Will cities in Skyrim be part of the overworld or will they be enclosed zones?

[Elamdri]

Has anyone heard anything to this regard? I'm actually curious because I was never a huge fan of the way Oblivion handled the cities in the game by making them separate zones closed off from the rest of the world. I'd like to see the cities just become a part of the world, not to mention I think that it would have a lot more in game implications if say for example you could have instances where monsters chase you back to town and you can fight them back with the guards.

I know that there is a mod for Oblivion that does something to this effect, and from what I've heard, it makes the game a lot more fun.

 

[Tdc2182]

Well... It did seem like a few of the cities were free to walk into (specifically the one with the water wheel), but I'm not to sure.

 

[Thamous]

They have been confirmed as separate cells in the manner of Oblivion. Smaller towns and settlements will still be part of the main landmass however.

 

[Some Fella1]

Well, right now would be a poor time to judge anything, but if I look at the trailer which was released half an age ago, it (briefly) shows a character walking through a village with no walls, at least I don't think there were walls (I'm trying to remember off the top of my head right now, and don't have it nearby, so I'm useless in all honesty). I realise it's a terrible example, because villages were treated as part of the area in Oblivion as well, while cities were a completely different matter.

The matter would possibly be better suited in a Bethserda forum, they might have a much clearer idea... Whatever the matter, I rest easy knowing that Bethserda encourages modding of their games, so that if they don't make it part of the overworld then someone will make a mod which makes them part of the overworld, which would make the game several times better.

 

[Necator15]

I think it would definitely be interesting if the cities were connected to the rest of the exteriors, and I think a lot of people agree with that. I'm guessing Bethesda probably made it that way. I seem to remember them catching a bit of flak for the way they did cities in Oblivion.

Also, if they move cities back to being connected to regular exteriors, maybe they'll bring levitation back. I hope.

 

[Saelune]

Due to dragons attacking them, it would have to be open. Plus I dont imagine Skyrim being fulled of walled off cities like Cyrodil, which was a big part of why they were seperate cells.

 

[Phlakes]

It better be a completely open world. I got so tired of sitting through a loading screen every time I went to a new place. Even the Imperial City. Why did that have to be divided? There's no good reason other than Bethesda being lazy. And that's not even a good reason.

 

[omicron1]

It happens because of the hardware requirements pertaining to multiple (non-instanced) objects and dozens of animated characters. That's what happens when your console has only 512mb of memory to share twixt CPU and GPU - you have to be creative with loading stuff into memory/keeping it there.

The Imperial City is probably cut into those districts because of prior art pertaining to its form - I don't know, but I suspect it was already chopped up and they just decided to take advantage of the natural splits.

 

[infohippie]

It better be a completely open world. I got so tired of sitting through a loading screen every time I went to a new place. Even the Imperial City. Why did that have to be divided? There's no good reason other than Bethesda being lazy. And that's not even a good reason.

The chief reason was so that cities could be complex yet still fit into a console's limited RAM. Skyrim will be released on console as well as PC, therefore get used to the idea that cities, at least complex ones, will be separate just as in Oblivion.

[sub]This is the sort of thing PC gamers mean when they say consoles are holding back PC gaming.[/sub]

 

[Elamdri]

It better be a completely open world. I got so tired of sitting through a loading screen every time I went to a new place. Even the Imperial City. Why did that have to be divided? There's no good reason other than Bethesda being lazy. And that's not even a good reason.

The chief reason was so that cities could be complex yet still fit into a console's limited RAM. Skyrim will be released on console as well as PC, therefore get used to the idea that cities, at least complex ones, will be separate just as in Oblivion.

[sub]This is the sort of thing PC gamers mean when they say consoles are holding back PC gaming.[/sub]

I understand that, but there is no good reason to not make them open for PC gamers, except to cut corners on cost.

 

[mrwoo6]

It better be a completely open world. I got so tired of sitting through a loading screen every time I went to a new place. Even the Imperial City. Why did that have to be divided? There's no good reason other than Bethesda being lazy. And that's not even a good reason.

The chief reason was so that cities could be complex yet still fit into a console's limited RAM. Skyrim will be released on console as well as PC, therefore get used to the idea that cities, at least complex ones, will be separate just as in Oblivion.

[sub]This is the sort of thing PC gamers mean when they say consoles are holding back PC gaming.[/sub]

I understand that, but there is no good reason to not make them open for PC gamers, except to cut corners on cost.

Sounds like a good enough reason to me. Costs are quite important.

 

[Johnnyallstar]

It better be a completely open world. I got so tired of sitting through a loading screen every time I went to a new place. Even the Imperial City. Why did that have to be divided? There's no good reason other than Bethesda being lazy. And that's not even a good reason.

The chief reason was so that cities could be complex yet still fit into a console's limited RAM. Skyrim will be released on console as well as PC, therefore get used to the idea that cities, at least complex ones, will be separate just as in Oblivion.

[sub]This is the sort of thing PC gamers mean when they say consoles are holding back PC gaming.[/sub]

I understand that, but there is no good reason to not make them open for PC gamers, except to cut corners on cost.

Not only does it cut corners on developmental cost, it also cuts corners on developmental time, so they can spend that time elsewhere.

Personally, I'd love to see the cities be open like they were in Morrowind, but I'm not going to complain since they're going to be walled away like Oblivion.

 

[Elamdri]

I understand that, but there is no good reason to not make them open for PC gamers, except to cut corners on cost.

Sounds like a good enough reason to me. Costs are quite important.

Well, I won't try to divine how much it would actually cost to change it for PC, but honestly you gotta weigh the benefit of not having to spend the money to do it vs. the cost of making your consumer unhappy.

Not to mention they could always just charge slightly more for the PC version of the game.

 

[Agayek]

Has anyone heard anything to this regard? I'm actually curious because I was never a huge fan of the way Oblivion handled the cities in the game by making them separate zones closed off from the rest of the world. I'd like to see the cities just become a part of the world, not to mention I think that it would have a lot more in game implications if say for example you could have instances where monsters chase you back to town and you can fight them back with the guards.

I know that there is a mod for Oblivion that does something to this effect, and from what I've heard, it makes the game a lot more fun.

It's kinda half and half. The big cities (last I heard there were 5 total) are separate zones. The smaller settlements and towns are part of the overworld though (and there are 13 of these, IIRC).

It's a kinda neat solution to the dilemma there.

 

[fierydemise]

Based on New Vegas where the strip was cut into pieces to compensate for console limitations I suspect they will be separate cells and perhaps even multiple cells per city for larger cities.

 

[Irridium]

The large main cities will be enclosed. Everything else will be open.

I understand that, but there is no good reason to not make them open for PC gamers, except to cut corners on cost.

Sounds like a good enough reason to me. Costs are quite important.

Well, I won't try to divine how much it would actually cost to change it for PC, but honestly you gotta weigh the benefit of not having to spend the money to do it vs. the cost of making your consumer unhappy.

Not to mention they could always just charge slightly more for the PC version of the game.

Thats why we have mods. Like with Oblivion, mods will be made to open up the cities. Reason why their closed is due to console limitations. And yes people, thats the reason. Its also why The Strip in New Vegas was sectioned off so much, because the consoles didn't have enough memory to handle it all.

http://www.formspring.me/JESawyer/q/178756246071971402

Not trying to start a flame war or be a "PC elitist", but thats just the way things are in relation to these games.

But again, don't worry about it so bad. A mod will be along pretty quickly to rectify the issue.

 

[Irridium]

It would be nice if the option was given to PC users. Just because consoles are limited by extremely old hardware shouldn't mean the game is held back for everyone.

Which is why PC users will have mods to make things better.

 

[Spencer Petersen]

It would be cool if that was an option you could choose for yourself. Those with weaker processors could choose to break up the world so they don't have hour long load times when they start up, whereas those with stronger computers could choose to preload most of the map for an un-interrupted experience.