Bethesda Reveals PC Requirements for Skyrim

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Has anyone seen the trailors? Im sorry, but those graphics are comparable to the Witcher 2. Like billybobser said, minimum recquirements are for people that cant upgrade their pc/hardware every 2-3 years. I haven't built a new computer for 6 years until this year. The economy is tough. I think the fact that Bethesda is making games for the mass majority, instead of the "5%" of uber gamers/systems, is ingenious. Businesses need to make money, if they sold games that required much more that these minimum requirements, they could possibly loose as much as 25% of their sales. Not a business major, but THATS A LOT! They have great content, and these visuals based on trailors and reviews are rather amazing compared to even Oblivian. Instead of bashing the game before it's even released, why not actually buy it, and play it.

to all those who think games need a "580" to play, should of bought an SSD...
 
Well, assuming ti its optimized for PC very well, a 260 is actually not that bad. Thou i have to agree its low. Maybe the graphics will be "ok", but we wont be seeing any high populated forests or dense grass untill mods come in .
In another words, im not exited about this game anymore, but then agian, im not exited over any game at all nowdays.
 
So, given you've all seen game screens already and pretty much knew beforehand what the game will look like...

Some would prefer the game was less optimised and would require at least 460GTX to hit recommended 'cause that would better justify having spent $500 on a new GPU. Having no higher requirements than this means our eyes are lying and the game looks just the same as oblivion.

Some would prefer the game wouldn't offer any advanced settings like HDR, or 25xx resolution, or whatever fancy pancy stuff that's been added since Oblivion, 'cause it totally sucks to have higher requirements than Oblivion had. Actually it'd be best if everybody was limited to 1280x720 resolution and no AA, because old machines could play with max settings.

Besides, the requirements clearly indicate the leveling and gameplay will be just the way it was in Oblivion at it's worst, so no purchase. And Steam requirement comes as a huge shock, given how it's only been required on every bethesda game for the last five years.
 
Games developed on multiple platforms are not console ports. A console port is when a game was developed for a particular platform then ported to fit another.

The article lists recommended high for high settings not ultra. I imagine ultra with 8x AA etc would take more horsepower. Besides like others have said unless it's a crysis style game, which only serves to deliver eye candy and little substance,the specs have little to no bearing on the quality of the game.
 
[citation][nom]notsleep[/nom]here's hoping this doesn't end up like the rage pc release fiasco....[/citation]
most likely it will...it's a ported game
 
Yummy, nice wide range, looks like I will try ultra but will probably run it at high 1920 x 1200 so my rig does not have to work as hard considering all the hours I will be exploring.
Please be bug free, fingers crossed. OK no major bugs.
 
[citation][nom]stereopsis[/nom]Edit: I never completed Oblivion precisely because of the (lack of)levelling system.[/citation]
Oblivions leveling system was pretty good if you ask me, the more you did something the better you got. Kind of what happens in real life.
 
[citation][nom]reggieray[/nom]Oblivions leveling system was pretty good if you ask me, the more you did something the better you got. Kind of what happens in real life.[/citation]

Make that "the more you did something, the better you and everybody else got". Oh, and everybody else also gets better equipment. Just like in real life.
 
The graphics look pretty good to me. Remember there is only so much they can get out of 6 year old hardware (Xbox) and the PC versions will probably just have higher res, better AA and maybe better textures.

Whats more important is the game play(which we wont know until we play it). Oblivion was good but the swordplay and spells were pretty generic next to Dark Messiah(e.g. same spell effect for every fire/lightning/whatever spell). Skyrim looks like it fixes some of this but that new items menu looks pretty annoying.
 
[citation][nom]Jarmo[/nom]So, given you've all seen game screens already and pretty much knew beforehand what the game will look like... Some would prefer the game was less optimised and would require at least 460GTX to hit recommended 'cause that would better justify having spent $500 on a new GPU. Having no higher requirements than this means our eyes are lying and the game looks just the same as oblivion.Some would prefer the game wouldn't offer any advanced settings like HDR, or 25xx resolution, or whatever fancy pancy stuff that's been added since Oblivion, 'cause it totally sucks to have higher requirements than Oblivion had. Actually it'd be best if everybody was limited to 1280x720 resolution and no AA, because old machines could play with max settings.Besides, the requirements clearly indicate the leveling and gameplay will be just the way it was in Oblivion at it's worst, so no purchase. And Steam requirement comes as a huge shock, given how it's only been required on every bethesda game for the last five years.[/citation]
I think you may have just simultaneously owned every single whiner in this thread with one post... Well done.
 
[citation][nom]iam2thecrowe[/nom]what are you saying? that it should require a gtx580 to play it so only 5% of people can play it? Its probably going to be a polished game unlike some recent releases......[/citation]


If he isn't saying it, I am. PC games should be for those who have powerful machines. When I want a less system stressing game I play consoles
 
[citation][nom]bennaye[/nom]"Stop right there, criminal scum!" Oblivion wasn't that bad. Mods made it *much* better, though. Just hoping the bugs in Skyrim won't be so numerous.[/citation]
The only really bad thing about Oblivion was the extremely limited number of voice actors Bethesda hired for the voice work.
 
[citation][nom]killerclick[/nom]If you feel graphics quality is the most important aspect of a game, maybe Skyrim isn't for you after all, maybe you should go back to Crysis. I yawned through Crysis, Crysis WH and Crysis 2 but I'm sure I'm going to like Skyrim and I don't care what kind of graphics it has (as long as it's at least as good as Fallout 3).[/citation]I've always thought of the Elder Scrolls series as the one RPG that actually uses high-end hardware. Mind you I played it on lousy hardware, but the fact that you could see a benefit from good hardware was pretty nice. If you compare that to what Bioware puts out--some great RPGs with terrible graphics that a 2-year old midrange card can max out, well then I think the graphics count for something.

No it doesn't make or break a game--just as KOTOR fans. But good graphics are kind of a hallmark of the Elder Scrolls series and giving that up would lose a lot of the game's followers.
 
[citation][nom]SwoLern[/nom]Yes a game should have other good aspects besides graphics. But you need to keep moving technology forward. Old stale graphics is what is going to kill the PC, everyone will just get consoles. And I don't know what ur talking about Crysis 2 was an amazingly fun game. Maxed out with dx11 and high texture pack made me drool. Better graphics erase the line between reality and unreality a little more and gives a player a more immersive visual experience that feels more real. MOVE FORWARD PEOPLE OR GO PLAY YOUR CONSOLE. BETHESDA IS NOT GETTING MY MONEY! Canceled pre-order![/citation]

You...cancelled your preorder because the recommended video card wasn't $500? There's no possible way you can justify that idiocy. If developers are optimizing their code so well that (even slightly) old hardware can play the game on high (maybe not even ultra!) settings, you should be ecstatic. But no, you hate that. You hate it when games work well, because that makes people buy consoles which somehow invalidates your PC gaming market. /bafflement
 
Guess I didn't need to upgrade my video card, LOL :)

Well this game is going to be sweet, and it appears that it's also going to be highly optimized too! The first Oblivion was a major resource hog, so it's good to see Bethesda took the time to streamline Skyrim. I can't wait for this game, been nerding out since I first saw it!

 
[citation][nom]iam2thecrowe[/nom]how was oblivion bad? a bad game doesnt make game of the year, and score extremely well in reviews. The leveling was a little annoying but it didnt make it a bad game.[/citation]

are you serious, or did you just start gaming with the 360?
go play morrowind
go look at pre console tech demos for oblivion
tell me oblivion was still a good game, i DARE YOU
 
BTW, I played Morrowind way back then. Hated it.
Hated the flimsy flip flop no weight combat, ugly terrain, ugly people and creatures.
Gave up 10hrs in with just a bunch of quests completed and no feeling anything's going anywhere.

Picked up NWN instead and it was all great.

Then found Oblivion much later (after fallout 3) from a bargain bin, instantly fell in love!
Everything worked and swinging the weapons felt they have real weight behind them.

Tried Morrowind again, convinced there has to be something in there when so many praise it.
...but no, it's still crap.
 
I really enjoyed both Morrowind and Oblivion, but I must say that Morrowind is a clear winner when it comes to story/content. The world is a lot bigger and the expansions are really awesome; I'm talking about Bloodmoon and Tribunal. Compared to Morrowind, Oblivion is quite small even though it has the Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine (which I haven't played) expansions. A godsend was the autotravel function in Oblivion but I must admit that I cheated on this one in Morrowind. I think the cheat was 'coc '.

But I must say that games like Morrowind and Oblivion are games where really good graphics will be appreciated because you totally immerse yourself in another world walking around exploring... But I guess you can't have everything. I think it would be worthwhile to give Morrowind a good facelift (just fix bugs and enhance the outdoor environment) and a re-release, but that's my opinion.

Perhaps someone could give me some tips on how to improve Oblivion, i.e. what expansions/plugins/modules to use to make it a graphically better game.
 
[citation][nom]dormantreign[/nom]260gtx? this a joke?...if it ain't ill be tearing this a new one when i review it. - likesanddislikesshow[/citation]

Take it easy. Recommended specs are not what the recommend for high settings, but at most medium at a low resolution. Take a look at what Metro 2033 recommends:

Processor: Any Quad Core or 3.0+ GHz Dual Core CPU
Memory: 2GB RAM
Graphics: DirectX 10 compliant graphics card (GeForce GTX 260 and above)
DirectX®: DirectX 10 or higher
Optimum Requirements:

Processor: Core i7 CPU
Memory: 8GB RAM or higher
Graphics: NVIDIA DirectX 11 compliant graphics card (GeForce GTX 480 and 470)
DirectX®: DirectX 11

260 for Dx 10 and 480/470 for Dx11, but to play at 1080p with good FPS, you need those in SLI.
 
[citation][nom]Lunatic Magnet[/nom]The article lists recommended high for high settings not ultra. I imagine ultra with 8x AA etc would take more horsepower. Besides like others have said unless it's a crysis style game, which only serves to deliver eye candy and little substance,the specs have little to no bearing on the quality of the game.[/citation]
Indeed, the best thing about modern games is the scaling for different platforms. It was a long time in the game world where even the best hardware could not manage to keep up with games. Now we can scale so that even old hardware can manage, but to see the game as it was meant to be played it will still require some good hardware, and if you have amazing hardware then there is usually something special like extra high res texture packs.
Personally I think the game looks great, but (as is my general rule) I will be waiting for the expansion bundle before I purchase. By then I will have a much better system that will be capable of playing this game in all of it's immersive glory. :)

Also, the leveling in Oblivion was annoying, but the game made up for it in the environment, depth, and game play. Marrowind was an ugly game from the day it came out. The world was just too large to texture it properly, but as things have changed I hope this version will be expansive as well as having the glorious environment we have seen in the youtube demos.
 
[citation][nom]g00ey[/nom]Perhaps someone could give me some tips on how to improve Oblivion, i.e. what expansions/plugins/modules to use to make it a graphically better game.[/citation]

Natural Environments is the one essential one. Makes environments much better and real.

Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul changes/adds a lot of stuff, including removing/lessening enemy scaling.

Your mileage might/will vary, but I also got a kick out of Beautiful People and HG EyeCandy Body
 
IMO Oblivion was one of the best games ever made. Yes Morrowind was great as well. However, Oblivion had sooooo much to it. The fact that the MOD community was so immersive and deep, just made the game overwhelmingly better. Saddlebags on my horses, guards who didn't magically know that I had murdered someone or stole an apple in someone's house, awesome 😛 The bugs never really bothered me. Honestly, I never updated my version so that I could exploit the duplication bug. The great thing about Elder Scrolls, when it comes to PC users, is the ability to create MODs due to the source code being available to all. Bethesda is genius for this because it adds endless capabilities. I feel sorry for my wife, because if this is anything like Oblivion or even better as I suspect, she is going to get really mad at me for the hours I will put into it 😀
 
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