The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is notoriously full of glitches, but potentially one of the funniest bugs apparently never made it into the game. Bethesda Game Studios, the developer responsible for The Elder Scrolls since the early 2000s, has a reputation for putting out extremely large games, often with open worlds that could be explored for hundreds of hours. However, in game development, an open world like that usually translates to a lot of bugs.
Bugs and glitches left in games by developers have the potential to ruin gameplay entirely. Even if not everything can be fixed, it’s important for a game to still be playable and enjoyable, instead of broken and unplayable. Skyrim has numerous examples of glitches that amuse and entertain players, rather than shutting the game down entirely. One example is the recent sighting of a giant riding a dragon, which would be an unexpected but amusing sight for any player.
A more disruptive example has emerged via Nate Purkeypile, a former Skyrim developer. Purkeypile explained that the iconic opening cart scene of Skyrim consistently had issues, including one instance where the cart went airborne because of bees. According to Purkeypile, “it was just that one thing that we had to keep working and working on forever.” Since the cart was not on rails, numerous issues could prevent it from following its path. Purkeypile reminisces about an instance when the cart suddenly “goes up into the sky like a rocket ship.” It turned out this was caused by a bee in the road which could collide with objects and even move items as large as a wagon.
Read Nate Purkeypile's thread about the carriage scene on Twitter here.
Purkeypile responded to Joel Burgess, another developer on Skyrim, who remembers this bug coinciding with the implementation of bees following characters who had honey; with collision turned on for the insects, this resulted in characters with honey being unable to move. “Got honey? Pull over, you’re in bee jail,” Burgess said. While running into bugs during a playthrough can break immersion, many fans on Twitter have reacted to these stories by wishing they could see the bugs with their own eyes. In retrospect, it’s a shame that some of the early Skyrim bugs are lost to time. Thankfully, there should be plenty more bugs to discover in The Elder Scrolls VI, which is still in the design phase after being revealed at E3 2018.
Skyrim was originally released in 2011, so a decade later, fans are still waiting for a new entry in the franchise. Many players remember Skyrim fondly, and younger generations can recall growing up with it in their formative years. This has led to a lot of excitement and speculation about the long-awaited Elder Scrolls 6, particularly with regards to where Bethesda will take players next. Some believe that Elder Scrolls VI might be set in Akavir, a mysterious location that would likely make for a very unique entry in the series. It doesn't seem like the wait for the new game will be ending anytime soon, so seeing developers like Nate Purkeypile reminisce about the development of Skyrim is a good way to pass the time.
Sources: Nate Purkeypile/Twitter