Anyways, seeing that New Years is coming up, I don't expect anything being announce when everyone is preparing a party when the clock hit midnight. : P

Ok...i'm 97% sure that it is not going to be the 2nd of January 2013 (i'll be watching 2012 and laughing )

Well, history lesson time.

The primary purpose of this thread is to have a collection of all the info we have, so that it can all be linked to newcomers who start posting, "OMG, when's TES V coming out?" There used to be 3 or 4 threads locked with that as its general title every day in TES General. So, the OP is full of all the relevant links to all the relevant info.

The secondary purpose of the thread is to try to decipher what information we have to try to construct plausible announcement times. Since there's hardly any new information, and all the old theories have been picked apart to death, there's not much to discuss. So the thread's purpose reverts back to the primary purpose: keeping us away from being knee-deep in TES:V threads.

:P

I made this prediction to my friend a while ago so I'll put it here. Announcement as the cover story of the March 2010 Gameinformer...

Indeed they do.

Folks, I just deleted about half this thread of off topic suggestions, spam and gun discussion. This thread is for those who want to speculate about when the next TES game will be announced. There is no official announcement or much to speculate about but if there is, it goes here. Or just something to do with this topic goes here. If you have nothing on topic to add, walk on by this thread but do not junk it up with junk posts just because you are bored.

Future such posts will be warning bound. And remember, just because a thread is there does not mean you must post in it. Go post in something that you do want to talk about. If I close this one, there will be no future speculation thread until there is some announcement. So take care of this one!

:chaos:

Well both Morrowind and Oblivion were 'guinea pigs' for new versions of Bethesda's modified Gamebryo engine, with Fallout 3 being an updated version of the Oblivion Gamebryo. Some would say this is an indicator that TES:V will have a completely overhauled Gamebryo engine rather than just another update, similar to the way the engine changed from Morrowind to Oblivion, rather than from Oblivion to Fallout 3. But of course, Morrowind and Oblivion were developed for different console generations, whereas if TES:V really is in the works, then there will be no generation jump, and so perhaps no need to overhaul the engine. Perhaps it really will be just a small upgrade...

I'd like to focus on the positive though, and point out some things that indicate we will be treated a visual and mechanical masterpiece!

1) Crytek have recently unveiled the Cryengine 3, a http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Kvl31g77Z8 of what current-gen consoles can achieve when pushed and optimized to their limit. This engine will have been worked on since before TES:V was begun, so any technology available to Crytek should potentially have been available to Bethesda as well, so long as Bethesda's employees (renowned as some of the best in the business) know how to use the most modern tech in gaming (read: they almost definitely do). Bethesda have now seen this rival engine in action, still haven't announced their next game, and so have as much time as they need to bring their own engine up to a similar standard should they need it.

2) ID have recently been acquired by Zenimax, and Todd Howard has mentioned on several occasions (such as the latest http://oxmpodcast.podbean.com/2009/12/04/koxm-episode-193/) that they are enjoying sharing information with ID Tech, such as lines of code, methods of AI pathing, as well as checking out each other's engine capabilities. We all know how http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTTBjzm-jwE the IDTech 5 engine looks, so there is real promise showing here for a big upgrade in Bethesda's Gamebryo.

3) During Planet Elder Scrolls' http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/fullstory.php?id=159095 in July of this year, the interviewer asked Todd what he believes the greatest developments have been in the Elder Scrolls series. He replied: "Technically, it's fully realized 3D environments. I think the main character and story in our games is the world around you. What the flowers look like, the chairs, the castles, you name it. Exploring that world is the key driving force, and as 3D graphics have gotten better, so have the games. People usually scoff the importance of graphics, but I feel it's probably the number one thing in a game like this. It immediately puts you in another world, it suspends your disbelief and makes it feel new, or amazing, whatever you want to call it. We obsess over the world detail, and the art and technology to make that happen." Clearly, if the biggest thing about TES for the developers is to make a game world that is technically stunning and blows away the competition, then a big engine overhaul is essential for the next installment, and we'd be crazy to think it isn't coming after comments like these.

So there's some food for thought! Munch on that for the rest of the day, but then i'm out of conversational material for this thread i'm afraid...

Oh yes, almost forgot: just for Seti and UnknownK:

LOG: MORNDAS, FROSTFALL 28: STANDING AT PALE PASS. VOICE IN MY HEAD IS STILL SAYING "YOU CANNOT GO THAT WAY. TURN BACK." SHOULDN'T HAVE LEFT BRUMA WITHOUT CHANGING MY INI FILE... DAEDRA AND DIVINES IT'S COLD UP HERE...

I speculate that I will have to buy a new computer just for TEV, and that TESV will be awesome no matter what.

But as to an announcement, I still say New Years is where its at! :intergalactic:

You know that's the same guy who said "Fantasy, for us, is a knight on horseback running around and killing things"... That doesn't get my hopes up too much.

new years rez. for the announcement to be made, if not. then well....... bliviongate:
or :flamethrower:

Now, and in five minutes...
I think we're running in circles... Haven't we been over this before? Early 2010 announcement and show it off at E3, is what I heard the most.

One things for sure, Bethesda better announce it soon before we all go crazy (flamewars over guns/multiplayer = :ahhh: ).

Bethesda doesn't really follow conventional dates. They release information when they feel like it, not at conventions like other developers do. Regardless, here are the major gaming conferences of the year:

Still, that means they could announce it sometime before one of those to showcase it alot at one of the conferences.

Also, is this deja vu for anyone else but me? :shrug:

On that subject, how long were the timing in between Beth games, what is the copyright info on Skyrim, and what are the major positions Bethesda is currently hiring for and how are they relevant to TESV?

Read through the last 4 threads, everything you just asked about was discussed in them. With the exception of the jobs, but that really doesn't give any hints whatsoever.

I hope you're joking.

i hope not, at least a new hint. we are going mad talking about the same thing now!

I doubt it since it'll still be on consoles. Maybe the requirement to run the game with the highest detail with no lag will go up a little, but I couldn't care less about graphics.

So I said I wouldn't post here until we heard word of something, but I thought i'd just get all of your hopes up for nothing.

After playing Modern Warfare 2, I thought the difference between the first one and the new one would be subtle, but the character models are incredibley detailed, and the eyes look so real. Its very convincing, even for a console game (as I understand the PC is a direct port in graphics.)

Then I read the little disclaimer at the beginning of the game. "This game uses iD technology" They're probably running off a modified engine of some sort.
Then I read on wikipedia that it was made to handle large enviornments. Then I thought about all the open space enviornments in MW 2, and thought how they could be applied to a game like Fallout or the Elderscrolls.

Look how much Bethesda has done with the gamebryo engine. Imagine what they could do with the Id Tech 5 engine! Now to this day, not a single id tech 5 game has been released, so that says a little bit about when to expect the next elderscrolls game.

That's what many say, so perhaps the graphics should go back to Arena's level, right?

That not really the point in that and "Arena's Level" is not a really bright assumption. The point is that the Dev should not focus too much into graphics and try to sell the game off because it looks very pretty.

[DISCLAIMER] This post takes the word "speculation" to a whole new dimension, please note that it is not intended to be taken seriously enough for anyone to start little secret cults of deranged conspiracy theorists. At the moment of writing it's late at night where I live and I haven't slept well at all for several weeks. (read: tired and somewhat braindamaged)

That said, I have loads of spare time and started pondering why TES V is so hush-hush. From a mathematical perspective I figured there should be clues all around that just need to be put together... Here's what I found so far!

The first legendary TES showed up at 1994 so lets make a timeline with major games and "less important" releases and call 1994 "year 0". Some of you will probably think I'm nuts when you see what I call "less important" but just hold that bashing thought until you have read all of what I have written, okay?

0 --- 1:Arena
1 ---
2 --- 2:Daggerfall
3 --- (Legends) Battlespire
4 --- (Adventures) Redguard
5 ---
6 ---
7 ---
8 --- 3:Morrowind, add:Tribunal
9 --- add:Bloodmoon
10 --
11 --
12 -- 4:Oblivion, add:Knights of the Nine
13 -- add: Shivering Isles

Looking at this you can see that the series appears to be picking up speed from "year 2" and onwards... But, with both TES number 3 and 4 (marked very clearly) there were some major investments in the games engine. Looking at the expansions gives us some idea of just how fast these guys can work with a completed engine and some basic items. (Yeah, they create a bunch of new artwork and quests at incredible speed once a game is released!) Now I'm gonna go theory on you, probably another excuse to bash me because I might just be incredibly wrong, just don't stop reading yet! They like their engine and may keep working on it, but even if they do there is the problem of compatibility and "bughunting". I just don't think it's possible to radically change the behaviour of something as complex as a game engine without the risk of it having a nasty impact on artwork already created. (read: extra work for the art team) With that in mind, these guys probably focus more on the engine at first and just aim to add a few extra features to it once the artwork team picks up speed. (yeah, I simplified that horribly but now everyone gets the picture)

Statements from the gamesas crew so far include hints at obsession over rich details and everything related to it. Years ago when talking about Oblivion they also told us about how important it is for them to react to the player's thoughts and how opinions about Morrowind shaped everything they did in one way or another. The first games were actually the largest ones in terms of landmass as far as I understand, then Morrowind offered a whole new experience and because of that radical change had to be cut in size. After Morrowind there was much to be learned and gamesas did their homework, lots of absolutely beautiful artwork but yet again a slightly smaller landmass! This time however the game was set where you could actually bump in to that horrible "please-turn-back-barrier" while just strolling around in the mountains, in a game that was all about freedom?! This was not very popular among many of us and the only logical step for the next game, I think most of us agree, would be either a new continent or the entire mega-sized world we've seen on the maps so far. Let's assume they at the very least increase the land to one and a half that of Oblivion this time, and with recent competitors showing off graphics that looks almost impossible to achieve in real-time... gamesas will haveto push themselves to the limit.

Oblivion was also not released until about two years after the first announcement, and the screenshots improved somewhat every now and then until the game was released. I was one of the players insanely hooked on Morrowind and started drooling all over the first screenshots. This rather long time of waiting made me expect pretty much what Oblivion turned out to be; an incredibly beautiful and still really big game. However, what it turned out to be was what I started expecting two years earlier! All that time felt like it was somehow wasted... Of course I can't speak for everyone but I bet a few others felt just like me, the excitement turning into impatience, turning into frustration...

Still awake? Good! Now, combine the three aspects we have above and you can figure something like this out:
There is really hard competition and gamesas would probably damn near rather kill themselves than release a game that doesn't get a gazillion "Game of the Year" awards... Fallout 3 was frankly just "Oblivion with guns" as some people put it. I mean no disrespect, the game was still incredible and I've lost countless hours in that horrifying wasteland and it's claustrophobic sewers and I have wandered the rotten earth and left the atmosphere in the expansion packs with much joy in my heart. That stated, the game was released just two years after Oblivion and was an amazing experience, again my hat comes off to the team creating the art because obviously they did a lot of the heavy lifting this time. Let's assume that the engine for TES V was on the drawing table already at this point, being secretely developed alongside that of Fallout 3, this would indicate that the engine had a cooperative start the first six months maybe? After the initial work it's possible they quite simply moved almost all programmers from Fallout 3 and had them work on the new version of the engine. By the time the artcrew was finished with Fallout 3 the new engine could have been very well two years in the making! Now that gamesas has hired a lot of people in recent years there should have been potential to sync artists and programmers over the last year and at this point they should be working like maniacs to create a world that will make every last one of us say "Wow... just... wow..." in total awe. (note: "wow", NOT "WoW"! Focus!) Optimistically, we can expect the first screenshot before next christmas and a game about a year later. As someone pointed out, they might replace "Brink" in the list of games they are working on so we may see the first proof of TES V close to the release of Brink!

All of the above does of course not take in to account the "behind the curtains" of the game "Brink", simply because I have no idea if more than a few in the TES crew have anything to do with that game. Like I said, gamesas has been hiring and it's not easy for us on the outside to know where these new employees go... *IF* Brink will be closely related to TES V, then I still think gamesas already has a bunch of people doing artwork already. Just look at the game previews, that engine is something else! (seems finished enough to start putting stuff into it that would fit in TES without fear of having to redo much of it as the engine gets fine-tuned)

Oh my! This was a hefty load of... text... But I'm still not sleepy enough, gah! Hope my thoughts can inspire some of you with a bit of hope, worked for myself atleast...

Almost morning over here now... Time to see if I can sleep, if not then I bet someone will LOVE to discuss recent technological advances in microchips and my slow progress in cheap capacitor research.

My oh my well you really did have a lot to say here didn't you?

Basically what you are saying here is, you think they have been making the game for a while now, and are going to give us something big. I too believe that TES:V has been in the works at least by a small part of Beth for a few years now, and now the game's production has been put into full swing. The Elder Scrolls is what made Bethesda who they are, and it just makes sense for them to want TES:V to be their biggest game yet. I don't, however, agree with the possibility of the next game being "a new continent" or all of Tamriel. I still strongly believe in the popular theory of it taking place in Skyrim, and although the world will likely be bigger, I think that "invisible barrier" is here to stay.

As for time of announcement, I think most of us must admit that we have no evidence to hold on to. However because I am quite sure they have been working on the game in some way for about 3 years, it makes some sense for them to announce via Game Informer some time in the first quarter, and do a bigger reveal at E3.



Then again I could just be blowing smoke...

Time to get some sleep.

IMHO, Oblivion already has some pretty great graphics (and this is coming from a confirmed gfx snob). The problem with Oblivion's (and Morrowind's) graphics has always been that the humanoid body and face models are hideous. These games got the best exteriors in the world by far, but there is a big time dorkiness and poor sense for aesthetics in the humanoids. Getting good artists for the humanoids (and their clothes) would be the single biggest thing you could do for the graphics. Hi-res versions of the misshapen "Bethesda mug" won't help make Elderscrolls V look any better graphically!

Also, I would improve the character animations before the gfx engine too...that's where the realism would come from. Some of the animations in Oblivion are criminally negligent compared to the sophisticated attention to detail in the other parts of the game (looking at you, hand-to-hand animations!). Imagine if every movement was motion capture...that would bring the feel of the graphics up to a next plateau right there!

I was just joking. ^_^

I probably should have put a smiley face somewhere in that question...

Its just that it seems we're repeating the same speculations (and suggestions for that matter). We've just come up with everything we can. Now Bethesda just needs to read all the Suggestion threads and finish up TESV (an announcement would be nice too).



Hope doesn't joke. Zing!



Thats the thing... one of the best things (in my opinion) about TESIII and IV was the mods, something that consoles sadly lack...

I don't care to much for graphics because graphics can't buy me fun. But seriously, I agree with you, its almost entirely about the gameplay. Good graphics make a good game better, but they can't make a bad game good. I hope Bethesda focuses more on the gameplay (but that belongs in a different thread, which is locked and almost all my posts have been removed from... :stare: ).


But yeah, I'm an optimist, so I stand by my speculation they will announce on New Years. :celebration:

WOW!!! :shocking: If i ever get a game with cryengine 3 then i may never come out of my room and just decide to play that game for the rest of my life! I dont care how linear the story is, give me some of that! :hubbahubba:



Well thats your TES thesis for you. Good job by the way, i would never have been able to stay awake typing that long :snoring: Did read it though and kudos on the work. I found your points about console movements very interesting, we might actually get an announcement next year, again kudos on the work!

Main problem for me was the lighting, or lack of. Fallout 3 had the same lighting problems.

Lets hope they put in real HDR lighting (with shadows). Not that crap that was on Oblivion.