Skyrim - Manual Leaked

From its layout and everything it very much reminds me of the manual of gears of war 3 …

No embellishment, blank, white paper, most likely Arial or something similar used as the typeface … Everything just looks cheap.

Originally Posted by Sir_Brennus
Never. I always have a box of game manuals beside my bed to read when I am too tired for real literature - all of games that I own, but never got around to play. Manuals are part of the art of games - like the box, the disk etc.

I have all of my older handbooks in a box, too.
But where is the box now ? *scratches head*

Originally Posted by skavenhorde
Scare? Hell I remember taking the Pool of Radiance and Ultima manuals to school and read them whenever I could.

I really miss getting this:

Ultima V box and contents

I feel old now. It wasn't that long ago that they offered this without it being a collectors edition.

The writing in the Ultima manuals was amazing as well. It was a short story on how to play the game.

Ultima V by Microprose?

I have that same box in this very room I am writing from right now :'-)

I think games were more expensive back then. Pc/Amiga game could cost 5-10% of monthly salary. Nowadays they are more close to 1-2%. Or then I have just gone up in the social class.

Originally Posted by Charles-cgr
Ultima V by Microprose?

I have that same box in this very room I am writing from right now :'-)

All my boxes and manuals got lost a long time ago. Comes with moving to another country I suppose.

I didn't even notice Micropose.

Out of curiosity did you ever buy Autoduel? That had the best useless extras I've ever seen. There was a tiny toolbelt with four tiny tools in it. The only one I remember was the wrench because it really worked. God I loved that stupid little toolbelt.

I loved Autoduel when it came out, but never could get back into it after the first playthrough….

I love a nice big juicy manual too. It's great for when you have to take a break from gaming for an extended call of nature They were also great for the drive home from the game store. Of course, nowadays you buy everything online, so the drive is MUCH shorter!

A nice, thick, meaty manual sometimes accompanied with extras such as a separate lore guide, beastiary, and/or spell guide, is part of a formula that could really draw you into a game world by having the game world come into the real world.

For the longest time I had a new game ritual that went something like this: buy the game, examine each item in the box, sort them, then read every single thing from cover to cover. Then start the game being careful not to press a single key, and watch every little tidbit until you inevitably were taken to a main menu of some kind.

Add to all this hand written notes and hand drawn maps. All of these things really drew me into the game world from the outside and connected me to the game on a much more personal level.

Those were fun times.

The (original) Witcher showed how manuals should be replaced by in game content - the journal system was amazing in terms of lore/glossary etc. Sadly the sequel didn't seem to be as good for me.

I used to enjoy the big manuals but frankly I don't miss them. Given the space available on modern systems and current UI design if you need to look something up in a manual to play a game then the game design has failed.

Originally Posted by crpgnut
I love a nice big juicy manual too. … They were also great for the drive home from the game store. …

Shut that book and drive!

Nah, wifey drives home from the video game store. I'm like a little kid and I have to open it in the car.

I couldn't imagine designing my NWN 2 characters without the manuals. But newer games have pretty much braindead character development systems, so I guess that makes having no manuals acceptable?

Funny, having played RPGS since the days of wizardry 1 for the apple 2e, I've actually observed that the overall trend has been more complex character customization rathen then less (with obvious exceptions of course). In fact I've gotten so used to a certain level of customization that it can make it harder for me to go back and play old games. Anyway I really miss my old giant manuals too, but I'm afraid that ship has sailed long ago.

Originally Posted by Thrasher
I couldn't imagine designing my NWN 2 characters without the manuals. But newer games have pretty much braindead character development systems, so I guess that makes having no manuals acceptable?

By newer I mean in the last 10 years, not 30!

Originally Posted by Thrasher
By newer I mean in the last 10 years, not 30!

Well but I mean even over the course of 10 years. If you look at games like planescape torment and BG2, they may have been great games but they have virtually no character customization.

They had huge manuals. And character customization much deep than modern games. Lots of different build options. If you're talking about superficial stuff like hair color and tattoos, then I don't understand why anyone would want a manual for that silly stuff.

Originally Posted by fadedc
Well but I mean even over the course of 10 years. If you look at games like planescape torment and BG2, they may have been great games but they have virtually no character customization.

The ENTIRE game of Planescape was about character customization!!

Originally Posted by Thrasher
They had huge manuals. And character customization much deep than modern games. Lots of different build options. If you're talking about superficial stuff like hair color and tattoos, then I don't understand why anyone would want a manual for that silly stuff.

Well in planescape torment the only character customization was some initial stat assignment at the beginning of the game and then eventually picking one of three classes. You didn't even have that option for your secondary characters. There was zero customization beyond that. There was a lot of choice and consequence, but that's different.

Baldur's Gate had more classes, but again the only customization was picking your class and your stats at the beginning of the game (and your choice of stats was pretty obvious) and again you didn't get to make any choices for your secondary characters. Most modern games have far more customization then that.

I'm not arguing that these games didn't have good manuals.

PS:T also allowed you to pick which stats to level which had tremendous impact on dialog choices and XP. I certainly don't see much, if any of that, in modern RPGs.

I can understand the secondary character choice limitations, but again, that's secondary, right? At least it is to me.

Modern RPGs have far less PC character customization. And for roleplaying, that's the character that counts most, for me.

To say that BG2 and PS:T have "virtually no character customization" though is absolutely ludicrous.

Yes you get to change one of 6 stats when you level up in PS:T. Even the most dumbed down modern RPG such as ME2 gives you more options then that when you level up. Look at Dragon Age Origins for example. Just like Planescape Torment you can pick a class and choose which statistic to put points in when you level up. That's all the customization that planescape offers. But Origins also allows you to pick skills, spells, talents and crafting abilities when you level up as well as letting you pick your initial race and background. I'm not saying it's a better game then planescape, but it gives so many more customization options that it's not even in the same league.

So yes PS:T and BG2 do offer very little character customization. They aren't even that far ahead of the original wizardry series in that regard (where you also just got to pick race, class and stats). These days games have skill trees, and other important choices you make when you level up in addition to choices you make when you first make your character. BG2 had none of that, and PS:T had very little. I think your love of some of the older games is causing you to not be objective about how simple some of their mechanics really were.

Originally Posted by Thrasher
PS:T also allowed you to pick which stats to level which had tremendous impact on dialog choices and XP. I certainly don't see much, if any of that, in modern RPGs.

I can understand the secondary character choice limitations, but again, that's secondary, right? At least it is to me.

Modern RPGs have far less PC character customization. And for roleplaying, that's the character that counts most, for me.

To say that BG2 and PS:T have "virtually no character customization" though is absolutely ludicrous.

You said older games had "virtually no character customization". That's simply not correct.