If a tree falls in the forest...

[caralampio]

...and nobody's there, does it make a noise? This question has intrigued philosophers since antiquity. Applied to Skyrim, my question is, does it keep track of everything in the game even if you're not there? I mean, suppose I'm in Riften, does the game still have in its function Ysolda walking around in Whiterun and chatting with Nazeem at the same time?

There are things that seem to happen while you're not there. I come back to Whiterun to find a courier with a condolence note for Adrianne Avenici, and I see some ash on the ground. Adrianne's corpse isn't around though. It would seem like a vampire attacked while I was not there. Although technically, I was. Quite a while ago I had fast traveled direct from the door of Dragonsreach to someplace else. Probably the vampire was triggered at the main gate when I "entered" Whiterun from Dragonsreach. But it seems unfair, because the player has no way to know or to do something about it. (Oh my, why wasn't I here when she neede me? )

There's another thing that's funny and I call it the Truman effect. Sometimes when you arrive at a town, all the people are bunched up in the center and then they start walking towards their assigned position. Reminds me of the starting position of the actors in the Truman Show.

[Belthazor]

There's another thing that's funny and I call it the Truman effect. Sometimes when you arrive at a town, all the people are bunched up in the center and then they start walking towards their assigned position. Reminds me of the starting position of the actors in the Truman Show.

This very thing tells us that absolutely nothing happens when you're not in the area. It's one think I hate about Skyrim. I fast-travel into Whiterun, arrive at 10am when all the shops should be open, but instead I have to wait for another hour, because the game spawns all the NPCs at their starting positions and they have to walk to where they're supposed to be.

It's a step back from Oblivion, where NPCs walked around and followed their schedule even if you weren't around.

[Aarah]

I don't like that either. I've noticed it mainly in Riften and the College of Winterhold. It's like they've just adjourned from a town meeting or something. (The Truman effect is a perfect name for it Caralampio!)

I agree Belthazor, Oblivion was much better in this respect. I felt like things had been going on all day and people had places to go and activities planned. In Skyrim they just seem to do the same old boring rituals every day and there is no feeling of real life going on.

[perylousdemon]

I don't like that either. I've noticed it mainly in Riften and the College of Winterhold. It's like they've just adjourned from a town meeting or something. (The Truman effect is a perfect name for it Caralampio!)

I agree Belthazor, Oblivion was much better in this respect. I felt like things had been going on all day and people had places to go and activities planned. In Skyrim they just seem to do the same old boring rituals every day and there is no feeling of real life going on.

While I don't like the Truman effect, I do like that things continue to progress as normal while you're in conversation with someone. That really irritated me in Oblivion and FO3. The world around you doesn't freeze when you're talking to someone in real life, so why should it in a game? Sheesh.

[Frost Mage]

I agree that the Radiant AI is a step down from Oblivion, but I don't think it's that bad. To program NPCs to live their lives while you're not there, and with all of the new features in the world of Skyrim, they probably had to decide what they wanted to put all of their effort into, and it wasn't Radiant AI. I hope that The Elder Scrolls VI has a Radiant AI system similar to Oblivion's, but for now it doesn't bother me very much. I just imagine that NPCs are where they're supposed to be at certain times of the day. Your imagination and roleplaying is always there for you when the game design can't be.

[clif9711]

The Truman effect IS a great addition to our vocabulary.

I'd imagine that if there were no Truman effect the processing load would be much greater. On the other hand, it seems to me that the graphics processor is far more challenged by Skyrim than the main processor and the main processor is the one that would be doing the activity processing for places where you are not present.

What bugs me is knocking on a door after hours and getting no reply, then jumping forward to regular business hours only to have to step back a few paces to have the door update to being unlocked. You shouldn't have to change your position for the update.

Speaking of the Truman effect, I fast traveled to kill a giant and on arrival saw a mammoth appear high in the sky, then drop directly to the ground. So I guess that proves that at least in Skyrim there is a heaven where all living things are created!

[Marelo]

You don't actually have to move for the door to update. Just look away and back.

[Belthazor]

You don't actually have to move for the door to update. Just look away and back.

Looking away and back is a movement, though. It's another thing that you didn't have to do in Oblivion.

I agree that the Radiant AI is a step down from Oblivion, but I don't think it's that bad. To program NPCs to live their lives while you're not there, and with all of the new features in the world of Skyrim, they probably had to decide what they wanted to put all of their effort into, and it wasn't Radiant AI.

While I would agree with you if Radiant AI was a new feature, I can't in this case, because it's not a new feature. It was a feature that was working well in Skyrim's predecessor, and they removed it. Why? The only explanation I have for that is to reduce the load on the CPU, so it can run on ancient hardware.

[Marelo]

I wasn't saying that it's not an annoying bug. Just that you don't have to "step back a few paces" to get it to correct itself.

[Frost Mage]

While I would agree with you if Radiant AI was a new feature, I can't in this case, because it's not a new feature. It was a feature that was working well in Skyrim's predecessor, and they removed it. Why? The only explanation I have for that is to reduce the load on the CPU, so it can run on ancient hardware.

I think that Bethesda couldn't do everything, so instead of fine tuning the Radiant AI, they focused more on the new gameplay mechanics instead. Also, Radiant AI was a HUGE pain in the ass to design in Oblivion, so I've heard, and they didn't want all of these new features to conflict with it, so they put in a reduced version of it. When you have NPCs that are able to interact with each other, your bug testing people just got their workload doubled.

[Mickey]

I've avoided all of these issues by not fast-travelling or waiting, however if you must, fast travelling to the stables outside of town might give them enough time to get set before you enter. ( the few places with stables that is )

[caralampio]

It's also weird that you go to sleep 8 hours at the inn, as you are going into bed the Bard sings, "... and Ragnar the Red was boastful no moooore", and when you wake up 8 hours later, "...when his ugly red head rolled around on the floor!"

[clif9711]

I've avoided all of these issues by not fast-travelling or waiting, however if you must, fast travelling to the stables outside of town might give them enough time to get set before you enter. ( the few places with stables that is )

Ok, how about this for a suggestion to Bethesda.

When you go to fast travel, you do just as you do now only there is a pause followed by the message "OK, We're Ready!" and then you arrive with all the NPC's deployed.

[lmstearn]

Radiant AI Packaging in these games works well in a SP RPG.

A ordered, regulated world, everything in its place, everyone doing their thing. Easy to enhance, or mod, as well.
The great challenge will be in the MMORPG ESO TESVI V½ where, under the system in current games, quests can be broken before you even start the game. Would essential NPCs, staggering around, at death's door from random acts of violence, be considered "compos mentis" for one's quests to progress as they do in TES III-V?

In Oblivion, the first visit to places like the Feed Bag, all the NPC's inside walk in a circle before settling to their usual places.
An "interior" Truman effect.

...when his ugly red head rolled around on the floor!

Weird that folks in the USKP never considered this as a "bug." The solution? A USKEP: Unofficial Skyrim Enhancement Pack.

...And, two cheers for those two great songs.

[Belthazor]

The great challenge will be in the MMORPG TESVI

ElderScrolls Online is not TES VI, and TES VI will most likely be another SP game - which it should be.