What do you think?

I wish I would have thought of avalanches too.

Yes I like this idea. It was something I was actually thinking about just today. I posted a while back before Skyrim was released about forest fires and how they could be implemented into the game. I live near some very large but dry forests and in the summer there are always forest fires. The smoke can go for miles, and if you are anywhere near it you know it. Large red flames obscure the sky. I think it would be really cool to see dragons catch forests on fire with their flames, with giant clouds of smoke rising into the air that can be seen from across the map.

Also forests that have been a victim of forest fires have white dead trees that are still very tall. Usually foliage and things start to grow back on the forest floor, with seedlings here and there. Usually an entire forest isn't consumed in its entirety, so you will have areas where trees are burnt but only from say half way down and they are still alive. It could make things interesting.

At first I was like: "Forest fire? Sure, sounds interesting... but that's an odd request, why that?"

... and then I remembered dragons...

Natural Disasters would be awesome.

This.

As long as it doesn't happen too much or has some type of healing process and does not ruin the landscape. I don't remember how random events worked in FO3 and I can't imagine how they'll work in Skyrim, so yeah. Take that for what you will.

Natural Disasters would be cool and all... but thats REALLY getting beyond the scope of an Elder Scrolls game if you ask me. I'm all for adding as much content, and neat features as possible... but forest fires/natural disasters seem way out of place for this game.

Besides, forest fires would only be cool if the game had fire propagation like Far Cry 2... and there is no way in hell Bethesda is going to build in such a system for nothing but a once in a great while eye candy feature.

No

Yes.

Would be pretty cool. Even if it was just cosmetic and didn't really affect too much.

What I wanna see is dragons that recklessly burn down towns to get to you. When you're further into the game and the dragons know you're out to get them, they should track you to any small town (that's not quest related) and burn it down while you're there, and you have to escape or kill it. That would be EPIC

But what about the destroyed towns and slain civilians? How would that work out?

Oh and don't forget children. I really don't see how this would work.

I guess it would be cool to see, but I dont want the developers wasting like a month on it

Unlikely. Unless the AI is really advanced, to a point of which is unheard of at the moment.

Think, a forest fire.

First, where it began? Did a peasant light a fire for the night and did it spread? Was someone smoking? Did a dragon light it on fire? All this are variables that the AI has to consider.

Second, How should it spread? Fast? Slow? Will the climate slow it down or accelerate it? What if its snowing? Will it stop?

Third, Will the AI react to it? Will they scream Forest fire! FIRE!. Will they try to fight it?

Too many variables which I think are too complex for a game nowadays.

Niker

PS: That being said I would love it, but I don't think they actually will have the ability to code it in.

Roleplay as Smokey the Bear.

I dunno. I like the idea of some natural disasters, but I don't want to end up, due to overuse of fire/shock spells, ending up with a completely dead land of Skyrim. Maybe if they were contained and were quickly put out or died off quickly, butthen, that might seem a bit odd.

They'd be non-essential. It would be a sort of moral conflict because the innocents die because you were nearby. It'd also add a sense of catastrophe and disaster to the world. That was the problem with Oblivion. Kvatch was always destroyed. You never get to actually see Kvatch before it's destruction or while it was being burnt down (you arrive when it's all pretty much a crisp).

a little to cold for that...

This.

Either there'd have to be some rapid stops to the propagation, or massively quick rebuilding/healing, or the scariest option possible: treating it like some fire-prone areas do it in the real world, which in TES would lead to...

"Stop right there, criminal fire-spell-casting mage scum!"

Ugh. Vaguely comical as a concept- enough to make you punch your monitor if actually implemented. :teehee:

The hardest point is the fact that two years after the last Septim's death (in-my-game) they still mourn their loss or last night's daedra attack :facepalm:

Rather than natural disasters, I'd rather have scripted effect where some random dragon burns a forest or a village and they recover as time goes, only to have some other random dragons burn yet another town/landscape. this continues until the main quest ends, or maybe in a very small percentage every one week even after it

That way, you can't destroy Skyrim, but you get your awesome disaster effect :yes: and finally something to be worried about.

I like to think they've already incorporated some kind of disaster effect since now there are functional mills

Functional mills? how does that equate into disaster effects?

Niker

Haha I know. And that Kvatch is never rebuilt =/

But yeah that's pretty much what I was talking about, but it should be made random. So there's about 10-20 little disposable settlements around the game and like 5 of these settlements can be utterly destroyed, and there's maybe a 10% chance each time you visit one of them that it will be attacked by a dragon (if you wait around or sleep long enough there).

This would make it all the more exciting on each playthrough cause even though you know you're going to be attacked, you have no idea where or when.

Udig?

With functional mills and Live Economy (pun intended) you can directly alter a town's economy by destroying their mills, preventing them from making their own grains and force them to buy food somewhere else (or prevent them from selling grains). At least that's how I think it would be. Game Informer site only tells me as much (live economy, mills, economy manipulation)

Which means, if a dragon were to destroy a mill in a small town, it will simulate the effect of a disaster


That would make it even more interesting, yes :yes: you know what would happen, only not where it would happen.

Gives a sense of unknown yet prophesied event on subsequent playthough

That's the idea also, it would be cool if it gives the player a simple moral choice where you can choose to slay the dragon for valuable loot, save people in the settlement, or just run off to preserve your own safety.

I think that it'd be great if something like that were to be implemented ( the mills and stuff affecting the economy )

BUT, there is one thing you missed. When have we been able to destroy buildings? by we I mean players, monsters, etc. Once the mill is broken, will it be repaired?

What if no mills are left anywhere? where would the population get their food from? If all this has been thought out and Bethesda actually got it to work, then this game is far more complete than we think it is.

I'll have to look at that GI report about live economy.. anyone mind summarizing what it said?

Niker