The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | VR (Vive/PSVR)

[miokomioko]

I'm fully expecting an in-game reference to horse armor.

[BadKarma]

I'm fully expecting an in-game reference to horse armor.

Was about to say the same thing

[Guitarman]

If it's anything like the size of oblivion's expansion pack i'm sold. Fucking loved it.

[Chrian]

I wonder if they'll fix "ALL" the bugs instead of that super bugfix pack that only modders were ever able to deliver
like in oblivion.

[Guitarman]

as long as the bugs dont ruin gameplay, i hope they keep em in. I loved jumping on paintbrushes.

[Kaelan?]

I don't even care about bugs that much if mods can eventually fix them anyway, I just hope the modding support is better than it was in Oblivion.

I hate the fact that their mod integration tool was so crappy that people had to do a bunch of work and make their own, just so that you can actually package mod files into a single compressed file and just pass that to the mod tool, rather than manually copy-pasting a ton of shit inside your Data folder, then dealing with mod conflicts by hand and all that crap.

[vrumpt]

Theres the possibility that this new engine is less prone to bugs than the old one, since the old one was like 10 years old or something. In the end wasn't the FO3 engine just a heavily modified engine that started in morrowind, or am i mistaken?

[Purrrfect]

Offtopic, but what do I get for Oblivion since I just dl'd it off steam and know nothing about game mods?

[Yuri-G]

I asked the same question on gamefaqs. here is the thread:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/92436...ivion/59453965

and my personal favorites so far (your tastes may vary), because I love modding Oblivion and discussing it whenever I get a chance:
- OOO (Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul). adds a fair amount of new items and monsters. rebalances the game and makes it more challenging, yet rewarding. doesn't add as much new content as some overhaul mods but does a really good job of rebalancing the difficulty.
- if you want tons of new monsters and items though, you may want to look at Martigen's Monster Mod or Francesco's something-or-other (forget the name, just google "Francesco Oblivion"). I think these work together, but I'm not sure.
- if you're up for a challenge, FCOM combines all of the above and more, but it's very annoying to install - a major headache and defininitely not for beginners. I installed it recently and I'm really glad that I spent a few weeks with OOO first, because it's frustrating as shit trying to get it to work right. it's the most comprehensive overhaul I know of, but it's equally difficult to install, so beware.
- there is also a major overhaul mod called Warycry New Dimension which adds tons upon tons of new shit, but doesn't really keep the feel of the original game (for example, new monsters can spawn anywhere - imagine giant dinosaurs eating imperial guards on the Imperial Isle. cool, but not really my thing). so that's another thought. generally, I would stick with one major overhaul mod for now, but it's up to you. keep in mind that the more shit you add, the more complicated it will be to get it all working together.
- Oblivion Mod Manager. useful for, what else, managing mods. this is the primary tool for a beginner. not sure if it works with steam but I think so. note that there are other tools - BOSS, Wrye Bash - that are more expert-oriented, but also more powerful. it's up to you if you want to try them. I'd recommend against it, at least for now... they aren't necessary for most people.
- OBSE (Oblivion Script Extender). necessary for many mods. does nothing itself, but you need it, so get it.
- OBGE (Oblivion Graphics Extender). adds so many custom shaders, and has downloadble plugins for stuff like better water, better skies, etc. the only real tool for enhancing the graphics on a large scale.
- for bodies/faces, there are many options. I tried xeosp, and I stopped there because I LOVE it. very high quality. but it's anime-oriented, so your mileage may vary. there are plenty of other options if you don't fancy the idea of seeing FF-look-alike characters running around Cyrodiil.
- for magic, I use Supreme Magicka, for one reason and one reason only: LEVITATE <3. it also adds tons of new effects and rebalances magic overall, making it much more useful but not overpowered (imo).
- for leveling, I use Oblivion XP, which seems to be the community favorite. it does away with normal skill-ups and changes everything to an XP-based system. adjustable if you think it's too easy or too hard to level up. highly recommended, but there are other options.
- Unique Landscapes Compilation. GET THIS. SO FUCKING GOOD. it makes Cyrodiil a much more interesting place to explore, and the new landscapes are so well-done that you'll never even realize you're playing a mod - they fit in with the feel of Cyrodiil extremely well. I cannot recommend this one enough!

I haven't used much in the way of new inventory mods, quest mods, or monster mods, so I can't give you any advice there, but there are tons of them listed on that link I posted. so if you're into that, take a look. I also don't play fighter characters much so I haven't tried any of those mods yet, but I hear good things about Deadly Reflex.

I also tried out Better Cities and really did not like it. try it out, it can't hurt, but I thought it made the cities just look cluttered with too many new buildings and bridges and other shit. the new stuff just didn't seem to fit into the city layout for most cities.

that's just scratching the surface, really. there are so many options. keep in mind that the more you add, the more likely they will conflict, just a warning. that link I posted is a good start. have fun!

[Yuri-G]

hmm, reading that over it sounds like a bit much, so let me put it this way... you want:

- a major overhaul mod. again, OOO is a good choice, but feel free to read up on the others.
- a body/face replacer. xeosp is my choice, but there are many others.
- a combat mod. never tried one of these, but if you use melee, it's a good idea.
- a magic mod. I love Supreme Magicka (again, LEVITATE) but there are others that come highly recommended.
- Unique Landscapes Compliation. nothing else really does what this mod does, and it is damn near essential. so fucking awesome. can't recommend it enough!
- OBGE, oblivion graphics extender. practically necessary.
- OBSE, oblivion script extender. 100% necessary, I'm not kidding - many other mods won't work without it.
- a skill/level mod. again, Oblivion XP is the community favorite and a very good mod. but feel free to read up on other choices.
- you may want mods that overhaul monsters, items, or quests, but any mods that do this may conflict with your major overhaul mod, possibly unbalancing the game or even causing crashes. adding any of these will likely take some research.
- misc. mods. for example, Tamriel Travelers, which adds traveling merchants similar to Fallout 3. so many mods fall into this category that I won't list them all. these mods may or may not conflict with other mods, so again, some research may be required to get them working correctly.

for the most part, you want one mod in each category. why not more? because if two mods change the same thing, then the last mod loaded will take priority and the first mod has no effect. there are ways around this - Wrye Bash, mentioned above - but they are complicated... not saying don't try it, but unless you want to spend hours upon hours figuring this shit out, you may want to start simple at first. adding one mod from each of the above categories should be more than enough for a totally new experience, and should keep installation issues to a minimum. but hey, don't let me stop you from going crazy!

apologies for making two posts, I just had a giant mocha and I'm an hour away from a three-day weekend and I am fucking hyper right now.

[Insanecyclone]

Gotta have nude mods too.

[Yuri-G]

well of course. even better if you're playing as a mage - who needs armor, naked spellcasting for everyone!

not gonna lie, I ran around naked for the better part of my first playthrough once I realized my character replacer came with naked bodies. and it looked good, too - as in, PS3-level quality with anatomically correct everything (muscles, bone structure, wang - for fuck's sake, his abs put mine to shame). judge me if you wish, it was awesome.

[Vandole]

I'm fully expecting an in-game reference to horse armor.

HORSE ARMOR YOU SAY? take my money now.

[Cayos]

Skyrim Fan Interview

http://forums.bethsoft.com/index.php...fan-interview/

Skyrim Fan Interview
Todd Howard, Game Director
Bruce Nesmith, Lead Designer
Matt Carofano, Lead Artist

1) Will the character be able to change into certain creature?
Todd: We’ve done various things like that in our previous games, and it’s something that we probably won’t be talking about specifically on this one. Don’t read anything into that, we just prefer to not discuss this one. We’d like to leave that an open question until the game is out.

2) What sorts of cosmetic options, like beards, tattoos, or body proportions, are available? Can we edit them later in the game?
Matt:
There is large amount of customization available for each race. You can choose from multiple hair styles, beards, scars, and face paint. Each race and gender has a light and heavy build and you can pick any level in between. We’ve completely redone our facial system, and we’re really excited to show off the results.

3) Is armor handled like in Oblivion (with each body part being welded together) or in Morrowind (with each body part separate)? Will you be able to wear both clothes and armor at the same time?
Matt: The armor system is very similar to Oblivion’s. The main difference is that the upper and lower body armors, the cuirass and greaves, have been combined into one piece. This helps create armor styles that have the look we needed for Skyrim. In most of the Nordic designs we created, the upper armor would completely cover the lower armor, making it unnecessary. We get much better visual results combining those pieces, and it renders a lot faster too, so we can put more people on screen, so that was an easy tradeoff for us. We can also make a lot more armors now, so the number and variation types are more than we’ve ever had.

4) Are the main and faction quests branching or linear? What about side quests?
Bruce: We’ve focused on telling one story well. There are decision points in all the quest lines that can change things, but overall it’s a single story. Because the side quests are smaller stories, they are more likely to have major branches. For example, you can decide to save or betray someone, which changes the whole end of the quest. Overall the quest structure in Skyrim is closer to Oblivion than Fallout 3, in that there are many more quests, but they have fewer branches.

5) Are loot and quest rewards level scaled, like in Oblivion? Will there be any powerful un-scaled items?
Bruce: We’re handling leveling stuff similar to how we did in Fallout 3, but with a few new twists that we hope players won’t even notice. The enemies and loot are based on the “encounter zone” you’re in, so it could be higher or lower level than your current level. We do have a new concept of epic or “special” loot that you can randomly find in many cases, regardless of the zone, and you will still get better stuff in the better zones with your level higher. Same goes for quest rewards. We try to make them appropriate for what you did. Sometimes that is random, sometimes that is a set item. There’s a lot of specific stuff that is very powerful, like the Daedric artifacts.

6) Will items present in Morrowind but not in Oblivion, such as spears, medium armor, and mark/recall spells, be making a return?
Todd: They are not in Skyrim for the same reasons we didn’t include them in Oblivion. I’ll address each one. First spears, the truth is we’d love to do them, but it becomes a priority and development time thing for us. We feel it’s better to spend our time right now making sure the gameplay for the other play styles is really solid. That includes sword, sword and shield, two-handed weapons, and bows. You can also add magic to that list. Getting those all working well together, while feeling different, is our priority.

As far as medium armor, that’s not a time or polish thing, it’s a design choice to focus on two armor types and making sure those feel different and the player appreciates them. We try to make your character move and feel different between light and heavy and having a 3rd one in the middle just muddies it up in how it plays, as well as visually. And even now, we still have to tweak those two armor types so they feel different, while remaining fun. Every time we slow down heavy armor more, it feels bad, but it’s the main way of balancing it. We’ve added other ways of balancing it that feel right—like different stamina drain rates when sprinting and such.

Mark and recall is one where it’s a lot of fun, but like levitation, was removed so we could design better gameplay spaces and scenarios. We were really limited in Morrowind because the player could recall or levitate out of many situations and break them. There was a lot of good gameplay and level design work that we just couldn’t do and now we can. Back then it seemed like many good ideas we had were shot down when another designer would say “oh yeah, I just levitate or recall away.” So we got rid of them.

7) Will we be able to have relationships with the NPCs, romantic or otherwise?
Bruce: Absolutely! You make friends with people by doing things for them. Friends in the game will treat you differently. Some of them will even agree to go with you into dungeons and on adventures. You can even get married. If you own a house, your spouse will move in with you.

8) Are there any new armor/weapon materials unique to Skyrim?
Matt: One of the most prized and rarest sets of armor is made from dragons. It can be forged in both a light and heavy variant. You’ll see a return of many armors from previous games, such as leather and steel, however these have been redesigned in the Nordic style.

9) Can we have some specifics about the PC version of the game? How will it's UI be different? Will there be a 64-bit executable?
Todd: 64-bit specific exe? Not at this time. As far as UI, it visually looks the same across the platforms, but the controls are entirely different. There’s also a lot of “power user” stuff we do with the keyboard from how favorites work, to quick saves, and more that is similar to what we’ve done before in that area. We’re packing a lot of info on the screen and the whole interface is much less ‘look at giant fonts!’ than, say, Oblivion. The PC version also gets higher res textures, larger render modes, and a bunch of other effects you can scale up if your machine is a beast. Last but most important, is the Creation Kit we’ll be releasing for the PC. Modding the game and making it your own is very important to us and our fans, so we’re going to keep doing whatever we can in that area.

10) How will enchanting work in Skyrim? Will we have to constantly refill our enchantments with soul gems like we did in Oblivion, or will it be more like Morrowind in which the weapons recovered after a certain resting period?
Bruce: The method in Oblivion worked really well, so we kept it. Magic weapons use charges and have to be refilled with soul gems. Magic armor is always on and doesn’t need to be recharged. Soul gems and their lore and usage are a staple of the Elder Scrolls.

We have revamped the enchanting system though. Enchanting is now a skill. The better your skill and perks, the better you are at creating enchanted items. You’ll be able to find enchanting stations all over the world, which will make it much more accessible.

There are some changes from Oblivion, including the effects you can use when creating items, as well as how you learn effects. You now learn enchanting effects by “breaking down” a magic item you find, as opposed to them coming from spells you know. This allows us to separate enchanting from the other magical skills better.

11) What are the differences between the races? I guess they'll have different skill bonuses, but will they also start with different perks or have different "hard-coded" attributes, such as different running speeds or maximum encumbrance, etc.?
Todd: They each start with some skills that are higher by default, but those aren’t hard to overcome with another race in a short time. They also have different starting spells and each has its own passive abilities, like before, as well as powers, like before. So Khajiit can see in the dark, Orcs have a berserk power, Redguards have Adrenaline Rush, and so forth. They work differently in the new system, but the flavor is the same. We kept all the racial movement speeds the same, that’s now a factor of what you’re wearing and have equipped. And starting max encumbrance is the same and is based on your Stamina attribute.

12) Is there any game content (story, quests) that might be locked for a character based on race/faction/politics allegiances/morality/choices? Or one can experience all the content in one single play?
Todd: We do have some stuff that gets locked out based on decisions you make. It’s wherever it felt natural. It wasn’t a goal that you could or couldn’t play everything with one character. The game’s honestly so big that we don’t think about it much.

13) To what extent will our racial / gender selection at the start of the game will affecting our gameplay? Are there relationships affected by these choices?
Bruce: Your race is very important. It’s more than just how you look. Each race has a bias toward certain types of characters. If you want play a wizard, it will be easier with a High Elf or a Breton. If you want to play a warrior, it will be easier with a Nord or a Redguard. However, just like in Oblivion, we don’t force you to follow that bias. If you want to be a Nord wizard, that’s completely viable.

Gender does not change any initial skills or abilities. There is nothing that men do better than women or vice versa in the game. Other characters will recognize your gender and address you properly. Some may have prejudices for or against a particular gender as a part of their character, but it won’t change what you can or can’t do.

14) Do you plan to include non lethal ways of defeating opponents??
Todd: Depends on what you mean by “defeat”. We have various stealthy ways of getting past people, and the various poisons and spells allow you to basically render enemies harmless to you, whether that is casting a calm or fear spell, knocking them down, or something else.

Oh, and we now have tavern brawls that are non-lethal! I love those.

15) Will boss fights involve interesting mechanics involved as opposed to just more health and hits harder?
Todd: We have many new combat behaviors in our AI that makes fights with certain enemies very dynamic and interesting. It matters what the enemy can do. Dragons, for example, can do lot of things from multiple shouts, bombing runs, picking guys up, and more. An enemy that has a sword and shield, a bow, magic spells, and potions will use all of those things, and those fights are the most interesting. But we also design some combat encounters where the player simply may get mobbed by more simple enemies, and those have a different pace and strategy.

16) Do companions have skill and perk trees we can train?
Bruce: No, you only manage your own. Though companions often have certain perks so they behave different or better.

17) Is the culture in Skyrim strictly Nordic, or are there places (like Cheydinhal in Cyrodiil) that show influence from other cultures nearby, like architecture, religion, etc?
Matt: While there are pockets of other races in the game, we focused on the Nordic culture and their regional differences. The architecture between cities is dramatically different and reflects how the Nords live in that area.

18) So, the dragons are big and powerful. Did you include some destructible environment so they could leave marks and scars everywhere they attack? Can they demolish buildings, break trees, start avalanches, burn houses, things like this that emphasize their power?
Todd: They do leave marks and scars everywhere, but as far as destroying buildings and such, it’s rare. It does happen, but not a lot. Systemically destroying our spaces is something we have not found a good way to handle yet, because it’s so dynamic. We’re dealing with places that we have NPCs living, and providing quests and other game services. It’s something we avoid in every game unless we can specifically wipe it off the map, like Megaton.

19) Will there be any difference between the animation sets of male and female as well as human-like and 'beast' characters?
Matt: The animation system is completely new and dramatically improved. You will notice huge difference from previous games. There are differences between male and female animations, and even beast races have some specific animations.

20) Will any sort of karma system be incorporated like there was in Fallout, or will it be the Fame/Infamy system of Oblivion?
Bruce: We don’t provide a numeric score that you can track, but the game knows if you’ve been naughty or nice. We felt that a number really didn’t do your fame justice. Characters in the world will acknowledge the specific things you have done rather than just a generalized reputation. If you are a criminal, they’ll know that too. But if you pay your debt to society, all is forgiven.

21) Will crafting (weapons, armor) be effected by the tools you use as well as the ingredients used in the crafting? Such as the hammers and clippers, mastery level of the weapons and your level? Basically, will I be able to produce a more powerful, or even unique, weapon if I use a master hammer or clipper as opposed to novice?
Bruce: The blacksmith’s shop includes a forge, a grindstone, and a smithing bench. You can improve your weapons at the grindstone. The higher your skill, the more you can improve them, and the more damage they’ll do. Same thing for armor with the smithing bench, only the armor rating gets better. The forge is actually used to create new weapons and armor from raw materials.

22) Will your character have a voice? So that you can hear yourself having a conversation with other people?
Todd: You do have a voice, but you only hear it in grunts and shouts. So we have recorded for each race and sex you can play, all the different combat grunts, as well as the dragon language shouts.

23) Obviously every character is "Dragonborn", but not every character will be playing the same way. The question is: Will dragon shouts support all types of characters? Are there long ranged shouts? Some kind of stealthy "shout"?
Todd: Yes, the shouts support all character types. We’re not ready to talk about the other shouts yet, but soon enough.

24) Are there going to be places where you can use nature to your advantage? Like make a trap out of a falling tree or climb a tree to stealth attack an enemy?
Todd: Yes and no. You can’t make things, but our environment is so dense, you’re almost always using the natural terrain to get an advantage, especially with stealth.

25) Will you be able to carry on after the main story?
Todd: Yes, absolutely.

[Tyr]

mod stuff

is this stuff available for a (jtag) 360? all the mods, that is...or is it only pc?

[Isiolia]

is this stuff available for a (jtag) 360? all the mods, that is...or is it only pc?

PC onry.

They made mention of possibly supporting mods on consoles for Skyrim, but even then you'd wind up being limited on what works. Since you're dealing with static hardware specs, going back and dropping in more complex models or high resolution textures probably won't work too well.

[Yuri-G]

yeah, pc onry. which is a shame because check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJYWIDxKv54

tell me that ain't the prettiest damn water you've ever seen in a videogame.

[Cayos]

yeah, pc onry. which is a shame because check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJYWIDxKv54

tell me that ain't the prettiest damn water you've ever seen in a videogame.

I've always been a fan of Just Cause 2's water.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRmQj0Y93Cc

[Yuri-G]

ok that is some pretty damn nice water, I will admit.

[avelle]

I'm sure there's a better place for this but I'm going to stick it here anyways! I think I read that one of you guys (maybe Yuri?) was quite the Oblivion mod expert. I had the game for PS3 but recently bought it for PC due to the steam sale and wanted to experience some of the mods out there. Is there a definitive list of mods that are recommended? I'm aware of the nexus site that has a collection of them, but that's quite a bit of stuff to wade through!