- publisher: Bethesda Softworks
- developer: Bethesda Softworks
Continuing the tradition of Elder Scrolls series, The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind is an epic RPG. Follow the storyline or lose yourself in a huge, open-ended world filled with possibility. The unbounded nature of Morrowind allows you to do and be whatever you like.
Morrowind is the third chapter of the epic Elder Scrolls CRPGs that started with Arena in 1993, and Daggerfall in 1996. Morrowind is also the name of the Dark Elven province in Tamriel, the land where the Elder Scrolls takes place. Obviously, this game takes place in Morrowind, and it's refreshing to see where and how the Dark Elves live, and how the Empire is ruling them.
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The character system mixed with the world detail and size gives you no doubt this is a real place with real people and that you are in it. The opportunities you have to make friends and grow are plentiful. On top of all of that is the technology. RPGs have lagged behind as far as bells-and-whistles when compared to other genres. Hopefully this will even the playing field by overcompensating for the past.
Like the previous ES games, Morrowind is a huge non-linear game, where you can go anywhere and do anything you want. We try to keep the game world as open to you as possible. With every ES game, the main goal is to try and recreate the pen-and-paper experience as close as possible, where the decisions and stories are yours. THe game is being developed for the game for serious computer game players. If you're looking for a quick-action fix, this isn't for you. Depth and length. It's going to take a long time to see all the stuff in this game, and it's a game where developing your character pays off over time.
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The next, falling right alongside non-linearity, is detail. The worlds in the Elder Scrolls series are some of the most detailed in the industry, complete with histories, multiple cultures, and varied locales. This allows the player to feel as though their character is really a dynamic part of that world. There are always major quests in Elder Scroll games, but they are always able to be ignored. The primary goal is to simply allow the player to explore, roleplay, and be immersed in a grand, detailed environment.
Morrowind is the province of the Dunmer, or dark elves, in the world of Tamriel. The major part of Morrowind is a very large island called Vvardenfell, where the game takes place. The island is huge, and has many different terrains. However, the stand-out feature of the island is the volcano of Dagoth-Ur. In the early history of Tamriel, the water around the island, combined with the intimidation of the volcano effectively separated the island from the mainland, allowing the Dunmer to develop separate from the other Tamriel races. Around 400 years prior to the time of Morrowind (the game), the Empire of the mainland took over the province of Morrowind. Morrowind also suffers from its own internal power struggles. The five great Ruling Houses are in a constant power struggle with one another. To complicate matters is the obscure Dunmer religion known as the Tribunal. To an outsider, the Tribunal priesthood is where the true power of Morrowind lies. Other powers will almost certainly show their faces over the course of the game.
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There will be various modes of travel in Morrowind: there will be a fast travel system, via silt striders (large, bug-like creatures with very very tall legs), to take the player to and from major points in the game. There will also be other modes of fast travel available to the player, including caravans. Also, there is a screenshot featuring the player taking a ride in a gondola in the city of Vivec. Hopefully, that is just one of many transportation methods available. Fast travel will work via a "fade out/fade in" method where the screen fades out on one location and fades in on another.
How does one truly measure a 3d gaming world? You can't really do it in miles or any standard measurements. It has been stated that Vvardenfell will be approximately 50 times the size of the world of Redguard. However, it has also been said that the world will be slightly smaller than Daggerfall. Suffice it to say that there will be enough world included with the game to keep you experiencing new things for many, many weeks, and in the event that you finally do see it all, you can always add on to it with the TES3 Construction Set.
A player in Morrowind will specialize in a certain number of skills, chosen at character creation. The player will advance in those skills based on how much they are used. So a mage will become better by casting spells, and a theif will advance by picking locks and stealing. A player goes up in level based on how much those skills have increased. So a thief won't advance very fast at all just going out and killing things. You can automatically increase your character's skills through repetition, while you can increase your attributes over the course of the game with the points that you gain when you advance in character level. There are other ways that you can increase skills beyond their designated action; for instance, reading books on any particular subject can improve a character's skill.
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Categories of fighter, mage and thief and supporting combat, magic and stealth skills, respectively. Eight familiar attributes will help further define your character; these are Strength, Wisdom, Intelligence, Personality, Endurance, Agility, Speed, and Luck. You will be able to play as a High Elf, a Dark Elf, a Wood Elf, a Redguard, a Cyrodiil, a Nord, or a Breton. In addition to the specific traits that are assigned based on your race selection, Howard reveals that you will be able to choose your face, hair, gender, and clothing.
Bethesda developers have also indicated that political intrigue will play an increased part in defining your role in Morrowind. They have emphasized guilds and factions, and your alignment with them (or lack thereof) will have marked implications as you travel the roads of Tamriel. In order to increase the level of your character, you will need to use the skills associated with your class and not simply engage in the wholesale slaughter of wildlife. With each level increase, you will receive points that can be allocated to your main attributes.
Using the The Elder Scrolls III construction set users can do just about everything. Every piece of data that goes into the game goes in through the construction set. Towns, landscape, weapons, lights, dialogue, quests, races, classes, non-player characters, skills, animation, menus, sound, and so on. Everything.
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All of this data can be changed, added, deleted, whatever. When you're making a game the size that we are it's really important to have a robust tool that you can rely on to build stuff quickly, get to it quickly, review it, change it, whatever. It's also good for translating the game into other languages. You could actually do a plug-in that makes the game play in German, French, or whatever you wanted. Oh, and books. You can write your own books, put pictures in them, and put them in the world for players to buy, read, and all of that.
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According to Todd, "we really see this as a way for the game to grow and live on. I'm not sure that creating quests will improve your own experience; it's really more for others. You'll be able to download items (created by someone else) and it will be more interesting than stuff you made for yourself."
The official release date is "late 2001".
