Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

[CoM_Solaufein]

Have they released the toolset yet? Toolset means lots and lots of mods.

[Drowsy Emperor]

Which means we finally get out La Blue Girl companion mod, yaaaay!

[WDeranged]

Bethesda have released a trailer for the Creation Kit, are you ready for Steam to make modding easier than ever?

 

Ah well, at least it's coming,

[entrerix]

im still not sure i get how steam could make modding easier. its soooo easy already. i guess if all you had to do was just click on the title of the mod and then hit "play" and the mod would already be installed, that would save you about 12 seconds of copying and pasting a file from your downloads folder to your data folder?

 

maybe by easier they just mean a clean and easy to browse "storefront" for mods? nexus has a lot of terrible mods on it, and if i want to skip over them i have to sort by endorsements, which takes like 4 seconds, and if steam can shave that down to 2 seconds then i guess they did a pretty good job?

 

something tells me when they hear complaints of "i can't get mods to work" its from people trying to download a nexus mod to their xbox...

[LadyCrimson]

Still no editor? At this point I'm not sure I'd go back to it even when the kit is released. I haven't played it in two months or whatever.

But when/if some people start putting out good mods (more than just clothing and weapon deco & other such simple things....don't care about textures either)....may give it a shot again then.

 

Steam integration....meh. Don't like it, but since you need Steam to play it on pc anyway, I can live with it. I'm pretty sure you only have to use it if the mod-maker only has it uploaded to Steam & nowhere else....I think. haven't read up on it in a while.

[entrerix]

the kit is now dated for feb 7

[HoonDing]

I'm just waiting for Dovahzaan

[Rosbjerg]

i guess if all you had to do was just click on the title of the mod and then hit "play" and the mod would already be installed, that would save you about 12 seconds of copying and pasting a file from your downloads folder to your data folder?

 

Well Nexus made a mod manager that downloads and installs the mod for you already so..

[WDeranged]

It's looking like those mods shown in the CK preview video might not be mock ups, also, it seems a high res texture pack is going to be available too

 

I've never seen Bethesda responding so well to feedback.

[Chr1s]

High res texture pack now that is something i've been waiting for since the release, the snow textures in this game made me sick, finally.

[kalimeeri]

They have to release the game so that an 'average' computer can run it right out of the box, knowing that the included textures won't do the world justice, and that nobody but the most casual player wants to run it that way. And large texture packs eat up huge chunks of valuable DVD space, as well. Historically, a lot of games stop right there, so it's to Bethesda's credit that they freely provide higher-res alternatives for their game so soon.

 

It's very apparent from Skyrim that Beth has taken a different approach to development than some other big game companies--there's no need for a large team of marketing analysts to reduce game-making to a formula, when all they have to do is look at what the modding community has created to see what their audience desires most in this type of game. And since mods are 'technically' their property, they can take inspiration and even copy parts of code (some brilliant minds have contributed to Morrowind/Oblivion's modding scene). It's gratifying to see so many features make their way from modded Oblivion to Skyrim--it's very clear that they were honestly trying to make 'the perfect game", and they almost got it right.

 

But that's a big 'almost'. Skyrim is not bad, for a vanilla game. Not bad at all. On the whole, I'd say it's better than vanilla Oblivion in some aspects (not in others). But something is missing, something very elusive... and I'm not sure even modders can put it right. I believe the gorgeous and painstakingly realistic world of Skyrim is its greatest strength, and also its greatest flaw.

I set Skyrim aside and went back to my fully modded install of Oblivion this weekend, and within five minutes was having the time of my life--I was meandering along, riding a beautiful horse in the sunshine and enjoying the view, and through no fault of my own was drawn into a huge, sprawling battle of men and beasts alike--and ended up having so much fun I was actually laughing out loud. I can't see that happening in Skyrim, if for no other reason than the topography, and the variety of creatures that would logically inhabit that world.

I realized that in Skyrim I had been trudging on a maddening ugly horse from one city to another, freezing my arse off in skimpy armor (who on earth would bare their skin to that cold?), and in the process of hurrying to the more temperate areas had become more involved with advancing levels and perks than immersed in the story or the world; in short, grinding is more work than fun. (In Oblivion, I don't even think about levels, other than to wonder if I dare enter certain dungeons with a wimpy level 5 character who can't run so fast.)

Don't get me wrong--I like Skyrim, a lot. Without a doubt, the engine runs better (controls are another story). And I love listening to the npc's, and watching the dragons soaring across the sky. But the sad thing is, what I want most is to hear and see them in Oblivion. If Bethesda were to mash modded Oblivion's freedom (no quest railroading!), unpredictability and life into their next effort, they may well create the perfect sandbox game.

[LadyCrimson]

Beth's HD-pack - I like it. Nothing super special "wowzers" but gives an overall impression of less blurry. And no weird bumpy texture effects like some of the FNV mods had. I don't get any noticeable fps hit either.

 

Skyrim's CK - haven't played with it much but the known errors upon loading doesn't give me warm fuzzies, even if they're "safely" ignorable. Reading comments/threads on the Beth fora, seems like mixed feelings re: it's abilities/differences in scripting & other such stuff.

 

Neither have inspired me to want to dive into playing the game again, tho. Not yet anyway. I may try making a personal house, however.

[WDeranged]

I've heard that the clutter hasn't been fully retextured, pretty much all the vanilla furniture looked insultingly awful to me, how do the shelves and tables look now?

[LadyCrimson]

I haven't done lots of exploring to gaze at stuff, but some of them that I've noticed are definitely better. They're not the super-watercolor-blob-blurs of before. Things like tree trunks, some walls & snow textures, and clothing are where I noticed it most at casual glance. Maybe some of the roads too. Again, it's not that it looks uber awesome/sharp close up or humongous change or anything, but it just gives a much better impression as you're moving around the world.

 

Like the 2nd pic of the tree, on this page: http://www.neoseeker...hot-comparison/

 

IGN has a comparison page too...the last pic shows a table scenario. http://pc.ign.com/ar.../1218176p1.html

 

It feels/seems like they also increased the bloom (or glare) of some lighting, which I wasn't appreciating. It's not too bad tho.

Edited February 8, 2012 by LadyCrimson

[WorstUsernameEver]

Having played a little with HD textures, I'm 100% sure that bloom/lighting are unchanged. The changes in IGN's screenshots are probably due to taking the photos at different times/different conditions.

[Walsingham]

freezing my arse off in skimpy armor (who on earth would bare their skin to that cold?),

 

Geordie women:

 

 

And don't make me blast Oblivion for its tedium-tastic people and settings. I actually enjoy just going for a walk in Skyrim.

[Tale]

SPAAAACE

 

 

Have you guys seen the Dovahcore helmet? Doesn't look very good to me.

[HoonDing]

Thu'um Infinium mod is pretty nice.

[WDeranged]

Gah, I should stop looking at all the new mods, I don't want to spend all year playing Skyrim

[entrerix]

i really want someone to add in spears, whips, and throwing weapons so i can play a castlevania type character

[HoonDing]

That's going to take ages, since it requires new animations.

 

Not really a fan of Steam workshop. The more... exotic mods are never going to appear there, so I don't see the point of moving. Steam is pretty cumbersome to navigate as well.

[HoonDing]

Well, I take back what I said. The Skyrim devs apparently had some free time and came up with this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYOFLqItuW4

[Gorth]

That was awesome. Mudcrabzilla? Who needs dragons in video games?

[WDeranged]

Haha, so in the space of a week Bethesda modded in some of the most requested features, they better be releasing all this goodness

[Morgoth]

Why do I always get the feeling every TES game needs tons of mods to be playable first?

 

I didn't need that in Fallout 3. Well, again, maybe different team?