Rain needs some really big improvements I think. It shouldn't just "fall through the ground". This thread also assumes there will be rain in Skyrim, at least in the more temperate areas. We all know Skyrim isn't just snow and ice This thread is not really about that though.

To begin with, it should be able to hit objects. When rain hits roof (or anything else), it shouldn't fall through. Even mods for Oblivion almost succeeded in this.

Secondly, rain should reflect. When it falls to the ground, it stays on the ground, creating rain puddles, reflecting all lighting, like water should do. Newer games have things like this.
Thirdly, rain should make different sounds when it hits different things. Rain hitting ground makes one sound, rain hitting foilage makes one sound, rain hitting building makes one sound... etc. You get the point

Fourthly, you should be able to hear rain from inside buildings (very important) hitting the roof, windows, etc. This should also go for any other weather. If Bethesda doesn't do this, I will get very disappointed, since it's not really hard to do. Many mods have done this. You should also be able to see the rain from inside buildings.

On a note, dynamic skyboxes should also exist for all weathers. This can also be said about the rain. It makes the skies look a whole lot better and realistic.

Here, look at these videos for some examples:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2LhfzbFo4g (quite old, this can be improved further, but it still looks quite realistic)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yxnETZ6RZk (really nice, this reflects lighting good)

Do you agree?

Rain does not exsist in Skyrim only small drizzles of razor sharp icicles that come hurtling to Nirn.

But I think we have bigger fish to fry than worrying about graphic weather effects. Sounds like it would take alot of engine power that can be used on more vital things.

There are mods for oblivion that do this. Take Immersive Interiors. For example, they had to use collision maps for the weather effects and used scripts to have the interior weather match the exterior weather.

The mod can be found http://tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=34199 if you want to know more about it.

I think rain will exist in some regions. Some places there has to be grass valleys with occasional rain. In general weather effects need to be improved, but especially that part with rain going through the roof and no sound on the inside of buildings. I like the looks especially in the second video example, although the first one was cool because it was more splashy :celebration:

Why wouldn't rain exist in Skyrim? Some areas are temperate, it's not all snow and ice. And just because it's a bit north doesn't mean it never rains. Besides, this thread clearly stated that it assumed rain to exist, implying that it shouldn't be discussed here.

Additionally, you make it sound like the engine was something very weak and that you can't use any of its power. Firstly, we know nothing about the engine power yet. Secondly, why would this take so much "engine power"?
Many many games have this already; some bigger games, working absolutely fine and seeing no real "loss of engine power" because of it. I think you're just speculating trying to explain why it shouldn't be implemented, instead of looking on fact from other real, already existing games.

Besides, even if there wasn't any rain, there would be snow, right? So why don't they do the same with snow?

Yeah. Snow is quite different though (that's why I made this topic seperately for rain). No reflection from it and it doesn't make sounds when hitting...
But still, snow should also not fall through objects, yes. It should also have dynamic skyboxes and you should instead hear the wind from being inside buildings.

Something that can be discussed about snow, however, is if would actually fall and create... "real" snow. Making real "snow barriers" that you could walk through.
I've never seen anything like that in a game though.. yet. Another thing that could be discussed is also how snow actually "lands" on objects, and stays there (kinda like Crysis did it). Creating a REAL snow effect.
A different thread could be started for this

The first part was a joke, sorry if I mislead you.

And yes your right, I don't think it should be implemented, until more important stuff like combat/leveling/story/dialogue was cleared out of the way.

And I agree with Oblivious, if we are to have a dramatic and more realistic weather environment, we should worry more about snow than anything else.

The way weather is done for stalker looks realy good. and for stalker CS and COP you get rain puddles and rain lands on objects instead of going through objects. Though the rain drops are still sprites and the wet look only has 2 frames of animation witch just repeat. but its the most convincing iv seen, but still far from realistic.

It 100% is a must that we get sounds whilst inside buildings and no rain/snow under roofs. However the whole collisions thing and making small puddles of water is the more engine heavy part, and allthough I would love it, I too would rather see level scaling fixed fx

And this is why I'd say that hearing the sound of weather in doors is not unreasonable to ask, seeing as mods for Oblivion seem to be able to do it, assuming that the game still has houses handled as completely separate world spaces like in Oblivion.

Aside from that, at the minimum, I'd like to see rain not fall through objects, as really, seeing rain fall through solid objects really breaks the suspension of disbelief in the game. It might have been acceptable back in Morrowind, or even Oblivion, but with this kind of small, some might think, insignificant, bit of unrealism, the more realistic the graphics get, the more out of place it starts to seem, and we can safely assume that Skyrim will look better than Oblivion. Not to mention many other games that also feature dynamic weather systems seem to be doing it, indeed, even Morrowind can do it, with the Morrowind Code Patch installed. After all Bethesda's talk about how impressive their new engine is, I'm going to be rather dissappointed in it if I can't even take shelter from the rain under an overhanging roof, seeing objects get wet would be nice, but not having it wouldn't be nearly as immersion breaking as rain falling through objects, I'd say.

I agree, but if we can at least hear it inside and it doesn't fall through roofs in Skyrim I will be very happy.

Well arcania gothic four did it really well if I've heard correctly. The water was making small rivers and the day after you could see in the mud how the water had collected itself into pools downhill and such. And I want our characters to move slower in heavy rain.

Skyrim isn't all icy wasteland. Skyrim is probably more like Canada, long winters that can get pretty brutal, but a decent summer season for growing.


I wonder if they will put in longer daylight during summer and shorter daylight during winter?

They'll hopefully do that. It's very easy. Seasons however... should include so much more imo (leaves on some trees turning orange and falling in autumn, etc). That's another topic though...

Hearing the rain inside would be cool, but this sounds just like added requirements on your graphics card, and I'm hoping not to have to buy a new machine... (though we all know that a 3 year old machine from 07 wont be able to run Skyrim) Still Id rather use all that engine power to spawn more NPCs, etc.

But yeah hearing rain inside, I like that

It's highly unlikely that the people designing combat/leveling/story/dialogue are the same people who would be implementing weather effects....

Weather *is* important, and I for one would like very much if rain (and snow) no longer clipped through overhangs. We've been able to do realistic rain for years now, and it's depressing that so few games seem to give it any thought (although Read Dead Redemption did a decent job). Rain and snow that interact with the the environment are past due, but I am hopeful, as this seems exactly like something that would be improved with the new engine.

I agree with the OP.

Rain striking windows especially would be extremely atmospheric (combined with the right lighting, and perhaps music). And though it's a minor detail, hearing rain bounce from a character's armour (that peaceful metallic sound, you know?) would be really impressive. The same applies to world objects too, and rain not simply falling through objects above ground level is the least I'm hoping for.

Realistic rain? Pah! What we need are SEASONS! During the summer months the trees are lush and green, insects buzz around you and a gentle heat haze and mist rises from the many lakes (which are sure to cover Skyrim in a Scandinavian fashion); then the weather changes, becomes damper, foggier, the trees turn golden and shed their leaves; and finally snow begins to settle until it covers the land in deep drifts through the harsh winter months, the lakes are frozen, and the wolves move down from the mountains in big, hungry howling packs; until the spring blossom comes into bloom and the land is verdant once more... Should be easy enough to achieve. I expect nothing less.

Tape a garden hose to your screen and turn it on whenever it's raining ingame!

Oh...

Well, I agree that rain should do much better ingame. So not falling straight through the roof, splashing against the ground, making circles in bodies of water and forming puddles. That would be awesome

Actual seasons would be better still. Daggerfall had seasonal changes with music changing to fit the season, which (in my opinion) was one of the best features in that game!

And I also agree with the ability to hear it raining when you're inside. I loved that mod for Oblivion to hear the weather while you were inside. Nothing sets the mood better than hearing a (muffled) raging thunderstorm outside while you're sitting close to the fire with a flagon on Mead in your hand :foodndrink:

Personally rain is the last thing that needs touched. With a new Engine in Skyrim though one can only assume rain will be different.
One thing though rain needs to not be able to pass through structure, like outcrop roofing. Other than that leave it be.

A game like this is all about immersion so I agree with the OP and think a robust weather engine would increase this game's immersion factor a lot. There should be different types of rain, drizzles to downpours to wind gusts of rain. The sound of rain from inside is critical too, Arcania use of that is very cool, especially hearing the storms from inside a cave. Should not be a problem to implement if other games are doing it.

What I hated the most in Oblivion was how water would go straight through roofs and other surfaces in a really noticeable way. I agree with the rest too though.
Here is some more footage on how it should be done:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKHABmrTIn8
Rain stuff starts at 1:36.

I'd like them to fix the weather effects... which is a huge possibility with the new engine, since it was pretty much an issue with their Gamebryo engine. If they know what's good for them, they'll make a beautiful world with beautiful graphical effects, because poor weather and other things like that really do turn people off to games. It's rare, but it happens. Otherwise, it's just a minor annoyance that you get used to, but don't particularly like.

Either way, they realize that people aren't happy with their rain clipping through ceilings and whatnot.

Also, hearing and seeing weather from inside would be really awesome.

I absolutely agree. Weather effects in games can be stunning and really immersive. Oblivion was alright, but for the most part just unimpressive. I understand they were limited at the time though to what they could assume about the platforms they were developing for, but I really think some great weather effects could add alot.

Look at the rain in rockstar games - in particular, red dead redemption & grand theft auto 4.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHoSMFSksFg&feature=related, especially, looks (in my opinion) fantastic, and doesn't scratch the performance. It's also done quite simply, ith shallow puddles appearing on the ground & overcast clouds etc.

Obviously I'm not suggesting something identical but it's a simple effect that looks amazing. Also, those videos in the OP are brilliant, I love how you can see the rain bouncing off the surfaces. Anyway, in conclusion I'd say that it's not essential to have good looking weather, but being that this will be a game in turbulent settings, we could do with a few nice weather effects to accompany.

Also I registered specifically to make this post