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Interviews:
The Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon Interview:
Emil Pagliarulo
Posted Monday, April 13th 2003
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"My
What Big Teeth You Have"
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We had the opportunity to sit down with designer Emil Pagliarulo
(Thief 1, 2 & 3) of Bethesda
Softworks and discuss his companies next product:
The Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon. The title is a great place
for newcomers to the Elder Scrolls series to start and pick up on
this great series. But we'll let the interview speak for the game...
Mr. Pagliarulo
thank you for accepting this interview, fans often wonder what
it would be like to be involved in creating an expansion for the
most critically acclaimed RPG. Could you tell us what you wanted
to bring to the table when working on the expansion?
Hey, my pleasure.
But please, call me Captain Pagliarulo. Well, it's kind of a joke
on the Bloodmoon design team that I have a secret agenda to infuse
the Elder Scrolls games with as much stealth gameplay as I can.
You know, you can take the Emil out of Thief.... Truth is, I've
been an Elder Scrolls fan since Arena and it's always been a dream
of mine to help craft this world. I'll never forget the first
time I played Arena so many years ago. My girlfriend (who is now
my wife) and my college roommate were watching as I escaped from
a dungeon and made it to the surface. I remember walking through
a town, and the three of just were just in awe of the world on
the screen. Snow was falling, people were walking around...for
the first time in a computer game I felt transported to another
place. I guess that was when I really understood the term "immersion."
So with Bloodmoon, if I can get one person to feel that same way,
to be transported from the comfort of their computer room to the
island of Solstheim, I'll feel like I accomplished what I set
out to do.
Early reports revealed that the highly anticipated werewolves
will be introduced into gameplay. Can you expand on the decision
to add them and how their fighting system will work?
In Daggerfall,
players loved that you could become a werewolf or vampire. Some,
myself included, would seek out specific dungeons and hunting
grounds in order to fight these creatures in the hopes of contracting
lycanthropy or vampirism. In Morrowind, the player had a chance
to become a vampire but you couldn't become a werewolf. (Mark
Nelson just did a great article on the process of introducing
werewolves into the game and how it works, which you can find
here: http://www.elderscrolls.com/index_url=/codex/team_dunceswithwolves.htm&bg=03
Werewolves
will fight pretty much as you'd expect, with devastating hand-to-hand
attacks. Morrowind is loaded with great weapons, many of which
have magicka-imbued properties, so the hand-to-hand combat isn't
experienced by a lot of players. Becoming a werewolf should rectify
that.
Are you shaping gameplay with use of a full moon or can all the
werewolves' features be accessed at all times? What balancing
factors affected this decision?
In the Elder
Scrolls games there are actually two moons that rise at night,
so it would really confuse the player if we tried to simulate
a full moon for just one and then base the werewolf change on
that. In Bloodmoon, a player with lycanthropy will turn into a
werewolf at night, every night. This is more intuitive for the
player, and it's also consistent with the werewolf experience
offered in Daggerfall. The same is true for werewolves you may
encounter in the game. It's pretty cool to watch a guard react
to a character who has just turned into a werewolf in front of
his eyes....
What new creatures can be found in the upcoming expansion pack?
Any you would like to highlight?
I'm a big
fan of Solstheim's wolves and bears. I think they ground the game
in a bit of the comfortably familiar. The Dark Elves of Vvardenfell
are some weird dudes, with their cliff racers and mudcrabs and
netches. Returning to more "normal" creatures gives
the player a sense of the more classic fantasy seen in Arena and
Daggerfall. It also draws a distinction between the lives and
cultures of the Nords and Dark Elves, and gives the player more
insight into why they could have been in conflict with one another
for so long, which is an important part of Elder Scrolls history.
Oh, and then there's the Udyrfrykte. But I've said too much already.
Such ancient evil is best left forgotten....
Users are excited to see the new weather types (Snow and Blizzards).
Will they have any effect on the world, such as footprints being
formed when you walk? Does the engine support any sort of snow
accumulation or drifts?
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"Wait
I minute I thought you said there was snow. I just see...
oh wait... nevermind"
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The player will
see snowdrifts and accumulated snow, but it's not as if the snow
is actually accumulating dynamically within the world. Wow, I shudder
to think about the resource and design nightmare that could accompany
an engine with an accumulating snow model. I think that could be
a game in and of itself. That's not to say the snow isn't incredibly
realistic. I mean, lots of games have had falling snow, but I don't
ever think I've seen anything like Solstheim's raging blizzards
in a game before. You walk through this stuff and you actually feel
cold…you want to seek shelter. A lot of the interiors of Solstheim
tend to be wooden and firelit, so there's a real sense of warmth
and coziness there too that makes the harshness of the outdoor climate
all the more believable.
Just how large is the new island of Bloodmoon? Some have voiced
they are scared of size limitations... can you calm these fears
by expanding on what one can find in this new land?
Well, you're
always going to have limitations. It's what you do within those
limitations that make or break your game. Morrowind is a huge
game. Daggerfall, by comparison, was several times bigger. But
which one is ultimately a better game? Most people would probably
say Morrowind. The design is more focused, the dungeons are more
specific, and the world -- while large enough to explore -- is
manageable. So no, Solstheim is not as big as Vvardenfell. How
could it be? But let me tell you, it's still pretty damn big.
You're not confined to an urban center as you were in Mournhold.
The island is wide open, and can be explored at will. I think
the player will find the process of exploring is a lot of fun,
too, if for no other reason than the landscape looks so beautiful,
and there are so many new terrain types to encounter. Ice caves,
Nord burial caves, forests, snowy mountains, and ancient standing
stones. But we've also taken pains to ensure the landscape isn't
just landscape, so the player generally gets rewarded for exploring,
either by finding cool items or new quests or what have you.
Expansion packs naturally target users who already have the original
game. Please expand on how new users to Morrowind can get right
onto the action without feeling lost. Have you taken any measures
to give seasoned players some insight into the realm of Morrowind?
Experienced
Morrowind players will pick up Bloodmoon simply to get their next
Elder Scrolls fix, but I think new players to the series will
be drawn in by two things -- the ability to become a werewolf,
and the simple basic appeal of walking around in the snow carrying
a giant Nordic claymore. The Nords get players in touch with that
primal, sword-wielding instinct that is inherent in all fantasy
fiction. It's also definitely possible for a new player to get
to Solstheim and uncover all that content before they even embark
upon Morrowind's main storyline. There will be plenty of information
to get them to the new landmass, and once there the main quest
storyline -- with all its missions -- becomes pretty apparent.
Once on Solstheim, I think there's plenty of stuff that gives
all players, experienced and newbie alike, a real look into the
culture of the Nords, and the importance that race plays in the
world of Tamriel. I mean, this island is right off the coast of
Vvardenfell, but there's a reason it's not overrun by Dark Elves.
The Nords are there because they're tough enough to be there.
That alone says a lot about the race's contribution to the spread
of the Empire.
What is your favorite new feature or gameplay element in the expansion?
Do you have any forecasts as to what will make our mouths drop
in awe?
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"What are you looking at?"
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I think all of
the new art resources really give Bloodmoon a look and feel that
that is so different from Morrowind; people are going to be amazed
it's the same game. The first time the player gets stuck in a blizzard
or sees the frozen lake, they're going to get a bit of a chill.
You know, I'm really curious to see what the mod community can come
up with after Bloodmoon is released. There's a lot of new stuff
at their disposal, so the challenge is out to make the best plugin
using all of this new stuff. If someone could make all of Skyrim
-- and I'm sure they will -- I'll be damned impressed.
In closing, what would you like to let our readers that have not
been covered in previous interviews?
Well, nothing
concrete, just a rumor I heard. Something about a flying ship
that was seen headed into the mountains. But then there was a
blizzard, and nobody saw it again after that....
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