Morrowind

TES V to be on a new engine

  • Comment
As many will know the Gamebryo formally used by Oblivion and Fallout 3 has been dying a slow death of late. On November 10th 2010 the assets of the engine were put up for sale. Such events have raised questions about Bethesda's choice of engine for TES V and the modability of any new engine that Bethesda might choose to use.

The most likely engine candidate was thought to be the id Tech5 engine that is currently being used for the upcoming RAGE game by id as well as the next Doom game. With Zenimax's (Bethesda's parent company) acquisition of id Software earlier on in the year TES V on the id Tech5 seemed like a very real possibility. Unfortunately the engine is not great for open world games and is even worse for modders due in no small part to the massive texture system the id Tech5 engine employs.

Since the announcement of TES V last night Nick Breckon has tweeted that TES V will use an all-new engine:

We can now confirm that the TES V: Skyrim engine is all-new. And it looks fantastic.


This coincides with a recent interview with Todd Howard on Eurogamer:

Eurogamer: Is it fair to say then that it's based on existing technology?

Todd Howard: The technology is ours and it is inspired by the technology we have. We have a lot of it. But that's our starting point - the Fallout 3 tech. It started with Morrowind, we went to Oblivion, we did a lot between Oblivion and Fallout 3 because now we had final hardware - with Oblivion we had six months on final hardware, so Fallout 3 technically does a lot more than Oblivion. The new stuff is an even bigger jump from that.


And finally an IGN interview with Todd Howard should put the rumours to bed:

Bethesda Game Director Todd Howard explained in a separate interview with IGN that his game would not use id Tech 5. The studio's new engine built for its upcoming title is more beneficial to creating huge, open-world games, such as Fallout 3 and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, while id Tech 5 is better for more contained environments.

"We decided to really reboot our technology after Fallout 3, so we had been making plans for that and started doing some things. The id thing came along later, so it's a mix of that plus the kinds of games we do are a bit bigger and more dynamic.

"Id Tech 5 is the best thing in the world at doing a very static environment that looks pretty and you're going to run through. But for the kinds of things I like to do, I like the world to be more dynamic."


While we have no details on this new engine it sounds like it has been specifically tailored for the Elder Scrolls series and games of similar ilk. We can only hope that Bethesda still love us, the modding community, enough to develop their tools with the end user in mind as well.

As it is an SDK is always at the furthest edges of a developer's mind so I wouldn't expect to hear anything about it (modding) way in to the new year and much closer to the release date. I would love Bethesda to prove me wrong though.

135 comments

  1. rgx02
    rgx02
    • member
    • 7 kudos

    Oh. But I liked Gamebryo Engine! <img class=">

    From what ive read the new engine will be better modable and less buggy (as its being made exactly for the kind of games like oblivion), so i say goodbye gamebryo, rest in peace.
  2. ObamaGoesPostal
    ObamaGoesPostal
    • member
    • 2 kudos
    Oh. But I liked Gamebryo Engine! <img class=">
  3. rgx02
    rgx02
    • member
    • 7 kudos

    Can't they just upgrade the Gamebryo engine?


    There is a limit to how much they can upgrade, it comes a time where creating a new engine is better cost/benificial.
  4. ObamaGoesPostal
    ObamaGoesPostal
    • member
    • 2 kudos
    Can't they just upgrade the Gamebryo engine?
  5. Tchos
    Tchos
    • premium
    • 181 kudos
    Well, if crime were handled in Skyrim the way it was handled in, say, Beowulf, then murder would be punishable by fine, like in Oblivion.
  6. ub3rman123
    ub3rman123
    • premium
    • 202 kudos
    One major thing I'm hoping for is a crime system that isn't so dialogue based. THink like the one in AC2.

    Although this is Skyrim, chaotic land of the Nords, so they might just take the way out of You accidentally picked up that trader's ceramic bowl?! Guards! Kill this man! then some 7 foot tall Nord runs you through with a rusty pole-axe.
  7. Zaldiir
    Zaldiir
    • Moderator
    • 477 kudos
    Ladders would be a great new feature, and I would certainly welcome Levitation back with open arms! <img class=">
  8. ShadowgateRising
    ShadowgateRising
    • BANNED
    • 0 kudos
    im not trolling, im about to have surgery soon, was enjoying my game and then it messed up, i searched all week and then had to reinstall the game, it just made me upset that that happend. then i found out it was caused by the mod i least expected would cause it. so im not stupid im not trolling. i just want a gamew that works and dont force false gods on you. please dont call me a troll im just a human being, i still may play oblivion a houre a month, but ive moved on to games that dont give crashing trouble and other major bugs. im not trying to troll, like i said i need a game to work right, and be decent. i hope skyrim will be better.
  9. LHammonds
    LHammonds
    • supporter
    • 1,189 kudos
    Ladders? yep, that would be cool. Just imagine if they included a stealth system similar to how Thief was done. That would be awesome.

    LHammonds
  10. Tchos
    Tchos
    • premium
    • 181 kudos
    Agreed. I was pleasantly surprised to find climbable ladders in D& Online (Eberron Unlimited) after being so used to Oblivion's lack of them, or modders' workarounds making ladders into teleport-door objects leading to the top and bottom of the ladder. Hope to see them in the next game, as well as a return of levitation spells.