the City regions.

 

Only the larger settlements have these surrounding farms, though, and usually, these farms are owned by people that live inside the city, meaning the population's not any larger. And Morthal, Dawnstar, Winterhold and Falkreath are pretty much just by themselves.

 

Really, Winterhold shouldn't have counted as a city. It's practically a ruin.

Edited December 23, 2011 by dianacat777

[ThePrinceofDarkness]

While I do agree that the towns have gotten smaller, the five "major" holds all have FAR better design than Vanilla Oblivion cities. Major Vanilla Skyrim holds are almost on par with modded Better Cities Oblivion. Of course, the minor holds are really disappointing. They're more like big villages, which would be okay in theory, but places like Dawnstar and Falkreath according to the lore, are actually supposed to be bigger and more grand. Then again, war and all...

 

Once the CK is released, and a Better Cities is released for Skyrim, the minor holds will hopefully be improved.

[dianacat777]

Yeah, the cities that are cities all have brilliant designs that feel much more unique than Oblivion's 'different house styles and that's pretty much it' thing.

 

But all of the town-cities just feel the same to me.

[Naikado2]

They basically said that the major holds were going to be a lot bigger, and the more minor ones would be in the open world. Both I'd say were disappointing to me, as the major ones didn't seem any bigger than the ones in Cyrodiil, and there were more of those.

 

The minors I was VERY disappointed with- I wasn't expecting much in size, but there's hardly a place for me to even sell things!

[stars2heaven]

I feel like Bethesda made a big lie to us when they said Skyrim would have much bigger cities than Oblivion had. The Imperial City feels MASSIVE compared to Whiterun and cities like Dawnstar, Winterhold, Falkwreath and Morthal feel small and lacking compared to say Skingrad and Cheydinhal. The only cities I felt impressed by were Solitude and Markarth, every other has been been a huge dissapointment.

 

Anyone else feel this way? Or am I being mistaken?

 

I don't feel this way. I kinda feel the towns should be about the size they are. Not that something larger wouldn't be nice, mind you. The cities Whiterun, Riften, Solitude, and Markarth have a lot more outlying villages and people living around the city. Oblivion had very little of that if any at all. As a result the cities are a lot more believable and appear smaller than they really are. In Oblivion we had people walking around in random directions doing absolutely nothing at all. In Skyrim cities we have people walking from market stall to market stall, observing and commenting on the merchandise. We have bards singing in the inns. We have people chopping wood, running mills, running forges, skinning and preparing leather. I find the cities in Skyrim to be far more alive and interesting than anything in Oblivion. The Imperial city might have been huge, but it had very little going on.

Edited December 24, 2011 by stars2heaven

[Brandy1123]

I keep thinking of vanilla obvlivion before Oscuro and Mad Marts and the other wonderful work many countless people put into Oblivion. If you look at just the base package, sure the cities are small, but the whole regions seem alive to me. I would like more populous in general and some of the small mill towns seem destitutem, but as a whole, you have a lot going on in and around the towns.

 

One thing I'd like to see in the towns, is what the gaurds always talk about. A good bandit raid. Nothing overpowering, but something the gaurds are taking care of when you get there.

[Handofbane]

The main problem I see with the size of the towns and cities is more one of immersion. Seriously, with how small they all are, and how few farms are actually out there, how did any of these places manage to support any kind of militia let alone provide troops to the Imperial Legion for the war against the Thalmor? I understand importing supplies when possible, but we see no real sign of any caravans transporting such goods, and some places don't even have a single farm to provide emergency food should trade be cut off for any reason (see: Winterhold, Dawnstar). The only locations with remotely viable farm support are Whiterun and Windhelm - even Solitude only has one real farm for its population, though the excuse of fishing and East Empire can at least cover for that.

 

And going back to the number of guards issue - how many of these towns actually have homes capable of housing that number of soldiers as they grew up, let alone their current occupants? You can't say they all grew up in the barracks from a very young age, after all.

 

While I understand the technical reason we don't have larger towns with more housing *cough*consoles*cough*, from a roleplayer's point of view, there are so many holes in how it's all set up that I can only suspend my disbelief so long before I start banging my head on my keyboard hoping the CK gets released already.