After legally retrospecting the QuakeCon demo and the E3 demo, I just can't help to say: Skyrim will be beautiful.

Not exactly graphically (in my opinion Skyrim's graphics are nothing but mediocre), but aesthetically and how the atmosphere of the game will be beautiful.
There's a really fresh, sharp and nice hue to the game that is very visually pleasing and it really invites you to explore and just be amazed by it. Along with Jeremy Soule's amazing soundtrack, an incredible experience is set.

In short, Skyrim will be beautiful

What do you think?

Hlvr, I completely agree! The outside environments look beautiful, lush, and ripe for some awesome exploring. The music is magnificent as well. I can't wait!

I love all (visual and otherwise)aspects of Skyrim so far. :tes:

agreed- to a point. I'm impressed with their graphics, compared to the entire scope of the game itself. The way the limbs of the trees move separately, and how everything you see has a sense of belonging and harbors the idea that these are living/breathing entities is an amazing feat from it's predecessor.

It will be visually pleasing. The audio will send shivers down my spine much like my first encounter with a lusty argonian maid

NO! IT WILL BE UGLY AND svck MORE THAN ANYTHING THAT HAS EVER svckED BEFORE!

Yes, but will it be playable?

I believe so, but some don't. While graphics are an objective in game development, you have to remember that mechanics of a game need to be solid as well. Skyrim has some good, solid mechanics for most, but some don't want this to be just an explorable picture.

What mechanics would make it not playable?

Indeed
I love how lush the forests looked at the beginning of all the demos. Near the fox.
If you legally remember the QuakeCon demo you can also see how the wind animations look really good in the pine trees when Dovahkiin stands still for a few seconds at the beginning (before he goes down the road to the fox).
Also really beautiful how the fog slowly drifts in from the mountain.

My favourite images are:
http://cdnstatic.gamesas.com/akqacms/files/tes/screenshots/DragonApproach_wLegal.jpg
http://cdnstatic.gamesas.com/akqacms/files/tes/screenshots/ForestHunt_wLegal.jpg
http://cdnstatic.gamesas.com/akqacms/files/tes/screenshots/Riverwood.jpg
http://cdnstatic.gamesas.com/akqacms/files/tes/screenshots/CompositeMountain_wLegal.jpg
http://cdnstatic.gamesas.com/akqacms/files/tes/screenshots/WolvesHealMace_wLegal.jpg

They all have a really beautiful hue together, so varied, yet natural and it looks and feels very pleasing.

:facepalm: Please stay on topic... this about how VISUALLY/AESTHETICALLY pleasing the game will be. No where does anyone mention gameplay or other mechanics. Trust me, I am one of many who are doubting the "greatness" of this game gameplay-wise, but thats for a different forum. Don't be the one who unleashes pandora's box. Theres already places for that. :thumbsup:

Anyone can make a pretty picture, few can let you pick up said picture and place it in a room full "ingame" of pictures. So to speak.... im not sure of what i just wrote i don't care either way i blame Todd for my incoherent responses and my insanity... :spotted owl:

Agreed.

I agree, though I actually think Skyrim's graphics are much stronger than mediocre. How many games really look that much better than Skyrim? Some of the most recent games that I've put a good number of hours into were L.A. noire, Black Ops, and Red Dead Redemption, all of which look beyond good, but I don't personally think they look any better than Skyrim. L.A. Noire and Red Dead have certain aspects that look better, like the animation. Their actual graphics however tend to look much more detailed than they really are. This is because they are played in 3rd person, which means that the closest that your view ever gets to any object is 4-5 feet away. If you do manage to get closer, you'll see that the graphics really aren't any better (probably even worse) than what we've seen in Skyrim. As for Black Ops, it looks great, but to be quite honest I wasn't impressed on any level that Skyrim didn't trump.

Still, L.A. Noire, Red Dead Redemption, and Black Ops were all games that I felt had extremely pleasing visuals.

Not to mention Skyrim is open world, and not linear like Black-Ops. Red Dead had less going on, which allowed a much better draw distance. I've heard people talk about the fog in the woods, which prevented you from seeing far in the place that did have a lot of clutter.

I think Skyrim's detail, creatures, atmosphere, and music, will make it incredible. Not to mention Radiant AI, and improved models that fit the world.

Graphics wise, I love the http://www.jupiter42.de/wp-content/gallery/skyrim/draugrcrypt02.jpg. And the character/face models. No more ugly NPCs with bad neck seams, thank god.

Couldn't agree more. I'm spending a bit of time in Oblivion as sort of a perspective change over the years, and really, the game itself at the highest detail level isn't miles behind Skyrim. Where Skyrim seems to really improve are just on shadowing, which does add a lot of depth to the world, character models, and the further LOD planes. In terms of Art and overall Aesthetic though, Skyrim is bursting with character, which is probably the result of a lengthy per-production phase. The fact that they are shipping the CE with a huge Art book further substantiates the notion that Skyrim's aesthetic is much better thought out, and more cohesive than it's predecessors.

I agree to the fullest. I cannot wait to just find a simple little pond with a waterfall, chill right next to it and listen to Jeremy Soule's epic atmosphere music while I hover the camera all around my surroundings!

I'm not really impressed with the visuals so far, but they have all been (to my understanding) from the 360 version which has already been stated to use lower resolution textures and pretty much less of everything compared to the PC version. I'll judge it graphically once i see a PC screenshot or video. I'll grant it that it is impressive for a 360 title, but against it's PC brethren it's underperforming in a pretty big way, games like the Witcher 2 look far superior but it's also comparing graphics from the PC to a 360 and thats not much of a competition when done.

The shadows in that picture are pretty nice, but it is sooooo bright! I was really hoping they would make dungeons darker this time around, at least some of them. I never had to use a torch in Oblivion, the only place I remember being dark was that ayleid ruin involved in a daedric quest.

And yes, the neck seams, that is very very nice to see.... er, not see.