Skyrim is coming, and with it, an entirely new engine on which Bethesda can build future games. But the advent of the Creation Engine doesn’t necessarily mean that the company is forgetting its past, and in a series of interviews with PC Gamer, game director Todd Howard has elaborated on some of the ways that previous Bethesda RPGs informed the development of Skryim.

For example, Oblivion fans will remember that enemies scaled in level with the player, which always made for a long slog through mobs when you needed to get from one location to another. Howard says this system has been completely redone based on Fallout 3’s progression stating, “[Skyrim]’s a lot more like Fallout 3, where as you level up you are going to see harder things, but the easier things stay around as well.”

They’ve also significantly cleaned up the conversation system, which often felt strange and out of place in Oblivion. Fallout 3 fans will remember that the dialogue stood out as one of the most interesting features of that game, and Bethesda is looking to repeat its success in this department with targeted, specific conversations.  On this topic, Howard noted, “There’s very few completely random conversations. We’ve gone more towards a system, like we did in Fallout 3, where they have a specific conversation with a specific person about various topics.”

The interview also goes into brief detail about how the environment of Fallout 3 contributed to the user experience, and how the Skryim team is utilizing environments and memorable scenery to enhance the player experience.

After watching a pretty long preview for Skyrim the other day, I have to say the game is looking quite good. Do you think these changes to the Elder Scrolls formula will enhance the title, or will you miss some of the elements removed since Oblivion?

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