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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
File:SkyrimLogo.png
Developer(s)Bethesda Game Studios
Publisher(s)Bethesda Softworks
Director(s)Todd Howard
Composer(s)Jeremy Soule
SeriesThe Elder Scrolls
EngineCreation Engine
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
ReleaseNovember 11, 2011[1]
Genre(s)Action role-playing, open world
Mode(s)Single player (first-person and third-person view)

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (also referenced as Skyrim) is a role-playing video game being developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is the fifth installment in The Elder Scrolls action role-playing video game series, following The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. It is scheduled to be released on November 11, 2011 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Skyrim is set two hundred years after the events of Oblivion, in the eponymous land of Skyrim. The province has erupted into civil war after the assassination of its king. Concurrently, the god Alduin, who takes the form of a massive dragon, has arisen to destroy the world. The player character is the last living Dovahkiin (Dragonborn), and must fend off Alduin and save Skyrim from destruction.

Gameplay

See also: Gameplay of The Elder Scrolls series

Skyrim retains the traditional open world gameplay found in the Elder Scrolls series[2]. The player is free to roam the land of Skyrim at will. Within Skyrim lie five cities, and expanses of wilderness and mountainous ranges. When visiting cities, the player can complete activities such as cooking, farming and mining.[3] The player levels up by raising skills, and doing so allows for better items to be bought or looted from dungeons; it also increases the strength and variety of wilderness monsters. Eighteen skills are present in Skyrim, and the class system from Oblivion has been removed.[4] Perks are skill-specific abilities, organized in a system of branching groups called "skill trees". Each rise in level allows for another perk to be picked. There are 280 perks, which are selected over the course of fifty levels; however, the player's level can be raised past fifty indefinitely.[5] The on-screen heads-up display only appears when the player's health, stamina, or magicka is being depleted. Items and equipment layouts can be saved to a quick-access menu, and the pause-screen inventory menu is presented in a compass-style overlay;[3] while in the inventory, the player can rotate and zoom in on acquired items.[6]

Weapons can be created by the player at a forge and are assigned to each hand individually, allowing for dual-wielding[7]. To use magic atleast one hand must be free, leading to magic/weapon weilding in a way that should be familiar to players of Bioshock[8]. At the cost of stamina, the player can sprint and jump. Shields can be used with a bashing attack, and timing is required for blocking with a shield. Blunt, bladed, hacking and stabbing weapons each have specific advantages and roles; as an example, the player is granted the ability to perform finishing moves. Spells can be used in ranged and close combat forms. Spell types have specific qualities; a cold spell slows and drains stamina, whilst a fire spell causes prolonged damage through burning, and may also ignite the environment.[9] When practicing archery, arrows take longer to draw back than in previous Elder Scrolls games, but do greater damage. Because of this, arrows are expensive and considered rarities. A player equipped with a bow can use it defensively in close combat, in a charging counterattack. The player can sneak, and if non-player characters (NPCs) detect player movement, they will become alerted and actively seek the player. Daggers are specifically effective when used in a sneak attack, inflicting devastating damage.[9]

Predecessors to Skyrim made use of an artificial intelligence system known as Radiant AI. Skyrim makes use of an updated system known as Radiant Story.[10] As stated by creative director Todd Howard, "[w]e take the paradigm for reading AI, but we let people do what they want under extra parameters".[11] This allows side-quests to be dynamically altered based on player actions; they are tailored to the player's abilities and progress within the game. As an example, the player might be sent off to a dungeon that has not been previously explored, and face enemies that are tailored to the player's preferred combat style.[12] Aside from dynamically altering side-quests, Radiant Story furthers the personality of NPCs. They will interact with their environment, such as by working at farms, mills, woodcutting camps and mines. They will also interact with the player character, such as by requesting favours, asking for training, or challenging the player character to a duel; these random encounters are inspired by Fallout 3, an earlier game created by Bethesda.[10]

Folklore

Skyrim utilizes the Creation Engine, allowing for new weather effects.[13] Dragons are encountered in Skyrim's game world.

Folklore is commonplace within the game world of Skyrim. Creatures such as mammoths and sabre-toothed cats are encountered throughout the game, and can be slain.[3] The legendary dragons have an especial influence on gameplay and story. They are described as being "fierce beasts"[14] and are a challenging opponent for the player. Different races of dragons will be encountered throughout Skyrim, either alone or in small groups. They can speak directly to the player character,[10] and will attack cities and towns at random, non-scripted encounters. They will "merrily ravage towns without warning",[11] often nose-diving to the ground before marching through city streets and breathing fire, which engulfs and causes significant damage to city structures.[12]

Through a course of events, the player character learns that he/she is "Dragonborn."[12] This allows the player to use dragon shouts. These are powerful skills gained by slaying dragons, examples of which include teleportation, slowing down time, and summoning a dragon to aid the player. Dragon shouts are described as "battle cries" spoken in the native language of the dragons.[15] There are over twenty different dragon shouts to be gained throughout the game, and they become more effective as the player absorbs the souls of slain dragons. A minority of non-player characters also have the ability to use dragon shouts.[16]

Synopsis

Plot

Skyrim is not a direct sequel to Oblivion; rather, it is a new chapter in the Elder Scrolls series, set two hundred years after the events of Oblivion[17]. In the premise to Skyrim, the Empire began ceding territory to the Elven nations it once ruled, because there was no heir to the Emperor's throne. The Blades had no one to defend, and gradually died, were murdered, or secluded themselves from the rest of the world.[16] After the king of Skyrim was assassinated, a civil war broke out amongst the native Nord race – the majority being those who wished for Skyrim to secede from the Empire, and the rest being those who wished for Skyrim to stay in the Empire.[18]

As with previous Elder Scrolls games, Skyrim begins with the player character as an unknown prisoner.[18] The player character eventually learns that Skyrim's civil war is last in a sequence of prophetic events foretold by the Elder Scrolls, who also foretell of the return of Alduin, the Nordic god of destruction. Taking the form of a gigantic dragon, Alduin is prophesied to consume the world. The player character is the last Dovahkiin (Dragonborn), a dragon hunter anointed by the gods to help fend off the threat Alduin poses to Skyrim and Tamriel. Aiding the player is Esbern (voiced by Max von Sydow), one of the last of the Blades.[16] The main quest of the game currently takes an estimated twenty hours to complete, in addition to the side-quests and guilds also available across Skyrim.[19]

Setting

Skyrim's game world is the eponymous province of Skyrim. It is a northern province of Tamriel, the continent on which all the games in the series have taken place. Skyrim is roughly the same size as Oblivion's game world Cyrodiil, which is 16 square miles (41 square kilometers) in area.[20] Within Skyrim lie five cities, larger than Cyrodiil's cities, as well as smaller townships and expanses of wilderness. Much of Skyrim's topography is mountainous, and dragons are frequently encountered when exploring the wilderness. There are over 130 dungeons scattered across Skyrim, and when the player enters a dungeon for the first time, the monsters within will lock to the player's level permanently, even if visited later at a higher level. Fast-travelling is a returning feature, allowing the player to instantly travel to any location that has been previously visited.[19][21]

Development

Skyrim began pre-production shortly after the Xbox 360 release of Oblivion in 2006.[22] It was first hinted in August 2010, when lead designer Todd Howard revealed through interviews that Bethesda was working on a game that had been in development for two years, and that progress was very far along.[23] In November of the same year, a journalist from Eurogamer Denmark reported overhearing a developer on a plane talking about the project, a new Elder Scrolls game,[24][25] although Bethesda did not comment on the report. At the Spike Video Game Awards in December, Todd Howard appeared on stage to unveil a teaser trailer which announced the title of the game, as well as the release date.[26] He said that "[i]t's exciting finally to announce the game. [...] We've been working for many years on Skyrim and the technology behind it. A new Elder Scrolls game has been a long time coming, and we can't wait to show it off."[27] The February 2011 edition of Game Informer magazine revealed the first details about the content of Skyrim.[22] Their website revealed that the game would introduce a new in-world language, dragon language, which would be important in Skyrim's story and gameplay.[28] In a January 2011 interview with Dutch magazine Power Unlimited, Howard elaborated on Bethesda's design goals for graphics in Skyrim. He said that "We primarily look at how we can improve facial expressions and animations, graphics-wise," and that "[we] are working at pop-up issues, and we want to make sure that the graphics of the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 are alike. All three will look just as good, aside from the higher resolution and the anti-aliasing of the PC, of course."[29]

Within Skyrim's universe is the usage of 'dragon language'. The alphabet was constructed to look aeshetically dragon-like, hence the use of claw-like markings.[15]

Jeremy Soule, who composed the soundtrack to Morrowind and Oblivion, returns to compose Skyrim's soundtrack. "Sons Of Skyrim" is Skyrim's theme, and was recorded with a choir of over thirty people, singing in the world’s language of Draconic.[30] The language was conceived by concept artist Adam Adamowicz, who developed a 34-character runic alphabet for the game.[15] The lexicon of Draconic was expanded as needed; as lead designer Bruce Nesmith explained in an interview with PlayStation Official Magazine UK, "[e]very time we want to say something, we add to the lexicon so it has enough that we could say most common things. If we wanted to do something special, we'd add some words.[11] Swedish film actor Max von Sydow voices Esbern, a Blade who aids the player character throughout the main quest.[30]

Skyrim utilizes the Creation Engine, a game engine developed internally by Bethesda.[13] The draw distance is farther than before and the technology allows shadows to be created by any structure or item. Speaking with Game Informer in January 2011, creative director Todd Howard explained that "[b]ecause our worlds are so big all of the lighting has to be dynamic".[10] SpeedTree was used to produce flora for previous games; instead of this, flora is produced using Bethesda's own technology. The developer states that this allows more detail in flora;[16] the technology allows designers to assign tree branches different weights, determining how wind affects the tree. Wind also affects the game world in other areas too, such as by determining the flow and direction of water in rivers and streams.[10] The engine allows snow to fall dynamically, scanning the game world and then determining where and how snow falls upon the terrain. Future titles developed by Bethesda Studios will also make use of the Creation Engine.[31] Character and creature animations in Skyrim are generated with Havok’s Behaviour toolset. It allows characters to fluidly cycle between walking, jogging and running, as well as increasing the efficiency of the third-person camera.[10] It also allows conversations between the player and non-player characters (NPCs) to be rendered in real-time. NPCs will move around, perform tasks and make body gestures whilst conversing with the player. Children are present in the game,[16] and NPCs will react with each other, such as by fighting over loot that the player has dropped.[32]

The art design of Skyrim is described as being "very different", as stated by art director Matt Carofano.[33] While Skyrim's predecessor Oblivion is described as being "standard European fantasy", a design objective for Skryim was to make the game world feel more realistic and "closer to home".[33] Carofano described Skyrim's art design as 'epic reality'; each location in Skyrim is designed to feel unique and offer "dramatic views".[33] The game world is described as being hand-crafted; as lead designer Bruce Nesmith explained in an interview with Official Xbox Magazine UK, "[t]he whole world is hand-crafted. In Oblivion we did some generated landscapes, and there's none of that anymore."[34] While Oblivion's dungeons were created by one designer, Skyrim's dungeons are created by a team of eight designers.[34][35] With character design, efforts have been made to make each of the races unique from each-other.[33] In addition, character creation has been furthered from previous Elder Scrolls games, introducing new customisation options, such as pre-built beards and faces, and otherwise simplifying facial construction.[12][33]

References

  1. ^ http://pc.ign.com/articles/114/1143498p1.html
  2. ^ "Skyrim Details and News: Skyrim Open World". WordPress. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
  3. ^ a b c Reilley, Jim (11 January 2011). "New Elder Scrolls V Skyrim Details". IGN. Retrieved 13 January 2011.
  4. ^ Staff (8 December 2011). "First 'Skyrim' Info And Screens Surface". TheSixthAxis. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  5. ^ Cottee, James (6 February 2011). "Skyrim to Feature Branching Perk System, Horse Armour". Games On Net. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  6. ^ Bertz, Matt (28 January 2011). "Inside Skyrim's Menu System Overhaul". www.gameinformer.com. Game Informer. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
  7. ^ Plunkett, Luke (7 January 2011). "The Next Elder Scrolls Has New Combat & Levelling". kotaku.com. Kotaku. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  8. ^ "Skyrim Details and News: Interesting info". WordPress. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  9. ^ a b Bertz, Matt (24 January 2011). "Skyrim: Building Better Combat". www.gameinformer.com. GameInformer. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Bertz, Matt (17 January 2011). "The Technology Behind The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim". Game Informer. Retrieved 17 January 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |web= ignored (help)
  11. ^ a b c "The Future Of Fantasy (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim)". PlayStation Official Magazine UK (055). United Kingdom: Future plc: 70–81. 2011. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  12. ^ a b c d The Game Informer Show (3 February 2011). "Todd Howard Skyrim Q&A". Game Informer (Podcast). Game Informer. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  13. ^ a b Sources that refer to the internally-developed Creation Engine include:
    i. Reilley, Jim (13 August 2010). "Rage Tech Being Kept Inside Bethesda Family". ign.com. IGN. Retrieved 12 December 2010.;
    ii. Francis, Tom (12 December 2010). "Confirmed: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will use an entirely new engine". www.pcgamer.com. PC Gamer. Retrieved 12 December 2010.;
    iii. Breckon, Nick (12 December 2010). "The Elder Scrolls V engine built internally". twitter.com. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  14. ^ Dyce, Andrew (3 February 2011). "'Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim' Director Details Dragon Design". GameRant. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  15. ^ a b c Miller, Matt (20 January 2011). "Skyrim's Dragon Shouts". Game Informer. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
  16. ^ a b c d e Miller, Matt (2011). "Emerging From Legend (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim)". Game Informer (213). United States: GameStop Corporation: 46–60. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  17. ^ "Skyrim Details and News: Interesting info". WordPress. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  18. ^ a b "Alduin's Wall". www.gameinformer.com. Game Informer. The Sons of Skyrim (interactive page). Retrieved 12 January 2011.
  19. ^ a b "Dutch cover story: Interesting info". Bethesda Softworks Forums. 24 January 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  20. ^ Chihdo, Danny. "Reinventing Oblivion". Microsoft. Archived from the original on 23 December 2007. Retrieved 17 April 2007.
  21. ^ "Skyrim Map Analasys: Interesting info". WordPress. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  22. ^ a b Bethesda Blog (16 December 2010). "The Bethesda Podcast Episode 6: Enter the Dragon". bethblog.com (Podcast). ZeniMax Media Inc. Retrieved 23 December 2010. {{cite podcast}}: External link in |website= (help)
  23. ^ Branwell, Tom (16 August 2010). "Bethesda's Todd Howard (interview)". www.eurogamer.net. Eurogamer. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  24. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (23 November 2010). "Rumour: Elder Scrolls 5 in the works". www.eurogamer.net. Eurogamer. Retrieved 23 November 2010.
  25. ^ West, Kristian (22 November 2010). "The Elder Scrolls V på vej". www.eurogamer.dk (in Danish). Eurogamer. Retrieved 23 November 2010.
  26. ^ Skyrim's unveiling to the world. ZeniMax Media / Spike VGA. 13 December 2010. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  27. ^ "Bethesda Softworks Announces The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Bethesda Softworks. 13 December 2010. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  28. ^ Miller, Matt (6 January 2011). "Translating The Cover". Game Informer. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  29. ^ Hess, Bill (25 January 2011). "New Elder Scrolls V Skyrim Story & Graphics Details". Attack of the Fanboy. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  30. ^ a b Hanson, Ben (14 January 2011). "The Sounds Of Skyrim". Game Informer. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
  31. ^ Cullen, Johnny (25 January 2011). "Future Bethesda titles to "take advantage" of Skyrim engine". VG247. Retrieved 25 January 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |web= ignored (help)
  32. ^ Raven, Chriss (8 January 2011). "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Details and info". TGN TV. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
  33. ^ a b c d e Hanson, Ben (26 January 2011). "The Art Of Skyrim". Game Informer. Retrieved 12 February 2011.
  34. ^ a b Channell, Mike (2011). "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim". Official Xbox Magazine UK (070). United Kingdom: Future plc: 30–45. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  35. ^ Linzmaier, Ralf (February 2011). "The Elder Scrolls 5 Skyrim". ComputerBild Spiele: 6–14. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)

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