When The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim launched in 2011, it took the gaming world by storm. The game dominated conversations, with everyone playing, discussing, and falling in love with its groundbreaking open world. However, according to Bethesda Game Studios’ director Todd Howard, the secret sauce that made the action RPG so special was more a happy accident than a carefully orchestrated plan.
In an interview, Howard revealed that during Skyrim‘s development, the team ended up rewriting the entire engine over the course of a year and a half, without initially intending to. This unplanned overhaul turned out to be a blessing in disguise, laying the groundwork for one of gaming’s gaming’s most beloved and enduring experiences.
Skyrim’s Success Stemmed from an “Unplanned” Engine Rewrite
In an interview with AusGamers, Todd Howard shed light on the often unpredictable nature of game development:
Well we came off of Fallout 3 and we’re always moving our own technology forward. Whether that’s using a piece of middleware or doing AI or things like that. We had a pretty big list of what we felt the 360, the PS3 and the high-end PCs could do, and it wasn’t like we said ‘we’re going to re-write the engine’…
This unplanned rewrite, born out of necessity rather than foresight, ended up being the key to Skyrim‘s success. The updated engine allowed for a more immersive and dynamic world, with improved graphics, physics, and AI systems.
Howard explained that the team began by making incremental improvements to various aspects of the game. They began this process immediately after finishing Fallout 3, and over the course of about 18 months, they realized they had essentially rewritten the entire engine.
So that’s when we actually decided to brand it; we should call it something of our own.
But it wasn’t from the get go “we’re going to re-write the whole engine”. It was a priority list and we ended up re-writing more than we thought we were gonna, but it worked out.
There’s certainly worse happenstances to have.
Starfield’s Struggles with Creation Engine 2
While Skyrim benefited from—as Howard describes it—an accidental engine overhaul, Starfield‘s development with the new Creation Engine 2 faced its own set of challenges. Despite being hailed as a significant upgrade, the engine’s implementation in Bethesda’s once-massively-anticipated space-exploration RPG has been met with mixed reactions from players and critics alike.
Starfield launched with numerous technical issues, including performance problems, bugs, and graphical glitches. These issues have led some to question whether the Creation Engine 2 was truly ready for the ambitious scope of the game.
Furthermore, modders and game developers have pointed out that many of Starfield’s flaws are due to some longstanding limitations of the Creation Engine’s core architecture. Despite the “2” in its name, Creation Engine 2 appears to be an iteration rather than a complete overhaul, carrying forward some of the technical debt from its predecessors.
The contrast between the unplanned success of Skyrim‘s engine and Starfield‘s struggles 12 years later goes to show just how unpredictable game development can be. While Bethesda’s ambition for Starfield is clear, the execution has—no doubt—faced challenges that echo issues from their previous titles.
Looking ahead, Bethesda is set to release Starfield‘s first major expansion, Shattered Space, in Fall 2024. This DLC promises to add new story content, locations, and gear, potentially addressing some of the criticisms faced by the base game. It remains to be seen if Shattered Space can help Starfield achieve the same level of acclaim and longevity that Skyrim has enjoyed over the years!
What are your thoughts on the development challenges faced by Bethesda with Skyrim and Starfield? Do you think the Creation Engine 2 lived up to expectations for the highly ambitious title? Share your opinions in the comments below!
