"There are boats but you don't sail them around." : V - Skyrim

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 1:32 am

I think he may be implying there are some boats for fast travel - but they cannot be directly piloted a'la horses.

S'what I thought as well.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 1:58 am

I think Todd was referring mostly to large sailing ships the kind we saw in Oblivion and MW. Since this was part of a fast travel discussion the ships probably have a fast travel capability. Do they stay put? Who knows.

However I would be really disappointed if they have little row boats on random docks like in Oblivion that you couldn't use and were pretty pointless. I mean they have done both horses and small boats with Assassins creed, so I think we may see some small boat piloting. I just like to have things that appear in a game that have a purpose. If they leave row boats out, that's fine, but if they put them in at least make them usable in some fashion.

It'd be cool if you got in, pulled out two oars, and used left and right triggers (consoles) or left/right arrows to paddle and steer. Rhythm should be key to going fast. Also, using magic to propel yourself should also be an option! :toughninja:

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 1:19 am

Hmmm.... Is something this small really worth worrying about? I mean, the game will be out later this year. Why worry about the little things? Personally I'd love to see any use of boats, whether it's real time or not.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 7:24 am

In revolutionary Skyrim, boats sail you around?

Id like it if boats were used for fast travel, but I wouldnt mind if they werent. Im really happy with carriages as it is.
Id also like a boat to buy and live in, wouldnt even mind if it didnt sail. Some real life cities have houseboats that (almost) never sail.
But what Id really like to see is a funeral boat. In a tomb, if possible.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 3:02 am

Maybe all the boats are row boats.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 12:42 pm

Aw, that's a bit of a dissapointment. Anyone know if it would be possible to mod in?

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 2:32 am

I would be surprised if the boats moved at all... If they can be used for fast travel, it will be similar to the fast-travel of Morrowind where you just select where you go and get a loading screen.

I like the fact that he said "It's looking good right now" when talking about horses.... So they are working on them, they just might not succeed. (Please do!)

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 1:42 pm

The real question for me is: Can I take the carriages for myself and drive them around? - Like in Red Dead Redemption; Carriages were fast travel points in town, but you could also drive them if you wanted to.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 12:20 pm

I was never asking for controllable boats. That'd be so tacky. I was just wondering (and hoping) they'd have NPCs and some degree of Morrowind-style fast travel, or if they'd just be decorative like in Oblivion. :shrug:

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 6:15 am

all i have to say is that not only can y make boats in minecraft but you can sail them around in real time.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 11:35 am

all i have to say is that not only can y make boats in minecraft but you can sail them around in real time.

And they look like garbage.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 2:49 am

And they look like garbage.

Hey man, don't go dissing my USS Creeper. It's the finest 5-wooden-block galley in the Cube Ocean.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 12:47 pm

all i have to say is that not only can y make boats in minecraft but you can sail them around in real time.

Lets change everything into blocks then. I'm sure Beth will be able to add a lot more features that way.

» Tue Mar 29, 2011 11:16 pm

Lets change everything into blocks then. I'm sure Beth will be able to add a lot more features that way.

Making moving boats wouldn't be that hard. The number of polygons in the model doesn't change that.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 11:46 am

I also don't think the ships are going to move. If they did, it would be interesting to try to defend against a dragon attack on a ship.

I'm hoping for Morrowind like fast travel from dock to dock.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 8:05 am

Making moving boats wouldn't be that hard. The number of polygons in the model doesn't change that.

It would be kind of awkward dealing with the eastern and western sea-boundaries, though, making sure the player can't sail over to the LOD land that should be High Rock or Morrowind. Hitting an invisible wall as a person, though still jarring, seems less so than hitting an invisible boundary with a whole seafaring vessel.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 4:22 am

It would be kind of awkward dealing with the eastern and western sea-boundaries, though, making sure the player can't sail over to the LOD land that should be High Rock or Morrowind. Hitting an invisible wall as a person, though still jarring, seems less so than hitting an invisible boundary with a whole seafaring vessel.

I was more hoping you wouldn't be able to control them yourself, but rather they took routes in schedules, like NPCs, and you could hop on (after paying) at any point.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 8:26 am

I was more hoping you wouldn't be able to control them yourself, but rather they took routes in schedules, like NPCs, and you could hop on (after paying) at any point.

Well that would be more doable.

Another difficulty would lie in coordinating everything else with the movement of the ship. Like the loading doors to the ship's interior and the door-markers. I'm sure it could be done, it'd just mean work.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 3:06 am

Well, when I saw the statement, I assumed it meant that there are boats, but they're just there for ambience and don't really do anything, but if he was specifically talking about it in the context of fast travel, than it might just mean that you can't actually sail boats in real time, but they might still function like Morrowind's boats, serving as an alternate form of fast travel besides carriages, it wouldn't seem unrealistic as I can't see applying the same mechanics used for carriages to boats being that hard, especially if they're like Morrowind's travel services, as in, you select the option for travel services, choose a destination, and are instantly transported there with in-game time passing to reflect that you're actually traveling there by physical means, rather than teleporting, but I don't know what Bethesda's doing.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 12:50 pm

In the latest IGN Skyrim publication http://pc.ign.com/articles/116/1164053p1.html, there's a couple of paragraphs or so mentioning the fast travel system in Skyrim. We're already well-aware that carriages will be in the game as an alternative to using map travel, but more interestingly Todd makes a mention of boats: "there are boats but you don't sail them around."

So, I'm a bit confused here. When he says "you don't sail them around", I'd assumed he means they'll have Morrowind-style travel services available (as opposed to realtime ship departures like in WoW). It'd certainly complement the carriage system well. Yet at the same time, for all we know he's just saying "Skyrim has boats in it but they don't do anything". Which may be a more realistic interpretation - but at the same time, it seems like kind of a redundant thing to say. It'd be like saying "Skyrim has rocks but you can't throw them at people". Not to mention every TES game has had boats, visual or otherwise, since Daggerfall.

Ideas?

CLARIFICATION: I don't care if we can sail them or not. That's not the point. I was just wondering if they'll have travel services like in Morrowind or just be decorative like in Oblivion.

I'd bet my bottom dollar they are just for looks. I can hope otherwise though, and I shall

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 3:47 am

I have understood nothing from that paragraph...I think Todd isn't giving clear comments on purpose for mild reactions LOL =P

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 12:26 am

Well nice if they will add some details on them
Ships and boats will rock with the wind improving the ambience in dock areas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ0he5fzszQ

There will be better ports with larger ships variations and details furniture like crane, docks, etc.
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=15648

Adding to them transportation option is not hard at all, even not need make them saleble in real time just provide such option.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 2:15 am

Well nice if they will add some details on them
Ships and boats will rock with the wind improving the ambience in dock areas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ0he5fzszQ

There will be better ports with larger ships variations and details furniture like crane, docks, etc.
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=15648

Adding to them transportation option is not hard at all, even not need make them saleble in real time just provide such option.

That boat rocking mod is a good idea, but it would make more sense if they were rocking side to side, rather than front and back.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 12:23 am

I'd like boats (and carriages) to be in real time, with schedules. You'd have to wait for one to come because they're not always static like in Morrowind, pay (or else it won't leave and the driver/other passengers will become aggressive after a while) and have the choice of admiring the view all the way or pressing a button to skip to destination.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 11:00 am

Almost certainly there will be some boats in the town in the behind the scenes video with the "Fishery" concept art.

By "boats you can't sail on," my guess is that there will be at least a few large, permanently moored boats like the ones in Oblivion where there are NPCs (or creatures) on board and interior maps possibly relating to quests.

I don't think these boats will be incorporated in any sort of fast travel system, unless a particular boat allows you to travel to a specific island for example, or some location related to a quest or DLC. My understanding is that it has already been confirmed that there is a universal fast travel you can access by clicking on points on the topographical map.

Also, since using these boats as a fast travel system would mean the PC is sailing on them, even if the visual act of sailing isn't shown onscreen. IMO this rules out boats being used for fast travel.