Interviews// Bethesda Softworks: Shivering Isles Interview

SPOnG: Where did this concept of a land based on two forms of madness come from?
Pete Hines: Well, Sheogorath has been around in Elder Scrolls lore for a long time and has been a character that we've always wanted to explore and get further into. So, throughout all this time, we've developed a pretty good idea of who he is and what he is about. So, this is really a game that showcases that.

SPOnG: A few people have likened the mania aspects of the game world to The Wizard of Oz…
Pete Hines: Heh! Yeah, a bit of Oz, a bit of Alice in Wonderland… anything where you see really bright, oversaturated colours… it's definitely designed as a bit of a contrast to the more classical fantasy feeling of Oblivion itself. And then Dementia is yet another contrast to that Oz, Alice in Wonderland feel… much more oppressive, dark and dreary.

SPOnG: The Xbox 360 version has achievement points, how do you go about getting these?
Pete Hines: Yeah, for the most part, like with Oblivion they are spaced along the game. So you are rewarded as you keep moving through the game. There's 10 total achievements for a total of 250 points, spanning the whole breadth of the game.
SPOnG: The Duke of Mania character in the game, he's addicted to something called 'Felldew' - what is this?
Pete Hines: It's an ingredient that you get off some of the creatures in the world.

One of the things you have to do is to use the Felldew yourself to get to the end of a quest and finish something… and… well, I don't want to spoil it… but you end up having to use Felldew yourself as part of a quest, which has the same properties as a drug… so it gives you a boost in the short-term but then after a while the effects wear off and you start feeling negative effects, unless you can find some more.

So, it's a bit of a challenge to get through as fast as you can before the effects wear off… while at the same time finding more features to get more Felldew from so you don't start going into withdrawal and getting really big stat damage… So, it's a bit of a balancing act.

SPOnG: So, you kind of become addicted to Felldew in the game?!
Pete Hines: You can yep!

SPOnG: One of the other key characters in Shivering Isles - the Duchess of Dementia - she seems to think that someone is conspiring to kill her?
Pete Hines: Yeah, you don't get to be the Duchess of Dementia without being fairly paranoid.

SPOnG: Heh… so what's her story?
Pete Hines: She kind of rules the dementia side of Sheogorath's realm and she sends you off on a quest to try to figure out who's after her and why. You actually get to take a guy around with you who you can use to torture people, to get information out of them to figure out what's going on in the world. So you end up doing stuff related to both the Duke and the Duchess as you move through the main quest.