Train
Is that all you got?!
I've observed many things in Skyrim, for example, in nearly every direction you look, it's a picture perfect scene. The design of great games makes you want to play them more due to certain elements: sound, feel/aesthetics, gameplay, story, camera movement, camera placement, even down to the accomplishment one gets during play, to the struggle of fighting that one enemy that you're so close to beating, and when you finally do, it cycles back to add to accomplishment through that struggle.
Scenery:
Skyrim is unique, this is the first sand box RPG game I've ever played that takes every camera angle into consideration. This is mostly because it's hand sculpted by artists that put a lot of thought into the scenery rather than letting it be computer generated. Notice when looking out over the landscape, distant mountains, nearby trees, and even the character (when in 3rd person) fits into the shot just perfectly. In every picture an artist draws, there's a grid that they fit things into, the grid is like a tic-tac-toe box, but using the intersecting lines rather than the empty squares. Objects that go into the picture or shot must either be on the left, right, top or bottom depending on their distance, importance and what part they play in telling the picture's story (yes, even a still picture tells a story). In every direction you look in Skyrim (just about) you can see that objects fit into the grid almost perfectly, there's nearby objects (trees, rocks, etc.) that anchor the scene, these are foreground, then there's middle ground objects that are usually staging the main activity in the shot (i.e. what you're really looking at), then background objects (distant mountains for example).
To best explain what I'm talking about, go to the road that leads off to Valtheim Towers to the East of Whiterun, but stop a half dozen paces past the bridge near the waterfall and look over at Whiterun...now stop and take in the breathless beauty.
That's what I'm talking about, you don't know why you like it, but there's a scientific reason behind why.
Sound:
Sound is the unsung hero of any video game, the music, the effects, the birds chirping, the water gurgling, the footsteps (though subtle), the voice actors, the foley artists that bring you sounds that are practically impossible to get from real life, and every tiny, little, seemingly inconsequential sound that you hear (some you don't even realize are there. Mark Lampert is the genius that put together much of the sounds you hear in Skyrim, and though he's done stuff for other games as well, this is his masterpiece. He even talked about how he recorded himself banging on a dryer at home, didn't use the sound for the longest time but had it in his library, then at some point needed a sound like that, so he grabbed his dryer sound and plugged it in - you have to be either genius or crazy to do that lol: "dude, your dryer's in a game set in a fantasy realm with Elves and extinct Dwarves"...and I think I know where he used it, my guess is in one of those Dwemer ruins.
But sound is more than this, you're not hearing just one sound when you hear something clank, crash, growl or bang; you're hearing layers upon layers of sounds all packed together to make on sound. Sometimes this is just three or four layers, sometimes it's ten to twenty. The more layers, the more that sound draws you into the game; and sounds are engineered to make you want to keep playing, they make you want to get to the end of that Dwemer ruin or beat that dragon into submission.
There's more to tell, but I just wanted to get started. What have you found that draws you into the game more? Try playing the game with an objective mind, don't just play, watch yourself play. Take note of things that are subtle, but add to the experience. Most people don't think about the engineering and the stuff that makes you want to play more, you must be observant and think way outside the box to see the stage itself. In fact, studying movie screenplays, theatre performance, directing, etc will let you see things you never saw before. Skyrim has more stuff that fits the rules of these arts than any game I've ever played, it was truly crafted in a way no other has ever been. There may be games that do a better job in some areas, but none that do as good overall. Skyrim deserves GOTY for more reasons than the game itself...it's practically a movie starring you.
Scenery:
Skyrim is unique, this is the first sand box RPG game I've ever played that takes every camera angle into consideration. This is mostly because it's hand sculpted by artists that put a lot of thought into the scenery rather than letting it be computer generated. Notice when looking out over the landscape, distant mountains, nearby trees, and even the character (when in 3rd person) fits into the shot just perfectly. In every picture an artist draws, there's a grid that they fit things into, the grid is like a tic-tac-toe box, but using the intersecting lines rather than the empty squares. Objects that go into the picture or shot must either be on the left, right, top or bottom depending on their distance, importance and what part they play in telling the picture's story (yes, even a still picture tells a story). In every direction you look in Skyrim (just about) you can see that objects fit into the grid almost perfectly, there's nearby objects (trees, rocks, etc.) that anchor the scene, these are foreground, then there's middle ground objects that are usually staging the main activity in the shot (i.e. what you're really looking at), then background objects (distant mountains for example).
To best explain what I'm talking about, go to the road that leads off to Valtheim Towers to the East of Whiterun, but stop a half dozen paces past the bridge near the waterfall and look over at Whiterun...now stop and take in the breathless beauty.
That's what I'm talking about, you don't know why you like it, but there's a scientific reason behind why.Sound:
Sound is the unsung hero of any video game, the music, the effects, the birds chirping, the water gurgling, the footsteps (though subtle), the voice actors, the foley artists that bring you sounds that are practically impossible to get from real life, and every tiny, little, seemingly inconsequential sound that you hear (some you don't even realize are there. Mark Lampert is the genius that put together much of the sounds you hear in Skyrim, and though he's done stuff for other games as well, this is his masterpiece. He even talked about how he recorded himself banging on a dryer at home, didn't use the sound for the longest time but had it in his library, then at some point needed a sound like that, so he grabbed his dryer sound and plugged it in -
you have to be either genius or crazy to do that lol: "dude, your dryer's in a game set in a fantasy realm with Elves and extinct Dwarves"...and I think I know where he used it, my guess is in one of those Dwemer ruins.But sound is more than this, you're not hearing just one sound when you hear something clank, crash, growl or bang; you're hearing layers upon layers of sounds all packed together to make on sound. Sometimes this is just three or four layers, sometimes it's ten to twenty. The more layers, the more that sound draws you into the game; and sounds are engineered to make you want to keep playing, they make you want to get to the end of that Dwemer ruin or beat that dragon into submission.
There's more to tell, but I just wanted to get started. What have you found that draws you into the game more? Try playing the game with an objective mind, don't just play, watch yourself play. Take note of things that are subtle, but add to the experience. Most people don't think about the engineering and the stuff that makes you want to play more, you must be observant and think way outside the box to see the stage itself. In fact, studying movie screenplays, theatre performance, directing, etc will let you see things you never saw before. Skyrim has more stuff that fits the rules of these arts than any game I've ever played, it was truly crafted in a way no other has ever been. There may be games that do a better job in some areas, but none that do as good overall. Skyrim deserves GOTY for more reasons than the game itself...it's practically a movie starring you.
