I'm hearing about all these different technological features related to Skyrim such as snow sticking where it lands, improved AI, dynamic shadows, and generally more advanced graphics and, as a PS3 player, a thought popped up into my mind. As a predominantly PC player forum, I'm not sure to what degree people here would care and I'm not sure if they are thinking much about this, but I'm curious about what this means for those of us either playing the 360 version, the PS3 version, or the PC version with a PC that is roughly equivalent to either console in power. Will we have such features in our games? Obviously, we will notice an improvement in graphics over Oblivion's graphics, but just how sharp will they appear to us? Most importantly to me, how will the game run? Oblivion and Fallout 3, for example, don't always run too smoothly. They lag quite a bit, and that irritates me. I'd rather sacrifice some graphical quality to have a game that runs smoothly, but that's just me. I know that Bethesda has created their own engine for Skyrim and I know that Bethesda didn't know much about this current generation of consoles while customizing their engine for Oblivion and, subsequently, Fallout 3, but to think that all of this technological improvement that's being cheerfully discussed will work on the same, exact hardware is hard to swallow, for me. Would there be a difference between the two console versions? What can we expect?

Im quite upset. Why? Because I need to save up my money just so I can buy a computer for Skyrim, because of the cons of games on a console. I see many people saying
" Who cares about "x", that can easly be modded in." Well then, can it be modded into a PS3 or 360? Nope. Gotta be more considerate for others! (Not aiming it at you...obviously)
:banghead:

Oh and damn! the ps3 version of Oblivion was poluted with bugs and lag! It was really upsetting. Aside from me going to have to upgrade my pc to hell...(most likely)

I don't think it will stick to the ground, I believe the article said that it would act like particles and there could be a die on hit modifier, and also if it is acting like particles, then more likely we wont get that rain falling through ceiling thing

People seem to be interpreting what the article said as snow physics, but it could just be misinterpretation. I can't wait until one of my local Gamestops finally starts selling copies of GameInformer.

First of all, Oblivion was so poorly optimized that if they focus on performance this time, the jump in power needed won't be very high. Second of all, if you have Oblivion, try doing somethign I like to call changing the graphics options. Turn them all down as low as they will go. Then come back and tell me if you think Skyrim will fail to scale down. No, you won't have the great visuals, but the game will play the same. Oblivion scaled down almost TOO far to be honest, so I wouldn't worry. You should be able to play on PC. And both consoles are very capable. Seriously, you have NO idea how bad the engine was at using the available power. And they were using a launch title engine. Look at games like Gears of War 3, God of War 3, Rage, Crysis 2. All playing on Consoles and looking spectacular. You'd be amazed at how much more fidelity we are capable of than what we were doing with the 360 and PS3 at launch. Hopefully with new tech will come smarter, more optimized tech.

Ps3 version plays like a dream for me. I had the 360 version when it first released then I got the goty edition on ps3 and it actually runs better for me then it did on 360. 360 version ran fine too though.

Can we expect to see this by Monday?

I don't know what it means. Im pretty sure the consoles won't suffer too much, they are more powerful than people on these forums think.

And I agree, im sick of the console hate and I am tired of hearing, "I don't care how Skyrim turns out. I only care that the graphics look good and there is a construction set, then modders can fix it."

Gah I should quit typing, invoking negative feelings is bad for everyone.
Mostly because someone will try and argue against me and flaming is never fun...

*Exits*

Im guessing they optimized the new engine to be able to perform these type of effects on consoles. Im not worried about them being viable on the consoles just because of the fact that they specificly stated these types of effects and now they are expected. Im sure they wouldent say them if they dident plan on delivering. I really think this new engine is a monster and can do some amazing things

I'm a PS3 player too. I hate to say this on a PC player dominated forum, but I'm hoping that this new engine is more "console friendly". One of the reasons most people go back to COD or some other popular game is because they don't have as many bugs as games such as New Vegas. Basically what I'm saying is, I hope there is less freezing and lagging/bugs with this new engine.

I hope you are right and I have been aware of all this for quite a while, including the engine's lack of efficiency, although I've never been too sure of just how inefficient it truly is. I've been basing my graphical expectations on other open world RPGs coming out recently, such as Arcania and Two Worlds II. I thought they both looked great, and at least in Two Worlds II's case, the PS3 version looks great. I just want to know what I can roughly expect from Skyrim and I didn't believe any game company would make an engine that was a complete trainwreck, as you seem to indicate Oblivion's was. It's just that a great number of people around here have been commenting on consoles in a tone that makes me believe we really won't have much of what higher end PC players do, in terms of technological features. How large is the gap, in all honesty?

As a PS3 player, I, for some reason, do not get the option to turn down graphics, so if a game runs like crap, companies seem to assume I would prefer that with the pretty visuals, but I don't. I wish I could turn Oblivion's graphics or Fallout 3's down a bit. I want a game that runs well, more than anything.

I'm getting a new pc from alienware so I won't really be a problem for me but I doubt your going to need to do major upgrading wouldn't have to get the GTX580 or the ATI blah blah blah maybe you'll just need to get the Nvida 8800gt or the 9800GT, regarding cpu I wouldn't be expecting much need for quality there around 2gb or 3gb of ram would probably do it

and a note these are just logical guesses regarding what I know

I appreciate the recommendations, but all we have are laptops in my house, so no upgrading, and they can't even run Oblivion. I'm going to be playing Skyrim on my PS3. There's also still everyone else playing a console version or with a weaker PC, so I'd really just like to get some thought-out guesses about what we'll see.

Im jealous If I have to miss out on mods :stare:

im going to build me a new system over the remaining year to make sure i can run it and enjoy the graphics. this is my build im aiming for.

AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition which should seems to have a good chance to unlock to a quad
4gb ddr3 1333
ASUS M4A88TD-V mobo which can unlock cores and over clock
RAIDMAX HYBRID 2 RX-730SS 730W power supply
HIS H577FK1GD Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5
COOLER MASTER HAF 922 case

theres a few more things for cooling im going to add in but those are the important parts which come to $543.94 +tax and sh&h

Weak PC?
It is time you upgraded. I did. I can play crysis and Far Cry 2 on full(not true full resolution, but all my Textures, shaders, etc are on Very High).

Console?
You'll get the best you can get. Does that mean you are missing out?
Yes, but that was the choice you made when you bought one.
You'll get all the DLC and support that PCs get anyways.
Except for mods.
Besides you xbox guys get Dead Money anyways.


Edit: Todd did say it looked you're playing on a new console.

What about performance? Will it likely run more smoothly than Oblivion?

-bump-

Ugh, I think I really need to upgrade my computer. Can someone tell me if my specs are up to date or not? And maybe a recommendation of what I should get?

Microsoft Windows XP 32 Professional bit (Just got Windows 7, though it hasn't been installed yet.)
Intel Core 2 CPU 6400 @ 6400 2.13 GHz
NVidia GeForce 9400 GT
3.00 GB of RAM.

The set of 1-terrabyte hard drives I got for Christmas (one for my computer and one as a backup) should be very self-explanatory.

One of Oblivion's major issues on the Xbox 360 are the frame rate issues in the outdoor environments and the constant "loading areas". I agree that, I'd rather have a game run smooth sacrificing graphics then the other way around. Looking at the screenshots of Skyrim, it worries me to think how that's going to be able to run on my Xbox.

But Fallout 3 ran (for the majority of the time) super smooth in all outside/inside environments, with the exception of a few spots that always had a little lag. So that gives me a little relief.

I'm having a hunch that it might. If they've spent all of 2009 working on their engine I'm sure it will run great. Especially after New Vegas (I know it's not a BGS game, but not everybody else realizes that) it could hurt them if they put out another really buggy game.

Also I remember hearing a quote from Todd a while ago about how he doesn't want the games to just get "done" in just barely a playable state anymore. They want them to run really smoothly.

Yeah I remember reading that interview, Todd said something like they were working on a game that was going to look like it belongs on a next generation console, but in fact will better utilize the existing tech. I remember 6 years ago seeing some PS2 games that looked like they should be on the 360 or PS3, and of course a lot of the first 360 and PS3 games didn't look as good as they could of been.




I'm sure they'll do a great job getting most of the bugs and major issues out of it before release, but there's nothing like releasing the game to the public to really catch them all.

Im sure the console versions will be playable. Expect a GTA IV frame rate at worst (25fps+ usually around 28-30fps). Thats typical of open ended games that have to track a lot on consoles akin to TES. On the PC Side I'm sure lowest settings will AT LEAST be what the consoles are seeing possibly with just DX10. If you dont have a DX10 PC its honestly time to upgrade. More and more games are using DX10 and you can grab a cheap little DX11 card that will run most console games with DX11 effects (such as Lost planet 2 or AVP) just fine. Look at the GTS450 or Ati's 57xx cards. With a little more cash you can grab a GTX460 (560 coming soon) or a 6850. Intels new Sandy Bridge CPU's are priced nicely with bucket loads of performance. If you dont want to upgrade your PC you might be stuck with the console version which certainly looks fine for a console title.
This is all of course if you dont have to have the game at max in full HD. If so you might need higher end hardware ( At least I hope so haha)

Wonder if the console version will run at Sub HD like RDR, GTA, COD etc? Allan Wake had huge environments very detailed ran in like 540p but hey game ran smooth. 360 has a scaler chip and you can scale video on PS3's Cell as well.