Skyrim Map in English and Manual Basics

A recent Internet leak has given us a look at the world map for the long awaited fifth Elder Scrolls game; Skyrim.

Below is a full sized English version of the map itself for you all to behold. Loyal fans of the series have translated the whole thing into English for us as the previous one shown wasn’t exactly easy to follow.

Skyrim has been one of the biggest stories of 2011 and is sure to be one of the big sellers going into Christmas too. Its 11^th November release is fast approaching and more news seems to be hitting the web every day. From the new radiant story to the new world we will get to explore, this November is looking to be a great time for fans of the series.

The most significant change over Oblivion will be the range of mountains that Skyrim holds. The developers have said on several occasions that the world map will be around the same size as Oblivion but that the heights involved will mean there are generally more areas to explore.

Each town has been given its own insignia Game of Thrones style and will have individual design style, characters and trades. The smaller details like rivers and mountains are also interesting. A specific area of notable interest is called ‘The Reach’; although nothing is known about this at the current time. You can also see the large Lake of Henrich which has been mentioned in just about every Skyrim trailer.

On top of the recently leaked map are the manual pages. These can be found on Goggle if you search for them but I will not be posting them here. I will however outline some of the specifics located within the pages.

The main point of interest will be the fact that Skyrim will allow the player to hire people from taverns to fight alongside them called Hirelings. According to the pictures each of these will have specific combat bonuses and natures. You can ask them to wait, follow, attack, open or pick something so the choices follow a similar pattern to Fallout 3.

Much like Oblivion friends may also join you on your journey, where you can give them gifts in return for their help.

The manual also offered a brief description of the skill cooking. It read, "Cooking pots allow you to prepare food items that provide various temporary effects. Each recipe requires specific culinary ingredients that can be found throughout Skyrim."

Cooking joins skills like farming, mining, woodcutting and blacksmithing in Skyrim.

The manual also aired the dialogue option of brawling, should persuasion, intimidation or bribing not work.

Crimes are also covered in these pages and specifically state that the bounties will be localised to specific cities or towns. Witnesses can be killed to avoid a bounty.

All in all Skyrim is shaping up to fill all the requests I had after I finished Morrowind and Oblivion all those years ago.

Check out the English Map below….

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Mass Effect 3 - Multiplayer Update

Bioware recently confirmed the long anticipated multiplayer for its 2012 title Mass Effect 3.

The third entry in the popular Mass Effect series sees the return of the popular Commander Shepard in an intergalactic journey of war and rivalry. The gorgeous universe that Shepherd travels will be moulded into a bonus section of the campaign that gives players a brand new 4 player co-op experience.

The new co-op multiplayer missions will allow you to create your own character from a variety of different classes and races and aid Commander Shepard in the war to reclaim Earth. If you manage to be successful in the multiplayer areas it will directly impact the single player experience. The ‘Galaxy at War’ missions will be completely optional so if you don’t play online this addition will not directly affect your game in an adverse way. Bioware have also confirmed directly that it will be possible to experience the story in whole without playing this mode online.

All the characters from the single player will be unavailable in the new missions so you’ll need to create your own character from scratch. This creation can be from any of the games races and unique abilities will be available for each so selection is important. Unfortunate as it is we won’t be able to sniper people as Garrus or hurl people away as Liara.

The mode itself will contribute to your Galactic Readiness meter that slowly makes it easier for Commander Shepard and his team to do their job and save Earth.

None of the additions or storyline branches from Mass Effect 1 or 2 will impact the multiplayer aspect of the third game.

All in all this addition should be a great part of the Shepard finale but I am still a little concerned that we might be forced to play this section of the game to see how the series finally ends.

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Once Upon an Elder Scroll

When Skyrim was first announced at the close of 2010 fans of the Elder Scrolls series spieled off their lists of what they wanted to appear. Bethesda cleared up their initial intent to recapture what made Morrowind so great. Oblivion of course sold well and was well received across the planet so what made Bethesda draw on inspiration from the past?

A lot of this probably had something to do with Morrowind’s still infectious popularity. Players obviously compared Oblivion to its predecessor upon release and many fans felt the game had been toned down. In fact it’s a pretty accurate assumption; the previous game had been designed for the PC originally and was far more unforgiving then experiences within Oblivion that were tailored specifically for consoles.

Oblivion has a very well known levelling system that allowed players to go almost anywhere right of the bat. Morrowind however tried to tighten the reigns of the player by increasing enemy levels the further a player ventured into rural areas. Where Oblivion held the player hand, Morrowind let go. It was not uncommon for a player to lose track of specific quest progress and it was definitely an unforgiving experience to any player who didn’t take their time to learn the gameplay. After Oblivion went on general sale the developers attempted to ‘fix’ some of these issues by bringing it closer to its predecessor but this never really worked.

The actually world design of Morrowind was less traditional then the standard fantasy affairs of Cyrodiil too. In Oblivion the world held stone castles, brown mud caves and lavish cities. In Morrowind the island of Vvardenfell was portrayed as a much darker region entirely. Cities were individually created and the different houses add a different dimension to the gameplay. Where the cobbled streets stood in Oblivion there were tentacles and vines in Morrowind. Overall the predecessor has a much more original design style that really showed off the direct the game was hoping to head.

Bethesda tried to recreate this illusion with the Shivering Isle content that was released about as year after Oblivion. The new area was a joy to explore and the world design was far better then the main game. Each location had its own unique architecture and character models for both enemies and other NPC’s were much more creative.

Skyrim is set in a region of the same name and draws upon the area in a different way once more. The developers have definitely tried to learn from their mistakes and add both Cyrodiil’s opened expanses and Morrowind’s desolate marshlands. Skyrim is the most northern land of Tamriel and the home of the Nord race. These large pale men and women look like they have been ripped right from Viking lore and are used to swinging Axes both in combat and their day to day life.

The North of Tamriel is full of high mountains of snow, ice and wind. There is also a large amount of foliage and greenery but at the same time Skyrim is a much more unforgiving landscape. The terrain is tough to traverse and the inhabitants are battle strong. Monsters are much more brutal then those found in Oblivion and it is not uncommon to spot a Giant or Werewolf among the trees. As I’m sure you’ve heard, Bethesda have also included Dragons to the open world. These battles will usually be random but there are some scripted circumstances. Each battle with one of these terrifying beasts will require the player to use all their wit in order to the monster in its tracks.

Skyrim has a different architecture style then both Cyrodiil and Morrowind too. Buildings in the main five cities are created mainly out of stone with wood and straw only used as supports and roofing. Because of the cold climate a lot of the locations are dug into the ground and add another interesting layer to the inhabited areas. Along with the five major cities there a many other smaller towns and settlements scattered around the land. These give the whole gameworld a lived in but rural effect that makes the whole place scream with realism.

Following in Oblivion's footsteps the story of Skyrim once again begins with regicide as the High King of Skyrim has been laid to rest. A civil war is raging and is the last in a string of prophesised events that will result in a return of the dragons under the Nord god of destruction, Alduin. We can only guess what will happen as the player journeys through the main campaign.

“And they shall call him Dovahkiin” = Dragonborn = Awesome!

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