I recall that in "The Making of Fallout 3" video in the collectors edition, Todd Howard was lamenting about how one of the silly little things he felt they never got right were the Ladders (climbing up/down, using them). It was a fun moment in the video, and it got me thinking about vertical movement in Skyrim.

I wonder if the Ladders will work differently in this game? Will my assassin actually scale the ladder, or appear at the top from a short-range teleport from the ground? I also wonder if they did go through the effort to make vertical climbing animations and movement work right, would they apply this to any other movement (such as climbing up a rock face or mountain)?.

What do you think? Is vertical movement a big deal? Or something that could be just as it was in Oblivion and Fallout 3 without hurting immersion?

I don't care really. I'll chuckle if they still bumped into the same issue though XD

If Todd Howard has mentioned it before, there's a solid chance it might be improved or get a revamp. Honestly, it's never affected my immersion with a game, but I can see how it might. It'd be pretty tight if stealth type characters could do a short-range teleport as mentioned. However, I feel like vertical movement is quite minor... (imo)

It would be epic if Beth failed at this, it did feel kind of stupid to always teleport up ladders in Oblivion, Bethesda, I'll rise a cup of water for you if you succeed at ladders, and getting NPCs to use them :foodndrink:

The first Fallout 3 DLC, Operation Anchorage, showcased a character Rock Climbing, such as was never before seen in their game engine. It was scripted, yes. But impressive.

The Pitt DLC features a scripted moment were a character uses a ladder and the Trogs are all around more nimble then previous charactes, able to travers the pipe network with ease.

Seeing things like that. New, never before seen actions in each DLC gave me the impression they were gearing up for TESV in a practial, tangible way. My favorite example of this is the Punga Fruit. Such a simple little thing but when you picked it, the fruit came off the vine before your eyes.


But back on topic, Todd Howard addressed that very thing again, after the F3 video but before officially announcing TESV. I can't recall if it was a Bethesda Podcast or maybe Kotaku but he said that ladders were one of those thing he had always wanted to get right but hadn't yet. The tone of his voice (wishful thinking perhaps) tells me it's a nut he's cracked and the game he is working on (now revealed as Skyrim) fixes this long running issue. As I said, they managed to get it to work in a limited fashion for the DLC and this new engine combined with Havok Behaviour and more sofisticated AI suggests that they at least took another hard stab at making it work.

We know Verticality is the name of the game... Adding climbing, even just ladders would bring it to a whole new level.

I hope they managed to do the ladder animation. It would be very nice to have ladders with no loading at last.

I hope they can make ladders work like ladders should, with fitting animations.

Far Cry 2 has good ladders.

Ladders didn't work at all in Oblivion. End of. In the CS, they were doors, you just had to make it so you appeared at the top of the ladder when you activated. A pain in the backside to be honest, just avoiding a bit of animation really.

I should be pretty easy to do as its pretty much on rail; yes you has to hit the footholds with different sized characters. Stand in front of ladder and press forward, then you hit the ladder the walk animation is changed to a slower one who goes far more up than forward. Sideway moment does not work, moving backward takes you down again.

I'd like ladders to work properly in real-time, not just as a means to enter a new cell. It'd be really cool for getting a vantage point to snipe from for an assassination quest.

Vertical movement, even if it was limited to a simple ladder climbing mechanic, would add a lot to exploration in TES, I think. But maybe I just played too much Zelda on the N64 as a kid.

Wasn't it confirmed that climbing isn't in Skyrim, though? Whouldn't that include ladders?

I think they were probably referring to rock-climbing and such when they said climbing wasn't in. I'd be disappointed if climbing ladders wasn't in.

Well, some have speculated on a seperate skill for it, while some see it as a part of Athlethics. It would be a nice alternative for Levitation (if it's in) for non-magic users.
But it's all speculation. No info, no confirmation.

Seems like they might finally get it since they're using the new animation system.

I saw an npc climbing a ladder in the Point Lookout DLC, if that's any indication of progression? It was when you go into that cave where the brain hologram was (sorry for the vague description, haven't played it in a while).
I hope it's in - what with all the mountains, I'd imagine finding old ladders leading you to new nooks and crannies would be fun.

I think the problem was NPC AI, more than animations... If I recall Todd's words from that piece someone else mentioned.

woo vertical movement, it would be good not having to clip yourself onto a roof for that perfect stealth kill.