Skyrim Game Director Has a Very Specific Wishlist For The Elder Scrolls VI: Sentinel

The Elder Scrolls VI: Sentinel is probably still a couple years away, and we don't know much about Bethesda’s next big RPG. However, the game director for Skyrim has come out with a couple of specific requests for the game. Former Bethesda design director Bruce Nesmith sat down on The Examined Game podcast to talk about his time at the company. About 40 minutes into the interview, the YouTuber asked Nesmith about what he'd like to see from The Elder Scrolls VI, and there are two things: better mounts and better ladders.

Wanting better mounts in Elder Scrolls is almost universal for fans, as Skyrim doesn't exactly have a great mount system. As Nesmith describes the problem, "you can ride a horse, but that's all you can do in Skyrim. Thats it. You just ride the horse. Well, I should be able to do other things with the horse, too, like maybe fight on the horse, or have it fight with me, or you know, stuff like that." To be clear, Nesmith now spends his days writing novels, and doesn't have anything to do with Sentinel, but it would be cool to be able to have some kind of mounted combat system in The Elder Scrolls VI. For instance, he noted how useful the mechanics are in games like Monster Hunter Wilds.

But as for ladders, Nesmith's request seems odd until he starts to explain the way that ladders limited game design in Skyrim. As he explains, "you don't climb up and down ladders. It seems simple, it seems stupid, but you don't climb up and down ladders, which really limits the art team in terms of how they can do multi-layer things. You know, all the ladders in Skyrim, you click on the ladder, and poof you're at the top. Or you have to climb a stair." While some limitations were due to technology, Nesmith explained that solving the ladder issue presented complex programming challenges for Bethesda.

Nesmith went on to explain specific problems that enemy AI has with ladders, such as deciding whether or not to wait for you at the top, or climbing back down the ladder to pursue you. While other games have solved these issues, he hopes *Skyrim* finds a way to solve them too. Either way, The Elder Scrolls VI: Sentinel is still a few years away. We'll have to wait a bit to see more about the game, but there are some signs about what might be in the game.