Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

[Ironwood]

Faces were always crap.  That's a given.  But my experience of the landscape and countryside and even the dungeons was graphical loveliness.  I honestly thought I was on to a winner when I loaded it up.

And then, Dear God.

[Ingmar]

It was certainly a pretty game for its era (models aside), especially once you added a couple mods to fix some of the iffy draw distance issues and such.

[Sky]

Well, I certainly gushed when I first played the game. And I probably got my box price worth out of it. But I do remember it being really ugly if you look up from your feet very far, I'm a fan of scenic vistas and whatnot. I didn't post a face, because as IW says, too easy. Which is what had me hopeful for the new one, faces look decent.

Tempted to load up Oblivion +mods for a spin through. I guess OOO is standard, what else should I be looking for (I've never modded Oblivion, soo....newbler).

[Ingmar]

Sheepherder will probably sperge out about mods now that you've asked, all I did at the time was grab a couple of the recommended ones from some Penny Arcade front page post, mostly ones to make it prettier.

[Sky]

I did check the mod wiki and saw that OOO seems necessary, then some other one that adds a shitload of new mobs. Then I'd want the pretty textures and whatnot, and I got to mod installers and handlers and proper installation order and said fuck it, I'm going to play minecraft.

[Sheepherder]

Sheepherder will probably sperge out about mods now that you've asked, all I did at the time was grab a couple of the recommended ones from some Penny Arcade front page post, mostly ones to make it prettier.

I actually don't download too many mods.  If something annoys me I usually fix it myself.

You should download something that unfucks the way you level up and gain health so you aren't tempted to min/max.  I can't recommend anything, because the last mods of this flavour I tried raped my character's stats.  This is why I fix my own shit from now on.

OOO is not required.  It is nice.  That being said, there's not too much you can pair with OOO without getting hairy conflicts.  If you do install OOO, beware that it is designed to crush your balls in a vice at level 1, and if you're not gaming the shit out of the system thing might get very hard.

Necessary:

Archive Invalidation Invalidated - Bugfix.  Fixes a retarded engine bug which fucks up modded textures.
Unofficial Oblivion Patch - Bugfix.

QOL Changes:

Streamline - Optimization.  More FPS by calling the PurgeCellBuffer function from a script at appropriate times.
DarNified UI - UI.  This one doesn't look like shit.
Timeslip's Page. - Mod Manager. Also some shader replacements.
Quest Award Leveller - Unique items with multiple levels upgrade as you level up.
Dude Where's My Horse - Purpose should be obvious.  Sometimes they go missing.

Fun:

Realistic Ragdolls and Force - Because gravity is apparently not very consistent in vanilla.
Guide to texture overhauls.

[Stormwaltz]

If you're a arr-pee nerd, browse Delte's list of Immersion Mods.

http://sites.google.com/site/delteslist/

I have a set of environment graphics mods I use, but I don't have them at work. I'll try to remember to post them tonight.

I would recommend a utility called BOSS (Better Oblivion Sorting Software), which eliminates a lot of conflicts by choosing the best load order for your mods.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=20516

[Sky]

I would recommend a utility called BOSS (Better Oblivion Sorting Software), which eliminates a lot of conflicts by choosing the best load order for your mods.

Cool, that where I started to zone out on the wiki. Seemed like a lot of work to play an old game.

[Sheepherder]

That's the price you pay for overhaul mods.

[Sky]

That's the price you pay for overhaul mods.

I tend to go with not playing games that require that amount of work to be good.

[Sheepherder]

Lazy.

[rk47]

Faces were always crap.  That's a given.  But my experience of the landscape and countryside and even the dungeons was graphical loveliness.  I honestly thought I was on to a winner when I loaded it up.

And then, Dear God.

Mods will fix it...and rape it.

 

[Simond]

Vital mods for Obliviion:
* Unofficial bugfix patch
* One of the "Let's get rid of this retarded levelling mechanic shit" ones.

Anything else is just icing.

[Sand]

That's the price you pay for overhaul mods.

I tend to go with not playing games that require that amount of work to be good.

That reminds me of temple of doom.

[Malakili]

PC Gamer: We’ve heard about the Radiant Story system ensuring a kidnap victim is someone you’ve already met. Can you give any other examples of stuff you’ve seen it do, maybe stuff that surprised you?

Todd Howard: Let’s see… something that was good lately – but this was a bug – lately we realised that chickens were reporting crimes. I found that very funny. That was just last week: “Why are we getting caught?” “Oh, the chickens are reporting the crimes!”

http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/10/30/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-todd-howard-interview/

Well, at least they caught this particular bug BEFORE release. 

[Meester]

Ah Oblivion. I spent more time downloading mods for it than actually playing it. I never could work up the appetite to get into it properly [probably due to the ugly faces].

Best ones for me though were qarls textures, alongside open cities [so no loading screens apart from one or two of the main imperial city part] and the AWLS which stands for Animated Window Lighting System and Chimneys which also included Shivering Isle support. Immersive Interiors might work too with those ones. I like the nighttime and dungeon actors holding torches mod too alongside drop lit torches. Stuff like wyre bash and cobl are required for some mods, BOSS and the ever needed Oblivion Mod Manager [OBMM]. The alternate start is pretty good too. No more Patrick Stewart!

I'll buy Skyrim, I just hope it gives me more desire to play it than Oblivion! Wonder if i'll acquire 100+ mods for skyrim too? Bet the first mod will be a nude one :D

[Paelos]

Chickens reporting crimes would make sense in Fable.

So very much sense.

[Sheepherder]

Well, at least they caught this particular bug BEFORE release. 

"Hey, what does this setting called responsibility do?  Whatever, 50 it is, I'll change it later if I need to."

[Murgos]

Ah Oblivion. I spent more time downloading mods for it than actually playing it.

This.  Except debugging mod compatibility took even longer than downloading.

[Surlyboi]

I spent more time looking for a way to use Fallout 3 weapons in Oblivion than actually playing oblivion.

[NowhereMan]

My Morrowind playthrough involved almost a week downloading and testing mods to get the game to the point where it was stressing my newly upgraded rig. Sadly the combat was still boring as hell, which is a shame because I love the world.

[MournelitheCalix]

Bethesda games on a whole have terrible stories and terrible "choices.". As a customer of theirs though I don't expect that from them Bethesda games are free worlds with hundreds of meaningless locations to explore and that to me is the draw of their games.  I do not expect that skyrim will differ significantly.  I do however hope I am wrong as more choice in interactions would greatly help thing IMHO.

[Sky]

I'll be happy if it works ok, the UI is decent and the graphics don't suck ass on the pc. 

BAR SET HIGH

Though I'm weak and will buy it. I mean, vikings. C'mon.

[Paelos]

Though I'm weak and will buy it. I mean, vikings. C'mon.

We need Sjofn to come in and yell HERE COME THE NORSE, BITCHES!

[Sky]

Anyone hear of any pre-order deals?

Seems pretty steeply priced to not give a 10% deal for pre-orders. Or some DLC. Or something!

Also, anyone have a Steam pre-order? Wondering about pre-load window (or availability).

[Stormwaltz]

Though I'm weak and will buy it. I mean, vikings. C'mon.

And you can be a werewolf in this one.

http://au.pc.gamespy.com/pc/elder-scrolls-v/1211758p1.html

[rattran]

Being as werewolf is Daggerfall was the best part of the game. I wish this wasn't releasing on a Friday, seems an odd choice (except for the date thing)

[NiX]

Being as werewolf is Daggerfall was the best part of the game. I wish this wasn't releasing on a Friday, seems an odd choice (except for the date thing)

Why is Friday weird? Works for me. Then I have all weekend to play.

[rattran]

I have all weekend to work  And releases are traditionally Tuesday.

[Ginaz]

Its a good thing Batman has been pushed back another week on the PC.  I'd lose my mind trying to decided between playing that or Skyrim.

[Kitsune]

I took the Newegg pre-order sale a couple months back that had it at $48 with free shipping.  Haven't heard of any preorder discounts since.  Now I'm just hoping that they ship it to arrive on Friday instead of hosing people and not shipping until the store date.

[Sky]

I just did a tour of the usual suspects and didn't see anything good. Kind of a stingy launch, I guess I'm getting used to getting some kind of pre-order swag DLC or something.

[Hawkbit]

All that stuff is in the collector's, man.  It's only $150...

I'm guessing they know they don't need to discount it because everyone is going to buy it anyways. 

[CaptainNapkin]

The only thing I saw was a $10 gift card with purchase at Target, which is really only a deal if you shop there anyway. My wife wants the box, I'll probably Steam it.

[taolurker]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50u0zUeCmU&feature=player_embedded