» Sun Mar 03, 2013 11:26 am Keep in mind I play Skyrim on Xbox, and have no access to mods, which I'm sure there are a few that cover some of these.
While I don't really expect it, I'm hoping someone from Bethesda will see this and possibly include some of these ideas in the future or be inspired with better ideas of their own.
It's a long post. Sorry about that.
1. The ability to disable specific parts of the HUD.
I, for one, love playing first person games without anything on the screen I wouldn't see in real life. Especially the compass. Finding your way around the world only by landmarks might take a while to get your bearings if you don't already know the map (like when I first got to solstheim) but it makes me feel extremely satisfied to be able to figure out where I am on my own. And this can be achieved (obviously) by making the HUD transparent. The problem, though, arrives during a fight when you can't see your health bar. Sure, your heart beat gets loud when you are nearing death, but if you're fighting a strong enemy sometimes you just don't even get a chance to heal. Being able to see your health bar is almost a necessity since I can't actually look down at my body or feel blood running down my chest. So I would love the option of having one but not the other. I don't think it would be a difficult feature to implement.
2. Everything has sound.
How great would it be if you heard branches sweeping across you as you passed right next to a tree. Or heard your armor as your arms swung past your body. This one might be overkill and complicated/unnecessary, but it could be a cool feature if done well.
And for that matter...
3. Seemless audio transition.
It seems like every area has its own background audio. Forests have a different atmosphere than swamps. Sometimes the sound has "switched" abruptly as I cross the "barrier" into a new area. One example (in my game at least) is near the lighthouse North of Solitude. It has an oceany sound going on. But just about when I get on the main road heading to Solitude, all sound immediately disappears as the new foresty atmosphere slowly starts to play. That might be one of the only places that happens, and maybe it's just a glitch in my game. I can't say for sure. But it is the teensiest bit strange.
4. The ability to give people gifts without having to reverse pickpocket them.
This one is self explanatory. Someone did something nice for me, so I wanted to thank them by giving them a nice necklace. So I reverse pickpocketed them the necklace, and as a result I got a bounty and was arrested. One of my self imposed rules of role-playing is living with the consequences, so off I went to jail for a day or two. What kind of deal is that?! It would be nice to have a system set up for this situation. As a bonus it would be cool if people would react by saying thank you or whatever.
5. More stores in more towns.
There's only one tailor in all of Skyrim? And it's run by the rudest **** ***** ***** i've ever met!
Oblivion was great at this. Skyrim, not so.
Also...
6. NPC's use stores too.
It's kinda weird that I'm the only one buying anything ever, no matter where I go. It's like the whole world revolves around me, which I know is the way the game works. But for realistic purposes, I would like at least the illusion of people getting their groceries for the day, or mercenaries/hunters travelling into town to resupply their weapons or sell their spoils.
7. More realistic lighting.
As part of my immersive experience I lowered the brightness of my game to make nighttime and caves darker (as they would be in real life... probably almost pitch black, except for fire light.) As a result, daytime outside is pretty dark, and shadows cast by trees/people/buildings/anything are so dark you can hardly see any detail. I swear it was almost that bad even when the brightness was at default level, only then the caves were way too bright. I'm not saying I want to play a horror game where you can only see the five foot span lightened by your torch, but that is closer to the truth.
This next one is related...
8. The ability to craft torches.
Since my caves are too dark to see well, I always carry a torch with me. Or try to, but it seems like every time mine burns out and I'd go to find another, torches were nowhere to be found. If there are none on the walls of the particular cave you're in, you have to leave and go murder someone to get their torch, or by chance find one in a chest, which in my experience is rare. I know you can unequip and re-equip a torch to "restart" it, but that's the opposite of immersion.
And...
9. The ability to put out any lights.
For sneaky characters. If you're in a cave and there are some bandits up ahead, why can't you reach up and extinguish that lantern so they can't see you? That is exactly what I would do if I were really there.
10. Ability to carry a bed roll, make a campfire to cook with.
When you're on a long mission, away from your house or any inns for days, you cannot sleep. You can wait, but you aren't well rested. And you won't eat unless you brought food along or kill a deer or rabbit and eat it raw, which wouldn't be necessary if you could build a fire to cook it over.
11. Ability to maneuver things you're holding.
If you're walking around your house, god forbid you accidently knock a cup off the table. Without patience and a few extra minutes, when you put that cup back on the table it will stay sideways or upside down because unless you "swing" it up, around, and down, you can't control if the bottom will land first. For me, that irregular cup is all I notice when I go in my house (cause that's how I am). I find myself taking that cup or bowl and dropping it on the other side of town so I don't have to look at it anymore, only to have some little snot-nose bring it back to me. "I think you dropped this."
*fireball to the face*
12. Seasons, and holidays have an in-game effect.
I saw a Bethesda video of Skyrim with seasons done for a personal project thing (i guess). Why was that not implemented? I can see what month I'm in on the game calendar, but I don't know when in the year that is. I have to assume Last Seed is late summer/fall, but every day in the game is literally the exact same no matter what month it is. I've played well over a year in-game time, but you wouldn't know it unless you checked the Days Passed stat.
And I've read in the Elder Scrolls lore about all the holidays a year has, and festivals that different races hold, but they are non existent to me. It would be great if a shop had sales going on through certain days because of some holiday. Or if I came across a band of argonians having a party and drinking blood-wine because of a holiday in their country.
13. AI has to get better.
Though Skyrim and Bethesda's other rpg's are some of my top favorite games ever, they are way behind (i'd like to say) most games when it comes to AI. NPC's are stale and lifeless and they just distract me from an otherwise almost flawless game world. When they're talking to me they sound so dramatic, like it's a play or something. Not realistic at all. And for god's sake, they have GOT TO STOP SHOUTING THE SAME **** AT ME EVERY TIME I PASS BY!!! It's amazingly annoying and it's ridiculous. It may be unfair to compare different game developers, but take Rockstar for example. These days, their AI is simply amazing. Bethesda could learn a few things from them. Even the Fable series; their AI shouted out stuff as the player character passed, but at least it wasn't the same two lines every single time. And they didn't just stand there in the town square (not as bad as Bethesda's games anyway) like zombies. The place felt alive. I'm sure it's difficult programming realistic NPC's, but it's one of the biggest issues that TES/Fallout have: Their AI is just so far behind what is good today.
14. Full speed arrows.
Or at least quicker than what they are now.
15. Cool unarmed combat.
If there was still an unarmed skill, what if you could specialize in a sort of martial arts style. Right now all you can do is punch. I remember in Oblivion when you chose your class you could choose a fighting monk, which specialized in unarmed and a few others. The picture looked cool for that class if I remember correctly, the monk squatted down in a fighting stance. But again, all you can do is punch. There could be different styles, like there are weapons. Or just one style but beef it up a bit.
16. People give you actual directions to objectives.
Right now when an NPC gives you a quest they will tell you the dungeon is West of Whiterun, or in Eastmarch hold, or they won't give any indication at all, just a map marker. For me, role-playing involves using a physical map, and I try to look at the drop down view of the world as little as possible (and if you remember, no compass). But I'm forced to use it because otherwise I would have to search the entire country until I found the right place. It would be nice if the people told me "its West of Whiterun, between Rorikstead and Bleakwind Bluff."
17. Unique situations arise throughout the game, not just upon entering a city for the first time.
Every city has something that happens when you first go there, whether its racism or a murder. But nothing else ever happens besides sometimes townspeople will mention it in passing.
18. When in third person...
Why does my long hair disappear when I put on a helmet? It should stay visible under the helmet.
Also, when walking uphill, a characters legs will bend more to make it look like you're going uphill, but when you're on stairs, you walk like it's flat land.
Thus concludes my novel. Feel free to add on to my list if you have ideas, or to ruin my hopes and dreams by pointing out my flaws.
