Whether or not it would be an improvement is debatable. I don't think it would be.

I think it would be a great addition to the game. It would certainly add a neat dynamic to be able to injure a specific body part and have the monster/NPC react or be limited in action accordingly.

That said, a targeting system like FO3's VATS would not fit into the game universe at all, imo.

It just seems silly shooting a guy in the face, and he literally ignores you while walking around in the new bandit fashion style of arrow in face.

i agree 100% with OP

locational damage would make this game so much better to me.

and locational damge has no direct link to vats.

i used swords as my primary weapon in fallout and i never once used vats for them or guns, but i still had locational damage.

it would make combat interesting, and dealing with injuries more dynamic.

to say well its never been in a TES game really doesnt mean anything,

i would like to be limping and crawling back into town after a long battle in a cave somewhere, and have to find a healer to fix me up.

i agree that this area hasnt been dumbed down, its just always been dumb.

Location damage = more focus on the ability of the player versus focus on the character build.

Even if Skyrim belongs to the 'action' sub genre, certain option will shift too much the balance towards action adventure in contrast to action rpg

Its more of an RPG than a FPS. The only thing it has in common with a FPS is first person shooting which is just one aspect among many. That said I agree with the OP. Ranged combat would do well to borrow from FPSs. I just wish Bethesda would borrow from games like Rainbow Six and fix the pathfinding. Companions are always in your lof.

I'd only want locational damage in the game if they brought back the ability for the character to miss regardless of how accurate the player is (like in Morrowind), albeit with much better animations to show the miss as a miss, not a seemingly direct hit that does nothing.

So basically, if the character hits someone in the head, it does a lot more damage, but whether they're actually successful in hitting the target there in the first place rests almost entirely on their own abilities as a character, as well as the defensive abilities of their target. All the player does is aim at where they'd like their character to try and hit.

Otherwise, locational damage would make the game too much about player skill and completely kill an already diminished 'RPG' aproach to combat in the TES series.

Well it depends on which aspects of the game are more important to the player at hand. Even for me combat is secondary, exploring and doing quests is the part I like the most, but a better (and more realistic) combat system would benefit everyone in my opinion from FPS players to players who like immersion.

You should run for office

Agreed. A shoulder evade animation and maybe an arrow catching animation is all you really need.

It's a vegetation and scenery simulator, not a complex combat game or serious RPG. Beth is the Microsoft Flight Simulator of the swords 'n sorcery genre- lots of pretty scenery to roam around in and check out, and it does that well. But if you wanted some red meat in your flight simulator, you had to get Falcon 4.0, IL-2, or an A-10 Warthog sim. With their track record on deep combat and RPG'ing, you'd best not hold out any hope for those in the TES series.

I was disappointed to find out that there was no locational damage.

I understand the previous Elder Scrolls games also didn't have locational damage, but I figured it would be standard for "modern" games. And since Fallout 3 had locational damage I thought it would definitely going to be in Skyrim. I'm disappointed it isn't.

Yes it doesn't make sense for a head shot to do as much damage as an elbow shot; or a knee shot for that matter.

and that is probably what it boils down to

people like me that want locational damage dont neccessarily care about player build effecting your attacks

i would prefer my skills to be what dictates my characters attacks rather than a few numbers in the background doing it
im not against having stats effect it, misses etc , but not entirely based on numbers

some other people want this game to be all about numbers and builds, and thats fine,

but genres dont mean a thing to me, its all about what sort of game i want to play, not about what genre it fits into.

fallout 3 and NV had the perfect balance in my opinion, but thats just me

They could totaly do this if they did what mount and blade did with directional attacks in example pull mouse back when holding down Mouse 1 would stab.. moving it left would do a left slash...

to have locational damage in this game you'll need to redesign the combat system for the melee, or having it only for bows, since swords only hit the upper body

agreed'

i must admit that i thought this series had more guts to it, but in the end i guess it taught me fallout is my favourite series when it comes to quest based sandbox rpgs

to me role playing is me playing a role i can beleive in, that why i prefer simulators like falcon and arma2 more..
goddam trying to start that jet in falcon 4.0 was awesome! i had a 2 page printout onhow to get that puppy's engine running.

I am glad combat in Skyrim doesn't follow the tired 'headshot!' cliche of localized damage designed to appeal to the amphetamine pumped reflexes of a sixteen year old twitch gamers playing on machines that generates 70fps.

This is why it would not be an improvement. My characters would have to have skills that allowed them to target body parts. If I have the ability to make my character target a body part, then combat is less RPG and more FPS based. If I want to play an FPS, I will load up one of those.

Location damage = more focus on the ability of the player versus focus on the character build = Not a TES game

I don't see why you'd need new skills to accommodate locational damage. It can all be covered by regular skills.

The player can try and aim at someones head with a bow, but whether the character actually hits that part of the body or not should be determined by the character's proficiency as an archer.

In fact, Mount & Blade handles it very well. When a character is poor at archery or horse archery, it's noticeably a lot harder for the player to aim with a bow - especially at a distance.

It depends on how you implement it. If you are attacking an agile or skilled oponent you could fire a perfect headshot only to see them evade, deflect it, or block it. You character's stats could help determin how often its evaded or blocked. Thats as much of a union of player and character skill while still giving us the intricacies of loactional damage.

This reminds me of a MMORPG my near millionaire cousin is thinking about funding. Its a western with perm death where the higher level gunman see bullets in slower motion so if a 1st level character fires at a 2oth level gunman the bullet will fire in super slow motion however if it hits it can be lethal.

locational damage is much more complex than just headshot bonus

arms, legs, head, torso, can be crippled , broken etc.

and u dont need to be a 16 year old to have it implemented asim double that, in fact u dont have to spam the hack and slash as much as this game forces u to do.
and is why id prefer this system implemented, smashing my mouse till the enemy bar goes down an it falls over, possibly the most mind numbing combat system ever.

Yes, it's completely unlike many RPGs have been for the last fourty years. Totally a new, "dumbed down", "streamlined" thing.


Hmm. Or maybe, back when I played AD&D in the 80's, I attacked someone with a sword for 1d10+4 damage. And when I played any number of other tabletop and digital RPGs. Honestly, locational damage in RPGs has been more of a rarity for me.

A little more player-related focus would be nice, beyond the current system- lets see- bows... aim close to general blob of a target, auto-aim guarantees generic hit (little toe, eyesocket, no diff), even at 500 yards. Melee- get close enough to hit your target, flail with weapon(s), guaranteed generic body hit. Add block/shield slam for spice if you like. No wonder the occasional kill-cam scene is so popular with many- because the player-involvement and immersion in combat is otherwise pretty droll.

I've seen like 10 threads about players who didn't like kill cams...