Monte Carlo

The Mister Gum series of books for kids by Andy Stanton. Reading them with my son, they are too good and too funny for sprogs.

My wife has an ipad. I shall steal it.

It would have been if it had been missing. It's not missing, so in a sense we are both arguing on an old assumption. Let's not forget that the inventory, shortcuts and UI, which are only just barely usable, ARE without a doubt the fault of console design though. I have a more nuanced view: for example the skills GUI is beautiful, the way the skill trees resemble constellations. It's also about as much use as a chocolate teapot from a user-friendly POV, I'd much rather have a more traditional skills / character screen (I'm sure the current set up looks great on a widescreen TV). The port to PC's controls are hideous. This isn't because console gamers are dumb or less sophisticated (although I guess some might be, what else explains the popularity of Zumba party etc) it's because the platforms are different and PC is way more marginal. PCs days ain't numbered, but we are niche and we are less important than the console version. Just the way it is.

Here it is... I can't find the door to the Barrow to get the golden claw maguffin. Where is it? I know I'm dumb.

The story is all about me creeping about snow-capped mountains, finding loot, fighting in tunnels and sniping people. Works for me.

You could use the official Bethesda forums if you're stuck in a quest... Naaaaaah.

Mods: is there any problem with opening a Skyrim spoilers / quest / mutual helping out type thread please?

As a fan of the FO3 / FONV "sneak about the wasteland sniping people" technique, Skyrim caters for this in buckets. Creeping around sniping with a bow = good.

Getting lost is half the fun. Am about to restart, mebbe an orc.

Do it... doooooo iiiiiit.

Cheers Tigs... am re-starting (sigh) made some really crap perk decisions.

Yeah, I've got an unfinished game of BG2 / ToB on my laptop that I've been playing for six months on and off, am currently playing WK before the final BG2 battle. My NE half-orc fighter / thief is leading an eclectic band of NPCs. Do it, it's till very very good.

Hmmm. It's a giant fantasy sand-box which is pretty enough, appears stable so far (no CTD, runs smoothly) and lets you do anything you freaking well like. As I've said my main issue is with the PC controls but am getting used to my new XBox controller which makes it that much easier to play. I say get it, it's a blast and will keep you going for months then no doubt there will be groovy DLC and mods incoming. I've never really got into an ES game before but I'm liking this and yes it really does feel like Fallout 3's sword-wielding cousin.

Not being much of a ES mentat can anybody recommend a fun character build, I currently have a nord who activated the warrior stone thingie. I want to basically be a behemoth of utter destruction.

Blessed be the modders! Well done.

Variously: Company of Heroes Dragon Age Ultimate Edition (i.e. Origins / Awakening and all of the DLC EVAR) Dawn of War 2 + Chaos Rising and of course Skyrim

Wandering around in the overcast Skyrim moors in the gloom, feeling lonely, brought back memories of an unfortunate camping holiday in Northern Scotland circa. 1981.

I was in Bow last week and I didn't see any.

Skyrim has the best dragons of any fantasy computer game I've ever played.

Hungry and on the run, I made the mistake of murdering a chicken in the first village, whereupon some angry Viking chick disemboweled me with a kitchen knife. OTOH on the advice of the folks here I went and bought myself an XBox controller: this game now makes complete sense to me. Also, it's not too shabby in third person perspective compared to other ES titles. Scenery is nice, think I might go hunting wildlife to get my bow skills up to scratch.

Tigs, that's all very well but are there mudcrabs FFS?

Many thanks Tale. Edit: & Bokishi you kinda snuck up on me there you big fat slithering intergalactic crime lord.

Sheesh still only 84% downloaded must get a faster broadband pipe. Am off to bed, might, er, ahem "work from home" tomorrow.

Sorry to be thick, but are we saying that I can just buy an XBox controller and it will be immediately plug and play or wireless compatible with my Vista :: shudders :: desktop PC? Just that the keyboard thing looks hideous and I can pick one up tomorrow if that's the case.

Hmmm. In which case, can anybody recommend a console-style make of controller for the PC please? Tx in advance. Edit: 58% downloaded and unlocks in 3 hrs GMT!