This

I think we should look at Fallout 3 as that was the last game by these guys.

In Oblivion, I probably went in less than a dozen dungeons, other than those that you got sent to on quests. As others pointed out, most of the dungeons were repetitive and pointless.

I thought F3 had a pretty good mix of "dungeons" - there were a lot of multiple zone fairly unique places to go that didn't have anything to do with quests. Some had unique items that made them worthwhile, others, like the Capitol Building and others, were just fun.

GreyWyvern/Dragonborn1: I'm on an old mobile, so I can't quote, but that is exactly my point.


Sure, Bethesda inplemented A LOT of content into Vanilla Oblivion, but was it any good? Not really. It wasn't the amount of content, it was the fact that most of it was uninteresting. Go here, do this. Get me that... The level scaling system didnt't help either. I scoured just about every dungen at low levels looking for that insane loot and found nothing. I'm not saying Oblivion was bad, but comparing to other games in the series and other franchises altogether, Oblivion felt extremely flat. They also waited too long to include interesting DLC.
Bethesda has taken into account our ideas and is developing a game, that I feel will cater to both the casual gamer and the hardcoe RPG fans. Just wait. We will see come 11/11/11.

I'm hoping that the 130 'dungeons' includes a significant number of 'above ground' locations such as forts, castles, ruined buildings etc.

It always struck me as odd that Cyrodiil had huge numbers of elaborate underground complexes of tunnels, passages, caves etc - but that very little was visible or could be explored that was above the surface.

Didn't really make sense

They said they're all unique, so it seems they're going quality over quantity this time around.

130 dungeons with intricate design and lots of levels and layers, most of which can be used in the dynamic quests, that's a lot.

How many were there in Oblivion? None of them were memorable anyway. Not like Fallout 3...Dunwich Building, anyone?

Also, 130 is still a [censored]load on its own.

I hope those 130 dungeons are bigger and more unique

Funny, according to the article on the Elder Scrolls website they also had a crew of around 8 or so.

"When I joined Bethesda I became the sixth member of a growing dungeon team - the portion of the Oblivion dev team that basically does nothing but design, build, test, and tweak dungeons. We've since added two more dungeoneers to our ranks and as a group, we have now hand-crafted more than 200 subterranean locales to explore and pillage while playing Oblivion"

Edited for the quote.

Camps, settlements, inns, stables, shrines, and cities don't count as dungeons you idiot -_- plus, 215 dungeons grouped into 5 catagories ain't as good as 130 unique ones.

So what's all this talk about one dungeon designer for Oblivion?

sorry but inns and cities aren't dungeons, yes, id rather have one amazing and interesting dungeon, who makes me go even further into it expecting somenthing amazing, then 10 boring caves, that i already know how it ends, and that im rather avoid... yea... DAMN YOU GUYS SKYRIM IS GOING TO ROCK, STOP NEGATIVE ESPECULATION!@#%

I feel that 130 dungeons is a large number. Also, it's better to have a smaller amount of more interesting dungeons than lots of dungeons that look and feel exactly the same. Maybe the dungeons will also be larger than Oblivions...

It does not include camps or settlements as they are not dungeons, a hostile city or fortress might qualify as a dungeon as you explore and fight.
A camp or small house does not qualify anyway. Neither does a peaceful mine you just use for mining, they would probably be smaller to, yes if you has to clear it out first it's a dungeon

130 is fine as long as they are hopefully a bit larger than Oblivion.
You had to work hard to explore 130 dungeons in Oblivion.

My only concern is enough high level dungeons. say dungeon level 1-10, 10-20 up to 40-50. With an even distribution it leave 26 high level dungeons from level 40 this will be to small at least without respawning.

Ideally dungeons away from settlements should have a reset function, if cleared out they would not only respawn but might also get higher level enemies on respawn, should work well is respawn time is 10-14 days. Not for dungeons close to settlements or main roads because of npc.

Can someone link me to where Todd said there is 130 dungeons please?

pretty sure it was in the pod cast where he asked a bunch of questions from game informer.



^ yes!

130 doesn't sound like a lot to me, considering we're going from "the endless game" to "the replayed game". Even at my second replay on FONV, I knew pretty much where every goodie was located - pretty bad for replayability where you'd think your new character should have no previous knowledge. But I also agree that Oblivion felt way to cramped. Elevations and reduced numbers will fix some of this in Skyrim, I'm sure. Also the puzzle aspect will increase their charm, although I'm pretty sure I'm going to hate some of them

So how do you increase replayability of the game with such "few" dungeons? What I have in mind - randomizing:
* Not a fixed world, but a randomized one. There might be 2000 dungeon entrances in the game, but only 130 of them will be "active" for a game. For those "hidden" entrances, not for things that have an actual structure. Or the door at the structure might be covered up and unaccessible, who knows.
* Lots and lots of item placement locations, but only a few of them will be "active" for a game. Doesn't have to be in a dungeon either. No more picking up a powerful artifact where you found it during your last playthrough. Let *all* games be an adventure, not just the first one.
* Hidden and unaccessible areas in dungeons. Why allow us to see *all* content during a single walkthrough (as the game seem oriented towards replays, ref perks)? Mapper has to be updated though Maybe during pre-exploration a stone blocks a passage that is revealed when you have to do it through a quest?
* Remove the "internet cheat", except maybe from the main quest (at least "how" to solve it should be possible to learn).

I think it's a good thing. They will most likely be far more unique and enjoyable than Oblivion's copy-and-paste dungeons!

130 is still a pretty significant number; it will take a decent amount of time to locate and clear them all. And it's not like the entire game is about dungeon-raiding too, that's just one aspect. So for now at least, I'm content with that number.

See how Oblivion's dungeons were made:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWvbVhfWnK0&feature=player_detailpage#t=356s

Oblivion Dungeon guys.

Lead Dungeon Artist Istvan Pely

Dungeon Art Todd Broadwater, Tim Lindsey, Frank Ward, Michael E. Ryan, Robert Wisnewski

Additional Dungeon Art Jeff Browne, Joel Burgess


Doesn't look like one guy to me.

What? Also, I do not like randomized dungeons or game worlds at all. Handcrafted and unique for me please.

From what I understand,in Oblivion there was one person that created the "lego" like pieces that later the 5 or 7 people used to assemble multiple dungeons.
While in Skyrim there will be 8 people creating the lego like pieces,that will then use to make up dungeons.
:mellow:

Really? I think I remember 2 dungeons from Oblivion, one was elven, and one was imperial looking with gates.

Yeah I am thinking the same thing, i am also hoping the each dungeon will be unique in some way.

I like some of your ideas. Unfortunately this is a hard sell for game developers - to create content and then have users not be able to access it on a playthrough when the majority of people play the game once only.

Cities aren't settlements? Besides, most of those were solitary houses or minute towns with zero content.

130 dungeons is plenty. I never went in more than about a third of Oblivionsdungeons because they were all soboring and repetitive.