Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

I went to that fortress on the coast from the main town and it seemed to take a long time, but most importantly it really felt like I had traveled a long way because of all the mountains and scenery changes.
 
I'm level 8 and I haven't even picked a skill yet. Oops.
 
So I won't be playing this for a month or two until I get a new PC, but in the meantime, could someone recommend me some must-have mods for Oblivion? There are a few couple-year-old threads about Oblivion mods, but maybe something awesome has been released since then and I'll miss it :?
 
Err, the map is bigger than Oblivion's.

Found a camp which had a map on a table with fortresses marked with flags. If you interact with the flags, the locations get added to the map. Trust me, when you see the far reaches of the locations and scroll across the map, it's huge. And takes ages to run between major cities, but there's plenty to wander off and find.

Feels like classic Elder Scrolls at the moment. Which is loved and hated at the same time. And I cant help feel the graphics arent all that great. It's stunning in places, and the detail and models are SUCH a leap forward though. The shadows are driving me nuts. They keep 'rolling' in one direction now and again at the same time, like a wave, and then settling. Hard to describe. Needs patching/new drivers.
 
So I won't be playing this for a month or two until I get a new PC, but in the meantime, could someone recommend me some must-have mods for Oblivion? There are a few couple-year-old threads about Oblivion mods, but maybe something awesome has been released since then and I'll miss it :?

I used this guide, which is mostly cosmetic and UI stuff, but there are some gameplay ones in there too. The big game-changing ones I'm using now are Francesco's Leveled Creatures-Items and Oblivion XP. Oblivion XP in particular is awesome, as it gets rid of the TES leveling system for the more classic do-stuff-and-kill-things-to-earn-xp, and that really makes the game more fun for me.
 
too addicted to bf3 right now to even consider getting this what with dissertation and studio work to be getting on with, but come christmas holidays i am ****ing getting on top of this like a flash. ****.
 
Found a camp which had a map on a table with fortresses marked with flags. If you interact with the flags, the locations get added to the map. Trust me, when you see the far reaches of the locations and scroll across the map, it's huge. And takes ages to run between major cities, but there's plenty to wander off and find.
You can do that early on before you fight the 2nd (?) dragon. Jarl of Whiterun is looking at a map with tons of flags on it. I thought the map was a bit small before I saw some of those places on it.

Feels like classic Elder Scrolls at the moment. Which is loved and hated at the same time. And I cant help feel the graphics arent all that great. It's stunning in places, and the detail and models are SUCH a leap forward though. The shadows are driving me nuts. They keep 'rolling' in one direction now and again at the same time, like a wave, and then settling. Hard to describe. Needs patching/new drivers.
I doubt the shadows will be changed. That would require a real-time sun, but it seems like they just "set" it, then wait 30 minutes, then "roll" it to somewhere else. Maybe someone will mod it.
 
It's not even 30 minutes though. This happens like every 20 seconds. You could be stood, always happens outside, talking and suddenly the shadows almost spasm in a really quick bar-code effect and then settle back in like 1 second.
 
Yeah, didn't expect them to easy, I found a hammer with a frost enchantment that would be perfect for battles like those. I might put a few more dents into the MQ just to fight one.
 
Joined the Thieves Guild about an hour ago. Lots of relevant quests I think. Burglary, messing with people's financial books, subterfuge and stuff like that. Seems like you spend countless hours just working for them let alone complete the main quest/game.

God, I look at my quest log now and it's so overwhelming how long everything will take to do.
 
On environmental diversity: Has anyone come across strange environments yet, such as the volcanic tundra Beth mentioned?
 
That's one of the big problems I think, you get a quest simply by over-hearing or talking to someone about something you don't even think is a quest so you end up with a ton of quests to do and you can't get rid of them once you have them. You are stuck with them until you finish them..
 
Joined the Thieves Guild about an hour ago. Lots of relevant quests I think. Burglary, messing with people's financial books, subterfuge and stuff like that. Seems like you spend countless hours just working for them let alone complete the main quest/game.

God, I look at my quest log now and it's so overwhelming how long everything will take to do.

I haven't found any guilds yet. Where is the thieves guild? (spoiler it so people don't shout at you :D)
 
Just in case anyone else is still having problems with mouse lagginess/controls. I finally fixed a lot of my issues by going into my nvidia control panel and forcing off vsync, then turning my sensitivity a lot higher in the ini file. It doesn't seem that just the ini commands were really doing it. Going to try an fps limiter next...I've seen some good feedback for that.

(Also, all changes to the ini file must be done in the "my documents - my games - skyrim" folder. Lots of guides tell you to do it in the steamapps one tho that didn't do anything for me.
 
I haven't found any guilds yet. Where is the thieves guild? (spoiler it so people don't shout at you :D)

The Thieves Guild is in
Rift..Riftwood I think it's called? A major town in the south east of the map. Cant remember if the main quest sent me there or not, but I went to it via a carriage to get close to that place ontop of the mountain you have to climb to meet the Greybeards (as you dont have to have found the main town, just pay like 50 gold for the carriage outside any other town), and you have to go into the main Inn in there, after you have stolen some things of course. Then a guy approaches you and says you look like a thief, like you havent occured all that wealth without some swift hands etc, and proposes you meet him in the market between 8am and 8pm. Some quick thief testing happens, and he meets you again below the town itself through the sewers. The test is to get to the secret Inn below the town. A few quests later and you're in, getting the thieves guild armour set and unlimited lockpicks etc. Lots of training in sneak etc available. Those arent the full details, trying to remember it off the top of my head.

It's worth it, makes the game feel like Thief dodging guards while breaking in etc.
 
so is the game good?
I heard fighting dragons is not that great

does it require a lot to run?or almost the same as fallout3new vegas?
 
This game is ridiculously immersive.

I've also taken a vow not to fast travel except using caravans. If I have to get some place, I will travel there.

One exception might be 7000 steps.


Funny story on my only using caravans for fast travel...

Not much of a spoiler.
I took a caravan to winterhold, and he didn't stick around apparently. I had to trek my way back to another town, which was a really enjoyable experience.

EDIT: ****ing lol, me and a saber cat killed each other at the same time.
 
Just curious, how is the tone of this game compared to oblivion? Is it still as awkwardly silly? Is there anything that feels more mature or serious?

Also, can you not level your jump height and run speed? If so, that takes a load of fun out of being a thief type.
 
does it require a lot to run?or almost the same as fallout3new vegas?

I'm wondering the same. My gaming pc is really dated, so i'm pretty sure it'll run like crap, but I just can't justify getting this for console cause i'd rather not miss out on the plethora of mods that are sure to come.
 
Just curious, how is the tone of this game compared to oblivion? Is it still as awkwardly silly? Is there anything that feels more mature or serious?

Also, can you not level your jump height and run speed? If so, that takes a load of fun out of being a thief type.

I would say the tone is a lot more serious. Everything is less akward. No, you can't level jumping or speed. But the sneaking mechanic was redone so being a thief is quite fun.

I just found out that apparently shadow's are run through the CPU so if you have a somewhat lower end comp you can still run things on ultra, but just turn down the shadow quality. (Shadows kind of suck anyway so it's not like it makes a difference.) Also, turning off AA and AF in game and forcing them through your video card helps performance as well.

I'm wondering the same. My gaming pc is really dated, so i'm pretty sure it'll run like crap, but I just can't justify getting this for console cause i'd rather not miss out on the plethora of mods that are sure to come.

I have an intel core 2 duo and a 9600GT 1gb. Running at ultra settings with shadows on medium. In some indoor areas with lots of water and other effects I get a bit of a drop. Other than that it's been very playable.
 
I would say the tone is a lot more serious. Everything is less akward. No, you can't level jumping or speed. But the sneaking mechanic was redone so being a thief is quite fun.

I just found out that apparently shadow's are run through the CPU so if you have a somewhat lower end comp you can still run things on ultra, but just turn down the shadow quality. (Shadows kind of suck anyway so it's not like it makes a difference.) Also, turning off AA and AF in game and forcing them through your video card helps performance as well.



I have an intel core 2 duo and a 9600GT 1gb. Running at ultra settings with shadows on medium. In some indoor areas with lots of water and other effects I get a bit of a drop. Other than that it's been very playable.

My gaming comp: A64 3500+ (LOL), 1gig ram (LOL), 8800GTS

****, my Macbook might be able to run this game better, if not for the fact that it's got some shitty ass mobile graphics card. Other than that though, it's got an Intel core 2 duo and 4 gb of ram.
 
This game is ridiculously immersive.

I've also taken a vow not to fast travel except using caravans. If I have to get some place, I will travel there.

This, I'm walking/horsing everywhere. I fast traveled in Oblivion but thats because the terrain was pretty boring. ( and there was no chance of running into a dragon )

I hope there are a tonne of sidequests. Like, so many that by the time you're near the end you've forgotten most of the ones you did at the start.
 
I like it so far. It is pretty much a typical Bethesda game. Clunky character movement, check. Bland voice acting, check. Less than stellar gameplay, check. The whole package though is pretty enjoyable.
 
So this is going to sound dumb no doubt, but I'm a Redguard and my ability is adrenaline rush, however I can never seem to cast it. Obviously normal spells get assigned to RMB or LMB, but when I click adrenaline rush it just has an arrow and I can never make it do anything. Is it just automatically happening and I don't notice it?
 
So this is going to sound dumb no doubt, but I'm a Redguard and my ability is adrenaline rush, however I can never seem to cast it. Obviously normal spells get assigned to RMB or LMB, but when I click adrenaline rush it just has an arrow and I can never make it do anything. Is it just automatically happening and I don't notice it?

Probably "Z"
 
I would say the tone is a lot more serious. Everything is less akward. No, you can't level jumping or speed. But the sneaking mechanic was redone so being a thief is quite fun.

Normally I'd play as a khajiit or argonian, however I've been reading so much damn ASoIaF that I can't imagine not playing a Nord, or at least a human to compliment my reading, but if it's anywhere near the silliness of Oblivion I'd just play a Lizard man :p

Wood Elves sound like they got the coolest race abilities, too bad they are the ugliest.
 
I can't say I notice much of any silliness in Skyrim, but I don't know your definition of silliness.
 
Normally I'd play as a khajiit or argonian, however I've been reading so much damn ASoIaF that I can't imagine not playing a Nord, or at least a human to compliment my reading, but if it's anywhere near the silliness of Oblivion I'd just play a Lizard man :p

Wood Elves sound like they got the coolest race abilities, too bad they are the ugliest.

I've always been a thief/assassin in every TES game. But I'm loving a sword and board Nord :) Actually makes combat fun and interactive. Plus you get to decapitate people.
 
I've always been a thief/assassin in every TES game. But I'm loving a sword and board Nord :) Actually makes combat fun and interactive. Plus you get to decapitate people.

I use a mace because of the satifying crunch... Also, thanks for the "Z" information. I'm stupid.
 
I wanted to make a Nord viking character, I mean were in Skyrim, right? THE LAND OF NORDS, EPIC DRAGON FIGHTS, AND BEEEAAARRRDDDSSS!
 
I just unwrapped the game lol all I wanted to know if my saves would work.
 
So my wood chopping job was just outsourced to an elf. This viking is striking.

Edit: Hmm, since parking my horse next to the log pile I've increased my productivity 10 fold seeing as I can now make it the 20 feet to my employer without the agony of slow walking.
 
I like it so far. It is pretty much a typical Bethesda game. Clunky character movement, check. Bland voice acting, check. Less than stellar gameplay, check. The whole package though is pretty enjoyable.


For one thing the voice acting is more varied, as for bland voice acting, a large portion of it is in a mundane context, so it's understandable. Has anyone gotten far into the DB/Thieves guild questlines? They seemed surprisingly well-written to me (especially the Thieves guild), and there were points when the voice acting was surprisingly decent. How the story of the Thieves guild developed shocked me a bit, in terms of "wow, I think they actually paid attention while writing this".

As for the Dark Brotherhood, awesome over-arching "goal" and great follow through, there is a twist, and while I was keeping my eyes peeled for it I was unprepared for it. In short, I'm having a great experience so far, much more than I was expecting. Skyrim's far from perfect, but it was/is unexpectedly enthralling, and that's enough.
 
the guards sound like Schwarzenegger :D
But overall the voice acting is indeed much better.
 
I keep forgetting to use my shouts in battle. They're so damn cool. And it took me a while to figure out you had to hold your shout button to add the new words and make it more powerful.

And this is my graphics glitch:


Gonna try the graphics tweaks it mentions:

Documents/My? Games/Skyrim and edit SkyrimPrefs.ini

Set these:
iShadowMapResolution=4096 <---- this removes the strobing
fShadowBiasScale=0.1500 <---- this removes the strobing
iShadowMaskQuarter=0
iBlurDeferredShadowMask=5
bFloatPointRenderTarget=1
iShadowFilter=1
iShadowMode=3 <--- cant seem to find this
bTreesReceiveShadows=1
bDrawLandShadows=1
bDrawShadows=1
bShadowMaskZPrepass=0
bMainZPrepass=0

[EDIT]

Holy crap people, seriously do this edit. Shadows look ridiculously amazing now and I have them set, before the edit, to low. No performance hit, they look fuller, smoother, more detailed and dont strobe.

What a difference.
 
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