I like the screenshot, that place definitely looks like its pretty unique I think its going to be fun to explore again. This also goes with the removal of speed tree (all the trees looked the same) Now they have their own tool for it, I bet this is also to help with the unique feel of the landscapes xD

Wow, this is definitely my favourite update so far... Goodbye real world, hello Skyrim world! :drool: :drool: :drool:

Some open world games go overboard with these side activities and stray too far from the main storyline. Bethesda is aware of this pitfall and is actively engaged in preventing the feeling of being overwhelmed by the Radiant Story missions.

What pitfall? I like to stray far from the storyline

And my newly customized wallpaper has taken hold of my desktop.

So pretty. So gorgeous.

The technical improvements are outstanding.

It's like we're going to get Morrowind's attention to detail, Oblivion's technical improvements, Daggerfall's amount of stuff to do, all rolled up into a single cake, then coated with glorious graphical frosting.

So, the screenshot depicts some kind of city? It's labelled "Markarth", and Markarth Side "is a city in west-central Skyrim, notable for possessing an Imperial College of the Voice founded by Tiber Septim." (UESP).

Maybe we'll learn our Dragon Speech there.

You were still in the real world? What was it like?

Looks amazing. I hope I will not get dissapointed.

Also a lot more distant objects, which could answer my LOD wondering about snow fantastic!

That screenshot at the bottom was amazing :shocking:

'too bad it is low res

I really liked the part where they said that if you break into a house, the NPC might not tell you to leave depending on how much they like you.

I love have vertical everything looks in the pic. An excellent place for a marksman to hone his skills.

From the last thread:


"Accumulates" doesn't necessarily imply volume, however. I think it's clear from the article that it at least means where snow gets distributed. I feel like the wording in this article is the same information as the magazine article, so we already knew it "accumulates" anyway.

Now, with that said, the article also clearly indicates that it's somehow precomputed/artist-defined. So even if they somehow achieve volumetric snow (which, again, I doubt) it'll probably be static and leave you unable to interact with it. Meaning no knee-deep trudging or other things that people have assumed from such vague statements as "snow falls where it should" or "accumulates realistically".

If you want to read my anolysis in-depth, you can see my post here: http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1158033-amazing-snow-and-enviroments/page__st__20__p__16971345#entry16971345

So, don't confuse "volumetric" with a possibly precomputed effect that the artists have painstakingly defined in advance, if that's even the case. It's also clear from the screenshots in GI that the snow indeed "lands realistically" on surfaces, but is completely flat.** Which I'm perfectly fine with. I'm also perfectly fine if they fake volumetric particle interactions with some animations near your feet, creating upkicked snow and such, as in Uncharted 2's snow levels.

I'm still betting on a Crysis Warhead-like snow shader, when it comes to the pixel shader that "places" the snow realistically on surfaces. And it seems they have incorporated into their engine a way to let the artist have control over what gets the snow shader and what doesn't. We can't assume any more than that from what we've been given, so "Snow accumulates!!!!" sounds presumptuous and gives people false hope.

Like I've said many times, I'd be delighted to be wrong.

** [ building p47, rocks p49, rocks behind giant p54, "dusting" on arches behind troll/were-beast p55, arches and stones near warrior p57 ]

I like:

"None of the dragons' actions are scripted, and Behavior helps make the movements look non-mechanical, even when the dragons are speaking/shouting."

Nice to hear that the dragons' actions aren't all pre-scripted. That should make those battles hella fun.

Console shot, probably. I want a high rez one for my desktop.

Eh, wasn't it obvious that Bethesda used some sort of kit / construction set / whatever to create the world?
...
What I mean is that just because it's said Bethesda uses it, which is pretty obvious for anyone anyway, doesn't mean that we will use it.
Still I hope for some sort of modding tool. It would help us customize the game even further.

"Some open world games go overboard with these side activities and stray too far from the main storyline. Bethesda is aware of this pitfall and is actively engaged in preventing the feeling of being overwhelmed by the Radiant Story missions."


I'm a little worred by that. What does it mean? I've always felt the best part of The Elder Scrolls series are all the side activites. I love pretty much everything else I've read, but I'm not quite sure what they mean by this.

The trees-overhaul are also great news. Maybe it's just me, but I never liked them all that much before. Leaves were kind of meh.

Wind howling in branches. Nice.

Indeed. Hoping that extend to much more strategy for NPCs. Or at least the sense to go behind a tree if I'm shooting at their head.

It means they're trying to have the game not spam you with random missions until you drown in a sea of people begging for favors and attempting to kill you.

The article does say that a great many quests are still hand-designed. So they don't want to overbog you with these, that are there to provide more flavor to the world. You know.

My guess is poor writing, the GI article had some poor word choice as well.

Or what sky said.

I think they mean avoiding GTA:IV pitfall of having a bunch of crappy random missions that were essentially stuffed down your throat.

I think what they mean is, in RDR for example, anytime you'd try to go anywhere, there'd be a random encounter for you to deal with, and after a while they got really repetitive. So hopefully they're just saying they're going to try and keep it as fresh and non-repetitive as possible.

What happened to the name "Sky-engine"!?!?!

What I'm especially worried about is the straying from the main storyline part. I want to stray away from the main storyline. Will I still be able to?

Not just that, but eat your friend's apple

This Radiant Story thing is sounding better by the minute!

It looks realistic to me. Look outside on an overcast day(got one here right now) and you will observe an extreme lack of shadows. This gives me hope that their dynamic weather is going to actually be dynamic rather than faking it.