Bethesda developers remain burdened with load screens in their games, as the lead designer of Skyrim candidly admits: "No escape from load screens for the foreseeable future."
Loading Up On Bethesda's Infamous Loading Screens:
Ever pondered the hours you've wasted staring at loading screens in games like Skyrim or Morrowind? Yeah, it might thrust you into a gloomy, existential funk, buddy. With my extensive playtime across multiple Bethesda games, I've undoubtedly logged countless minutes twiddling Daedric artifacts or gawking at Netch art during those Astral planes of boredom.
But it looks like The Elder Scrolls 6 and beyond ain't gonna offer any reprieve, my friend. Bruce Nesmith, the former Bethesda lead designer of Skyrim, recently spilled the beans to VideoGamer that, sorry pal, you're gon' be loading up for quite a while yet.
" loading screens ain’t never the developer's dream, no sir. It's just not a choice we had, really" said Nesmith. "Folks figure we're too lazy or indifferent to modern practices, but the reality is, Bethesda games are so intricate and graphics-heavy that we can't keep both present at once."
Specifically, managing all those darn physics and the precise spot where you dumped your cheesewheels across Bethesda's massive open worlds is a logistical nightmare if the game's not taking a break every now and then. Trying for seamless loading screens, according to Nesmith, would lead to unacceptable performance woes.
"Can't have the interiors of all these places loaded while the exteriors are up", says Nesmith, "that's just not an option.All the fancy tricks for streaming and loading, end up with hitches. So you're better off giving the game a breather, loading up for a minute or two, then carrying on."
The alternative is making games with less going on, but that don't sound like your typical Bethesda game, do they? "So it's one of those necessary evils... if the game is to have the experience we'd like it to have."
While I see Nesmith's point, and it does make me reconsider Starfield's immersion-breaking space travel loads, I gotta admit: the ability to pick up every item on a shelf hasn't ever done much for me in Bethesda games. Sure, it leads to fun moments, like that famous Skyrim trick of robbing shops by placing a bucket on the owner's head, but it generally feels pointless. If the choice is between that kind of complexity and fewer loading screens? I'll take the latter. Bethesda would have to ramp up the systemic weirdness they've suppressed in recent games to make that complexity something I care to preserve.
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*Josh Wolens*:One of my earliest memories is playing Quake 2 on the family computer when I was much too young, and I've been game-addled ever since. My writing has graced the pages of Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. I'll play pretty much anything, and written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. My deepest passions lie in CRPGs, immersive sims, and games that bite off more than they can chew, like Deus Ex: Invisible War. I still think you folks are too hard on it, though. So, you're stuck with me, I guess... Welcome to my world of games.
- Despite the lengthy loading screens in games like Skyrim, it seems that The Elder Scrolls 6 might continue this tradition due to the intricate and graphics-heavy nature of Bethesda games.
- Bruce Nesmith, the former lead designer of Skyrim, recently explained that Bethesda's loading screens are necessary evils to manage the game's complex physics and vast open worlds.
- The alternative, according to Nesmith, is creating games with less going on, which doesn't seem to align with the typical Bethesda gaming experience.
- The author expresses a preference for fewer loading screens over retaining the ability to pick up every item in a game, noting that this feature doesn't significantly enhance their gaming experience.
- Josh Wolens, a writer whose work has been published in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times, shares his passion for CRPGs, immersive sims, and games that push the boundaries, highlighting Deus Ex: Invisible War as a particular favorite, despite criticism it often receives.
