I have just watched the gameplay videos for Skyrim and I am nothing but underwhelmed.
PART 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2_msV2gGJQ
PART 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7PMYnjGD6g
PART 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJAB2QGna_g
First of all, the AI.
Watch from 0:25 of part 2, as the enemy's friend is killed right in front of him, he reacts by putting his fists up and staring at the wall behind his friend's dead body, not looking around, not thinking "Hmm, I do wonder where that sure looking arrow came from" but instead he effectively challenges the cave wall to a duel and is taken advantage of by the player, some would technically call this broken gameplay; Immersion null.
Now watch 3:07, Mr Deathlord is obviously smashing through that wall there, not for fun, but with the sole intention of smashing the said player with his rather large axe.
He smashes through, then stands still for two seconds, also perplexed by the wall in front of him, perhaps the AI is so smart that it is amazed by the visuals you say? I think not.
Not only does this skeletal chap have a stupid AI system working against his favour, but he also appears to be some kind of ghost or spirit, the player slashes and stabs with his blade and the guy doesn't seem to move or react at all to this.
Sigh.. now on to a hilarious one I saw (i'm sure you all noticed this one, but subconciously forgot about it due to it's absolute outrageousness) watch part 3, about 1:17, Mr Giant looms toward the player, swinging his axe (which barely makes the player move when hit) and is then picked up by a passing dragon, and dropped to his embarassing death, watch how the giant just freezes as he is falling (very slowly) to his death, not rotating, not flipping, not even cursing the dragon as he is pulled by the unrealistic gravity of the oh so wonderful Bethesda's Creation engine, another enemy lost in the midst of Bethesda's bugs.
Skyrim's AI looks basically identical to Oblivion as well as the physics, which basically means the new Elder Scrolls is stuck in the past, if this wins Game Of The Year, then it will be a sad time for gaming.
That being said, I should smooth this thing out with some good points about the game:
The dragons are very good.
Combining spells, that will entertain me.
What with the resources, money, staff, expertise and experience Bethesda has at it's disposal, I am saddened that so many of you will accept less than near perfection from this now obviously flawed developer.
EDIT as of 13/9/2011 16:20 PST:
After looking through a lot of replies to this post I can see that there are a few on how the demo is old, and some about how AI is apparently very difficult to program.
If the latter is true, then how is it that we have AI players in games such as PES 2012 and Total War: Shogun 2, more often that not outsmarting players when they play in real time, anticipating what players do, what they are going to do, and (in PES) learning how a player plays, and taking advantage of and exposing the players weaknesses.
If all of that is possible in other games, which might possibly have a smaller budget than a gaming blockbuster like Elder Scrolls, how is it that a (most likely combat trained) AI character cannot simply look around for the threat after his comrade is killed?
On to the point of the demo being old, all I can say is I hope Bethesda are aware of these problems and try to fix them best they can before the game is released, perhaps Bethesda could see these complaints for the demo (the only complaints I and others I see have for it by the way) and act on them.
In conclusion, I love games, open world games, Role playing games, the reason I posted this thread was a long shot to possibly bring it to the developer's attention, to bring to other gamers' attention, and possibly raise the awareness of the flaws in games so we can all enjoy them the best we can and play them for years to come.
"Live another life, in another world."
Todd Howard
EDIT 2 as of 14/9/2011 8:00 PST
I would like to apologise slightly for the title of this topic, it should be titled "Skyrim's AI looks outdated and average" I am also only slightly bothered by the physics in hindsight and even though that giant did annoy the hell out of me; I am much more concerned with the state of the AI.
A lot of trolls are saying that I am demanding perfection or I am insulting the developers' work, this is not true, I WILL enjoy the game like everybody else here, but the point is this will feel like a more complete experience for me with AI which doesn't stare at walls for 5 seconds. That is all.
PART 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2_msV2gGJQ
PART 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7PMYnjGD6g
PART 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJAB2QGna_g
First of all, the AI.
Watch from 0:25 of part 2, as the enemy's friend is killed right in front of him, he reacts by putting his fists up and staring at the wall behind his friend's dead body, not looking around, not thinking "Hmm, I do wonder where that sure looking arrow came from" but instead he effectively challenges the cave wall to a duel and is taken advantage of by the player, some would technically call this broken gameplay; Immersion null.
Now watch 3:07, Mr Deathlord is obviously smashing through that wall there, not for fun, but with the sole intention of smashing the said player with his rather large axe.
He smashes through, then stands still for two seconds, also perplexed by the wall in front of him, perhaps the AI is so smart that it is amazed by the visuals you say? I think not.
Not only does this skeletal chap have a stupid AI system working against his favour, but he also appears to be some kind of ghost or spirit, the player slashes and stabs with his blade and the guy doesn't seem to move or react at all to this.
Sigh.. now on to a hilarious one I saw (i'm sure you all noticed this one, but subconciously forgot about it due to it's absolute outrageousness) watch part 3, about 1:17, Mr Giant looms toward the player, swinging his axe (which barely makes the player move when hit) and is then picked up by a passing dragon, and dropped to his embarassing death, watch how the giant just freezes as he is falling (very slowly) to his death, not rotating, not flipping, not even cursing the dragon as he is pulled by the unrealistic gravity of the oh so wonderful Bethesda's Creation engine, another enemy lost in the midst of Bethesda's bugs.
Skyrim's AI looks basically identical to Oblivion as well as the physics, which basically means the new Elder Scrolls is stuck in the past, if this wins Game Of The Year, then it will be a sad time for gaming.
That being said, I should smooth this thing out with some good points about the game:
The dragons are very good.
Combining spells, that will entertain me.
What with the resources, money, staff, expertise and experience Bethesda has at it's disposal, I am saddened that so many of you will accept less than near perfection from this now obviously flawed developer.
EDIT as of 13/9/2011 16:20 PST:
After looking through a lot of replies to this post I can see that there are a few on how the demo is old, and some about how AI is apparently very difficult to program.
If the latter is true, then how is it that we have AI players in games such as PES 2012 and Total War: Shogun 2, more often that not outsmarting players when they play in real time, anticipating what players do, what they are going to do, and (in PES) learning how a player plays, and taking advantage of and exposing the players weaknesses.
If all of that is possible in other games, which might possibly have a smaller budget than a gaming blockbuster like Elder Scrolls, how is it that a (most likely combat trained) AI character cannot simply look around for the threat after his comrade is killed?
On to the point of the demo being old, all I can say is I hope Bethesda are aware of these problems and try to fix them best they can before the game is released, perhaps Bethesda could see these complaints for the demo (the only complaints I and others I see have for it by the way) and act on them.
In conclusion, I love games, open world games, Role playing games, the reason I posted this thread was a long shot to possibly bring it to the developer's attention, to bring to other gamers' attention, and possibly raise the awareness of the flaws in games so we can all enjoy them the best we can and play them for years to come.
"Live another life, in another world."
Todd Howard
EDIT 2 as of 14/9/2011 8:00 PST
I would like to apologise slightly for the title of this topic, it should be titled "Skyrim's AI looks outdated and average" I am also only slightly bothered by the physics in hindsight and even though that giant did annoy the hell out of me; I am much more concerned with the state of the AI.
A lot of trolls are saying that I am demanding perfection or I am insulting the developers' work, this is not true, I WILL enjoy the game like everybody else here, but the point is this will feel like a more complete experience for me with AI which doesn't stare at walls for 5 seconds. That is all.
