Author Topic: The Elder Scrolls Thread (Read 64005 times)

The Chief · « **Reply #600:** December 21, 2011, 10:06:02 AM »

Not exactly Skyrim related but I figured this thread was more appropriate than the general video games thread. The enhanced director's cut of "The Witcher" is on sale on Steam today for $2.49. Good metacritic scores and looks like the kind of game that people who play Elder Scrolls games would like. For two-fitty, why not? I just picked up a copy.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/20900/

Quote from: Obed_Marsh on December 19, 2011, 03:31:08 PM

The "Better Sorting" mod makes things a lot easier.

For Sky UI, the SKSE depedancy is annoying with Steams autoupdating ways. It doesn't really stop it from working but it spews dire warnings.

Yeah, saw this yesterday and thought of you. For future reference you know you can disable auto-updating on a per-game basis right?

The Chief · « **Reply #601:** December 21, 2011, 12:49:23 PM »

New beta drivers from nvidia "increase Skyrim performance up to 25%"

http://www.geforce.com/News/articles/nvidia-geforce-290-53-beta-drivers-released

Nathan · « **Reply #602:** December 21, 2011, 03:49:43 PM »

UMDNats · « **Reply #603:** December 21, 2011, 05:38:00 PM »

Started over with a Wood Elf this time, planning on being a sneaky archer with light armor and some one-handed skill to held with close combat.

Amazing how different the game is from my last one. This time I followed the imperial solider and then went to Riverwood, did a quick quest and got a follower to help with Bleaks Falls Barrow and cleared out another cave. I decided to fast-travel as little as possible this time, and because of that I've already enjoyed it much, much more. This game is amazing. Can't wait to level this guy back up and take a different approach. I'm going to do the Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood first and then the Companions. Need to get that smithing/enchanting up so I can craft some sick bows and armor.

The Chief · « **Reply #604:** December 21, 2011, 05:53:48 PM »

wait wait wait... did you suddenly feet a ton of time to play or did you quit in your first guy after 15 levels?

UMDNats · « **Reply #605:** December 21, 2011, 06:02:14 PM »

Quote from: The Chief on December 21, 2011, 05:53:48 PM

wait wait wait... did you suddenly feet a ton of time to play or did you quit in your first guy after 15 levels?

I had gotten up to 40 hours on my first guy (level 29), but my character was all over the place and I wasn't happy with his strength overall or the armor I had for him. I have found some more time to play since the semester was winding down and I didn't have to work weekneds

The Chief · « **Reply #606:** December 21, 2011, 08:18:54 PM »

Broke out the 360/PC controller to try with Skyrim tonight... I'll never have the kind of precision with a controller that I have with KB/M, but it's not too bad. Interestingly the walking/running speed has many more degrees of variance when using the analog joysticks (as with most first-person 360 games) - no way to do that with KB/M I guess, since all the inputs are just on/off. Guess it'll never really matter, but it is interesting.

Flip side of that is that there's no movement toggle button on the controller scheme, so you always have to hold the stick on long trips

Vega · « **Reply #607:** December 22, 2011, 03:13:55 AM »

Take a look at this highlander figure LEGO is releasing in the next series of collectible minifigs:

I see LEGO Stormcloaks in the future.

The Chief · « **Reply #608:** December 22, 2011, 11:29:19 AM »

Well this is certainly interesting:

http://forums.bethsoft.com/topic/1321657-tesv-acceleration-layer-offers-cpu-optimization-massive-possible-performance-increases-now-in-skse-plugin-format/

Quote

This patch will improve your frame rate by up to 40% in all CPU-dependent situations, i.e. especially in cities.

It works mostly by rewriting some x87 FPU code and inlining a whole ton of useless getter functions along the critical paths because the developers at Bethesda, for some reason, compiled the game without using any of the optimization flags for release builds.

I'll believe it when I see it of course, but plenty of people claiming it helps a ton. Definitely give it a look this evening.

The Chief · « **Reply #609:** December 22, 2011, 01:54:38 PM »

For those who are currently or are thinking about playing Morrowind, the sound and graphics 2.0 overhaul pack is out:

http://morrowindoverhaul.rpgitalia.net/news/its-release-time-morrowind-overhaul-sounds-graphics-2-0

Nathan · « **Reply #610:** December 22, 2011, 03:28:43 PM »

Quote from: The Chief on December 22, 2011, 11:29:19 AM

Well this is certainly interesting:

http://forums.bethsoft.com/topic/1321657-tesv-acceleration-layer-offers-cpu-optimization-massive-possible-performance-increases-now-in-skse-plugin-format/

I'll believe it when I see it of course, but plenty of people claiming it helps a ton. Definitely give it a look this evening.

If true, that's one hell of an oversight by bethsoft.

The Chief · « **Reply #611:** December 22, 2011, 04:19:34 PM »

Tried installing it and it had zero effect on my framerate standing at Dragonsreach overlooking Whiterun. Entirely possible I did something wrong, attempting to determine if that's the case or not.

Or maybe SKSE just doesn't work with my dev build of Windows 8? Tried installing SkyUI to make sure SKSE was working and while SkyUI comes up, it also has a warning talking about not being able to detect the latest SKSE...

Obed_Marsh · « **Reply #612:** December 22, 2011, 08:09:41 PM »

Quote from: The Chief on December 22, 2011, 04:19:34 PM

Tried installing SkyUI to make sure SKSE was working and while SkyUI comes up, it also has a warning talking about not being able to detect the latest SKSE...

Something is wrong. You should not get that warning. Without SKSE, the plugin will not run. SkyUI will run but nag like like an ex.

Did you install SKSE to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\skyrim or your version of it?

Did you install the plugin to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\skyrim\Data\SKSE\Plugins?

In the youtube video, there is a command you can run from the console to verify it is installed correctly.

Nathan · « **Reply #613:** December 23, 2011, 01:38:01 AM »

Quote from: The Chief on December 22, 2011, 04:19:34 PM

Tried installing it and it had zero effect on my framerate standing at Dragonsreach overlooking Whiterun. Entirely possible I did something wrong, attempting to determine if that's the case or not.

Or maybe SKSE just doesn't work with my dev build of Windows 8? Tried installing SkyUI to make sure SKSE was working and while SkyUI comes up, it also has a warning talking about not being able to detect the latest SKSE...

So to follow up, Chief sent me a save file.

On full ultra, FXAA on, everything maxed, I got 14-15 fps in his location.
With mod, the same 14-15 fps.

Did the same full ultra, FXAA on, but shadows bumped down one level to "high," AA to 4x.

Pre mod, 24-25 fps. Post mod, steady at 30, which may have to do with vsync holding it there (I notice it pegged to 30 a lot in some areas).

Coming out of breezehome, I used to take a huge hit to 25ish fps for a few seconds before leveling out at 30ish, with mod, drops to mid 30s then levels out at 45 or so.

Definitely seems to have a noticeable improvement on my system. I'm also running skyui and the hd textures mod, for reference.

Vega · « **Reply #614:** December 24, 2011, 12:15:34 AM »

I saw a naked courier today. Glitch, perhaps?

Nathan · « **Reply #615:** December 24, 2011, 12:25:29 AM »

Quote from: Vega on December 24, 2011, 12:15:34 AM

I saw a naked courier today. Glitch, perhaps?

I don't think I've seen a non-naked courier

Vega · « **Reply #616:** December 24, 2011, 04:21:44 AM »

I spent about an hour repeatedly fus ro dahing Lydia off the top of High Hrothgar. Very amusing.

Obed_Marsh · « **Reply #617:** December 24, 2011, 04:29:44 AM »

I should measure the effect but haven't done it yet. Casual observation suggests an improvement.

I have applied a lot of mods. I went a bit nuts but it does "improve" things.

Vega · « **Reply #618:** December 24, 2011, 04:32:24 AM »

Killable children? WTF is wrong with you, Obed?

Obed_Marsh · « **Reply #619:** December 24, 2011, 04:45:04 AM »

I should not have to explain myself to the misogynist who throws an independant young nord women sworn to his service off cliffs but...

I have never actually done it but it seemed bogus that they were immortal and could hire thugs. There was some discussion around that earlier in the thread. Also I have my suspusions regarding one NPC child in particular, whom I suspect of being the serial killer in the game. If true, I'd wack him instead as I have no intention of killing X the kind this go around.

Granted with my play style, I have a murder count of two. Once an accident (or excessive use of fireball) when fighting a vampire and another a thief who pestered me while fighting a dragon. Apparently it is murder if you blast him along with the dragon after scaring him off.

The Chief · « **Reply #620:** December 24, 2011, 02:15:08 PM »

Skyrim 33% off today on Steam ($40) for anyone who was thinking about grabbing it for PC.

The Chief · « **Reply #621:** December 25, 2011, 06:54:02 PM »

That acceleration layer did end up working once I tried it in Windows 7. Yields about 20-25% better framerates most places in cities or otherwise busy areas. Still doesn't work (or rather SKSE doesn't work) under Windows 8 Dev Preview for me. Kind of a bummer since I've gotten very accustomed to Windows 8.

MarquisDeSade · « **Reply #622:** December 25, 2011, 07:15:56 PM »

Welp, I'm opening up Skyrim tomorrow morning. What kind of character should I be?

Nathan · « **Reply #623:** December 25, 2011, 07:16:23 PM »

Quote from: MarquisDeSade on December 25, 2011, 07:15:56 PM

Welp, I'm opening up Skyrim tomorrow morning. What kind of character should I be?

A Nord, since you are a honky

MarquisDeSade · « **Reply #624:** December 25, 2011, 07:17:22 PM »

Quote from: Nathan on December 25, 2011, 07:16:23 PM

A Nord, since you are a honky

Half honky.