We've heard encouraging things recently, about how dynamic the world of Skyrim is.

Dragonfire, and your fire spells, can light the scenery aflame. Oil can also be lit on fire.

I couldn't be happier, as I usually play a fire battlemage. But I can't help wondering what other magic<-->environment combinations are planned for skyrim?

Can certain frost spells freeze the ground? Can lightning course through puddles of water, electrocuting everyone standing in it? Will fire melt snow, to a certain extent?

Could a frost mage traverse a lake by freezing the surface as he goes? By the same token, could a fire mage melt a hole in the ice of a frozen lake, dodging just in time to trick a troll into falling in?

Possibilities possiblities. What are your thoughts on this? How likely do you think each of those possibilities are? Do you have any ideas of your own on the matter?

I do like the idea of water and lightning :chaos:

Honestly, I think that it would be a pretty fantastic if a person could thundershock NPCs that are in water and the many other ideas that you presented were very interesting. I mean there are so many possibilities for Skyrim, I don't know what to expect from Todd Howard for this new game, but I really hope that he is listening to his fans and taking notice to the good questions that are asked like the one you have presented. There are a lot of so called fans that probably repeat the same questions to him, and at a certain point a person can just get bored reading or listening if they already know what to expect and make the decisions for their fans without caring about their input.

I like. Hopefully all spells will have multiple applications. It would be cool if you could construct ice walls using frost spells. Sealing off cave paths and forcing enemies to break though the walls.

Hmmm I wouldn't mind freezing lakes to walk over them. Though I suppose that would make the waterwalk spell useless. Or hey, how bout getting a waterbreathing spell, jump under water, bandit or whatever follows, and you freeze exit out? Thata be awsomeness.

Well, we can extrapolate environment effect expectations from what Todd's already disclosed - he's only talked about effects on the environment from fire, and I think we can safely assume effects from other elements and spells, hopefully. In any case, going to be an awesome game!


Spiders already do this to us apparently, with webs. One of the first things on my modding to-do list for Skyrim is to make a web-summoning spell using those

Interesting idea about an ice barrier - we know that crossing fire with shockwave makes a AOE wave of fire - perhaps crossing frost with a shield spell creates an ice barrier?

I'm not sure how difficult some things, such as freezing water and electrocuting beings in water, would be to implement, but fire melting snow, for example, could be as simple as applying a decal... similar to how bullets leave bullet holes in most shooters.

Skyrim has some new weather and environmental techs, snow may no longer be a decal.

Freezing water shouldn't be too difficult - indie games like minecraft and magicka handled it fine.

I would love to see some of these environmental effects in Skyrim. The lightning electrocuting multiple enemies at once in water sounds especially interesting.

- Frost spells might give the surrounding area a frosty look, maybe.
- Lightning coursing through water, that would be fun!
- Snow WILL MELT under fire (in other words, a "burnt ground" texture is overlaid. Look in the gameplay trailer when the dragon burns the ground, then Dovahkiin stands up - The grounds is on faiaaaaah

*cough* Infamous *cough* :ninja:

Yup.
Just a note: frost spells give characters a "frosty" look. I'm sure it does the same with the environment if it's an area effect or something.

Fire will burn. I'm pretty sure it will cause flames on trees and such, though for a limited period of time of course.

Great Idea I sure hope devs take a look at these nice threads its very well written and phrased i hope they do implement these features

How about electricity on your sword hurts enemies every time you cross swords, like when one of you blocks the other

Water and a fire spell to create a steam cloud that disorients and damages enemies standing in the puddle.
Mud and a frost spell, that roots enemies standing in it to the spot for a while.
Negative effect: fire and frost cancel each other out.