The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

[dataDave]

I'm still finding things far too easy.

->Open Spoiler<-

I have been having a good blast though. After visiting the Greybeards I decided to have a drinking contest with some clown at the Inn which has led to a 'The Hangover' type situation sending me to the other end of the map where I've gotten to into all kinds of trouble that I now need to clean up.

[dataDave]

I've just faked sickness whilst out Xmas shopping so I can go back and get more quality time in. Just four more train stops before I can get off and break into a sprint.

[rmoxon]

The Archery being highlighted in red and being reduced to level 25 isn't actually anything to do with diseases. I've got not ailments or odd things in-game. It's quite clearly a bug... I'm hoping it will level back to 67 from 25 somehow...

I dont think its a bug, use a potion or a stone to cure diseases, different diseases cause negative effects to your stats so that's probably the problem.

[Supergoal]

I have used a potion and checked my ailments screen. Nothing whatsoever. I find it really odd that only archery is highlighted in red with a reduced score.
After a google search it seems it's a bug that fixes itself after leveling up that skill, unless it's at already 100 then you're screwed.

[MartyG]

Remove all your armour and equipment, make sure it's not an equipped item too - not encountered that particular bug but it would be annoying if it happen at skill 100.

[Daragon]

Anyone here playing this on a fairly average PC or laptop? Currently got sealed copies of both the PC and 360 versions on hold for Christmas and trying to decide which version to keep and which to send back.

It's a fairly mid spec laptop I have - 2nd gen i5 sandy bridge processor, 4GB of ram and nvidia 525m graphics. I basically want to play a version which at the very least plays and looks as good as on 360.

The advantages for the PC version are player mods and cheats (the latter of which made replays of Oblivion rather awesome)
The advantages for the 360 version are a 32" inch screen and 5.1 surround sound.

[sj33]

I play the game on my laptop, Core2 Duo T6600 2.2GHz, 4GB DDR3 with a GeForce GT 240m with Medium-High settings and 2xAA and it runs absolutely fine. On your spec, you should be fine. Skyrim is not a particularly demanding game really.

You can also just hook your laptop up to your HDTV, hook it up to your surround sound setup and play the game using a 360 controller.

[Daragon]

I'm not too keen on the idea of hooking my laptop up to my TV. Tried it once, didn't work out too well. I don't have enough space on the cabinet for it.

Glad to hear someone with a comparatively lesser laptop to mine can handle it nicely though.

Do you get all the pretty lighting effects and ****, or do you need to tone those down?

[sj33]

Visually, the PC version at Medium settings is at least on par with the console versions, maybe slightly higher. The main difference between 'High' and 'Medium' is the draw distance for the various object types - the PC version obviously allows levels of draw distance that you cannot achieve on the console versions. The texture detail and special effects are on maximum when playing on medium setting anyway. As an average, I get between 30 and 40fps, sometimes higher, sometimes a tad lower. The console version is hard-capped to 30.

To a large extent, you can tell that the 360 version being the lead platform did restrict Bethesda a fair bit - it's really not the most demanding game in the world, though the PC version is still better in all aspects.

[Rossco]

Well the map still works without giving a pinpoint location. So when I need to go somwhere I have to search the area for the cave/entrance/target.

So you still use the actual map? It shows your position, the way you are facing and the position of wherever you want to go? You've just disabled the compass at the top of the HUD? That would make things a bit more explorey and less follow the icon in the middle of your screen!

Dunno if I could do that though. As much as I like exploring, if I'm only gonna get an hour worth of play sometimes there's one thing in particular I want to do so all the walking about would waste time.

One thing I need to find actually is a smelter. I have loads of ore needed to be smelted down to use to get my smithing skill up as I want to improve magical weapons. Not heard of any at all in the game though.

Just hit 40 hours in this now and still feel like I've barely touched it. There is literally so much to do.


Oh yeah, for PC users. I just got the Better Sorting and Better Controls I think they were called mods. Sorting one is really useful for potions, changes everything to 'Restore Health, 50pts' for example. So you can just scroll straight down to 'Restore' without having to sift through all these different named potions. Better controls one lets you map 8 hot keys for weapons, spells, etc and quicksave/quickload to the Xbox 360 Controller.

[Plough Boy]

One thing I need to find actually is a smelter. I have loads of ore needed to be smelted down to use to get my smithing skill up as I want to improve magical weapons. Not heard of any at all in the game though.

I might totally be misunderstanding what you're saying but....
There is a smelter at the Blacksmith as soon as you walk into Whiterun. It's the chimney type thing outside. There's also some outside a lot of the mines. Kolksegger (sp?) is one that springs to mind.

[Flabio]

Yeah, took me ages to find a smelter. Not because they're hard to find, but because I had no idea what they looked like. They're not tutorialled like the rest of the smithing stuff is. As Plough Boy says there's one in the Whiterun blacksmith just inside the town, it's behind the forge itself.

Once you know what they look like you'll realise you've been walking past them in different locations for hours...

[EvilBoris]

yeah there is one in whiterun at Warmaidens

[Fader209]

How do I fill the magic gauge up on my magical weapons? Probably quite a stupid question but I haven't needed to do so until now.
Also confused with the enchanting table - why can't I break open any special weapon of mine? Is it because my skill is too low?

[Rossco]

Randomly, I found a smelter today in a big dungeon! But thanks for the tips anyway.

Magic weapons are recharged with soul gems which are found in abundance around the map. You hit RB when on the weapon on the item screen, it will bring up a menu to choose which soul gem you want to use to fill it with as some with carry more soul than others.

I don't remember not being able to break open a magic weapon at the start though, so not sure why it's not letting you. There will usually be a message at the top left of the screen when using the enchanting table and it doesn't work, what does that say?