New Interview Delves into How Bethesda Designed Their Early Games
A new interview published by Inverse delves into how the earliest Bethesda games were developed. Following the announcement of Elder Scrolls VI, the website reached out to Christopher Weaver, formerly of Bethesda. Weaver left Bethesda back in 2002, but was a member of the company from its earliest days. Weaver offered a look into how the studio planned for the future by pushing technological limits.
Christopher Weaver on the Early Bethesda Games
The first Elder Scrolls title, Elder Scrolls: Arena, was released in 1994. At the time, many of the developers were influenced by tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons. “There were many in our industry that said a D&D game would be impossible on a computer,” stated Weaver. However, Bethesda set their sights high. Rather than looking at other games from the early 90s, the studio focused on a game called “Spacewar!” This game was developed in 1962 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was the first game to be installed on more than a single computer, but more importantly, it was designed for a screen.
“Games of those days were designed to be used in conjunction with paper printouts,” explained Weaver; “as graphics screens were scarce. Spacewar! was an exception for the time.” Bethesda adopted a similar approach by pushing technological limits rather than accepting those of the time. Thus far, Bethesda hasn’t said much about The Elder Scrolls VI. In fact, they’ve said almost nothing. They have confirmed that they have chosen a setting. However, they have not confirmed what that setting actually is! However, Fallout 76 could certainly be seen as an example of Bethesda pushing technological boundaries. (And their own norms.) It seems that the mentality to innovate is still alive and well at the company.
Bethesda’s next game after Fallout 76, Starfield, is still an enigma. It will be the company’s first new IP in twenty-five years, and is likely to be a sci-fi RPG in the style of the Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises. What limits Bethesda plans to push with Starfield are as yet unknown. However, given that the game has already been in development for years, it seems likely that they’ll be pushing more than a few.