Basically I'd like rocks and trees to be something besides obstacles and decoration. If, for instance, I'm climbing a hill and there's a rock near me I'd like to be able to use it to haul myself up; likewise the ledge on a pool or sewer. Climbable trees would rock, but I don't expect that, especially if levitation is still against the rules....

Good point :goodjob:
It's weird that with all that physics system the interaction with outdoors objects is little to none. Inside houses you can mess with a lot of movable objects but in the woods where you really need them to set traps... I'd rather the landscape is full of rocks of all sizes, fallen branches and other things that you can use to distract creatures or set traps. For this purpose you need to have some push, drag, drop, throw abilities for heavy objects that you can't take in the inventory.

They experimented with digging in Point Lookout and I wouldn't mind seeing some things to dig up (such as graves) in Skyrim. As for climbing trees, considering Bethesda has yet to succeed in making real-time ladders in their games I don't think that's very feasible, unless you want to see a loading screen as you climb up the tree.

Mining would be nice.

Now this would be nice but given the size and scope of these games it is not really practical. Also, I would not want some ladders you can climb and others you cannot for some reason. It would have to be all or nothing for me.

True and very disappointing. Ladders are one of the things that I remember with nostalgia from Gothic 1. The steep descending in the old mine...man, good ol' days. It's as old as 2001 I think. Maybe we can have ladders in Skyrim in 2011, I mean it's about time, loading screens on every object feels like the 90's.

Apparently this sort of interaction is incredibly difficult to program. I remember on the commentary for Half Life 2: Episode 2 that the made up a new system for Alyx (the companion to the PC in the game) to enter the vehicle that was featured. They scripted a system where she would move to one of a handful of entry points using the AI and then execute an animated sequence to move from that point into the vehicle. Keep in mind that this was for that character to navigate merely a single object in the game, If every boulder or tree can potentially be climbed by the player character that at least some of the companions ought to be able to do the same. And even if any companions merely waited for the player to climb back down instead of running around aimlessly like most NPCs in the past have done, I think it would still be difficult to work out a system for the player to navigate the obstacles. Sure, Assassin's creed allowed almost limitless freedom when scaling buildings, but buildings are blockish and square, and brick that protrude at regular intervals that happen to be great places to hold on to are not at all out of place on a plaster facade, however, designing a tree to be climbable while still looking like a tree I think is an effort that would yield too little of a reward. I'd much rather see a beautiful landscape and a fleshed out game world with excellent control, combat and interaction systems, but no climbable trees, than an ugly, buggy, bad game where i can climb to the top of any oak or mountain peak i please.
In game design, everything is a tradeoff. Yes, I'm sure it is very possible to make rocks, trees, and cliffsides that you can scramble up for a better view or quick escape, but the tradeoff is that less time would be spent making a combat system that is effective, a storyline that is engaging, or a game world that is enthralling. Maybe someday, there will be a great game that revolves around swinging from branches and scaling rock walls, but i really hope that that game is not TES 5.

Actually I'd rather scramble up rocks than have a realistic combat system. Sorry, but as long as I can wave a sword to get past thsome thing I'm happy. But I'm an "explorer" not a gamer.

There's a magical word: engine.
It all depends on that, until we know more about it, we can only hope they do stuff like this.

I would like to:

- climb trees;
- climb walls;
- burn shacks;
- damage wood, pottery and glass objects (brakes and cuts);

Diggin can be much more.

Dig out a campsite snow shelter to say warm
Dig out a hide site in the snow with a spider hole for observation of a mark or for ambush
Dig a tunnel in the snow to continue a quest (and it'd give the compass something to do too)
Dig out a pit trap

But best of all...dig up earth worms for bait on a fishing quest!

break

Regarding trees, yes, climbing them would be nice. It gives some more options such as finding rare or edible eggs, escaping overpowered mountain lions , or finding a golden leaf (I still don't remember which text adv. game that was! grrr)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXWV8N4yBLY

This game is being published by Bethesda.

COINCIDENCE?!?! :wink_smile:

I can see your point however they could include Assassin's Creed style when you are in town and you have the right skills to take to the roof tops, that would be extremely cool :clap:

The Brink video deserves a lot more solid look. I think that it would spoil a lot of the RPG genre into a fast paced game and might ruin the feel.

However, that being said.... Having interactions with just about everything is better.

Oblivion touched on having the immersion with physics and interactivity. Another game comes to mind, Might and Magic 5

This game needs a harder look into this for sure. Rocks should be able to be moved. You should be able to break branches or track and animal based on tracks.
You should be able to choose to shoot out a board underneath a wooden ledge with goblins on top to make the whole thing fall down. In caves, stalagmites should be able to be brought down etc..

Stuff like this would bring a whole new level of immersion into the game.

I want to push boulders off a ledge to crush a gang of bandits sitting in front of a cave :goodjob: