Is Skyrim worth upgrading my PC?

From what I understand (and it isn't much) PC's can give you a better graphical experience. I also find the interface on PC's easier to handle and multitasking with things like the internet and music is easier for me. Cause of this, I like to have a PC that can play new games, so I can have all my entertainment bundled in to one package. That's just my preference though, if you prefer consoles then the above isn't really relevant.

Another thing is, I guess, it depends on how capable your current PC is. If it can play most new games decently, with Skyrim being the sole exception, then shelling out money for a new computer might be excessive. If you can't play anything new on it, then by upgrading you'll get more bang for your buck.

Also, omgthatgamelooksamazing. In accordance with my Jewishness, I won't buy it until it comes down twenty odd dollars, however.

 

My skill is in the 30's and I can still one shot a wolf on Adept difficulty. I'm not sure about this but I think (originally at least) if you hold it down for too long, you'll get fatigued. Don't quote me on it though, as I haven't tried it. But I seem to remember the devs talking about it pre-release. From what I've seen though, Archery is much more viable now than it was in Oblivion. I have an Archer follower (who's also my char's wife ) and she's pretty damn handy with a bow. Of course, having upgraded it to Legendary (the max level) helps.

If you have the willpower to wait, that would be wise as most of the annoying bugs would be ironed out by the time the price drops. Also, I agree about the PC version. Though I'm something of a console hater myself, at least in recent years. The ancient hardware is dragging us PC gamers down since 90% of all good games nowadays are console ports. Sad, but true.

I have a PS3 myself though, and there are some decent exclusive games on it. I just wish the new generation would come out soon. Imagine Skyrim if it was developed purely for the PC (and then downscaled and ported to consoles) or if it came out for the next-gen consoles. The game would look twice as good and sell even more.

Anyway, I might catch hell for this post. And that's fine, I've said my piece.

 

ya maybe i just suck at archery lol. anyway haven't had a need to retry archery yet. i'm basically playing a paladin so i just run in without sneaking and then heal up. i'm sure there might eventually be a ranged only dragon fight or something where i have to used archery.

i totally agree with you on pc though. i have it on ps3 and the graphics are less than impressive even compared to other ps3 games. with that being said i prefer gameplay over graphics anyway which this game definitely delivers the fun. i guess i've kinda given up on pc gaming. everything is designed for consoles now and pc is an afterthought.

 

I looked through the game guide today and read up on Archery, and it's perks. Seems just as good as melee, maybe better if you have a melee follower to get most of the aggro. I was going to make my third character a dual-wielding dagger rogue, but I'm probably going archer instead (with daggers for backup).

Gameplay trumps graphics any day, that's for sure. And most games these days do get neglected for the PC, if they even get released at all. But take heart, Steam reported almost 250 thousand Skyrim gamers at the same time this weekend - to put things in perspective the second place was MW3 with less than 80 thousand. Everyone I know who has Skyrim (and that's quite a few) bought it for the PC. I might know of one who has it on a console, but that's only a guess. I just know he has it.

PC gaming is coming back. Nvidia has released their sales figures for graphics cards and they've risen sharply these past five or so years. And when the new console generation comes out, the graphics (and gameplay in some cases) will rise to a bold new level yet again.

..At least for a few years.

 

I know a few games that are definitely still better for PC. I like my shooters on PC. The Dragon Age games are also way better for PC.

Skyrim looks great to me all ready. I have no idea how it could look nicer without loosing that nice fantastical animated quality but we'll see I guess. Graphics like this would have seemed impossible to me a few years ago.

 

Yeah I definitely agree there - I simply cannot play any FPS or RPG on a console, the controller is way too clunky. I need a mouse for aiming. Doesn't help that I use a Cyborg R.A.T. 7, perhaps the most comfortable gaming mouse on the market today (it's fully customizable for length, width etc. It also has a "sniper" button where holding it in lowers the sensitivity allowing you to fine aim quickly.

So a controller for me is out for all but arcade games, driving games (though I have a Logitech G25 wheel for those kinds of games) and the few 3rd person games that simply don't exist on the PC, like Red Dead Redemption (damn R* for not releasing that one on the PC - I bought a PS3 just for it and Gran Turismo 5).

Oh it can, and it does already! I've installed several texture / graphics mods. All of them simply improve upon the original files, and doesn't change much apart from the resolution. And I haven't noticed an FPS drop apart from in two of the cities. I've also tweaked the .ini file located in My Documents --> My Games --> Skyrim --> Skyrimprefs.ini. Enabled shadows for trees, doubled the resolution for water, and a few other tweaks.

The mods I've installed are:

1. Detailed Faces and No More Blocky Faces - This mod simply smoothes out faces and improves the general quality of the faces on all races.

2. Large Address Aware patch - This is a universal patch which allows applications to take advantage of 4 gb Ram instead of just 2. Skyrim is one of the games where it works. I have 12 gigs so this is a must-have. If you have 4 or more, this could be wise to consider.

3. Enhanced Night Sky - My personal favourite by far - this greatly improves the resolution of the sky without adding or removing anything. Install this, go far up north on a clear night and prepare to be amazed. I stood in awe for several minutes taking 5 screenshots of the sky the first time I really noticed it.

4. Vurt's Skyrim Flora Overhaul - This one improves the vegetation in the wilderness. Comes with 4 different color themes, and adds moss to trees. It's well made though, so worth trying out.

5. Enhanced Blood Textures - Simply improves the blood effects. Highly praised.

That's it so far. All of these (perhaps with the exception of the 4gb patch but google it and it can be found many places) can be found on TES Nexus. Just copy / paste the exact mod names given here. Link: http://skyrimnexus.com/

Good, reliable site, been a member there for years.

Tried inserting an image from my Steam screenshot library, but no luck. Posting the link instead, all my uploaded screens can be found there. The newest ones are with the graphics mods installed.

http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197974083400/screenshot/631857288000310539

 

My roommate and I have both been enjoying Skyrim. I've been playing a thief type using mostly archery sneak attacks and dual 1 hand when they get too close. I also sometimes use fire just cause I like watching them burn.

 

I got it on the 13th and have become immersed.

For the initial topic:
I'm playing it on Intel i7 930 @2.8GHz
12gig of ram @1600KHz
NVIDIA GForce 460 with 2gig of ram
Resolution: 1280 by 800
No overclocking.

When the game installed, it examined my system and recommended 'high quality' setting. I clicked OK. It has run smoothly without a single crash during five days of obsessive playing.

Modification: I installed the 'more than 2gig of ram to work with' mod mentioned earlier in the thread. Also tweaked the .ini file to reduce unnecessary mouse-lag. I've downloaded the improved face mod and the starfield mod, but am still too immersed in it to be bothered with further tweaking for a while.

When entering a new environment, there are only occasionally slowdowns as the buffer gets updated, and those are not enough to impede gameplay even when dealing with multiple characters.

MMB737 - I hope that is useful information



OK. In his absence, it looks like this thread has become 'The Skyrim Thread' in more general ways than tech specs and tweaks.

"Who is your character?" is one question which is getting asked here. It's far easier for me to tell y'all in the first person.

Hi, I'm Glenda, specialising in archery, sneak, and one-handed. My partner isLydia, also an archer and one-handed-skills swordswoman, but with zero skills in sneak. These days, she typically waits way back while I stealth and snipe as much as I can, then I bring her in when it's time to 'leave it all in the cage'. We're taking classes in magic at the college - residential course with emphasis on furthering research. Lydia seems to be more tolerant than enthusiastic. Don't get me wrong - I, too, prefer bow and sword, but in a realm of forces beyond the physical, I believe it is better to be well prepared. I suppose I'll have to be the magician for both of us. Bless.

Generally, at the end of a hard day's questing, we go back home, tidy away our loot in cupboards and drawers, get the armour off and sit in our fine robes, gazing at each other in the flickering firelight, or I sit and watch her while she sleeps. She's OK with that, but always wakes up when I try to lie next to her - when I go to sleep, she stands up to keep watch over me. Sometime, though, after a scary dungeon or tomb we're just tooooo ramped up to go to bed, so it's moonlit walks. There are a lot of funny types wandering around at night, so thank Dibella we know how to look after ourselves ("and each other" /Springer).
Lydia also has minor skills in passive aggression. Luckily she is not levelling up in those but still, I feel stung by those hurt 'Oh's', when it's obvious that my sword was nowhere near her; as I am by her assumption that I'm just trying to get her to carry my "burdens" when I'm only ever trying to give her upgraded equipment or check that she has enough arrows. Or to give her a new dress. Duh. To date, I tell you, I've slaved over a hot blacksmiths' forge until we're now kitted out with flawless steel armour, shields and swords, exquisite ork bows and ork arrows. Heck, I even gave her the special magically enhanced steel helmet while I have the ordinary one, because I'm better at thinking on my feet when defending against magic. Fact of the matter is that she keeps saying she'll die for me but for a long time it was the other way round as I got mullered saving HER ass. But, dangit, if her ass got lost in battle, I'd never forgive myself and this would all just seem like a game.

But hey, I've been learning to get over myself. As with all relationships, I've just needed to take the time to get to know her. These days, when I miss a chance to level up my archery skills because she's leapt in and slaughtered the beast for me, I just smile - it's a reminder that she's around and that I am not alone. Y'know, she and I have never talked .... I mean really talked, but I think that when she became my carl, she might not have realised fully how she was giving up, let's face it, a life of her own. As far as I am concerned, a bit of whimpering and guiltslinging is understandable. "She ain't heavy", and my god, she gives 100% when the chips are down and the fat is flying. And at the end of the day, as we sit gazing at each other in the firelight, remembering what we've been through together, we know that together we shall face the mysterious future.




..... Planet Earth calling and I'm back again.

Immersion: This gameworld runs smoothly enough and contains enough things that interrupt and overload my sense of 'I'm just sitting at the computer', that my active imagination 'sees' so many Dots that I can't help filling them until the dense web of connections gives me a reality-shift close to that guy in Avatar.

People who've been playing Deus Ex Evolution, you get an immediate sense of Farida Malik? For me, she became a very strong anchor as buddy and comrade who'd extract me from zones of conflict. Whatever I was going through, I knew she had my back. In Skyrim, I feel a world of difference between being in a tomb maze alone, and being there with Lydia. She makes it possible for me to project an incredible level of attentiveness as she follows and mirrors my every move, by my side, if I want, every inch of the way. She is at the same time my protector and my dependant: we are a team, which serves to anchor my real-world moral instincts into the game, which generalise to embrace the other characters until I strongly resent that there are no non-lethal takedowns. Having recently done my first runthrough of Deus Ex, I'd prefer to stun or anaesthetise robbers and warriors of different factions, hide their sleeping bodies, and simply inform the guards when we get back to town.



To finish on a lighter note: my other contribution is a piece of dramatic research which examines the implications of being DRAGONBORN. Put your coffee down and away from the monitor, now watch this:

 

Red-guard battle mage, specializing in sneak. I recently got the 15X dagger perk - they don't even know what hit 'em. I just joined the Dark Brotherhood. I go solo, no companions.

 

I finally got a copy of the game and I've been addicted. I'm a sneaky archer and I swear sniping people from afar (basically if I can see someone even at long distance, I can kill them) is the best part of the game. I'm high enough in sneak and archery that I can sneak into a room, kill everyone in three-four shots and then loot their bodies before anyone knows what is going on. I hardly have any melee fights and if I do I still use my bow. I get 3x crit shots on anyone while I'm hidden (plus 80% more powerful bow shots with talents) and that is usually enough to single shot anyone human.

I think I'll play a melee/fire mage next.

 

Oh my! I've been enjoying my Ork concentrating on smithing and 2h. The only problem is my light armour is leveling very slowly because most things dont live through that first power attack with my warhammer. HULK SMASH!!!!!

 

i basically tried to roleplay a paladin as well. i'm finding some parts are almost impossible because i dont have sneaking, archery/ranged attacks, or like to do 'non-paladin like' events. it's not working out and i'm going to have to pick up archery and most of the main quests make you do non-paladin like things.

sometimes the difficulty seems messed up. i go around one or 2 shotting mobs then the next dungeon i have to escape within an inch of my life.

 

Get in a fight with something low level and use your healing, let it beat on you and just push it back when it gets near you and you are low on strength. As long as you can keep your health up, you get free lvl ups on armor. Also blocking if you feel like using a shield.

 

My fiancée is in love with this game.

Apparently, it's the ultimate game and worth more than all the kittens, penguins and pandas of the internet put together.

 

They did an excellent job on the archery mechanics compared to previous games. I am looking forward to getting the slow time archery perk. If they had some slow motion "bullet time" cut scenes on a kill shots I doubt I would ever use anything other than a bow.

 

My Lydia's decided to become fully fledged battlemage. Two handed battle hammer and I have my work cut out refilling her magic staffs. She only gets the bow out when those pesky dragons get in our faces. They are like mosquitoes ... but a bit bigger. I've really settled into being the stealth archer who goes in first and clears out as much as I can. I'm trying to give her as little work as possible, because she has no idea of dodging danger - an adept destruction magician has her on her knees in seconds. At those times, I do what I can at close quarters with the bow, then whip out the sword and shield and wish 'em a mêlée Christmas.

We get on well together - put up with each other's stoopid foibles. We're running hell for leather to some battle zone, and I suddenly see blue butterflies and off I go. Let's catch the butterflies ... they'll go into some health Potion. Lydia, on the other hand, takes as much time as she likes to go jihad on the ass of some unreachable slaugherfish that happens to be in the river we were crossing on the way to something important. I'm standing on the shore, kicking my heels, while she is wading about hollering "I'll kill you if I have to". I thought I'd speed things up by killing it myself, until I realized that when swimming, you can't get to your weapons. No wonder she was contenting herself with shouting abuse.

Remixer .. Hi I hope things are going well with your project and OK with her.