My take - which is also my hope- is that happens when you're sprinting and stop abruptly. Inertia/momentum.

You're probably right that the animations have been tweaked. Mainly for cinematic effect. I mean obviously it wasn't all straight gameplay, with all those crazy angles etc.. But I'm guessing the graphics themselves are the same as what's in game.

Has anything been said about jumping? I know there's no acrobat skill anymore, but I hope jumping is just tied to stamina now.

If it does not end up in-game it will make this trailer appear to be misleading IMO.

Considering the fuss that was made about every shot being "in-game," I imagine they went through a process to vet out any features, locations or elements that they were still experimenting with that might not end up in the final release version.

Yeah logically it's probably connected to stamina...
There could be a perk, but then what skill would it be tied to? No clue about that one.

Only thing I know is that I want stamina to be tied more to jumping and running in general now. If my stamina is zero I don't want to be able to jump as high or run as fast as when it's full.

*One thing for everyone to keep in mind. Yes, besides the wall, everything is done in-game. However, just because they are rendering a lot of the trailer in game doesn't mean that all those features will actually be playable.*

Those features will probably be in, but clearly that part of the trailer was modified and exaggerated greatly for the effect.

Players will probably be able to see their hands. Perhaps havok behavior will have an animation if someone is going to close to a cliff, or it's just for the effect in the trailer.

The dragon fight was clearly scripted with it performing a variety of attacks. We can't accurately say what dragon fighting will look like until we actually see a demo.

See the official trailer.

He has, and he thinks that it's scripted. I think that it has scripted part, too.

/shrug I didn't see anything so outrageous that made me think it was scripted. I'll take Todd's word on it all being in game.

Everything the dragon does should be in the game I think. But yea, the fight was edited quite a bit. I'm sure it will take several minutes to slay one. I can't wait for my first dragon battle.

About the dragon fights:

Question: "As for Skyrim, can players expect to have similar encounters and battles with dragons to the face off played throughout the trailer? Will the dragons' behavior be the same?"

Answer: "Dragons do all of the things you see in the trailer: bite, breathe, crawl, crash land. And their actions are not scripted, so you never know when one might attack you, or what they're going to do when you fight them. I can't wait to see what modders do with them."

Source: http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Articles.Detail&id=89

Well, the short time can be explained easily: the PC was overpowered and the dragon weakened. In addition, I would say they cut parts of the fight. I'm sure the dragon will be able to behave as in the trailer. What I think is that they scripted the fight to show only extremely awesome moment (I think battles against dragons will be veeery cool, but not as PURE AWESOMENESS as in the trailer).

personnally i dont know anything, all i have is my opinions for this awesome trailer. I believe its all in game footage that was made using the game character as the actor and scripting the events, as in a movie script. the animation (for lack of a better word) sequence where the character is catching his balance at the cliff looks to me as an animation (for lack of a better word) that will be used when going from running forward with the joystick to immediately changing directions and running backward or backpedaling. joystick forward while running toward cliff then pull joystick back real quick for backwards movement then right up to a immediate stop postion. I believe this is what the creator did to come up with that cliff animation sequence. I do hope to see many fluid type movements like that especially during combat.

we will all find out what all this is on 11-11-11 cause there will be many people who will want to try to duplicate it i would think.

The question i really have is how many times did the creator of this trailer run to the cliff to get this animation sequence right? LOL

Anyone else think that a Rogue character will be the best way to slay a dragon? Mixed with dragon shouts of course.

I would say that mage with two spells, shooting insanely at the dragon, would be the best way. Though I will try with a Nord warrior. You know, sword and shield, as in fairytales.

Nice post Luke. The force is indeed with you.

Hopefully the dragon battles don't get repetitive with the dragons constantly strafing you in the air.

A good rule of thumb is to always assume that footage in a trailer is from a scripted event.

If it is, then you won't be disappointed.

If it isn't, then you will be amazed.

the more i see those dragons the more im thinking the best way to slay one of them is to let one of them giants do it while im hiding under a rock. then pick off whats left of the winner. :bolt:

Read http://bethblog.com/index.php/2011/04/20/the-bethesda-game-studios-interviews-rick-vicens/#more-13468 interview. Why do you think would they need two animators for a trailer if everything was exactly how it happened in game? The trailer shows in-game graphics, no doubt about that. But many of the animations are set up specifically for the trailer so it looks cool. So no, not all of this is exactly how it happens in the game. Not a problem though, it's just a trailer after all.

In game = / = gameplay and I think that's what the OP is getting at

Most of the dragon fight looks scripted, if not all of it. The other parts of it however, are actual gameplay and you can tell the difference between them and the dragon fight.

Bosh.

OF COURSE the dragons' actions are scripted. The dragons in the game are not real, living, breathing, thinking entities, nor are they managed by some sort of science fiction AI - they're computer generated representations, done under the limitations of modern technology. Their actions - the range of things they might do - might well be scripted with so much complexity that they appear, to the player, to be unpredictable, but they are. still. scripted.

It's misleading claims like this that discourage me most about this game. It's like watching a car commercial that says it gets 8000 miles to the gallon.

You best believe they are.

The dragon fighting has been confirmed to be pretty much like that. The dragons are completely reactive to any touch/damage. Almost all NPC's are, take for instance the part where the character in the Trailer smashes a Draugr's face in with an axe, that's completely in-game action.

I'm getting the thought that a sword and board, as seen in the trailer, would be the best thing to take on a dragon. Unless, of course, that dragon can grab your shield and throw you. The defense and blade swipes, if timed well, are likely the best way to take down a dragon, depending on how fast they can get into your face, if they're slow on ground a couple spells may be faster, but seeing as there are going to be runic-traps that can be placed, presumably frost, you could also slow down a dragon still making it effective for magic users.... I don't see how a rogue, though, out of them all, could get into range without taking a vicious battering. But that's just me.