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Skyrim: New(er) Screenshots and Previews
- Thread starter Blue Ninja
- Start date
Blue Ninja
Member
Eh, let's just say the day I had more than made up for that.JambiBum said:
Tengen said:
Yes, I don't know if it's the smartest decision to hold back all PC media so that console gamers don't feel impotent or whatever the idea is. Look at BF3's marketing campaign, which fully leveraged its PC-lead visuals to sell mostly console copies.
Blue Ninja
Member
I played Skyrim.JambiBum said:Now you have to explain.
Unless you really don't want to
No I didn't, I had a great day with the GF.
Blue Ninja
Member
Nick, now that we have that 'Making of'-trailer, you'd better make sure we get a launch trailer, too, or my OT layout is ruined. RUINED!
Blue Ninja
Member
Hey now, chicks just dig monkey nords.Stahsky said:
Glad I didn't see the stream. I saw the opening of the game, that's more than enough until next thursday.
I desperately want a soundtrack, though.
The Lamonster
Member
I feel kind of dirty just for watching the first 20 minutes.
Blue Ninja
Member
The first 20 minutes are nothing, they only scratch the surface. I'm gonna be counting down the hours 'till I can play it exactly one week from now. Crazy.
Blue Ninja said:
Only part I watch at length was the dungeon already shown. Glad to say though, there was plenty left unseen by Todd's demo.
Glad though, because the streams looked fantastic while the intro video was crap and craptured craptastically. I was always down day 1, but the small dip in my hype has come back up.
The 11-11-11 date is great for marketing and all, but I still wish this game was releasing on a Tuesday like a normal release. Then again, for most of us, The next Elder Scrolls is far from being just a normal release. Jesus, I feel like an impatient child waiting for this game.
Piercedveil
Member
ironcreed said:
Eh, I'm kind of happy about it being on a Friday. I'll get all weekend with it that way instead of doing a little at a time during the rest of the week.
Piercedveil
Member
ironcreed said:
Can't argue with that lol. I just want to play already!
Blue Ninja
Member
Well, I'm confining myself to this thread and stuff I get from people I trust.
Speaking of which, you guys seen the perk list GamePro posted yet? It doesn't seem complete yet
, but the ones it does have are pretty awesome.
Oh, and I'm (normally) getting it next thursday already.
Speaking of which, you guys seen the perk list GamePro posted yet? It doesn't seem complete yet
one-handed only has four perks, lockpicking only one, and light armor none so far
Oh, and I'm (normally) getting it next thursday already.
Here're a bunch of notes from the Russian man's stream - which was, while infuriating at times with his blundering along, absolutely adorable. I loved hearing Russian while watching Skyrim. For all intents and purposes, I'm redefining "draconic" as "badass/awesome/great/pretty tight, dude." Minor spoilers are just little things without context; major spoilers have context/locations/names/etc.
NON-SPOILERS - THE DRACONIC
-The dungeon the first half of the stream focused on (
) was long, visually interesting, and had multiple mini-bosses. Much better than Oblivion, although see the personal opinion section below
-A helm had a really cool ridged design (not sure if Norwegian Ridgeback or not)
-When walking into a shop with weapons at the ready, the shopkeeper told the player to put his weapons down, lest he need them
-Quest markers appear in the game world; if you need to loot a body, the marker will hover above the body (not sure if you can toggle this in the options for full immersion folks); on a related note, hovering over quest markers on location/world maps will tell you the objective
-Loading is fairly quick on the 360; you can interact with the item it displays, moving it like models in the inventory. There seems to be much more lore this time around as opposed to game tips. It might be contextual; the player
and his next loading screen talked about them
-Health regen seems perfect. It's slow enough to warrant healing if you're actually hurt, but it helps tide you over if you got scratched by a rat or trap or something - you won't have to bother switching to a healing spell, which would be more annoying given the new 2-hand setup compared to Oblivion's separate cast key
-The stealth eye cursor that shows how detected you are is really sexy and fluid
-Harvesting flora visibly changes the plant
-Oh hey draw distance! 360 version let you see a good ways out; no distant building LOD, but you could see
NON-SPOILERS - THE DRACONIC
-The dungeon the first half of the stream focused on (
Bleak Falls Barrow
-A helm had a really cool ridged design (not sure if Norwegian Ridgeback or not)
-When walking into a shop with weapons at the ready, the shopkeeper told the player to put his weapons down, lest he need them
-Quest markers appear in the game world; if you need to loot a body, the marker will hover above the body (not sure if you can toggle this in the options for full immersion folks); on a related note, hovering over quest markers on location/world maps will tell you the objective
-Loading is fairly quick on the 360; you can interact with the item it displays, moving it like models in the inventory. There seems to be much more lore this time around as opposed to game tips. It might be contextual; the player
met some Companions
-Health regen seems perfect. It's slow enough to warrant healing if you're actually hurt, but it helps tide you over if you got scratched by a rat or trap or something - you won't have to bother switching to a healing spell, which would be more annoying given the new 2-hand setup compared to Oblivion's separate cast key
-The stealth eye cursor that shows how detected you are is really sexy and fluid
-Harvesting flora visibly changes the plant
-Oh hey draw distance! 360 version let you see a good ways out; no distant building LOD, but you could see
a dragon fighting almost imperceptible soldiers from the top of a tower[/b]; non-spoiler version: the draw distance is solid, fear not
NON-SPOILERS - THE NOTEWORTHY
-All robes seem to increase magicka regen by 50%; they're no longer just for show
-Purchasing items doesn't obscure the shopkeep anymore, you see them between the item list and the model/description
-You can review old location maps by clicking on the world map nodes
-Upon talking to a shopkeeper again after completing a quest for him, he congratulated the player again
-You can still place markers on the world map
-The first dungeon gained the player over three levels
-Dual-wielding spells appears to have multiple poses when overcasting
-There are difficulty settings, although I didn't see the system menu
-Your armor rattles while sprinting
-It's difficult to swim against the current
-Battle cries from NPCs are subtitled
-Sprinting is great, and it seems to really reward stamina-pumpers. Stamina was drained quickly by power attacks and sprinting
-Dual-wielding maces kills enemies right quick
-Camera goes to third-person killcam when you die
-Doors you activate that take you to a different map open slightly, instead of just playing a sound effect over the loading screen like in Oblivion
NON-SPOILERS - THE MUDCRABS
-At shops, you have to buy a spell tome, then afterward learn its spell within the menu. While I understand that this is so they can drop tomes in the dungeons as loot, it feels like the extra step at shops might be annoying
-Shops looked like a clusterfuck of items lumped into a list; I think that the player was only looking at the All category, however; don't take my word on this
-Your own flame, from setting world objects/floors on fire, doesn't harm you. Some people might not care; good for you, I suppose
-Player complained about jumping, saying that it didn't work well; we'll have to see when we play, it looked fine visually (much better than Oblivion)
-He also complained about the interface with a 360 controller; watching it, it seemed just fine. Your mileage may vary; the player can't wait to play it on PC instead
-The health potion visual effect looks incredibly annoying; it's a white whirlwind around the player. Really silly given how you drink potions while paused!
-Bludgeoning finishing moves didn't always appear to connect; the animation played and damage was dealt and all that, but the mace didn't quite make contact with the foe 2/3 times it occurred
-A dude totally melting right through a door instead of opening it. It was gross and depressing
SPOILERS - THE DRACONIC
Minor:
Major:
SPOILERS - THE NOTEWORTHY
Minor:
Major:
SPOILERS - THE CLIFF RACERS
Minor:
Major:
MY PERSONAL THOUGHTS
-The writing was, in my opinion, quite good. It had a gritty fantasy feel, as if an novelist wrote it, as opposed to a random quest designer. I liked listening to people talk to each other
-While I thought some of the voices in the leaked intro were terrible, I really liked most of the voices in the stream. The accents! Mmmmmm
-The dungeon ran through (
) was story-related, it turned out later on. This might have been Radiant Storytelling, but when a story quest pointed there it made sense: the story quest was right before
-Upon leaving the first dungeon and arriving at a sheer cliff face with the task of getting down, the commentator said "I feel like I'm going to die, y'know?" It was adorable and terrific in terms of how immersive this new world is hopefully going to be for us as well
-Lucan in Riverwood is hot
-I feel like initial level gain is ridiculously fast - this does, however, let the player quickly start perking and statting up their preferred play style. Power to the player, I guess
-I'm a big fan of the equipment variety; there seem to be interesting effects now, like certain robes lowering Alteration magicka costs directly (instead of via skill level, a la Oblivion)
Well, hope that's enough!
NON-SPOILERS - THE NOTEWORTHY
-All robes seem to increase magicka regen by 50%; they're no longer just for show
-Purchasing items doesn't obscure the shopkeep anymore, you see them between the item list and the model/description
-You can review old location maps by clicking on the world map nodes
-Upon talking to a shopkeeper again after completing a quest for him, he congratulated the player again
-You can still place markers on the world map
-The first dungeon gained the player over three levels
-Dual-wielding spells appears to have multiple poses when overcasting
-There are difficulty settings, although I didn't see the system menu
-Your armor rattles while sprinting
-It's difficult to swim against the current
-Battle cries from NPCs are subtitled
-Sprinting is great, and it seems to really reward stamina-pumpers. Stamina was drained quickly by power attacks and sprinting
-Dual-wielding maces kills enemies right quick
-Camera goes to third-person killcam when you die
-Doors you activate that take you to a different map open slightly, instead of just playing a sound effect over the loading screen like in Oblivion
NON-SPOILERS - THE MUDCRABS
-At shops, you have to buy a spell tome, then afterward learn its spell within the menu. While I understand that this is so they can drop tomes in the dungeons as loot, it feels like the extra step at shops might be annoying
-Shops looked like a clusterfuck of items lumped into a list; I think that the player was only looking at the All category, however; don't take my word on this
-Your own flame, from setting world objects/floors on fire, doesn't harm you. Some people might not care; good for you, I suppose
-Player complained about jumping, saying that it didn't work well; we'll have to see when we play, it looked fine visually (much better than Oblivion)
-He also complained about the interface with a 360 controller; watching it, it seemed just fine. Your mileage may vary; the player can't wait to play it on PC instead
-The health potion visual effect looks incredibly annoying; it's a white whirlwind around the player. Really silly given how you drink potions while paused!
-Bludgeoning finishing moves didn't always appear to connect; the animation played and damage was dealt and all that, but the mace didn't quite make contact with the foe 2/3 times it occurred
-A dude totally melting right through a door instead of opening it. It was gross and depressing
SPOILERS - THE DRACONIC
Minor:
-A quest character walked around, rallying up troops to go fight a dragon; it seems that between key points of a quest, following characters around will be rather interesting
-Lots of cool traps, from swinging blades to spiked slamming doors
-Reanimation! Holy shit you can make undead bandits, chickens, elk - likely anything (except dragons)
-The difficulty seems challenging yet not overwhelming in the early game, at least in Bleak Falls Barrow
-Lots of mini-bosses, it appears
-Heard wolves in the distance before they attacked
-There are houses, stables, farms, etc. surrounding at least one city, unlike just stables in Oblivion
-There seems to be a lot more random/semi-random dialogue between specific NPCs, where they call each other by name and talk about quest events and whatnot
-Lots of cool traps, from swinging blades to spiked slamming doors
-Reanimation! Holy shit you can make undead bandits, chickens, elk - likely anything (except dragons)
-The difficulty seems challenging yet not overwhelming in the early game, at least in Bleak Falls Barrow
-Lots of mini-bosses, it appears
-Heard wolves in the distance before they attacked
-There are houses, stables, farms, etc. surrounding at least one city, unlike just stables in Oblivion
-There seems to be a lot more random/semi-random dialogue between specific NPCs, where they call each other by name and talk about quest events and whatnot
Major:
-The Bleak Falls Barrow spider miniboss is a weakened version, and it's still quite powerful. I'm horrified to meet them in the wild; it drops immediately-usable venom that, I believe, deals cold damage (which means that it likely also reduces stamina)
-The Whiterun dragon attack, part of the story quest line (and very early for you earnest dragon slayers), features a named dragon, Murmilnir(?). It looks a lot like the one in the intro, and it's said that the intro dragon was flying toward Whiterun - my bet is that the Helgen assailant is not Alduin, but Murmimlmnir
-A traveling caravan helped topple the dragon
-Pretty sure that Dragur Overlord used a shout
-OMFG Whiterun's surrounding region is gorgeous
-Irileth, the head of Whiterun's guard/bodyguard to the Jarl (I think) is a Dunmer in a leadership role
-The Whiterun dragon attack, part of the story quest line (and very early for you earnest dragon slayers), features a named dragon, Murmilnir(?). It looks a lot like the one in the intro, and it's said that the intro dragon was flying toward Whiterun - my bet is that the Helgen assailant is not Alduin, but Murmimlmnir
-A traveling caravan helped topple the dragon
-Pretty sure that Dragur Overlord used a shout
-OMFG Whiterun's surrounding region is gorgeous
-Irileth, the head of Whiterun's guard/bodyguard to the Jarl (I think) is a Dunmer in a leadership role
SPOILERS - THE NOTEWORTHY
Minor:
-Call to Arms spell raises a companion's stealth ability, health and stamina; sounds better than that morale spell in Oblivion
-There were multiple interesting-looking items labeled "burial urn <empty>" that the player ignored; perhaps you can hold remains in there to animate later?
-Soul gems return; at least one in the stream came with a petty soul
-You have to charge up Ward spells to get them to full effectiveness; Wards resist set amounts of damage as well as providing a lasting barrier effect based on a percentage
-Fireball explodes again after impact
-Ancient Nordic War Axe of Cold deals bonus cold damage to Health and Stamina
-Dragons make you HURT, unless you let your six+ soldier buddies fight it for you
-There were multiple interesting-looking items labeled "burial urn <empty>" that the player ignored; perhaps you can hold remains in there to animate later?
-Soul gems return; at least one in the stream came with a petty soul
-You have to charge up Ward spells to get them to full effectiveness; Wards resist set amounts of damage as well as providing a lasting barrier effect based on a percentage
-Fireball explodes again after impact
-Ancient Nordic War Axe of Cold deals bonus cold damage to Health and Stamina
-Dragons make you HURT, unless you let your six+ soldier buddies fight it for you
Major:
-The player had an "Amulet of Talos" in his Apparel inventory; it was equipped but I never had to chance to see what it did. Perhaps it's part of the intro quest, a call-back to the Amulet of Kings? Is it the Amulet of Kings?
-Dungeons have puzzles based on investigating quest items, looking around you, and hopefully more. They seemed simple but thematic with their icons, so hopefully they're used for world building beyond Bleak Falls Barrow
-Dragur actually yell out their shouts, including subtitles
-The first word wall dropped Relentless Force, not Storm Call, like in Todd Howard's demo
-There is situational dialogue for using your first shout on your soldier helpers
-You can meet members of the Companions out in the wild, doing stuff (or maybe it was 100% scripted, but I'm unsure); the warriors had names, in fact, pretty much every single NPC had a name
-Dungeons have puzzles based on investigating quest items, looking around you, and hopefully more. They seemed simple but thematic with their icons, so hopefully they're used for world building beyond Bleak Falls Barrow
-Dragur actually yell out their shouts, including subtitles
-The first word wall dropped Relentless Force, not Storm Call, like in Todd Howard's demo
-There is situational dialogue for using your first shout on your soldier helpers
-You can meet members of the Companions out in the wild, doing stuff (or maybe it was 100% scripted, but I'm unsure); the warriors had names, in fact, pretty much every single NPC had a name
SPOILERS - THE CLIFF RACERS
Minor:
-The player had issues navigating Bleak Falls Barrow, complaining of its length and complexity - he also had to backtrack because he forgot to pick up an item
-By the end of Bleak Falls Barrow, the player had an armor rate of 88. Obviously it's not a percentage any more; what does it mean? It seems so arcane now
-The poses for some scenes were just too stiff, despite having animation to them; still better than Oblivion, but not perfect
-By the end of Bleak Falls Barrow, the player had an armor rate of 88. Obviously it's not a percentage any more; what does it mean? It seems so arcane now
-The poses for some scenes were just too stiff, despite having animation to them; still better than Oblivion, but not perfect
Major:
-Where there was a frost troll in the Todd Howard demo, the ice bridge in Bleak Falls Barrow just held a lone Dragur. So much for THAT battle (unless it was scaled up, since Todd had 999 in all stats in that demo)
-Near Whiterun there is a place called "Battle-Born Farm," apparently part of a turf/family war; it is one of the stupidest location names I've seen in any game
-Near Whiterun there is a place called "Battle-Born Farm," apparently part of a turf/family war; it is one of the stupidest location names I've seen in any game
MY PERSONAL THOUGHTS
-The writing was, in my opinion, quite good. It had a gritty fantasy feel, as if an novelist wrote it, as opposed to a random quest designer. I liked listening to people talk to each other
-While I thought some of the voices in the leaked intro were terrible, I really liked most of the voices in the stream. The accents! Mmmmmm
-The dungeon ran through (
Bleak Falls Barrow
fighting your first dragon (I am pretty sure this quest "unlocks" random dragon encounters, unsure), thus getting your first soul; the dungeon houses a word of power, so... yeah, it all fits together
-Lucan in Riverwood is hot
-I feel like initial level gain is ridiculously fast - this does, however, let the player quickly start perking and statting up their preferred play style. Power to the player, I guess
-I'm a big fan of the equipment variety; there seem to be interesting effects now, like certain robes lowering Alteration magicka costs directly (instead of via skill level, a la Oblivion)
Well, hope that's enough!
Blue Ninja
Member
How about giving us the game now? Then we have a whole week and the weekend to play!gstaff said:
If not, I'll settle for that Dovahkiin helmet. 
Piercedveil
Member
Honestly, I'm excited for the OT also lol.
Blue Ninja
Member
I think it looks pretty awesome.Piercedveil said:
I hope I'm not the only one who'll think that. :lol
I'm especially proud of the lore sections I wrote. If I have time, I may even expand upon it.
Piercedveil
Member
So are we 100% sure there are NO high-res textures for PC? I saw someone ask but I don't know if it was answered.
I have two questions, possibly for nickbreckon, but I'll take any fairly certain answer. I'm spoil tagging it based only what I saw on that 20 minute intro video posted on Kotaku and elsewhere, and on various previews I read. I don't know how sensitive some of you are.
1. Regarding difficulty.
2. I was looking forward to making a character that doesn't kill people.
1. Regarding difficulty.
I've been hearing in this thread and elsewhere that the game is looking like things die pretty easily. I want to feel like a worthless little sh*t at the beginning of the game, and build up from there. Does anyone know if the into section has special tutorial stats for the enemies so they drop like flies? Or if hard mode is actually difficult, or if everyone is playing it on easy? I liked being afraid to confront a guard or something, but in the intro, they are total pushovers, and previews had people slaughtering whole towns.
2. I was looking forward to making a character that doesn't kill people.
Does it appear that this is possible in the intro? Will I have to put it on easy and let the AI buddy kill? Is this something that is possible? I feel a bit disappointed that I may not be able to live by the thief's code from the beginning.
Blue Ninja
Member
Eh, I can wear it while playing, up the realism a bit more. Plus, it'll be a hit with the lady.gstaff said:
:lol
blahblah...blah
Member
nickbreckon said:
This card gave you decent performance, wondering how an ATI 5670 would compare? A quick Google suggests the 8800GT is superior, but if I can run BF3 at 30fps on low settings, presumably I can handle Skyrim at decent settings too? If anyone knows about how the two cards perform, etc., I would appreciate it.
Piercedveil
Member
Snuggler said:
The game is obviously already amazing looking, so I am okay with that. I have doubt that Bethesda would do that, but you never know. High resolution textures would definitely be a nice bonus for PC, though.