Skyrim Special Edition

This event is over

Start: Thu - October 27, 2016 @ 5:00pm PDT

End: 5:30pm PDT

anyone can join

The Skyrim Special Edition is going to be released this month! Graphically, it looks like it's going to be great! There are new features coming for the console versions (or at least one of them) including PC mod support. If you already own Skyrim on Steam and have all the DLC for it, you can get the Special Edition for free!!

So, are you going to jump back into the game when this is released? What are your expectations? I'm looking forward to a graphical overhaul, although I wish Morrowind and Oblivion would get the same treatment. My biggest hope is that they also worked on the physics engine as I noticed plenty of issues with that when I played the game on Steam and my PS3.

Skyrim Special Edition Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/489830/?snr=1_7_15__13

*Updated latest news from Steam Store*
I have modified the event to include the Eastern Time Zone (because that's where I live) release date and time according to what I found in the news section of the game. See the text of the news and link below.

Skyrim Special Edition arrives in a few weeks on October 28, and for anyone that owns the main game and all three DLCs (Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn), you will receive Skyrim Special Edition separately in your Steam Library at no additional cost.

Eligible Skyrim purchasers include:
Anyone that owns Skyrim Legendary Edition on Steam.
Anyone that owns Skyrim and all three DLCs (Dawnguard, Hearthfire, Dragonborn) on Steam.
To ensure eligibility, you must own all Skyrim content on Steam on or before October 28th.

Skyrim Special Edition will be available for purchase at its global release time of 12am UTC on Friday, October 28. Region-specific unlock times include:
5pm Pacific Time (October 27)
8pm Eastern Time (October 27)
1am British Summer Time (October 28)
2am Central European Summer Time (October 28)
11am Australian Eastern Time Zone (October 28)
1pm New Zealand Time (October 28th)

http://steamcommunity.com/games/489830/announcements/detail/586983381621095056

System requirements:
Minimum
Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-bit Version)
Intel i5-750/AMD Phenom II X4-945.
8GB of ram.
12 GB free HDD space
NVIDIA GTX 470 1GB /AMD HD 7870 2GB

Recommended
Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-bit Version)
Intel i5-2400/AMD FX-8320.
8GB of ram.
12 GB free HDD space
NVIDIA GTX 780 3GB /AMD R9 290 4GB
http://steamcommunity.com/games/489830/announcements/detail/586983381623240805

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Users signed up:

Azurephile

Travis

jdodson

Maxxiumus_Prime

Travis Admin wrote on 10/08/2016 at 04:22pm

I wouldn't buy it for full price but since I'm getting it for free, woo!

Saves should transfer so that's good: https://twitter.com/DCDeacon/status/743170497752371200

And both consoles are getting mods, PS4's are just more limited because Sony has crazy restrictions for add-on content like this. They can't include any new assets, just modification or re-use of existing ones.

Physics issues are just par for the course in Bethesda engine games, but this is a newer engine so some may be fixed.

jdodson Admin wrote on 10/08/2016 at 04:48pm

I went pretty far in Skyrim and sort of stopped playing it.

Thinking this might get me back in it.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 10/08/2016 at 04:53pm

Is anyone planning to play the game differently than before? I first played as a Nord and sided with one major "faction," on the PS3. Then on Steam I played as an Imperial and sided with the other major "faction." In both games I played as a warrior with heavy armor and two-handed weapons, particularly war hammers. I'll probably repeat what I did on Steam, although I'm not sure which side I'll ally with.

@Travis thanks for the additional info! I did see something about the PS4's limited mod support. I haven't paid attention to console news much.

Travis Admin wrote on 10/08/2016 at 05:25pm

I have played Skyrim as various races and classes, but I can't honestly remember what most of them were. I know I went stealth archer once and that was my favorite way to play.

My Steam play-time on it is very low, but that's because I transferred my Xbox 360 save over to PC. Nearly all of my Skyrim time (and it's a lot) was on the 360.

I still have yet to play the last DLC. Generally by the time the last DLC is out I've mostly moved on and can't get back in the mood for it.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 10/08/2016 at 05:30pm

With all that I've seen about Khajiit lately (especially the stuff I've seen posted on FB and our No Man's Sky funny), I'm tempted to use that race. I've only played as a Nord (Skyrim) and Imperial (Oblivion and Skyrim). I think I tried out a Dark Elf on Morrowind, but I didn't play it long and I tried it out a few times, so I'm not exactly sure. I know there are races (like Khajiit) I haven't played before.

Travis Admin wrote on 10/08/2016 at 07:34pm

Make a punch cat. A Khajit will kick ass in melee. Follow this (hilarious) guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhBiNx749Zw

Language warning on that video, but I love it.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 10/08/2016 at 09:42pm

Damn that's pretty awesome! But, I love my warhammers and two-handed swords.

Maxxiumus_Prime wrote on 10/11/2016 at 01:03pm

I'm looking forward to buying this game for a 3rd time. Buying this version will mean I have spent $200 on Skyrim. Not counting DLC (of which I bought all on Day One).

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 10/11/2016 at 05:32pm

I have edited this event's time and description showing the updated release date and time along with a link to the news on the Store page. I have also added the system requirements along with it's link on the Store page.

Travis Admin wrote on 10/11/2016 at 10:04pm

You edited the start time to later this month. I think you want the end time then right?

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 10/11/2016 at 10:39pm

It starts on 10/27 at 8pm EST and ends at 8:30pm on the same day. If you look at the event the only part of the end you see is "8:30pm" although I did selected 10/27 at 8:30pm for the end time.

Travis Admin wrote on 10/12/2016 at 02:43am

I get that, that's what I'm saying. I mean is that game release "events" here have historically started when the person creates the post, and ends shortly after release. As it stands, this is a 30 minute event. Take a look at the Civ event-- it's months long. The "event" is us discussing it before launch, typically.

But ultimately I guess it really doesn't matter since it's here for everyone to chat about til then anyway. Whether you start the event now or 5 minutes before it ends. Game releases don't lend themselves well to the timeframe portion of the event system since it's a countdown where people talk about it. There's no clear spot for the event to start. Something we play together has clear limits. Something like Blizzcon has a set start and end. Countdowns are always going until they stop.

Travis Admin wrote on 10/12/2016 at 02:57am

Actually, I said "have historically started when..." but that's not true. There's no real clear precedent for either. Some are months long, some are a couple of days.

jdodson Admin wrote on 10/12/2016 at 05:42am

Yeah game event times are strange but even a 30 minute event works when we can discuss it all the way to the launch.

I finally just looked at the system specs for it. I have the recommended on everything and only just on the video card. So it should look pretty good!

Travis Admin wrote on 10/28/2016 at 02:30am

Initial impressions: Wow it's pretty. And somehow loads faster. I have no idea how but it seems to perform better than normal Skyrim.

The models don't seem to be improved from normal Skyrim but the lighting, shaders, shadows, depth-of-field, that's all obviously the Fallout 4 engine. The colors seem to pop more.

The same crappy either/or thing with keyboard/mouse and joystick applies. You can't do both. So if you have a controller connected it can tell and you have to turn it off *with* the controller before you can use the KB/M. But that's just a Bethesda thing that probably won't change. Maybe with Elder Scrolls 9/Fallout 8.

Travis Admin wrote on 10/28/2016 at 02:36am

Weird, Alt+F4 doesn't exit. I always quicksave then alt+F4

jdodson Admin wrote on 10/28/2016 at 03:25am

Do you think they put it on the Fo4 engine or just updated the Skyrim engine a bit? Seems like a ton of work to upgrade engines unless they are super compatible.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 10/28/2016 at 03:37am

I was going to ask you, Travis, what you thought of it since I saw that you were playing it. I'm planning to get it downloaded and installed tonight so the download doesn't interfere with my YouTube watching. I might check it out in the morning, but the Ark Halloween event is supposed to happen in about 12 hours.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 10/28/2016 at 09:35am

> Weird, Alt+F4 doesn't exit. I always quicksave then alt+F4

It's F5 now.

Travis Admin wrote on 10/28/2016 at 01:50pm

@jon -- they said in early interviews about Fallout 4 that the first thing they did to start making Fallout 4 was to bring Skyrim to next gen. Back then it was just to get a handle on the new tech, they hadn't planned on releasing it.

But this new Skyrim has identical mod download functionality as Fallout 4, and if you've looked at the lighting effects enough in Fallout 4 you can kinda start to spot them.

But also, I don't think it's a NEW new engine. The Fallout 4 engine is just a new iteration of the Skyrim engine, since they ported Skyrim and its engine to next-gen and then built Fallout 4 on it. Same as Oblivion -> Fallout 3 I guess. Iterative changes.

@greg-- I think you misread that comment a little. ALT + F4 exits Windows programs by default, unless the developer has overridden it. I know F5 quicksaves, Alt + F4 exits Fallout 4. It does not exit Skyrim SE. My habit is to hit F5 to save, wait a couple seconds, then hit Alt + F4 to exit.

It's possible they are overriding that because people were quicksaving then not letting enough time pass before Alt + F4ing and corrupting saves.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 10/28/2016 at 02:35pm

Yeah, I forgot about that Windows shortcut because I almost never use it. I did, however, notice that one of my favorite Windows shortcuts Alt-Tab doesn't work in the game. :( Also, the sound seems low, even with the in-game settings maxed.

Travis Admin wrote on 10/28/2016 at 05:22pm

Alt+Tab too? Huh. I know there are some games that break when you Alt+Tab.

Travis Admin wrote on 10/28/2016 at 05:25pm

Oh, it looks like there's a patch for Alt+Tab. Maybe it fixes Alt+F4 too.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 10/28/2016 at 07:21pm

I haven't seen a patch yet and I've restarted Steam, though I haven't tried playing the game since my last comment.

I realized why I decided to be an Imperial, because their special ability is a charm, which I think is greatly helpful. Although I haven't really tried most of the races, so I can't quite speak for their abilities other than they didn't look as significant to me. Granted, if I played them I'd probably find more value in them.

Travis Admin wrote on 10/28/2016 at 09:01pm

Well don't take my word for the Alt+Tab patch. I just saw someone on Steam say that alt+tab was working now.

Travis Admin wrote on 10/29/2016 at 01:55am

This is another game that Geforce Experience just balks at on my system. The game itself autodetected Ultra quality, and it runs flawlessly with everything maxed, even maxing things *past* Ultra. But Geforce Experience wants me to turn everything down to low or medium.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 10/29/2016 at 03:12am

The game detected my hardware and set my settings to "Ultra," it looks like all the settings are at their max. I just checked Geforce Experience and it says the game is optimized. This is the first time I checked the GE settings for the Special Edition of Skyrim.

However, I did load the game back up, went to options, and clicked "reset" since I thought it changed my settings to "Ultra High" instead of just "Ultra." I obviously misread it the first time. Then, I went back into Geforce Experience and it said the game wasn't optimized. The "Grass Fade" setting was at 7 and GE said optimal was 7000, so I clicked "optimize."

I saw that you were playing Skyrim earlier and it didn't seem like the Special Edition. I'm tempted to jump in between the versions and see if I notice any difference. I think that when I played before, I was using a high quality mod or something similar.

If you did indeed pop into the original game earlier, did you notice the difference?

Also, Alt-Tab works...kind of...it seems you have to hold the Alt key and it works, sometimes. Windows-D works, taking you to your desktop. I'm also monitoring my GPU temp and with the fan on auto it looks like about just less than 1900rpm (a little over half) and 52c. Normally when I play Ark, I max out that and my PCIE fans and my GPU gets into the low 80s, which is still ok for my card.

Travis Admin wrote on 10/29/2016 at 03:24am

That's exactly what I was doing-- using the same save file and checking the differences as I went to different locations.

It's still really weird to me that SE performs better with better effects. They obviously aren't going to re-make all those textures so the real differences are in lighting and shadows. The God Rays, just like in Fallout 4, are killer on the video card apparently but mine is handling them like a champ.

My GPU fan isn't even noticeably speeding up. The 960 runs so cool, it's amazing how far they've come with keeping the chips cool.

There are a few settings in-game that you can change that aren't in the launcher, that's what I was talking about boosting past ultra.

jdodson Admin wrote on 10/29/2016 at 03:42am

Looking forward to either or both of you reviewing it. I decided to pass on getting this for now but am looking to in the future.

Travis Admin wrote on 10/29/2016 at 03:47am

It's kinda hard to review. I mean it's just Skyrim with a shiny coat of paint. But I'll definitely write up some thoughts.

What will be interesting to see is whether they treat this like a game release and fix bugs and stuff that have been around since the original release, or add new things to it. A patch released long after the game's release added horse combat, for instance.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 10/29/2016 at 04:01am

@Travis that's great that that's what you were doing.

I agree it is strange that SE performs better with better effects. That doesn't make face value sense, but I guess maybe it's better optimized "under the hood." The game also gave me "Ultra" quality settings after detecting my system, with the 690, the first time I played it (on Steam that is) and it ran fine, though I didn't monitor my temps.

I also agree that "it's amazing how far they've come with keeping the chips cool." I know when I ran Ark with the 690 it reached the 80s mark and performance suffered, however even though my 980 Ti gets there, performance doesn't suffer.

@Jon I'm looking more at Travis to tell us his thoughts on it. I'm still busy with Ark, so I'm not sure when I might actually sit through the full game again, but we'll see. Also, why didn't you get it? Do you not own all the DLC? If you do, it's free.

I also agree with Travis's statement about "it's just Skyrim with a shiny coat of paint." I'm also hoping to see some bugs fixed, which might be what I notice and actually look for more than the fresh "coat of paint." Physics in the game on PC and PS3 were a bit wonky. I also remember at least one quest that I ran into an issue with. Even though I'm hoping the things I noticed were resolved, I thought they just gave it a visual upgrade and left everything else alone.

Travis Admin wrote on 10/29/2016 at 04:17am

One thing I read about why things might run better is the benefit of the Fallout 4 engine. Because of the new needs in Fallout 4, Skyrim can handle way more going on at once.

jdodson Admin wrote on 10/29/2016 at 04:19am

I just have base Skyrim on steam so I didnt get the HD version. Reason I didn't pick up the DLC is that I have a couple other games I'm playing right now and if I was going to play a larger open world game I'd finish up Fallout 4, which I've been wanting to do lately.

That said the rest of the DLC was like $28 bucks so I imagine I can pick up the new version at that price when I'm looking to play it again.

jdodson Admin wrote on 10/29/2016 at 04:21am

Skyrim is a really special Elder Scrolls game so it's nice they upgraded it this way so it can be enjoyed for long into the future.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 10/29/2016 at 05:00am

@Travis Sweet! I haven't really read anything about it yet. I noticed some things in the game's Steam News section that I was going to check out, but I think I got distracted.

@Jon That's understandable. I skipped out on Hearthfire on the PS3 because I didn't really think it added anything to the game I really wanted or needed. I already owned multiple properties in the game. I did, however, get it all for PC and I enjoyed it.

I agree with your statement about Skyrim being a really special ES game. However, when I read or heard about the rumor that there was going to be a remastered ES game, I was hoping it would have been Morrowind or Oblivion. I only tried playing Morrowind a few years ago after I had played Skyrim (on the PS3 at least). It was kind of difficult and no where near as beautiful. I later (again after playing Skyrim) got Oblivion (on the PS3) and I fell in love with it. In fact, it's difficult to say if I like Skyrim or Oblivion better. I read some reasoning behind giving Skyrim the face lift and it was understandable (popularity and ease of doing it). Still, it'd be great if they could give those older ES games a bit of the same treatment. I saw some videos about them working on the next game in the series, but it seems their waiting on technology to catch up to what they want to do.

Paying $28 for the DLC and thus getting SE doesn't sound like a bad deal.

Since you mentioned Fallout 4, I still haven't tried Nuka World.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 10/29/2016 at 05:10am

Ok I just read this article (link below) that's included in the game's News section on Steam. The only mod I used was the high-res texture pack from Bethesda, mentioned in the article. If anyone has more articles to share, feel free! Also, if you want to keep talking about it and perhaps with more ease, I can extend the event, just let me know.

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/10/28/skyrim-special-edition-pc-changes/

Travis Admin wrote on 10/29/2016 at 01:29pm

Yeah, I was hoping for Morrowind or Oblivion as well but their reasoning makes sense. With Skyrim, it's just a matter of porting the game. With the others they'd have to re-create the textures and everything, and it would be nearly the same time investment as a new game, at least for some departments.

Plus honestly, some of the charm of Oblivion is those faces, right? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bja-UQTsgQw

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 10/29/2016 at 11:50pm

Anyone play with Skyrim mods? If so, let us know which.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 10/30/2016 at 04:03am

I decided to check out the physics issue I noticed before. This is particularly noticeable in the first house that you visit. At the table where two characters sit and talk with you, you will see the food and plates jump around like crazy, at least that's how they behaved on the PS3 and the original version of the game. In SE, during my one time experience in that scene, at least one vegetable moved a little bit back and forth, but it wasn't crazy like before. I could do more testing by trying it out again on the old version.

jdodson Admin wrote on 10/30/2016 at 04:36pm

Looks like they are going to fix some issues. http://kotaku.com/bethesda-says-its-going-to-fix-skyrim-special-editions-1788365568

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 10/30/2016 at 05:00pm

I read a similar article last night. I'm glad they're working on fixing it, I noticed the volume is too low.

Travis Admin wrote on 10/31/2016 at 02:31am

@Greg "I noticed the volume is too low."

The audio in general is overall worse quality now, not just too low. It seems (as the article Jon posted states) they compressed the hell out of the sound files. It isn't very noticeable if you haven't gone back and forth between them but it's definitely not the quality of the original. It's just weird that the PC version is the one struck by this, since it's the one where disk space matters the least.

jdodson Admin wrote on 11/02/2016 at 08:40pm

Doesn't look like the console port is going well:

http://kotaku.com/skyrim-special-edition-is-too-janky-1788491838

Travis Admin wrote on 11/02/2016 at 09:50pm

FWIW the PC port is also janky according to some reports. It seems a lot of the bugs on console are similar to bugs on PC when the framerate is uncapped.

jdodson Admin wrote on 11/03/2016 at 05:50am

Thought this was funny: http://i.imgur.com/IIVGGCo.jpg

Travis Admin wrote on 11/03/2016 at 12:59pm

Everyone wanted to bash that kids face :D

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 11/05/2016 at 06:11am

Skyrim SE patch in beta, along with some details.
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/skyrim-remaster-patch-fixes-audio-downgrade-and-mo/1100-6445093/

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 11/07/2016 at 08:08pm

Patch live, check out description below taken from Steam:

Skyrim Special Edition 1.1 Update Live on Steam
posted by gstaffBethesda @ 04:07PM on November 07, 2016
Skyrim Special Edition 1.1 Update (All Platforms Unless Otherwise Noted)

Fixes

General performance and optimization improvements
Fixed rare issue with NPCs not appearing in proper locations
Fixed an issue with interface elements not appearing correctly on certain
displays (Xbox One and PS4)
Fixed issue with saves erroneously being marked as Modded, even though no mods are active
Updated some sound files to not use compression

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 11/07/2016 at 08:27pm

So, I mentioned that I thought SE was too quiet. I did some testing after the patch and it seems as though SE and the original are both more quiet than I'm used to. Ark, on the other hand is much louder. Perhaps it has something to do with my sound settings within Windows, or perhaps it's just how the games are. In both games, I have the sound settings maxed.

Other than that, I didn't notice any other issues with sound quality. Travis, obviously did, but I know he has musical aptitude that I lack and I imagine such people have a better ear for sound differences. Still, I'm glad they released a patch. I'm not yet ready to dive back into the game, but I intend to do so, it's now on my short list of games to play.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 11/10/2016 at 05:28am

Patch 1.2 in beta now, which includes a fix for the Alt-Tab shortcut:
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-skyrim-special-edition-patch-arrives-on-pc/1100-6445293/

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 11/18/2016 at 12:27am

FYI I fixed my sound volume issue by enabling Loudness Equalization under Enhancements in Speakers/Headphones Properties. It didn't sound loud enough until I enabled that.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 11/18/2016 at 12:38am

Oh and can someone explain to me why Run is Shift, but it makes me walk slow? Also, Alt-Tab is working perfectly.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/18/2016 at 02:41am

Run doesn't mean the same as sprint. Run is on, shift makes you un-run. It's weird terminology that I've always hated in Bethesda games.

Sprint is alt I think and uses your stamina.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 11/18/2016 at 03:30am

Yeah, I have auto-run on and Shift by default makes you walk slower. I decided to switch Shift with Alt, so now, like any other game, I run with Shift.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/18/2016 at 04:02am

Yeah I think shift was sprint in Fallout 4. It threw me off when going back to Skyrim.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 11/26/2016 at 05:40pm

Oops, I thought the Imperial special ability (Voice of the Emperor, I think) was to charm, but it's calm, there's a big difference. Still, it helped me out in one mission when I had to get into the Dwemer Museum and all the guards were after me and I had a 1k+ bounty on my head. Once I got outside and surrounded, I used the Voice and was then able to Fast Travel out of there. I went back to pay my bounty, but after I stored my stolen goods so I wouldn't lose them. I stole my Ebony Warhammer, so I definitely didn't want to lose it.

@Travis, thanks for the Quicksave (F5) tip, it's real handy, I'm not sure I used it before.

It's cool playing Skyrim again. I'm not sure I notice the Special Edition visual bonuses, but perhaps. It does look really good, but it did before although I was using the High Resolution Texture Pack DLC. I'm getting tempted to play Oblivion again, but I was thinking about that before I started playing Skyrim SE.

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