The fact that we captured at 1FPS allowed us to ramp all settings up to Ultra, even though the game itself was borderline unplayable (even on an i7/GTX580 combo). In the event, we binned that work and went with the PC version at launch. Bethesda provided us with an Xbox 360 version of the game ahead of launch, and while we got some nice footage, a single day-night cycle took a very long time to record, and there was no way to preview the effectiveness of the shots until they were complete. A fully populated map encompasses hundreds of landmarks while we've recorded just 44 scenes.Īny video game timelapse requires a great deal of effort, particularly with the volume of shots we have here. In creating this video, we've only just begun to scratch the surface of the immense world: we've visited the major capitals, scoped out a range of landmarks, but in truth the scale of the map and the number of locations for you to discover is simply vast. Cloud cover and lighting has enormously improved, and Bethesda has clearly paid a lot of attention to atmospheric rendering and other additional effects: wispy clouds hug the sheer mountains, visibility is affected by weather-dependent haze, while the Nordic feel of Skyrim itself is emphasised by the frequent Aurora Borealis dominating the night sky. In accelerated motion, you can see the vast array of improvements the developers have made to an engine that was clearly showing its age somewhat in Fallout: New Vegas.

In this Digital Foundry World in Motion timelapse, we'll be taking you on an extended video tour of the beautiful world that Bethesda has crafted.

Even the PC version - with its higher-quality artwork and superior quality settings - still only weighs in at a 5.5GB download via Steam. In the age of the 50GB Blu-ray, it's amazing that what is arguably the deepest, richest adventure of the year could fit with on a single-layer DVD with space to spare.

An enormous world rich in adventure, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is remarkable in that its entire game world - meshes, textures, characters, audio, logic - is all contained within a paltry 3.8GB on Xbox 360.

Skyrim just in time