Bethesda’s Todd Howard Talks Graphics, Next Game Setting

Chatting with Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Bethesda’s game director Todd Howard expressed his belief that graphics are one of the major factors into making a game world more believable, while also being noncommittal about what Bethesda’s next title might be. Here’s a snip:

(Everybody always wants more power,) he said. (As a developer, you always want more. How good will it look with more memory? How many people can we put on screen if we have more processing power? But even with all of those things, I think people discount graphics. They’ll say, ‘˜Well, the gameplay’s what really matters,’ and it does. But I do feel that graphics and your ability to present something that feels new, real, and believable puts people in that environment where they can really enjoy what they’re playing.)

But just exactly what sort of environment will that be? Well, while Howard openly (and completely non-shockingly) confirmed that Bethesda proper has something new in the works on top of Skyrim DLC, he refused to narrow its setting down to Bethesda’s sci-fi/fantasy bread and butter.

(When I look at gaming, I like to go live in worlds and do things I can’t experience,) he said. (That I want to touch and explore. There are certain types of fantasy that appeal to me, but there are also period pieces, and if something was good in the modern day, I’d want to do that as well. Writing anything off at any point in time is silly.)

I’m still absolutely convinced their next title will be Fallout 4, but I guess we’ll have to wait a little while longer to see.