Do you guys ever Role Play in meetings to get your points across?

SHAZAM! spellname.

After watching the "Making of" DVD that came with Oblivion (there seemed to have been a lot of frustrating moments) and after having seen Oblivion be delayed by about 4 months, I get the overall impression Oblivion didn't go as smooth as Bethesda would have hoped. Am I right in thinking that? If so, could you give us some insight? Perhaps what mistakes if any Bethesda learned from and corrected this time around?

I just watched the making of DVD, loved it but I see what you are saying as well

coke or pepsi? and what do yall think when we post our relationship concerns on the community board?

I haven't heard "The Suburbs" (or Arcade Fire really, for that matter) but definitely agreed on High Violet.

Alright:
Ryan Salvatore
World Artist
4 years (1.25 years QA, .75 years Art Intern, 2 years Artist)
I've changed desks 11 times in 4 years, so I'm actually fine with keeping my desk where it is.


I'd say it's generally good practice in any visual art to start with the overall shape and then progressively add more detail in as you go. The advantage is that if something has to change it's a lot easier to change it before you've added in all your detail. Sort of like writing an outline for an essay before you start writing. The other reason is that the clutter itself is being made at the same time the world is being built, so you don't have it all available until the tail end of the project. Also, getting everyone working in a similar way on each part helps to keep the look of the world unified even though there are a dozen or more people working on it by the end.

Shane
Quest Designer! (the exclamation mark is operative)
Just under two years (since March of aught-nine)
If I get to keep their stuff too, then Chappy because he has all sorts of cool toys.

Funeral is a good place to start. "Wake Up" was the first song I heard and still the one I think of when I think of them, but it's worth hearing the whole album build to it. I was less into The Suburbs than others were, but it takes all kinds.

Mr. Shane, umm sir, umm Daedra, umm, umm... god? I would just like to take this opportunity to tell you that my personal shrine to you and all your coworkers is nearly complete, but I can't decide if I should offer you guys souls as I do the mods, or perhaps humans. What do you think?




You never answered my question, by the way. Who is SJML, why is he/she labeled as a developer, and why is he/she in this thread?

What was your first job?
During high school, where did you see yourself going in life, or what were your goals? Did you want to go to college? Always wanted to be a game dev? Did you hope to work for Bethseda or did you land the job by chance/with no previous intent to be a game dev?
dikeies or jeans?

Would your middle name happen to start with an A?

What does a world artist do? Do you do more static imagery like concept art or do you actually decorate the world in game with the construction set?

OK...I have a serious Question:

Was the creation of the Khajiits inspired in any way by the Kzin from Larry Niven's "Known Space" Series, specifically Speaker-to-Animals from the Ringworld Novel?


Thanks

In that case, what do the people who write do when they're not writing? And as the medium develops, do you see jobs like writing, for example, becoming more specialized so that one day "video game writer" will become a common title in the industry?

I really should have seen this question coming.


Decorate the world with the editor's landscape tools and assets (models) created by other world artists and myself.

Hehe.

I'm surprised that questions are still being answered after four threads. I was worried I was too late to have a shot at asking questions. Sorry for this hefty list.

This is directed to anyone.
1 ) I've always wanted to play Elder Scrolls using motion gaming. Swing a sword around like a lunatic in my living room and blow people up with magic indiscriminately with the point of a finger. Now that motion control has come to powerful systems, what are your thoughts on the new arrivals of Kinect and the Playstation Move?
2 ) When designing a game, do you ever have a read-through of suggestion topics to see what members of the community want in a game? Has anything ever made you say "Ooh, I wish we had thought of that!"
3 ) I personally prefer playing in first person where I can pretend to be the face behind the camera, but my friend prefers to see his character in third person. He often brings that up as the one feature he wishes that Oblivion did better. Have you guys considered improving gameplay for third person?
4 ) Do you get the games you've worked on for free, or do you need to buy them like the common folk?
5 ) What are your thoughts on Pie? Better than cake?
6 ) Did you ever get to meet Liam Neeson while he recorded lines for Fallout 3? Was he awesome?
7 ) Which Elder Scrolls race is your favorite to play as? Have you guys ever had a competition to see who could create the most awesome character?
8 ) What's your favorite movie?




What realm do you play on? Horde or Alliance? Would you like to join a pretty bad guild?

Gonna try again.

Which seems to be the favored release around the office, Morrowind or Oblivion? What do y'all think about the people who favor Morrowind if you prefer Oblivion, or visa versa?

Also,

If you have a lot of interaction with fans do you get more praise, suggestions, or criticism? (I'm betting suggestions, god knows I'd make a million pitches to the janitor at your building.)



Finally, a tip. If you like tea and the slave drivers in the video game industry are making you work 32 hour days, pick up some yerba mate. The stuff is great, you never crash or get jumpy, and it suppresses your appetite instead of boosting it like tea or coffee.

How much influence do your previous games have on you current game?
I.e. do you look at features that you left out of Oblivion but were in Morrowind that everyone liked?

Do you directly communicate with beta testers? Or are you your beta testers yourself?

Are you fed up with playing your game by the time you finished it after so many hours directly looking at it?

If have a question;

Is there a specific reason all my questions up until now have been ignored, or am I just unlucky?

Life or Death question!

Keith Moon, John Bonham, or Neil Peart?

Do you have some concept art or screenshots? Which of course, are unrelated to TES: Skyrim completely.

Few questions for thee Dev's:

- Do any of you come from the great continent of Europe? And, if yes, did you move all the way from there just for the job?

- Is it easier to work with this new engine, rather than the old one? and whats the bestest feauture of this new engine?

- Do the new crossbows kick ass?

For the programmers - whats the worst piece of legacy code (any project) you have had to work with ?
(mine was a 30 year old program with variable names such as "teehee", "hoho" and "keith" )

For testers/QA - are you happy when a game goes gold or are you always thinking there is one area you wish you could have spent another week or two testing ?


What gadget is top of your wishlist ?

Ever had a dream/nightmare took place in Tamriel ?

How long is a piece of string ?