» Wed Mar 30, 2011 12:11 am If anyone comes up with new or contradicting information, feel free to PM me or post it.
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Character-
- Scars and face paint will be able to be used for characters, along with an armour decal system
- Players can challenge (and be challenged by) any NPC to a western-style duel in the streets
- Cooking, farming, wood-cutting, and mining, in addition to weapon-smithing, can be done in different towns.
- Stamina can be expended quickly by choosing to "sprint", and backward movement is slower than forward movement
- Face tool has been redesigned (random no longer means "ugly")
- Players can use dragon shouts, awesome shouts of power using the magic of dragon-tongue, to defeat enemies. These are apparently fueled by the spirits of defeated dragons and are built up by finding walls within the game that have words in draconian script on them. there will be sixty words for twenty dragon shouts, each composed of three words, when used the longer a shout is activated, the more words are said and the more powerful the shout will become.
- character creation gives you a set a choice of your features from a prebuilt set, then you can modify attributes
- It will be possible to raise all skills to the maximum 100 points but it isn't possible to get every perk in a single playthrough
NPC and Interaction-
- A new system "Radiant AI" has been developed for NPCs; NPCs react to the player's actions in new ways, such as fighting over possession of an item dropped by the player or attempting to return it to the player.
- The shop of a killed NPC may be inherited by another NPC, who may then offer the items/quests of the first but may not have the same disposition toward the player.
- The player's actions also directly affect side quest creation, as well as altering parts of quests. Character creation also affects which quests are available, with some quests only being offered to those specializing in certain skills.
- Dialog options are available with hostile NPCs
- When talking to NPCs the game does not pause and the NPC will not stop their actions, they will talk while continuing their previous activity e.g. chopping wood
- Taverns will serve as important locations in the game. Players will be capable of overhearing conversations, collect rumors, begin quests, acquire information and much more.
- Players can stalk non-player characters and chart their routines, and break and enter into their homes when they aren't around.
- The information quest givers provide you will depend upon their disposition towards you. Friendly NPCs will provide you with more information while hostile or distrusting characters will provide you with a lot less.
- Most NPCs will not have a complete set of dialogue, with only "important" characters having significant dialogue.
- NPC's can play a lute-like instrument. Unclear whether players will be able to or not.
- Some merchant NPCs will be able to hire a player as an escort for their caravan.
Combat-
- dual-wielding (assigning a weapon or spell to each hand)
- new weapons can be smithed at a forge from heated metal.
- Unique finishing attacks are used for each weapon and creature.
- The game will more accurately mimic the imbalance prevalent in melee combat by adding staggering affects and camera shake, forcing the player to block and defend in an intelligent manner.
- Bethesda has switched to a timing based blocking system that requires players to actively raise their shields to take the brunt of the attack. If you hold down the block button, your character will attempt to execute a bash move, opening up your opponent to a more powerful attack, blocking/bashing can be done by two handed weapons as well but not to the same magnitude
- Destructive spell casting can be varied between 4 different methods, shooting the spell in small blasts, spraying the spell in a flame-thrower like technique, placing the spell on the ground in a rune, or double-wielding the spell for a strong, magika draining, all-out blast.
- It now takes a lot longer to get off a shot with the bow, but the arrows are much more powerful than before, though the arrows will be more difficult to find and will cost more money.
- You can't block with a one handed weapon while the other hand is equiped with a spell.
- "Skyrim" will see the inclusion of new area-of-effect spells such as "Ice Trap," which is triggered when an enemy walks over it; "Circle of Protection," an area-of-effect spell which pushes enemies in your vicinity away; and "Fury" which causes enemies to fight amongst themselves
- "Skyrim" will feature a context-sensitive melee system described as "Magnetism" in the French PSN, where your melee attacks will automatically target foes instead of slashing everything in your path. This is somewhat similar to the autotargeting system in "Assassin's Creed Brotherhood."
- Archers will be able to hold their breath--an action which consumes stamina--while aiming in order to increase their accuracy. This ability is similar to the sniping abilities in games like the Call of Duty series
- Injured dragons have a chance of crashing into the ground.
- Combat will be "more physical" than before, being compared to gladiator fights, the character will be trading blows with enemies.
Player Skills and Leveling-
- "class" selection is no longer used, and instead of the twenty-one skills in Oblivion (twenty-seven in Morrowind), Skyrim will feature eighteen skills (one of the removed skills is Mysticism).
- Faster player level increases can be achieved by increasing developed skills
- Gaining a level also grants the player level-specific skill abilities and an increase in health along with an option for a greater increase in health, or an increase in magicka or stamina..
- Leveling will be scaled and leveling above 50 will be significantly more difficult
- There are 280 perks chosen of the course of 50 levels in separate perk-trees under each skill tree though it will not be possible for any one player to accumulate all of them.
- Combat skills now organized into 3 skills, one handed weapons, two handed weapons, and bows
- The alchemy skill is now in the stealth skill set
Interface-
- PC version has different menu
- The menu system will be built in a compass interface, dedicated to 4 "directions", inventory, magical items and abilities, map and astrology/perks
- The inventory page will be set in a new cascading interface, including an item model viewer that allows you to inspect each item with rotate/zoom.
- The D-pad (for console gaming) will include up (when not in menu interface) to access a "favorites" page, including any number of weapons or spells a player assigns to said page
- When the map page is accessed, pulls the camera perspective backward to reveal a huge topographical map of Skyrim, showing the world in varying degrees of zoom, allowing one to plot a course or fast travel
- The heads up display will be optional
- Three prominent nebulae dominate the Skyrim heavens – the thief, the warrior, and the mage. Each of these represents one of the three master skill sets. Each nebula houses six constellations, each of which represents a skill.
- As a player levels up, develops skill and gains perks, the stars and nebula will begin to light up and glow brighter, affecting the in-game night sky
World-
- Five large cities, along with several smaller "holds" are available to explore (and to be attacked from above by dragons), along with a wider variety of caves and subterranean areas.
- Creatures include mammoths, giant spiders, elk, trolls, ice wraiths, zombies, sabre-toothed cats, giants, wolves, draugr, skeletons and dragons. Children are also featured in the game.
- Dynamic shadows will be integrated, allowing light placement to affect the location of the shadow
- DYNAMIC SNOW!!! (yay) will be used, accumulating where it ought to
- Tree branches will now move with the in-game wind, creating a more realistic environment
- greybeards "call" the character from high hrothgar, their voice echoes across the landscape to let the player know he has to see them.
- The new system "Radiant Story" allows random quests, based on NPC interaction and the player's interaction with the world
- When random quests are created they will be tailored to your 2 highest skills
- When random quests are created the game will watch where you’ve been and set the quest to an unexplored location
- "Skyrim" contains exhaustive environmental effects, such as the effects of wind on water and the creation of waves. The game will also contain meteorological effects, for example clouds clustered around mountaintops, etc.
- Every large settlement in the land of Skyrim will be unique. The city of Markarth Side is set into a cliffside, with buildings teetering on the edge. Haarfingar is said to be home to the largest trading port in Skyrim. One of the cities in Skyrim is even said to be heavily inspired by the Dunmer architecture of Morrowind [spec: likely winterhold]
- Bethesda intends to bring back a sense of eccentricity into the world of Skyrim (similar to that of Vvardenfell), as each Nord faction will have its own customs and styles instead of being carbon copies
- (OP: And this is awesome) The overall economy of "Skyrim" will be better designed than the one in prior games. If you eliminate a city's means of income (for instance, by razing their vegetation), its residents will have to purchase crops from a nearby city, thereby raising prices.
- Spider Webs can be an environmental hazard as the Player can get temporarily stuck in larger ones
- Fire can set parts of the environment aflame; Ice will show a chill effect on your enemy's skin. Oil can be set on fire.
- Cities will be open, allowing seamless flow between countryside and cityscape
- Dungeons (including Dwemer ruins!) will not only be more detailed and unique due to a larger dedicated team of level designers, they will feature more traps and environmental puzzles
- According to Shack news "There's no finite number of dragons in the game"
- There are different jail-types (probably according to the kind of crime you commited ?) in Skyrim ... and they (the Devs) spent a lot of time on the crime-system, which Todd calls "really nice". :hubbahubba: (from Todd Howard in the new IGN-inteview of April, 25th)
