the-elder-scrolls posts

The menu system and user interface features of a game may not be as sexy to talk about as, say, the game's graphics engine or its combat features. But then again the development team at Bethesda Game Studios doesn't do anything halfway. In its latest article on the upcoming fantasy RPG The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim, Game Informer takes a look at the game's menu system.

The feature checks out how the team was actually inspired by Apple's iTunes menu system with Bethesda's Todd Howard saying, "One of our goals was 'What if Apple made a fantasy game? How would this look?'. The article goes into detail about how the game handles your character's inventory, how the in-game map works, and how the menu organizes your character's skills.

Game Informer's web site continues to offer up more info about The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim, the upcoming next game in the long running fantasy RPG series from developer Bethesda Game Studios. Today the site has a lengthy article that goes into detail on the game's combat features.

The article talks about some features that have been revealed before, such as having your character wield two weapons (one for each hand) or even be able to use two spells at the same time. There will also be effects like camera shakes in melee combat in order to make it look and feel more realistic. There will also be special kill animations and finishing moves that will pop up depending on your weapon, the enemy you are facing and the surrounding environments. As far as spells, there will be over 85 different ones in the game across five different schools of magic.

When The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim was first announced in December, publisher Bethesda Softworks revealed that the game would be running on an all new in-house created graphics engine. Now the Game Informer web site has the details on the new engine which has been named the Creation Engine (it even has its own logo which you can check out after the jump).

The new engine handles things like large draw distances, dynamic lighting, its own foliage system and a precipitation system for weather effects. The engine also has an improved AI system for things like having NPCs actually walking and doing things in the environment rather than just walking around aimlessly. The engine also uses Havok's Behavior tech for more realistic looking character movements and animations. All in all it looks like The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim will be the best looking game in the series to date.

The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim is already one of the most anticipated games of 2011 and we still have most of the year to wait until Bethesda Game Studios releases the title. Game Informer's print magazine has given us the first info on the fantasy RPG and now its web site has posted up an interesting side project that reveales some of the game's story details.

The web site has an interactive "wall" that shows off the image in the first teaser trailer. It also has several hotspots that when revealed by a PC cursor detail some of the game's fictional back story. For those of you who like exploring the game's lore it should keep you busy for a while.

The new print issue of Game Informer magazine have begun to show up in subscriber's mailboxes and as such info on the issue's cover story of The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim have started to pop up on the interweb (that of course includes scans of the issue pages which is frowned upon in these parts).

As usual someone on the NEOGaf message boards have checked out the issue and posted up a number of the important details from the article that has the first real preview of the upcoming RPG sequel from Bethesda Softworks. Just a few of the preview points include the option for dual wielding; both hands of your character can now be used for weapons and magic. There's also no class selection for your character at the beginning of the game. The more times you use skills the more each skill levels up and contributes to your character's overall level. The story itself takes place over 200 years after the events of The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion where dragons are showing back up and your character has to take out the dragon god. All in all it's going to be a long wait before this game comes out on November 11.

[Via VG247.com]

As promised, Game Informer has now released the cover image for its exclusive first reveal of The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim in the latest issue of its print magazine. However the back of the mag contains what you see above; some strange looking letters. In fact its a new language created for the upcoming RPG by developer Bethesda Game Studios. It's also the same language that you heard in the background in the game's teaser trailer last December.

But what does that message on the back say? Game Informer has given out some clues as to how one can translate the language into English. The final result should reveal the game's main villain as well as other story clues about the title ... or you could wimp out and just wait for someone else to post the solution on the net. Your call.

This download is a collection of mods which completely overhaul the game's visuals, giving it a sleeker, more refined look compared to the vanilla game. What once looked dated is now far more visually impressive than Oblivion or Fallout 3, with lush vegetation and vibrant colors abounding.

The download includes the mod's data files as well as a comprehensive guide covering all aspects of installation. You can get assistance, as well as look at all of the mods included and the installation guide before downloading, at the compendium's official website.

Download Morrowind 2011 Mod Compendium 1.0 (1.69 GB)
Check out all Morrowind downloads

If you want the first detailed preview of the just revealed RPG The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim, look no further than next month's Game Informer magazine. The biggest such print mag for games will have Bethesda Game Studios' latest effort as its cover story for the February 2010 dated issue. The magazine will ship to subscribers in early January and the official cover reveal will be made on Game Informer's web site on January 6. In the meantime the current issue of the magazine has a four page article that looks back at the history of the Elder Scrolls game franchise.

The magazine has had a long history of having the first previews of upcoming games from the studio, including previous cover stories for The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion and Fallout 3. In related news publisher Bethesda Softworks issued the official press release for Skyrin, and confirming the (not surprising) news that the game will indeed be released for the PC.

Bethesda Softworks is celebrating the 10th anniversary of The Elder Scrolls series. In doing so, the company has released full versions of both 1994's The Elder Scrolls: Arena and 1996's The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall as freeware games. More information about the history of The Elder Scrolls series can be found at the Bethesda Softworks website. These games are available "as is" and there's no support for them. A DOS emulator like DOSBox is required for newer computers to play them.

Download The Elder Scrolls: Arena (9 MB)
Download The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall (148 MB)

If you were to ask Bethesda's Fallout 3 lead Emil Pagliarulo, "Are you dumbing down Fallout 3 for consoles?" the answer you would get is probably, "I look at Fallout when I play it every day, and I sometimes think that there's a lot of old-school hardcore PC stuff in there too, and part of me thinks, 'God, is this too inaccessible for console players?'" That's the response he gave in an interview with Next-Gen where he was asked that very question.

There are some original Fallout series fans who've made such accusations towards Bethesda. In fact, there were some The Elder Scrolls fans who felt that way about the last game in the series, Oblivion. However, Emil points out that there are a lot of systems in Fallout 3 that aren't the usual RPG experience for consoles -- such as the multiple -point targeting system featured in the VATS mode. Our position on the matter is that we'll wait to see how the game turns out before making use of our accusation fingers.