I've seen either "Console fanboyz" or "PC elitists" derailing some threads with either information or disinformation that had nothing to do with what the OP asked. I found myself almost doing that exact thing. I then decided to settle some confusion and try to draw their attention into a single thread for that purpose. Without getting into detail and figures about how DX11 (very important), shaders, texture detail and higher-resolution work and functions of todays systems over consoles, I decided to simply link two sites that gave a good explanation from Todd Howard.


Details about how PC's will perform
http://www.gamefront.com/bethesda-ceo-todd-howard-on-skyrim-the-pc-version-looks-better/


Explanation as to why the Xbox 360 is being used as the showcase platform.
http://www.diedagain.com/todd-howard-skyrim-demonstrations-on-xbox-360-easier

I welcome discussion but please keep it civil.

You do realize that DX11 is probably not even implemented, I've seen nothing to the contrary, at best it's the DX10 path.

Skyrim on PC isn't being made to push or really utilize DX11. Of coarse if you have it just like having beast hardware vs cheaper PC rig Skyrim will look better.

But again not utilizing all the gains DX11 would provide. Having DX11 will affect the game. It will have the gains you think. But it's like say a dual core phone on the Android operating system. The OS isn't taking advantage of the dual cores because it isn't programmed for it.

And that's fine. PC isn't as advanced as people are pushing it. That goes for technology for that matter. Yes an expensive rig has great graphics but not mindblowing. And only a few thousand people can afford such. Usually at a harm.

As long as PC isn't getting a gimped version and Skyrim's story and writing is good I couldn't care less. And modders over time are going to provide packs that enhance the graphics a lot anyways.

IGN: Will the PC version support DirectX 11?

Todd Howard: Yes, but I guess the real question here is do we take advantage of DX11's big new features and the answer is 'not specifically'. Our graphics work centers around doing things that will look the same regardless of platform, and sometimes that implementation will be different on the 360, PS3, and PC.

taken from: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.274350-Skyrim-IGN-Interview-DX11-and-more

so, while it 'supports' DX11 they are not taking full advantage of it. by saying 'not specifically' we don't know exactly what he means but it will support it. i would imagine the 'taking advantage' will be limited to the performance gains that DX11 brings and not some of the newer features and that'll be about it.

@OP...nice articles but it doesn't really give any info that wasn't already known.

Articles in the OP are really old and at this time really unreliable imo.

@geckoman Im pretty sure I read somewhere that Todd said they might release a dx11 patch later, so I take it that Skyrim COULD use dx11 but it wont at release, possibly later but who knows.

From the countless posts where I've been hearing people say all systems will be the exact same, to others saying PC's will actually be worse because of lag; all the while being completely off topic from the OP. There was a lot of disinformation and blatent babble and I felt this was needed. From the looks of it all I came to the conclusion that a lot of people didn't know about that info, this post was mainly for them.

CONSOLE GAMING SAVAGES!

Just kidding ^.^ but seriously it was a smart idea to showcase the game on 360, thanks for the post I never fully understood why they did that.

just be careful because there are those that cannot have a civil discussion about it. any mention of consoles by pc users is seen as console bashing and they start screaming pc elitist! even though todd himself has stated it will 'look' better on pc. no one is saying it will play any better but many people play on pc just for the better graphics. personally i prefer the pc for the mods and the keyboard and mouse, i'm too old and crotchety to learn how to use a controller. LOL

Pretty much explained that in my post. And most PC players serious about Skyrim knew that tidbit. Not to clutch at you or anything. Just seeing the habit lately of topics with 2-3 pages full of people repeating the same thing.

"...has higher textures…much higher resolution (logical, not even worth mentioning), and a lot more graphic features".

I'll be sure to remember that, Todd. If that's not true, it'll be (-(Infinite) Karma) for you (which would leave you exactly at 0 Karma).

wait a minute you say that two articles in wich there are interveiws with todd himself are unreliable and then follow it up with "i read somewhere"

anyway on topic does the inclusion of some dx11 features make dx11 as a whole availible for modders to implement? i have never quite understood how that works.

either way skyrim looks nasty on the 360 anyway i dont understand the whole console vs pc debate, to me its just a "mine is better than yours"

I hope it will look good enough that it has PC graphics at a minimum threshold that I would expect the game to have. I don't have my sights fixed on the stars...the moon or maybe a tall mountain would be fine.

And if one wants "mindblowing" graphics, maybe they should drink some Skooma before playing... Oooo...the pretty colors. That's sooooo cooooooool...

Also any threads that say PC will look better is usually full of people saying they will look the same or todd prefers 360, it's fanboyism regardless of platform they are all as bad as each other.

You know he means it's as much of an improvement as you'd expect. He's not promising you the world. Nor the team either. Look at other games like Deus Ex:HR or Crysis 2 from console to PC to get an idea of improvement. Although those two were built on DX11 if I remember correctly.

Base improvements as you'd expect. Even if it was fully PC developed it'd be marginally better. It wouldn't bring the RPG back. That was lost from Daggerfall to Morrowind. So many mechanics lost. Same for Fallout 3 which has had the least mechanics to date.

Bethesda Game Studios would of had to answer the call of a widening market and larger player base who can't handle or don't want to learn playsets of any RPG. This is shown in Arena in the first place. It was more obvious with their first commercial and mainstream hit: TES III Morrowind

The goal of any company is profits. Dev teams need an assured profit margin to keep the company running and every employee paid. Bethesda Softworks and Zenimax handle these corporate decisions.

Unfortunately other than DLC the market would be the same. And at a technical front making a game like Skyrim with great graphics is harder than Red Dead Redemption right at the base. From tracked world dwelling NPCs who don't respawn if killed or have to remain/can't just disappear to all the little objects. It's more taxing.

That's why those open world games graphics are usually behind say Mass Effect 2 which is straight linear or Deus Ex: HR which is open but linear. Skyrim isn't at a bad line. But again with a PC only industry this Skyrim would exist, it'd be just as statistic mechanic deprived, and maybe a DX11/12/whatever encoding but only marginal gains.

But again Skyrim looks fairly competitive. Note though I won't overglorify it technically.

These open worlds are possible by mass reusing of textures and assets around the world. Morrowind, Oblivion, Fallout 3, and especially New Vegas and all accompanying DLCs are examples. It's more content but not usually memorable content. Like eating a large bag of chips instead of a primo steak.

That's a nice rant you got going there, pretty jaded.

You're acting like Daggerfall wasn't a copy-paste job.

thats my sig until he proves it.

Hey, the game looks pretty no matter which platform you're on, yeah? I really just want the game to look as good on my PC as it does in the demos, that's it. Prettier than that I think my PC can take, but c'mon it looks so good already!

I have a crazy thought about PC gaming, as a PC gamer myself, and here's what I'd like to see: I really want PC gaming and Console gaming to combine into one, and I really think it'll happen. With what we can do with a console, probably the next lineup of systems will really start blurring the lines between consoles and pcs, from what peripherals they support to what you can actually do. Now why would anyone want that? Because to build your own function gaming rig is incredibly expensive when you compare it to a console, when a console is solely just for gaming and optimized for that; not really the case for a computer.

Hey, I'm a PC gamer, and I love my PC, but as soon as I see games like SC2 or other keyboard and mouse titles move to a console I'll probably make the move too once support grows.

I dont understand what is issue is with making the PC verison much bette graphically comapred to consoles. WHy not say the PC vesion will put the console verison to shame. What difference does it make it to bethesda if I buy a PC version compared to a PS3 vesrion. I have still purchased a copy. They should have gone the route of BF3 and put their best foot forward rather than advertise witha poorer looking version of what they will release on PC.

I have no issues with consoles and I won both a PC and PS3. But games on my PC just look better, so why do we have to pretend that every piece of equipment that can run Skyrim is equal?

I didn't mention Daggerfall in that sentence because it wasn't hand crafted. Mass re-use in a very generated game.

The point I was trying to get across there was the prenotion people have that BGS devs really put a ton of content and work on their games. Well they do, but they sacrifice many things to get a world so big and full of miscellaneous things to do.

It'll look bad if you compare them side by side. But otherwise, if you've been playing on the console for a while, it wouldn't bother you much at all. So what's the big deal?

I played Oblivion on PC and after that, on the PS3, and while I was playing the PS3 version I wasn't going "Oh No!!! It's Horrible!!" Because I can't remember how the PC graphics were.I don't play them both at the same time!

I just want a comparison between 360, PS3 and PC soon, so I know which version I should pre-order. I have the PS3 already, but considering to buy PCs now that Skyrim, BF3, FM12 and etc. comes out. but must have a site confirmation of how much better the PC version of skyrim is compared with the consoles before placing the order.

Because their biggest market is console, they needed to show the base line, and from where I'm sitting, it looks pretty darn good on the console, that gives me hope for the pc version.

seriously, it is less than 2 months to release date. and they have not yet shown the PS3 or PC version !!!..
When will we actually see any pictures or gameplay of the other versions, will we ever see it before the release date, or has MS paid Bethesda so much that we do not see it before it comes on youtube. of YouTube users who have purchased it? Tired of waiting for images or gameplay, just Want to see it before I pre-order it, so I know whether it is worth spending money on a new gamer-pc. ? (mods are awesome though)