Skyrim remastered: Special Edition

[Overread]

Sadly the new edition is widescreen only on resolution so I'm having to hold back until I get a new monitor (need to get one at some point anyway as this one I'm using now is very old and very cheap at that)

 

[Brian G Turner]

We currently have Skyrim on the PS3, and it looks really detailed. I'm not sure that the Xbox One version is really going to offer much, aside from some nice sunset/sunrise lighting effects in the landscape. I would love to be wrong about that.

 

[Venusian Broon]

I discovered I got this for free, so I've been downloading it. I'm able to run everything at the highest possible level so hopefully I should be able so see some differences...

...I'll try and get to a really nice photographic bit and then do compare and contrast between the two!

 

[thaddeus6th]

Brian, slightly jealous of the superior Xbox One mods, though [haven't bought it yet, mind]. Not just small cosmetic things (more hairstyles) but significant improvements like a survival type mode where you need to eat/drink/sleep. There are quite a few gameplay change mods I like the look of for PS4, but a survival type mod was one I was really after.

 

[hopewrites]

No internet to play the Steam version I put on my son's account.

But I did take out Mercer Frey last night as a lvl 20 fire-mage, on my old version.

 

[Steven Sorrels]

Waited until Thanksgiving to take advantage of the half-price deal. In the mail, on its way!

 

[thaddeus6th]

Only down to £30 in the UK at the moment. Mind you, I'm still on my first playthrough of XCOM 2.

 

[Brian G Turner]

The Xbox One version is currently on offer at £24.99 on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01GV7Y1TG/?tag=brite-21

Gutted, as I bought it for £35 a few weeks ago! Not played it yet, though, as it's a Christmas pressie for one of the kids.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Well, so far it's looking little different to the original. Perhaps might have been better if delivered as an update, rather than sold as a new game package.

While the graphics and landscapes still remain good, those for the humans are beginning to look a little dated compared to more recent high-end games.

 

[Brian G Turner]

I take back my previous comments - there are times when Skyrim looks especially stunning with the new lighting. You won't see the effect much of the time, but when travelling outdoors there can be moments of wonder. Especially at sunsets or sunrises.

It's still a shame we didn't get a little more with it - considering this was sold at full price the improvements still seem like minor tweaks. But at least the Xbox One version is HD.

However, am currently playing the Dawnguard campaign addon. Boy, is it dull - pretty, but vacuous. Wonderful new locations, but filled with characters who never shut up. It's not very well scripted - as a vampire hunter, your job is to inexplicably decide not to kill a master vampire for no reason whatsoever, then end up being dragged around while she gives you a novel's worth of backstory. Meanwhile, also do a couple of very petty and unchallenging side-quests. Can't wait to get back to normal dungeoneering.

 

[Steven Sorrels]

Yes, but Serana is a much more interesting character than most of the sidekicks available, so I'm willing to forgive a lot for her

 

[thaddeus6th]

I was just about to say that. Serana's got a lovely voice too.

I also have suspicions that Isran[sp] is involved in some sort of embezzlement or insider trading with Skyrim's largest manufacturer of buckles. How else can we explain why the Dawnguard armour has about twenty buckles on it?

 

[Venusian Broon]

It's still a shame we didn't get a little more with it - considering this was sold at full price the improvements still seem like minor tweaks. But at least the Xbox One version is HD.

However, am currently playing the Dawnguard campaign addon. Boy, is it dull - pretty, but vacuous. Wonderful new locations, but filled with characters who never shut up. It's not very well scripted - as a vampire hunter, your job is to inexplicably decide not to kill a master vampire for no reason whatsoever, then end up being dragged around while she gives you a novel's worth of backstory. Meanwhile, also do a couple of very petty and unchallenging side-quests. Can't wait to get back to normal dungeoneering.

I haven't really had a go on the Special Edition 'cause I am trophy hunting on the old version (still got 20 trophies to collect and it just restarts the full trophy list again if you fire up the Special Edition.) I am still intrigued if it will look better, like you say with sunsets etc... so eventually I will get round to comparing [still, they took your advice Brian and gave the Special edition away free - at least to PC owners with all the DLC]

Agree that the Dawnguard campaign is a bit odd. The valley where you at some point have to fight two dragons at once is pretty good - it's like a massive dungeon. But the Dragonborn DLC is really good - you get a huge chunk of new territory to explore with loads of places to visit and little Rieklings (which are fun if you can get them to follow you. It's a bit cheaty - cause three of them means that damage is spread out even more evenly and you can just hang around the back and snipe, but hey...)

Re: Serana. Ah yes the lovely and enticing Laura Bailey . I've been following Critical Role on Geek & Sundry - where she plays D&D with a bunch of other voice actors so I thought that Serana sounded familiar when I started this current Skyrim campaign but couldn't quite place it for ages!

 

[thaddeus6th]

Laura Bailey is super. I know she's prolific, but two voices I was unaware she provided at the time were Isara in Valkyria Chronicles, and, er, Angry Woman at the intro of Nier (NB don't go looking for that if you're at work. It's packed with naughty words, from memory).

I do wonder when we'll get VI, and where it'll be set. Many people seem to think Valenwood (wood elves) or Hammerfell (Redguard) possible.

 

[Venusian Broon]

I do wonder when we'll get VI, and where it'll be set. Many people seem to think Valenwood (wood elves) or Hammerfell (Redguard) possible.

Yeah, from my understanding it's going to be a waay long time. Still I've still to actually complete Skyrim, so I don't mind the wait

 

[Steven Sorrels]

I do wonder when we'll get VI, and where it'll be set. Many people seem to think Valenwood (wood elves) or Hammerfell (Redguard) possible.

I'd like to see Elsweyr / Black Marsh in the next one, personally.

 

[Vladd67]

Laura Bailey is super. I know she's prolific, but two voices I was unaware she provided at the time were Isara in Valkyria Chronicles, and, er, Angry Woman at the intro of Nier (NB don't go looking for that if you're at work. It's packed with naughty words, from memory).

I do wonder when we'll get VI, and where it'll be set. Many people seem to think Valenwood (wood elves) or Hammerfell (Redguard) possible.

I see she is on Geek and Sundry on YouTube a lot.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Steven, I'd really like it to be Elsweyr, but to fit with the lore they'd need to make a large variety of Khajiit and might consider that too much of a faff.

Cheers, Vladd.

 

[Brian G Turner]

There's a new official Survival Mode mod released today (for the Xbox One at least) that's currently free. Only played a little but it looks as though you create your own meals, as well as need to wear the right clothes against cold, and more. Could bring an interesting dimension of play to the Skyrim special edition, if you toggle it on in the gameplay settings.

 

[Caledfwlch]

Even if I wasn't a die hard PC Gamer, due to struggling badly with console joypads vs Keyboard and Mouse, I could and would never play an RPG on console, - whilst I understand things for the poor console gamer are getting better in terms of being able to use mods, it is still highly restricted.

I currently have around 30 fan mods running on my PC Skyrim, and I suspect certain of them would be extremely difficult if not impossible to get working on a console, as to work they use an additional fan built thing called the "Skyrim Script Extender"
A couple of the most vital mods I use are "UFO" which also had a Fallout 3 version, it gives you more control, more commands etc over your Followers, it fixes bugs like the one where you would give a follower armour or weapons but they would not equip, you can also fiddle with their AI etc, telling them how to react, whether to follow you on Horsie, to ignore "friendly" hits and so on.
Another is Convenient Horsies, it lets you choose what breed and colour of Horsie you have, whether your Horsie has Armour (choices like Daedric, Dawnguard, Nord etc) it gives you a Horsie call Horn, so when you call your Horsie, your followers also call horsies (or in Serana's case, conjure up a magic Horsie) you can access your Horsie to store/retrieve gear, and you can play with its AI, tell it whether to be be brave or cowardly, how far behind to follow you if you dismount etc.

I have Combat Mods, so for example, if I stumble into a nest of Necromancers, or Bandits with some Mages, they dont stand there hurling the same basic spell, they run around, act tactically, and throw all the spells they have at you, same for Warriors and Bowmen, they don't just stand there waiting for you to hit them! IIRC, if a follower has in their inventory a blade and a bow, and the skills to use each then they will switch between automatically as necessary, going for their bow to engage ranged targets, switching to blade for up close and personal.
I have the Crimson Blood mod, which addresses the point that when you hit someone with a sword, they tend to bleed, a lot... and you can change the frequency of "Death blows" so when you hit someone a particular way, they are far more likely to find their head rocketing away from their body the dual wield death blow cam is ghastly, but also awesome, turning your swords into scissors....

Another fab fan made PC utility is the "NPC Editor" you can open up followers, or other NPC's and change their inventory and skillsets, give a Vanilla Mage follower more spells and so on, and you can easily change their appearance, hair colour, eyes and so on - i use it for example to get rid of the silly tattoo that covers most of Mjoll the Lioness's face. Once happy with appearance, items etc you just save the file, and chuck it into your data directory like any mod - it may well be that the mods it creates are compatible with Xbox etc.

The other useful thing playing on PC is the console - I understand that the PS4 version on release was totally unplayable - the PC version on release had a major bork in the Main Quest - when you go to speak to Esbern, he would not open the door, or you would hear him undoing all the bolts and locks, but the door wouldn't open. So, via console it was a simply matter to trigger the quest properly. It nearly drove me mad, as my first reaction was simply to noclip and go into his room, but because the door hadn't opened, he wouldnt speak to you, just stood there, at the door, so some quick googling allowed what was left of my poor hair to remain by finding out how to trigger the quest steps in console.

Currently, my Wife & Constant follower is a Breton lass, who is an absolutely kickass Battlemage!