Dutch cover story: Interesting Info #3 : V - Skyrim

» Tue May 17, 2011 8:31 am

im just hoping that the dutch cover pic is a screenshot. If so they lied about their engine.
[img]http://www.pu.nl/userfiles//PU1102_302x400pixels.jpg[/img]

» Tue May 17, 2011 1:11 pm

Very interesting, indeed. Thanks for sharing the info! There is really nothing here that I don't like. Forced to choose something, I selected overall size because a greater quantity of excellence is a good thing.

"All weapons have different properties, which you can take advantage of by choosing the right perks. Maces ignore a percentage of armor, and axes have bleed damage over time.
Reminds me of World of Warcraft. Adds some diversion to the process of choosing a weapon.

This looks like fun. You may have to choose the proper tools for the task at hand. So, perhaps all weapon types will be of some value.

"Low-Fantasy" (Meaning the game does not look as vibrant, vivid and weird as Morrowind did, more like Oblivion) -> "Oblivion was for sure not over-the-top in terms of its style, but Skyrim should be considered low fantasy even more than its predecessor. Much of the locations look realistic, and could easily exist in our own world."
We could have expected this. I've been in Scandinavia several times, and those countries are gorgeous, especially in the northern parts. No need for alien-like environments as in Morrowind.

I agree. This comment doesn't bother me.

"You can read in-game books in 3-D."
Amazing. I love reading books in the game, can't wait to see how this will work.

"Every item has a 3D-preview in the Flash based inventory, which you can twist, turn, rotate, etc. Sometimes you will solve puzzles by anolyzing these 3D-previews. Not only armor and weapons can be explored in great detail, also small rings and herbs can be investigated from all possible angles. Every single item in the game can be previewed in the inventory screen." "
Even more amazing. Which game featured the same kind of mechanism? World of Warcraft allowed you to "preview" your item on your character. But this is much more in-depth. Impressive.

This has loads of potential. I'm very excited about this one.

» Tue May 17, 2011 1:55 pm

(("Dungeons will be locked at their level once you have been there." (Once you go to a dungeon, it will remain lvl 5 when you entered it on lvl 5. This does not imply that all dungeons are level-scaled, it just confirms that dungeons don't change difficulties throughout your savegame after you have entered them))

I Might be the only one.But i hope its done wright.After the main quest i want to keep on dungon diving and exploring.I dont want the the world to feel like theres nothing left and theres no longer any challenges.

» Tue May 17, 2011 6:01 am

I have witnessed this high vs low fantasy. I would call JRPGs very very high fantasy, and WRPGs are definitely lower.

I agree that this is usually the case. What I disagree with is the notion that the terms have a different meaning when applied to video games versus literature. There is no precedent for a generally accepted distinction of "high fantasy = JRPG" and "low fantasy = WRPG".

On the contrary, in the vast majority of cases both JRPGs and WRPGs fall solidly into high fantasy, with the only difference being the degree.

» Tue May 17, 2011 9:49 am

im just hoping that the dutch cover pic is a screenshot. If so they lied about their engine.
[img]http://www.pu.nl/userfiles//PU1102_302x400pixels.jpg[/img]

Pretty sure it's concept art. Perhaps the background is a composite of screenshots from the game, though - actually, I think the mountains on that cover are the same as the wallpaper seen in the Sounds of Skyrim videos.

» Tue May 17, 2011 3:56 am

im just hoping that the dutch cover pic is a screenshot. If so they lied about their engine.
[img]http://www.pu.nl/userfiles//PU1102_302x400pixels.jpg[/img]

How would they have lied if it is a screenshot?

» Tue May 17, 2011 8:42 am

I have witnessed this high vs low fantasy. I would call JRPGs very very high fantasy, and WRPGs are definitely lower.

I agree for the most part, but LastDuaL is correct in that, for all the interpretations I've encountered, WRPG vs. JRPG doesn't define high vs. low fantasy. It can serve as an example of it, but there are low-fantasy JRPGs and high-fantasy WRPGs, so it's not really useful unless you're discussing specific games.

I don't see how the debate is all that relevant though; the journalist seems to've just thrown the term in there, perhaps in reference to Skyrim's overall presentation. Unless the devs have deviated drastically from established TES lore, Skyrim isn't low-fantasy by any definition I've ever heard.

Edit: And, ninja'd.

» Tue May 17, 2011 2:46 am

The cover is concept art. It looks like a photo in real size though. Heightened contrast. But its not in-game.

The logo on his shoulder armor is quite interesting. Never seen it before. Looks like an alien figure with glasses.

» Tue May 17, 2011 6:25 am

"Low fantasy" was just the journalist's opinion. Personally, I wouldn't call anything with frequent dragon appearances low fantasy. That's a total contradiction in terms.

Generally, high fantasy = stories in which mythical beasts and magic powers feature more prominently, such as Lord of the Rings.

And low fantasy = stories closer to reality, in which the magical elements are mostly underplayed, as in Conan the Barbarian.

Never before have I (or anyone else) witnessed your "JRPG vs WRPG" interpretation of high fantasy vs low fantasy. This idea of yours is far, far from standard acceptance in the gaming journalism biz.

I'm not saying you can't make up your own terms, or even that they don't make sense, but I'm sure most writers still adhere to the classic interpretations of low and high fantasy.

I witnessed Todd Howard speak of this very thing in The State of the Industry interview video in the Road to Skyrim Hub update. Starts at 3:00.

» Tue May 17, 2011 3:00 pm

If you want an idea of what high fantasy in this context is google septera core.. low fantasy think darklands

» Mon May 16, 2011 10:48 pm

I'm curious to know where you're basing this from.

The terms are thrown about frequently in the game industry with a very different meaning from their literary significance, even Todd said he disliked "high fantasy" art direction making a reference to JRPGs in the Skyrim Behind the Scenes video. (Obviously he was not using the literary meaning, as in a fantasy story that is not set on Earth.)

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/272331-high-fantasy-low-fantasy-power-fantasy.html

http://kotaku.com/5194643/high-or-low-fantasy-in-dragon-age

http://rpggeek.com/rpggenre/156/fantasy-low-fantasy

http://rpggeek.com/thread/461452/high-or-low-fantasy-a-poll-

» Tue May 17, 2011 3:09 am

Anything else interesting in the Todd Howard interview?

» Tue May 17, 2011 3:00 pm

Pretty sure it's concept art. Perhaps the background is a composite of screenshots from the game, though - actually, I think the mountains on that cover are the same as the wallpaper seen in the Sounds of Skyrim videos.

Definitely not screenshot. The background might be, as you say, but the character is in that case pasted on top of it. Judging by the level of detail and the lighting on him, I'd say the character at least is concept art. Cool nonetheless.

» Tue May 17, 2011 1:02 pm

I am very excited about the whole game(including common dragons), with the exceptions of how the game starts and the level scaling.

Oh well, there will be a mod for that. The whole of Skyrim(game) doesn't really sound very roleplay friendly anyways.

» Tue May 17, 2011 12:52 am

Anything else interesting in the Todd Howard interview?

That they are fine-tuning pop-up issues, and that they want all versions to look alike. It's a really small interview, there's not much more there.

» Tue May 17, 2011 7:10 am

That they are fine-tuning pop-up issues, and that they want all versions to look alike. It's a really small interview, there's not much more there.

What? I guess he means when the PC is set to the same settings as consoles -- not that it won't look better on high-end computers.

» Tue May 17, 2011 2:14 am

I witnessed Todd Howard speak of this very thing in The State of the Industry interview video in the Road to Skyrim Hub update. Starts at 3:00.

I've seen the interview. Todd expresseswhat we've already established - that JRPGs are typically more over-the-top in their fantasy depictions. He never states that WRPGs are "low fantasy". In fact, he never uses the terms for either "low" or "high" fantasy, and even if he had, it wouldn't redifine those terms.

» Tue May 17, 2011 2:43 pm

Mostly happy with the info.
I didn't like the info of fast travel and that dragons are not rare.
I think the low fantasy setting was expected.

» Tue May 17, 2011 2:56 pm

Most of this info blew my mind.

But.....

Spells combos may not be possible.

I'm not sure if this hampers dual wielding spells or making spells. Because I loved making spells.

Dragons are not rare. Better be fricking lesser dragons. They still better be difficult to kill and epic. Might take away that aweness though.

Fast Travel......there better be a toggle...

To OP: I don't see how the

Spoiler

prisoner execution start

is interfering with our backgrounds. It was more or less the same with Oblivion and blank enough to deal with.

......Axes do bleeding over time :evil:

» Tue May 17, 2011 2:51 pm

Well a lot of the information that was revealed in this story was already known but there are a few things that are new or confirmed speculation that was given. I'm not sure if I believe that you can't combine spells, because GI said the opposite. I liked know the length of the Main quest the most though. I also find that low-fantasy fits TES more than mid-high fantasy.

» Tue May 17, 2011 1:27 am

That they are fine-tuning pop-up issues, and that they want all versions to look alike. It's a really small interview, there's not much more there.

That is pretty important to put in the OP. It will finally end all of these console versus PC threads. For some reason a lot of the PC people thought they were going to get a better looking game, when the past three games (Oblivion, FO3, and NV) didn't look any different on the PC.

» Tue May 17, 2011 3:23 am

After looking at this http://www.pu.nl/upload/banner/pu1102_800x700pix_rgb.jpg- higher resolution - I can safely say that it can't possibly be a screenshot.... as you all probably knew. You can see his individual teeth and the hairs of the fur on his gauntlet.

No surprise there -- but that armor has appeared in several concept art pictures. That probably means it's gonna appear in-game -- I really like it, so think that's good.

» Tue May 17, 2011 7:38 am

Can someone explain to me why fast travel is frowned upon so much? No one is forcing you to use it, so why is that a problem?

» Tue May 17, 2011 9:30 am

Added:

"We are working at pop-up issues, and we want to make sure that the graphics of the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 are alike. All three will look just as good, aside from the higher resolution and the anti-aliasing of the PC of course."

» Tue May 17, 2011 12:38 pm

I've seen the interview. Todd expresseswhat we've already established - that JRPGs are typically more over-the-top in their fantasy depictions. He never states that WRPGs are "low fantasy". In fact, he never uses the terms for either "low" or "high" fantasy, and even if he had, it wouldn't redifine those terms.

Check this video - #3 on this page http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/01/13/road-to-skyrim-the-todd-howard-interview.aspx

around the 3-min mark Todd discusses the differences between WRPGs and JRPGs and around the 4min mark he describes the JRPG's as "really high fantasy"