Comparison of New Screenshots : V - Skyrim

» Thu May 19, 2011 4:42 am

Anyone who doesn't think Skyrim's graphics are a huge improvement over Oblivion's needs to go back and take another look at Oblivion. Sometimes people don't realize quite how far graphics have come in the past 5 years.

» Wed May 18, 2011 10:34 pm

@ OP i fail to see how they aren't massive improvements for the tech they are using.

The first comparison just shows the detail of the environment this time round and the weather effects and the draw distance.

The second comparison is just crazy in comparison the oblivion NPC's look disgusting and the Skyrim shot is miles better.

» Wed May 18, 2011 8:58 pm

@ OP i fail to see how they aren't massive improvements for the tech they are using.

The first comparison just shows the detail of the environment this time round and the weather effects and the draw distance.

The second comparison is just crazy in comparison the oblivion NPC's look disgusting and the Skyrim shot is miles better.

I agree. It's just the landscape close-medium isn't a massive leap. The distant view as well as the characters do look great.

» Wed May 18, 2011 9:17 pm

I think both games look pretty good, but Skyrim is obviously superior in it's artistic and environmental execution. The developers are more familiar with the hardware, and you can just tell they've pushed for something better. It will be greatly more optimized than Oblivion was, and I'm sure the main difference will be in how it plays and feels.

» Thu May 19, 2011 5:15 am

Well of course its going to look better, but Graphics don't make a game, they just enhance it. Still i'm glad they decided to update the look of the game

» Thu May 19, 2011 1:36 am

Skyrim blows Oblivion away, and looks pretty amazing for a game this big and detailed.

I'm sure that PC on Ultra-High will blow consoles out of the water anyway, not that we'll see PC screens before release.

» Thu May 19, 2011 8:43 am

Man, if PC and xbox graphics in Skyrim will differ as much as they did in Oblivion, I'm completely OK with the graphics. Can't imagine Oblivion looking THAT bad on my (not even close to high end) PC

» Thu May 19, 2011 7:20 am

To tell you the truth it's pretty much an unfair comparison and NOT due to it being PC Oblivion VS XBOX Skyrim. One: Skyrim doesn't have such HDR or BLOOM effects as been stated by Beth, it was designed so we can see the environment more clearly without having all the excessive BLOOM/HDR blocking our sight.

Second fact: Oblivion is a much "Cleaner" place. It has a subtle design, even in graphics, which means they can make an empty room and it'll still look good for its time (it's because Oblivion took place in Cyrodiil, the Imperialistic place in Tamriel.
Now, on the other hand, Skyrim is RUGGED, full of loads of details, it's dirty. Such graphics are harder to accomplish looking good than making a game (even if it actually IS 5 years old) that is clean, organized and uses lighting effects to make things more realistic-looking.

NOTE: Keep in mind that it couldn't have been done in better graphics due to the XBOX 360... So it's not exactly Bethesda's fault of having low resolution textures in their game, it has to be done if we want to have this game in 5 months and in this generation of consoles. Besides, I think they did an EXCELLENT job considering the tools they are limited to, that is all.

» Thu May 19, 2011 3:11 am

Not seen these screen shots before - Skyrim definitely looks a lot more detailed with more realistic character models. Still too much bloom/hdr glowy stuff going on though.

» Thu May 19, 2011 10:20 am

The biggest difference I see is the sharp, defined edges in the Skyrim photos. In oblivion, everything was soft and rounded, even the edges of the blades if you held them out, seemed exceptionally blunt. In addition, look at the detailing on wrinkles on the Nord's face and even veins in his arm compared to the marble smooth-skinned imperial. In the mammoth/mountain picture comparison, the most striking difference is in the perspective. Skyrim looks truly three dimensional while oblivion could be a painting on a wall. This is largely created by the new and improved shadowing system, seen in the distant mountain entirely shadowed by clouds or nearer mountains, as well as the cloudy, hazy sky cover. Skyrim looks like it will be much more immersive simply because of graphic improvements.

» Thu May 19, 2011 1:11 am

NOTE: Keep in mind that it couldn't have been done in better graphics due to the XBOX 360... So it's not exactly Bethesda's fault of having low resolution textures in their game, it has to be done if we want to have this game in 5 months and in this generation of consoles. Besides, I think they did an EXCELLENT job considering the tools they are limited to, that is all.

That's not exactly true. Look at DICE. BF3 is going to be on the 360 and PS3 as well, and that's while simultaneously being the most technically advanced PC game to date.

» Thu May 19, 2011 6:27 am

That's not exactly true. Look at DICE. BF3 is going to be on the 360 and PS3 as well, and that's while simultaneously being the most technically advanced PC game to date.

Linear, and with a lot less stuff, as in boxes to open, dialog to choose, just detail stuff, in each area, you cant make the comparison so dont even try, it just isnt a sandbox game bro, I wish people would see understand that in a linear game you should expect more graphical enhancement then in a sandbox type game, its not that hard a concept to grasp.

» Wed May 18, 2011 10:32 pm

Bejabbers. This game is still really bloody pretty.

» Thu May 19, 2011 8:09 am

That's not exactly true. Look at DICE. BF3 is going to be on the 360 and PS3 as well, and that's while simultaneously being the most technically advanced PC game to date.

But it's not an open-world game... Nothing similar to Skyrim. Skyrim is huge compared to the games you've mentioned.

» Thu May 19, 2011 7:43 am

But it's not an open-world game... Nothing similar to Skyrim. Skyrim is huge compared to the games you've mentioned.

give it up they just dont get it :banghead: :poke:

» Thu May 19, 2011 11:17 am

Well of course Skyrim's comparison between it and Oblivion will stomp it. Almost 6 years in the making, I have to say the graphics are looking very, orgismic.

» Thu May 19, 2011 7:56 am

Character comparisons
http://i.imgur.com/0XFEX.jpg

I like this alot, it shows a huge difference in khajiit. That, and the girl is actually pretty cute.
The males seem more ruggid and tribal. Huge difference between games. I'm excited to see how all of the other races look.

» Thu May 19, 2011 11:42 am

OMFG will you guys quit bringing up pc pc pc every time a pic is shown, it is so old and boring a topic, and comes up on every post for gods sake, please for the love of the mother lol

Jesus, overreaction much? I said one thing: the shadows below the trees definitely should be there, but the 360 draw distance is too low.

To other reply: no, there should be more shadows. The mammoth has them, so other elements should; at the very least, the trees in the back should have a very low res mapped shadow.

» Thu May 19, 2011 11:39 am

Character comparisons
http://i.imgur.com/0XFEX.jpg

Wow... Hard to belive it's on the same console.

» Thu May 19, 2011 5:12 am

HAHAH rendering distance really kicked OB's [censored]. Me want mammoth! :spotted owl:

» Wed May 18, 2011 10:03 pm

Looks much better, makes Oblivion look more juvenile, fantastic.

» Thu May 19, 2011 4:18 am

First of all people I don't want people getting flamed for having different opinions on this. Please make it a nice and friendly discussion.

I want to see what you guys and gals think of my comparison screenshots that I took in Oblivion. Although they are not exactly the same landscape or have
exactly the same creatures/NPCs in them. I want to know what you think. Is Skyrim a major leap forward from Oblivion looking at my screenshots?

I GET the ones from Skyrim are Xbox 360 screenshots so don't try and catch me out there. I took the Oblivion screenshots and I tried to get them as near as
possible to the pictures in Skyrim. These where taken with max settings in Oblivion with HDR enabled (no AA, no mods). I don't want people pointing out that isn't
fair because you can't compare a console with a PC. It's just the fact that Skyrim is a 2011 game and should look much better than Oblivion regardless of what platform it's on.

I am just going to keep it short and sweet say I think Skyrim looks better, but it's not a massive leap. I will still gladly be playing this game on day one and it's not another
"It looks crap!" thread.

Here are the screenshot comparisons:

http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/8783/skyrimcomparison01.jpg

http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/5318/skyrimcomparison02.jpg

Thank you.

I think it is a pretty massive leap. Especially picture one. Those mountains in the background for OB are rediculous and then look at skyrim.. they are infinitly better and well as the faces on the NPC's

» Wed May 18, 2011 8:19 pm

The only thing that turns me off a bit from the new shots is that the windows are just pretty light sources, like in games past. I don't know, I don't need a perfect outside view or anything but there has to be a better way to do windows than this.

» Thu May 19, 2011 4:50 am

While the graphics are undoubtedly far superior to Oblivion's, which were quite good when the game was released, I feel slightly underwhelmed by the recent screenshots. I don't think that they match up to the initial promise that the graphics in the trailer showed.

I am confident, however, that the graphics will be polished and improved by the time that the game is released. I am also conscious of the fact that these shots are from the 360 version, and that the PC version is likely to look much better.

» Thu May 19, 2011 2:15 am

But it's not an open-world game... Nothing similar to Skyrim. Skyrim is huge compared to the games you've mentioned.

Doesn't matter. They are designing the game initially with current hardware in mind, then downscaling. Bethesda is designing the game with six year old hardware in mind. That is the difference that matters. Bethesda could make Skyrim look a lot better if they followed the same formula as DICE. The limitation is imposed by the hardware they are primarily designing around, not the type of game it is.

It's always easier to downscale than it is to upscale. It's like trying to shrink an image vs enlarging an image.