Is that a challenge I hear? :tongue:

I'm sure people will manage to make good quality mods They always do

It will be, the PC version will look even better than the screens we have seen.

I would play a text based RPG again if it had brilliant game-play on par with best RPG games out there.

One of the best experiences I had with an RPG game was with MM7, which had one of the worst graphics even for its own time.

But I do not mind great graphics as well, with pixel tessellation, ambient osculation, and all the fancy stuff of the current cutting edge hardware.

it'll be no harder to mod than oblivion was. that includes polycount. it just looks like the original art has improved nothing more. they've probaly made more extensive use of mudbox, z brush and 3d coat for hi res modelling. the assets wont be much different oblivion had parallax mapped textures, it had seamless textures across tiled set pieces.

it's most likley a few new post effects more than anything else. the modders will easily throw far too many mb's of texture res and triangle count at their stuff and claim it looks better.

the bigger issue will be if bethesda's new materials use vertex blending, masks and detail textures. that'll halt alot of modders in their tracks while they relearn how to model. multiple uv channels and lerping multiple texture layers via masks is alot more work but keeps memory lower while improving detail levels.

eg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/937971/crysissux.jpg

that image consist of 3 512x512 textures being vertex blended. it was a test asset for a shader someone wrote to see what could be done if you could vertex paint onto models.

and this one
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/937971/creepybastard.PNG

this is a similar but much newer piece in which two diffuse maps at a lower res are lerped based on two masks combined it uses 7 textures but at a smaller res so they take less memory than 1 2048x2048.

if bethesda is using techniques like these the modding community will have to learn or all their stuff will be substantially more expensive on screen than the original assets. if skyrim is planning on having dozens of enemies on screen this could really hurt modders. but in all likelihood they're probably just using the tried and proven normal+diffuse+specular that most modders will be fine with.

I would love a multithreaded ADOM clone with a state of the art chat-bot that used personality profiles to 'speak' in character, and on a level close to believable. A game that used a database for all NPC's to reference who did what, saw what, suspects what, and use it for compositing several story elements with a few random nouns and known details to generate simple side quests. Imagine a text based game with an advanced parser that used the GPU for AI and stat based NPC interpretation of what you type. :drool:

*** And perhaps some simplified ASCII for monsters and the PC. :shrug:

Hmmm... Imagine if Bethesda made a http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj125/Gizmojunk/adom1.jpg? (kidding)

It'll take a bit more work, but technology is improving all the time to make modding easier and more effecient. It may be a bit harder this time around but as long as people can keep up with the times you shouldn't be worried.

Maybe Bethesda should just keep re-releasing Morrowind every couple of years like George Lucas and stop making new elder scrolls games.

mm i can make models in 3d like http://www.flickr.com/photos/tul/4487800911/sizes/l/in/photostream/one (rhinoceros 3d) and well i'm interested in maybe made some mods or something like that, it is complex?

They can keep up. The models aren't too much incredibly better. Most people who try modeling either svck and give it up quickly, or are very good. Only the very good ones make stuff for mods. I have no doubt that the people that make models for mods can keep up no problem. It just may take slightly longer to make the models if anything.

Same with me. Then I saw the OP's post, and... "YAY another optimist like me!"

Unexpected meh

Its not that big a deal. You could probably copy VANILLA Oblivion meshes and theyd look fine in Skyrim, though most could probably use a texture update. Ive found higher poly/texture res doesnt always equate to actually looking better. Take Shadow of the Colossus or Guild Wars as examples.

I've faith on the modding community' capabilities

Plus, more detailed graphics/engine capabilities means more freedom for them to do things the way they've imagined/planned/want it.

Better turn that around. Modders have been able to produce models and textures of better quality than in vanilla Oblivion for years, many times even reducing them in quality so the models and textures don't stand out too much compared to the vanilla graphics. I'm even affraid the mod I am currently working may be too "hi-res" when it's brought to Skyrim.

I'd rather sixy looking vanilla content and fewer mods, myself. Don't get me wrong, mods are cool, but still.

Mod added content generally looks better than the vanilla content anyway, due to fewer resource constraints. A mod doesn't have to run on the consoles, and a modder doesn't have to run to a schedule.

Mods don't depend of Beth devs but of all the community. So, there will be as many Skyrim mods as the community wants them to be.

I think having days/weeks to perfect the textures/model is a luxury the Bethesda staff don't have.

To work on an individual item for an extended period should probably allow for as good, if not superior visuals on the mods.

...yes, I'm aware of that. My point wasn't "screw mods and screw modders, I hate them", it was "I would rather". The OP raised a point about graphical quality limiting the numbers of quality mods due to the modelling/texturing demands on modders, and I was responding to that specific point.

Well, after seeing wonders like Qarl's Texture Pack, Better Cities or any of the hi-quality mesh replacements/new armor-weapon meshes, I think modders won't have much problems to adapt to the new engine...

Plus, to be fair, Skyrim's graphics doesn't seem to be so hyper-realistic that modders would need a CGI computer and amazing amounts of time to do a new model. Or at least that the general impression, which I share.

Oh, agreement. In both Morrowind and Oblivion, I found a lot of mods actually improved the graphical quality overall due to being phenomenal looking all on their lonesome. As I said though, simply responding to specific question.

We shouldnt have to use mods to make our gameplay experiance better.. Beshesda is milking us for our money and not giving us what is expected/required in a REAL game. If the technology is there then they need to learn that presentation is everything.

Community mods are... free. Bethesda doesn't make a cent from 'em.

Isn't that a little cheap?