Skyrim dev: Oblivion's setting felt "a bit generic"

By Fred Dutton Published 28 October, 2011

How the world of Elder Scrolls V stands apart.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim's concept artists have revealed how they went about setting the latest entry in Bethesda's RPG series apart from it's predecessor.

In a fascinating podcast hosted on the game's official site, the game's art team revealed that the brief with Skyrim was to create a more distinct, believable world with a greater focus on its people and culture.

"It was a reaction to what Oblivion was as a game," explained lead artist Matt Carofano.

"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."

Concept artist Adam Adamowicz explained that the team had a wide remit to start with, before Howard later reviewed the work and narrowed the focus.

"It was completely blue sky," he said. "[Executive director] Todd [Howard] said, 'Sit down and draw a bunch of cool, weird s***, and we'll look at it and decide what's worthwhile and what's really stupid.'"

Conan, Viking culture and and the work of [lauded American fantasy artist] Frank Frazetta were all apparently early touchstones for the team to draw on.

"I would pull a lot of Conan references, because there's a lot of different Conan art that I like," explained Howard.

"One of our early influences that I did show them was the McFarlane Conan action figure set. If you look at the Conan series they did, there's a great vibe in that stuff."

Sounds like it was a painful process though. According to Adamowicz, "probably about 90 per cent of that [early work] didn't get used."

Bethesda posted an accompanying video revealing some of the concepts the art team came up with. Take a look below.

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (35) Latest comment 7 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • disappointed #1 7 months ago

    Yes. We told you that.

  • lorik #2 7 months ago

    meh...its a game with swords

  • onlynapkin #3 7 months ago

    I can barely read anything on that page. Tiny grey letters on a black background? Fantastic!

  • Phoenisis #4 7 months ago

    It was, but I hope they realize that the setting was the least of the game's problems. The setting made the world less interesting to explore - but the mechanics of level and loot scaling made exploring inherently pointless in the first place. That's the worst possible mistake for an open-world game like this.

  • Goodfella #5 7 months ago

    What Skyrim (or any RPG) needs is a lovely loot system, that makes you feel like you're getting more powerful and you can visually see all the great stuff you're wearing - think Dark Souls for the most recent example.

    Secondly, enemies that scale with you levelling up, hated that in Oblivion but no doubt it remains in Skyrim.

    Pfft, I'm buying it anyway like the poor pathetic weak sheep I am.
    Edited by Goodfella at 28/10/11 @ 21:19

  • dudefella #6 7 months ago

    Adam Adamowicz

    What a great name

  • Loneck #7 7 months ago

    I like the music from that video.

  • Anufea #8 7 months ago

    A bit grayish indeed. Hopefully sunny areas with lush vegetation look as bright and vibrant as they should (and did in Oblivion).

  • Number1Laing #9 7 months ago

    Ahh, the old "you should buy our new game because we are saying our old game was a bit shit" trick.

  • KanePaws #10 7 months ago

    C'mon, guys, fix that apostrophe in the first sentence - for god's sake, we're not Americans! :p

  • Mr.DNA #11 7 months ago

    @KanePawsThis shit matters!

    There looks to be a diverse number of environments in the game, and it's not all about snow and grey skies. There'll be forests and trees and rivers and cold, crisp blue skies to go along with the white stuff. Should feel quite bit different from Fallout, where everywhere was a barren wastleand and it all looked the same. There's supposed to be six or seven really distinct-feeling locales.
    Edited by Mr.DNA at 29/10/11 @ 00:45

  • Crazy_Colt #12 7 months ago

    It's always more memorable to have an inspired yet unique setting. Visually well designed game can leave a permanent mark.
    .

    But without the game mechanics to make exploration fun, rewarding and necessary it's like a Porsche without the engine.

  • Kaminari #13 7 months ago

    "apart from it's predecessor"

    It's neither English nor American English. It's illiterate.

  • haruvister #14 7 months ago

    @Goodfella http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/113853-What-Skyrim-Learned-from-Fallout-3

  • Grayvern #15 7 months ago

    If only this was we learned from New Vegas, and hired better writers.

    They have said they've learned lessons from the scaling of monsters, but nothing about loot though.
    Edited by Grayvern at 29/10/11 @ 12:24

  • CamberGreber #16 7 months ago

    DAMMIT Bethesda Let not put down Oblivion just so you can market Skyrim.

    There is no need its gonna sell millions.

  • Xardan #17 7 months ago

    It annoys me that there is so little talk about the music in Skyrim. Jeremy Soule is creating the soundtrack, and sometimes that is reason enough alone to be interested. People seem to forget too easily how music really bring's together the game world and atmosphere. It is critical.

  • Goodfella #18 7 months ago

    @haruvister

    Thanks for that, at least my main complaint has been addressed. :)

  • Crazy_Colt #19 7 months ago

    @Xardan music is absolutely critical, just look at all the mayor iconic works of media, music is a character of it's own that binds everything .
    .

  • SeesThroughAll #20 7 months ago

    I see that regardless of the huge redesign, Eurogamer still gets hammered by spammers...

  • Fixxxer #21 7 months ago

    I also want to hear what lead artist Steve Steveson has to say about Skyrim.

  • Demiath #22 7 months ago

    Thanks for finally admitting that, Bethesda. A little hint, though; Viking-esque Nords and fjords are likewise rather generic...

  • levitate #23 7 months ago

    I have Skyrim on pre-order. Don't fail me Bethesda!

  • Baleoce #24 7 months ago

    I wonder if Skyrim's setting will have felt "a bit generic" by the time Elder Scrolls VI is about to release xD But no really, I am looking forward to this game.
    Edited by Baleoce at 30/10/11 @ 12:47

  • Dave #25 7 months ago

    Don't forget the contributions of Lead Sound Engineer Michael Michaelson to the game, I heard it rocks!

    OT: it sounds just like a marketing ploy, which they probably said about Morrowind when they released Oblivion. Probably something about better and more realistic NPC interaction... or mudcrabs with more menacing claws.

  • agent55 #26 7 months ago

    No wonder they chucked 90% of the art design. the director said "...draw a bunch of cool, weird s***...". You'll probably end up with lots of wasted hours with that kind of "direction".

  • Inmediasress #27 7 months ago

    Well I'm going to be hated for this but I would say that not the setting or art design was generic in Oblivion but the whole gameplay that goes also for fallout3/NV.
    Skyrim is maybe the one that isn't marked by bethesda's style or lack of style but as seeing that they are affraid to get out a demo I'm stil rather skeptical, but we'll see.

  • OliverH #28 7 months ago

    The ironic thing is that if you suggest Oblivion was generic on the official Elder Scrolls forum, you'll get flamed and declared a hater...

  • glottis0 #29 7 months ago

    @Inmediasress - they're not scared to get a demo out, you lunatic. They're trying to finish a game, and distracting themselves with the conundrum of how to scale a completely open-world game into a 20-minute sample is not exactly going to help.

    Hype and love for the franchise has already secured this enough day-one sales - I imagine Bethesda are in no rush for a demo.

  • fafaf #30 7 months ago

    That was a wonderful video.

  • Shinetop #31 7 months ago

    I have to disagree. Maybe Cyrodiil was a bit generic fantasy, but I like fantasy. I loved walking around in a world like that and doing whatever I wanted.

    There are some dangers to designing something different: the archetypes are there for a reason. I for one could never really get into Morrowind because the mushroomy organic setting just didn't appeal to me; it felt too made up, too "we have to do something different in order to be different." Skyrim, at least, is still grounded in some recognizable fantasy stuff, and I find the setting a lot more appealing, even if it isn't the standard dense forests and rolling hills fantasy fare.

  • TheEarlOfZinger #32 7 months ago

    The mudcrabs are more cultured in this version.

  • kangarootoo #33 7 months ago

    Was that a huge issue for the first one? Isn't part of the appeal of Elder Scrolls that it is firmly rooted in all the western RPG genre conventions that have existed since Tolkien (created most of them)?

  • OliverH #34 7 months ago

    @kangarootoo Actually, a game like Morrowind had precious little to do with Tolkien. Plus Skyrim seems more to channel the most clichéed interpretations of Howard's works than Tolkien.

  • OliverH #35 7 months ago

    @Shinetop
    There's plenty of precedent for Morrowind's organic setting. Heck, one of the hallmarks of Art Nouveau was an organic, plant-like look. Morrowind merely took that to a logical endpoint where it wasn't anymore stone or metal shaped into plant, but actual plant. Giant mushrooms etc have been around probably even longer than Lewis Carroll.

    Of course, un-creative work is far more common, but does that really make lack of creativity something good? You considering something "recognizable fantasy stuff" and something else not could be saying more about how much you know than about the game itself....