For a gameworld, Oblivion was massive.

However, expansive as it was, it was still a small-scale model of a realistic terrain. We know that in the TES universe Skyrim is smaller than Cyrodil, but I would be happy to find that TES V uses a larger meter stick than TES IV.

Not having played TES games before Oblivion (nor Fallout since) I'm not aware of the precedent on this issue, and of course there must be balance between world size, density, travel time, and the technical limitations of the engine and hardware.

I don't expect Skyrim to contain the full-scale realistic terrains of, say, the background mountains in Crysis (Some imported directly from Hawaii), but I think a scale 2X-4X larger than Oblivion's would be managable and desirable. With a reported 7000-step climb up the Throat of the World, I'm hoping Bethesda can deliver.

Since Morrowind the game worlds have been getting bigger so I expect the trend to continue.

I'd like it to be huge. The bigger the game world is, the better for me. I hope it's at least 2 or 3 times bigger than Oblivion's.

I disagree with the comment about Oblivions game world being "massive" its more average then anything at this point. Daggerfall is the largest open world game ever made last time I checked. Games like Just Cause 2, Test drive unlimited, WoW, and many more all dwarf Oblivion.

Onto what your saying though, yes Skyrim will be MUCH larger then Oblivion I believe. It has been proven that we can make very large game worlds and still have alot of content and detail all without a major framerate drop. I expect big things from Skyrim and its game world size. Especially after reading that you have to go up the full 7,000 steps to see the grey beards.

I certainly hope it will be much bigger than oblivion...call me greedy I was able to spend a few hundred hours on oblivion....until my 10th masterpiece character got ruined by the darn, saved my vampire in the sun, glitch. I really loved how big the world was so I do hope it gets bigger, I love exploring and love scenery. Which from what I hear is vast verity in Skyrim.

Big and huge is what I am looking forward to each game has been bigger than before so why not Skyrim, I hope every part of this game world transends its younger generations in terms of scope and believeability. I want a bigger world than Cyradil but I also want it more alive and I know it can be done look at the other game worlds mentioned above for instance. Now lets add the richness of TES in a huge frozen lands of the Nords and I will be happy.

Well considering technology today, the larger it gets without loading screens, the worse it looks.

Personally I believe there won't be open cities in Skyrim because Bethesda keeps ranting about how great the graphics are and that all the screenshots look fantastic.

Well its not to say they don't, but without some kind of breakthrough in the gaming industry in terms of graphics I don't see how they can have open cities coupled with the large scale open world of the game, and still have top of the line graphics.

I mean with todays technology its either one or the other. But I certainly hope I AM wrong and its both.........

I wouldent say Just Cause 2 looks bad. In fact its a beautiful game thats multiplatform and has a game world that is absolutly huge. Here look at this pic it has Oblivion on it as well.
http://i.imgur.com/uBWCz.jpg

that compares some of the biggest worlds in gaming Just Cause 2 is big enough for me. Its 400 square miles after all lol.

With todays technology I feel and think there is still alot of untapped power we have yet to uncover I wont be suprised if and when we are leveled by Skyrims awesomeness. :bowdown:

I dunno. Didn't some mods manage to make open cities in Oblivion? And that was on the horrible engine they had at the time. They could probably do it. There's supposed to be a city built into the side of a cliff. That'd be pretty hard to do enclosed.

Anyway, I am hoping it to be 1 1/2 to 2 x the size of Cyrodill. I mean ideally it'd actually be bigger, but I'm thinking in terms of city and town size and hwo that could realistically be employed. Despite being not all that huge, Cyrodill still felt empty, because the towns were so few and small. There's a limit to how big they can make these, but I want the map to be small enough so that it makes Cyrodill look small, but still have a more "filled" environment. Luckily, looking at the map so far, this seems to be the case, at least in terms of having sizeable and frequent cities.

Great comparison





......I LOVE DAGGERFALL

I want huge cities that are alive in a massive world also. I world multiplied by 2X Cyrodiil or more than that would be great for me and it needs to be filled and populated with a nice impactful and engrossing environment.

So your hoping for a world around the size of Far Cry 2 then? Im wanting one around Just Cause 2 size. I do agree though, all that extra space means nothing if there is nothing filling it and making it feel real. Far Cry 2 dident have the most people ever but the world in its self was rather real. The sound design really helped as well as the realistic animations(swimming especialy) Also the dynamic fire was amazing. Just cause 2 looks even better and just has alot going on in it. Over a hundred different vehicals. Full underwater. Mountains that are to scale(yes im serious) Plus if you flew up as high as you could and jumped out you would fall for a few mins in free fall which is amazing. Theres alot that can be done and alot of people dont give much credit out and seam to think so small because of it. Theres alot that can be achieved and I hope Skyrim goes beyond my hopes.

I'd like it to at least be Just Cause 2's size. They can spread out the locations farther apart so it's not like they'll have to add so many more.

I just want BIG I am not partial to any one game interms of size, and yes size means nothing if there is no realistic ways to interact with game world, Every inch should be loaded with crazy improvisions and improvments on the series as a whole. I've never played Just Cause 2 or Far Cry 2 as I am stuck to certain RPG's ahem Oblivion and Fallout NV and Dragon Age and a few others right now. I am just saying I want a dynamic changing world that is enthrawled with life breathed from Bethesda into my favorite game series of all time, I want a world bigger than any current single player game loaded with original content we can have a blast in, I also am hoping Skyrim blows us all away in terms to its hopefully grand and mezmerizing storys and world already being established.

On the map, each one of those colored blocks is a city.

I agree with you, Im just using other games as an easy way to get the idea of the size im talking about. If you ever get a chance look up some vids of Just Cause 2 and Far Cry 2. Both are amazing games that I love playing. Just cause 2 also had alot of diversity in its enviroments. It had a whole section larger then all of Oblivion that was deasert and another that was snowy mountains and also jungle. Hell the main city in the game is around the size of oblivion.

Heres two examples for Just Cause 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DVRo4n2lcY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i8aN7OG2Os

Oh yeah I understand, I have seen videos on them and they do look really good I do plan to play them after my RPG marathon has concluded. I just need to buy them first, and yeah I get your trying to save a mouthful. I hope they fulfill our ultimate wishs.

Yeah, for you and everyone els I posted 2 videos in my last post that show off just cause 2 pretty well. the second vid is in the mountains and if Skyrim looks close to that I would be happy.

Impessive I just hope it is amazingly huge and awesome.

We can hope. With what I have seen made possible in other games I can hope that BGS really tried to go that extra mile with Skyrim. If they have I believe I will be stuck on it for a LONG time.

I will be reguardless and in terms of the technology I feel it will still be a very long while yet before we reach the end of its untapped power so here is to Skrim, hail Skyrim!!! :foodndrink:

wow.............lord of the rings online is HUGE compared to WoW. it also looks like the only used one map from far cry2 it had a second map that was roughly the same size.

You all realize in Just Cause 2 you had helcopters, jets, and fast cars able to get you from one part of the island to another at over 100 mph right?

In Skyrim you'll either be running about 7 miles per hour, or riding a horse about 15.

I'm hoping it's a bit bigger than oblivion's, but not significantly bigger. I'd rather it be more detailed and beautiful.

As I stated in my original post, I would be happy with a scale increase of 2X-4X. Assuming its at least 4X the scale, and assuming that Skyrim is 60 percent the size of Cyrodil, that's about 50X the total volume of the Oblivion map. To maintain the same density of art assets, etc, that's a lot of work.