http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqNHJ-ekMR4

Cryengine 3, wonder what will skyrim look like if it were to run on this engine...

Can you spell 5 frames per second? The CryEngine is amazing graphics wise, but it lacks basically the entire backbone that promotes the open world, persistant experience that Bethesda's games have. They would need to alter like 3/4 of the engine (Basically everything but the graphics) to make it work with Skyrim...

It would look exactly the same, the 3D models and textures are what's behind the game's look, not the engine. And the 3D models and textures wouldn't change just because the engine change. The artists are behind the game's art design, not the programmers.

I imagine something like the face melting scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

My guess that it will melt PCs down

Nooooooot quiet. It's both, actually. The exact same models and textures can be handled a thousand different ways depending on the engine, each giving a unique look. Look at TF2, for example; most of those textures are solid colors, but due to the shading system in the engine they are brought to life and look pretty darn good. That game would look like utter crap if it was in an engine without the special things Valve has set up.

It's the artists that attach the shaders to the models. A 3D model will not suddenly have a shader attached to it just because it's rendered in another engine.

Not strictly speaking. There are many kinds of shaders, some of which can be hardcoded into an engine to be applies in a general manner to all models that fit a certain condition. (Like for TF2 they must be a character to get certain shading effects)

It's then the lighting portion of the engine that determines what something looks like, not exactly the art or artist. Much like an Image Space Modifier in Skyrim. The artists could make the world look one way through design, then I can throw an ISM over it and give the entire game a very dramatically different feel. No artists or non-engine work required.

The only wish and only WISH is for Beth to implement a realtime editor like the Cryengine. Beth's editor is close to archaic and it hasn't changed that much since MW. Nothing beats a realtime editor. Your creativity and efficiency will go from 0 to 75 mph very quickly.

I'm skeptical as to whether it will even be possible next-gen... Skyrim is such a huge game and hopefully the next TES will be even bigger. If I'm not mistaken, previous iterations of Cryengine were only used for FPS games with very little player-world-interaction and (by comparison) an incredibly short playtime. Compare Skyrim's graphics to Crysis 2's... Skyrim has to take a hit on graphics to allow for its size. I imagine that to develop a TES game in Cryengine 3 would take over a decade.

Except that the CryEngine allows alot of physics so tree's can fall, building crumple etc... At least I think the CryEngine allows that.

Now imagine decorating your home. Wouldn't that be great?