Skyrim - The Elder Scrolls V

[Kan' Sharuminar]

Name a street in real life you can run down in 3 seconds.

Ebenezer Place, Wick

 

[Maniacal]

That isn't really a street though, more of a sidewalk at a junction. Still interesting though!

I know someone who used to live on a road that could not have been more than 20 or 30 feet (I have little sense of distances) and he was the only address on it. It is an incredibly pointless road, especially since if they were to extend it they would not only have to subdivide the property on the other side of a gully/ravine/something but also build a bridge. You could easily run down it in three seconds.

EDIT: I've also seem some rather short cull-de-sacs too.

 

[DaemonDD]

Ebenezer Place, Wick

I find it hilarious how there actually was some sort of answer to that.

 

[Double A]

I've gotten lost in Vivec (who hasn't?), Skingrad the first time or two I was in the residential district, and Bruma, because 3/4 of the city is basically the same 2 story building copypasted everywhere. I still get lost in Cheydinhal, but that's because there's nothing to do there but the DB and the corruption quest, thus I have spent almost no time at all outside of the Sanctuary.

So it seems to me like Bethesda can either make one street like Anvil, something easy, big, and boring like Mournhold or Imperial City, or do something that could potentially confuse the hell out of everyone.

 

[Yeekim]

Because the real world has actual maps for the most part?

Unlike Skyrim?

Anyway... I would like to get lost in cities more often. That would probably require "hold capitols" with more than half a dozen houses.
Cases in point: Winterhold, Morthal, Dawnstar and Falkreath have like 20 buildings between them.
The citizens of Skyrim have apparently spent their every waking moment carving and digging huge underground hallways - that´s why there are no settlements above ground.

I swear there are two Nordic Ruins for every shack in that province.

 

[DaemonDD]

I swear there are two Nordic Ruins for every shack in that province.

No, that's incorrect. There are two dwemner ruins for every shack in the province, and five nordic ruins for every flower you can find in the tundra.

 

[Azale]

I like to think of the cities as representative of a bigger population. I use my imagination In a game like Dragon Age, where the cities had minimal numbers of npcs but you could kinda see the illusion of a sprawling city, it was admittedly easier.

Still, why would the game developers want to waste time adding a bunch of useless buildings, npcs, etc just to heighten the "realism" when the game has enough stability issues as it is? It's not like Skyrim suffers from a lack of atmosphere.

Now, when gaming hardware allows for a company to pull off having 100 or more npcs in a sprawling metropolis, then by all means complain when they take the easy way out.

 

[Maniacal]

Now, when gaming hardware allows for a company to pull off having 100 or more npcs in a sprawling metropolis, then by all means complain when they take the easy way out.

It already has been capable of doing that for years. Planetside allowed hundreds of players into the same maps, many MMORPGs have hundreds of players in one area plus NPCs (although they don't feel alive), hell even Mount&Blade can handle having 400+ NPCs (or up to about 250 or so players in multiplayer) while Bethesda's games struggle to deal with a few dozen NPCs although on one map.

What really irks me the most about Oblivion and (from what I've seen) Skyrim though is the lack of proper farmland. The cities really feel out of place when there are either no farms or a couple of pathetically small "farms" that are no more than a garden. Even Skingrad's vineyards are unimpressive.

 

[Akka]

Now, when gaming hardware allows for a company to pull off having 100 or more npcs in a sprawling metropolis, then by all means complain when they take the easy way out.

Err...
Assassin's Creed ? GTA 3 ?

 

[Rub'Rum]

What really irks me the most about Oblivion and (from what I've seen) Skyrim though is the lack of proper farmland. The cities really feel out of place when there are either no farms or a couple of pathetically small "farms" that are no more than a garden. Even Skingrad's vineyards are unimpressive.

I was thinking about the same thing, of course. In a way it's even more jarring to have a tiny farm than having none at all.

 

[sophie]

I was thinking about the same thing, of course. In a way it's even more jarring to have a tiny farm than having none at all.

I particularly liked the large number of small farms dotted around the hinterland of Windhelm. For a region which receives more snowfall than any other province in all of Tamriel, it sure has a disproportionately large amount of farms...

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

What really irks me the most about Oblivion and (from what I've seen) Skyrim though is the lack of proper farmland. The cities really feel out of place when there are either no farms or a couple of pathetically small "farms" that are no more than a garden. Even Skingrad's vineyards are unimpressive.

"Neither he nor Frodo knew anything of the great slave-worked fields away south in this wide realm, beyond the fumes of the Mountain by the dark sad waters of Lake Nurnen; nor of the great roads that ran away east and south to tributary lands, from which the soldiers of the Tower brought long waggon-trains of goods and booty and fresh salves. Here in the northward regions were the mines and forges, and the musterings of long-planned war; and here the Dark Power, moving its armies like pieces on the board, was gathering them together."

Yup, I just pretend there's a bunch of orc-slaves 'off-screen' bringing in food. I find it more believable than the tiny farms, and move on with things.

 

[Maniacal]

nevermind

 

[Double A]

About 2/3 of it isn't.

 

[Disgustipated]

Yeah I try not to think too much of the realism of the Skyrim world. The fact people are running around in robes when it's freezing cold out is one thing.

I'd like to see a Hardcore mode in this game like FNV. I also think being outside during a blizzard should cause health damage from the cold, same thing with swimming in frigid water.

Then again Fallout 3 had those realism problems too. I don't think there was one farm in the whole area. What did they eat? It's one aspect I like about Fallout: New Vegas (one of many reason why FNV is superior to Fallout 3). They at least try to show how there could be a working society in such a hostile environment. They showed how food was produced in the farms, and how goods were transported with caravans.

I know Skyrim has caravans, there's a bandit spot at Pinewatch where they hit caravans. Bandits are so numerous, I can't figure out how any trade happens in Skyrim. I would think the price of goods would be very high because of the extensive bandit problem. And when you kill them, they grow back.

 

[Double A]

There are probably fewer bandits when the entire country isn't in the middle of a rebellion.

 

[aronnax]

I honestly want most of the bandits to stay dead. I feel good when I clear out of the bandits. Makes me feel like I'm doing justice for the province. Imagine my surprise when they come back. Grrr.

KILL ALL THE BANDITS!

 

[Double A]

Maybe they're undead monsters or Falmer from the dungeons you don't clear out but've been masked by illusion magic by a trolling wizard.

 

[Azale]

Err...
Assassin's Creed ? GTA 3 ?

If that's the kind of "realism" you want, I'll pass.

 

[Akka]

If that's the kind of "realism" you want, I'll pass.

No, it's just a counter-point when someone says that today's hardware can't manage hundred of NPC in a city.