[PC/360/Ps3] The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Impressions, tweaks and more!

[PR_GMR]

Put a couple more hours in last night. I'm about 7 hours in. My Breton mage Preton Gamir is now downing bandits with both fire and savage conjured familiars. I cleared out Valtheim Towers and made a good bit of coin, so decided to splurge on a horse. Was pleasantly surprised that, went you're attacked, the horse attacks also. Was tempted to just hang back and let it do all the work. 

[CeeKay]

I like how the map marks a location as cleared after you are done with it.  I also discovered that it is a good idea to look at items in your inventory no matter how trial they may be.  for example, in the Shroud Hearth Barrow

Spoiler for Hiden:

I got the sapphire claw that went in the door, but could not figure out which symbols needed to be showing to unlock it.  I spent about 15 minutes staring at the murals in the room, thinking there was a clue there, when it occurred to me to look at the claw.  sure enough the solution was engraved on it 

[CeeKay]

Look under your Active Effects.

Voice of the Sky just makes it so that for 24 game hours, no animals will attack or run from you.

I don't recall seeing it listed, but I probably wasted most of that walking back down the mountain and then sleeping for 12 hours to try and get well rested status.

[Arclight]

I like how the map marks a location as cleared after you are done with it.  I also discovered that it is a good idea to look at items in your inventory no matter how trial they may be.  for example, in the Shroud Hearth Barrow

Spoiler for Hiden:

I got the sapphire claw that went in the door, but could not figure out which symbols needed to be showing to unlock it.  I spent about 15 minutes staring at the murals in the room, thinking there was a clue there, when it occurred to me to look at the claw.  sure enough the solution was engraved on it 

Same thing I did as well. Sometimes we think it must be a well hidden, obscure clue somewhere around. Lesson learned though, so no foul.

[Purge]

I like how the map marks a location as cleared after you are done with it.  I also discovered that it is a good idea to look at items in your inventory no matter how trial they may be.  for example, in the Shroud Hearth Barrow

Spoiler for Hiden:

I got the sapphire claw that went in the door, but could not figure out which symbols needed to be showing to unlock it.  I spent about 15 minutes staring at the murals in the room, thinking there was a clue there, when it occurred to me to look at the claw.  sure enough the solution was engraved on it 

Same thing I did as well. Sometimes we think it must be a well hidden, obscure clue somewhere around. Lesson learned though, so no foul.

The instructions to check it are in the book you find on the same person you get it from. (read his journal).

[CeeKay]

I like how the map marks a location as cleared after you are done with it.  I also discovered that it is a good idea to look at items in your inventory no matter how trial they may be.  for example, in the Shroud Hearth Barrow

Spoiler for Hiden:

I got the sapphire claw that went in the door, but could not figure out which symbols needed to be showing to unlock it.  I spent about 15 minutes staring at the murals in the room, thinking there was a clue there, when it occurred to me to look at the claw.  sure enough the solution was engraved on it 

Same thing I did as well. Sometimes we think it must be a well hidden, obscure clue somewhere around. Lesson learned though, so no foul.

The instructions to check it are in the book you find on the same person you get it from. (read his journal).

I just skimmed over it and wrote it off as the diary of a madman.

[metallicorphan]

I like how the map marks a location as cleared after you are done with it.  I also discovered that it is a good idea to look at items in your inventory no matter how trial they may be.  for example, in the Shroud Hearth Barrow

Spoiler for Hiden:

I got the sapphire claw that went in the door, but could not figure out which symbols needed to be showing to unlock it.  I spent about 15 minutes staring at the murals in the room, thinking there was a clue there, when it occurred to me to look at the claw.  sure enough the solution was engraved on it 

Same thing I did as well. Sometimes we think it must be a well hidden, obscure clue somewhere around. Lesson learned though, so no foul.

The instructions to check it are in the book you find on the same person you get it from. (read his journal).

I just skimmed over it and wrote it off as the diary of a madman.

Bethesda demoed 'Bleak Falls Barrow' in the E3 vids etc,where they had the same type of puzzle,so i knew what to do,there are 5 different types according to this

[Morgul]

Any guesses on what the budget was for this game?

[hepcat]

Any guesses on what the budget was for this game?

I would say roughly 25 million for the game and 12 dollars and ninety three cents for the UI.

[jersoc]

This article on RPS really hits the nail on the head for most of the interface issues.  They are so obvious and annoying that it baffles me how Bethesda could let this ruin the user experience for such a great game.

consoles man, consoles.

Really not much of an excuse considering Bethesda has made several games for both PC and consoles and I'm sure they have heard the concerns.  In comparison, I had no control issues with FO:NV on PC.

I've gotten used to it but I think it hurts the game that I have to pause to change my favourites in the middle of combat.  It could all have been very fluid with better keymapping support.  Why is there only 1 key for shouts and skills?  9 hotkeys is too few for a game with so many powers.

The inventory seems like it is designed by someone who hasn't played an RPG in 20 years.

Ah well, still a great game but we just have to live with some stupid stuff since it seems like Bethesda just doesn't care.

those UIs weren't the greatest either. I'm sticking with consoles because the truth comes out soon or later that they spent more time with that version. They just make the UI the same across the board.
Same bullshit that happened with borderlands. we were promised a pc version proper and got a fucking console port again.

[Ridah]

I haven't gone through the last half dozen pages, so forgive me if this question has been addressed (which I'm sure it has).

How is the overall stability/bugginess of the game? I decided to wait a few weeks before buying it hoping perhaps a big patch or two will iron them out. The inherent bugginess of these open-world games are a big turn-off for me.

I know Bethesda is working on a big patch right now, I'll probably buy the game as soon as that goes live.

[EngineNo9]

I would say in general the game isn't too terribly buggy or unstable, but I've definitely had it crash to desktop.  Most of those times came right after Alt+Tabbing out of and then back into the game, so once you know that it is easy to avoid or save before doing it.  Plus it auto-saves every time you enter or leave a building/dungeon.

I haven't seen any broken quest lines or anything like that.  NPCs can occasionally get stuck, or just don't follow you when they are supposed to for whatever reason.

The biggest problems to me are the minor annoyances mostly related to the UI, like "I put my mouse over that dialog option and clicked, but it chose the other one I had past over", or "I clicked on the Misc tab and it closed the vendor window.  Again" or "For some reason it keeps losing my hotkeys".  They're not game breaking, but you see them so often that it adds up.

I would say the game is stable enough and the bugs are minor enough that it is worth playing right now.  From what I have read elsewhere, this is the least broken launch for a Bethesda game.

[hepcat]

I'll get the occasional CTD.  Initially it was about once an hour, but since I took some advice around here and started launching the game off the TESV.exe executable, it's been much less...probably around once every two hours or more.

Other than that, it's incredibly well optimized.  Playing on Ultra with an i5 760 with 16 megs of RAM and an nvidia 470 and it's smooth as butter.

[Arnir]

I've had a few CTDs but nothing overly major.  It will freeze up occasionally but only for a few seconds.  I found that happened to me more after I acquired a follower.

[Arclight]

Many hours into it already and two CTD's. As has been said, no broken quests, or quest lines. No missing NPC's....No clipping....Really very stable for the scope of this game.

[Dunamis]

I've probably put 10 hours into it and not a single CTD.  No broken quests or bugs that I have seen.  Overall, very solid game in my experience.

[Razgon]

I am very scared of my horse...

Yes, it has glowing eyes, but thats not it.

It killed a dragon...by itself..

I need to hide..but everywhere I go, that horse is there, looking at me, with its red eyes, and I KNOW it wants to kill me as well, as soon as I look away.

I'm very scared...

[Zinfan]

I have both the Xbox and PC versions of the game and I like the PC version better even with the less than stellar UI.  A couple of things that stand out in the PC version aside from the better graphics are the ability to zoom farther out in 3rd person view which I use when running around the world, I get a much better look at the surroundings that way.  The Quicksave ability is great for those tense moments and also for recovering from an unexpected crash of which I think I've had 2 related to the game and many related to my computer.  The greater number of hotkeys available, while 8 might not be great, it is better than 2.  It took me a bit to get used to the keyboard commands vice the controller buttons but I have it down pretty well now and am enjoying every  minute I spend in the game.

[Destructor]

I would say the game is stable enough and the bugs are minor enough that it is worth playing right now.  From what I have read elsewhere, this is the least broken launch for a Bethesda game.

This is an understatement for sure. I've put in nearly 60 hours since launch (yes, seriously), and I've had exactly one CTD. And that was when I alt-tabbed out of the game. That's it.

There are some smaller issues and annoyances, but outright crashes are not part of it at all.

--

Tip of the day for those of you who are double-fisting magic: DON'T do it all the time! When you double-fist magic (pushing both mouse buttons at the same time, so you do the not-Hadoken animation), it costs 120% mana of normal (per hand), for only 105% of damage (per hand), plus the stun if you happen to have the perk.

It's a nice opener, or something to do if you need to take a step back from somebody, but for general casting, push one button then push the other a moment later to get both hands to cast individually. The minor damage bonus isn't worth the greater expenditure of magic in the end.

[CeeKay]

Sounds like Raz has been hitting the absinthe again....

[Arclight]

Ok it's starting to happen. In MMO's we call it alt-itis. I get so far with a character then start thinking about another build I'd like to try. I've played this way before and if I don't put on the breaks and stick with a main character I end up losing interest. Actually it's a compliment to the game. It's so deep and fun I just want to try all sorts of different things out.

Anyway, I'll try my best to get it under control.....now, about that destro-restro-argonianbuild???? 

[Purge]

Ok it's starting to happen. In MMO's we call it alt-itis. I get so far with a character then start thinking about another build I'd like to try. I've played this way before and if I don't put on the breaks and stick with a main character I end up losing interest. Actually it's a compliment to the game. It's so deep and fun I just want to try all sorts of different things out.

Anyway, I'll try my best to get it under control.....now, about that destro-restro-argonianbuild???? 

Perhaps you and your Skyrim character could sign up for some couples counselling?

[Roguetad]

I ran into what I think is a quest bug.  It's one of the Companion's Escaped Criminal quests, except this time there's no map marker, and I've scoured the town he's supposed to be wondering around in without any luck.  Has anyone experienced this?  I've done this type of quest before without a problem.  I'm wondering if the fugitive I'm supposed to kill met an early death courtesy of the Skyrim wildlife. 

[Lockdown]

I'm right behind Destructor.  About 55 hours played since release.  This might be the most fun I've ever had playing a video game, quite honestly.  And I never thought anything would beat out NFL2k5 as far as pure fun for me.  I think I played a grand total of about 15 hours of all other Elder Scrolls games combined, as I never got into them.  I really don't even know what to say anymore.  

Question:  Do "mine nodes" respawn after awhile?  (for smithing)

 

[Destructor]

Question:  Do "mine nodes" respawn after awhile?  (for smithing)

From what I've heard, they'll respawn after a week (or is it a month) of ingame time. Not sure which offhand.

[msduncan]

I'm having the same alt-itis.    I have an archer-stealth character and so far have played the good guy, but am wondering if I shouldn't have gone with a Mage or fighter for my good character and saved the stealth like character for my evil play through.    

[Razgon]

Sounds like Raz has been hitting the absinthe again....

NAh....you'll see - when Shadowmere starts stalking you, YOU WILL SEE!!!

[shon]

Found an awesome mod if you are using a controller.  It allows you to have 8 hot key buttons.  It has instructions if you don't like how he set it up. http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=332

Here is my setup:
Back                  =  Favorites
Back + A Button  =  Wait
D-Pad                =  Hotkeys 1-4
D-Pad + A button =  Hotkeys 5-8

It works really well and I'm glad I found it, I couldn't use my keyboard with the controller except for the quicksave F5 key, and 2 hot keys really wasn't enough.
 
I've had this week off to play Skyrim and it hasn't disappointed.  My hands actually swell up by the time I goto bed.   Crazy......

[soulbringer]

I ran into what I think is a quest bug.  It's one of the Companion's Escaped Criminal quests, except this time there's no map marker, and I've scoured the town he's supposed to be wondering around in without any luck.  Has anyone experienced this?  I've done this type of quest before without a problem.  I'm wondering if the fugitive I'm supposed to kill met an early death courtesy of the Skyrim wildlife. 

Recheck your map.  Those criminals are always on the move and Ive seen him pop up pretty far away from where he was supposed to be. 

[Harkonis]

Look under your Active Effects.

Voice of the Sky just makes it so that for 24 game hours, no animals will attack or run from you.

I really recommend not attempting more than 1 crafting skill until your armor and weapon skills are up in their 40s or so. Doing so early just eats skill and perk points, and levels up monsters. As it stands, the stuff you can make early on with only a few perks put in crafting skills is easily eclipsed by the stuff you find while adventuring, and you won't have the combat ability to head into areas where the good resources are.

Wait until later once you get enough combat skills to even the playing field, and at later levels each crafting skill raise doesn't cause you to a level up as quickly. If you store away the stuff you find while adventuring, you'll have enough materials to really delve into the system.

I could have sworn I read that levelling up doesn't level up monsters like in the previous games.  Is this not true?  If so I may just stop playing because I truly despise that mechanic and stopped playing both Morrowind and Oblivion eventually because of the tedium it caused

[TiLT]

Look under your Active Effects.

Voice of the Sky just makes it so that for 24 game hours, no animals will attack or run from you.

I really recommend not attempting more than 1 crafting skill until your armor and weapon skills are up in their 40s or so. Doing so early just eats skill and perk points, and levels up monsters. As it stands, the stuff you can make early on with only a few perks put in crafting skills is easily eclipsed by the stuff you find while adventuring, and you won't have the combat ability to head into areas where the good resources are.

Wait until later once you get enough combat skills to even the playing field, and at later levels each crafting skill raise doesn't cause you to a level up as quickly. If you store away the stuff you find while adventuring, you'll have enough materials to really delve into the system.

I could have sworn I read that levelling up doesn't level up monsters like in the previous games.  Is this not true?  If so I may just stop playing because I truly despise that mechanic and stopped playing both Morrowind and Oblivion eventually because of the tedium it caused

Enemies definitely level up along with you, but they have maximum and minimum levels. In Oblivion, nearly all content was perfectly matched to your level all the time, which was an incredibly stupid design decision. In Skyrim there's a much larger range of encounters, so you will often stumble upon monsters way above your level (bosses meant for taking out later in the game, for example) or monster way below your level (like wolves while traveling between cities). The level scaling still leads to all kinds of problems, but it's not the same ones that Oblivion had.

Morrowind didn't have level scaling btw, so you've been deceiving yourself with that game.

Edit: Turns out Morrowind did have level scaling, but it was so subtle and rarely used that it would be more or less impossible to notice unless you know what to look for.

[CeeKay]

the Uber Map mod.  Skyrim's regular map not doing it for you?  make these changes for your own Google Skyrim.

[Turtle]

The uber map mod is insane, not so much the mod itself, but the fact that they basically just used the real map of Skyrim, just scaled as though you were high above it.

Also, I've accumulated way too many quests.

I did get an amulet of Mara though, the thing that lets you marry someone. Had my eye on Ysolda from Whiterun, although I'm disappointed that it really seems like just a few dialog blurbs and poof, you're married.

[Soulchilde]

I like how the map marks a location as cleared after you are done with it.  I also discovered that it is a good idea to look at items in your inventory no matter how trial they may be.  for example, in the Shroud Hearth Barrow

Spoiler for Hiden:

I got the sapphire claw that went in the door, but could not figure out which symbols needed to be showing to unlock it.  I spent about 15 minutes staring at the murals in the room, thinking there was a clue there, when it occurred to me to look at the claw.  sure enough the solution was engraved on it  

I thought the first quest made that clear  


Btw, I think I found a repeatable bug when enchanting an item it will give you the option of renaming.  if you rename it or exit out your keyboard commands will no longer work.  I had to hard reset my PC twice last night due to this

[metallicorphan]

I did get an amulet of Mara though, the thing that lets you marry someone. Had my eye on Ysolda from Whiterun, although I'm disappointed that it really seems like just a few dialog blurbs and poof, you're married.

ahh she is the one who wants a 'Mammoth Tusk',i think you may of got the wrong idea if you think Marrying her is the answer to that quest

[Soulchilde]

Btw, I suggest reading books as several quest seem to begin by only reading.  Currently, I am tracking down a legendary sword owned by a deceased Nord hero

[wonderpug]

I like how the map marks a location as cleared after you are done with it.  I also discovered that it is a good idea to look at items in your inventory no matter how trial they may be.  for example, in the Shroud Hearth Barrow

Spoiler for Hiden:

I got the sapphire claw that went in the door, but could not figure out which symbols needed to be showing to unlock it.  I spent about 15 minutes staring at the murals in the room, thinking there was a clue there, when it occurred to me to look at the claw.  sure enough the solution was engraved on it 

At that point you were supposed to:

Spoiler for Hiden:

read the journal of the treasure hunter who you got the claw from. It says something like "if you have the claw then the combination is in the palm of your hand..."

[Turtle]

It's also not the most secure of combinations systems. Only 3 symbols per ring and 3 rings only nets about 27 permutations. If someone is really stuck, they could get through that in not too long a chunk of time if they had the claw and couldn't figure it out.

[Soulchilde]

Anyone know how to remove custom map markers?   

[Morgul]

I would say the game is stable enough and the bugs are minor enough that it is worth playing right now.  From what I have read elsewhere, this is the least broken launch for a Bethesda game.

This is an understatement for sure. I've put in nearly 60 hours since launch (yes, seriously), and I've had exactly one CTD. And that was when I alt-tabbed out of the game. That's it.

There are some smaller issues and annoyances, but outright crashes are not part of it at all.

--

Tip of the day for those of you who are double-fisting magic: DON'T do it all the time! When you double-fist magic (pushing both mouse buttons at the same time, so you do the not-Hadoken animation), it costs 120% mana of normal (per hand), for only 105% of damage (per hand), plus the stun if you happen to have the perk.

It's a nice opener, or something to do if you need to take a step back from somebody, but for general casting, push one button then push the other a moment later to get both hands to cast individually. The minor damage bonus isn't worth the greater expenditure of magic in the end.

That even when you take the dual wield perk?  (I forget the name?)   Was that then a wasted perk?