Skyrim - Review Roundup #2

Originally Posted by rune_74
No, I think if people don't try to use it as a mouse interface, and instead think of it as a extension of keyboard commands you may see it is pretty quick to use.

Well, a few days ago I finished Gothic 1 and I'm about 3/4s way through G2 NotR and both games make heavy use of a keyboard driven interface. So I should be well-practiced for Skyrim then.

Personally if you can do the gothic inventories you can do any inventory

Oh, it had something hidden behind a waterfall…that is always a plus in an rpg I play(hahah I always look in every game, very few actually do it)

Originally Posted by rune_74
Personally if you can do the gothic inventories you can do any inventory

Aaah that's soo true. I loved Gothic 2 but damn that UI sucked bad too.

I don't want to make it sound like I won't like a game because of a bad UI, but I wish it was a little bit easier to use.

Skyrim's is very easy…just don't use the mouse.

Gamers should have a choice though.

Being keyboard friendly doesn't excuse it from bring shitty with a mouse.

So far excellent game. Got up at midnight to play for a few minutes to see what it was like … and its now 3:35 am

Awesome game. My only beef is the controls are very poorly mapped to the PC. Just one example is the favorites. The default mapped key is Q. If you change it to your own mapped key it only works to bring up favorites … if you hit the key again it doesn't close the favorites menu. To do that you still have to hit Q. On the other hand the default opens/closes fine. I always remap keys to the right side of my keyboard to be close to my mouse hand. Anyhow will see if there is something I can do with the configuration file.

Other than that one issue (and the desire to be able to rotate the camera while combat ready … as you can only rotate camera with weapons/spells sheathed … but a mod will release the camera I am sure) really liking it.

Three screenshots of my first tutorial guy. I usually make the first one to play just long enough to get the feel for the game. I am pretty happy with this guy - the only thing I need to do is make his mouth just a little bigger.

Got the settings on Ultra for now and screenshots don't really do it justice. Below are some samples. 1920 x 1080







Really enjoyed the opening start to the game. Water is the best I have seen in a game and the sounds … just fantastic environmental sounds. Really helped to immerse you in the game.

I can strongly see a console feel for the controls but think I just need to get use to it. Hoping osme mods will help with key mapping and camera freedom. As far as graphics on the PC … I don't have a single complaint. Content … well I only have 3 1/2 hours so what can I say there :-) Lets just say playing, examining, talking, exploring, and getting a feel for the game took me 3.5 hours from the begining intro, character design to leaving the starter area.

Quick addendum … did some brief research and found work around. The Tab key exits most menus or moves focus back one level. So by mapping the TAB key to a KEY right next to the key I mapped the Favorites lets me open close easily enough e.g. map to [ and ].

Also found that if I disabled the gamepad support the mouse worked better in most menus.

While it would be nice to have it more PC friendly I was able to work around it with just a little research and practice.

Now to get some actual content experience to report on.

I need to seriously stop visiting these threads. I won't have this game till tomorrow and it sounds great. The main complaint seems to be the UI which I can deal with. I grew up in the 80's. Horrible UIs are nothing to me. Hell they bring back fond memories

I figured the inventory would suck big time, but Darnified or someone else will fix that in no time at all.

Edit: Because this works makes me love this game already. Don't click the link if you don't want to see something hilarious or know what to do to get away with stealing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt5aUdijAN8

So far it's amazing. I actually like the UI and have had no problems with it so far. As has been said before just don't use the mouse.

I'm not trusting reviews at all this time around. I still remember how the gaming press failed to detect any flaws with Oblivion back when it was released. In fact I don't think I ever saw a single review even mention the level scaling, an issue which drew massive attention on the forums.

What I really hope they have improved on, an aspect I felt was done too poorly in both Morrowind and Oblivion, is immersion. I want the game world to feel consistent, believable, and alive. I want NPCs to respond to who I am and what I have done. I want choices to have consequences. Oblvion seemed to be designed with an obsessive focus on never closing any doors for the player, and immersion suffered as a result.

Kay

I'm only a couple of hours in but I'm amazed. I'd read some discussion of bad textures, etc but seeing it in the flesh makes me wonder how anyone could complain about the graphics - they're stunning. The animations, water effects, fog, music, environment sounds, voice acting etc all come together perfectly; very atmospheric.

Obviously these are all just superficial first impressions but wow, I'm looking forward to seeing more of Skyrim!

EDIT: I had the problem with re-mapping the keys too, and one freeze. Minor issues, easily forgiven.

Originally Posted by Nathanyl
So far it's amazing. I actually like the UI and have had no problems with it so far. As has been said before just don't use the mouse.

I am fine with keyboard but binding a key, when they give you the option to, should work the same way as the original bind … which they don't (like the Favorites).

Not that its a real complaint since I found a work around, more just console/PC irritation

Originally Posted by wolfgrimdark
I am fine with keyboard but binding a key, when they give you the option to, should work the same way as the original bind … which they don't (like the Favorites).

I don't have the game yet, but that kinda sounded like a bug. (I fear I will not be able to resist and will click the buy button on Steam—why do they make these things so easy!?)

Originally Posted by Thaurin
I don't have the game yet, but that kinda sounded like a bug. (I fear I will not be able to resist and will click the buy button on Steam—why do they make these things so easy!?)

Resist? Why? Easily the best RPG this year, hands down.

Originally Posted by rune_74
Resist? Why? Easily the best RPG this year, hands down.

And what about finishing my other games, then! I just bought Uncharted 3 this week, too!

I did buy it just now, of course. Downloading is slow, doesn't look like it will be finished tonight. Sigh. I hope the first steps into Skyrim will be as awesome as it's always been in Morrowind, Oblivion, Fallout 3, etc.

So far (after less than an hour of playing), I am loving the overall feel of it.

The graphics do look kind of console-ish (again, little playing time and it always seems dark). Combat feels a lot more visceral than Oblivion, and archery feels VERY realistic (as expected, not easy hitting moving targets but with practice …). No experience with magic yet.

I don't like the interface at all (got PC version), but I'm getting used to it. As someone else mentioned (it took me a little while to figure it out), <Tab> does close most if not all menus.

Originally Posted by skavenhorde
Edit: Because this works makes me love this game already. Don't click the link if you don't want to see something hilarious or know what to do to get away with stealing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt5aUdijAN8

OMG, just because of this I'm definetly buying the game!
Thanks for sharing it!

Originally Posted by rune_74
I'm sure how you are having trouble with the UI, it is different, but once you figure out to use the WASD keys and TAB it isn't bad at all….not to mention it lets you know if you have equipment that is better then you are wearing. I do not click with the mouse at all, it is really easy to use if you do it with WASD.

It is actually less intrusive then a lot of other UI's.

I agree. I think the complaints are mostly from people who want a mouse-focused UI and hate using their keyboard in menus. Honestly this UI means faster menu navigation than the mouse-focused UI of Morrowind.

Originally Posted by wolfgrimdark
I am fine with keyboard but binding a key, when they give you the option to, should work the same way as the original bind … which they don't (like the Favorites).

Not that its a real complaint since I found a work around, more just console/PC irritation

I changed favorites to Z and it works fine, opening and closing.

Originally Posted by DoctorNarrative
I changed favorites to Z and it works fine, opening and closing.

I think its a bug. I have tried a few keys without luck. Didn't try Z but that would defeat the purpose.

Not that it matters at all … but my desk, which I have had for 10+ years, doesn't hold my large alienware keyboard to well. So I have to slide it over to the left to have room for the mouse. This means if I play games on it and things are mapped to the left it tends to unbalance and tilt off the side of the keyboard tray. I also have tendinitis in the left arm that tends to get aggravated if I stretch my arm a lot.

So I always map all the keys over to the right side, closer to the mouse. I use the middle keys (INS, DEL, arrows, etc) plus the NUMPAD to map and the mouse. So going from Q to Z doesn't really solve anything

Regardless the solution I came up with works well. I like keyboard gaming … just prefer a bit more flexibility but getting use to it.