The Elder Scrolls VI Could Have Reduced Features & Polish With A Faster Schedule, Warns Bethesda Veteran Bruce Nesmith
Bruce Nesmith, a veteran of Bethesda who served as lead designer on The Elder Scrolls V, has told FRVR that a shorter development cycle for The Elder Scrolls VI — which was announced eight years ago — would not necessarily be a good thing, as it may result in content being reduced and the game suffering from lack of polish.
The Bethesda Game Studio designer spoke about the process of game development focussing on three corners, namely resources, time and quality, nothing all three “need to be roughly balanced.” Despite this, he also warned that “over committing” to these corners “increases friction,” noting that taking 10 years for a project would result in “ultimate failure.”
There is an old adage in software development about the process having three corners, resources, time, and quality (which includes both features and polish). The studio decides two of them, which determines the third. If you lock down the resources (staff, equipment, etc.) and the schedule, that decides the quality you will achieve (number of features and polish). If you lock down the quality and the schedule, that determines the resources you will need to complete the project.
You can’t dictate all three, only two. A less well known aspect of this is a rule of diminishing returns. The three corners need to be roughly balanced. You can’t ask the project to be done in a month by throwing a million people on it. Over committing to any one of the corners increases friction and becomes less effective. Allowing ten years for a project creates a cycle of endless reinvention and ultimate failure.
In my opinion, the biggest risks of shortened schedules is quality, reduced features, polish, or bugs. The things that are done last end up getting set aside to complete the game on time. And of course faster dev times would result in faster sequels. But that’s the wrong question. Those sequels risk disappointing fans.
Todd Howard revealed earlier this year that the “majority of this building” is now working on The Elder Scrolls VI, and admitting that it “feels great for us” to revisit the fantasy-RPG series after previously working on Fallout and Starfield.
The Elder Scrolls VI has yet to attract a release date and right now it’s unknown if it will launch for PS5. While Microsoft in the past few years has brought a number of major titles to rival formats, its recent shift to bringing back select Xbox console exclusives like Clockwork Revolution and Gears of War: E-Day leaves things slightly unclear. However, with titles like Fable and Halo: Campaign Evolved locked for PS5, you can’t rule anything out at this stage.
[Source – FRVR via WCCFTech]
