Almost every tree we've seen so far is exactly the same type as the other ones! NOTE: They are not the same model, but they are exactly the same! All around Skyrim.
I hope they give us the huge trees we had in Oblivion but only in a better quality now, since it's Skyrim. But I'm actually worried that we've seen no other kind of trees, like Oak and such.

EDIT: They look great, by the way.

I count 4 different types. Look at the screens named
- Forest Hunt
- Markarth
- Ruined Fort

Some of the http://i56.tinypic.com/1zx2nwm.jpg look like crap to me... I'm just sayin'. :ermm:

You count four different types, but listed 3 examples.

Notice that they all look alike, thin and breakable. Where are the big trees? Or there won't be any? (not probable but I sure hope I worry for nothing)

Pre-Alpha shots with 'Xbox settings'. I'm sure they'll look much better when the game is finished.

In a cold, rugged place like Skyrim? In finland we don't have big trees like in canada, which btw are ridiculously large :wink_smile:

yes the majority of similar pine trees all around bothered me too!

I know.

You can see the difference between these http://i54.tinypic.com/t7zrpk.jpg http://i53.tinypic.com/1585kqp.jpg already. They're definitely polishing them now.

Trees don`t grow very tall in a cold climate. The more North (or South) the location is the shorter the days will be and the less sunlight plantlife will get. The less sunlight plantlife gets, the less it grows.

On my journey I'm not gunna stop and stare at a tree looking for flaws, I will be appreciating how the game plays

Things that are white tend to really bring out the need for anti-aliasing on consoles.eryth This is because they contrast pretty strongly against everything else, specifically dark green foliage.

Another good example of this red dead redemption which completely failed in terms of creating snow covered foliage. It would just a giant flicker fest on the console.

Luckily for me i'm on the PC, and unlike RDR, much of Skyrim takes place in snow so i'm sure they're taking precautions when it comes to the quality of these snow covered tree branches.

I was thinking about this too, but in a different way. I think there should be pine trees (except for fall forest) in Skyrim. But yeah, I would also like to see oaks and such. I live in Scandinavia and there are oaks and such here. Although still... lots of pine trees indeed.

My point about the pine trees is though:
The pine trees do look like they're pretty much the same. Pretty much everywhere. We got lots of examples of different places from the trailer and previous screenshots.
They got the same structure, except for some few exceptions. They only seem to differ in length and how the branches are pointed. There are many different kinds of pine trees. And even though a pine tree is the same... "species?", they can be made differently. They can really thin or thick or bent. Different colour and just structure in general, etc etc.

Examples in Skyrim:
http://skyrimguild.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/SkyrimTrailer2.jpg
http://skyrimguild.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/SkyrimTrailer5.jpg
http://skyrimguild.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/SkyrimTrailer1-1.jpg

http://cdnstatic.gamesas.com/akqacms/files/tes/screenshots/MountainForestPath.jpg
http://cdnstatic.gamesas.com/akqacms/files/tes/screenshots/WolvesHealMace_wLegal.jpg
http://cdnstatic.gamesas.com/akqacms/files/tes/screenshots/LakeMountains_wLegal.jpg
http://cdnstatic.gamesas.com/akqacms/files/tes/screenshots/IceWraiths_wLegal.jpg
http://cdnstatic.gamesas.com/akqacms/files/tes/screenshots/LakeWaterfall_wLegal.jpg
http://cdnstatic.gamesas.com/akqacms/files/tes/screenshots/Giant01_wLegal.jpg

http://skyrimguild.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/SkyrimTrailer6.jpg
http://skyrimguild.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/SkyrimTrailer9.jpg
http://attackofthefanboy.com/wp-content/gallery/elder-scrolls-v-trailer/elder_scrolls_v_skyrim_screenshots-1.jpg
http://dl.maximumpc.com/galleries/Skyrim/Skryim-Trailer-anolysis-4-Forest-Statue-Head.jpg
http://www.mouseandboard.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/skyrim32.jpg
http://www.mouseandboard.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/skyrim1.jpg
http://cdn.medialib.computerandvideogames.com/screens/screenshot_247666.jpg

Here's http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=8490, that replaces all the trees in Solstheim:
http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/fms/Image.php?id=96468
http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/fms/Image.php?id=101650
http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/fms/Image.php?id=96465
http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/fms/Image.php?id=103095
http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/fms/Image.php?id=103094

My final point:
See how different those trees are in the Morrowind mod? They really really change in structure and different kinds of pine trees and other trees. Also change in colour.
I wish Skyrim's pine trees would have such a variety like that. Or something similar. I feel that the pine trees look too similar in their "type". They look pretty good, but too much the same. Only thing that seems to differ a lot is the branches.
There are some other types of trees we've seen of course, like dead trees and fall forest trees. But I want more. Much more. More different kinds of pine trees and more different kinds of trees in general. I fear it's too late to complain about this now though...

So what you're effectively saying is that you can't see the wood through the trees? lol

Some of the examples you gave show a few trees with thicker trunks. That appears to vary quite a bit.

I didn't say they were exactly the same. But pretty much, the big differences is only length and how branches point. There could be heaps of more variation.

Sunlight also affects the shape of the tree. At extreme latitudes the sun isn't overhead for much of the year so trees distribute their needles/leaves along most of their height to catch sunlight from low angles, hence pine trees. You'll notice that at equatorial latitudes the sun is overhead a lot so leaf distribution is more like an umbrella. In between, the trees have some average of the two. The traditional christmas-tree type of pine is more of a flat(tish) land pine.

Living in Utah tho (one of the articles mentioned Park City, Utah as an inspiration for some of Skyrim's environment), if you go into the narrower canyons the pine trees tend to get replaced by aspens at the bottom. Quaking aspens have tall, thin trunks with thin white bark and their leaves start fairly high up, since the sunlight doesn't shine lower down on their trunks very much. The pine trees tend to be on the slopes of the canyon to catch more sunlight coming across the canyon, and yes the trees tend to get shorter as you get closer to the upper treeline.

In the broad valleys its mostly scrub except near bodies of fresh water.

+1 THIS ^

Exactly what I meant to say. Only you put it in words better than I did.

And there probably is in the 99% of the game we haven't seen.

Very good point and I agree. A lot of the screens were taken near Throat of the World.

But we've seen some pretty diverse areas so far.

Like these:
http://skyrimguild.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/SkyrimTrailer2.jpg
http://skyrimguild.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/SkyrimTrailer5.jpg
http://cdnstatic.gamesas.com/akqacms/files/tes/screenshots/LakeWaterfall_wLegal.jpg
http://cdnstatic.gamesas.com/akqacms/files/tes/screenshots/MountainForestPath.jpg
http://skyrimguild.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/SkyrimTrailer6.jpg
http://attackofthefanboy.com/wp-content/gallery/elder-scrolls-v-trailer/elder_scrolls_v_skyrim_screenshots-1.jpg
http://dl.maximumpc.com/galleries/Skyrim/Skryim-Trailer-anolysis-4-Forest-Statue-Head.jpg
http://www.mouseandboard.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/skyrim32.jpg

I'm fairly sure, but of course not 100%, that some (not all I think) of these were taken in seperate places. We can even see the ocean in this one: http://skyrimguild.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/SkyrimTrailer3.jpg
Still, I think the trees could vary more even in the places we've seen so far, despite them not showing the entire game. Kinda like this: http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/fms/Image.php?id=101650

Besides, if you're going to use the "Realism" argument then you might as well say that it doesn't make sense for Skyrim to have so many different areas within such a small world-space.
They want diversity in appearance for the game, so why not add a few unique looking trees in different places, and combine some different trees rather than the same type over and over again?

Why are you worried so much about trees ? There are so many other things that play a much bigger role in terms of immersion and credible game design, imo. Of course they could be even more realistic, with more variety, etc.. But the question is much more: Is there a need to look more realistic or varied ?

For me it's much more important that you (as the player) are immersed in the game-world at a whole ... and what I've seen and heard / read about Skyrim so far, I'm very confident, that BETHESDA will do their very best to make this possible.
For me it counts much more, how the game-world feels, than what it looks.

I think they can generate random ones and the designers can place the branches/limbs/leaves ect. anywhere and adjust the weight of each part so it flows seemlessly and can accumulate snow.
i dont think every tree will be a cookie cutter generic tree.

As of different kinds like red wood, oak, pine, cedar ect. i notice differences in fall forest as compared to the city or in the snowy mountainous region.
But who will really notice when you have a giant dragon circling above you?
i know i wont.

I really hope they have it already, just that we miraculously have missed all those views of the big variety of different kinds of trees. It doesn't have to magically switch between regions also like you said. There should be different kinds of trees for the same region as well.

If they haven't, I'm guessing it's because it took so much time to make the pretty much only kind of pine tree we've seen, that it would take too much time to make many different kinds.
These are pretty "advanced" trees (sounds weird to say that though about trees) we're talking about. They can change the branches, their length and where they point for every single tree. The branches have some nice swaying animations tied to them, etc.

Sounds weird though. I doubt it's a matter of time. They've had 5 years.


Then what's the point of this entire forum? We might as well say "Skyrim is going to be awesome. Close forums. Nothing to discuss."
But there are actually things to discuss. This is one of the many things.

Trees are a huge importance in an environmental game like Skyrim, since there are trees everywhere!

If you can't see the wood for the trees it means you've become too caught up in the little details and are overlooking what is really important.

So my awesomely funny puns aside, that is what is happening here...