The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

[ItsThere]

I need to get into some ruins to grab a third of a pendant but it was locked! No idea where to find it as the journals and notes don't seem to mention it... Will come back to it as Skyrim seems to let you do everything at any pace you want.

So I quested and killed an Ice Wraith that everyone has been banging on about for ages.

[Bassman]

For one part of the amulet you need to speak to a woman in Winterhome about a bad deal she made. You get a Coral (I think) Dragon Claw out of it for a small price.

I presume you got the Riverwood one as it is connected with main quest after you escape Helgen.

Can't remember the third part, but it comes naturally as you progress the main quest I think.

[dataDave]

PC users...

There has been some kind of custom plug-in created by one guy in just one day... Apparently it improves performance by 40% and irons out lots of issues with slow down, frame skips, textures and the like.

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

It's had some good reports so far, and just goes to show how **** a job the devs did on the optimisation (as well as testing).

[Supergoal]

Will try that out.

[Brad]

Love the number of people in that thread saying how **** the Bethesda programmers are when 99% don't have a clue what they're talking about or any idea what constraints the team were under during development.

That said, I'll take that fps boost thanks! Although I'm getting 60fps on ultra anyway so don't know I'll notice.

[dataDave]

I wouldn't directly hold the programmers responsible as we don't know the circumstances, but I do think pointing the finger at Bethesda as a group is pretty fair.

[ItsThere]

For one part of the amulet you need to speak to a woman in Winterhome about a bad deal she made. You get a Coral (I think) Dragon Claw out of it for a small price.

I presume you got the Riverwood one as it is connected with main quest after you escape Helgen.

Can't remember the third part, but it comes naturally as you progress the main quest I think.

I have two parts of it now and managed to buy the Coral Dragon Claw from a woman near the mage college but it is the actual key to the entrance... I'm sure it will come in time, Skyrim does an excellent job of funnelling quest items etc towards you even when you aren't looking for them.

Enjoying this a lot more than Oblivion.

[Supergoal]

There has been some kind of custom plug-in created by one guy in just one day... Apparently it improves performance by 40% and irons out lots of issues with slow down, frame skips, textures and the like.

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

It's had some good reports so far, and just goes to show how **** a job the devs did on the optimisation (as well as testing).

Noob question. How do you install it? (I read the ReadMe...)

[dataDave]

I don't know mate, I'm not playing the PC version (unfortunately).

[Supergoal]

OK I got it working and installed the patch and... Looks like I'm getting a good 15 to 20 fps extra in towns and cities. Amazing.

[Brad]

I wouldn't directly hold the programmers responsible as we don't know the circumstances, but I do think pointing the finger at Bethesda as a group is pretty fair.

QFT.

I strongly suspect that Bethesda simply had to meet a launch date.
Where I work we do a number of full installation tests on various hardware, regression tests etc. It takes weeks. If, at the end of that, I were to tell my boss that I can get things working 20% quicker using different build settings he'd be completely uninterested as we'd have to test EVERYTHING again. The optimisations would be made for the next release of the product but that's irrelevant to Bethesda because they won't be releasing Skyrim 2.0 and expect people to pay for the upgrade so there's zero incentive for those in charge to allow programmers to spend time optimising that game, not when they've got backwards flying dragons to attend to. The joy of PC gaming is that user created patches and mods and stuff exist. Lovely stuff.

[MrMarbles]

150 hours in now, level 43 and - hngh - it's now becoming glitcherama.

I've roamed around the map at my own pace, ignoring quests and just ended up acting like some kind of scumbag Legolas, raiding the dens of bandits, trolls, bears and the like - all minding their own business - and killing and looting them for gold and potions I never intend to use.

But karma is coming back to bite me, because now I appear to have broken at least 1-in-4 quests by killing key enemies prematurely. It's now becoming a pleasant surprise when I traipse across the land towards a quest marker and find myself actually able to complete it. Oops.

Still can't stop playing it, though, even though I have Stranger's Wrath waiting for me on the other side. I've become so drugged by its charms and unrelenting grip on my gaming time that I can't bring myself to hate it for being so awfully broken.

[FelixofMars]

Exactly, the game works as is. Its a speed boost but I wouldn't say it was a necessity they had the specs already listed.

QFT.

I strongly suspect that Bethesda simply had to meet a launch date.
Where I work we do a number of full installation tests on various hardware, regression tests etc. It takes weeks. If, at the end of that, I were to tell my boss that I can get things working 20% quicker using different build settings he'd be completely uninterested as we'd have to test EVERYTHING again. The optimisations would be made for the next release of the product but that's irrelevant to Bethesda because they won't be releasing Skyrim 2.0 and expect people to pay for the upgrade so there's zero incentive for those in charge to allow programmers to spend time optimising that game, not when they've got backwards flying dragons to attend to. The joy of PC gaming is that user created patches and mods and stuff exist. Lovely stuff.

[Daragon]

People, this is not new information - Bethesda have been releasing untested/insufficiently tested products for decades. It's proven a "winning" formula so far, so why change?

Heck, if the games weren't so damn good when they DO work, they'd have gone out of business years ago!

[nakamura]

It makes me wonder though, if this game is worth a ten if there are so many problems? Surely a nine is a max you can give a product with so many issues?

Not played it myself yet so it is a point for everyone else. Looking forward to it greatly though.