Interesting times with trying to optimise the game. First I changed a couple of settings for the mouse: In the Skyrimprefs I changed fMouseHeadingSensitivity to 0.1 and bMouseAcceleration to 0 which seems to have sped up the mouse control a lot. I also actually remembered to untick the xbox controller option in the in-game menus which is - strangely - on by default.

Graphics wise I was advised that lag might be improved by switching vsynch off by changing iPresentInterval to 0 in the skyrim prefs again.

Finally, and the one that seems to have made a truly massive difference, I disabled AA and ticked the FXAA box in the options. I'm able to run in Ultra again and in High it is very, very smooth now, especially inside where it occasionally seemed to get very laggy. Although it's apparently an Nvidia shader trick, it works well on my ATi 4870x2 so I recommend anyone having problems try it and see if it makes a difference.

I'll probably go back to High as it's still the better fit for me just now but Ultra is so, so lovely looking I'm loathe to change it again. :D

I think I'll by a horse to celebrate. :D


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SPOILERS


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I ended up running away from the undead boss guy in the Barrow after I got the power word thing (which I've now discovered I need a dragon's soul to activate,) because he kept killing me over and over again and I got very bored with it. It it worth going back to a previous save and trying again? Does he drop any decent loot? I could always go back up and try again once I buy some new toys.

Have you seen thunderstorms yet? They're awesome. Also, I thought the birds were a nice touch too, until I realized that the bridge between Whiterun and Riverwood always has them as soon as you enter the area.

Yes, he drops a Quest-related piece of loot for the Main Quest. If you pick it up before you're required, the quest giver will remark on the fact you have it. Which I find a nice touch, compared to Oblivion where they wouldn't notice if you had the item already. Also, when you go back to kill him again, check around his area as there are extras in the area.








I have found a Dragon twice in the country side(both around Whiterun), but I can't seem to get it's bloody attention. I don't know if I'm not hitting it with my arrows properly, or if I'm not supposed to kill this one yet. I'm fairly certain it's the same dragon in both places.

Aaaah, Ok. I'll go back once I get some buffs and stuff. I've just improved my armour and weapons at the smith in Riverwood at the bottom of the hill so I'll get some potions as well I think.

Yeah, I've been through a thunderstorm. It was a thing of rare beauty. The mountain's looking mournful and mist shrouded.

That was a rather epic battle, was heading towards a bandit camp to do a bounty quest, out of nowhere a dragon attacks. In the midst of the battle the Dragon flies off and starts attacking a saber tooth tiger, who ends up also fighting me. In the midst of the action I stumble into the bandit camp that I was originally heading for, and end up slaughtering my way through the bandits. I lost sight of the dragon temporarily, but found it on the other side of the camp. It's currently fighting two wooly mammoths, with the help of the mammoths and my bow, we brought down the dragon.

Was a quite epic battle, and the best part was the fact it wasn't scripted.

So epic.

I have always loved wide open RPGs and TES has always fulfilled my needs.

Gonna be so hard to pry myself away when Assassins Creed: Revelations comes to my steam window in 3 days.:D

Last year was the same, with multiple great games coming out within a week...

All summer? Garbage, but come November, and all of a sudden you guys want to break my credit card!

I've gone pure mage... haven't bothered to lift a sword so I can't comment on the clunky melee, but I can tell you magic is pure awesome. Having a mage duel, or dodging for your life that massive two hander just to spin around and pat him on the back with lightning is such a joy. Very smooth very grand, love it.

I am tempted to make a wizard class character, but dont want to lose the 20 hours I've put into the game so far, it'll definitely be my next play through though.

I just learned a dragon shout that lets me blow flames, and I'm highly impressed. :haha:

I wouldn't start over on account of that... there is SOOOO much cool stuff in this game... it has thus far really worked its way into my heart. I can't put this thing down, hitting a dragon with a two hand shot of lightning and watching him literally stutter in the air then twist about and crash land has pretty much made my day.

I was strolling along the river and I heard a familiar hum...

http://i.imgur.com/J3MJ8.jpg



It's baaaaaack! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to find 100 of them.

Which is your favorite follower so far? Honestly Lydia is pretty much the one I have with me the most, but I have met a few others. So far Sven seems worthless in a fight, and Balimore(sp) is great but since shes a mage it turns into a caster fest, awesome in the open world but in tight caves she tends to get me killed getting in the way.

where are screenshots saved? F12 or PrtScrn doesn't save my shots. Do I have to add something in the skyrimPrefs.ini file?

Got myself a retail copy yesterday merchant was selling xbox versions and had one pc so I told him to hold on to it im coming now!:) Drove to Auckland (60k) just to get this damn game. Glad I did.

This game is jawdropping amazing I stuck to skyrims gfx recommendations at menu startup medium settings the detail is still very nice. That water detail :rock:. Have done one main quest in the dungeon - golden claw and dragonbon or something but now Im just going to head of anywhere and explore & brought a horse for 1k, Age of Conan could learn heaps from Skyrim's horse riding how to do it right. Even the horse is amazing to ride. lol.

Sleek UI, smooth gfx, damn realistic world that its quite scary at times. Only gripe I have is the weapon sets there is none, instead we have this save to favorites then Q key to change. But who cares the game is awesome. :D

[QUOTE=kiwi_2005;1786856]where are screenshots saved? QUOTE]

Program Files(x86)/Steam/Steamapps/Common/Skyrim.

Took me a while to find them as well. Saved BMP format.

I'm getting used to the interface now and the more I use the favourites menu the more I like it.

Who else has seen the northern lights yet? My jaw dropped when I came out of a building and looked up.

You can add weapons to the 1-8 keys. Make the weapon a favorite, open the
favorites menu, equip the weapon and while still in the menu, press 1-8. :up:

I threw up a little in my mouth the first time I saw one (or heard, to be more accurate) one of those things. I hate gathering quests. Couldn't stand getting them the first time, hated gathering Nuka Cola Quantum, detested gathering Sunset Sarsaparilla Star Caps, so I'll be staying away. Plus, the rewards are never very good--a potion (not very useful), grenade schematics (that you can find elsewhere) and a laser pistol (which isn't all that powerful). Maybe Skyrim will change the trend, but I'll still avoid them for now.

On the plus side, the number of 'fetch' quests seem much lower in Skyrim. And those spiders are ever-so-creepy. They even move like real spiders, makes my skin crawl, which I suppose is the intended effect.

Hagraven... that freaked me out.

Put an arrow into it to stop magicka regenerating, so once I dodged a few fireballs it tried to close the distance. I'm backpedaling, pelting arrows while that wheezing breathing sound gets louder and louder, this thing drawing closer and closer...

So I turn tail and leg it, screaming "Stay away from meee!", huddling behind a rock some distance away to continue the barrage.

Normally I'd go to a sword, but I ain't going near those things. :haha:


And yeah, not a fan of the collector quests either. I'll pick stuff up when I find it, but I won't go searching specifically for it. Don't think I've ever finished one of those.