Inside Skyrim's Menu System

[River]

A bit more info on the menu system! What do we think? seems like an improvement on Oblivion to me!

[Lindai]

A sort of dynamic menu like AC1's would be impressive. I'm easily impressed.

[mulder]

The menu sounds cool and all, and I love the more interactive map.

[Ajax]

I see Enchanting, Smit- (Smithing?), and -aft (-craft?).

[dkjestrup]

Sounds interesting. I'm relieved to hear that the perks are tied to skills and are like Oblivion, like I imagine "No penalty for sneaking in heavy boots" might be a Sneak perk, and "repair magical items" could be an Armorer perk.

Also with 18 skills and probably about 3-4 perks each, you'd be left with about 60 levels of perks, which seems a decent amount.

This will work so well if scaling is very limited. In particular regards to loot. Like in Fallout there were only like one of each type of item, then the rare special version, that was it. If there is enough item progression not dependent on level it will be awesome.

For example, if this were Morrowind, you can get an axe in Sedya Neen by the lighthouse, with shock damage etc, or a special long blade from the man that falls from the sky. Now I won't need to plan my character accordingly to make best use of these, I can just use whatever I find.

TLDR; I'm a chronic restarter and the new leveling and perks should mean I can get into the game for once.

As far as menu layout, I don't care as long as it looks good XD

[Mucro]

yes, i think the system is good.

adds some fun to browsing my stats.

[jakeuh_hates_dunmer]

I see Enchanting, Smit- (Smithing?), and -aft (-craft?).

Speechcraft dawg, to the left is the "stealth" genre of skills and to the right is the "combat" genre of skills.
As for perks, there is going to be way more than 3 or 4 perks per skill, you can just see that there is alot!

[Baram1991]

I see Enchanting, Smit- (Smithing?), and -aft (-craft?).

Speechcraft dawg, to the left is the "stealth" genre of skills and to the right is the "combat" genre of skills.
As for perks, there is going to be way more than 3 or 4 perks per skill, you can just see that there is alot!

Slightly related to this, I have a question about this picture.

Three prominent nebulae dominate the Skyrim heavens – the thief, the warrior, and the mage. Each of these represents one of the three master skill sets. Each nebula houses six constellations, each of which represents a skill. As in Oblivion, every player starts out with the ability to use all 18 skills – any player can use a two-handed weapon, try alchemy, or cast a destruction spell (provided you find or purchase one). As you use these skills in Skyrim, they will level up and contribute to driving your character's overall level higher.

("Inside Skyrim's Menu System Overhaul")

In this picture, we see the Mage nebula. If each nebula contains six skills, for magic, stealth, and combat, then which one of the seven skills in this picture (alchemy, illusion, conjuration, destruction, restoration, alteration, enchanting) is not going to be a magic skill?

[Cactus]

I'm holding off until I actually see screenshots or something. The magic menu looks very nice, but descriptions aren't very accurate all the time. Better yet, I want gameplay videos with menu use.

Side note: Does this mean I was horribly right and "two-handed" is a skill now.

[Feather]

In this picture, we see the Mage nebula. If each nebula contains six skills, for magic, stealth, and combat, then which one of the seven skills in this picture (alchemy, illusion, conjuration, destruction, restoration, alteration, enchanting) is not going to be a magic skill?

If i had to guess, i'd say Alchemy is being bumped over to stealth. since its used to make poisons and the ES alchemy is more chemistry than transmutation (magick). but that's a wild guess. this is assuming its a 6-6-6 system. its also next to what appears to be Speechcraft. Alchemy is the only one of the 7 that isnt necessarily a magical art. can't say i'd agree with switching it but it does make sense.

[Cactus]

There are six schools of magic in Oblivion, and according to the GI article, only five in Skyrim, which means there aren't any new magic schools. It's going to be Alteration, Conjuration, Destruction, Illusion, and Restoration with Mysticism spells scattered throughout the other five. This is according to Todd Howard. So Alchemy might be magic related, but it's not being considered actual magic, nor was it in Oblivion. As for what sign they'll fall under, that's certainly up for debate. I think Feather's idea could be right. It sort of fits too if that is indeed Speechcraft over on the left since it's always been a stealth skill and if that's Smithing over on the right, then that's probably the combat side. But ynever know, maybe they won't conform to a 6/6/6 system.

[Vendetta]

I think it was overdone..

[Cactus]

I think it was overdone..

How so?

[ch00_bakka]

^^ does enchanting count as a magic school?

[Vendetta]

I think it was overdone..

How so?

Too flashey for my taste.

[Spiney]

I think it was overdone..

How so?

Too flashy. Could cause long loading times for the screen to pop up. And lag between moving through different skills. All that hokey pokey.

[Vendetta]

(extremely curious here that I just cant stand it anymore)

Spiney, how does your avatar and sig frequentley change? It has to be automatic! I know it!

[Cactus]

That was discussed in another thread I saw. Keep up with the times, Blackfire.

Anyway, I doubt it's going to be that bad. If the menu is an actual overlay of the sky, it's not going to be much more than small images and text superimposed over that. Again, I'm holding off any real opinions until I see more than the magic menu. Personally I think it looks neat and it's a lot better than just a simple list of text.

[Sznax]

They've probably changed Armorer into Smithing, as you now can make your own weapons not just repair them.

[Argonanza]

I adore that spacey nebula magic menu! I could just stare at it forever.

[legoless]

I really like the idea of each skill perk lighting up another star in the sky. It really ties in with the idea that Heroes can control their own fate (like Dyus told the player in the Shivering Isles, and the cryptic messages you receive from the Doomstones in Oblivion). I remember that in Morrowind you could see the constellations in the night sky as well (the three main ones, at least - can't remember the others).

I hope it will be possible to max out all skills in Skyrim. In Oblivion it took some serious system abusing to achieve it, and I never even bothered attempting it in Morrowind. But it'll hurt my OCD side if I can't light up all the stars.