14 DAY TRIAL // Bethesda is preparing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for release in the fall of this year and it seems that one of the main areas the developer is focusing on is creating a very good first impression through the graphics quality and style, in order to draw in potential customers and then convince them with the story and gameplay.
Speaking on the most recent Official Xbox Magazine podcast Peter Hines, who is a vice president at Bethesda, has said, “There’s a lot of people who say graphics don’t matter. To them I usually say ‘you’re lying'.”
He believes everyone “will look at a screenshot and make a snap decision: 'that looks awesome', or 'I'm not interested'. So if you can make something look amazing just at first glance, it's so much easier to get them.”
For Hines, graphics are the best way to immerse the gamer in a universe, and a distinctive style is needed to show how a game is differentiating itself from others in the same space.
Skyrim is set in the most northern province of the game world and this means that snow will be one big part of the setting, with the developers at Bethesda saying that they are paying attention to how they simulate it, aiming for a dynamic system of precipitation and a real life feel.
Bethesda has already offered quite a bit of detail on The Elder Scrolls V, saying that they will be creating a deep main story that centers on dragons and their interaction with the world, with a dynamic system able to deliver side quests that are tailor made to the play style of each gamer.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is set to be launched on the PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360 and the PC on November 11.