At D.I.C.E. 2012, Bethesda Game Studios’ Todd Howard just showed an amazing highlight reel of mods the studio built into The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim during a week-long “game jam” after the game’s release. Features like mounted combat, a lycanthropy skill tree, and one enormous mudcrab, the width of the horizon, were all shown. And that was the tip of the iceberg.
Howard made no promises that anything seen in the demo reel would ever make it into the game, whether as a title update or downloadable content down the line. But it did showcase the depth of what the Bethesda team built and a creative instinct within the team that matches the mod community’s enthusiasm, stoked recently by the release of the official Creation Kit.
Some highlights, by no means an exhaustive list:
• Seasonal foliage.
• Spears.
• Kill cams for magic and ranged combat.
• Stealth enhancements such as water arrows.
• Paralysis runes.
• New follower commands for combat style and training.
• Building your own home..
• Goblins.
• Waygate fast travel.
• Mounted combat.
• Dragon mounts.
• Kinect-enabled shouts.
• Enhanced underwater visuals.
• Ice and fire arrows.
• A Werebear.
• Lycanthropy skill tree.
• Becoming a flying vampire, with minions..
• An enormous mud crab.
• “Fat giants.”
Jordaan Mylonas
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 3:17 PMPlease release these as Creation Kit samples.
Spoonie
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 3:22 PMHoly crap I want every single thing mentioned. All of these things should have been in the game already!
Marathon
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 3:25 PMAdd it in and earn more brownie points with your fans and community. Community Present for making the game such a financial success?
nic86
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 3:28 PMInstead of wasting time with these mods they could have been working on the fix for the lag and freezing issues on the PS3.
El Kapitan
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 3:36 PMThey’ve done a lot more than I would have. I would have posted a banner on the main menu saying “You should have bought this on PC, sucker, enjoy your modless game with (ironically) no in-game console.”
El Kapitan
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 3:35 PMMore this. Less religious debate and out of context quotes. If it weren’t for the occasional article like this that’s actually somewhat related to video games instead of riding the waves of controversy, i’d be done with Kotaku (at least the US portion).
Andy
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 3:36 PMSpears – Hell yes please
Giant mud crabs – Sure why not
Seasonal foliage – A must.
Dark dungeons – Would be nice to have a dungeon like in some jrpgs that is 100 floors and gets harder progressively and there is a shop or something every 10 floors.
Adoption of children – Eh unless you can get them to keep your house tidy and craft for you. Child labor?
Advanced home building – Oh hells yes. This more so than anything else. Would love to be able to build our own castles/manors and hire guards etc. Then perhaps occasionally it could be attacked by bandits.
Epic new mounts – Yeah would also be nice.
Kinect dragon shouts – Me shouting at the screen? No thanks.
Enhanced water visuals – Please yes though check out some of the mods on Nexus for how to do this correctly.
Lycanthrope perk tree – Sure seeing as it can be a big part of the game.
Goblins – A standard of rpgs so sure.
Everything I did not mention just gets a meh from me.
AerintheADEQUATE
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 5:20 AMYou ‘meh’ at Werebears?? *steps to the side and watches the windows for impending Werebear attack*
Bruno
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 3:41 PMNo chance of this being made available to consoles, is there? For those of us who can’t afford a fancy pants gaming rig?
doubleDizz
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 4:09 PMvideo link? =D
Azza
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 4:13 PMI keep posting these things everywhere but I’m gonna say it again. I am perfectly happy to pay (a reasonable amount) for mods on my xbox if they are good quality and feel like they’re going to add to my experience. Charge me $5 so I can have an advanced home builder, some different weapon types, seasons and mounted combat and I will be pretty happy. Sure, arguments can be made that they should have been in there already, but that won’t get us anywhere.
SavarnT
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 4:33 PMNeed, need, need, need, need, need, don’t need but would like, need, MUST HAVE, need, need, need…
Will Sparrow
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 4:30 AMOf course I want every single one of these things, but these really should have already been included in Skyrim or at least should be free to Skyrim players if completed, compared to the few updates from Oblivion to Skyrim these changes are monumental.
There were many times I was disappointed by the lack of mounted combat in Oblivion, and even more disappointed to see there was none in Skyrim
AerintheADEQUATE
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 5:17 AMThis is my favorite post of the year so far.
Werebears! Needs them!
Matts
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 10:20 AMI like all these. I’d also like to be able to dye clothing or add special decorations to armor and weapons. (jeweled iron daggers or iron armor with bear fur deco?) something thyat would really make my character unique. Also… marriable khajit? All this stuff looks good really looking forward to it
Daulton Gleason
Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 9:57 AM-Oh for the love of god give us mounted combat
-Build your own house, castles and such, Jesus Ch**st yes
-Water, ice and fire arrows, a definite must, no matter the cost in gold I will buy buy buy them up!
-Paralysis runes, oh f**k yeah
-Becoming a flying vampire, with minions. Why the heck not?
-Dragon mounts, most definitely
-Skeletal Butler, great concept
- Seasonal foliage, gotta have it, best concept ever
-Kill cams for magic and ranged combat, EPIC!
-Lycanthropy skill tree, can’t wait for that :)
-Goblins, I say yes. personal preference
-Waygate fast travel, couldn’t hurt
- New follower commands for combat style and training, PLEASEEEE
If you truely do all of this, I solemnly swear to buy 2 copys of the game just in case something happens to the first, so I can continue to play the hands down best video game of all time, thank you all for your hard work and dedication to Skyrim, and to all of the Elder Scrolls. It certainly does not go un-noticed!
Sincerely, Daulton E. Gleason
Geoff
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 2:45 PMWould be nice to see some work on the UI. In particular the ability to sort lists, not just by name but by type. When you are carrying a whole bunch of stuff it is hard to find the right ring, helmet, potion.
It would also be really useful to have outfits, or sets of items. Confronted by an ice dragon, switch to an all ice resistent outfit, and just the right weapon.
Otherwise, bloody brilliant game.
blablabla
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 9:42 PMwhen ????
Your mom
Saturday, April 14, 2012 at 2:03 PMlate april or early may
KNOCKEDUPADONKEYLASTNIGHT
Monday, April 30, 2012 at 12:10 PMI wonder if this’ll allow the name… Anyway I’m very pleased with Skyrim, spears are something I definately miss from Morrowind, AND I MUST HAVE ALL THE OTHERS INSIDE ME.. I mean the game