Don't get too excited about graphics : V - Skyrim

» Sun Feb 13, 2011 7:17 pm

Worried about second-rate graphics? I have the perfect solution, mods! If Morrowind can look http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c395/spark214/Morrowind2010-01-2113-59-18-85.png, and Oblivion http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c395/spark214/Oblivion2010-01-2114-19-31-16.png, then god only knows what Skyrim will eventually look like.

» Sun Feb 13, 2011 9:00 pm

Correct answer:

360 has 512 MB shared RAM (no dedicated video)
PS3 has 2x256 MB, with one dedicated to video, the other to program RAM.
The Wii has 96 MB.

Cumulatively, this is less than many DX11 video cards, including mine. :mohawk:

Think this is far more limiting than gpu who is old now but pretty decent and cpu who is well enough. PS3 has that hybrid cpu who require special coding but that should be libraries enough for it now.
Little memory reduces the texture size and amount of textures used at once. Also put hard caps on numbers of objects on screen and their complexity.
Simply forget open cities and open houses, think fallout graphic.

Still this have some benefits, less work on graphic, more time on other things, combat, quests and setting. Game will run on a cheap gaming pc. And waiting for the next generation console would delay it two years or more, better to make TES6 for them.

» Mon Feb 14, 2011 1:49 am

For all i care, it could look like MW and i would still play it. Graphics don't make a game

» Mon Feb 14, 2011 12:52 am

No offense, but Bethesda is not a developer I'd name that's ever pushed for bleeding edge graphics.

That said, this always has been a dumb argument. If you have a PC capable of it, you'll get the high end graphics you desire..eventually. As soon as the modders do their magic, and if you've got a rig that will support it. For those that prefer consoles, or do not have/desire to spend hundreds of dollars upgrading or obtaining a new PC, it's a perfectly fine option. I think the numbers from Oblivion speak for themselves in that regard.

» Mon Feb 14, 2011 10:18 am

I'm not so concerned about the graphics but it would be nice if they boosted the game in the performance department. It would be nice for cities to have larger populations and for battles to be a bit grander, the impression I got is that it was down to the the game's engine for the games limited performance (correct me if I'm wrong). An example would be to have a decent Battle of Bruma style battle this time with larger numbers of fighters on both sides.

» Mon Feb 14, 2011 4:36 am

I couldnt really care less if the graphics arnt top notch, Im all for the story and the gameplay.

» Sun Feb 13, 2011 11:55 pm

That's actually great. Instead of spending time doing expensive and time consuming graphic upgrades, they could use slightly better stock Oblivion graphics and focus on the other things we gamers care about: like, a decent storyline. Or a game which is geared towards an advlt audience which wants minimal challenge, you know.

All in all, I hope for a game which can be a worthy successor to Morrowind. BUT I know that things have changed, and I'm probably just one of the lonely voices on the desert when it comes to idealizing new game platforms - I don't really expect more than a slightly better action game with RPG elements.

» Mon Feb 14, 2011 4:03 am

Edit - Double post.

» Sun Feb 13, 2011 11:49 pm

We've seen excellent console stuff in terms of visuals. I expect that when they rewrote Gamebryo, they used segments of code from tech 5 to jack up the visual fidelity.

» Sun Feb 13, 2011 7:02 pm

I don't care at all for the graphics. All I know is that it will at least be on par with Oblivion, and that is more than enough for me.

» Mon Feb 14, 2011 5:50 am

No offense, but Bethesda is not a developer I'd name that's ever pushed for bleeding edge graphics.

That said, this always has been a dumb argument. If you have a PC capable of it, you'll get the high end graphics you desire..eventually. As soon as the modders do their magic, and if you've got a rig that will support it. For those that prefer consoles, or do not have/desire to spend hundreds of dollars upgrading or obtaining a new PC, it's a perfectly fine option. I think the numbers from Oblivion speak for themselves in that regard.

Oblivion was bleeding edge. For a game made in 2006, it was incredible. I mean look at the other stuff that was being pumped out on '06 and tell me Oblivion wasn't near, if not on the top.

Fallout had pretty damn good visuals, but the leap wasn't as big. This is because they were focused on making a game within a reasonable period of time and selling to recoup their investment in Fallout and because they had no clue how well it would sell. Considering Oblivion sold some 7-8 million copies, they know they can spend the extra time to work on the engine and still make a massive profit.

» Mon Feb 14, 2011 6:43 am

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1148128-what-system-will-you-be-purchasing-tesv-for/

It isn't as big as the console markets. That poll is skewed in favour of PC because PC gamers are far more likely to be on the forums.

» Sun Feb 13, 2011 9:08 pm

I'd agree that consoles are holding the industry back somewhat. But looking deeper it's more of a money thing. Consoles are cheaper, and easier to use and code for. Thus a higher percentage of the Market uses them. Even if we already had next generation consoles up to par with modern PC's I'd still rather accept slightly better than Fallout graphics and have Bethesda focus on AI upgrades, characters on screen, physics models, animations, etc. Things other than graphics that create for an excellent game. There's too much emphasis on graphical output by modern gamers, they seem to forget everything else that goes into a game. Good graphics does not equal good game. They are an excellent bonus when used in conjunction with great everything else.

» Mon Feb 14, 2011 1:36 am

Considering Todd Howard has stated that he considers graphics to be a vital component of immersing players in a game, I don't think we need to worry about lazy graphical efforts in Skyrim. It won't be a PC exclusive and so it won't be mind blowing, but it should be the best multi platform game out there in everything including graphics.

» Mon Feb 14, 2011 2:54 am

Graphics aren't important to me although I don't want stick figures in Black and White. If it looks better then Oblivion which is still an amazing looking game almost 5 years later then I'll be happy.

» Mon Feb 14, 2011 8:51 am

The fact is, the crapbox360 is holding back progress of gaming graphics, and this game will be no different.

That's exaggerated I think. Look qt the Slim, smaller than PS3, looks as good (sometimes what I've seem better) graphically speaking, and is quieter than a mouse. Look at Crysis, they are bringing that to the console and it will have the same graphics, I no better, than it had ok the PC. I see this as the 360 staying with the other two consoles. I've had mine for five years and it's still going strong, had to send it in once for RRoD but it's still chugging. The 360 is no less a console than the PS3, and many times the blu-ray graphics are over rated. God of War 3 - Mass Etfec 2, seen both games in action. Honestly, ME2 looks as good if not better.

» Mon Feb 14, 2011 2:16 am

the blu-ray graphics

Wow. You really have no idea what you're talking about, do you?

» Mon Feb 14, 2011 7:39 am

I think Bethesda will content the tes fans.
Maybe with a modified Gamebryo or maybe with a total surprise. But the most improtant thing is that they make aan awesome RPG like Morrowind is :celebration: (and oblivion :rolleyes::P )

» Mon Feb 14, 2011 7:46 am

It isn't as big as the console markets. That poll is skewed in favour of PC because PC gamers are far more likely to be on the forums.

http://software.intel.com/en-us/blogs/2010/04/19/hear-that-knocking-sound-its-pc-gaming/

» Mon Feb 14, 2011 10:28 am

Wow. You really have no idea what you're talking about, do you?

I do, all I mean by blu ray graphics is the prowess of the PS3. I know all games use different or mmodified graphics engines. When it comes to PS3 I hear a lot of 'We'll harness the power of the PS3, and since the blu-ray holds more space as far as a disc goes, at times a stronger graphics engine can be applied to it. Look at FF13, one disc for PS3, lookmat the 360, afew discs. I got a pretty good idea of what I'm talking about. Your right, I probably shouldn't used blu ray in terms of graphics l, instead I should have said prowess of PS3.

» Sun Feb 13, 2011 10:33 pm

People just want the PC version so they can put 34FFF cups on their chain-mail bikini warrior princesses.

Looks like I'm going with PC.

» Sun Feb 13, 2011 8:30 pm

ok that hurt a little, but compared to a standard computer that someone gets (not mainly for gaming) is gonna be a lot worse than Xbox360 or PS3 and yeh I know the xbox doesn't have 11 different processors but it has 3 I believe. Anyways yeah I know a computer can be overclock and upgraded a whole lot. I am just saying a standard pc vs. a standard gaming system the gaming system is gonna win, and companies will try and appeal to the broadest audience, and I am more of a software person, not a hardware

So much confusion here.
The Xbox 360 specifically has 1 CPU, with 3 cores in it, with two hardware threads per core. (6 threads total). That is not the same as 3 or 6 processors though.
It only has 512MB of RAM which it shares between the GPU and the physical memory.
The GPU is based on 5-6 year old architecture, which is very weak compared to todays standards.

On a PC, games are not made for that many threads, usually only 2 threads are used for a game in most cases, so the higher clock speed on the CPU is better then the thread count.

Dont get me wrong, I play games primarily on my gaming PC, but most multiplayer games I buy on the Xbox, since I know more people who play on that.

» Mon Feb 14, 2011 3:48 am

Console graphics have come a long way since Oblivion was released, so it's not a stretch to assume that Skyrim will look significantly better than Oblivion and Fallout 3.

» Sun Feb 13, 2011 6:54 pm

Elder Scrolls isn't about graphics for me. What I wish for is a decently developed setting that follows the lore from "Children of the Sky" as closely as possible.

» Mon Feb 14, 2011 2:39 am

This is a multi-platform game. It needs to run smooth on Xbox360 and PS3 so.... Some people may have upgraded PC's since Oblivion, but the Xbox360 is no better than it was four and a half years ago.

There will likely be some upgrades to the engine, so it will look a bit better than Fallout 3 and Oblivion, and they will also likely make it semi-scalable so that it looks better on PC than it does on the 360. But the reality is that the PC market isn't that big any more, so they aren't going to spend a fortune doing lots of extra work especially for the PC.

So yeah, it will no doubt look really good, but when I see people posting pictures of real photographs and expecting it to look similar, you are only setting yourselves up for disappointment. Same goes for upgrading your PC components. My other PC still has an 8800GTX which is about 3.5 years old and it still runs 99% of games cranked. The only ones it struggles with are PC exclusives (Arma2, FSX, etc). The fact is, the crapbox360 is holding back progress of gaming graphics, and this game will be no different.

About the 360, you're right, but have you noticed that their are tons of games on the 360 now that have graphics that are mind-blowing compared to Oblivion? Sure, the system hasn't been upgraded, but that hasn't stopped games' graphics from advancing.

Btw "CrapBox 360"? really? A lot of people really love the 360. It's not very smart to go insulting it like that.