Dutch cover story: Interesting Info : V - Skyrim

» Tue May 10, 2011 4:05 am

What's this about spells having secondary effects?

From what I got from this, it sounds like they've made elemental magic more realistic. So instead of fire just burning the enemy you shot it at, it will now start parts of the environment on fire. Possibly jumping between enemies? I don't think spells will necessarily have a "secondary" effect, they'll just be handled more realistically. But I don't think the effects will combine realistically. Just stack.

Oh, and not too happy about this "low fantasy" news. I didn't have a problem with Oblivion, exactly, but making the game less out-there is a step in the wrong direction, IMO.

» Tue May 10, 2011 5:41 am

So, the "combining spells" thing was a misperception? I'm guessing it just means spells are like any other weapon -- you can dual wield them or wield one with both hands, presumably for more effect in the latter case.

Of course, maybe all it means is that there is no special logic for hybrid spell effects -- that, if you shoot fire out of one fist and frost out of the other at the same time, all that happens is that the enemy gets hit with frost and fire damage separately, instead of steam or something.

» Tue May 10, 2011 1:23 am

I do not wish for Morrowind 2 as well,but I wished for ELDER SCROLLS 4. Not really Oblivion.

What I ment was, while I actually wanted something as close to Morrowind as possible, I knew that would never happen, so what I expect Skyrim to be is Oblivion with better gameplay.

On the topic of magic, perhaps I have missed it in all the chaos, but as I understand it all magic spells have a default secondary effect, right? Fire has a damage over time effect, frost a slowing effect...what about the rest?

» Tue May 10, 2011 5:15 am

From the interview with Todd Howard, in the same article:

"There are special animations for sneak kills with daggers." (The way it is written in Dutch does not imply that there are no special animations for other weapons btw...)

"We primarily look at how we can improve facial expressions and animations, graphics-wise."

"The game won't support Kinect. It takes too much memory."

"It is not yet possible to combine forms of magic. It is difficult. Frost magic makes an enemy move slower, and fire does damage over time, and the fire remains on the ground for additional damage. If we would allow the player to use fire magic in one hand, and frost magic in the other, it becomes much more complex. Maybe we will implement this though, but for the time being, 'No'."

I Dont really understand that last paragraph about magic, does this mean we cant combine a frost spell with a fire one or does it mean we cant have one spell in each hand firing independently?

» Tue May 10, 2011 6:22 am

You're disappointed that the main quest is a little longer than Oblivion's? You wanted a shorter main quest?

Oblivion isn't the only ES game, ya'know.

» Tue May 10, 2011 2:06 am

Man what's with all the hating?? I think everything that's been said is awesome.

» Mon May 09, 2011 10:12 pm

Just before the "approximately 20 hours for the Main Quest," the article states that players can spend "hundreds of hours" with other quests.

Other info:

"Every dragon you kill will make you stronger. A piece of his soul will be transferred to yours."

» Tue May 10, 2011 8:43 am

"Every dragon you kill will make you stronger. A piece of his soul will be transferred to yours."

So if they're not rare that means I'll be at full power within a few hours?

Sounds good!

» Tue May 10, 2011 6:03 am

If you go rushing through the main quest, sure it's going to be 20 hours. But you will most likely do side quests and explore the world, which will bring it up to 100 hours or more.

» Tue May 10, 2011 4:16 am

So, the "combining spells" thing was a misperception? I'm guessing it just means spells are like any other weapon -- you can dual wield them or wield one with both hands, presumably for more effect in the latter case.

Of course, maybe all it means is that there is no special logic for hybrid spell effects -- that, if you shoot fire out of one fist and frost out of the other at the same time, all that happens is that the enemy gets hit with frost and fire damage separately, instead of steam or something.

If you've got an ice spell on one hand and a fire spell on the other, it simply means that you can't cast them both simultaneously. You can still cast one right after the other, but you can't combine them as you would two fireball spells for a stronger effect.

» Tue May 10, 2011 9:04 am

You are aware that the main quests in Morrowind and Oblivion were no longer than that?

This. And why are people stuck on this "high" and "low" fantasy stuff?

» Tue May 10, 2011 1:14 am

"Dungeons will be locked at their level once you have been there."

What do they mean with this?

Like when you cleared a dungeon out it will be locked?

Or when you reached a higher level it will be locked?

» Tue May 10, 2011 3:08 am

Huge,and random generated.

It still means that Oblivion by no means can be called "gigantic" by TES standards. It was decently sized, but not huge. (And bigger than Morrowind - meaning increased size wasn't an unrealistic expectation for Skyrim)

» Mon May 09, 2011 7:28 pm

I have read many of your posts about the size of Skyrim and about the number of dungeons.

I am quite disappointed that Skyrim will be about the size of Cyrodiil. Here's why, and I have stated this in another topic of mine. How are they going to put all the different types of terrain (forest, mountain, snow, ice, canyon, and what looks to be a marshy area) and make Skyrim feel big? Each of these different terrains are going to have to be small if Skyrim is the same size, therefore reducing the feel of the size of the world. Each of these areas are going to have to be small, swiftly transitioning into another type of terrain.

One thing that soothes me is that there are less dungeons than in Oblivion. This will, as others have stated, spread out these location. Also, 130 dungeons makes it ever so likely they will be more unique than Oblivion's 200+ dungeons. And of course, I'm pretty happy with the other pieces of info.

I would rather have more dungeons(though someone mention it said there are other places to explore) than less. But really it does not matter to me, as mods will add plenty of dungeons.

» Tue May 10, 2011 12:41 am

ty god magic HAS effects other than damage this time.

hmmm, nothing about spears and xbows yet!

hmmmm spell combining was an idea I was not very excited about glad they are rethinking it, maybe only allow same type spells to combine (fire/fire make biggger fire

), anyway the game being as big as OB is also a no biggy with mountains the land scape will seem much larger.

» Mon May 09, 2011 11:29 pm

About reading in 3D: My guess is that we don't 'open up' the book, and read it, but that we explore the 3D image of the book in the inventory screen, and can turn the page with a special button.

Just to be clear... no glasses required

You'll simply have a more 3D look at the book where the pages turn... rather than it just being a flat image.