[quote name='Gadolf Schmitler]
And I jizz in my pants!So Elder Scrolls V' date='the latest in a line of games that should've been Elder Scrolls V and actually is because Bethesda remembered they owned the Elder Scrolls IP. Apparantly this was announced last month but I may have missed it,info abounds nonetheless given the February issue of Game Informer which I can't read because my subscription expired back in June. I did however find this handy article covering some new features and some scans from the Game Informer article[quote']Game Informer’s first look at Bethesda Softworks’ Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has hit subscribers, thus making its way onto the net. The scans are out, and while we can’t tell you were to find them, we can tell you about some important pieces of intel.LevelingSkyrim‘s level system works on a 1-50 scale. Though, level 50 isn’t the limit; when you reach level 50, you’ll gain experience much slower, making leveling a much more difficult process.Each time a player levels, they’ll earn extra health. Additionally, they can also pick one of the following traits to boost: stamina, health, or magic.There’s no class selection at the start of the game. Every skill a player earns will help contribute to their overall level. Every time a player levels, new perks (a la Fallout 3) are unlocked.Level-scaling makes a return. Meaning: “The game eventually logs a huge storehouse of knowledge about how you’ve played, and subsequently tailors content to your capabilities and experiences. Entering a city, a young woman might approach you and beg you to save her daughter from kidnappers. The game will look at the nearby dungeons you’ve explored, automatically set the mission in a place you’ve never visited, and designate opponents that are appropriately matched to your strengths and weaknesses.”SkillsThere are 18 skills for players to learn, which is three down from Oblivion and eleven down from Morrowind.Skills will try and accommodate the player who wants to put their focus into a single profession, as well as allow room for players who prefer to do a little bit of everything.The mysticism skill is gone. The enchanting skill is still present.StoryThe game is set in the Nord region of Skyrim, 200 years after the events of Oblivion. The player, as one of the dragonborn, is called upon to stop the prophetic return of the dragons. The player’s mentor is one of the last blades.The world includes five massive cities. Its dungeons — caves, underground areas, etcetera — will have more variation than past games.ConversationsConversations do not zoom into the person’s face, anymore. They’re more realistic in Skyrim; the person you’re talking to will do things such as walk around, perform tasks whilst in conversation, glance at you every now and then, etc.Faces are heavily improved. They don’t look like crap, anymore.CombatCombat is more dynamic and tactical; each hand is assigned a function (ex: magic in one hand, a weapon in the other). The team is putting a lot of care into the different feel of each weapon in the player’s hands. They’re also putting a heavy emphasis on improving combat in Skyrim.Enemies include: zombies, skeletons, trolls, giants, ice wraiths, giant spiders, dragons, wolves, horses, mammoth, saber-toothed cats, and other creatures.QuestingQuests, like combat, also boast a more dynamic feel. You’ll be assigned quests depending on how you develop your character. For example: a frequent magic user may be approached by another mage and assign you a quest. Had you been a frequent melee fighter, the mage would not have approached you.To better suit the player, quests will be modified depending on what you’ve done (see level scaling above, or the following example). An example: you must rescue a girl from a certain location. This location will be in an area you’ve yet to visit with enemies that are of or near your level in order to have the player visit a new location and be combatant with challenging enemies.Also of note: in Oblivion, if you dropped an item, it would stay there forever. Depending on where you drop items in Skyrim, different events could happen. Another example: if you drop a dagger in a town, a young boy might pick it up and find you to return. Or in a different situation: a group of men could find it and fight over who gets to keep it.EngineThe engine is completely new. Snow falls dynamically, trees and branches move independently according to the wind, and water flows beautifully.There are dynamic shadows, as well.Other StuffThe third-person view has been improved. These improvements are clearly displayed in the screenshots the magazine provides (which we cannot publish).There is an option to remove the heads-up-display (HUD) for players who want the entire screen to be taken advantage of.Players can sprint if they feel like going fast. Or they could fast-travel, allowing them to transport to any previously visited location on the map.Dragons can attack a town, meaning that towns may (we’re guessing) also be open to other creature attacks. You can also duel an NPC in town, western style, if you’d like.[/quote]I also found this excerpt from the Game Informer website which appeared on the back of the February Game Informer issue. The first is the original text writen in the new dragon tongue,the second is the translated English version
And for the more visually atuned:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJQXpRyugzE[/media]and I again jizz in my pants. As the writer of Fanglewurzle's only admin approved review of a Bethesda title,I couldn't be more gleeful to hear about a return to the Elder Scrolls series,especially with all of these improvements to the system that they've been making. I could complain about those three skills getting removed,but screw it,mysticism sucked anyway and if the skills are getting more refined like the small guns+big guns merger in New Vegas then I'm all for the game giving me more options per skill rather than having everything be separate and only getting to competently use a fraction of them without extensive grinding.I don't think there's a single feature here that I don't like. I wonder a bit about the dual wielding feature solely because Oblivion had spells set to a specific button,so I could shield with one arm,attack with the other,and still have a spell readied. This sounds a little more restrictive if my spells have to be set to a specific hand Bioshock 2 style rather than just having a spell casting button. I'm hoping the whole random dragon attack thing doesn't become the new Oblivion gate. Oblivion gates where tedious as hell,you were better off just not doing the quest that makes them appear if you aren't going to do the whole plot,making them all go away. I read on the Bethesda forums that the game no longer has separate helmets,rather that helmets were automatically generated based on what suit of armor you were wearing like some of the Mass Effect 2 DLC armors did. The poster of this information didn't give a source,so hopefully it's wrong. This is officially the only game I'm looking forward to this year,so I'll at least have an easier time rationing how much hair I rip out while I wait for the November 11 release date. Discuss Skyrim and The Elder Scrolls in general.
[/quote]This news was from our good friend, Gadolf Schmitler.I never had the chance to play an Elder Scrolls game, but this has caught my eye.Dynamic Quests and NPC scenes are a plus to any RPG, though no Class selection would leave newbies to the elder Scrolls franchise scratching their heads on what perks and skills to get for this type of build (which would deter the casual gamers) but it will be fun to experiment for me.No close-up view during conversations? Personally, I liked how Mass Effect 2 dealt with conversations (minus the buggy camera viewing nothing) a close-up view with the NPCs conversing and a full-view when s/he is doing something as s/he talks with a dramatic close-up to his/her eyes or mouth.Hmm, equipping spells/weapons to one hand suggests lefties would not feel left out, along with the possibility of combining spells or dual-wielding.All this on Nov 11? (though they did not say what year...)First DA2 comes out in March while ME3 on December, and now we have this just before Me3? Awesome!Thoughts?