The Elder Scrolls formula has changed quite a bit since Oblivion, says Skyrim director Todd Howard. Many of its changes are inspired by Bethesda’s other open world RPG, Fallout 3.
Oblivion featured enemy scaling, whereby as your character grew stronger, the creatures and enemies populating the world grew in potency as well. That’s changed for Skyrim. “[Skyrim]’s a lot more like Fallout 3, where as you level up you are going to see harder things, but the easier things stay around as well,” he said to PC Gamer regarding enemy scaling. “You’ll still run into the weaker stuff and you’ll just decimate it.”
I’m glad. It was jarring to encounter a level 75 sewer rat (the very model of disposable fuzzy XP) that could eat you alive.This isn’t Dark Souls, dammit. One of my favourite things about RPG’s is going back, after you’ve levelled up sufficiently, and walking all over foes who’d previously given you uphill.
Interactions and conversations with NPC’s are also getting a Fallout-inspired overhaul. “There’s very few completely random conversations. We’ve gone more towards a system, like we did in Fallout 3, where they have a specific conversation with a specific person about various topics,” he explained. The environments too will be getting a dash of spice courtesy of Fallout; “We realised in Fallout 3 that that kind of environmental storytelling, where you come upon a little scene, is really good,” says Howard. “And so we’ve tried to do it a lot more.”
“Just about” every dungeon, says Howard, will have unique elements. Battlefield 3? Modern Warfare 3? Uncharted 3? No, THIS is the game I’m most looking forward to.
Last Updated: October 27, 2011
