Todd Howard


So with that, the hopes of PC gamers everywhere are dashed, as far as getting anything extra in terms of graphical fidelity. New PC's (Or any PC built in the last 5 years) will run Skyrim no different than the Xbox 360 version.


No higher res textures, no DX10/11 features, no improved lighting, nothing.

The reasoning? Well, I honestly cant think of a logical reason why developers would do this.

They build a new engine, yet limit it's potential based on 6 year old hardware.

They design new assets for the lowest common denominator, so instead of making some nice textures and scaling them down for consoles, they make low res ones and leave it to the Modders to rework the textures in the months and years following the games release.


I find it disheartening that once again we have to rely on the community to get the game up to snuff on PC. Intentionally limiting the potential of the PC version just for the sake of all of them looking the same is a terrible excuse.

Still my most anticipated game by far, however I am beyond displeased with this news. Huge missed opportunity. I would love a simple explanation as to why, but I know that is too much to ask.

/rant

Discuss.

Well they're obviously holding back on the PC game's tech for me. Pentium 4 FTW!

I thought PCs had this amazing thing called "Mods"... Perhaps someone will just make a high-res texture pack. :rolleyes:

They do. And they will. But we should not have to wait until our second/third play-though to enjoy that.

Also, installing a crapload of mods significantly reduces fps and load times.

Oblivion 2.5

Calling it right now.

Dear Bethesda: A high end pc is 10x more powerful. You could change a few numbers in the ini and up the settings on the pc. Stop the bull and just let the pc users click something that says "very high". I'm sure the console players won't mind too much. Also Nvidia will include cool stuff for the simple price of letting them put their logo in front of the game. Is it too much to ask that one of the 130 dungeons gets a little less polish for that?

And we havent even gotten into the meatier stuff like particle and light-effects yet, which would set PC on a higher bar.

This from a console-gamer: PC′s are more powerful and should be treated as such.

The quote stated, quite clearly, that the PC version will have a higher resolution. Exactly how does this preclude higher resolution textures?

I guess the upside to this is that people who don't have the latest hardware on the PC can still enjoy the game without sacrificing graphics or FPS.

I'm disappointed. :sadvaultboy:

I just hope the new UI will work well on the PC. Oblivion's didn't... Fallout 3's was a bit better, but still not a good UI. :shrug:

Reminds me of when I first stepped outside of the sewers in Oblivion and came face to face wtih...fugly low-res terrain.

But honestly...I don't care about graphics. I just want a decent PC UI that scales to resolution and isn't a pain to navigate. :sadvaultboy:

That right there says its better. Besides do you even need to ask? So far the games they've made have always put high end systems to use. I heard Morrowind practically butchered high end systems when it came out and Oblivion certainly didn't hold anything back either. If you google comparison screenshots you'll see there is a very real difference between PC and consoles in terms of graphics for their previous games. Xbox 360 is the worst since it has the oldest hardware, then PS3 then PC up front. Not to mention PC graphics will only get better because there's always someone who releases graphic packs.

Yes it's somewhat uncomfortable to spend thousands on a high end computer and get the same features like a last gen console. However the engine had to be changed, it had been pushed at its limits and still looked old'n'rusty. My guess is they will improve this Creation thing gradually, via Fallout 4 and it will really shine in Tes VI.

Well this is terrible news. And I was going to UPGRADE my system to play it. Guess I can sell my existing parts and buy older things at a profit. Thanks Bethesda.

I hate how companies only develop for consoles. Hate it! Can't wait for UI pictures. Probably going to be brutal.

Well I think you're going too far, or?
Does "No higher res textures, no DX10/11 features, no improved lighting, nothing." really apply from PC & consoles looking equally good as default?
I think it will use DX 10. Perhaps DX 11... since it's close to 2012.

DX 9 for an open-world RPG based on a new engine with pretty good graphics would be a humiliation, especially in 2012.

I'm pretty sure they'll just do what Crytek did for Crysis 2. Keep a steady, equal scale between PC & consoles (alike graphics); but still allowing PCs to go a bit further.

While it's certainly true that Morrowind was quite a good looking game for its time, they most certainly did hold back on the PC version of Oblivion. One of the first things people did when the game came out was figure out how to edit the .ini file to improve any number of graphical things that for whatever reason Bethesda didn't want changeable from an in-game menu. It was in their best interest to make the PC version not seem superior to the X360 would be my guess as to why. I'm not saying it's the same with Skyrim, but Oblivion was meant to be a launch title for the X360 (which didn't pan out)

Oh, so we get PC exclusive features like resolution settings and control mapping?
Gee, thanks.

As for the mods angle: textures are getting less and less important for how a game looks, the truly important things certainly weren't exposed in Oblivion's modding structure, and while we're starting to get some decent shaders out, it's been /quite some time/. Obviously with the limitations of consoles we'll need texture packs, but they won't bring a game up to modern standards.

Awesome. This means I don't need a new PC to play it and saves me 700 bucks. Plus I can always get some hi res texture mods that will make everything extra pretty. Also, I guess it helps that graphics don't mean anything to me as I understand the concepts of story and gameplay.

Isn't it possible that too much is being read into this quote saying "All three will look just as good"

Of course no developer is going to say their game looks like [censored] on console. How do you know for certain that the PC version will not use DX11?

But not everybody is going to buy one just because a new game is released. If Skyrim is good playable on a mid-range PC, it is ok for me. If not I rather would take a look on a hardware upgrade or turn down the graphics. I did so in Oblivion and AFAIR in Morrowind, too. It isn't so disturbing.

God if you read it carefully it stated that they would be alike, it doesnt mean completely clones and the pc anti alaising stuff etc says its the better one straight away imo, besides from the pics ive seen, graphically amazing and will always be great i still love morrowind dont see me complaining on graphics

Well if people have really seen the pictures in the GI mag, the ones that actually show the lighting, the game looks great. But PC will inherently have things that the consoles do. Mainly what he is saying is that they aren't going to change the texturing. That is unfortunate but the PC will definitely look quite a bit better than the console version by default. I hope that we might be able to convince them to improve the texture resolution of the game. You have to realize that HDR lighting, AAA, AA and the higher resolution of the game in general will make the game look gorgeous.

There's a significant difference between "Will run on a mid-range PC" and "Will get no benefit from a high-end PC". Regardless, if it's stuck at console levels you'll get no benefit above /low/ end.

It sounds like a good idea but I think the PC users maybe getting shafted a little bit. I like that all 3 are going to be the same graphicly but I have a hard time believing that with the PC.