The OFFICIAL Anandtech Forums TeS V: Skyrim Thread

[Nebor]

Others have reported having success with similar computers. So are they lying?

Yup.

 

[Boobs McGee]

Started playing last night. So far I really like it. A couple of issues I see right now:

Dual hand stuff: It armed my first spell in my left hand with my axe in the right, but right click is spell and left click is swing axe. This may just be a problem with me not knowing how to set the items, but I don't want to remap controls to swing the axe with right click.

I was running through some housing areas taking whatever wasn't red "steal". There was a gem or something, I think it was marked "unknown gem" or something along those lines. The text was white for take the item not steal, but when I picked it up some kid said " i saw that" and then guards were on me. Kinda weak there. I wasn't trying to steal anything, but I got busted anyways.

 

[nageov3t]

I'm so tempted to buy Skyrim, but I feel like I'll end up feeling ambivilant towards it.

I played Morrowind and gave up after wandering around for a few hours feeling lost and bored
I played Fallout 3 and gave up after wandering around for a few hours feeling lost and bored
I played Oblivion and gave up after wandering around for a few hours feeling lost and bored

I feel like I should love these games because I'm a huge RPG fan and everyone I know raves about them, but I'm trying to sit on my wallet until I can pick it up for a price I won't feel guilty about it I get bored an hour in.

 

[Coffinmaker]

Make sure you guys bring up the bugs in the elder scrolls official forums so they know what to patch up!! Once you do that and I see some results, then I'll buy it!

 

[exar333]

I'm so tempted to buy Skyrim, but I feel like I'll end up feeling ambivilant towards it.

I played Morrowind and gave up after wandering around for a few hours feeling lost and bored
I played Fallout 3 and gave up after wandering around for a few hours feeling lost and bored
I played Oblivion and gave up after wandering around for a few hours feeling lost and bored

I feel like I should love these games because I'm a huge RPG fan and everyone I know raves about them, but I'm trying to sit on my wallet until I can pick it up for a price I won't feel guilty about it I get bored an hour in.

No shame in liking a RPG that is more 'on rails' than a sandbox-type like TES. For many, it's the fact that you CAN go anywhere and do anything you want that makes the game. The story itself sometimes means very little.

 

[exar333]

I played the intro, completed the first quest and wandered a bit...I don't get all the hype, seems like a glorified Oblivion to me.

What's so great about this game?

I am enjoying the game, but it certainly doesn't give me the immersive 'wow' factor most of us had with Oblivion back in 2006. The graphics are 'good enough' for me that they are not distracting. I prefer a less-fancy looking game that is fun to a tech-demo any day.

Does feel very similar to Oblivion/FO, but maybe that is because those games have dominated the PC gaming RPG world for the last ~6 years. Almost a victim of their own success....

My only disappointment (so far) is that I have not really seen what they did to make this game unique. It is very immersive, lots of fun, but I was hoping for a little more exciting/progressive title that would be unique to the series. Maybe that comes later, but the leveling/combat are nothing brand-new on the PC.

 

[Merad]

One thing I found - if you can stand it, it's beneficial to have vsync enabled. Seems that the game's physics behave better when framerate is limited. Less items randomly flying around when you open doors and so on.

Dual hand stuff: It armed my first spell in my left hand with my axe in the right, but right click is spell and left click is swing axe. This may just be a problem with me not knowing how to set the items, but I don't want to remap controls to swing the axe with right click.

By default right hand is mapped to LMB, and left hand is mapped to RMB. I'm sure they did this because past Elder Scrolls games and many RPGs typically use the control layout LMB = Primary Attack, RMB = Block/Secondary Attack.

You can swap the key assignments in settings.

 

[RebelCapitalist]

After about 10 hours of play using the 360 controller I'm finally getting the hang of the UI. It's not as bothersome as it was at first. Ideal? No. Could be worse.

My biggest gripe is this one shout per day thing. Oh, and meaning to sprint but hitting my shout button in town on accident and getting pwned by everything in sight.

Been doing some side quests mostly.

I would love the ability to skip or fast forward some dialog once in a while.

 

[Boobs McGee]

One thing I found - if you can stand it, it's beneficial to have vsync enabled. Seems that the game's physics behave better when framerate is limited. Less items randomly flying around when you open doors and so on.



By default right hand is mapped to LMB, and left hand is mapped to RMB. I'm sure they did this because past Elder Scrolls games and many RPGs typically use the control layout LMB = Primary Attack, RMB = Block/Secondary Attack.

You can swap the key assignments in settings.

I figured I could remap the attack keys. I was just trying to avoid that. Basically I just want my dude to be left handed with his weapon so left click swings the weapon on the left side. This probably works great on a console controller because the right trigger is typically your fire/attack button in most games. It seems like it was somewhat overlooked for the PC.

 

[NoSoup4You]

If you like TES games, the issues Skyrim has don't even matter. The game plays great and is the best TES yet. And it's not close.

If you hate that type of gameplay then don't bother with Skyrim, but for fans the sandbox has never been better.

 

[Boobs McGee]

After about 10 hours of play using the 360 controller I'm finally getting the hang of the UI. It's not as bothersome as it was at first. Ideal? No. Could be worse.

My biggest gripe is this one shout per day thing. Oh, and meaning to sprint but hitting my shout button in town on accident and getting pwned by everything in sight.

Been doing some side quests mostly.

I would love the ability to skip or fast forward some dialog once in a while.

Not sure the button on the xbox controller, but in conversations, I just left click and it jumps the conversation forward.

 

[Nebor]

I played the intro, completed the first quest and wandered a bit...I don't get all the hype, seems like a glorified Oblivion to me.

What's so great about this game?

I didn't even make it to the first quest. I picked the first lock on the cage during the beginning, got some mage gear off a body, couldn't figure out how to use the spells and quit.

 

[Merad]

Has anyone figured out how companion item equipping works? I have Lydia now, and she started with sword + shield but now seems to randomly choose from weapons I've given her? Also appears to be wearing steel armor, but it doesn't show in her inventory?

I would love the ability to skip or fast forward some dialog once in a while.

Just click while they're talking.

 

[blotto]

I'm so tempted to buy Skyrim, but I feel like I'll end up feeling ambivilant towards it.

I played Morrowind and gave up after wandering around for a few hours feeling lost and bored
I played Fallout 3 and gave up after wandering around for a few hours feeling lost and bored
I played Oblivion and gave up after wandering around for a few hours feeling lost and bored

I feel like I should love these games because I'm a huge RPG fan and everyone I know raves about them, but I'm trying to sit on my wallet until I can pick it up for a price I won't feel guilty about it I get bored an hour in.

One thing that I think helps with open world games is to follow the main storyline for the first few hours. That way the game can guide you on a linear path until you get a feel for the world. It really helps to get your bearings and avoid feeling lost.

 

[blotto]

Oops, double post. Sorry.

 

[Attic]

I'm about 10 hours in and feel like this is one of the most engrossing games i've played in sometime. I really like the sandbox style, though it can be a bit overwhelming and sometimes I wish there was a more direct main storyline. But i'm only 10 hours in that may change. I really enjoy exploring in these kinds of games.

I use the 360 controller and I really love the interface. It's quick, intuitive and I'm able to really connect with my actions and the game world. I'd say bravo to the developers for nailing this aspect. Those having issues with the kb+m should definately try the controller if they can. Only thing I would ask for is the ability to may hotkeys to left and right D pad. Currently I need to scroll my favorites anytime I want to use a third skill/magic/item.

Dragons are win.
Epic feel is win.
Graphics are win.

Best part of the game for me is seeing a mountain range or lake miles away and being able to go there to see whats going on, it really makes the world feel legitamate. My biggest let down with games that don't offer this sense is that If I can't get to what I can see then it spoils the suspension of disbelief.

 

[thespyder]

My impressions are as follows:

First person perspective "Seems" awfully low to the ground for some reason. Not sure why, but I just feel like I am crouching or playing a midget or something. Not a game breaker or anything, but just a little weird.

Secondly, every single dungeon I have encountered seems like one long linear line. In Oblivion (and Morrowind, etc...) there were branches and you had to fully explore the dungeon. So far (and I have only hit three or four dungeons aside from the "Beginning one") there is only one path to follow. Seems a bit odd.

Several of the quests seem "Unnecessarily" hooked up on completing the entire dungeon. In one instance I had to find "The claw". I found it like a third of the way through the dungeon but couldn't merely return it to it's owner. I had to go back and complete the entire dungeon before the quest was seen as "Complete". While this isn't horrible, it seems inconsistent.

Also, with the "Feats/Skills" system, seems a bit weird. At first I couldn't figure out why I couldn't select certain feats. Then I noticed that I didn't have skill rating high enough. While this is a "Duh" moment, it seems that at least early in the game this could have been called out more clearly. And will all of the skills available, I bet a lot of players go hog wild and spread their points out to the point where they end up with really weak characters. Just sayin.

With all of the above said, I am really enjoying the game.

 

[Skott]

Others have reported having success with similar computers. So are they lying?

Took a quick google search and the 525M is pretty similar to the 425m and the closest AMD relation would be a ATI 5650 although a little weaker than that. In short...it's not that powerful by today's GPU standards. My guess is you would need to stay at Medium settings or less to get decent frame rates but going by your initial post it sounds like even Medium settings is not going to cut it.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-525M.43889.0.html

 

[Dankk]

I played the intro, completed the first quest and wandered a bit...I don't get all the hype, seems like a glorified Oblivion to me.

What's so great about this game?

It's ok man, I think the game just isn't for you. I'm glad I'm not the only one. As it stands, I absolutely hate Bethesda RPGs, but I still came very, very close to buying Skyrim merely because of the hype it's generated, and because of pressure from my friends. I'm glad I didn't. It probably would've been a huge waste of my $60. I pre-ordered Saints Row: The Third as an alternative.

Different strokes for different folks. If you didn't like Oblivion or Fallout 3 at all, then it would probably be a good idea to hold off on Skyrim.

I'll probably buy Skyrim a few years down the road when it drops to $10 on a sale.

 

[hans030390]

Closer to glorified, dumbed down Oblivion, which was just a glorified, dumbed down Morrowind. Every time the series gets a graphics update it suffers a console driven game play gimping.
Next thing up is probably a movie directed by Uwe Boll.

I wouldn't call Skyrim "dumbed down". The "simplifications" made in it actually seem to be well thought out and streamlined, not to mention there are nice additions to the game (such as smithing). Oblivion felt like a compromised game in many ways compared to Morrowind, where as Skyrim's changes feel less like compromises and more like removal of excess stuff that isn't really needed. For example, you can't barter anymore. If you think about it, bartering is useless in Oblivion. You simply pick the best prices through trial and error. If you're going to always barter for the highest prices, why do you even need it in there? Skyrim does it automatically and raises your speechcraft in the process. You can then use perks to get even better bartering deals. It's not removing any of the depth to the game, it's just making it less complicated to deal with (and yes, TES games can be unnecessarily complicated).

My biggest gripe is this one shout per day thing.

Huh? Shouts have cooldowns of 15-45 seconds...

 

[hans030390]

Others have reported having success with similar computers. So are they lying?

No. Skyrim is pretty playable on my Alienware M11x (mostly medium settings), which is running a 1.7GHz C2D (it's overclocked from stock), 4GB RAM, and a GT 335m I believe.

Your CPU and GPU are both more powerful than mine, so I'm not sure what's up. Drivers? Did you try turning off AA/AF (and FXAA)? Turning shadows down to medium or low?

 

[Rhezuss]

9 hours of play time and no crashes at all. Only bug I had is the first dragon you kill for the main quest...when I exit Whiterun, the dragon skeleton just fall from the sky in front of me pwahahaha. That's kind of funny imo.

Only other thing it the shadows and the way they behave with the movement of the sun. Every 5-7 seconds shadows flicker, it's annoying but nothing game breaking.

Hopefully they'll release a patch soon to fix that.

All in all it's one of my favorite Elder Scrolls.

EDIT: If you want full AA/AF, simply force them in your drivers and turn them off in the Skyrim options. The AA/AF in Skyrim options are not optimized and the sresult is a drop in FPS. Force them from your drivers and voilà le 8xAA/8x or 16xAF.

 

[coldmeat]

I wouldn't call Skyrim "dumbed down". The "simplifications" made in it actually seem to be well thought out and streamlined, not to mention there are nice additions to the game (such as smithing). Oblivion felt like a compromised game in many ways compared to Morrowind, where as Skyrim's changes feel less like compromises and more like removal of excess stuff that isn't really needed. For example, you can't barter anymore. If you think about it, bartering is useless in Oblivion. You simply pick the best prices through trial and error. If you're going to always barter for the highest prices, why do you even need it in there? Skyrim does it automatically and raises your speechcraft in the process. You can then use perks to get even better bartering deals. It's not removing any of the depth to the game, it's just making it less complicated to deal with (and yes, TES games can be unnecessarily complicated).

I always thought barter in Oblivion got you better prices, isn't that how it worked? A player with a higher barter could move the slider farther without the shopkeeper complaining about the prices.

 

[Imp]

Put in a marathon last night... Really starting to get into it now. Liking it. Combat is better than Oblivion where I usually got sick of blocking and just started mashing LMB. Everything feels more intuitive than both Oblivion and Morrowind, kind of like the improvement Fallout Vegas made over Fallout 3 - minor, but important changes.

For those that have taken on dragons. Ummm, they go down awful easy, no? I'm on medium difficulty. I've had more trouble with giants so far - sent to the moon more trouble.

 

[Merad]

I always thought barter in Oblivion got you better prices, isn't that how it worked? A player with a higher barter could move the slider farther without the shopkeeper complaining about the prices.

Barter in OB consisted of:

1. Pull slider all the way to the right (higher sell prices).
2. Try to sell an item.
3. If the merchant refuses to accept the sell, move the slider slightly left to lower the price. Go to 2.

No, I don't miss it...