Skyrim - Beta patch 1.4. on Steam

A new entry on Bethblog mentions that the long awaited patch 1.4 for Skyrim has been released as beta on Steam. Head over to learn how to activate the beta patch - on your own risk of course….
More information.

It looks like this does include the changes made by Tesval and Skyboost plus some more optimizations and people are getting around a 20 fps or so increase over 1.3 and also less stuttering then the previous patch and Tesval/Skyboost overall.

Lol why on earth a BETA patch? It's absurd… We could have waited a bit more for the full patch at this point.

Originally Posted by Ball_Breaker
Lol why on earth a BETA patch? It's absurd… We could have waited a bit more for the full patch at this point.

You CAN wait a bit more, no one is forcing you to install it

Plus it helps them to find early errors before the full patch.

Originally Posted by guenthar
plus some more optimizations

They changed the compilation optimization parameters. They probably forgot a couple of things and realized it when they added the Large Address Flag for patch 1.3…

Originally Posted by azarhal
They changed the compilation optimization parameters. They probably forgot a couple of things and realized it when they added the Large Address Flag for patch 1.3…

You also need a huge test sample when making changes like this - but if they'd allowed open beta testing before release everyone would be too busy giggling at the visuals to actually testing specific issues caused by compiler optimisations.

Originally Posted by Elhoim
You CAN wait a bit more, no one is forcing you to install it

Plus it helps them to find early errors before the full patch.

I know EXACTLY that I'm not forced to install it… In fact, I still haven't installed it yet.
Can't they just find the errors and then release the full patch, as they always did?
I feel like a beta tester that has to pay, and not being payed by Bethesda to try its game .

Originally Posted by azarhal
They changed the compilation optimization parameters. They probably forgot a couple of things and realized it when they added the Large Address Flag for patch 1.3…

Tesval/Skyboost does the same thing as what Bethesda has done with their patch with the code optimizations except that since Bethesda has the source code and can compile the exe with it the patch is much more efficient and probably covers more of the code then Tesval/Skyboost does.

PS. I think they put this out as a beta for 2 reasons; those are for one people have ended up having issues with the previous released patches and the second is so people are not stuck with the patch if they have any issues and can go right back to the previous one.

Beta patches are great for people with decent pc skills. We're comfortable with rolling back software, drivers, etc. For those who are leery of such things, they can wait for the patch to be certified by Bethesda.

K, I quickly checked this out. Performance is WAY better than with the TESVAL plugin. First impressions are that Markath is silky smooth with 1.4 beta whereas it still stuttered a bit w/ TESVAL running.

Originally Posted by crpgnut
Beta patches are great for people with decent pc skills. We're comfortable with rolling back software, drivers, etc. For those who are leery of such things, they can wait for the patch to be certified by Bethesda.

Actually for once, they have taken care of all the hard work for us.

If you decide you want to roll back to 1.3, all you do is change the settings again on your Steam client. Steam takes care of all the work of patching your game back to the previous version automatically.

I still remember the glory days when patches used to be distributed on floppy disks.

Originally Posted by guenthar
It looks like this does include the changes made by Tesval and Skyboost plus some more optimizations and people are getting around a 20 fps or so increase over 1.3 and also less stuttering then the previous patch and Tesval/Skyboost overall.

Quick question

Do you need to disable Skyboost / Tesval ? Or do you use them together , in order to see performance boost ?

You can't use Tesval/Skyboost with this patch even if they didn't include the optimizations. I haven't checked to see if SKSE has been updated yet but that is broken with every patch just like the said mods and it has to be updated for the new patch also.

Do they force this patch on you when you log into Steam, or is it optional? I'm pretty much done with Skyrim for now until an expansion is released, but I'd still be interested in knowing.


-Carn

Originally Posted by guenthar
You can't use Tesval/Skyboost with this patch even if they didn't include the optimizations. I haven't checked to see if SKSE has been updated yet but that is broken with every patch just like the said mods and it has to be updated for the new patch also.

I see.

But than also SkyUI doesnt work (properly) ?

Originally Posted by Carnifex
Do they force this patch on you when you log into Steam, or is it optional?
-Carn

The only way to get the beta patch is if you change your Steam settings (upper left corner of the client) and go to My Account -> Beta Participation and select Skyrim Beta. Then when you restart the Steam client it will begin downloading the patch.

If you want to go back to 1.3, just change your Beta Participation status back to "Do not participate." When you restart your Steam client it will patch you back to 1.3.

I'm pretty much done with Skyrim for now until an expansion is released, but I'd still be interested in knowing

Keep in mind, as soon as the CK is released there are going to be thousands and thousands of free mods available on Steam, including quite a few quest and content mods. The process to download and install mods is going to be simpler than for previous TES games.

This is opt-in and you need to go into the section where you can select to accept the beta to get it and you just do the same thing if you want to go back.

PS. I checked and there is a new version of SKSE for the new patch so you should be able to use SkyUIi with that.

EDIT: I was beat with a better explanation. I actually might be creating my own quest mod since it will be much easier then what I have tried in the past and might actually finish it.

ITT people whine because Bethesda did the thing they all asked for, make an easy way to roll back the patch if there's problems. Goddamn babies.

So true. Good on Bethesda! I'll wait a few days to see if any serious bugs are reported with the beta patch, and if not, join the beta.

Originally Posted by darkling
ITT people whine because Bethesda did the thing they all asked for, make an easy way to roll back the patch if there's problems. Goddamn babies.

People just whine. Period.