I know!! Haha, they're smart, them Bethesdas. Alright, so..

First of all, i was reading http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1201803-the-draw-distance-gets-far-too-little-credit/, and I couldn't help but think to myself, "Why would Beth show XBOX in the videos/previews, and XBOX in the screenshots (most of em anyways). Why would they show crappy draw distance? Wouldn't the proper thing to do would showcase your best work?"

I know why. Because Beth wants us to, most importantly, get our hopes down, or lowered, so when we get the game and discover that the carrots are weighted, that draw distance isn't as crappy as it looks, that weapons can actually hit targets, that everything isn't as bad as we thought, we'll be excited and go crazy.

I'm probably wrong, but I thought I'd mention it.

Wrong, they just haven't ported the xbox version to pc yet.

Well, I don't think they would outright lie like that, would they?

I don't think you're entirely wrong, although I do think you're skewing Bethesda's intentions.

If a game is shown on a PC people will probably assume it's a high end rig will all of the bells and whistles on, which may set unrealistic expectations. When you should a game on a console you know what the hardware capabilities.

Why do people think it's being ported to the pc? It's the other way round, pc version ported to console.

All games are made on pcs, not on consoles

you always leave the piece du resistance (I think that's what they call it) to the end

It is being developed on a PC for the Xbox 360. Then once it works on the Xbox 360 they'll take that code and alter it to work on PCs. Xbox 360 code will not immediately work on a PC just because it was written on a PC.

Bethesda is showing Xbox 360 footage and not PC footage because the Xbox 360 is what is going to net the most sales. There's going to be a little outrage by fans of Battlefield 3 when everyone realizes it won't look that pretty on the Xbox 360. Bethesda is avoiding that issue by playing to the weakest system.

And also, ES is a pc game, that gets released on consoles, not the other way around.

They won't show the PC version because PS3 and XBox users would kill themselves. But seriously, they don't want consolers feeling screwed when they compare screenshots.

Kind of. They don't want to do what they did with Oblivion at E3 and set us up for disappointment.

Well E3 is all about consoles, so they probably wanted to show console footage there so console fan boys wouldn't feel lied to.

Well i hope you're right but i'm fine with how it looks anyway.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/306184/news/behind-the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-video-interview/

watch the interview, it's in the first 25 sec.

It's made for the xbox. Give me one interview from bethesda that even mentions a pc, and i'll give you 20 that talks exclusively about xbox.

Mate not being funny but how do you know what? Are you writing the code?

Why would they design a game based on lesser hardware??? Wouldn't it make more sense to make it as advanced as possible, then downgrade it for consoles?

Likely the Xbox version is the most completed/ tuned for the system.

No sense showing the PC version when they havn't actually competed or even worked out how everything is going to scale on that platform. Showing the most complete features you have at the time is better than showing things that might not make the cut or are incomplete.. they aren't doing an oblivion this time, they know the hardware.



because they stated as much.

a Bethesda isn't Dice or other developers who do scale their console releases back from the PC versions. Bethesda does it this way: xbox the lead platform.

I'm basing my statement on 2 generations of elder scrolls games.

Give me an interview where Bethesda say they design games for xbox, then port them to other systems.

Probable reasons:

1. Because Skyrim on a PC isn't completely done yet compared to XBox.
2. Because achieving good graphics on an Xbox is harder than a PC where you can brute force it with [censored]in' tri-sli cards.
3. Because their primary userbase is Xbox and that's who they want to market to.
4. Because Oblivion was primarily a PC Game that a lot of people didn't like the xbox port of and they want to show they aren't just a PC game company.
5. Because they want to save the piece de resistance for last.
6. Because they know their PC footage will be compared to games like BF3 much more than their XBox footage.
7. Because their xbox footage is more impressive for an xbox than their PC footage is for a PC.

Anything I missed?

already did, look at my post.

they develop it towards the consoles then port to the pc.

Thank you, I think. I now know that common sense is lost on some people, even my favourites devs.

Hey it's 2011, let's design a game for 6 year old hardware, then port it to pc and crank up the sliders. That's how to make a sequel to a legacy!!

Hmm, this seems pertinent:

"Mate not being funny but how do you know what? Are you writing the code?"

Because the Xbox API is not the Windows API.


Because if you build for your least powerful and then scale up in the final 10% of your time, you have virtually no worries about performance issues. If you build for your most powerful and then scale down in the final 10% of your time, then you are very likely to have an unoptimized mess on your hands.

It has been ported, it was shown behind closed doors at E3, apparently it looked a lot better than the footage we've been shown.

The Xbox 360 version is always the version they have refined the fastest. The PS3 and PC version are likely not as refined yet.

Hmm I guess. Just seems it would be easier to downsize a game than upscale. Quicker to. Oh well, I don't really have to worry, will play it however it's thrown together