14 DAY TRIAL // The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is one of the most successful game launches of 2011 and one of the most engaging experiences for role-playing game lovers to engage with. One developer believes that much of its attraction is not about the open-world structure but about the number of mechanics that players need to deal with.
David Jaffe, the creator of Twisted Metal and the leader of the team at Eat Sleep Play, told Gamasutra that “Well, a lot of people look at Skyrim and they say, 'Oh, the graphics' - or the music or the sound effects - 'that's what makes it immersive.' And sure, that's true to an extent.
“It is a combat game, there's fighting, but it's more of a simulation of an experience. So is Twisted Metal, but more of a simulation, like, live this character's life.”
The developer says that there are so many mechanics included in Skyrim that the brain of the player is always calculating how to best mix and match them in order to get the desired result.
He added, “Walking through the forest, going 'I need to get this shit back to the armorer, so I can sell it, so I can make money, so I can go on this side quest I've been trying to earn enough shit to go on successfully, but I can't go much faster because if I pick up another item, I'm going to be going really slow, and I'm going to get my ass killed going through this forest, getting back to town. How do I deal with that?”
Bethesda has recently launched the definitive patch 1.4 for Skyrim and allowed gamers on the PC to get access to a Mod Workshop that makes it easy to create new content or tweak already existing mechanics.
The game is also set to get significant downloadable content later in the year.