Bethesda Game Studios, today confirmed the upcoming release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the next installment in the award-winning Elder Scrolls series and follow up to the 2006 Game of the Year, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Under the direction of Todd Howard, Skyrim will be released on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC worldwide on November 11, 2011.

Dork Shelf recently spoke via Twitter with Pete Hines (@DCDeacon), VP in charge of Marketing at Bethesda, who confirmed to us that Skyrim is not using the id’s Tech 5 “RAGE” engine as speculated, but will be using a completely new and yet to be named engine developed internally by Bethesda Game Studios. It’s new, it’s real….and it’s spectacular!

So long Gamebryo and good riddance.

Also, thanks to Dennis on the Neogaf Skyrim Info Thread, we have a HUGE recap of anything and everything related to Skyrim.

Here’s a quick recap if you don’t want to read  all the in-depth stuff below:

-A variation of level scaling.
-Dynamic Shadows
-Overhauled Combat-system
-Improved Faces/Improved Models Example: Faces have been dramatically overhauled. Characters now exhibit more emotion show of distinctions between different races and just plain looks better.
-Radiant AI
-Updated Engine Snow falls dynamically (not as a basic texture on the ground)
Trees and branches move independently with the wind
Water flows
-Randomly generated quests.
-Beards
-You can’t run backwards as fast as you do forward.
-10 races to choose from (Holy crap that’s a lot of races)
-confirmed creatures: zombies, skeletons, trolls, giants, ice wraiths, giant spiders, dragons, wolves, horses, elk, mammoths, saber-toothed cats
-presumably open cities (that dragons can attack)
-HUD-free first-person view and improved third-person perspective
-Unique landscapes! Also unique dungeons! In other words, lots of uniqueness!
-Character creation improved, body features customizable
-Two-handed weapons and dual-wielding confirmed.
-Finishing moves, unique to each weapon and enemy you fight.
-Kids
-The game takes place two centuries after Oblivion
-Sprinting is added!
- Dialogue will pop up when you approach an enemy
- cooking/farming/mining/woodcutting/blacksmithing
-18 skills.
-Perk picking at every level-up
-Five Magic Schools: Destruction, Alteration, Conjuration, Restoration, Illusion.

Detailed recap:

On leveling:
Leveling is totally revamped, no more class selection at the start of the game, every skill you level contributes to your overall level. And each time you level up, you get extra health plus the ability to get either more health, magicka or stamina. Each level also brings you perks, cool abilities similar to those found in Bethesda’s Fallout 3. Also, the leveling is soft-capped at 50, you just advance really slowly after that.

On skills:
Mysticism is gone. 18 skills, down from 21 in Oblivion, and 27 in Morrowind. Trying to accommodate players who want to specialize in a certain profession (like mage or thief), while at the same time giving room for players who like to do plenty of everything. They want to take special care so that skills feel organic, not prone bugs and exploitation.

On the story and lore:
The game takes place 200 years after Oblivion. Set in Skyrim, a region north of the Imperial City, where the Nords live. The dragons are returning to the world, as it was prophesized in previous games. You are a dragonborn – a dragon hunter – players will be trying to stop the wicked dragon god. Your mentor is one of the last Blades, voiced by legendary actor Max von Sydow.

On combat:
They want to make it more dynamic and tactical. You have to assign each hand with a function, either magic, two weapons, a weapon and a shield, etc. You can also waste stamina by sprinting, allowing you to get access to tactical positions. Emphasis is on really improving the combat this time around. They are also putting care into how each weapon feels on your hand.

Other:
Third person view has been improved.
Five massive cities, more variation in caves and underground stuff.

On quests:
Quests are much more dynamic now. Questing is now more determined by how you build your character, individual actions and overall are much more dynamic. Examples provided: If you are more of a magic user, some other mages may approach you who may not have if you were just a melee character. Or if you killed some person who owned a store that was going to give you a quest, his sister would inherit the store, but she may resent you before giving you the quest. Also, if you drop a weapon in the street instead of selling it, it may just disappear, some kid may get it and give it back to you, which would lead to a series of stuff, or some characters may fight over who gets it.

Also, the quests you are given would be modified by how you have played (scaling the quests). For example, the location of a rescue mission would be determined by which locations you have visited (it will try to give you a dungeon you haven’t been in) and I also give you appropriate enemies to your level. I can add that there is an option for no HUD.

On Conversations:
Conversations aren’t done in a zoomed in static shot anymore. Start a conversation with someone and they will act like someone would in real life, looking at you occasionally and walking around a bit and also continue doing a task if they were doing one while talking.

On Weapon smithing:
Go to a forge and carve a new weapon out of red hot metal.

Dual-wielding: You have two hands now in combat and you can wield anything to both hands. You may assign a dagger on left hand and use a mace with right hand. The choice as they say is yours.

Duel: You may duel any NPC on the streets Western style.

Inheritance: When you kill a shopkeeper, his/her family member will inherit the shop and will be angry towards you, but still give you missions.

Level-scaling: It is coming back

18 skills: Supposedly even less skills to play with?

No mysticism

Perks: Rumored to be in Skyrim. Not officially confirmed as of yet.

Boosts: Pick stamina, health, magic boosts on level up.

Enchanting: This skill makes a return.

“Radiant storytelling” or Level Scaling 2.0: “The game eventually logs a huge storehouse of knowledge about how you’ve played, and subsequently tailors content to your capabilities and experiences. Entering a city, a young woman might approach you and beg you to save her daughter from kidnappers. The game will look at the nearby dungeons you’ve explored, automatically set the mission in a place you’ve never visited, and designate opponents that are appropriately matched to your strengths and weaknesses.”

Fast-Travel: As you probably expect, you can instantly travel to previous locations with a tap of the button

Sprinting: You can now sprint!

Town visiting: You may do more in towns, like tailor weapons, cooking, farming or mining. Not many details about this or how detailed they are as jobs.

Source: NeoGaf, GamrFeed

If you’re looking for even more info on Skyrim, it will all be revealed in the exclusive cover story in Game Informer’s February issue.

Check out the video below to see Bethesda’s new studio and a little behind the scenes stuff on Skryim.

If you dig tweets, feel free to follow me on Twitter @The_GeekJock

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Kotaku just broke the news that legendary First Person Shooter developer id Software will be purchased by ZeniMax, parent company of RPG developer Bethesda Softworks.  The merger of id Software; the company that created the likes of Doom and Wolfenstein, and Bethesda Softworks; the studio behind Fallout 3 and the Elder Scrolls games, is huge news and an amazing opportunity for both companies.

Read id Software Bought By Bethesda Parent Company, ZeniMax @ Kotaku.com

When developers of this calibre get together, gamers everywhere win.  Not only does this mean that we’ll see more games from id software more often, but it also means that Bethesda will now have access to id’s cutting-edge Tech 5 game engine and whatever future brilliance id co-founder John Carmack pulls out of his ass.  Plus, a little more first person shooter experience for Bethesda wouldn’t hurt, since Fallout 3‘s shooting mechanics were utilitarian at best.

Barnett created the series as a response to what he saw as “3D games slavishly imitating real life“, something that games like Team Fortress 2 are now shying away from.  Personally, I would love to play a game that looked like the stuff Barnett has painted. Where are the video game Matisse and Derain art directors of our time?!

Check out James Barnett’s Offical Site to see his series of video game paintings.  Also, if you’re interested in having a favourite virtual landscape put to canvas he also takes commissions.

Beware: trailer may contain spoilers if you have not completed Fallout 3.

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If the previous downloadable content for Fallout 3; The Pitt and Operation Anchorage, is any indication Broken Steel will be a lot of fun and add hours of gameplay.

In this fourth podcast, Jeff tells us about the super important summer event that’s been keeping him busy (is it X-Men Origins: Wolverine?), Will explains how Fallout is like Metal Gear, and Lucas drinks from the precious “I ♥ Jim” mug. The dorks talk about new TV shows, bemoan the shallow ethnic diversity in superhero troupes, and debate the state of computer gaming. Prepare to be informed, amused, and offended.

Download: Dork Shelf Podcast 4 (54 MB, MP3, 78:50)
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Listen:

Programme:

• 0:00 — “Vision of Art (feat. Company Flow)” by DJ Krush
• 7:00 — On movie ratings
• 17:00 — The Pirate Bay trial and piracy
• 28:00 — EA, and the dorks do Frank Caliendo doing John Madden
• 34:30 — [Unknown Song] by The Meters
• 40:00 — The Flash is so white
• 51:30 — Will on the state of PC gaming
• 74:00 — Xbox Live’s attitude toward women
• 78:00 — “Bad Luck Blues” by DJ Nu-Mark & Pomo

Discussed:

• GTA: Chinatown Wars, Henry Hatsworth, Bionic Commando, Fallout 3 DLC, BioShock
• Parks and Recreation, Dollhouse, Minoriteam
• Batman: Battle for the Cowl, The Flash: Rebirth, Preacher
• Terminator Salvation, This Film Is Not Yet Rated, Wild Things, Taboo
• McG, John Madden, The Comedy Network, The Pirate Bay