Meet the Devs #8 : V - Skyrim

» Wed Oct 13, 2010 3:11 am

What is the 1st video game that you ever played and what's your favorite non Bethesda made RPG.

» Wed Oct 13, 2010 2:18 am

Any BGS artists checking in? Interested in your workflows and tools of choice.

» Wed Oct 13, 2010 12:58 am

Does Bethesda Softworks have their own lawyers?

( The reason I ask is because I'm a law student

)

» Wed Oct 13, 2010 12:47 am

Incredibly difficult. I couldn't even tell my friends!

What Did you tell your friends?
Also, when (if?) you went to college, what did you major in?

» Tue Oct 12, 2010 6:57 pm

Here's my question: if you could have one lore question answered by the Lore Masters that work with you, what would it be?

» Wed Oct 13, 2010 1:42 am

Do you guys work in conjunction with other development studios sometime? Answering this would result in closing some debates people had previously

» Tue Oct 12, 2010 9:38 pm

What game have you said to yourself, "I wish I had worked on that game"?

Oh, and thanks for answering some of these questions. :foodndrink: :icecream: :cookie:

Here's hoping you make a good game for all us :celebration:

» Wed Oct 13, 2010 12:57 am

To the devs:

What is your thought process in creating NPCs and quests? Do you already have an idea/direction form someone else of what the quest is to accomplish and create the NPCs to fit? Or do you come up with quest and NPC ideas individually, and discuss with other game designers? Who makes the decisions if it is OK for the game - is there a central story lead?

Also, do you have lore gurus that know every esoteric fact to make sure you don't add anything that breaks canon?

» Wed Oct 13, 2010 4:53 am

when tes v was still a secret. how did you respond when someone told you, "what did you do at work today" or "what game are you making now"

» Tue Oct 12, 2010 6:19 pm

I have a rather interesting question...

Has any of the staff ever created an account disguised as a fan to ask for input on a certain feature in past/next generation games?

In these forums or perhaps else where?

» Tue Oct 12, 2010 7:50 pm

What happens if word gets out? Does Todd get in his scary suit and interrogate everyone? What happens if they catch you? fired I'd assume, lol.

» Tue Oct 12, 2010 6:19 pm

For the quest designers: do you have a decent amount of creative freedom when you're designing quests for any of Bethesda's games? And how accountable do you have to be to the (can't think of the best way to say this) staff who make the main decisions about what ends up getting implemented?

» Tue Oct 12, 2010 11:42 pm

Which character in the elder scrolls do you most identify with in real life? Do you ever joke about us forumers being bosmer?

» Tue Oct 12, 2010 8:50 pm

This is really question for any dev but it relates to John Carmack of ID software.

I've just gotta ask, do you know if at anytime during John's rocket building escapades has he ran into a problem and said something like this:
"[expletive or expression of anger] I can't understand why this isn't working! It's not rocket science!... Oh wait." I know if I built rocket's there is no way I would not be able to make that lame joke at least once.

» Tue Oct 12, 2010 7:37 pm

How big of an influence do the opnions on these forums have on game development?

» Tue Oct 12, 2010 9:37 pm

For the quest designers: do you have a decent amount of creative freedom when you're designing quests for any of Bethesda's games? And how accountable do you have to be to the (can't think of the best way to say this) staff who make the main decisions about what ends up getting implemented?

We have a fair amount of freedom, but are completely accountable to the leads. Most of the initial quest concepts come from the designers. The leads review and tweak them. Then the designers begin implementing. They are constantly reviewed by both the leads and other staff, and course corrections are made. The designer doing the work has a lot of say over how to implement fixes and suggestions.

» Tue Oct 12, 2010 8:05 pm

How do you feel about the fact that just the cover art being revealed today along with some "cool online features" have caused us to burn through a entire thread in a hour and a half? Then go from 1 to 60+ posts in 8 minutes causing the new thread to get locked for "cool down" time. And not to mention the fact that this is before it's even been revealed. It will be chaos once it has been.

I've got to assume humbled and awesome!? :celebration:

» Wed Oct 13, 2010 9:12 am

Bruce,

I have a lot of respect for you and have followed your career for a LONG time. (not in a stalker way - you don't know me....haha) It is great to hear you talking to the community, but can you get the other Devs to chime in more :foodndrink:

I knew TES V was in development because of you... :celebration: I remembered an article I read a long time ago:

Q: Does all this DLC mean The Elder Scrolls V is a long way off?

Bruce Nesmith: The DLC is not a factor in the TES V schedule. We have had multiple projects going on here for a while with DLC, Shivering Isles, Fallout 3, etc. Right now, our primary focus is on Fallout 3.

Q: What can you tell us about your work on Fallout 3?

Bruce Nesmith: Just that it's in development. We aren't talking at all about it yet, or what platforms we're doing, or anything. When we're ready to talk, we'll let folks know.

Q: What do you see in the future for the RPG genre on Xbox 360?

Bruce Nesmith: There are a lot of great titles coming up that we're looking forward to playing? Mass Effect, BioShock, and so on.

In terms of game features, that's trickier. Because an RPG by nature is an attempt to build a virtual world, I think we'll see an emphasis placed on more realistic environments and animations. I also think more natural character interaction is an area that is ripe for growth.

Q: Finally? can Oblivion get any bigger, or is it time for a whole new chapter in the Elder Scrolls story?

Pete Hines: Shivering Isles is the only expansion we have planned for Oblivion. After this we'll be moving on to new projects.

Thanks so much for your time Pete and Bruce!

Do all the devs have the ability to post on these threads?

If so, why are they not?

It's not like they are working on the best game in video game history.....

» Tue Oct 12, 2010 8:57 pm

Given the... Cryptic nature of the two sources of information we currently have on the game... Are you SURE you aren't all Adventure game lovers at heart? I bet some of you would love to build a puzzle-solving game set in the TES world.

» Tue Oct 12, 2010 6:08 pm

Hey Devs, which is better, handplaced items, or random and generated items?, since Morrowind was much more handplaced than Oblivion, I just wonder, why didn't you handplace much more stuff in Oblivion?

» Tue Oct 12, 2010 6:00 pm

I have a lot of respect for you and have followed your career for a LONG time. (not in a stalker way - you don't know me....haha) It is great to hear you talking to the community, but can you get the other Devs to chime in more :foodndrink:

Hey, I was posting a bunch for a while!

Kind of trailed off as (1) work kicked back in hardcoe, (2) a lot of questions were repeats, (3) a lot of questions were specifically about the game that I couldn't answer, (4) a lot of questions were a bit silly. :-p

Some good questions recently, though, that I'll hit up. Just remember -- the way to get answers is to ask cool, new questions!

» Tue Oct 12, 2010 10:09 pm

Hey, I was posting a bunch for a while!

Kind of trailed off as (1) work kicked back in hardcoe, (2) a lot of questions were repeats, (3) a lot of questions were specifically about the game that I couldn't answer, (4) a lot of questions were a bit silly. :-p

Some good questions recently, though, that I'll hit up. Just remember -- the way to get answers is to ask cool, new questions!

Alright, here's my question: what would be a cool, new question to ask?

» Tue Oct 12, 2010 11:47 pm

Are you guys allowed to listen to music while you work, and if so speakers or just headphones?

» Wed Oct 13, 2010 12:28 am

Apologies if this question has been asked before ... but do developers check out the mods being created by the community? If so ... do you have any favorites? Does Todd or Pete? Has there been any thought given to perhaps referencing, or giving a shout out to user created content in TESV? (I.E. naming an npc after an accomplished mod author or creating a similar quest or location)

Obviously the ability to mod and create content for bethesda games is one of the biggest draws for the pc, it'd be cool to see the community bleed over a bit into the vanilla game.

» Wed Oct 13, 2010 10:07 am

I could often spot lines DoctorSpooky wrote because he was the snarky one, while Fizzbang was the wacky one: the lines they wrote for the game were just like their forum posts. Who's the snarky writer on Skyrim?

QA folks - just by playing, can you easily identify which writers wrote which lines of dialogue, or which designer created which dungeon?

What happens if word gets out? Does Todd get in his scary suit and interrogate everyone?

I'd love to see Todd in his scary suit. Really. I'd be all like dawwwww *picks him up and cuddles him*