Didn't find a topic about that, so, please Bethesda, add better Water than it had been in Oblivion.
In Morrwind we got some real amazing new water for that time, but in Oblivion I wasn't that impressed by it.
When I think about Skyrim and its coast I imagine a rough and wild sea with big waves crashing on cliffs.
Found a video demonstration about some really cool water physics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JrM4ujLY_A

And Crysis had some amazing water effects, too and it's now more than 3 years old
Ocean
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LnoD5R_VMM
Lake+Rivers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-d6tT34A3A&feature=related

Imagine those water effects in Skyrim, with some blizzards and so on, damn, I really want that

This has been discussed in the "I want better graphics" kind of threads. But still...

I like this Crysis video of the water even better
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SwPlb8SebE

I really hope for something like that, and REAL shorelines as well, and yes... REAL big waves too. I imagine the ocean up in the north being huge with big stormy waves

Edit: Tessellation really does a lot here... it can make a... big difference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPQ5Vy_5MP0
Hope they include that.

I was scared of the water in oblivion scared a slaughterfish might bite my leg off! :stare:

Maybe after we get realistic water and all the hardware has been allocated to it Skyrim can be a film... about waves!

Amazing water effects are pretty, and we all want something better than Oblivion. In the grand scheme of things, though, it's more trouble than it's worth. Especially on a multi platform game.

You are kidding right? Why not use the technlogy when it's out there, well optimized and ready to use. There has to be a balance of gameplay and graphics. It seems as if most people on these forums don't care about graphics, or classify it as not important. No idea why, really. Perhaps it's because you've gotten used to Oblivion's now very poor graphics and fail to realize the development that has been occuring for the past years.
To blame on a multi-platform game is a really really bad excuse as well. I have two words for you about that: Crysis 2.

If Skyrim looks outdated when its released, they'll sell a lot less than they would otherwise. Water is one of the main graphical features.

Then only add the highest option for the PC version, they should stop letting the console version ruin the PC version as well.

One of the things I always stop to check out is the water in games. Good water graphics for some reason has always been important to my immersion factor, and if you can swim underwater then that makes it much more important to have good water graphics. Yes, give us better water graphics !!!

And off topic, give us more areas to explore underwater.

Crow and hlvr, you both make good points. One primary thing that I forgot was that Oblivion was developed for 360 and ported to PC. Hopefully Skyrim will be developed for all three platforms simultaneously.

I forgot about that. Good point. Much better underwater life is a must. Fishes, sea creautres, perhaps even some big deadly sea monsters.
Underwater caves, underwater ruins, more shipwrecks, hidden treasures, etc. Things like that are a lot fun. It gives you a whole new place to explore.
Instead of all water being empty with some rocks like in Oblivion. Very very boring.

One thing I loved in Morrowind was this. There were some really cool, very hidden places underwater..
A sunken daedric ruin that rumours whispered about, and a forgotten dwemer ruin faaar out in the ocean near tiny tiny island. Perfect!

I think if we're going the route of improving water based gameplay then the swimming animations need a major upgrade. I want to see my character's arms actually doing some swimming.

Agreed, they need to liven up the underwater life. Since this is taking place in a cold region it might be cool to be swimming underwater and come to a place where the top of the water is frozen (they had that in MW), and you could maybe find certain areas where the ice layer is thin enough to break through or hope you have enough air to swim further to find openings.

Water current physics would be nice too especially if it could be worked into making it a challenge to get to a certain point across a river or underwater area.

Yes I'd like that too. I'm hoping for a much more improved first person view in general. Where you can see your arms much more... see your legs when running if looking down, etc.

One thing I'd also like, kind of off topic, is to be able to fish. That would be really nice and fun I think.

Most definitely need air and water animal mechanics. The lack of the latter made it impossible to even mod in a decent fishing system.

Underwater Life could be like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW2zCy90TEY

Fishing could be implemented as a mini game like in Lego Island 2 ^^
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGLB8OXLCzk

But tbH this minigame was kinda annoying, so a better version would be great

I want them to change the visibility when being underwater, you can't really see anything in oblivion while being underwater...
Not that there would be anything to see, unless you drag in a bandit there and drown him to death

yah I hope we see some awesome water effects

You'll see me use this example quite a bit since it's the best-looking game I've played, to date, but Just Cause 2, a multiplatform, sandbox game, had beaches with crystal clear, realistic water that lapped against the shore in docile waves. This was on my PS3. Water that reacts to the shore and isn't dark blue when right on the shore would be perfect, for me.

if only.....





id like some water to be still though, it would be epic if the aggressiveness of the waves changed with whats going on (or even the water freezing over)

Clearer video of the first link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AU4vDIRcChE

It could be done for all platforms, just look at Red Dead Redemption's river, that had a current as someone mentioned and animated water with rapids and easier blending with waterfalls and different water planes.

I just want something to be afraid of when I go in the water. Like sharks...

i was playing the xbox 360 game "army of two", and there is one mission when your on the side of an aircraft carrier.
all i can say is that i was blown away, not only by the AMAZING water effects (it was like a stormy ocean with waves and froth, looks pretty much real) but also that they got it to work on xbox.
i think that since skyrim is the northen most province, its seas should be rougher than a cats tounge.

The oceans in Crysis look really good, but the rivers, not so much.

I'd rather the rivers look like water in Half Life 2.

Agreed not sure how it would fit into the lore, but there needs to be some larger creatures to be found in the water than slaughterfish, mudcrabs, and the like. Something like a prehistoric looking shark, or sea serpent or something would go a long ways to make the water a more realistic environment, and one that you would think twice about entering.

Although I would love water like in Crysis, or the tech demo posted by the OP, I would be perfectly happy with water that looks like Two Worlds 2. It had physical properties, and even sailing (I would love sailing in an ES game!) Heres a few vids of the water, I think it looks pretty damn nice!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXlk-VWkBjM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb7roAckw60