Well... I don't know how Bethesda works specifically. But recently team shifting has gotten all sorts of weird. I.E. the guys working on SC2 initially went over to finish Wow (yes, they started that long ago) and after Wow came out they restarted the game. The Valve guys updating TF2 all switched too finishing Left 4 Dead 2 a few months before it went gold.

As for Bethesda specifically...

They're making Oblivion and Fallout 3
Oblivion get's released. Oblivion team does?
Shiver Isles and Oblivion dlc finished, those guys go do?
Fallout 3 gets finished. Fallout 3 guys go to do?
Fallout DLC finishes, Those guys go to do?

Lots of employees and proof they do work on multiple big things at once. Heck before Dragon Age even finished some guys were already working on Dragon Age 2. Kinda svcks that they don't get at least a little break : ( but what this means for Bethesda is that it's obviously possible the game has been in production for quite a while.

I think it'd be extremely unlikely for Bethesda to release the game only a few months after announcing it. Bethesda doesn't roll that way. They always show off their games for at least a year before releasing it, sometimes close to two years. Bethesda loves to build up hype slowly, they are not the kind of developer to release a game a few months after releasing it.

If they announce it at E3 in June, there's really no chance that they'll release it anytime before Q3 or Q4 2011, and even those dates are pretty optimistic.



Oblivion get's released. Oblivion team does?------------- Work on Fallout 3
Shiver Isles and Oblivion dlc finished, those guys go do?------------- Work on Fallout 3
Fallout 3 gets finished. Fallout 3 guys go to do?------------- Work on TESV and Fallout 3 DLC
Fallout DLC finishes, Those guys go to do?------------- Work on TESV

Bioware, Blizzard and Valve are all much bigger than Bethesda. Bethesda can't split up it's team into more than two or three teams at a time as they don't have enough people.

You'd think that with all the money they make from these games that they would be huge...

They only have about http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1083708-bethesda-softworks-employees/page__p__15790735&#entry15790735 and that is including people that aren't actual developers. I counted the people on the credits for Oblivion and Fallout 3 once and there were less than 150 people listed. So you can see why they can't just split their team into more than 3 teams as each team would only be around 50 people.

Perhaps if we checked the credits in both and compared the people in both of them, we might be able to make a little formula including subtractions (such as people who quit) that shows how many people were working on TES V during FO3.

Ok, I did that, and you can see a screenshot http://i43.tinypic.com/a4wj9z.jpg. The people in green are the people who worked on both games, the people in blue are the people that only worked on Oblivion, and the people in red are the people I know no longer work at Bethesda (MK is commissioned now iirc, and Ken Rolston is at a different developer now). As you can see, very few people are in blue. I also didn't count the people in Quality Assurance as I figured that TESV hasn't needed to be tested yet, as well as the voice actors and other jobs not related to developing the early stages of a game. I don't think such a small amount of people could work on TESV for the 2 or so years between the releases of Oblivion and Fallout 3. There seems to be more people in the credits for Fallout 3, but I doubt they were working on TESV if they were working on Fallout 3.

I got the credits from http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/elder-scrolls-iv-oblivion-collectors-edition/credits and http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/fallout-3/credits.

Too bad the DLC doesn't have credits as then we could see who was working on them and who wasn't.

Anyone else notice the lack of announcements on the elder scrolls page? It could mean nothing, as it usually does, however, considering the new game informer cover is going to be announced soon, and E3 is coming up, perhaps something is going to be announced.

Wow, thanks for drafting that up, it's pretty interesting.

The vast majority of blue names (the guys that didn't carry over to Fallout 3) are artists... hmmm :shifty:

So we can be 95% sure that concept art started after Oblivion was finished, or at least after Oblivion's DLC. I still think it's highly unlikely that Bethesda's modellers, texturers, etc didn't move on to this 'next big project' when their jobs with Fallout 3 were completed though. Some of them would have been needed for Fallout 3 DLC, but the others won't have just acted as coffee boys until the rest of the game was finished up.

I'd also like to imagine that when the animators finished with Fallout 3 they were sent on an Animator's Summer Camp, hosted by Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption team.

IMHO I think theyve been sitting around for the past 2 years with thier fingers up thier butts. Trying to squeeze every last penny out of Fallout 3.

Wow, that's really good, Anti! Thanks for running that up. But, that small amount of people could still have been able to do 'something' unless they quit.

Although the logic behind that reasoning looks solid, you can't really say for sure.
They might have had a team of idealist working on TES:V at the release of TES:V. As much as logic dictates otherwise, it's possible. And not all things in game design and release are logical. I for one hope they HAVE been throwing around ideas and drawing up things since Oblivions release. That'd be badass.

The charts drafted by Antibody are very helpful for all of us but I think that something which becomes apparent in those charts has probably been played down a bit. It is obvious that Fallout 3 and Oblivion were being developed simultaneously between 2004 and 2006. I can't see the reason why the same thing didn't happen between 2006 and 2008 with regard to Fallout 3 and TES V.

Personally, I wouldn't take at face value what Todd Howard said because it was the same person who denied the existence of Knights of the Nine, Shivering Isles, and Point Lookout just a short while before they were due to be announced and released.

Hey everyone,
I know this is fake, but has anyone seen this video? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWMRgigQwsk What do you guys think and do you think Bethesda would take the series in this direction?

I hastily updated the chart to reflect what would happen if TESV has been in development since 2006. It's a bit sloppy because I'm tired atm and not in the mood to make a clean chart. One of these days I'll make a better one, but I think this is fine for now:

http://i39.tinypic.com/23js7xc.jpg (Remember to zoom in)

Well,anyways,Skyrim is not going into TES5(which there will be:D )because,what the hell do nords have to do with The emperors death..I have my money on more than 1 provence.maybe like a certain section or tamriel.(east-blk marsh,Morrawind..South-Valenwood,BlkMarsh,Summerstes??,Elsywer.then the west,,,.....which im to lazy to post about! Or even another continent...like Akivir......The thing i want to know is only where its takes place in anyways.

If Skyrim isn't going to be in TES V then why has Bethesda trademarked the name "Skyrim".

.............................yea but todd didt say that it didt exist.It was a mix up with some 1 who said the wrong facts.

I think it's pretty clear the evidence points to Skyrim. I'm not saying other provinces can't be incorporated into the game though.

.well first of all there are lots of people(mostly utube) who like to make stuff up.Trust me.I have seen exelent fan made trailers.But they are not the real thing....it suks but...it makes me glad it ist in skyrim...just mountains..and snow.and more mountains.

I like argonians personally...but i kinda want a bird race..however i read in-game books..just tigers and snakes.and slime monsters..so its basically impossible:(

:blink:
Where are you getting this information that only you seem to have insight to?
It's prettyyyyy certain TES:V is going to be in Skyrim.

No, Bethesda actually trademarked the name "Skyrim". I also do not care for Skyrim being the setting, but we know, for a fact, that Bethesda trademarked the name "Skyrim". Perhaps Bethesda can give us some interesting lore involving the Falmer. Personally, I still hate the idea of Skyrim, though. Even if it isn't mostly covered in snow, everything will still be cold in Skyrim. I don't think we are going to see any deciduous forests or tropical swamps in Skyrim, only snow-covered, mountainous regions and pine tree-filled areas with frozen snow. I may be wrong about what we see in Skyrim, but we know Bethesda trademarked the name "Skyrim".

...uhhh i well if you know for a fact i have to believe you.but where did you get that from.i just want to see the doom for my self.

Just a fool's hope.

No one knows for a "fact". It's built up, concrete speculation based on logical theories based on solid facts. You don't have to believe us.