Oblivion Was ‘Generic’ — Skyrim ‘All About Creating A World That’s Believable’

Bethesda has uploaded a new podcast on its official site, which takes a look at the design of Skyrim’s world and the process the artists went through to create it. Needless to say, it’s well worth listening to.

According to Lead artist Matt Carofano, a lot of what makes up Skyrim visually was a direct result of the team’s work on Oblivion and trying to create something different.

“It was a reaction to what Oblivion was as a game,” said Matt. “Oblivion was a very classic medieval setting, and we felt some of that was a bit generic. We wanted to do something that showed a lot more of the culture of the people who lived there.”

“Skyrim was all about creating a world that seemed believable.”

According to concept artist Adam Adamowicz, the team had a blank slate.

“It was completely blue sky,” claimed Adamowicz. “Todd said, ‘Sit down and draw a bunch of cool, weird [stuff], and we’ll look at it and decide what’s worthwhile and what’s really stupid.’

“We want bad-ass Vikings versus Conan, classic Frank Frazetta, and it’s going to be set in Skyrim, and this is a place that’s going to be a lot more brutal and gritty: draw a bunch of stuff.”

You can listen to the podcast here.

Completely Blue Sky: The Concept of Skyrim [Bethesda]


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