Screenshots allmost never look the same as actually being in game. So, it's really hard to judge from them. I think it's going to look amazing since they built a new engine.

drizzit do urren, on 23 January 2011 - 06:27 PM, said:

??? This the official Skyrim forum and we have a screenshot of Skyrim. Assuming we are all TES fans, why not pick apart that screenshot. We have something to judge, the screenshot I Iinked to.


that's exactly what i'm talk about it's just a screenshot and you want to judge the whole game just based on this?


Who ironed in your coffee this morning? This is a forum used to discuss anything related to Skyrim. Seeing as the visuals are somewhat important, even if we don't have many screenshots why not discuss the topic



i just think it's a bit premature thats all calm down

I agree it's better business to develop for the consoles, but I think most people on this forum (including you) would not like to put Bethesda in the same boat that Kotick is in(money hungry and doesn't care about quality of the games).

I haven't (yet). I might buy the magazine now. I thought about it before, but I've seen some of the "that which can't be said here" on the internet already.

Oh boy. This is what happens when you start judging a game's graphics by comparing it to other games. Can't we just judge the game on it's own merits? As for shadows, check page 52 of the Game Informer mag. Plenty of shadows in those shots. The reason you don't see any shadows in the one screen shot linked in the OP is because it's overcast. It's Skyrim. Odds are it's going to be overcast most of the time.

Yes, it is strange. If others that have said that the screens are from the 360 are correct then that could be the reason. I can't remember if tree canopy shadows where active on the 360 version of OB. If not, it could be a similar issue; the shadows where deactivated outside.

I wasn't discussing shadows specifically(that's been done to death on here already). I was talking about the similarities of the lighting in OB/F3/Skyrim. Beth made a new engine, it makes sense that the lighting would be better in the new engine.

I'm sorry, did you say "a slight improvement over Oblivion"? Because "slight" isn't really the word.. I was thinking more like... "huge"... or "enormous".

I can't really tell the difference in detail in terms of meshes and textures from Oblivion to Skyrim. If the screen is from 360 the far view distance/detail does look better than Ob.

Your right, but I just think the majority of people buying this game will be playing it on consoles. That said, Bethesda would do well to focus on the console version to make a smoother game for the majority of players. I was planning on playing new vegas on a computer, but I just can't spend $500 on a nicer computer (not to mention problems with PC gaming, packet problems, viruses, account theft, steam, etc).

I don't believe that. I know I'm still buying Skyrim. Graphics don't matter that much.

It's foggy in that screenshot. Shadows are either extremely subtle or non-existent on foggy days.

True. I'm still going to hold out hope that there are more lighting options in the PC version to improve the lighting (like bloom and HDR in Oblivion).

Hey guys it's ten months till the game releases. Maybe they just turned the shadows off for that screenshot. Sure the graphics could be a lot better, if the game was built specifically for high end pc's it could look five times as good as that. A lot better than Crysis even. But hey, it looks good enough, as long as effort is put into making it interesting to explore I'll be happy. I'll still complain, that's what I do. But happy none the less :spotted owl:

This is rapidly going downhill. Several posts will be going away. If the discussion can't stay on topic and civil, it will be locked.

Holy hell, you're right. The Ob textures looks astounding on Crysis' engine.

We were just joking a bit. Well, I guess we were getting off topic. The only person not being civil was drizzit do urren. You didn't mention what you thought about the topic. Any thoughts?

Graphics aren't important in a game. If a game doesn't have good gameplay but looks good then what's the point of getting it. Graphics aren't everything

The screenshot is from the beta and shadows could be added to the final product but otherwise we all know it won't look as good as Crysis, it svcks that Beth won't fork out for a new engine instead of constantly modifying the same one every game but hopefully the modding community can pick up the slack.

Am I the only one that wasn't impressed by the video in the OP? Sure everything looked smooth and had nicer shadows but I don't think it looks better than the orignal as far as beauty goes...

Going by the released screenshot yes I will agree with your argument. That wasn't the best screenshot they could have released. The in-town picture of the player, a guard(?) a dog and the lady on the porch shows a much better lighting system. You can see cast shadows and it looks quite good. But one screen won't tell you the full story wait for gameplay footage or at least more than ONE high res screenshot -_-

We simply do not have enough evidence to support it one way or another. Although looking at the other screenshots in the GI mag your argument that "Skyrim's lighting looks the same as OB/FO3" isn't looking too good

I agree, but even so graphics should improve over time from newer game to newer game. I don't see much progress in terms of the graphics from OB to Skyrim and the general look of Oblivion reminds me of Gamebyro. That brings back bad memories. If you make a new game engine shouldn't you make it look new?

They did make a new engine(or so they say). Here's a link to the GI article about the new Creation Engine which powers Skyrim. > http://www.gameinformer.com/games/the_elder_scrolls_v_skyrim/b/xbox360/archive/2011/01/17/the-technology-behind-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim.aspx <

I think at this point you should just wait and see. There are certain pictures from the Gi mag that look fantastic. You should buy a copy if you haven't yet.

You've convinced me. I need to buy a copy of the mag. Anyone know if EBGames has sells GI? GameStop owns them so I'd assume the answer is yes.

Where lighting is concerned, if you look at the screens in Game Informer, you'll see shadows abound. Every rock, tree, building, NPC, creature, flagon, fork, and bristly beard hair casts a shadow now.