- "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the 2011 Game of the Year, is the next chapter in the highly anticipated Elder Scrolls saga. Developed by Bethesda Game Studios, the 2011 Studio of the Year, that brought you Oblivion and Fallout 3. Skyrim reimagines and revolutionizes the open-world fantasy epic, bringing to life a complete virtual world open for you to explore any way you choose."
- ―www.elderscrolls.com[1]
The entire development team.
The development team of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim consisted of roughly a hundred people. With The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion having a development team of roughly seventy people, it's the largest development team for any The Elder Scrolls game. While being similar in size to Oblivion's setting, Cyrodiil, the team opted for a different approach to Skyrim. As said by Skyrim's Art Director, Matt Carofano:"In Skyrim we've come up with something we internally call 'epic reality.' And what that means to us is; dramatic views wherever you go."[2] According to Todd Howard, contrary to The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind's setting; Morrowind, Skyrim shouldn't feel like an isolated, alien place.[3] There were, however, similarities between Morrowind and Skyrim. Much like the differences in treatment between two of the Great Houses of Morrowind; House Redoran and House Telvanni, this is also seen between the various Holds in Skyrim.
The music for Skyrim was composed by Jeremy Soule, who had composed the music for both Morrowind and Oblivion. Skyrim's main theme, Dragonborn, was recorded with a choir consisting of thirty men. To fit the Nordic atmosphere of Skyrim, Todd Howard had the idea that the music for Skyrim would be the Elder Scrolls theme, but sung by a barbarian choir. He had asked Emil Pagliarulo, a Senior Game Designer for Bethesda Softworks, the following: "Can you write a song that works in the Dragon language, that rhymes with the Elder Scrolls theme, when translated into English also makes sense and rhymes?"[4] According to Audio Director Mark Lampert, the main theme set the tone for the rest of the game.
While in earlier Bethesda games such as The Elder Scrolls: Arena, The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, but also Oblivion the team had used generated landscape, this wasn't done in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The dungeons in Oblivion, for example, were all designed by one person. While Skyrim's dungeons were designed by a team of eight.
Team[]
| Image | Job | Name |
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Game Design |
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Game Director |
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Lead Programmer |
Guy Carver |
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Lead Artist |
Matthew Carofano |
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Lead Designer |
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Co-Lead Designer |
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Production Designer |
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Lead Producer |
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Audio Director |
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Senior Producer |
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Senior Producer |
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Producer |
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Producer |
Kevin Kauffman |
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Producer |
Nathan X. Mcdyer |
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Producer |
Phil Nelson |
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Lead Systems Programmer |
Brett Douville |
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Systems Programming |
Ryan Ashford |
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Systems Programming |
Shannon Bailey |
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Systems Programming |
Joel Dinolt |
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Systems Programming |
Mike Dulany |
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Systems Programming |
Jason Hammett |
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Systems Programming |
Mat Krohn |
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Systems Programming |
Ryan Lea |
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Systems Programming |
Mike Lipari |
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Systems Programming |
Jeff Lundin |
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Systems Programming |
Christopher Rodriguez |
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Systems Programming |
Jean Simonet |
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Lead Graphics Programmer |
Scott Franke |
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Graphics Programming |
Jonathan Bilodeau |
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Graphics Programming |
Paul Graber |
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Graphics Programming |
Jeff Sheiman |
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Graphics Programming |
Orin Tresnjak |
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Gameplay Programming |
David Diangelo |
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Gameplay Programming |
Joseph Diangelo |
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Gameplay Programming |
Steve Meister |
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Gameplay Programming |
Dan Teitel |
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Gameplay Programming |
Craig Walton |
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Lead AI Programmer |
Ahn Hopgood |
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AI Programming |
Brian Robb |
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AI Programming |
Jay Woodward |
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Lead Interface Programmer |
Erik Deitrick |
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Interface Programing |
Ricardo Gonzalez |
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Additional Programming |
Markus Alind |
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Additional Programming |
Magnus Auvinen |
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Additional Programming |
Ken Cockerham |
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Additional Programming |
Chris Doyle |
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Additional Programming |
Chris Esko |
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Additional Programming |
Jim Kjellin |
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Additional Programming |
Andrew Meggs |
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Concept Art |
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Concept Art |
Ray Lederer |
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World Art |
Cory Edwards |
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World Art |
Tony Greco |
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World Art |
Daniel T. Lee |
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World Art |
Nate Purkeypile |
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World Art |
Rashad Redic |
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World Art |
Ryan Sears |
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World Art |
Clara Struthers |
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World Art |
Rafael Vargas |
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World Art |
Robert Wisnewski |
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Lead Environment Art |
Noah Berry |
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Environment Art |
Andy Barron |
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Environment Art |
Ryan Salvatore |
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Environment Art |
Megan Sawyer |
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Additional Environment Art |
Gabrielle Adams |
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Additional Environment Art |
Alex Schwartz-Rudd |
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Additional Environment Art |
Christopher Zdana |
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Special Effects |
Grant Struthers |
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Special Effects |
Mark Teare |
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Additional Effects |
Liz Rapp |
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Lead Animator |
Josh Jones |
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Animation |
Jeremy Bryant |
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Animation |
Jangjoon Cha |
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Animation |
Lianne Cruz |
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Animation |
Gary Noonan |
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Animation |
Juan Sanchez |
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Animation |
Ricardo Vicens |
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Animation |
Alex Utting |
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Additional Animation |
Ray Arnett |
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Lead Character Artist |
Christiane H. K. Meister |
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Character Art |
Ben Carnow |
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Character Art |
Charles Kim |
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Character Art |
Jonah Lobe |
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Character Art |
Dennis Mejillones |
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Character Art |
Dane Olds |
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Character Art |
Yan Qin |
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Additional Character Art |
Liz Beetem |
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Additional Character Art |
Hiu Lai Chong |
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Additional Character Art |
Lucas Hardi |
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Additional Character Art |
Massive Black |
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Interface Art |
Natalia Smirnova |
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Additional Graphic Design |
Istvan Pely |
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Senior Designer & Writer |
Emil Pagliarulo |
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Quest Design & Writing |
Brian Chapin |
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Quest Design & Writing |
Jon Paul Duvall |
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Quest Design & Writing |
Shane Liesegang |
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Quest Design & Writing |
Alan Nanes |
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Quest Design & Writing |
William Shen |
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Additional Quest Design & Writing |
Matt Daniels |
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Additional Quest Design & Writing |
Nate Ellis |
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Lead Level Designer |
Jeff Browne |
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Level Design |
Daryl Brigner |
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Level Design |
Joel Burgess |
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Level Design |
Steve Cornett |
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Level Design |
Ryan Jenkins |
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Level Design |
Andrew Langlois |
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Level Design |
Justin Schram |
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Additional Audio |
Dave Schreiber |
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Production Assistant |
Emily Sears |
Notes[]
- Not only was Emil Pagliarulo credited as both the senior designer and writer for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, he also won the Game Developers Choice Award for his work on Fallout 3.
- Adam Adamowicz, while known best for his work on The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, was also the only concept artist working on Fallout 3. Sadly, he passed away due to complications from lung cancer on February 9, 2012.[5]
- In The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, a well known easter egg is the corpse of Nath Dyer, found in the waters near Fort Nikel. This is a reference to developer Nathan X. McDyer.
- The Skyrim development team is, together with Fallout 4, the largest development team for any Bethesda game.
- Senior Designer Kurt Kuhlmann originally left Bethesda Softworks after the release of The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard, but was persuaded to come back by Todd Howard.[6]
- Emil Pagliarulo developed the Oblivion Dark Brotherhood questline.[7]
References[]
- ↑ http://www.elderscrolls.com/skyrim
- ↑ http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/01/26/the-art-of-skyrim.aspx
- ↑ http://www.gameswelt.tv/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/video-interview-mit-todd-howard,19748
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJ7lmWc14uo
- ↑ https://adam.bethsoft.com/
- ↑ http://www.bethblog.com/2007/12/05/inside-the-vault-kurt-kuhlmann/
- ↑ http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,14020/