Play » Elder scrolls

Skyrim Gameplay

laurent — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 01:46:59 +0000

Skyrim is looking good… dragons and giants look incredible.

The immersive interface is intriguing, except maybe the inventory. It is going to be tedious to go through hundred of items in a console scrolling mode.

I can’t wait to see what modders are going to come up with for this one.

Tags: GameTrailers.com, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – E3 2011: Gameplay Walkthrough, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

And another one from G4 interview and demo with Todd Howard

First glimpses of Skyrim

laurent — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 17:29:07 +0000

The first in-game trailer of Skyrim is out and it is sure to raise hype and expectations.

Spectacular is an understatement. It looks like a more polished version of Oblivion, with better atmospheric effects, better lighting, huge creatures and vast landscapes.

And the soundtrack ! Listening to the Morrowind theme with a Nordic choir was enough to send chills down my spine.

I hope this video stays on for a while. Why is it that videos of games have to be buried under layers of useless birthdate forms or other login screens to protect children when the same children can be exposed to the gore and violence of movies trailers ? not to mention they can easily get around birthdate restrictions.

Travel arrangements for Skyrim

laurent — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 22:45:49 +0000

Bethesda has finally revealed “The Elder Scrolls V; Skyrim“. For the occasion, Game Informer set up a “Skyrim Hub” full of screenshots, videos and interviews.

On the menu this time : vast and frozen landscapes, a dual hands combat system, a streamlined interface, a redesigned game engine, new AI behaviors and atmospheric lighting. Even the game editor and mods are coming back.

The coverage so far reminds me a lot of the anticipation around Oblivion. Looking at what we ended up with, there is a lot of room for caution around this game.

The release date of 11/11/11 seems very aggressive for such an ambitious program. It looks more like a marketing target than anything else. For all their creativity and ambition, Bethesda does not have a stellar record in releasing bug free, solid games. I would rather see not have to feel like a beta tester just so marketers can hit a fancy release date.

The news is still very exciting though. If previous Bethesda open games are any indication, this means that roughly a year after the game is released, we will have a healthy ecosystem of mods, bug fixes, interface and gameplay improvements.

It is going to be an exercise of patience but definitely worth the wait (unless the mods system is still as prone to slow down and crashes as it has been so far).

Updates to Annotated Load Order

laurent — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 12:46:32 +0000

I am still maintaining it when I get a chance. I spent up to 250 hours of game play so far without touching the Main Quest other than to get the amulet of kings. All thanks to the many mods I have been enjoying so far.
With recent updates (especially the latest MMM), the list reached the maximum number of mods allowed.
In order to accommodate all the mods listed, you will have to enabled Merge Patches when updating your Bash Patch. I only selected a few texture only mods (such as real lava) to bring my list under the limit.
Recent updates include :
- replacement of Natural Weather for Enhanced Weather from HTF (with optional mod Oblivion Visual Screen Effects).
- upgrades of MMM, Supreme Magicka and Reneer’s Guard Overhaul
- added Really Almost Everything Viewable When Distant
- added the now indispensable Sorcery’s Toll.

Unexplicable crash ? reboot !

laurent — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 09:07:51 +0000

This is the fourth time I have had this happen to me in game – enough to think it is a trend.
If your game suddenly crashes in an area that you believe should be working (either because you visited it before or because it doesn’t have anything new that you have not already encountered), try this simple step before pulling your hair over a bug – reboot.
I am beginning to think that, when Oblivion crashes, some files may remain locked – either from Windows or from whatever anti-virus software you are running in the background. Next time you start your game, Oblivion may try to load that locked file and crash as a result.
You can’t really be expected to reboot each time Oblivion crashes – that would be insane. But if after a crash, your game suddenly becomes unstable in ‘safe’ areas, remember to clear your system with a reboot before investigating a bug with your mods or load order.

Mysterious crashes

laurent — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:56:10 +0000

After weeks of more or less peaceful gameplay, I entered an area of intense fighting which turned out to be also prone to crashes.
The area in question was the underground city from the Vampire questline in Origin of the Mages Guild. The crashes are apparently the result of that mod combined with StarX Vanilla Vampire Revisited and possibly other mods on my list. That is not to say Origin of the Mages Guild caused the crashes – I know better than that. It could be very well other mods in my list causing a crash in that area.
Anyway – one particular side effect was to encounter, twice, a situation where the game would systematically crash. In one case, any past saved game related to the underground city would crash on load (although they were loading fine a minute before). In another case, I would get a crash each time a Vampire Warrior was killed (but not the other kinds of foes I would find).
Both situations are highly unusual in terms of Oblivion bugs.
What I believe happened is that repeated crashes left some textures or mesh files locked by the operating system (Windows XP in my case) and caused a crash next time the game tried to load these resources.
So if you are running into a severe crash in the game after a series of smaller crashes to desktop while you play – calm down, shutdown your computer and reload the game after a while. Chances are your crash will go away.

Lyreia

laurent — Fri, 09 May 2008 13:30:08 +0000

Corruption and redemption of a mage.

Lyreia arrived in Anvil from the cold shores of Solstheim with high hopes for a new life.

Instead, she found herself stuck running errands for arrogant mages.. At least lodging was cheap. The Mages Guild kept her warm and comfortable but did not have much to offer for a novice.

At
the first occasion, she enrolled with the Fighter;s Guild and received
advices from fellow members. Her first contracts were exciting
occasions to explore the surrounding hills of the Gold Coast.
Armed with more confidence (and some supplies from the Fighter’s Guild porter) she eventually took on her apprenticeship journey.

As she traveled from one Mage Guild chapter to the next looking for recommendations,
she discovered the hidden powers of magicka…
… learned to summon Daedras…
and found powerful artefacts, hidden away inside creepy ruins.

Her life changed dramatically when she accepted the invitation of a mad God. Under his guidance,
she explored the madness of his realm
… got dragged deeper into darkness
… and violently rose to power.

She lead Seducers to battle…
… and yet became a Saint.

She tasted forbidden pleasures in Mania…
… took perverted joy in tormenting her subjects in Dementia
… and came to challenge the Mad God himself.

She returned to Cyrodiil changed.
The old world of Tamriel seemed bland compared to the exotic visions of
the Shivering Isles. She had seen too many horrors, participated in too
many disturbing acts.

For a while, she tried to contain the darkness inside her. She became a reputable member of the Mages Guild
… and enjoyed the benefits of a unique haven.
And for a brief moment, it seemed she had the favors of the Gods. She
even accepted the challenge of a mad Prophet to avenge the attack on
the Anvil chapel and protect the Land.

But Darkness was too strong to ignore.
She embraced the Dark Brotherhood
… became a skilled assassin
… and developed power beyond her darkest dreams.
The world itself seemed to turn to chaos as Kvatch fell to a Daedra
invasion and the Emperor himself was killed in front of her very eyes
as she was escaping the Imperial prison.

And when the Dark Mother opened her arms and requested the ultimate sacrifice…
.. she willingly accepted her gift and was reborn..
.. a Vampire.

Random oddities

laurent — Fri, 09 May 2008 13:22:58 +0000

Some oddities I found on my way…

Something familiar about this…
Belly ache
A very clumsy gardener worked here
Bloodbath
Oh my God… is that a … deer ?!
Oblivion – The Musical
A long way from home

And in case you are wondering, I did NOT stage any of this. They are just random occurrences..

Lore expansion

laurent — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:50:34 +0000

Lore in Oblivion refers to the background story of civilizations, gods and heroes of Tamriel, spanning over millennia. Mods try to enrich the Lore, complete it and in many cases, simply ignore it and focus on improving the game itself.
Modder giskard (via the renamed Engineeing Guild) has been working on expanding on the Lore with several extraordinarily detailed mods :
- Kvatch Aftermath
- The Origin of the Mages Guild
- The Necromancer
- Fighters Guild contracts
- The Elder Council and its Temple of the One add-on.
These mods are essential improvements to storylines dropped by Bethesda during the course of making the game.

Shivering Travelers

laurent — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 08:18:30 +0000

News from corepc, creator of the indispensable Tamriel Travelers.
The good news is that the travelers are now roaming the Shivering Isles !
The bad news is that, due to pressure from real life, corepc announced he will be retiring soon from Oblivion mods. Hopefully, this will be temporary as his contribution to Oblivion has been immense. I simply wouldn’t be playing the game now, two years after its release, if it was not for his work on Tamriel Travellers, MMM and Living Economy.
Best of luck to him.