public pre alpha can be in house Delta, that may not make sense but the scales being used are very different public vs internally.

for example- according to luke timmens (bungie engineer) when halo reach was shown to gameinformer it was in a public alpha state while internally they where far beyond that in content. like wise when the halo reach public beta came out the studio was at internal delta. The nomenclature can be confusing but to be honest i wouldn't worry this time last year Halo Reach was at the same state of completion and it is fantastic, it also released months earlier in September...

i would say Beth is right on track



thats another thing GI played a demo so they needed to have the most stable build possible for them, this means they probably played a version of Skyrim a month or 2 old so those screens are almost 5 months old. You cant have screenshots of a build that isnt stable it would look worse than the old stable builds. To finalize a build you have to reach a certain content point then you move on from there its the same as writing a basic program. The smart way is to implement something to the code environment then compile and recursively test before adding more rinse and repeat. On a game this process is alot more complicated as compiling could take days and then bugs occur

The Gameinformer videos and screenshots were collected on 08 Dec 2010. Check out the Behind the Scenes video. The date is on the menu board in the lunch room. Some of the screenshots may look funny because it is a freeze frame of a moving scene. Things will look much better when in motion. Your eye won't have time to catch the little flaws. Take the screenshot of the hunter stalking the elk, look at the hunters right sleeve with the hexagonal shape. Now imagine that sleeve blowing in the wind while the dappled shadows play across the scene as the hunter sneaks in for the kill. The splines in the sleeve are proof of Havok Cloth by the way.

I'm not really worried at all. The game still looks to be quite polished (take note of the screenshot of the wolves in the Gameinformer magazine, I believe that to be the most recent image in development) at this point. We don't really know the context in which they're referring to the game's development status as pre-alpha, anyway: are they speaking in terms of tech? Content? Quests?

I wouldn't worry about it.

Not surprising. Going by recent history the initial release will be a lateish beta. Why pay a bunch of beta testers when the pre-order crowd will serve the same function, but the money goes the other way?

this is good, because the screenshot of the guy with the bow stalking a deer is TERRIBLE

There are 5 basic stages of game making..

stage one.. plan

stage two screw up plan

stage three COFFEE!!!

stage four zzzzzzzzzzzzzZzZzZzZZZZ!!!

Stage five... how the hell did they do that?!?!?!?!?

We are in stage 2. which takes up the bulk of game making.

I agree, but just as a side note, I find it kind of funny that people think the game will look that much better later on. Yes, the pc version will look better, but hardly changing the looks of the game in its entirety. People seem to think that early screenshots and later screenshots will look dramatically different for some reason that I don't really understand...

What you need to know is that games have different time frames for development stages than regular software. Games can be considered pre-alpha until much closer to release because there are less closed doors, a lot is still discussed and considered open to modification until late.

I've been a beta tester for EA a few years ago and that was the case with a couple games like... i won't say much more. In most games, beta stage would start less than two months from release date when the game was quite polished overall and last less than a month, and there would be only a couple alphas with the latest lasting barely more than beta. It is generally called pre-alpha all the time before all that. This means, while Skyrim is pre-alpha, with 9 months left it's not that it has just started development.

So, there you have it, a nice insider view.

PS: Mods don't worry, my NDA is well out of effect by now

I hope Skyrim doesn't release on time... I don't have access to my computer till December because of school!

They didn't play anything. Bethesda played the game for them and showed what they wanted to. Game informer did not have the controller nor did they have free reign and be allowed to do and see anything they wanted.

Minecraft sold like hotcakes when it was still in Alpha

Look on the bright side guys, because they are still building the game they still have time to implement suggestions and ideas from you guys

Well, it seems the Skyrim team had a little celebration yesterday, cupcakes and all...seemed like they were pleased about something related to cell testing.

To me, that is progress.

If I remember correctly when Oblivion went gold in March of 2006, in less than three weeks, we had the game.

It's not like they are a 3-man company. They have plenty of resources, and experience, and several months to go. I believe they are professionals, and know what they are doing.

Remember, we haven't seen much yet, just a "drop in the bucket," so to speak. Will they be able to satisfy everybody's smallest wish? Probably not. I don't think any gaming company could. However, it is my guess, that based on Bethesda's past performance, Skyrim will probably be a very good game. I would be very much surprised if Skyrim does not get many awards.

Not trying to be a ranting devoted fan, but with respect to where the game is in development, my guess is it is a little to soon for us to collectively cry in our beer.

There is no RPG scheduled to be released this year, that I want more than Skyrim. Just for the record, I have already pre-ordered my copy and I am still very much looking forward to 11-11-11.

I think they make what they want to make, not what this forum wants them to make.

Maybe not, but from what I recall they have implemented things in their games that originally started out as user-made mods in their previous ones

Oh my golly goshness. Once again, I implore you to look at the image of the wolves again in the Gameinformer magazine. I think it has the most graphical fidelity as to what the final game will look like, and it's amazing. Among it, I see some added, clover-like foliage which is much more photorealistic than the ground coverage in the pond image, cleaner rocks with a less "plastic" look to them, and a more refined feel overall.

Alpha - A rough build of the game, partially complete, but not whole yet. Bits and pieces.
Beta - a nearly finished version of the game, playable, for bugs to be sorted out.
Pre alpha means there isn't a full "build" of the game yet. Pretty normal IMO.

semantics... your really making a big deal out of one part of a fairly massive post? The build GI played, sorry saw being played, is probably 5 months old by now thats the point i was making. Some of you guys are worse than fox news... seriously