When it comes to rpgs, especially open world rpgs like TES, you spend a lot of time simply exploring and going back and fourth over area's you've been through before. Over time you learn the landscape, it looks the same for the most part, nothing ever really changes.

I for one would love to see a fully implemented Seasonal and weather system for Skyrim. Something that can add a great variety to old landscapes. From having seasons where there is little to no snow at certain area's, then seasons when it can come down hard, etc.


Basically depending on what Beth wants for Skyrim to look like they can simply implement a system where each season of time that passes the weather/landscape changes depending on what area it is and what time of year. So say, in the summer there would be lno snowfall in some area's (wehreas further north or up high enough in the mountains) there could still be some. Then come winter time there can be snow fall where it was in the past simply a nice lush green field.

All it would basically take is to program the weather and landscape to reflect the season along with a variable weather system. Where they can have various types of weather (rain, snow, ice, etc) and then varying degree's of it (hard, light, etc) and then plug those into whatever season they want to show them in with a higher % of happening. So say, in the winter time there's a 90% chance throughout to see snow, in the summer time there's more rain and no snow,e tc.


Apart from this, another major thing that would be nice is if there was a chance, a very very small chance, that at some point in time a certain random chance that there could be a environmental change that impacts teh game world in some way, perhaps opening a new previously unexplorable area or blocking some well known passageway and you have to discover a new way to go.

Like for example, you are travelling out on a very dangerous mountainside. It's came a blizzard, not just anormal snowfall but a huuuuuge blizzard that is quickly building up snow. the pass your normally have to take to get to the city you were travelling to is blocked now so instead you have to go through a new area, which previously was closed off, but because of the blizzard an avalanche has opened it.

You get the point, basically very rare weather or other events that bring variety to the game world and makes your travels along it seem more varied and exciting.

that would be awesome.

people have already suggested something like this. i am not sure we need the landscape to change the routes we can take, but anyway

snow,wet,sooty,muddy and burnt shaders needed for materials (on models,specificaly trees,rocks,houses,armour/clothes,animals and people)
overlays to mix with the shaders (we also need lots of overlays to randomly effect the ground such as fallen twigs or autumn leaves)
some terrain textures (texture24 may have texture24_snow and texture24_wet)


lakes freezing over

Can we have a snowstorm like the sandstorms in morrowind? Those were pretty cool.

If we had seasons most of our builds would only see 1 full year. You have to put a lot of time into an ES game before you hit the 1 year mark.

That would be just wonderful. Don't know if it will happen though, seems like it could be a little difficult to accomplish.

The season system was done long ago in Asheron's Call (mmo). There were times when a once summer laden city with no snow would have snowfall come and build up over time. Thatt was over 10 years ago.

Agreed. Fliggerty made a mod for TESIII that alters daylight length and weather patterns according to time of year, latitude, and regional climate. Cool stuff.

I'd love to see actual snow accumulation and seasonal weather. Floods from heavy rain. Deciduous and evergreen foliage seasonal changes, as well as flower blooms and fruit/nut/seed development. Could add some cool variety to alchemy if certain ingredients are abundant only at certain times of the year.

I would also like to see creature type and behavior change with the season. Some might den for the winter, others might roam farther to get food, some might migrate.

I don't know about the blizzard blocking a route idea - but the general idea for seasons would be good to see. However, the clsoest we are going to get to "seasons" in this game i think will be just diufferent texturing at different times of the game (I.E We won't see the snow falling in the new areas it will just be on the ground)

However - I would like to see my fireball spell melt a hole in a patch of snow - that would tickle me pink.

My level: 39
Start date: Last Seed 27, 3E433
Current date: Evening Star 16, 3E433
That's (if I did the math correct) only 111 days (nice number though )
The game is becoming boring already only after two seasons.
Do I want to sleep a lot to see the other seasons? Not unless I have to.

So I think we need to have certain events in the game that advances time.
I've proposed changes to travel system and health/fatigue/mana system that does this (slightly hard core).
But it could also be that mining for ore takes one day for each container.
It could be longer waiting lists for non frequent customers than frequent customers when getting an armorer to fix your tools, and you advance number of days automatically.

What I'm saying is that without changes that somehow advances time, I can't see a good reason to have seasons. It's a lot of additional code that few will benefit from. Note that I'm a big fan of the idea, but other changes are needed to support that idea.

I only wish this would happen. If only trees and flowers bloomed during the spring, flourished in summer, wilted in autumn, and withered and died during the winter, they could even have some rare alchemical ingredients that grow and are more commonly found during each season, while others become more scarce.

Landscape Effects? No.


Seaons? Mabye.


Weather? Yes.

Despite Daggerfall's randomazation, it was pretty awesome to see environments I knew in different seasons. The first time I left Privateer's hold it was gently snowing. When I came back as a much more experienced adventurer to kill a maniacal wizard, it was raining, and there were various puddles on the ground. Even then, I couldn't help but remember the silent snow fall that drifted down on the fields around the hold and just how far my character had come after getting shipwrecked, and how many adventures I had seen between then and now.

If Daggerfall was able to make me feel that way, imagine how Oblivion would have been if it wasn't eternally frozen in midspring. I would have loved to see the great forest in autumn, or trudge around Skingrad's cold damn streets in the middle of winter.

Assuming they do this in Skyrim, I think it would make the game for me. Not even kidding.

i totally agree with the seasonal thing, not the path blocking thing. It would just be to hard to make something like that, it would take to much time.

And Daggerfall had a good system for that, and there were even different musical pieces for different weather.

I agree that's the biggest issue. I don't want to have to wait around forever for those seasons. At the same time, I don't want to take a bathroom break without pausing and find that I missed an entire game day. Unless Bethesda thinks different, I can do without seasons.

hopefully, the map will be much larger so more time will be lost via fast travel

Dynamic landscapes have never really been done in a game before to the fullest extent, and that's what your talking about I'm assuming. Were if it snows during the winter seasons you can see the run off melting into the stream ect when it warms up. I agree, it'll be cool if they are able to do that.

It would be cool if the weather just made slight alterations to the landscape based on chance, nothing that hinders your progress though just to walk by and notice that something is different so that the world isn't always the same.

Basically if there is a storm in area A, then there is a % chance of tree's X, Y and Z falling over (not necessarily when the player is there, it could be on the ground when you next pass). If there is a snow storm in area B, then there is a % chance that the lake in the area can become frozen and able to walk across temporarily etc.

Yes I would really love this. But time may be a problem. I personally think they should shorten the days in each "month" to like 15-20 instead of 30, while also increasing the passing of time a little bit. That way most players get to experience, if they play a lot, at least 2-3 years.

Anyway, REAL seaons (like REAL snow gets covered in areas during a certain time, and trees start to change colors, etc) can be achieved mainly by this I think:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D9oINHI11E (Color Grading and Blend Shading). Combining these two and we have nice season effects to start off with

I would really like to see changing weather and having it affecting your character, like blizard causing frost damages to unprotected characters. Changing terrain texture because of snow or heavy rain should also affect your character mobility, with snowy or muddy terrain slowing you, icy or moisted rocks becoming slidy.
If Skyrim gameworld is much bigger than Oblivion one, fast travelling between towns would count for a few to many days. In the end the calendar time will pass faster. My memory may fail me, but I think that my characters adventures in Daggerfall covered a few years because of that time passed crossing the land.
I would also love to have to wait the good time of the year to do a quest, because I have to wait a lake to freeze or a mountain path to loose its snow.

Absolutely. That thing you said about a quest is spot on. I want that too. Real seasons like this, that really change the landscape, would make the environment and the experience of exploring much much more interesting.

I've not seen any other game that completely overhauls seasons like this... with real winter and falling and orange leaves in autumn, etc. If Skyrim would add this, it would definitely get a lot of extra attention... especially by people who are otherwise unknown to the TES games.

Definitely, although it is Skyrim...

We'll see...

I'd actually prefer a massive slowdown in the real time component. But there should be game mechanics that enforces the game to advance more properly. When do you mine for ore and immediately find it? Should take a random amount of hours just for this small action. Make it more an adventure game by having eating and sleeping to regenerate. Re my other post:
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1154847-chameleon-and-invisibility/page__p__16903530#entry16903530



It won't. I think I saw about twice as big. That may be twice as big in one direction (east-west probably), or by a 1.41 factor if kept square. So not a whole lot bigger, and time with OBs system would still be problematic.



You can't change the calendar, it's pretty fixed:
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Calendar

So the only thing left (I can think of) is a non realtime system that helps bring time forward. But I think there are ways to make this appear fairly natural.

It has been changed.. before. In the link you posted, you can see the number of days changing between the different TES games. The numbers aren't great, but they have indeed been changed.
I don't mind having 15-20 days for each month. I mean... without seasons, the calender has basically no effect on the game. There are holidays... yes, but these weren't present in either Morrowind or Oblivion, meaning they will probably have little signifiance for Skyrim.
I much prefer to have 15-20 days and to actually allow seasons to happen, rather than having a full calender that has no effect at all on the game.