The Evidence So Far:

1. When the dragon crashed to the ground in the new trailer, the soil appeared to deform under it, and as it came to rest, it piled up as if pushed forward by dragon's slide ...
2. In the http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/8495/skyrim720p.jpg there is a tree that has broken off at the base and fallen over, and the broken area appears freshly broken as in real life if a tree has been smashed over by something...

While these aren't 100% proof of deformability, they are at the very least indicators toward the possibility of deformability. And now I wonder how far it could go ... ?

In the cave with the running water in the trailer, many people in other threads are now wondering if that water is dynmically generated, or if it's hard-coded to flow in seperate streams about the central up-raised portion. It appears to follow dynamic generation and if so, that would mean if you somehow altered the soil there, that the water might take a wholly different path or set of paths. So if water if flowing in a cave, and you do something to collapse that part of the wall, would it then flow entirely differently? Toward what end? Would water play a role in some of the challenges that make up how you could proceed forward in a dungeon with seemingly no way forward? Perhaps you alter the water flow, and use the water to push down other invisible portions of the wall that you didn't know were weak?

This leads to a few more questions:
3. Can we somehow deform the terrain ourselves?
4. Are there spells that will do this?
5. Can we dig in a riverbed, and thus over time, cause the river to alter course?
6. Could that newly diverted water flow into a neighboring town and wreak havoc upon it?
7. Could dragons use these systems to attack villages without having to personally invade them?
8. Might we be standing in a town where a river flows nearby and suddenly have a raging waterfall flowing through the town?

It all seems like too much coding and hard work, for whatever purpose I can't begin to imagine at this time, other than for pure visual shock and awe. I just don't think that would be enough incentive for them to take the effort to program this. But damn, if they did, Skyrim's achievement would be nothing short of miraculous (and it already pretty much is anyway) ....

If you spot any further evidence of deformability, or have any theories, please add them here.

Thanks!

The most likely scenario is that it is just a temporary nif and texture placed on top of the ground. When you leave the cell, and the corpse decays, it will be removed. You'll see the original ground that was under the dead creature.

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/2074/skyrimterrian1.jpg
http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/2109/skyrimterrian2.jpg

I just posted these pics in the 1080P thread.

I'll repeat what i said there.

If the dragon battles are truly dynamic that should mean all the terrain in this game should be capable of what we see in these pictures.

To me it looks like there is a separate mesh that is placed there when the dragon is crashing. I feel like that part of the trailer was scripted somewhat heavily as well so I am not even sure if we will see that with all of the Dragons we kill in game.

Good job, sir, you are fast! I was just reading the 1080P thread and was getting ready to link all of that evidence here but you did it for me, so THANKS MAN! hahahaha!

Well... I'm not particularly interested in the topic, though I think deformability is cool its not really a high priority for me, BUT I must say, thanks for taking the time to make a presentable OP, even using color and numbers to help us read it! Just wanted to say that... wish more people would do that, or maybe I just wish certain people would stop creating threads, same difference really I guess.

Destructible trees is possible, it has been done in Crysis and maybe some other games.

Deformable terrain seems tricky, but again not impossible. Fallout 3 had 3D bullet holes, so it wouldn't surprise me to see effects such as deformed ground from a crashed dragon or craters from fireballs.

Don't expect the terrain to be able to alter rivers though, but again, not impossible.

Well, there was also Red Faction, which allowed you to put large holes in rock walls with a missile launcher barrage. And that game is about a decade old by now.

#1. You make it sound like I was asking if someone WANTED it to be in the game... I'm not asking that question. I was asking if it already IS in... in which case, what you want would be irrelevant because if it's in there, then it's already Ragu, my friend.
#2. I am not sure if you are being sincere or mocking me with the thanks, since most of your post was negative in some way. I want to believe you were sincere, so I will just go ahead and believe that and say THANKS.
#3. By "certain people" appearing in my thread ... it sounds like you're talking about me. I put a lot of work into my threads, chock them full of creative ideas, and sometimes a fun poll, and try to ask intelligent questions, and get some fun conversation flowing. If you don't like that kind of stuff, perhaps you should ask yourself why you are even here in the forums? For my money, these are the smartest, kindness forums I've ever run across, and it's why I made my home here. I tried about 10 forums in the last 5 years, all full of idiots and a**holes who have nothing to contribute.

I hope you're not one of those who migrated over here to bother us. (Not saying you are, just hoping you're not, which is a totally different meaning, so please remain calm)....

Actually everything you suggest to do with water has been possible for a few years now and I am surprised no one has added it into a game yet. It is all possible due to DX10 and procedural rendering. Here is a http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tDK2hfxiw0to a demo of what I mean and how it would be so very easy to do.

Considering how much of a huge feature this would be, wouldn't it have been hyped up to the sky already?

No no... actually I was being sincere, really! Not mocking you at all. I meant certain OTHER people... as in the majority of people creating threads, but not you. And yes... this is largely irrelevant to your topic, so I'll try not to detract from it anymore.

No problem

And for anyone that hasn't looked yet watch the part with the dragon hitting the ground. Watch the ground in front of him, if you can go frame by frame. Even if it is a temporary effect it's still very cool.

I'm fairly certain there is dynamic snow in the game so possibly it is snow clearing to reveal the ground below giving that effect. Saying that it does look 3D so maybe a combo of things happening.

That's a darn good point, sir, hahaha !

Of course, maybe they're just saving it up for their "October Surprise" ???? (That's a Military Industrial Complex joke, if you don't get it, be happy for that ... very very happy....)

Broken trees were also in Oblivion, so that is not evidence for anything in SR. That just leaves the Dragon, sorry that is very weak evidence at best.

That's why I made this thread a place to put all the evidence as time goes by, not just based on what I found. I already know that the evidence is weak, or else I wouldn't have made this thread at all. Because otherwise we would already KNOW it has deformability. Thus, while trying to somehow prove me wrong or deflate me, you just helped prove the need for this thread even more.

THANKS! You're a real hero, man.

I would cry with joy if we could destroy some terrain or use it to our advatage somehow. I've always been a major fan of this since Red Faction.

Well I believe that you are able to destroy towns sources of income e'g windmills , mines etc so this would fit in with that.

So how would that work in villages then? Considering dragons do attack them... => Building damage when they come down?

The quote I've got says you can "sabotage" stuff - not sure if that means you can destroy the structures. Would be good if you could, though. My first thought was if the dragons could damage settlements if they attack there? That could be interesting.
My guess is that dragons may be able to cause damage to the environment, but not the PC. No evidence for it - just a guess.

Well yeah but I'd assume that to be the same as it also goes further and changes prices of equipment and supplies in said town.

Well, I for one recall Todd mentioning that as a part of 'living' environment and dynamically changing world of the game dragons may randomly show up and start terrorizing towns of cites, which includes -yes- damaging and destroying them. Looks like people there will be in dire need of a knight in a shining armor.

Wasn't there terrain deformation in Oblivion, too? With the gates?

I don't expect we'll see much more than such kind of deformation.

The most probable scenario is that it's temporary. Once you leave the cell, or after a certain time, it goes back to normal.