I have played Skyrim for 14+ hours and overall I am having fun.

However there is one thing that bothers me...The dungeons / mines / caves (you name it...) seem very linear so far. I take this with a grain of salt of course but apart from the Dwemer Dungeon/Mine during the Mage Guild Quest which was fairly non linear and quite big, the rest of the place I've been visited seems small and linear. Don't get me wrong they are beautiful dungeons / mines / caves but they are also very much linear and quite short (generally speaking) I hope it's due to my early exploration not having visited bigger dungeons yet...

What do you fine folks think?

There's MUCH variety in the dungeons, believe me, i've been to about 20 and they're all different. Some are small and some are huge (like i spend over 30 minutes in this one dungeon) plus there's 150 of them, not so bad i think.

I agree, they are pretty linear as in they almost never branch out to separate routes and the big treasure is ALWAYS at the end.

I haven't found this bothering though, because of the fact that they are all different from each other, they all have their unique atmosphere (some of them are scary as hell ) and it usually takes me close to an hour to clear one.

EDIT: Comparing the Skyrim dungeons to Oblivion dungeons, they feel a lot longer to me. I have set my difficulty to Expert though, so I tend to move tediously slow.

Thanks Larzma,

That comes as a relief to me...

He's not talking about variety, he's talking about how almost every dungeon only has one way and aren't really maze like, I have the same complaint. only about 1 or 2 out of MANY dungeons actually allowed me to diverge off the main path, But they are mostly straight lines.

The puzzles are fun. I always say "Time to get my Indiana Jones torch out!" when doing puzzles. But thats about as far as it goes with being non linear. At least the world isn't like that

This IS an Epic Fantasy RPG. Fantasy tropes man, the boss is always near the end, the big treasure is always near the boss or in the boss's secret lair, there is always a fast way to get out of the dungeon after finishing whether it be hidden or waived away by the DM.

This. They're awesome. And yes, they might be a little linear, but each one has plenty of secrets to be found, and HUGE variation. I'm happy as they are.


No problem, glad to help



I think the variety outweights the nonlinearity, if you think how open the world is, and put all of the 150 dungeons in there PLUS the other locations and stuff, you get a HUGE amount of stuff to explore. I wouldn't worry about a bit of linearity since they are all unique and interesting.

I'm not crazy about getting lost in every cave I explore, so I don't mind that there are only one or two paths to take.

I have done some that branched out in several places and had sub-sections and to be honest I didn't like all the running around and backtracking to clear it all.

There should still be different ways to get to the end

Some are, some aren't.

The important dungeons are REALLY well done, the generic mines and such aren't as well planned. Honestly though, I think I'd grow tired of having to war through every hole in the ground.

I actually prefer them linear. I always find it a bit frustrating when I see 2 paths, I know one probably goes to what really matters and the other has some loot on the side. I always fear that I'm missing out on loot by choosing one way and forgetting later on that there was that other path in the beginning that I never explored.

You are right 'Snaketallica (like that name btw),

"There should still be different ways to get to the end". Eventhough I don't want to get lost in each and every single dungeons, according to me (my opinion only...) there should be several ways to the main chamber of a given dungeon and several ways out...That's what I call good "level design".

For now I am not impressed by the non linearity of the dungeons but someone in the thread is telling me that I should not worry and "unlinear" dungeons are coming.

So...wait and see I guess...

Just because some are a bit linear does not mean there is less to explore in them. There has been so much going on in the few places I have explored so far, they have already beaten all of Oblivions 'seen one, seen em all' dungeons,

I agree that it would be nice if I come across less linear caves too.

I am not asking for mazes, but at least something that calls for the noble art of cave exploring. Like a cave system... A corridor (albeit unique, and very fun to complete), is not giving the same feeling as being a good old cave/dungeon dweller. Of course daggerfall was a bit over the top, but it gave this feeling you know ? Like you spend DAYS in there, and when you finally get back up, you look back and feel proud or the adventures you had in this dangerous place, and proud to be out in one piece, although sick, out of potions, full of loot to the point that you can barely walk, and so on. I don't get it that much until now (well, the loot part yes, but it's the easiest one)

It would be nice if there was maybe 2 or 3 BIG dungeons or cave systems in there (maybe there are and I haven't come across them yet), the kind of complex that you visit several times maybe, because they are big enough to be related to 2 or 3 quests.
Especially in a Tamriel Region with many mountains, I hope we come across such places in the future, be it in the vanilla game, a possible DLC, or mods.

Still, I love the existing caves, but I'd love a bit more alternate passages sometimes also. Nothing gamebreaking for me though...

Hi "'The Creeper"

I agree the Oblivions 'seen one, seen em all' dungeons syndrome has been avoided in Skyrim. And all dungeons / caves / mines I have seen so far are beautifuly crafted. But hey I am raising the bar here my point refers more to overall level design...basically wanted to have best of both world: beautiful dungeons and nice level design.

I am pushing my luck I know...

I rather like the linearity of the dungeons. It makes exploring and clearing them easier.

Plus, they are all handcrafted and every single one is unique. I haven't been into any two caves/ruins/mines that looked like a slight different variation of a previous cave/ruin/mine.

I'd rather have every place be unique and give me reason to explore them, even if it's just a one way street, than having a "seen one, seen them all" feeling.

This.