Why are battles so small?

Either console limitations (which I understand, console is a huge market and it's best to release on all systems) or limitations in the GECK.

 

It is not outright laziness. The engine can only do so much. Those huge 1000 vs 500 NPC battles are short games without save files. That many dead NPC's on the map would bog down the game at some point. It can be done but not for long periods of time, and not without getting rid of the bodies after they die.

 

The game already runs like ass, any more NPCs and the game engine would slow to a crawl. They just need to junk this ancient engine and find something up to today's standards.

 

I'd imagine there must be a reason every dramatic Lord of The Rings-sized final battle, from Oblivion to Fallout 4, has only about 8 NPCs on the screen at one given time.

Also those moments where Kings or Presidents of the NCR are giving speeches to a massive audience of 6 NPCs.

If they could do more they probably would have. This engine should not have been used for Fallout 4 in my humble opinion.

 

The one part with Ulfric Stormcloak making a speech to around 10 NPCs made me laugh uncontrollably the first time I seen it.
Or fighting inside of Whiterun during a "civil war" with a few NPCs from each side fighting at a time with others spawning off screen when the others die.

 

The consoles would explode otherwise, the engine is already a poorly optimized hunk of junk as is.

 

I'm not sure it's limited by the consoles. I think it's limited by the game engine itself. However, I personally do not know.

 

What if a NPC in a battle kicks a tin can? According to Bethesda it means you enable physics on the can and track its position for the rest of the game. If Bethesda lost its obsession with tracking tin cans they would be able to do more and have their game simply run better.

Also the game isn't designed around such big battles. They are rather unintelligent messes.

And it takes focus of the player(not a strict Bethesda criticism unless you go for something like Dynasty Warriors you can't have the player be a central focus and have hundreds of enemies).

 

Yea but I need those tin cans now for Fallout-craft/Settlement building...they are VERY important to Fallout now...

 

Yeah optimization is the least important priority for Bethesda so it seems. Gotta market our shitty game with 80% of our budget instead!

 

Shit engine.... lot's of cut content... what did Beth do for six years?

 

I still don't get it why Bethesda still hangs on Gamebryo like fleas to a dog. Despite all of the love that some people have for it here. It really, really, really is about timet hat they get to a new one. I think at least SOME issues could be solved in the future.

 

Maybe they want to save money? Cause Jesus where do their fund go to? Back to their pocket?

 

Gamebryo was never the problem. It is Bethesda's design choices and focus that is the problem.

 

And that they seem not to use their amount of money.

 

Possibily. Good programmers can do amazing things with engines. Still, doesn't explain why Beth is literaly the only studio out there still using Gamebryo. Particularly when you consider how old it is by now.

 

How old is it?

 

Used since Morrowind so around...13 years.