GB Feature: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Interview

We’ve conducted an interview with Bethesda’s Gavin Carter, in which the producer answers a large batch of questions about the upcoming Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. A snippet:

GB: It sounds like you’re making quite a few tweaks to the combat and transportation systems this time around. Care to give us a few details about each?

Gavin: Saying we’ve (tweaked) the combat system doesn’t do justice to the overhaul it’s getting. We demolished the Morrowind system of combat, and from its ashes arose something deeper, more engaging, and featuring a better blend of player skill vs. character skill. We threw out the wacky to-hit random rolls. Now if your sword hits an enemy, you’ve hit him, plain and simple. That simple change makes a world of difference in the experience. Combat is far less of an abstraction now.

No longer is simply clicking over and over and hoping that a random die falls in your favor a viable strategy. Now your enemy’s sword is something to be avoided, so you move. You dart in and out, getting in your swings while dodging out of his reach. You block with your shield or parry with your sword, then dash in as he recoils. Hit him with a strong enough blow, and watch as he staggers back, leaving himself open to your assault.

We haven’t taken skills out of the equation. They are integral to your combat strategies. If you’re starting out and come up against someone with a 100 skill in their weapon, you better start hoping for some godly intervention. Skills modulate your damage-dealing and defensive capabilities, as well as provide you with new combat moves to execute, and other perks. We’ve gone through three complete and fully realized combat systems prior to this one, and we really feel that we’ve achieved a very nice balance between the action-oriented combat that the Elder Scrolls have always featured, and the statistic-driven gameplay of a pen-and-paper RPG.

Transportation around the world is another area people were very critical of in Morrowind. This time around we’ve taken a long look at how players get from one location to another, and gone to great lengths to implement improvements. We have reinstated a (fast-travel) system similar to what was featured in Daggerfall and Arena. Now, if you’ve visited a location, it will show up as an icon on your map. Simply click there and the game will take you there. When you arrive, time will have passed realistically, and NPCs will be where you would expect them to be based on their daily schedules. No more tedious hours of trekking back and forth across the entire world to locations you’ve been to before, unless you’re into that sort of thing (and it’s amazing how many players are). You still have the option to traverse the great wilderness of Cyrodiil on your own two feet should you choose. And as I said, with only a few exceptions, you can only fast travel to places that you have previously visited. Exploration is a huge part of the Elder Scrolls games, and players should rest assured that there will be plenty to keep you exploring for hundreds of hours in Oblivion.