OT: Attention Fantasy RPG Fans

[Von Paulus 8]

Next Wednesday.

UPDATE 1.2 NOTES (all platforms unless specified)

 

• Improved occasional performance issues resulting from long term play (PlayStation 3)
• Fixed issue where textures would not properly upgrade when installed to drive (Xbox 360)
• Fixed crash on startup when audio is set to sample rate other than 44100Hz (PC)
• Fixed issue where projectiles did not properly fade away
• Fixed occasional issue where a guest would arrive to the player’s wedding dead
• Dragon corpses now clean up properly
• Fixed rare issue where dragons would not attack
• Fixed rare NPC sleeping animation bug
• Fixed rare issue with dead corpses being cleared up prematurely
• Skeleton Key will now work properly if player has no lockpicks in their inventory
• Fixed rare issue with renaming enchanted weapons and armor
• Fixed rare issue with dragons not properly giving souls after death
• ESC button can now be used to exit menus (PC)
  
• Fixed occasional mouse sensitivity issues (PC)
  
• General functionality fixes related to remapping buttons and controls (PC)
  

[Hellshade 110]

Okay just spent the last 4 hours playing Skyrim and yes it looks pretty real pretty oh come on next Fallout... just I am not blown away by it yet... maybe it will grow on me as this weekend I may just battle along with it and see if it grabs me any more than now...

 

It's all good SB. Not everyone likes the same type of games. Maybe as you start getting more perks and can do more things, it might start to grab you more later. The plots and storylines definately thicken as the game goes on and some of the moral questions it makes you choose between are 'interesting', to say the least.

 

Minor Spoiler Ahead!

So I'm about to attack a Giant camp when an Elder Dragon shows up and lands at mine and Jenassa's feet. I fire off some arrows and Jenassa bravely pulls out her blades and begins hacking away at the beast! We do some damage and then I use my Dragon Call shout to summon my dragon friend for aid. That's the spoiler. Later in the game you can learn a Dragon Shout that calls a Dragon to your aid. That was already made aware to the public by Todd Howard before the game released, but I call it a minor spoiler just in case you didn't know. Jenassa can't handle the onslaught and crumples at it's feet. The Elder Dragon takes off, circles around and comes back to focus it's attention on me. My Dragon flies up behind the Elder Dragon and covers in a gout of fire...which looks just awesome, I must say. I take a frost breath right to the face from the Elder and then let loose my Ebony arrow. It nearly kills the Dragon, leaving it with just a sliver of life left and I figure I have plenty of health to give me time to fire off another arrow to finish the job. Except that's not what happened.

 

You might want to watch this in 1080HD to get the full effect.

 

Me and My Dragon vs an Elder Dragon! (1:13) 1080HD

 

Edited November 28, 2011 by Hellshade

[Herr Prop-Wasche 7]

Ouch!

[MikeDixonUK 5]

Very nice! Shame about the end though!

 

The shouts are pretty cool it must be said, although I don't really use them much (or magic in general) other than the basic healing spell, but even that's only when I'm desperate - I tend to just stick to stabby stabby shooty shooty drinky drinky.

 

Here's one of me having a shot at some of Ulfric's boys:

 

 

But tonight Legate Mikkel of Daggerfall marches with the Legion to Windhelm, to send the traitor Ulfric Stormcloak to Oblivion!

[Bullethead 12]

The shouts are pretty cool it must be said, although I don't really use them much (or magic in general) other than the basic healing spell, but even that's only when I'm desperate - I tend to just stick to stabby stabby shooty shooty drinky drinky.

 

That's pretty much my MO, too. However, I do use that Unrelenting Force fairly often on bosses, to stun them so I can put a couple power attacks into them.

 

But tonight Legate Mikkel of Daggerfall marches with the Legion to Windhelm, to send the traitor Ulfric Stormcloak to Oblivion!

 

"Have fun storming the castle"

 

Be sure to give us some pics of the slaughter.

[Bullethead 12]

Whacked 2 dragons back-to-back. This is the 2nd one, a "blood dragon". This is a shot from the 3rd person kill animation, which I call "The Reach Around", which I hadn't seen before. As shown here, I'm wedging the dragon's mouth open with the edge of my home-made elf shield (exquisite) and am reaching around and cutting its throat with my home-made elf sword (exquisite). Already the beast is coughing up blood. Those who kill their dragons at a distance are missing most of the fun

[MikeDixonUK 5]

Aye the kill animations add for some very cinematic stuff! It's a shame they don't have anything like that for ranged combat (such as the camera following the arrow in slow motion, or some such) like the stuff they have in Fallout...

 

Here's my video of the Battle for Windhelm! 1080HD, etc!:

 

(minor war based spoilers in video):

 

 

(Note: for the video run I played it on easy rather than the level I normally use, as it's a bit of a hack-fest to kill the many many many NPCs, and on higher difficulty it takes a while and requires a lot of breathing time to regain health and the like, so it just works better in video form if it's on easy. )

Edited November 30, 2011 by MikeDixonUK

[Hellshade 110]

That is an awesome screenshot BH! It looks like there is definately fun to be had with a melee character and I can't wait to start one. For now though, I'm having too much fun raiding Imperial held forts with my Stormcloak brothers and calling in my pet Dragon for "Air Support". Check out a few random fortress siege clips I threw together and me and my dragon turning Imperials into burning pincushions! At about 1:55 in you can see the dragon pick up an Imperial, shake him like a rag doll and throw him against a castle wall. Just what the Talos denying little basterd deserved!

 

I still can't wait for P4, but Skyrim is doing a fine job of keeping me otherwise occupied until it arrives.

 

 

(don't forget to watch it in 1080HD!)

 

Hellshade

Edited November 30, 2011 by Hellshade

[Bullethead 12]

Aye the kill animations add for some very cinematic stuff! It's a shame they don't have anything like that for ranged combat (such as the camera following the arrow in slow motion, or some such) like the stuff they have in Fallout...

 

Yeah, and the "Bloody Mess" perk to go with it

 

Here's my video of the Battle for Windhelm! 1080HD, etc!:

 

I'll have to watch that at work in a couple days when I have the bandwidth to appreciate it. Congrats on your epic victory .

 

Had you been to Windhelm before? That place is a maze of defensive works. I wandered in there for the 1st time this evening and thought it might cause you difficulties. I get lost just looking for the pub

[Hellshade 110]

What are the odds? I managed to shoot the dragon out of the sky so he's forced to do a crash landing. He skids (leaving a huge ditch behind him) directly into a Dragonwall. I then managed to kill him before he had the chance to stand back up or even turn around. So basically, the Dragonwall he was protecting now serves as his gravestone. Now that's justice!

[+Polovski 425]

That Legend of Grimrock looks excellent, almost identical gameplay movement, options etc to the epic classic "Dungeon Master". Like they took DM and added great graphics, should be excellent if it's as good as DM. DM had real time action so you had to drink and eat in time, sleep, run etc. :)

[MikeDixonUK 5]

Little RP tip:

 

If you're tired of your character's current hairstyle, or think he needs a shave, you can open up the character creation menu again by pressing ` to open the command bar, then type showracemenu

 

This brings up the race selection/character creation menu the same as when you start a new character - beware though, certain cosmetic values seem to reset to default, for example skin tones.

 

You can also rename your character using this if you so wish to.

 

(Also note it's probably best not to change your race as I think that resets some stats - can't say I've ever tried it though.)

 

I never knew why they didn't add a barbershop to TES games.

[Von Paulus 8]

That Legend of Grimrock looks excellent, almost identical gameplay movement, options etc to the epic classic "Dungeon Master". Like they took DM and added great graphics, should be excellent if it's as good as DM. DM had real time action so you had to drink and eat in time, sleep, run etc. :)

Right Pol. It's a 100% Dungeon Master inspired game.

The art is really good. Now we've only to know how it's the gameplay and how balanced it's.

Dungeon Master was perfect, IMO, for the time.

 

It seems that LoG has its foundations in an old project called "Escape from Dragon Mountain"

http://dmweb.free.fr/?q=node/822

 

There's a demo for that: http://www.dungeon-master.com/files/efdm/efdm.zip

[+Polovski 425]

OK yeah sounds good Von Paulus, DM worked very well so why change the methods, the new graphics and effects etc should bring it up to date nicely.

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

I have been reading, that the new patch for Skyrim creates MANY more problems than it solves!

 

Anyone got any feedback?

[MikeDixonUK 5]

Can't say I've noticed any problems since the patch other than that I had to uninstall one of the mods I was using as it made the menu text invisibile.

 

Then again I can't say I'd noticed any problems before the patch.

 

The only bug I seem to run into constantly is that animals shoot up to about 200ft in the sky, hover for a while then fall to their deaths - random!

 

Edited December 1, 2011 by MikeDixonUK

[Von Paulus 8]

So far it only solved my keyboard and mouse issues.

But yes, there are some problems with it.

[Slartibartfast 153]

I think I figured my problem with Skyrim... The limitations or lack of them. For example you can wield any weapon cast any spell, wear any armour or be a thief without penalty and thats what I miss from NeverWinters Night 1 & 2 where I used to play as a ranger a lot which meant light armour and bow and arrows and dual weilding of swords... Looks like I will have to settle to become the Fighter Thief Mage type character and none of those where my favourite types in NWN... Granted you run slower with heavy armour but its not a failing... Also took on 8 bandits and killed them all with no magic and onlyy 3 kills with a bow with a bit of hack and slash for the rest then I come up on a Sabrecat that turns me into a can of Tuna and has me for lunch...

 

Don't get me wrong it could be a great game and I like the fact that you can play without limitations but I miss those limitations especially if you do not want to be a Thief or a Mage etc you spend time and character energy to put into those areas... whereas if you want to play as a Ranger one with the wild etc having the ability to use certain weapons etc and knowing nature type spells for me would be a lot more interesting... does that make sense!!!???

[Von Paulus 8]

Also took on 8 bandits and killed them all with no magic and onlyy 3 kills with a bow with a bit of hack and slash for the rest then I come up on a Sabrecat that turns me into a can of Tuna and has me for lunch...

That's because the game seems not to have enemy scaling. I think, NWN didn't have also, but maybe here the concept is less strict and more open, due to the nature of being an open world. That might attract some players, but not all. In a way, you've to play more carefully and not engage in all battles.

Also, Skyrim is less story driven than all Bioware games, and this force the non linearity in the game.

 

Don't get me wrong it could be a great game and I like the fact that you can play without limitations but I miss those limitations especially if you do not want to be a Thief or a Mage etc you spend time and character energy to put into those areas... whereas if you want to play as a Ranger one with the wild etc having the ability to use certain weapons etc and knowing nature type spells for me would be a lot more interesting... does that make sense!!!???

It makes sense. I haven't, yet,played much, 12 hours I think. But things are more streamlined in terms of character construction. So probably there isn't much diversity like you can find in some RPG's. This reminds me a lot the "Dragon Knight Saga".

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

I'm not a massive 'Dungeon' player, so it suits me fine..I just like steaming in, and crushing skulls

[Bullethead 12]

IDon't get me wrong it could be a great game and I like the fact that you can play without limitations but I miss those limitations especially if you do not want to be a Thief or a Mage etc you spend time and character energy to put into those areas... whereas if you want to play as a Ranger one with the wild etc having the ability to use certain weapons etc and knowing nature type spells for me would be a lot more interesting... does that make sense!!!???

 

As you get further into the game, you WILL discover the very limitations you like. You really won't notice them until you're about 10th level, but after that they become increasingly obvious. I guess the game gives you some time to make up your mind what you want to do, but after that you'd better be ready to live with your choices.

 

After about 10th level, Skyrim starts getting pretty harsh about rewarding specialists and punishing generalists. The reason for this is the way the whole skill, perk, and character level system works. You increase skills by using them, which has 3 effects:

 

1. You get better at that skill

2. When a skill level gets high enough, you can take a perk in it that makes you MUCH better at that skill for the same rank in it.

3. When you increase a certain number of skills (either many or just a few repeatedly), your overall character level goes up, which DOES scale your opposition.

 

So compare the specialist character to the generalist character of the same overall character level, so they're facing the same opposition. Both have had the same number of skill increases to reach their overall level, but the specialist has concentrated them into just a handful of key skills and ignored the others, while the generalist has spread them out over many different skills. The specialist is therefore MUCH more effective in combat because he's not only got higher base skill levels, but also the perks that go with them, which exponentially improve those skills. The generalist, OTOH, gets his ass kicked because he lacks not only the specialist's perks, but also just has generally sucky skill levels across the board.

 

Fortunately, Skyrim DOES allow a generalist to recover from such a situation in the way it scales the opposition, which is MUCH better an more realistic than the way Oblivion did it. In Oblivion, ALL enemies scaled with you, so that pretty soon the countryside was totally overrun by random ubermonsters. That sucked for a variety of gameplay reasons, not to mention undermining the whole storyline by being a bigger threat to the realm than the oblivion gates, yet nobody except you noticed it. In Skyrim OTOH, the ecosystem's balance is retained so you'll still be meeting wolves and weak bandits even at high level, although you'll meet more bears, sabercats, and bandit bosses, not to mention tougher random dragons. The real enemy scaling happens to quest enemies and inside dungeons. Thus, the generalist who finds himself getting pwned by quest targets can finally pick a specialization and spend some time in the wilderness beefing up those skills before venturing back into the dungeon. This is what saved my warrior-mage-smith-theif character and turned him into the dragon-slaying swordmaster he is today.

 

Thus, my advice to new characters is not to be seduced by the ability to dabble in all the options. Decide what type of character you want to end up with, start that way from the get-go, and stick to it. That's pretty much the same as picking a hard-wired class in a more traditional RPG. Where Skyrim is better is that along the way, you'll probably decide there are several other skills it would be useful to have at least SOME competency in, to help you in your main field. This could be dependent on which of the major questlines you pursue with the character, or just your vision of the character's personality. Anyway, there's nothing stopping you from doing those things. Just remember these are hobbies, or at most minor as opposed to a major fields of study. Remain true to your core, specialization, skill set and only increase these others just enough to accomplish your goal for them. Certainly don't spend perks on them unless absolutely required for what you want to do. You always want the bulk of your skill increases and almost all your perks in your field of specialization, and you want to spend your money on gear used by your specialization.

 

Anway, IMHO, Skyrim really does require you to pick a character class. But instead of forcing you into a hard-wired class template, you're free to create your own. You can follow the stereotypical classes of other games or you can invent your own by the combination of skills you choose to specialize in, and customize your class by picking up some hobbies in other areas. And you can always change your mind and start a completely different career with the same character, although "going back to school" like this is as much a pain as it is in real life.

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

http://arcadegenies.com/forum/index.php

 

(good site for Mods)

Edited December 1, 2011 by UK_Widowmaker

[Bullethead 12]

BTW, in case nobody's discovered it yet, you CAN put away a drawn arrow or charged spell without firing it. Just hit the R key, or whichever one you've mapped to draw/sheath your weapon. If you hit R while holding a knocked arrow, the arrow goes back in the quiver and the bow remains in your hand.

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

BTW, in case nobody's discovered it yet, you CAN put away a drawn arrow or charged spell without firing it. Just hit the R key, or whichever one you've mapped to draw/sheath your weapon. If you hit R while holding a knocked arrow, the arrow goes back in the quiver and the bow remains in your hand.

 

Ah thanks for that little tip BH

(I was just firing at the ground, and then picking it up...which seemed a bit daft really)

[Hellshade 110]

My character is pretty much a Ranger character. I focused my attention on the following areas Archery / Sneak / Lockpicking / Alchemy / Enchanting and Light Armor. I have only now just started on 1 handed weapons, because traditional D&D Rangers could dual wield weapons. I wanted to be the master of the bow first. I have no problems taking everything down with my bow. In fact I can kill a Giant with a single shot while sneaking using only crappy steel arrows. Nevermind if I have Ebony or Glass arrows which do a lot more damage.

 

But BH is right that the game will start to push you towards specializing in a few things more than being a generalist. However, the leveling system also incorporates the fact that leveling up your higher skills push you towards raising your overall level faster than if you level skills of which you are currently still not very good at. In other words, if I level my Archery from 90 to 95, that pushes me closer to getting my next overall level than leveling my one handed weapons skill from 20 to 25 does. It gives you the opportunity to raise your lower skills up later in the game without scaling up the level of the monsters nearly as fast since it won't push your over-all level up nearly as quickly.

 

 

And BH, that same trick works for putting away spells that you have charged up as well too.

 

Hellshade