What about the grafix?

[The Tom]

Hands up who remembers the soft shadows fiasco back before Oblivion was released? (Yeah, me! Me! Me!) I'd hate for the same thing to happen to Skyrim. It showed so much promise. Now, for 2006, when there weren't really many games with the kind of rendering technology that Oblivion used at the time, the whole package seemed unbeatable.

Is November 2011 going to be a repeat of the fiasco or of the trailblazing?

Herewith a quote that makes me think:

Fallout 3 technically does a lot more than Oblivion. The new stuff is an even bigger jump from that. I can say it is on the existing platforms, which we're really happy with. You almost feel like you have a new console when you see the game.

Is he saying that they've taken the Fallout version of the engine and modded the hell out of it? Or is it a new engine with the same basic capabilities that Fallout has? And what's this about 'new console'? That made me tdream that they've upgraded it so much that it does what it says on the tin.

I don't want to be the one to destroy hopes and dreams, but I really don't want there to be so much in the trailers and demos that are to come that not all of it can be put in the final release. By all means, put in loads of new technologies. I'd love to see new refraction shaders for spell effects, cloth simulation for hair and clothing, shadows for the lols, new weather systems, water shaders (does anybody else hate that thing with distant reflections) and higher resolution textures.

And for pity's sake, FIX THOSE NPC ANIMATIONS. In the words of Yahtzee Croshaw, "they all have this weird, stiff, unreal quality about them, indicating that Cyrodiil is apparently located inside the Uncanny Valley." This has been a recurring problem in the world of Bethesda RPGs for about seven years now, and once I picked myself up off the floor and sewed my sides back together having taken a couple of steps worth of Morrowind's walking animation, I discovered that actually, they're pretty annoyingly bad. Do something. Have dynamic conversations, where people can actually move while talking. Like Half-Life 2, except you're not so much of a mute.

I'd also like to see more cut-scenes and scripted sequences. With the exception of the ending of Oblivion itself, not a lot happened. You mostly stood around while people talked. It all seemed a bit stilted and sectioned. I hope they've seen that actually, immersion is quite a big factor in video gaming and it needs to flow better.

Anyway, enough. Those are just a few of the things I'd like to see brought in with this new engine. I'll have more, and might actually add things to this post as they come in so we end up with a nice collection of 'stuff that would be cool'.

Think on this: I can settle for a lack of shadows. I just want to talk to people that have muscles made out of something softer than pig iron.

[Elune]

Skyrim is getting an entirely new engine appearently.

Just hope they do it well.
Also it's 2011... Can we fix the seams on feet/hands/necks please Bethesda?

[Generalno1]

It's been a long time since Oblvion, 5 years on release. I'd suspect they'd improve it

[Guy No. 2]

Im hoping that even though Skyrim supposedly has a wintery climate that they'll still have regions with other climates. Just hoping for more than a sea of white all the time

[Generalno1]

That would actually be something unique to Cyrodill, since it's right in the middle.
Most of Skyrim will probably be an endless sea of snow. I wonder if they'll incorporate storms and visibility into this?

[Guy No. 2]

That would actually be something unique to Cyrodill, since it's right in the middle.
Most of Skyrim will probably be an endless sea of snow. I wonder if they'll incorporate storms and visibility into this?

Yeah I was thinking that Maybe if they introduced seasons of weather, as in at certain times of the year there will be storms of snow and then at other times you could have a "Spring Thaw" where you could visibly see water bodys getting bigger......

[Spiney]

I don't think the engine will be entirely new. Oblivion's Gamebryo render engine is the upgraded successor to the Netimmerse engine used in Morrowind. That way, the .nif file type was kept. And you can see the amazing difference. I expect they've modified the hell out of the Gamebryo engine.

But then again, they could've done what Bungie did and gut the hell out of their old engine. Look how amazing that was; Graphics and Gameplay wise.

[ThorsHand11]

I have no doubt that Bethesda will improve on the graphics. What I am interested in is how detailed the world will be. Because even if you have the best Graphics in the world in all of your trees and rocks look the same the quality of the game drops. What do you guys think. Do you hope for just better graphics or a more detailed world?

[Dean]

I think the world this time will be involve more rocky cliffs, caves and lot's of snow and frozen lakes. Hopefully they won't think putting mass amounts of trees everywhere will make it look good. Imagine what they are going to be able to do with weather in a years time, snow storms are going to be absolutely mental.

I can see them having to improve on animations 'a lot', especially if they want a game with decent dragon motions (which it needs to be if they are the main focus). Most games tend to have pretty bad big creature animations, they seem so limited.

[T PoPTartZz T]

My only concern is that I'm about to get a brand new gaming computer
for DA2. I'm just hoping that I won't have to reconfigure my system to
accommodate the new engine and graphics for Skyrim.

And I hope they find a happy medium between barely dragging bodies in
Oblivion and tossing them over your head and 30 feet into the air in
Fallout 3.

[The Tom]

I always find that there's a tradeoff between graphics and depth. You can have great effects but less than ten hours game time, or fairly mid-range graphics but the potential for 500+ hours, as with Oblivion. It's probably because the Gamebryo engine allows such an easy way to create hundreds of characters, items and places while if you tried to make an RPG out of the Unreal Engine, then you'd have to design every room and character from scratch. With Oblivion it's much more of a drag 'n' drop affair.

My hopes for Skyrim are that, if they have found a new engine - and I hope to God it isn't id Tech - they have also managed to iron out the gap between amount of 'stuff' and prettiness.

Do you hope for just better graphics or a more detailed world?

I'm hoping that the two are mutually inclusive. Perhaps the updated graphics will inspire more variety in content.

Most games tend to have pretty bad big creature animations, they seem so limited.

Elder Scrolls games have bad small character animations. They could do with a bit of motion capture, I think. I saw in a 'making of' video that the lead animator much preferred four legs to two. A comment below echoed my thoughts: 'So that's why the NPC animations suck!'. Maybe they've listened. Bethesda seem to do that quite a bit.

Most of Skyrim will probably be an endless sea of snow. I wonder if they'll incorporate storms and visibility into this?

Even developers wouldn't make a game they wouldn't play, and I trust Bethesda to put some variety in. I loved the way the characters in Morrowind reacted, even in just a small way, to ash-storms. I would ewually love for the weather to play a defining role in the uniqueness of TES V. Also, don't forget that architecture and demographics each play a part in diversity. By changing the buildings and races in each area you can create a feeling of difference without too much effort. Remember that all the cities in Oblivion felt quite separate from each other? Maybe that could be applied to whole areas in Skyrim.

[Elune]

"Seeing lots of speculation about #tesv game engine. It's brand new... and it's spectacular!"
Bethesda Blog on Twitter

[Mr. Mischief]

I want to see DX11 put to work. Give me... Tessellation!!

[adamflint]

I want the whole Skyrim to be visible on a clear weather, like in Just Cause 2!
The graphics should be atleast Reach-level.

[T PoPTartZz T]

I want the whole Skyrim to be visible on a clear weather, like in Just Cause 2!
The graphics should be atleast Reach-level.

You'd think Skyim would be hilly or mountainous, wouldn't you? Being able
to see clearly only does so much.