Bethesda has consistently told us the world in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will be "slightly smaller" in topographical acreage than the world in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, but "feel larger" due to impassible (by a direct/straight rout) mountainous terrain. But, the following quote from CVG's recent hands-on impression of the game, "http://www.computerandvideogames.com/318715/previews/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-bigger-better-and-more-dynamic/", has me slightly worried:


As this is in conflict with what we've been told so far, my initial thought was it's some sort of misunderstanding or poor use of language. It could be that their word choice is poor. Or perhaps they are unaware of how much smaller The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind's world (25 square kilometers) actually was in comparison to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion's (41 square kilometers). Maybe they are ignorant to the fact that the world in each game is scaled and are assuming it's smaller because Skyrim itself, according to Elder Scrolls maps and lore, is supposed to be smaller than both Cyrodiil and Morrowind. However, I can't entirely rule out the prospect that they are indeed referring to "the game" in relation to the scaled worlds of previous Elder Scrolls games. And they have actually played the game, so some degree of credence is warranted.

Can someone make me feel better and prove my worrying is ridiculous. If the world in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is indeed smaller than the world in The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, then The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will have the smallest play space of the series so far.

I want to know how impassable mountains make a world feel larger? They dont, if anything they make the world seem smaller. look at NV invisible walls for the proof. With that said, I dont care if its a little smaller than Ob. I just dont see how impassable areas make a world feel larger, when they dont.

Yeah people arent bothered about anything.
It doesnt matter if its forced third person or no armour degradation or no spellmaking or even less skills and even less spells or no atrributes or no birthsigns or merged greaves and cuirass.
Its not bothering, is it, its all good?

Seriously, blatant siding with the cool people no matter what they say is so high-school.

I'm not worried. Oblivion was big, sure. But much of it was automated. There was not much in the way of hand placed and personal touches. Much of it felt boring and meaningless. I would not mind a slightly smaller world, if the world itself had much more care and work put into it. You know, doing more with less?

It is probably wrong of me to describe the mountains as "impassible." In truth, you can pass over the mountains, just not by a direct rout; so instead of just looking at your compass and going in the direction it tells you to go, you have to devise an indirect more intricate rout with many turns to arrive at your destination—walking zig-zag from point A to will B will take longer than walking directly in a straight line from point A to point B. You cold also think of it like this: if the sense of a space's size is derived from the time it takes to traverse that space, the protraction of time to traverse the space will make the space feel larger despite actually being the same size.

Another important concept to keep in mind is surface area versus topographic area. Think of looking at a paper pyramid on a table from above. Then think of unfolding all its sides and facing them separately flat on the table. From above, the unfolded pyramid looks to cover more area than it did when folded, but its surface area has not changed. The mountains will behave much the same way, not only lengthening the time it takes to traverse the land, but also giving the developers more surface area to pack content.

So high school.

Please, pretend I am cool and explain to me why Oblivion gate type levels are the best thing ever. Show me why Oblivion level-scaling is superior.

Poster above me: way to sidestep the actual point.

Which is the same as Oblivion and Morrow.

Still not seeing how mountains will make Skyrim feel any bigger than any other ES mountain range has been in previous titles.

Mountains don't necessarily equal NV's invisible walls. These mountains can be walked around, walked over through multiple paths, and walked directly to the opposite side via caves. Lots of gameplay opportunites here. Not straight invisible walls.

Except its not the same as past Elder Scrolls games. The mountains in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim are much taller, more numerous, and vertical than past Elder Scrolls games, greatly magnifying the effect mountains have previously had.

But that doesnt add anything size wise. If they are impassable and unclimbable, it doesnt make anything feel bigger, just cut off.

But that doesnt add anything size wise. If they are impassable and unclimbable, it doesnt make anything feel bigger, just cut off.

But that doesnt add anything size wise. If they are impassable and unclimbable, it doesnt make anything feel bigger, just cut off.

If I remember correctly, Todd said they're difficult to climb, not unclimbable.

But that doesnt add anything size wise. If they are impassable and unclimbable, it doesnt make anything feel bigger, just cut off.

But that doesnt add anything size wise. If they are impassable and unclimbable, it doesnt make anything feel bigger, just cut off.

If I remember correctly, Todd said they're difficult to climb, not unclimbable.

They aren't. I shouldn't even have to tell you this at this point. Seriously, you should know better.

For everyone, The game map is laterally smaller than previous games. But it has more vertical space.

For those of you who refuse to understand this, I'll just say this.

The game's quality AND quantity is measured in 3 dimensions, not just 2.

If there is a lot of vertical content it absolutely adds size. You're only looking at it one dimensionaly.

I remember that too, I just hope there is an incentive to climb them and there are meaningful reasons to climb them, such as dungeons, relics and towns up there.

Again, Im going by TCs posts.


There's no climbing, levitation and possibly no jump heights. There's only one dimension to look at it from.

What the hell are you talking about.