General:Tales from the Edge of Oblivion

Tales from the Edge of Oblivion
(link)
Medium/Format	Print Magazine
Date	August 2006
Interviewee(s)	Todd Howard Matt Carofano Bruce Nesmith
Interviewer(s)	Will Porter
Hosted By	PC Zone (defunct)

TALES FROM THE
EDGE OF OBLIVION

Join us as we explore the creation of a true RPG giant - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

IT'S THE MOST talked about game in recent memory - so PC ZONE thought it high time to stand alongside the best of Bethesda on the charming hillsides of Cyrodiil and chat about its delights and intricacies. To kickstart the coverage, Suzy Wallace got convivially cosy with Oblivion's executive producer Todd Howard and talked swords, bows and painted trolls...

How did you go about fitting Oblivion into the overall Elder Scrolls story?

"The story keeps progressing each game, so as we move from Morrowind to Oblivion, each game stands on its own. With Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, we decided we wanted it to be set in the Imperial Province, which is the centre of our universe of Tamriel. We wanted to tell the story of Uriel Septim, the emperor, and start the game with his demise. He's been getting older and weaker as the games have gone on."

Was there any reason that you decided to kill off old Uriel?

"Dramatic purpose, pure and simple. We'd built up in Morrowind that he was on his last legs, so it followed that he should die. We also always planned on him dying in this game to give real energy to the beginning of it, when he utters his last words to you: "Close shut the jaws of Oblivion ." We thought that was a good hook for the player to follow."

Is it hard avoiding contradictions with stuff from previous adventures?

"We have to be careful about that, as there's so much of it in previous games. We have people here who research Elder Scrolls lore, ‘Lore Masters', just to make sure we're not saying anything that isn't true. One of the things we're very careful about is that we always write the lore from the standpoint of the world - the lore comes from someone within the world. So if we ever need to say ‘well, that person was wrong', then we can do it.

"We intentionally put repeating messages about stuff we want to remain mysterious too, such as ‘where are the dwarves'? and ’what happened to this land in this ancient time'? We write them as history in the world.

"In Oblivion, a lot of the story revolves around the amulet of kings, so we put a lot of research into how the amulet has been mentioned in previous games - some of them attribute certain powers to the amulet for example. We have three or four people who check all this full-time, plus we have ways of searching the text we've put in our games too - but it does take some time..."

Would you say Oblivion is a return to more traditional fantasy? It certainly has more traditional fantasy creatures - Morrowind was quite fanciful...

"Elder Scrolls has a lot of traditional stuff, if you look at Arena and Daggerfall. So we go for what's appropriate for that part of the world - the capital area Cyrodiil is a little more traditional, whereas Morrowind is a province on the outskirts. In that game we had to go to extremes to work in the more trad stuff, we wanted things to be more fantastical, to stick out more. With Oblivion, we wanted the forests and towns to feel familiar, so that when Oblivion comes in with these otherworldly creatures and danger, it feels fantastical - but it's not fantastical all the time."

What's your favourite quest in the game?

"I probably have a few favourites. I love the Painter quest from an imaginative standpoint, that you're sucked into this magical painting and you get that five seconds of, ‘You gotta be kidding me!' We had a lot of fun with that, re-doing all the textures to make them look as though they were painted.

"The other two - I like the quest in the Dark Brotherhood where you get invited to a dare party - kind of an Agatha Christie, kill-everybody type of thing. There are so many ways to do that quest and it isn't a ’run through a dungeon with armour' kind of quest - it feels like something really different. I also like the Dark Brotherhood quest where you have to go back into the prison and kill the guy who's an arse to you when the game starts - we thought of that early in the game.

"In the main quest, I like the one where you're in the Imperial City where you're going to get some books - real adventure gaming. I also like the last few quests in the main game where you get these huge battles - they're really cool too."

We love the Painter quest ourselves. How did you come up with that idea?

"We had a big brainstorming meeting, where we put up a bunch of ideas on a board. But it was just a summary - ’player sucked into magic painting' - and a short description of the quest. The guy who thought of that quest, Alan Nanes, did a great job on that, and some of the miscellaneous quests, really fleshing them out to become believable experiences. It could be goofy if it's done wrong, but you feel like you're inside a painting. It's actually quite a simple quest - go kill this guy and bring this thing back - but wrapped up with a great setting and characters, the trolls. We loved the effect on the edge of that map, where you see the canvas where the guy hasn't finished painting it yet. Also, I loved the quest reward, the special magical apron you get - my character runs around in that, because it looks so different..."

So was it a lot of extra effort to get that painting effect?

"Yes - absolutely. You look at all the objects and items and we had to do different versions of them - but it was a highlight for us. The people involved showed a lot of initiative and really wanted that quest to pay off."

What's your favourite guild in the game?

"Definitely the Dark Brotherhood. Even from very early on, we’d do pitches and have the designer write it up. Fortunately, I had the privilege of working with all the guilds, but Emil Pagliarulo, a guy we'd hired who'd worked on Thief 2 & 3, worked on the Dark Brotherhood. He's a brilliant designer and had a really good idea of what the DB needed to be, what flavour it needed to have.

"We had one designer per guild, and they did a pitch to the whole team - 50 or so people - and did a presentation given as though the player is experiencing the quest. We walk into a quest and see pictures and everything before we start making it, and then everyone makes their comments. Then we tweak on paper and everything goes through that process again. That gave us a very good breadth of each guild, but even in the early stages, the Dark Brotherhood was looking really, really cool."

What's the most evil thing you get to do in the Dark Brotherhood?

"I think it's easily - and there's a plot spoiler here - in the Dark Brotherhood twist, when you have to go back to the hideout and kill everybody. We hope that's really dark - we wanted to have the player say: Is that right? How much of an evil assassin am I?'

"We actually went and beefed up the characters so they're friendly and give tips, have distinct personalities and talk to each other. We put a lot of effort into them and we want you to get attached to them, so when you have to go and murder them, you feel a dilemma there. However, almost everybody just accepts that and says: “Well, I'll just kill them and see where this goes!" To kill all your friends is pretty evil though..."

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COME TO BEAUTIFUL CYRODIIL...

Matt Carofano, lead artist on Oblivion, takes young Will Porter by the hand as they skip through the lands he created and talk of all things artistic...

UPON EMERGING FROM THE GLOOM OF THE IMPERIAL PRISON...

"We knew that leaving the Imperial prison was an important location - it's the first exterior area you see in the game, so it needed to be impressive. It also had to give you the sense that you'd only just started the game and that this was a huge world to explore. Once the distant landscape went in, it was an easy process of finding a good view of the mountains across the lake. The location was meant to be a direct contrast to the confining dungeon and a starting point to the freeform world. The dungeon across the water was added later to give you some focus and to help draw you into the game. We wanted to make sure that you always had somewhere to go and didn't have to look too hard to find it."

Designing the Imperial City

"The Imperial City was designed to be a large planned city. I looked to real-world examples, like Bath over near you in England or even areas of Washington DC for reference. I chose a circle as a symbol of order and the Empire, and based the city around that. It helped make the city easy to navigate and also gave it a crown shape, which felt appropriate. I tried connecting the city with the rest of the environment by aligning the towers with the main roads. I wanted to evoke the feeling that the Imperial City watched over the entire province and could be seen from any area of the game. The remaining details became a balance of Roman and medieval influences combined into a more fantasy environment."

PUTTING THE TASTE OF BLOOD INTO THE ARENA

"An extra amount of work went into creating the arena, since it's the setting for an entire series of quests. Initially, we planned on having unique arenas in every city, each having different combat challenges. Because of time constraints we condensed the arena to one, which ultimately made it much better. The Bloodworks gave us a chance to really enhance the quest and tell part of the story through the setting. What better way to show how dangerous an area is than to coat it in the blood of the fallen heroes?"

Venturing into the
mountainous north

"Bruma and the mountainous areas allowed us to introduce different climates into the game and also provided a natural boundary for the edge of the world. Bruma lies on the border of Skyrim, home of the Nords, and the city shows influences of Nordic culture from our previous games. The mountains helped create a varied landscape for better exploration, as well as providing a nice backdrop while playing."

THE OBLIVION-TAINTED TOWNSHIP OF KVATCH

"Kvatch and its surrounding environment were created to show the destruction that was caused by the Oblivion invasion. The ruined city was expanded to encompass a large area in the wilderness to make the destruction more effective. We set up a path to channel you as you approached the city to better emphasise the transition from a calm forest to a city overrun by Daedra. The weather system helped set the mood; running through the ruined city on a sunny day doesn't have the same effect."

Making Cyrodiil holy

"The city cathedral was one of the first buildings made for the game. It was used to set an example for how other architecture should be created. It also helped define a more realistic and medieval setting for Cyrodiil. It was a symbol of the Divines, who we initially wanted to have a larger role in the story. I had the fun challenge of creating images for the Divines, whom we hadn't previously illustrated. They show up in the cathedral's windows and were later developed into statues."

CREATING ALMIGHTY FIERY RINGS OF DEATH

"The portals to Oblivion developed over the course of the game, and ultimately became the main icon of the game. It was an easy choice to use the Daedric letter 'O'. It stood for Oblivion and had a convenient portal shape. The portals were also made to be a corrupting force in the world. We wanted the gates to function as clear portals to Oblivion, but also to be an evil presence that affected the area around them. We used a combination of effects, weather and destroyed environment to create a transition between the two realms."

A new view of Hell:
beyond the Oblivion portals...

"The Planes of Oblivion were unique to the god who created them and were based around one sentence: 'Mehrunes Dagon is the god of destruction and change.' I wanted to create a realm where this was apparent. Volcanic islands fit perfectly. I liked the idea that Mehrunes Dagon's realm was destructive and ever changing, being constantly reborn. It allowed us to create small, varied worlds that could be continually explored. The realm of Oblivion was also meant to be an opposite of the lush forests in Tamriel, and it also enabled us to have some more fantastical elements in Oblivion. That helped make Tamriel feel like a real world and Oblivion seem like another dimension."

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SECRETS AND LIARS

Todd Howard and Bruce Nesmith, Oblivion's executive producer and senior designer, join Will Porter in an adventure through their creation's intricacies...

M'AIQ THE LIAR

In Morrowind, there was a relatively disturbed Kajiit [sic] called M'aiq the Liar who, if found, would regale you on a number of untrue topics - where to find dragons, where to find nude characters, the nature of were-sharks and some curious opinions on horses. Now, come Oblivion, lie's back - although he doesn't lie so much.

This time out, he races around the map searching for callipers in five-hour stints - so the chances of meeting him are slim. "We love to wink at the camera sometimes and have a little fun," explains Todd Howard. "In each Elder Scrolls game we have one item that for some reason, all the artists and designers have placed repeatedly in the world. Callipers became the thing. In Morrowind it's pillows. So when you open a chest you might have some callipers or a tong - and you're just wondering what you're supposed to do with these things, and eventually you realise there's no use for them. So we have this character, M'aiq the Liar to make fun of them. M'aiq is actually named after one of the programmers on the team, Mike Lipari, who's one of the nicest, hardest-working guys, who we caught lying about a couple of things, so we started calling him Mike the Liar - this is back in the Morrowind days! It's great in Oblivion because lie's so fast - lie'll run up to you, say something, then run off so quick..."

REFERENCING OLD GAMES

There are plenty of nods to Elder Scrolls past in Oblivion - not least a recurring personage like Uriel Septim, books that describe the exploits of your character back in Morrowind and a few passing characters who'll fill you in on what's going on back in the land of Silt Striders.

Khajiit and Argonian slaves are free, it appears, but the Nords are running riot in Solstheim (that featured in the Bloodmoon add-on) and giving the Imperials a kicking. In terms of clever in-jokes though, the cell you start in is entirely similar to the one at the start of Elder Scrolls: Arena - the line delivered by the guard who sets you free being identical in both cases: "Watch out, there are rats and goblins down there." As, indeed, there are. And while we're on the topic, watch out for the poster that's stuck on the wall outside the Arena itself - if you're a gamer of venerable qualities, then you'll recognise it as the Elder Scrolls: Arena boxart.

"A fundamental nod to Morrowind, meanwhile, lies in Oblivion's very first Fighters Guild mission that cheerily mocks the initial Fighters quest in its forbear. "Every role-playing game that we're aware of starts with a wonderful adventure where you go and you kill some rats," explains Bruce Nesmith, senior designer on Oblivion. "They're the ubiquitous creature that every character can handle, no matter how weak or puny they might be. We decided that this just could not stand - we had to do something completely different. So Mark Nelson had the brilliant idea to turn that old and tired story paradigm on its ear and at the same time, give a wink and nod to Morrowind, which had used the old storyline in its early adventure."

The rats are still there in Oblivion, although this time you're protecting them from mountain lions since they're now cherished pets. How times change.

OUT-TAKES

Areas of holiness are generally just a place for a quick blessing or a rumble in a tomb in Oblivion, but in the game's initial template they were destined for a far greater role in plot and quest lines - hitting the cutting-room floor due to the usual reasons of limited time and space. Another more bizarre feature that never made it meanwhile, was another gag that featured Cyrodiil's favourite barrel occupant: the callipers.

"One of the guys pitched that you pick up the callipers and take them to a swordsmith who makes you a sword called Excalliper," chortles Todd Howard. ”It was hilarious but it crossed the line, because it referenced Excalibur, which is another fantasy thing. We didn't want to poke too much fun at the callipers..."

CURSE OF THE VAMPIRE

It's easy to become a vampire - but getting out of the undead family is a remarkable and time-consuming challenge in Oblivion - something that Bethesda intend to put right.

"One of the things I've always thought we should have done is make that quest a little bit easier," explains Nesmith. "It wasn't actually an overarching design intention that it should be particularly difficult to complete that quest, I just don't think we realised when we were designing it that it would be that hard for the audience. It shouldn't have been that difficult. And in one of the pieces of downloadable content, we'll be providing a vampirisim cure that's a lot easier to get to. There’s already mods that provide vampirism cures out there - I strongly recommend that people get one!"

THE UNICORN

Somewhere deep in a place called Harcane Grove there lies a special, sacred creature. A Unicorn that you're disked to kill in the Hircine Daedric quest. Problem is, it's surrounded by minotaurs, but pick them off away from the unicorn and an unintended caster egg arises - the fact that the unicorn can become your steed.

"It's a moment of inadvertent gameplay," explains Bruce Nesmith. The unicorn was intended to always be an opponent - but if you play it just right, then it won't get involved in the combat. At which point, by the nature of the game, you can ride it - because it's a horse in that context. It's actually a piece of emergent gameplay and when we saw it happening in our testing period, we really liked it - so we kept it." Pull out a sword in its presence however, and you'll be in for an equine attack or two - as ZONE'S reviews editor will ruefully attest to.

BETHESDA ALSO RECOMMEND...

First off, a ZONE tip: check out the lady called Mirabelle Monet in the Fo'c's'le boarding house in Anvil - she's a sneak trainer, but also does the dirty with her house-guests. As the lady of ill-repute states herself: "I reserve my beds for seamen..." What's more, elves prove her main turn-on. Oh, and if you say Fo'c's'le in an American accent, it could sound really rude. How rude, we couldn't possibly say, since we don't want the game pulled off the shelves in the US.

Otherwise, as a final hurrah from the Beth-boys, comes details of Todd Howard's favourite modus operandi for secretive death dealing. "Poisoned apples in the Dark Brotherhood which you can give to people, who eat them and drop dead!" exclaims the head Oblivion honcho with excitement. "You can go into someone's house and replace all the food with poisoned apples, so they wake up in the morning, eat them and die!" Each to their own I suppose...