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[Matt_Fox]

One area of one world, and a horse...

1000 worlds, and a spacecraft...

I'll lay my cards on the table and say that Starfield and Elder Scrolls VI are my two most anticipated video games. We'll get Starfield next year but Elder Scrolls VI is likely still some years away, however when we do finally get the next entry in Elder Scrolls how is it going to escape the shadow of its inter-planetary predecessor?

Bethesda have alternated between franchises before but if you intermingle Oblivion and Skyrim with Fallout 3 and Fallout 4 you get games that are of a roughly similar scale.

If Elder Scrolls VI is released several years after Starfield then players will expect bigger and better as they do of all devs, so how is ES6 not going to seem small and limited in comparison to the epic scope and scale of its predecessor?

Add to the fact that by the time ES6 appears Starfield will likely have ballooned still further through DLC and mods. If you wanted to add an extra bandit camp or building to Skyrim you typically looked off the beaten path for a random bit of forest or mountainside and plonked it there, however real estate in Starfield may allow for whole worlds to be modded and will make the game seem even more gargantuan.

With the scale and ambition of Starfield have Bethesda created a problem for themselves when it comes to Elder Scrolls? What think you?

 

[STARSBarry]

With the scale and ambition of Starfield have Bethesda created a problem for themselves when it comes to Elder Scrolls? What think you?

I mean, your going off the assumption that Starfield will be a huge success and not a No Man's Sky or Fallout 76 at launch.

Plenty of games have promised the world and failed to deliver even coming off the backs of widely respected developers *cough* Cyberpunk *cough*. The fact elder scrolls is smaller scale means that it has a better chance of each individual part being more refined.

You need to wait and see what actually comes out first before worrying about old Elder Scrolls. Scope creep is a real development issue, and Starfield is scope creep THE GAME!

 

[MadPanda]

I don't think TES6 will get compared to starfield a lot, not in a degree to be detrimental to it, just as dragon age wasn't compared to mass effect.

 

[Fess]

Elden Ring is just one world as well and is in my opinion the game to beat, Bethesda needs to take a good look at that when creating TESVI.

Starfield is it’s own thing, it’s more like No Man’s Sky with role-playing and Bethesda needs to focus on not falling into the same traps when in comes to using randomized creation.

 

[RJMacready73]

Elden Ring is just one world as well and is in my opinion the game to beat, Bethesda needs to take a good look at that when creating TESVI.

Starfield is it’s own thing, it’s more like No Man’s Sky with role-playing and Bethesda needs to focus on not falling into the same traps when in comes to using randomized creation.

They are completely different games, you may as well say Bethesda needs to take a good look at Need for Speed when creating the next elder scrolls ffs

 

[AV]

how is ES6 not going to seem small and limited in comparison to the epic scope and scale of its predecessor?

Because the 1000 planets crap is meaningless. A few hand-crafted ones and then like 980 procedurally generated / copy pasted repetitions of other similar planets. You're not gonna find anything meaningful after a certain point.

Give me a map that's 100x smaller but with actual points of interest any day of the week.

 

[GymWolf]

Maybe they are finally gonna switch engine for es6, but who i'm kidding...

 

[Lokaum D+]

"Wide as an ocean, deep as a puddle" Welcome to Bathesda games

 

[Jennings]

I'm guessing Starfield will follow a formula like this

1000 worlds = 990 empty worlds full of procedurally generated enemies and a plethora of resources to mine + 10 inhabited outposts/cities in the middle of big empty worlds full of resources to mine.

 

[Fess]

They are completely different games, you may as well say Bethesda needs to take a good look at Need for Speed when creating the next elder scrolls ffs

OP is talking about the open world(s) and scale. Gameplaywise Elden Ring is a whole different game of course but the structure of the world and the scale and the way it’s filled with content would work perfectly for TESVI.

 

[remember_spinal]

The games will be released so far apart it won’t even matter. I don’t see Elder Scrolls 6 releasing until next gen begins again

 

[Fbh]

Big open world =/= better open world
Just because Starfield is likely going to have a bigger playable area doesn't mean they can´t make the world of ES6 better, with more interesting stuff to find, better dungeons, more interactive elements, nicer visuals and overall more engaging. It also doesn't mean the story, quests and gameplay can't be better.

Unless Bethesda has been holding back some big breakthrough in AI game design the vast majority of those 1000 planets are just going to be the same barren procedurally generated sort of stuff we've seen in other games before

 

[cash_longfellow]

If you get it, you get it

 

[Johnny Concrete]

The games will be released so far apart it won’t even matter. I don’t see Elder Scrolls 6 releasing until next gen begins again

Yup, I’m sure they’ve got some meetings about it and some concept art lying around, but this won’t be in full production until Starfield shipped and only then you can set the stopwatch to the minimum dev time of 5 years.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

2 games that are something I'd be interested in more if not for Bethesda's diminished track record.

Lots of hype on paper with no substance right now so to compare 2 games as these juggernauts is way off. This is coming from a big fan of Skyrim.

I'll choose to temper my expectations instead of making too many posts or threads hyping things not worthy of that at this time.

 

[ungalo]

Isn't Bethesda too small as a studio to continue to make games like this that are pushing for more of everything ?

They put themselves in that position when they started making games for every public and i get it, but that's pretty weird they didn't really evolved after the huge success of Skyrim.

On paper it's true that Starfield looks more like a challenge than what TES 6 might be, but again this game hasn't even started its development.

 

[Morrie’s wig shop]

Maybe they are finally gonna switch engine for es6, but who i'm kidding...

What engine are they going to use that allows them to do all the things that (whatever version) creation engine does?
This is a serious question, I’ve been seeing this , Bethesda needs a new engine for the past 17 years (Oblivion).
What other engine are they going to use?

 

[Jaybe]

I mean, your going off the assumption that Starfield will be a huge success and not a No Man's Sky or Fallout 76 at launch.

Plenty of games have promised the world and failed to deliver even coming off the backs of widely respected developers *cough* Cyberpunk *cough*. The fact elder scrolls is smaller scale means that it has a better chance of each individual part being more refined.

You need to wait and see what actually comes out first before worrying about old Elder Scrolls. Scope creep is a real development issue, and Starfield is scope creep THE GAME!

Yeah Starfield could end up being an ocean wide and an inch deep

 

[T4keD0wN]

Starfield sounds like a perfect game for modding so it has much bigger potential, elder scrolls 6 is probably going to be some basic console focused game.

 

[CuteFaceJay]

Can't wait for the slow mo train wrecks.

 

[Ozriel]

I mean, your going off the assumption that Starfield will be a huge success and not a No Man's Sky or Fallout 76 at launch.

I don’t get the constant comparison to ‘No man’s Sky’. Aside from being games set in space. They’re targeting different things entirely.

You need to wait and see what actually comes out first before worrying about old Elder Scrolls. Scope creep is a real development issue, and Starfield is scope creep THE GAME!

Source?

 

[GymWolf]

What engine are they going to use that allows them to do all the things that (whatever version) creation engine does?
This is a serious question, I’ve been seeing this , Bethesda needs a new engine for the past 17 years (Oblivion).
What other engine are they going to use?

The only thing they do that other games don't do is if you leave an object in a place, that object is gonna stay there.

Days gone and rdr2 both have a system where corps and cadavers remain in place for a VERY LONG TIME, and in rdr2 corpse eventually become bones and stay there, how difficult it can be to do the same with objects?

I think elex saga does something similar aswell.

Their ia inside cities from skyrim is already surpassed by other games with day night schedule etc, it was not great or bug free even when it released.

I'm not a game developer but everytime someone ask your question i think, how fucking difficult is to add an unlimited timer on objects instead of making them disappear?

It probably create memory problems etc. And it is something so fucking tertiary in the economy of a gigantic game that probably no devs want to trade stability for a single feature that most players gives 2 fucks about, because let's be honest, you can't even fucking list 5 occasions where this feature is super useful, oh wow the fork i left in a dungeon 50 hours ago is still there, mindbowing.

 

[Saber]

I dunno why put that stupid 1000 worlds into the equation. Those are all cpu generated, it could be nothing more than empty deserts or forests with just one tree. Would be better if it was 100 world handly crafty than that.
Bigger does not make it better.
Also ES...theres basically nothing about it, how the heck you can even discuss?

 

[SmokedMeat]

Elder Scrolls 6 is so far off it’s not even worth thinking about.

The worst thing you can do is raise expectations on Starfield. Just go in taking it for what it is, so you’ll never be disappointed.

 

[yurinka]

I mean, your going off the assumption that Starfield will be a huge success and not a No Man's Sky or Fallout 76 at launch.

No Man's Sky didn't get great reviews at launch but sold millions of copies, which is a huge success for a relatively small indie team.

The fact elder scrolls is smaller scale means that it has a better chance of each individual part being more refined.

You need to wait and see what actually comes out first before worrying about old Elder Scrolls. Scope creep is a real development issue, and Starfield is scope creep THE GAME!

I think ESVI can be bigger than Starfield. Maybe all these planets are relatively small and repetitive, and most of them are empty, and putting all the ones with meaningful things together have a small combined area than the ESVI one.

I also think that many procedural stuff they learnt from Starfield (and other stuff) will be applied later for ESVI.

Isn't Bethesda too small as a studio to continue to make games like this that are pushing for more of everything ?

Last Bethesda had over 420 employees. And in AAA games, the staff from the lead studio are only around 10% of the total people who work in a AAA game (including support studios, outsourcing, publishing, marketing, Q&A, etc).

So they can have over 4000 people working on Starfield and some hundreds of people starting to work on ESVI. They aren't "too small".

 

[Chukhopops]

I don’t think Starfield will try to do what TES did, the idea is that each franchise will do something different: Fallout, TES, Starfield.

I expect more of a focus on exploration, base and ship management, factions, branching story (judging by the size of the script).

 

[Torrent of Pork]

I just hope BGS takes Starfield's (assumed) success as a sign that they can go back to a more complicated system of character creation. I will always love Skyrim, but almost nothing matters concerning choices. The races are virtually identical, the star signs can be picked at will, even perk choice fuck-ups can be reset after the Dragonborn DLC.

Give me a role playing game.

 

[RoboFu]

just remember... There is alot of NOTHING in space. Im sure either there will bne a lot of empty planets or you just will only be able to go to certain planets.

Statrfields hype is way too great. there is no way it will not get negative press on release.

 

[IDKFA]

Those 1000 worlds are not going to be huge, unique Skyrim style maps with hundreds of hours worth of content on each one. We might get a few that a hand crafted and worth exploring, but everything else will be procedurally generated stuff.

ESVI will be one giant handcrafted map.

 

[Shubh_C63]

Why are we fixating on the 1000 worlds narrative when Bethesda themselves said that's not the selling point. (iirc)

I would be happy if the core story focus on 2-5 planets and others serves as backdrop for extra side quest content.

 

[Husky]

I think it's hard to predict the scale of content. We don't really know how much of Starfield is core gameplay, and how much is randomly generated No Man's Sky-esque resource mining/sightseeing/modding real estate. If The Elder Scrolls VI gives us actual vast cities, instead of downscaled representations of cities, then one city could potentially hold more interesting content than some entire games. That's the dream at least.

 

[Pagusas]

You are way overthinking it. It will not be an issue, I never compare Fallout and Elder Scrolls because the feel and worlds are so very different, same will go for Starfield and Elder Scrolls. It doesn't matter the size and scope.

 

[PillsOff]

Racing with your self for the winning prize of sucking Bethesda's dick live on Neogaf is something to do i guess

 

[remember_spinal]

Both game will have far bigger competition then each other. Bethesdas open world design hasn’t really evolved at all since oblivion and since then tons of other open world games have come out and outclassed skyrim.

 

[Pagusas]

Both game will have far bigger competition then each other. Bethesdas open world design hasn’t really evolved at all since oblivion and since then tons of other open world games have come out and outclassed skyrim.

They have? Can you name any? I still havn't found a single open world game that scratches the Skyrim itch.. other than just going back to Skyrim (Which I do, like every 2 years).

 

[prinz_valium]

More like Goliath vs Goliath

 

[Matt_Fox]

You are way overthinking it. It will not be an issue, I never compare Fallout and Elder Scrolls because the feel and worlds are so very different, same will go for Starfield and Elder Scrolls. It doesn't matter the size and scope.

Essentially they are RPG reskins with a few tweaks to the gameplay (such as VATs in Fallout). Regardless of that I am certain it is a question that Bethesda Game Studios, and every dev will ask of themselves...

How do we top our last game?

 

[Rockondevil]

I’ll compare them as much as I do Fallout to TES, which is not at all.
Sure they’re similar-ish because that’s the style of Bethesda, but that’s where it ends for me.

Can’t wait to play both.

 

[Ronin_7]

Elder Scrolls arriving somewhere in 2030.

 

[speckz]

Honestly, Starfield needs the Skyrim horse physics and gameplay.

 

[Matt_Fox]

Elder Scrolls arriving somewhere in 2030.

In a recent interview Todd Howard said "probably 15 years between Elder Scrolls games" which would place ES6 as a 2026 release date.

I'm hoping that the learns from Starfield can be transferred to speed up ES6, and if Starfield is a megahit system seller for Microsoft then potentially they're going to money hat ES6 to speed up production.

 

[Ronin_7]

Elder Scrolls arriving somewhere in 2039

In a recent interview Todd Howard said "probably 15 years between Elder Scrolls games" which would place ES6 as a 2026 release date.

I'm hoping that the learns from Starfield can be transferred to speed up ES6, and if Starfield is a megahit system seller for Microsoft then potentially they're going to money hat ES6 to speed up production.

Starfield hasn't shipped yet how would ES be 2026 with their small studio? They're half of Naughty Dog per example (work force). I doubt that date, 2028 at Best.

 

[Ozriel]

Elder Scrolls arriving somewhere in 2039

Starfield hasn't shipped yet how would ES be 2026 with their small studio? They're half of Naughty Dog per example (work force). I doubt that date, 2028 at Best.

It’s been made clear that development on ES6 is ongoing, and as soon as Starfield is shipped, the bulk of the team moves over to full development on ES6. A lot of heavy lifting would have been done with respect to lore, asset design, quest design etc.

Todd’s also mentioned that the upgrades to their Creation Engine for Starfield means they’re ready for full production of ES6 with no major engine challenges.

 

[Ronin_7]

It’s been made clear that development on ES6 is ongoing, and as soon as Starfield is shipped, the bulk of the team moves over to full development on ES6. A lot of heavy lifting would have been done with respect to lore, asset design, quest design etc.

Todd’s also mentioned that the upgrades to their Creation Engine for Starfield means they’re ready for full production of ES6 with no major engine challenges.

OK we'll see.

 

[ahtlas7]

Versus? I think they are on the same team.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[Romulus]

This idea of incredible scale is even more worrying when they struggled to do much smaller games more recently. When was the last time this team made a good game, Skyrim? Many here would argue that.

Skyrim was 11 years ago and the team has only slumped more and more with each release.

Are people expecting this to be some return to greatness? Fallout 4 and 76 seemed epic in scale too. They were a mess. The teams are just disconnected from what them great. Now it's about marketing something incredible and half delivering. That's exactly what we'll get this time.

 

[Humdinger]

The next ES is so far away, I can't even think about that.

 

[kiphalfton]

There's a reason why Elder Scrolls is coming out after Starfield... Especially considering it's been 11 years since ESV came out.

Bethesda probably knows Starfield will get sales whether it sucks or not, and if it does suck and there's backlash it's a new IP so not that big of a deal. ES on the other hand is where they made their name. It's kind of like Rockstar with GTA and RDR. They clearly care about one more than the other.

At the end of the day though, it's always quality > quantity. As we've seen time and time again, bigger worlds (or in this case more worlds) don't necessarily equate to better games.