» Mon Sep 09, 2013 8:29 pm *While Lengthy this post is very important to the future of vampires and werewolves in The Elder Scrolls Series so please take it serious and post your thoughts and ideas*
Being that Bethesda has shown signs of finally accepting Lycanthropy and Vampirism as an important part of the Elder Scrolls series I believe that with the Next Generation of hardware we can see some improvements to create the ultimate vampire and werewolf experience in any game. But before we move into specifics about how such a task can be accomplished lets take a step back and look at why I think Bethesda only Dabbled but not dive into Vampirism and Lycanthropy in the past.
Lycanthropy has shown itself in only two out of 5 of the Elder Scrolls vanilla games(Dagerfall,Skyrim) and also as an "Add On" via DLC in TES III: Morrowind. Vampirism was always implemented but clearly was not a focus for the studio from lacking features, to not following up with previously stated Lore. That alone tells me that the diseases has not been an overly important part of the series. The level of inconsistency is not Bethesda's fault, I believe that they have always wanted it to be done right I.E. proper hardware to convey the experience that they imagined. But hardware is not the only obstacle in Game Development. Budget is also a factor as well as time constraints. Having that said over the years Bethesda has been growing in terms of staff and budget. Leaving opportunities for the future when it comes to Game Development for the studio. Now Lets bring it back to the topic. With the added growth and new hardware its highly probable to see some Huge improvements to Lycanthropy and Vampirism.
So from not consistently adding Lycanthropy to not fully fleshing out Vampirism Bethesda has finally started to show signs of taking both Vampirism and Lycanthropy seriously. Even in vanilla Skyrim Vampirism didn't have anything special about it and seemed to be put in the backburner. Vampirism in Skyrim seemed like Bethesda only added it to say "we have it in there" but that wasn't enough. Lycanthropy on the other hand played a more important part in the series then ever seen before. But it was not until Dawnguard DLC that Bethesda seemed to really start taking the diseases serious and saw how popular they are. With Dawnguard Bethesda gave werewolf players their own perk tree and they also added werewolves to the wilds of Skyrim like it should've been. Also they added a new kind of Vampire to the series "The Vampire Lord". The Vampire Lord alone was a huge improvement to being a vampire. But they also added a fully fleshed out quest involving vampires. The addition of new biting animations and the vampire visual makeover were needed improvements. Before Dawnguard vampires felt only like a stat improvement or negative effect and a title but we didn't really feel like a vampire.
Now having all of that said the future of these Creatures in the franchise can grow substantially. The presence of Vampires and Werewolves in TES Online is also another indication of the ever growing importance and popularity of these beast. The Next Gen boast a developer friendly architecture I truly believe that more than half of the improvements that I am about to mention can be possible.
Improvements of Werewolves in The Elder Scrolls 6
-Attacks should be more controlled by player. For Example give players specific buttons that do specific attacks such as a Pounce Attack. Once the Player Pounces on the Victim they should have the option to either bite the target, claw it, or bite the heart out. In Skyrim there were pre done kill animations but it took control away from the players. With this new way of attacking players can choose exactly what they want to do with their victims.
-A fully fleshed out first person view should be implemented. The absence of a first person view in Skyrim felt like a half done experience. Instead of showing an unrealistic view that shows teeth of the werewolf the snout should be vaguely seen kind of like looking at your nose in real life, You barely even notice it. First person coupled with NPC death animations should be a pretty interesting experience.
-Different attacks can consist of Light attacks that utilize the claws of the werewolf and deliver quick swipes that cut the target and causes bleeding. A heavy attack that uses more of the palm and less of the claw, this attack more slower but more powerful throws the NPC off their feet like in Skyrim. A Bite attack that dynamically bites the NPC in different/Weak Spots. There should be a light bite for infecting and a brutal bite designed to kill. Pounce attack as stated earlier but if the target is too big the werewolf sinks its claws into the target and hands on it and eventually climbs on the enemy.
- Werewolves should be able to climb surfaces to either gain a better position on its foe for stalking, or to escape enemies if need be. The Climbing Mechanic should feel similar to the controls of Alien Vs Predator 2010 game for First Person View, and Aliens Colonial Marines for Third Person climbing, of course tweaked and better,
- Instead of Blocking, Werewolves should have evasive maneuvers. Being able to dodge incoming attacks like the vorcha in Mass Effects Multiplayer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZEdtnAH5kE
-Werewolves should be able to jump high to get to high areas quickly. Bethesda should look at how the predator jumping mechanic in the Aliens Vs Predator game works and make it better.
-With Destructible objects now possible in the new hardware armor should be destructible when transforming into a werewolf. Armor breaks into pieces, Cloth should shred off. Then Hair should grow. Basically a much better presentation then previous games.
-There should be a button that toggles the werewolf to walk on all fours if they move slowly they will automatically be in stealth mode. Stealth should be judged by sound and visibility, not the stance you are in.
-Werewolves should have a sniffing button as well so they can sniff the air around them in search of prey. Player should see a faint mist show up in the air. Also an immersive way to show where the werewolf smells its prey is head tracking, if your werewolf sniffs someone nearby it should automatically look in the direction. In addition the werewolf should growl in accordance to the threat level to give the player an indication on how difficult the target may be.
- In human Form players should possess abilities as well for being a werewolf. Such as retractable claws, higher jumping, and better evasive maneuvers.
To be Continued with Vampire Ideas and more Werewolf Ideas. In the mean time give me your thoughts!
