After seeing 30+ dungeons, I've seen enough to say that skyrim dungeons are designed quite well.

+There's a great variety of big and small dungeons.
+There are alot of notable ones have unique atmospheres and design.
+Scale in some dungeons is very very impressive.
+Good incoporation of lore into most dungeons
+Interesting trap placement
+Fitting environment + enemies for the types of dungeon.

- some dungeons only had 1 enemy type
- some puzzles are stupid.
- dungeons with dragon walls/main quest/guild quest were much better designed.

overall, dungeon design in skyrim made dungeon crawling much more enjoyable to me.

They're too bright, making it too easy and giving no purpose to light spells or torches. And darker dungeons would be better at revealing stuff more dramatically, like huge lakes etc.

But other than that, I'm liking them.

Your forgetting that, while traps are placed interestingly, the damage they produce is negligible. The fact you can shrug off getting hit in the face by a massive log or impaled one a fast-swinging wall of spikes but be one-hit by a giant's club... well....

Too bright....

As said above, my only gripe with Skyrim's dungeons is that the traps are kinda pointless.

If they ignored armor or something they would be way more dangerous.

This!

When will they learn? :sadvaultboy:

I thought it seems like Skyrim dungeons are 5 arch type designs used over and over and over and slightly modified....

The bandit cave/mine

The draugr crypt

The underground dwemer type

The type with those blind alien looking creatures

The kind with webs all over and animals inside

I could pretty much sware thats it , 5 dungeons recycled over and over with tweaks to the layout....

yerp way too bright!

every cave in this planet has people roaming in there 24/7 lighting candles

seems so unrealistic


im waiting for a mod whic removes the candles and lights!


please the CK cant come any sooner!!!!

They're just too bright. Waiting for some Darker Dungeons mods from the community before playing a stealthy character.

Well, count the various mixes of each of those types and you've got a pretty decent list.

I like the caves in the north that start as icy tunnels then move into buried ancient Nord or dwarven ruins.

Agreed, I like them, although I do miss Aleid ruins. And they are TOO bright. And the traps don't do anything. If they did, it would actually be a little suspenseful. Although I can see it being frustrating for someone spending 45 minutes running through a dungeon without saving just at the last minute to be killed by a trap. that would be frustrating. That happened to me with OOO for Oblivion a number of times. Just picking locks could get you killed.

as far as positives go, some of us appreciate the effort of the nuances. in an undead dungeon, you find embalming tools, soul gems, poisons. what you don't find is a bolt of cloth, a cabbage, silver cups and a ruby.

i personally like the lighting. bethesda even fades the lighting as you transition - i assume this is to simulate a character's eyes adjusting.

I got hit by a truck with a forked cow pusher on the front broke 8 ribs dislocated a shoulder got a concussion and had internal bleeding, and i still walked too the hospital so this is fine for me.

The lighting's fine. That said, Alied Ruins were more interesting than many Skyrim dungeons in my opinion.

Agreed.

Also my annoyance with dungeons is apparent. I can't seem to find a single one not attached to a quest of some sort. Every one of the dungeons I happen to roam upon ends up being a minor quest dungeon of some sort.

Game says I have visited over 100 dungeons so far. It did not feel like that many which is further proof for me that dungeons are much improved. I hated dungeons in Oblivion to the point that I avoided them. I love going in Skyrim dungeons.
1. So far each one except 2 for me have appeared to be unique.
2. Found some dungeons where two different enemies are fighting each other. I feel that the variety of mobs is improved and fresh.
3. Many have the creepy feeling like some baddie will jump out at any moment.
4. Find the dragon ones the most fun. Dragon priest and lords battles are interesting. Feel like the loot and dragon word at the end are good payoffs.
5. Many have good books in them that add to the Lore.
6. Have not experienced any glitches or frame rate drops in them. (note: I am having bugs and lag outside of dungeons). This tells me that they took time in their code unit testing and additional testing to make these stable.

Overall, the Skyrim dungeons demonstrate that Bethesda put a lot of thought and care into the design and coding.

You are forgetting the same use of mobs in every single one though...

Dungeons have either 2 groups of creatures:

Draughr/Bandits

Falmer/Automatons

I wish they would add more kinds of things in later games. Really gets old of seeing the same things in every single dungeon

What's with the brightness? I'm so annoyed by this that I play with my screen brightness rather well down. Waiting for Natural Lights.



Wow. You deserve this :cookie:

One tweak I'd like to see is a few dungeons with multiple paths to the goal. Also, traps could also be deadlier and more diversity among enemies is always welcome. These are fairly minor points IMO, and overall the dungeons are a high point in the game and very well done.

There have been so many dungeons that caused me to stop and snap a few screenshots...

I like the dungeons in Skyrim and have to admit they have done a much better job of hiding the copy / paste than Oblivion (some dungeons you literally could stand in a room and think which dungeon am I in?). I'm not saying there aren't spots where you can see the similarities, because there are, but it's a big step up on Oblivion, which in turn was a big step up from Morrowind, hopefully this trend continues in the next game.

I did feel that some traps should do a lot more to you though. Having some fell enemies in one blow, yet barely tickle you, seems odd at times given how hardy those same enemies are when smacking them with a sword. Traps should, in my opinion, be things that really scare you if you trigger them, regardless of your level or gear.

quoting Hadvar: "Who... are you?"

IMO the dungeons are too linear and (barring a handful of exceptions) devoid of useful loot. Most have the same basic design of one corridor with a potential boss at the end and a master chest full of useless leveled loot, and of course the stupid quick-exit that's almost always a hidden path that takes you back to the beginning (or otherwise pops you out the other end of the mountain or something like that).

They're also far too bright for my liking. I was really disappointed that were no pitch black dungeons like those Draugr crypts in Bloodmoon (the TES3 expansion pack).

What I do like about the dungeons though is that some have interesting stories that you can read about in various journals and whatnot. And also, if they are inhabited by semi-intelligent life forms (i.e. NOT Draugr, Falmer or Dwemer robots), you can sneak in and overhear some funny/interesting conversations. Sadly, almost all the dungeons are inhabited by the ever-moronic Draugr, Falmer and Dwemer robots.

Also, can I take this opportunity to express my huge disappointment at what they've done to the Falmer (=Snow Elves). Why did they turn them into blind, primitive goblins? What a wasted opportunity... The Falmer could've easily added to Skyrim that same 'magic' that the Dwemer added to Morrowind. Instead, they're just generic monsters. Boo, Bethesda! BOO!!!

I love them. HAd yet to find a dungeaon I feel I've vistied before, except when I have. But even when I've vistited Bleak Falls Barrow already on my four previous characters it is fun.
Just like Vilverin, that was a dungeon I always did and really like.

I am liking them too especially some being a little longer. Lots of easter eggs and things to unlock.