Skyrim 32bit vs 64bit idea? : V

» Fri Aug 29, 2014 1:26 pm

Hi,

I recently had a dilemma and a request of the developer at gamesas if they are open to a random suggestion. I in the past 3-4 years of playing your product and all its expansions have enjoyed them thoroughly. But in the past year or two I have had to upgrade to more beefier hardware to get the most out of newer games hitting this platform. I'm not asking if its possible to update it. I'm just asking if it's possible for you guys to consider updating the main program to have a 64-bit option. For those who have newer hardware since new technology coming out now is mostly 64-bit in architecture. Cause the 32-bit having the max capacity hit at 2-3gb of space and then crashing numerous times. Just wanted to bring this to the community's attention. Cause recently in another favorite game by another developer they had major roadblocks like in skyrim but elevated the crashing by offering people a 64 bit option alongside the 32 bit program. When they made this option available even though it took time. I rarely crashed even minutely, Just though if you guys are still considering things please consider this it would be a great help to the health of this games lifespan.

Thank you for your time,

Tasadeus

» Fri Aug 29, 2014 11:32 pm

I an pretty sure Bethesda is done with Skyrim as it is...

They will be no native 64 bit version for sure. But you could play skyrim on a 64 bit operating system without any special problems.

And actually, i thing skyrim will be a timeless game not because it's not written in a 64 bit version, but because it's the only action role-playing video game that's that huge and fun to play.

Except that it sold over 20 million copies worldwide, and also received awards from various gaming sites and publications.

Actually, It was voted No.1 in Good Game's top 100 video games of all time. !!! :wink:

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> Cause the 32-bit having the max capacity hit at 2-3gb of space and then crashing numerous times. <

You are talking about mods most likely. !!!

However, Skyrim It's a 32-bit .exe, mostly because it's more or less a port from the consoles with minimal re-programming done to make it work on your PC. !!!

Making the step to a 64 bit client, needs some workarounds. You should read that below:

Spoiler

And correct me if i'm wrong but I'm pretty sure 64 bit both benefits the graphics card and CPU capabilities of your computer in gaming.

There are a few extra instructions available on x64 CPUs, but [most of] those instructions can be used in x86 processes in any case. So, so far as performance benefits goes - there aren't really any implicit advantages.

How hard would it really be for zenimax to create a 64 bit client? any programmers out there feel free to input.

Depends entirely on how portable the code was written in the first place. Memory addresses in x64 are 64 bits wide, while x86 addresses are 32 bits wide

When you use memory addresses (which you do a lot) you use something called a pointer (it points at a location in memory). A pointer is a number that has to be the same size as the address size on your CPU. If any 32 bit pointers are present in the program and you compile it and run it on x64 it will crash unpredictably and intermittently. Basically, Zenimax can't just go and "compile for x64" and expect things to go well - a lot of QA will be involved.

Additionally, they are using some 3rd party libraries (you know these as .dlls). The thing about DLLs is that they are also compiled against a certain platform (x86 vs. x64). It is a CPU and operating system limitation that you cannot load a x86 library (DLL) into a x64 process (EXE) - this means they would also need to make sure that x64 version of all the libraries they use are available.

At the end of the day it comes down to a lot of combing through code to make sure pointers were used correctly, and a lot of time in QA making sure that nothing breaks.