Skyrim - Preview @ CVG

Dhruin

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CVG has a preview of Skyrim from their PS3 magazine, PSM3. It doesn't reveal anything new but does give some first-hand descriptions of dragon fighting and dungeon-delving. One thing some people will like is the intent to make bigger DLCs:
"For us, I'd like to do bigger things. Some of the bigger ones we did for Fallout 3 I thought were better. I like the Rockstar model too, where it feels more like an expansion pack. I don't know what we're going to do yet, but we want to do something that costs a bit more but is going to be more of a complete package. Quality over quantity... we're thinking bigger than with Fallout 3."
More information.
 
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I rather liked this part:

One cave has a shaft of light streaming in from the world above, the next has a stream running through the middle. According to Howard, the team is using ambient devices like water and light to guide players through some dungeons - presumably the ones expected to clock in at over an hour each. And where there's no natural light there are new ways of brightening each dungeon up.

Dovakin fires a globe of light from his staff, which sticks to a wall and illuminates a generous portion of the tunnel ahead. Will we be able to use this to distract enemies and create confusion? Very likely, if the enemy and non-player AI is as smart as Bethesda claim.

The developers are on record with a claim that no two areas will be alike, and the organic feel of the dungeons we've seen provides hope it's more than an idle boast. "The game world is built, all the quests are there," says producer Craig Lafferty. "But 300 hours is so much time. So, we're looking at making sure the game works properly wherever you go and whatever you do."

They mentioned 8 dungeon designers. Not sure I will be able to be entertained for 300 hours. But if I can get 50-80 out of it I will be more than happy. I suspect I will get closer to 100.
 
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If the dungens are a great as they have been talking about I should get out of it whatever it takes to explore all of them :). Considering I only gave Oblivion about 8 hours if that.
 
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DLCs nearing expansion size is good news for a change. I liked FO3's The Pitt and Point Lookout.

For the time-poor, such an addictive and potentially confusing game can seem intimidating, which explains Bethesda's decision to make Skyrim much more accessible and user-friendly. Not dumbeddown, just focused, elegant. Anyone who sits outside the 'hardcore' crowd would be forgiven for stumbling out of Oblivion's opening sewer section, taking one look at the vast world map and the rather brown menu system, and just giving up.

Oy vey.
 
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DLCs nearing expansion size is good news for a change. I liked FO3's The Pitt and Point Lookout.



Oy vey.

As amazing as this is to me now, when I first started Oblivion I had a hard time getting into it. It was partly because it wasn't running well (back when I bought new games for my PC) but it was mostly due to feeling overwhelmed. I think it was a mistake to start the game so close to the Imperial City. It was just too much. If I could give a piece of advice to someone who's never played before and is just starting I'd say forget the big city for now and head off to one of the smaller cities and spend a lot of time there before moving on.

It looks like Skyrim is going to be different with the first settlement you come to being smaller. I intend to spend a LOT of time mucking around before I even think about exploring one of the big cities.

I don't understand about people's complaints about Oblivion's menu (or journal) system though. I thought that was all good.

I liked Point Lookout too, and I think it's good news about larger DLCs.
 
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I just didn't like the way it looked or felt...
It seemed like a hugh waste of time...plus I had read before hand about not being about to steel or kill....and if you did you could get caught 4 towns over...
I am not in to the moral bullshit I have to deal with that everyday in real life...
If I am out saving the world and you have something I want or need for my quest I will take it. Save your morals for church on Sunday...I save Sundays for football beer and fucking...
 
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I just didn't like the way it looked or felt…
It seemed like a hugh waste of time…plus I had read before hand about not being about to steel or kill….and if you did you could get caught 4 towns over…
I am not in to the moral bullshit I have to deal with that everyday in real life…
If I am out saving the world and you have something I want or need for my quest I will take it. Save your morals for church on Sunday…I save Sundays for football beer and fucking…

Ummm no. Bounties are not global.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/new...aling-and-Fighting-a-Little-Easier-for-Skyrim

The incorrect idea that they would be global is a misreading of another article which described how guards across a single city would be alerted of your bounty level if a guard saw you in the act or a witness was left alive. If you aren't seen or you kill all the witnesses then your crime is not reported. If your crime is reported, you can flee to another city.

Although maybe you were talking about Oblivion? If so then yeah that crime system was annoying. Luckily with the fall of Imperial rule we get regional crime system in Skyrim.
 
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Someone's probably noted this before, but I'm a little concerned dragons are the new Oblivion gates, especially with this interview going on about still meeting dragons 300 hours in. That could get really dull, if you're having to constantly break away from your virtual world to take part in familiar big combat pieces.
 
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Someone's probably noted this before, but I'm a little concerned dragons are the new Oblivion gates, especially with this interview going on about still meeting dragons 300 hours in. That could get really dull, if you're having to constantly break away from your virtual world to take part in familiar big combat pieces.

I'm not a big fan of the dragons, i have to say. A few extremely rare and tough ones would be nice. I'm not concerned though, where Bethesda fail, the modding scene prevail ;)
 
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Someone's probably noted this before, but I'm a little concerned dragons are the new Oblivion gates, especially with this interview going on about still meeting dragons 300 hours in. That could get really dull, if you're having to constantly break away from your virtual world to take part in familiar big combat pieces.

I think it's better to see dragons as just another monster. They spawn according to the level list and spawn points. This mean that after 1-2 days there is going to be mods to reduce their spawn rate (on the PC).
 
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With some of the things I have been reading recently, I think its good idea to not buy the game on release and wait for say a round 6 months for modding scene to have a proper go. Oblivion with the overhaul mods are much better than the vanilla version.

Saying the above is easy but its bloody hard to resist the temptation to buy on day one as the hype so way too strong for Skyrim :)
 
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With some of the things I have been reading recently, I think its good idea to not buy the game on release and wait for say a round 6 months for modding scene to have a proper go. Oblivion with the overhaul mods are much better than the vanilla version.

Saying the above is easy but its bloody hard to resist the temptation to buy on day one as the hype so way too strong for Skyrim :)



no doubt, being a thrifty buyer is smart, especially when it comes to video games. What I don't understand though, is what have you read to make you think Skyrim is so bad that you have to wait six months for the proper mods to fix it/make it playable?

I'll admit that I let myself get caught up in the hype, but from what I have seen and read the game looks fairly polished with tons of content to boot.
 
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With some of the things I have been reading recently, I think its good idea to not buy the game on release and wait for say a round 6 months for modding scene to have a proper go. Oblivion with the overhaul mods are much better than the vanilla version.

Saying the above is easy but its bloody hard to resist the temptation to buy on day one as the hype so way too strong for Skyrim :)

I would, but well someone has to play around with the mod tools don't they?
 
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no doubt, being a thrifty buyer is smart, especially when it comes to video games. What I don't understand though, is what have you read to make you think Skyrim is so bad that you have to wait six months for the proper mods to fix it/make it playable?

I'll admit that I let myself get caught up in the hype, but from what I have seen and read the game looks fairly polished with tons of content to boot.

I don't think its going to be bad at all. I think vanilla Skyrim will be lot better than vanilla Oblivion. I also don't have any major problems with the game. However I do have some minor annoyance and given that I very rarely replay games so I like the first play through to be the best play through. Hence the comment about wait for mods.
 
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They already improved a lot with FO3 compared to Oblivion, so i think its quite safe to say Skyrim will improve over FO3, which will actually make it quite playable even vanilla..

We will see. I doubt it.
 
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The immersion/exploration stuff sounds great. The efforts to avoid redundancies are promising. Fixing stupid little things like psychic guards and shopkeepers knowing you stole that fork from a farmhouse miles away is good.

That's enough to get me on a date. But if you want to get in my pants, have much much better writing/dialogue (especially in relation to FO3)
 
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