Actually no, Fallout London is proof positive that you can absolutely still make a New Vegas-tier game in their engine. The problem was always the devs.

[–] space_comrade@hexbear.net 16 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

New Vegas is great but purely mechanics wise it's still a Skyrim under the hood. Honestly the gameplay is the weakest part of the game it's the story and the variety of quests and characters that keeps you hooked.

I think the engine is fundamentally incapable of producing a truly next (or even current) gen gaming experience, my biggest gripe with Skyrim was when you visit the supposedly grandest, biggest, most important city in the game and it's, uh, 20 houses and maybe 30 NPCs. This worked fine in 2006 when Oblivion first came out but it's 2026 now. I know it's a video game in the end and you're supposed to suspend your disbelief on many occasions but it's just so underwhelming to see nowadays when other games successfully managed to execute grander visions than that.

[–] Le_Wokisme@hexbear.net 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

what? new vegas has way more rpg mechanics than skyrim, and better writing and world design.

[–] space_comrade@hexbear.net 6 points 2 days ago

All true, I just find the overall mechanics kinda lacking nowadays. New Vegas did wonders with the engine but it's still the same thing under the hood, same basic inventory management, same basic combat, NPCs behave in much the same way etc

[–] RNAi@hexbear.net 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I don't play that many games, did some RPG surpassed the Witcherino 3 big city scale?

[–] space_comrade@hexbear.net 4 points 2 days ago

Crimson Desert is even larger I would say. It's not a great game overall but the sense of scale is definitely there.

[–] GoodGuyWithACat@hexbear.net 1 points 2 days ago (2 children)

The next Elder Scrolls needs to take the GTAV approach. Make one big ass city and its hinterlands to explore. Set it next to mountains and you have a few biomes you can engage with and a natural barrier. A couple small towns on the exterior that actually make the main city feel bigger. You can divide the city to wall off the noble district for higher level play and throw in some catacombs to dungeon delve. EZ PZ

[–] Abracadaniel@hexbear.net 7 points 2 days ago

This would require a new engine.

[–] XiaCobolt@hexbear.net 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

My dream game is an Arcanum of Steamworks and Magick Obscura prequel. Set entirely in Tarrant as the Ancient City undergoes rapid industrialization lead by Gilbert Bates (and the stolen dwarven steam technology). It's just one city, but with ancient crumbling fortifications, new suburbs springing up with electricity/gaslights, new sewers built on ancient catacombs, local woods full of magick groves being cut down for factory space. The game would be first person/third person where the physical size of your character plays an enormous role in combat and stealth. A halfing can effortlessly sneak but struggles in most melee combat, can't wield large guns etc. A half ogre dominates but cannot sneak, hold a gun etc

[–] Nacarbac@hexbear.net 2 points 1 day ago

That could be pretty damn good - the city could physically change as the game progresses. And The Tarantian newspaper was already an example of it reacting to events.

Balancing a mage would be interesting. Starts out as a typical caster, but as industry dominates their spells become less reliable and their own passive tech-bane aura is more important?