Skyrim cut a dynamic civil war system and real-time horse-and-cart travel

According to Pcgamer, Skyrim co-lead designer and former Elder Scrolls loremaster Kurt Kuhlmann said the team developed a fully dynamic civil war system and a real-time horse-and-cart travel feature that were cut before the game's release. Kuhlmann said the civil war system tracked actions such as killing Imperial soldiers, allowing the balance of power in each hold to shift toward the Stormcloaks and potentially trigger attacks on the capital if the balance moved far enough.

He noted Bethesda solved problems in Whiterun, which is why the Battle of Whiterun remained, and said, "We were pretty disappointed that didn't ship." Kuhlmann added that bits of the system remain in the creation kit, and modders have recreated similar features; modder OperatorYoRHa described Skyrim at War as making "every single road, town, city, or village" a potential civil war battleground, with commandable troops, new units and battle formations.

The horse-and-cart idea grew from the game's intro tech: Kuhlmann said he had it working with a horse pathing through the world pulling a cart, letting players ride along or exit to join fights.

Key Topics

Culture, Skyrim, Kurt Kuhlmann, Bethesda, Stormcloaks, Whiterun