[translation] Fan Interview
Developer Responses to Fans' Questions about "The Elder Scrolls"
Todd Howard.
We present to you the answers to fans' questions about “Skyrim”!
Special thanks for the answers go to Todd Howard, Matt Carofano, and Bruce Nesmith, as well as Lady Neverar for working with fan questions.
Well, let's not drag this out...
The answers come from:
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Todd Howard, Director
Bruce Nesmith, Lead Designer
**
Matt Carofano, Lead Artist
1) Will the player character be able to transform into various creatures?
Todd: That feature was already present in our previous games, and right now we don’t want to emphasize it. There’s no hidden meaning in our words; we just prefer not to discuss it for now and keep the question open until the game’s release.
2) Will there be options in the appearance settings for beards, tattoos, and different body types? Can we change them during gameplay?
Matt: There are broad possibilities for making each character unique for every race. You can choose from a wide range of hairstyles, beards, scars, and war paints. Each race and gender has a scale, one end being lean and the other being stocky. We have completely redesigned the appearance of character faces and look forward to boasting about the new system.
3) Does the armor look like in “Oblivion” (where all armor parts are welded together) or like in “Morrowind” (where each part is separate)? Will we be able to wear both armor and clothing at the same time?
Matt: The armor is made much like in “Oblivion”. The main difference is that we merged the upper and lower parts of the armor, the cuirass and greaves, which allowed us to give the armor an appearance suitable for Skyrim. In most of the versions we created for the Norse, the cuirass completely covered the greaves, making them useless. We achieved a much better result by merging the upper and lower halves, and armor is now processed faster, allowing us to display more characters on screen simultaneously. We were also able to create many more variations of armor, so the variability in appearance is notably different from all previous games in the series.
4) Are the main and guild quests linear or branching? What about side quests?
Bruce: We focused on a coherent narrative arc. Each quest line has significant choices, but the overall story is one. Divergences mainly exist in side quests, which are individual stories themselves. For instance, you might decide to rescue someone or betray them, which will change the quest's ending. Overall, the structure of quests in “Skyrim” is closer to “Oblivion” than “Fallout 3” — there are many quests, but few branches.
5) Are the trophies and rewards for quests tiered like in “Oblivion”? Will there be powerful off-level items?
Bruce: The item level system is about the same as in “Fallout 3”, but there are a couple of innovations that I hope players won't even notice. The levels of enemies and their gear depend on the “encounter zone” you are in, so they may be higher or lower than your level. There will also be new epic or “special” trophies that you can randomly find regardless of the encounter zone, and as you level up in the best zones, better items will be found. The same applies to quest rewards. We strive to make them correspond to the effort expended. Sometimes the reward is random; sometimes it's fixed. There are also many special, very powerful items, like Daedric artifacts.
6) Will items from “Morrowind” that were not in “Oblivion”, such as spears, medium armor, and the recall spell, return?
Todd: No, they will not be in “Skyrim” for the same reasons they weren’t in “Oblivion”. Let’s discuss them one by one. Starting with spears. To be honest, we’d love to include them, but it would take too much time and effort. Right now, we're primarily busy fine-tuning gameplay for other weapon sets: sword, sword and shield, two-handed weapons, bow. You can also add magic to the list. Correctly bringing everything together without losing the uniqueness of each style is our priority.
The absence of medium armor is not due to a lack of time or resources; it’s a conscious decision to focus on two types of armor, making them absolutely distinct so that players will notice. We want the player character to move and fight differently in various armors, and a third type of armor in between would spoil the impression both in terms of gameplay and appearance. Even now, we are still working on deepening the differences between light and heavy armors. Every time we slow down movement in heavy armor, it gets a bit worse, but that's our primary method of balancing. However, we have also added other, more pleasant mechanics, such as different stamina depletion rates when running.
Returning to the recall spell is fun, of course, but, like with levitation, we had to cut it so we could better flesh out the game world and scripts. In “Morrowind”, we were limited by the player's ability to escape from many situations easily. We could not afford many design and gameplay decisions. A lot of good ideas died the moment another designer said, “Well, I’ll just teleport away from there,” so it was decided to remove those spells.
7) Will we be able to establish any relationships with NPCs, romantic or otherwise?
Bruce: Oh yes! You build friendships with people by doing things for them. Friends in the game will react to you differently. Some may even agree to accompany you into dungeons and on adventures. You can even get married. If you have a house, your spouse will move in with you.
8) Will there be unique materials for armor and weapons in “Skyrim”?
Matt: One of the most valuable and rare sets of armor in the game is dragon armor, which exists in both light and heavy variants. Many sets from previous games will return, such as leather and steel, although they will be redesigned in a Nordic style.
9) Can you tell us anything about the PC version? Will there be differences in the interface? Will there be a special version for sixty-four-bit systems?
Todd: For sixty-four-bit? No, there won’t be. As for the interface... it looks visually the same across all platforms, differing only in control. There’s a lot of good stuff made for the keyboard: organization of favorites, quick saves, and other features from previous installments. A lot of information is displayed on the screen, and the interface doesn’t look like “Wow, what a large font!” from “Oblivion”. The PC will also feature higher resolution textures, more graphical modes, and a bunch of other effects that powerful computers will be able to activate. And finally, the most important: a “Creation Kit” will be released for PC. Creating modifications for the game is very important for us and for the fans, so we will continue to develop in that direction.
10) How is enchanting implemented in “Skyrim”? Will we have to constantly recharge items with soul gems, like in “Oblivion,” or will weapons recharge over time like in “Morrowind”?
Bruce: The system from “Oblivion” worked great, so we kept it. Magical weapons use charges that are replenished using soul gems. Magical armors are always charged and do not require recharging. Soul gems, their usage, and history are one of the main hallmarks of “Elder Scrolls”.
However, we have rethought the enchanting system. Now it’s a skill. The higher your level and skills, the better enchanting items you create. Enchanting locations are scattered around the world, making it much more accessible.
The differences from “Oblivion” lie in the variety of available effects and the method of learning them. You can learn an enchanting effect by “breaking” a found magical item; they don’t depend on the spells you’ve learned. This allows for a stricter division between enchanting and other magical skills.
11) What are the differences between races? I assume they will have different skill bonuses, but do they maybe have different abilities or inherent traits at the start, like different running speeds or inventory capacities?
Todd: Each race will start with slightly elevated certain skills, but this gap can easily be caught up by a character of another race. Also, at the start, different races will have different spells and passive and active abilities, as before. Khajiit see in the dark, Orcs are berserkers, Redguards have the ability “Adrenaline Rush,” and so on. In the new system, everything is new, but the overall meaning remains the same. All races move at the same speed, which depends on your equipment. The initial inventory capacity is also the same and depends on stamina.
12) Will some quests and stories be unavailable to characters of a certain race/faction/political beliefs/worldview or have made certain choices? Or can you complete the entire game in one playthrough?
Todd: The decisions you make will close off certain paths where it makes sense. We haven’t considered whether it’s possible to complete everything in one go, since the game is so large...
13) How much will the choice of race and gender at the beginning of the game affect gameplay? Do they affect relationships with NPCs?
Bruce: Your race is very important; it not only defines appearance but also serves as a sort of template for development. If you want to play as a wizard, it’s best to choose a high elf or a Breton. If you want to be a warrior, a Nord or a Redguard would be ideal. However, like in “Oblivion”, we don’t force you to follow a template. If you want to be a Nord wizard — who can stop you?
Gender does not affect starting skills or abilities. In the game, males and females perform the same tasks equally well. Other characters will distinguish your gender and address you correctly. Some may harbor resentment towards one gender or another, but that is determined by their character and does not affect your abilities.
14) Are you planning to include a feature in the game to defeat an opponent without killing them?
Todd: It depends on your definition of “defeat.” There are many ways to sneak by characters, and various poisons and spells can make enemies harmless — spells like “Calm” or “Fear,” knockdowns, and much more.
Oh, and now there are tavern brawls in the game, where you don’t kill either! I love them.
15) Will there be anything interesting in boss fights, apart from “more health and stronger hits”?
Todd: The AI has new behavior models in combat, making battles with certain enemies extremely dynamic and interesting. It all depends on the opponent's abilities. Dragons, for example, can do a lot: many shouts, dives, grabbing people, and all that. An enemy with a sword, shield, bow, spells, and potions will use all of that. Those fights are the most interesting. But there are also fights where a bunch of simple enemies swarm the player, and those play out completely differently.
16) Will we be able to develop the skills and abilities of our companions?
Bruce: No, only your own. Although companions will have special abilities to differentiate them in behavior and effectiveness in combat.
17) In Skyrim, is there only the culture of the Nords, or are there places (like Cyrodiil's Cheydinhal) that show the influence of other cultures on architecture or, say, beliefs?
Matt: While there are enclaves of other people in the game, we focused on the culture of the Nords and its differences in various areas. The architecture of different cities varies significantly and reflects the way of life of the Nords in that specific location.
18) So, dragons are big and powerful. Will there be destructible elements in the game for dragons to leave traces of their attacks? Can they destroy buildings, break trees, trigger avalanches, burn houses, and do other mischief to show force?
Todd: They leave traces of their presence, but rarely in the form of destroyed buildings. That happens, but not very often. Systematic destruction of buildings hasn’t won us over yet; it comes off as too chaotic. NPCs live there, who give quests and usually affect the game. We try to avoid that in any game, except in places originally designed for destruction, like Megaton.
19) Will the animations differ between males and females, as well as human and “beast” races?
Matt: The animation system is completely new and vastly improved; it differs significantly from what was in previous games. There will be differences between male and female animations, and beast races will get special animations as well.
20) Will the game feature a karma system like in “Fallout”, or a fame/infamy system like in “Oblivion”?
Bruce: There’s no specific number shown to the player in the game, but it remembers whether you've behaved well or poorly. We felt that a number does not reflect real fame. Characters will perceive you based on specific actions, rather than on overall reputation. If you’re a criminal, they’ll know that too. But if you pay your debt to society, they’ll forgive you.
21) Will crafting weapons and armor depend on the tools used as well as the materials? For example, from hammers and tongs, skill level, and overall level? In other words, can I make more powerful or even unique weapons using a master hammer and tongs instead of a novice’s?
Bruce: In the blacksmith shop, there’s a forge, grinding wheel, and workbench. The grinding wheel allows you to improve weapons. The higher your skill, the more improvements will be made, and the more damage the weapon will deal. The same applies to the workbench, but there, the defense stat will increase. The forge is used for creating new weapons and armor from gathered materials.
22) Will the character have a voice so that they can be heard in conversations?
Todd: There will be voices, but you will only hear them shout. We recorded a separate set of sounds for each race and gender made during combat, as well as a set of shouts in dragon language.
23) Naturally, every character is “Dragonborn,” but not everyone will play the same way. The question is, will dragon shouts suit every type of character? Are there long-range shouts? A special silent “shout”?
Todd: Yes, the shouts will suit everyone. We’re not going to discuss other shouts just yet, but soon we will tell you about them.
24) Will there be places in the game where players can use the environment? For example, set a trap with a falling tree or climb a tree to suddenly attack an enemy?
Todd: Both yes and no. You cannot set traps, but the environment is diverse enough that you can practically always use it to your advantage, especially when playing stealthily.
25) Will you be able to continue playing after finishing the main story?
Todd: Yes, of course.
Translation by the author.
Thanks for the provided material — Condottiere.
Thanks for proofreading — Kavem and Soth.
Thanks for the support — Sinmara.