First impression of Skyrim

[polluxval]

im playing it right now on console. i can only say one thing. AMAZING game. worth the wait.

 

a litte spoiler:

 

 

finally u can use most helmets and u still can see ur hair. i mean, no more bald character while wearing helmet. thanks god.

 

[Guest]

Great to hear! But how are you able to play this game so early from release?

[afa]

Let's not get him in trouble and instead ask questions regarding the game ;D

 

How are the character models and texture looking?

Does male and female characters indeed have two different set of animations?

How are the animations in general? Is jumping and swinging two hand weapons as goofy looking as ever?

When you speak to NPC does it still do the "zoom into first person view and can only see the other NPC's face" routine?

Are the graphics identical to what the trailers show? (Were they showing the console version or the PC in trailers)

How does the frame rate holds up in crowded areas and in combat?

 

You don't have to answer every or any of the questions

[polluxval]

1- texture and model looks nice. better than oblivion but nothing from other world. it still great, mainly becouse its console, pc has more capabilities.

2- unluckily no. i saw the same anims on female and male.

3- jump still looks like crap. battle seems very cool, specially over time when u get more skill over a combat style.

4- nop, no zoom at all. u can look around but u cant move. anw u can cancel chat whenever u want but some npcs get angry if u do that.

5- yes. but as said before they arent incredible. lets see how pc version handles grpahics.

6- on console there is no lag. the framerate its awesome even while in combat. exellent improvemet i should say.

 

extra answer: the music owns. cooler than oblivion.

 

[Presto]

- How is the world feeling? More alive and vibrant with unexpected things happening or is it just Oblivion with updated graphics/combat? (ie, have you seen something that made you say "wow!")

 

- How is the lock picking mechanic? I heard its more like fallout now. Do you need to be a certain skill level to go after certain level locks or can you still attempt any lock?

 

- Have you been chased/pursued by a town guard or enemy for an insanely long time? I never liked how it seemed like you could never get away from someone and they had a tracking signal of where you were despite having no line of site and being far behind you.

 

- Are you finding hidden gems of loot or is it still the same yarn/spoon/apple in every crate?

 

- Anything the AI has done to impress you?

[gregathit]

Frankly Polluxval, I am shocked you are able to pull yourself away from playing to give us the news (work, sleep, food - who really needs these things anyway???). I do appreciate the info!!

[polluxval]

spoilers:

 

AWARE, just read if ur curious. dont blame me if i spoil ur game.

 

 

 

wel, so far the enviroment looks great. but somehow the worldmap seems smaller than cydorill. u get very fast to anywhere even by foot. still, the weather seems very cool, the only issue is that so far it didnt rain. im not sure but maybe its just my gameplay.

u can craft items, make new armor pieces and improve the current ones, thats cool. u need some time to manage the new inventory systema and i sometimes miss the character in the menu screen to check how an armor looks on.

also, the AI its improved but not perfect. i once entered a store, i enter a room next to the main hall and quickly hide my self in shadows. the keeper still enter the room and look at me but at the same time the sneak level indicates im invisible, the npc keep watch me even when i move and even several minutes after, i can steal just infront of him and he cant detect me stealing but just keep watching me... i was like WTH... O_O

there are gems that u can get from caves just like in risen. the lockpick system its exactly the saame as fallout 3. and some sound fx are taken from fallout wich seems weird but anyhow. even with all this little issues, the game so far its great. most new monsters and classic ones look great and battling a dragon its epic in hard difficulty.

sry for my english.

 

 

 

ill keep posting other things once i return from work.

 

ps. oh btw. the bounty keeps only in the town where u commit the crime. also, they chase u just outside the town and then they return. monsters chase u and give up after serveral seconds and they return to their lair or wherever u encounter them.

[gregathit]

Well that is good news as there has been a lot of doubt as to how the dragon fights would be!!!

[LordJerle]

I know where they got their copy >.>

It requires a modded 360 to play though.

[sora3]

Had a play at work so I'll keep the spoilers to myself. Unfortunately, this is done on an Xbo360 as that's the only system we've got in stock.

 

Anyway, here's my impressions.

 

1) It does feel a lot more fluid than Oblivion. The Creation engine does shine a lot better in terms of the graphical quality I expected.

2) Dragons. LOOK. AWESOME!

3) Races do have their own specific traits and at least one specific power.

4) Animations do look partially better but it's not something to crow over.

5) The game area is massive. I spent probably 15 minutes getting to a small town and perhaps longer to get to one of the larger cities.

6) Loading areas are quite seamless so that's one plus compared to Fallout/Oblivion.

 

Downsides?

1) Feels the same really in terms of what's there. There are some places where they copied and pasted.

2) The AI is a bit dumb as pathfinding isn't still too flash. (got a wolf stuck on a ledge and clipped through it)

3) You still have to go through the ruddy tutorial which is a pain.

4) The health regeneration and the like takes away from the immersion so I'm guessing everyone will be like hit/hit/run away/wait to heal/run back/repeat from beginning and it's bothersome.

5) Creation Story works but only if it has the alternative there. Otherwise, you'll probably need to reload quite often.

[gregathit]

Well as long as the vanilla keeps me enthralled until Batman and Saints 3 come out then all is well. We all know that it is the mods that will make skyrim truly shine.

 

Speaking of dilemma's what if vanilla skyrim doesn't suck and I am still playing it when Batman and Saints are released....which one will I play.......

 

....faints from the thought of 24/7 awesomeness....

 

Guess who will be calling in sick that Thurs and Fri????? Now to think of a good sick excuse.....

 

To quote Rodney Carrington:

Rodney: "Hello Boss, I am calling in sick to work today."

Boss: "Well you don't sound sick."

Rodney: "Well I'm banging my sister, that sound sick enough for ya?"

Boss: "Your doing WHAT?!?! You keep your sick ass at home!"

[Presto]

Sounding good, very excited for next week. Its a shame my fiancee is going out THIS friday and we have a wedding to attend NEXT friday when the game is released. it would be nice to flip those and give me all that nice time to play the game for the long weekend.

 

- Any word on finding good loot that isn't leveled? Randomly finding a hidden strong sword or armor? Fallout allowed you to stumble onto great weapons and armor that you just had to be crafty enough to get. Oblivions leveled loot angered me to no end

 

- Best way found to make gold right now?

 

- How pressured do you feel to do the main quest? Any threat of things not opening for you unless you follow that path? (A city, perks, advancement in certain guilds)

 

- How is the new system working for spawning enemies. Do you feel there is challenge in some places and ease in others or is it all the same general level of enemy with just a different appearance? Pretty much I'm asking if you notice enemies being stronger or weaker than you since in Oblivion it all eventually felt the same.

[polluxval]

the loot system its like oblivion. but, u can enchat items and weapons so u can make an extremely good sword in the first levels, u just need imagination and some scavenging.

 

the gold its priceless and so far the best way to get gold its doing JOBS. like woodcutting and other business.

 

the main quest can be left to the very end like the old oblvion. seems very interesting tough.

 

the spawning system its great. now ull notice a difference beetwen enemies. leveling will make them stronger, not only in appereance but in class too. i mean, in a cave u can find a swordsman undead as a boss at level 6. but if u get to the same cave at level 15+ the swordsman will became a lich+swordsman.

[sora3]

Sounding good' date=' very excited for next week. Its a shame my fiancee is going out THIS friday and we have a wedding to attend NEXT friday when the game is released. it would be nice to flip those and give me all that nice time to play the game for the long weekend.

 

- Any word on finding good loot that isn't leveled? Randomly finding a hidden strong sword or armor? Fallout allowed you to stumble onto great weapons and armor that you just had to be crafty enough to get. Oblivions leveled loot angered me to no end

 

- Best way found to make gold right now?

 

- How pressured do you feel to do the main quest? Any threat of things not opening for you unless you follow that path? (A city, perks, advancement in certain guilds)

 

- How is the new system working for spawning enemies. Do you feel there is challenge in some places and ease in others or is it all the same general level of enemy with just a different appearance? Pretty much I'm asking if you notice enemies being stronger or weaker than you since in Oblivion it all eventually felt the same.

[/quote']

 

In addition to polluxval's observations, I can add the following:

 

- Loot is slightly dependent on your level but majority of the time, it's down to luck. I managed to find a kick-ass sword early on but then had a pathetic loot afterwards.

- Gold is scarce if you don't know what to do. Majority of gold is done really through dungeon questing and as well as your standard farming. Jobs helps but unfortunately, some of them are levelled which sucks a bit.

- Enemies spawn accordingly and almost realistically. I had a giant then I was faced with the evil and more powerful arsehole that was 10ft high after a few levels so the game can be sadistic if you want it to be.

[Presto]

And the last question from me for the time being

 

- Have you found somewhere to store your loot? Have a player home yet, can you store items in a bank, etc?

[HanPL]

Closing this topic untill Skyrim release.

[HanPL]

Ok I think it's good time to open this topic again

[Zeroda]

First impressions

-----------------

 

Graphics, they are well-made. The shape of the weapons to the environments. The shading when the wind blows adds to the overal fealing the world is "living" which they tried to make it as realistic as possible. The details of each weapon looks sharp and you can see they spent alot of time making those well.

 

Combat, love it! You feel the weight of each weapon swing, the positions you need to point your cursor to. The 3 stone-pillar buffs adds to the gameplay. Although you have to keep use to the dynamic fights pretty early on but it makes you pretty much getting used to quickly.

 

Story/Questing, superb! You can ditch the main storyline althogether or follow through completely. There is complete freedom how things turn out, even I keep staying in Riverwood quest hub.

 

UI, better IMO. Well done with the layout of each section of the options. Easy to find where to go and the amount of options is good.

 

There are some minusses like some of the npc clipping actions while they doing their jobs or getting stuck on invisible objects. but hey it's not that bad overal on my first impression.

 

I'll play through it in anyway possible and see how it turn out.

[pandabear]

The intro event is epic! Loving the dual-wield system. My major critique is the character customization. It's a downgrade from Oblivion. But the gameplay is amazing!

[sora3]

And the last question from me for the time being

 

- Have you found somewhere to store your loot? Have a player home yet' date=' can you store items in a bank, etc?

[/quote']

 

Yes, there are player homes and as well as specific faction based hideouts where you can store items. I do suggest taking only what you need throughout your travels as sometimes, the loot can easily get to you and you need to drop a lot of things. By the time I returned, some of the bandits helped themselves to my dropped items!

[Guest]

How does the game run? Does it use only 2GB of RAM like Oblivion? Also, does Skyrim crash for you, or is it relatively stable?

[sora3]

On the PC, I haven't experienced a full on crash. Majority of the crashes happen because of external factors. From what I can see when I run Task Manager alongside the windowed Skyrim, it doesn't use more than 3GB if it does over run. But it scales accordingly to whatever RAM you have. So the maximum I've seen is about 3GB and 2GB seems to be the sweet spot really.

[Kashked]

I have 3GB RAM and it works perfectly good for me, without any crashes or lagging on high setting. Seems incredibly stable so far.

[gregathit]

Been playing now for 7 and 1/2 hours and just experienced my first CTD. I don't think it was actually the game but rather that damn steam update. I am really digging everything so far and it is rather neat not know who to join or what to stay away from.

 

I was roaming after dark and a vamp was threatening a lady, so naturally I rush over to help........turns out they were both vamps

 

So I killed them both and looted the bodies....

 

I have only killed one dragon at this point and I had A LOT of help to do it (5 other NPC's).

[Presto]

10 more hours until I can play.. ugh the wait is killing me.