Swimming ?

[Justin_Paplus]

You got a really nice water ingame and I was wondering if it will be possible in the final game, to swim to cross rivers, or reach an island in a middle of a lake for example.Using the same idea will there be manoeuvrable boats to pass through flooded areas or lakes ?

 

[calithlin]

If the game will truly be 'Elder Scrolls sized,' I can't imagine not coming across large bodies of water. I don't think we'll see anything regarding maneuverable boats, as that would mean an entirely new system, but perhaps some ferries with predefined paths to ports. It might take a bit of work to implement swimming (especially with armor or holding a weapon, which is not realistically possible without sinking). If they manage to pull it off (forcing you to take off armor before you swim I would imagine), then great, but I am not sure it's a top priority.

 

[the0thMonkey]

What about just wading or fording a river?

 

[calithlin]

What about just wading or fording a river?

Oh, yeah I think that's something we can definitely expect to see. At least with my current understanding. I don't imagine they'll be using invisible walls or instant death, as the actions you mention would provide a great deal of realism for (I assume) slight development overhead.

 

[walltar]

Just dont let people swim in full plate ... i hate when game does that. When you have armor on you should not be able to swim.

If they manage to pull it off (forcing you to take off armor before you swim I would imagine), then great, but I am not sure it's a top priority.

... well if you think about that it is not too realistic to swim with full plate armour in your inventory. Maybe if inventory is doby with weight then threre could be limit on how much you can carry to be able to swim. If you have more you can always walk on the bottom ... maybe with little thaumaturgic help.

 

[Caiphas Cain]

Just dont let people swim in full plate ... i hate when game does that. When you have armor on you should not be able to swim.

Definitely. If you intend to make items have a weight characteristic, there should be a number that if you cross, it is impossible to swim. This should also effect sprinting, jumping, etc.

 

[walltar]

Definitely. If you intend to make items have a weight characteristic, there should be a number that if you cross, it is impossible to swim. This should also effect sprinting, jumping, etc.

It would be great if we have inventory in some kind of bag we can easily drop on the ground to fight with less encumberance. Or if i see boat on the other side of a river they i can just put my bag on the ground and swim for that bout to get my stuf tho the other side.

 

[calithlin]

--and then some bandit reveals that it was all a trap to steal your armor ;(

 

[Caiphas Cain]

Yes. A backpack that shows up on your character is an absolute must. One that has a realistic capacity and weight limit. One that we can set down to hide or lower our encumbrance to fight. One that doesn't have extra capacity because it's made of leather vs canvas or what have you.

 

[cosmo bozo]

The only game I ever played where you sank if you tried swimming encumbered was daggerfall, if you were carrying more than 50% of your weight limit you sank like a stone. It made crossing water something to actually worry about (not that it had rivers or anything, most water was in submerged dungeon areas)
I was dissapointed when newer elder scrolls games removed this and you could swim fully encumbered

 

[Madoc]

You can already wade through water and the increased fluid friction (aka air resistance) of water affects the physics based animation quite realistically. Currently water is not disturbed by interaction with other objects and I'd say that and buoyancy probably the most important next features for water.

Swimming and even basic boat travel don't strike me as particularly difficult to do but as always it's a matter of priorities and having a lot of stuff to do in just 18 months. Assuming the game is relatively successful we hope to continue improving it and adding features for some time after release.

I'm tempted to discuss inventory a little but that should probably happen in the Inventory handling thread.

 

[666jet]

You can already wade through water and the increased fluid friction (aka air resistance) of water affects the physics based animation quite realistically. Currently water is not disturbed by interaction with other objects and I'd say that and buoyancy probably the most important next features for water.

Swimming and even basic boat travel don't strike me as particularly difficult to do but as always it's a matter of priorities and having a lot of stuff to do in just 18 months. Assuming the game is relatively successful we hope to continue improving it and adding features for some time after release.

I'm tempted to discuss inventory a little but that should probably happen in the Inventory handling thread.

we go off topic all the time so why not eh im sure no one will mind so do it haha

 

[SergeDavid]

I do however want the freedom to walk into the deep water with my full armor and try to cross it with a single breath, maybe using thermy to form a bubble of air from the water so I can breath a bit of air to increase my survival time. You know it is badass to walk out of water fully decked out and ready to mess some people up. Which reminds me that there needs to be an undead invasion that happens from a swamp near a small village named Pretty Pretty Unicorn. They eerily emerge from the foul liquid on their death march to bring innocent villagers back into the depths with them so they too will suffer their fate.

 

[Fawz]

I'm not sure introducing swimiming would do much if anything to improve gameplay. Adding underwater combat would be awkward and too much work for nothing.

I say keep it simple and have shallow water lines you can cross but they slow you down and it's just made so you can at least traverse them.

 

[Kale]

Swimming sucks, leave it out. I have yet to see one "good" swimming combat..... or swimming section at all.

 

[Edgecrusher86]

Hi forums,
I think wading trough water combined with some fluid-effects is more than enough for an isometric RPG. Good moving and combat animations are more import.

OT.: Just made the 105 GPB pledge via PayPal - can't wait for the game to be released - just felt free to tell it.

 

[the0thMonkey]

I'm fairly sure that it is impossible to fight effectively underwater. Especially if you are wearing plate armour. For this reason, an "underwater combat system" does not need to be developed. Skyrim's mechanic for swimming was fine. The only unreasonable thing was that there were underwater predators that you were entirely defenseless against when submerged.

Swimming is a necessity if large/deep bodies of water are to be included. Bodies of water that would be large enough to swim in would add to the realism of the game. I think for this topic, realism is the way to go.

 

[Bibidibop]

I have the strangest recollection of armored swimming being real, but I know it has to be false. How could anyone swim with 60 lbs of metal and padding? It's unbelievable.

I'm relieved to read that wading is in; with a breath system modified by endurance it could make an interesting system. I wouldn't want instant death in water just because I'm overloaded. Although, I do hope swimming will be in for anything which has the correct buoyancy.

Perhaps we could have a system where we can chop down a tree, or find a log, and paddle it across water by laying belly down on it and swinging our arms?

 

[calithlin]

Perhaps we could have a system where we can chop down a tree, or find a log, and paddle it across water by laying belly down on it and swinging our arms?

That seems like pretty complex emergent gameplay to develop systems for -- for now Madoc says no player crafting.

 

[fluffydino2000]

I think swimming needs to be in for the sheer pleasure of being hit by Porky's mace and sent flying like a stone into a nearby lake. I don't want to die when that happens, I want to swim to the far side of the lake and run for my life as he bounds through it towards me, wetting only his waist.