I have to say I find Skyrim to be hugely enjoyable, surprising, amazing and inspiring.

Having played around 350 hours, it not only inspired me to write two iOS apps, but I just keep going back to the game again and again, trying new things, testing out strategies not attempted before, seeing new things - all the time.

Then I read http://www.awesome-robo.com/2012/02/farewell-adam-adamowicz-visual-mind.html

It's the story of a designer who worked on Fallout 3, who sadly died recently. His drawings and concept art, his sheer passion for the genre is unbelievable. So having never played any Bethesda games before Skyrim, Fallout 3 is now ordered. It looks awesome.

I then got to thinking about just how much design and effort must have gone into Skyrim. I found http://conceptartworld.com/?p=10637, and there is much more out there. Seriously, how much work has gone into this game? Can we ever appreciate it fully; how many careers and new ideas has it spawned, and what will come next? I find myself now wandering around Skyrim looking at buildings, shrines and the landscape wondering who created that? I also feel, from the recent '1 Week to try anything' reel doing the rounds that there must be a tonne of stuff they couldn't get into the release. Ok, off to play again, sorry, just had to share.

It took years of their lives to make Skyrim and as this gaming award season goes on, I hear them thanking their families more and more for holding down the fort at home when they were accepting the awards for this amazing game. I know that means they weren't home as much because they were working. During the past year, I'd see them tweeting late at night or on the weekends a bit too and you could see they were at work. I hope everyone's marriage survives all that! I feel like I should thank their families at home too so thank you!

Unless you're married to one of these guys, or you're one yourself, you will never be able to fully appreciate the time and sheer dedication these teams put into this product for several years.

Is it a bad thing? Obviously not. We don't have perfect knowledge, nor do we score 100/100 on the empathy scale. It's nice to stop for a moment and think about it, but since we can't grasp what devs and designers and everyone else put into this project, I'm not going to bother too much thinking on something that won't get me anywhere.

I'll just load Skyrim and enjoy it. I guess that is what would make these guys happy: People genuinely enjoying their work.

The same could be said of all game developers they all work hard.

Not the Devs on the "big rigs" project

do you know that for a fact.

Play the game...

Anyway, as the op put it, it's sometimes healthy to step outside the box and have a look at the size of it.
Nice links as well op

Hi all,

such game as Skyrim is enormous work and I really appreciate what Beth has done. It has lots of glaring shortcomings though, which I partly blame on the suspicion that it was developed for consoles first and then elevated to PC platform(GUI anyone on PC as me...) AFAIU. It should have been the other way round.
Anyway kudos to Beth for releasing CK, supporting mod community and patching. They really don`t have to do any of it but they do. The only thing abt. Skyrim I really hate is the association with STEAM. GamersGate would have been a much more reliable digital distribution platform.

I`m looking forward to TESVI already, honest.

Rgds, Haldir

I can appreciate the work they put into the game. What I don't appreciate is the horrible AI. NPCs are terribly stupid.

just because it's a heaping pile of crap does not mean they didn't work hard on it.

I'm always a big svcker for concept art, I often find the more 'artsy' style better looking than what actually ends up in-game. Still, I think they did a brilliant job in Skyrim, and oftentimes I find myself just enjoying the landscape, staring over a cliff, taking up the atmosphere, and I think that's exactly what these art directors want to accomplish: people genuinely enjoying their creations.

It's beyond that. It's not even finished and I mean literally: not finished

Time makes fools of us all.

Please don't feed the trolls.

I also trip out sometimes on the sheer expansive-ness of this game. The detail given to ruins and countryside and quests big and small. Seeing creative genius come alive is always a little thrilling. To truly appreciate it is enlightening and stimulating to say the least!!

Bravo, you guys!!

All of you have some very good points. Having not worked in the game industry, but hearing stories about the incredibly long hours that they put in and how little time they get to spend with their very patient families, I think we come close to being able to appreciate developers' efforts. Naturally, as the OP said, we can't fully appreciate it, and while I disagree with Mahoney in that we shouldn't bother trying, I do very much agree that the best way to honor their efforts is to enjoy the game they worked so hard to make. I actually think that we ought to attempt to appreciate their efforts as we play; if we are consciously thinking about it as we go through and play Skyrim, we can come closer to being able to truly appreciate their hard work.

That said, we shouldn't do that all the time; the devs didn't make the game so we could think about their work whilst we played, they made it so we could just enjoy the game. So while it is a great thought to actively think about the devs as we play, we really should just enjoy the game the majority of the time. That's what Bethesda would want.

Being involved in architecture, I'd say I have a pretty good idea about what goes into it. It may not be the same, but it is still a very involved and time consuming process.

I agree with the comments about the devs working hard - possibly an understatement. I wonder though what they think when they play the game, or see someone playing, and come across a dungeon / NPC / dragon they designed - it must be a fairly proud moment. And for the comments who state the game isn't finished - I guess imagination keeps evolving; that's why I am getting to grips with the creation kit - there is much more to be done.

I wouldn't call SR a heaping pile of crap....

For releasing the game unfinished instead of waiting to actually complete the game or polish the crappy systems (like the UI, magic, attributes, quests, bugs, etc).... eh, I guess that is up to them. They must think very highly of their ability to let down their audience and keep them coming back for more.


edit...oops, they were talking about big rigs....oh well, my comments stand...

Cmon man. Can you go one sentence without moaning? Probably not. The AI has its moments but the Radiant AI is great. Terribly stupid NPCs? The NPCs have their own schedules and if you follow them they all have their own beds to sleep in and everything.

I had big rigs at one point JUST to see how bad it was....please go look up gameplay of big rigs, it's the most pathetic game ever!

Not entirely true. I've never talked to a developer before, however I listen to a ton of podcasts (not the greatest way to gather an opinion) and there is a level of understanding that a developer has about their product. Most of the time a developer will know if their game is going to be bad, but they release it in hopes of at least making up some of their losses. This doesn't mean that they didn't work hard on the game, however I'm a believer that you get out what you put in, and if you put in only minimum effort you'll get a game that reflects that.

That being said I feel terrible for people who create products. Especially crap from infomercials... because I know there is some poor fellow working in a factor some where making this weird slushy, reusable ice cube crap.

Being a console player and therefore stuck with the vanilla version, there are countless times where I have just said to myself "How the **** did they do that?" It is an amazing game despite what everyone says about levelling, AI, etc... Fair play to Bethesda for putting so much time and effort into the game.

just count the eye bags in the making of video you can tell none of them slept much especially the big t

Bandits running directly into swinging axes that they know are there isn't bad AI? A bandit takes an arrow to the knee (lol) but then forgets 10 seconds later only to say "it must have been the wind," isn't bad AI? An elderly female NPC rushes at dragons that attack in a town with nothing more than her bare hands isn't bad AI? Soldiers being pulled back to the corpses of dragons isn't bad AI?

I love Skyrim, already broke the 250 hour mark BUT this is the same AI from 6 years ago. Infact it might be more stupid, since NPCs in Skyrim don't seem to have a Confidence/Agression meter.

Dude, with a game on such a ginormous budget there should be no excuses. The team was capable of so much more, but not in the hands of Toad Harvard. Besides, they were paid well enough for any of us not to feel bad criticizing their shortcomings.