Skyrim Director: It's Difficult To Be Consistent In Big Worlds
The Elder Scrolls V: SkryimWhen it comes to massive environments, it can be tough to tie everything together in one cohesive package.
Like its predecessors, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will once again boast a huge, dynamic world, with hundreds of inhabitants, ranging from humans to dragons. So when it comes to the writing, how difficult is it to keep tone consistent throughout? Edge asked game director Todd Howard, who replied:
"Yeah. It's something our designers work on a lot. They all review each others stuff, and our lead designers review all the writing. At the end, there's still a ton of it, and sometimes you'll get things that are tonally different, but if it's written in the right way, meaning it's written in the voice of the world, it's not the tone of the game changing as much as the tone of that particular character. We have had to go through and rewrite - we've rewritten all our cities because they were a bit of a mishmash. We want to make sure the tone is right not only for the game but for that individual location."
If we wish to be fully immersed and engaged, it's critical that we truly believe the fictional world before us...if that makes any sense. The bottom line is that everything needs to fit; if something feels distinctly out of place, it's jarring and a disconnect occurs. We don't envy the job of "tonal consistency" in a project as big as Skyrim but as the fans will probably tell you, Bethesda knows what they're doing.
Related Game(s): The Elder Scrolls V: Skryim
Tags: the elder scrolls v, skyrim, bethesda
7/18/2011 10:03:59 AM Ben Dutka
Put this on your webpage or blog:
Email this to a friend
Follow PSX Extreme on Twitter
Comments (33 posts)
WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 2:07:07 PM
3 up, 0 down
Highlander
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 10:24:12 AM
Reply
1 up, 0 down
Qubex
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 10:34:28 AM
That's an exceedingly good point Highlander... they probably could now I come to think about it...
Only issue though is how "big" inconsistency become. Does the mean error increase; i.e. the more inconsistencies build the quicker the world your are playing in breaks down?
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
Last edited by Qubex on 7/18/2011 10:35:32 AM
1 up, 0 down
Highlander
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 10:44:52 AM
1 up, 0 down
DcIronfist
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 10:48:08 AM
1 up, 0 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 2:08:28 PM
0 up, 0 down
Highlander
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 10:38:47 PM
0 up, 0 down
Excelsior1
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 11:11:43 AM
Reply
9 up, 0 down
maxpontiac
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 11:16:19 AM
Fallout 3 was an amazing experience and I completely became immersed in it unlike any game before it.
However... Fallout 3 was a glitch filled mess, that often resulted in some frustration. What you said is ALL I care about really.
4 up, 0 down
bigrailer19
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 11:40:29 AM
1 up, 0 down
maxpontiac
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 12:09:53 PM
For sure, and yes, it was very strange on how a newer title was worse.
I hope you are right, for it is one of my big must haves for the rest of this year, and I for one do not want to have a glitch filled experience!
0 up, 0 down
bigrailer19
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 12:37:16 PM
0 up, 0 down
maxpontiac
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 2:02:38 PM
0 up, 0 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 2:10:55 PM
1 up, 0 down
FM23
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 3:25:15 PM
0 up, 0 down
Alienange
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 5:54:15 PM
0 up, 0 down
Teddie9
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 12:22:46 PM
Reply
1 up, 0 down
Lawless SXE
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 1:27:53 PM
Reply
Last edited by Lawless SXE on 7/18/2011 1:28:36 PM
0 up, 0 down
Temjin001
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 1:46:23 PM
Reply
2 up, 0 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 2:12:36 PM
Reply
2 up, 0 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 5:05:14 PM
0 up, 0 down
Ignitus
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 2:40:22 PM
Reply
0 up, 0 down
Claire C
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 4:42:09 PM
0 up, 0 down
Alienange
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 6:01:37 PM
Reply
And if I might add, they always come across as realistic. No bragging, no taunting or head wagging. Just a plain every man explanation of what making a game is like.
2 up, 0 down
BikerSaint
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 7:23:24 PM
Reply
Bethesda Won't Rule Out External Development for Elder Scrolls Games.
18 Jul 2011
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/111715-Bethesda-Wont-Rule-Out-External-Development-for-Elder-Scrolls-Games
The non-Bethesda studio would have to figure out a way to gain some Elder Scrolls experience.
Since its inception in the early nineties, every Elder Scrolls game has been created by a member of the Bethesda family, whether Bethesda itself or its mobile-focused sister company Vir2L.
That might not always be the case however; as Bethesda's Todd Howard says that the studio won't rule out letting an outside studio having a crack at the series.
It's probably not very likely though, as Bethesda's preference is keep development of the Elder Scrolls series as internal as possible. Bethesda has used outside developers for one of its franchises before; the most recent Fallout game, New Vegas was made by Obsidian.
Howard said that that was a special case though, with all the conditions lining up just right to make that happen. "New Vegas was unique," he said. "We wanted to do something with Obsidian, we knew we were moving on Elder Scrolls, they had a team available ... But they had experience with the IP, and with Elder Scrolls we don't have that."
There's a world of difference between "not ruling it out" and "we're definitely doing this," but it's a fun to think of what other developers would make of the Elder Scrolls series. Would Crytek's take be gorgeous, but focused on ranged combat, or would BioWare's vision be open in the middle, but less so at the beginning and end? We may never find out, but then again, maybe we will.
Skyrim, the next Bethesda-made installment in The Elder Scrolls, comes out for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on November 11th.
0 up, 0 down
___________
Tuesday, July 19, 2011 @ 3:46:38 AM
Reply
i just hope they figured out how to debug there games by now, every bethesda game has made me feel like im playing a f*cking pre alpha build!
ill wait till it hits the bargain bin, elder scrolls bored the f*ck out of me!
then if they have learned how to debug there games by then i might look into it.
perfect game to save for the winter break.
0 up, 1 down
Qubex
Reply
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 10:20:50 AM
It must be a huge task to keep it in tone, paced and well written so the player always feel they are part of an immense living and breathing world.
How many times have games suffered with bad character scripting that have left gamers unable to accept the context and the world they are playing in? The world breaks down leaving the gamer feeling cheated in a sense and wanting to have nothing to do with the characters again, especially if the scripting is not consistent.
Skyrim is likely to be an incredible piece of computer game artistry if executed correctly. I am very keen to try this game out. It will be the first in the series I will try.
It looks very engrossing and beautiful to look at... surely a game for the collection then.
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
Last edited by Qubex on 7/18/2011 10:22:12 AM