Ok so news on exactly when it will be released is sketchy at best and it’s only rumoured to be in development at the moment with a release date of Q4 2012 at the earliest with sometime in 2013 being most likely. Bethesda has announced Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will be released later this year and that another game is in pre-production and has been since August of last year, presumably that game is Fallout 4. That’s about all that’s known about it really, that and the likelihood of it being set in the Mojave wasteland a la New Vegas. But all this is still rumour, what isn’t rumour is the new technology that will power it. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion like Fallout 3 and New Vegas used the Gamebryo engine which although set the benchmark by which others were judged in its time has begun to look terribly dated. Fallout: New Vegas although enjoyable was just more of the same when compared to FO3 which isn’t really such a good thing considering it came out two and a half years later. The Gamebryo engine is a decade old now, it was used on the PS2 and original XBOX and although it has undergone significant revision since then just doesn’t seem like it will cut the mustard with future releases. I guess Bethesda figured it was time for something new.
Skyrim is to be released in December of this year and uses a new game engine developed in house by Bethesda – the Creation engine. And just a few screenshots from the game illustrate exactly how superior it is to its predecessor.
Draw Distance
The sandbox style of the RPGs Bethesda develops means that the player spends most of their time outdoors. It makes sense to ditch the annoying effects that plagued fallout 3 in this respect i.e. you could walk and objects such as bridges and trees would suddenly pop into existence in the background. While not a major fault of the game, it is something that could have been dramatically improved upon and for this reason the Creation engine increases the draw distance resulting in smoother transitions of more distant objects and much greater detail of closer objects. So gone are the days of that annoying pop into existence effect that plagued the creation engine. Compare the above two shots, in the background of oblivion the forest is blurry and as you move forward you know a few more massive boulders are going to suddenly appear out of nowhere. Skyrim by comparison shows much greater detail in the background giving a much clearer idea of what will happen as you move forward.
Foliage and Water effects
Looking at the above two images, it would seem the fluid dynamic lighting effect applied to the water in Skyrim trumps oblivion. The trees also have a much more realistic looking vibe to them but the foliage in general has a greater sense of realism. How this will translate into a fallout game isn't very clear because as people will remember there were no trees in Fallout 3, except at one weird location on the map which you never needed to visit to complete the game. Hopefully the desert textures will be on a par with the forest textures.
Scarier Monsters and Smoother Battle scenes
In Fallout 4, these could be truly epic improvements. Just think how much scarier a supermutant behemoth would be. Nuff said.
More attractive NPCs
One of the biggest failings of all previous Bethesda RPGs was the ugly 2D play-doh look of the NPCs. They were never very pleasing to the eye whereas looking at the above two images, it would seem that future NPCs will look the dogs bollocks. Not only this but they won't freeze in time when you talk to them either, they'll carry on about their daily routine further increasing the sense of realism. The level of detail for the interior scene is also worth noting. It'll make looting through abandoned shacks for weapons and nuka cola much more fun.
Level of detail
Comparing the level of detail of the above two scenes gives an idea of just how graphic the next Fallout game could be. Imagine if after slotting a gang of raiders, your weapons are still covered in blood. With the new Creation engine, battles also affect the environment. This could be interesting given the level of violence Fallout battles usually entail.
Combine all of the above with the existing Fallout 3 formula and a good storyline and you have the ingredients for one hell of a computer game. Anyone even doubt it?
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