Nvidia drivers boosts Skyrim performance by up to 45%, makes Modern Warfare 3 prettier
If you’re playing Skyrim and have an Nvidia card, you’ll definitely want to grab the latest driver update. The Nvidia site boasts of significant improvements to Skyrim framerates. Indoor scenes should run 45% faster and Skyrim’s grand outdoor vistas will see a 16% boost. The drivers also come with an improved version of the ambient occlusion effect added by the last set of drivers. This adds a subtle layer of extra shadowing and darken the deep cracks in Skyrim’s rocky landscapes, boosting their cragginess factor by about 14%.
Modern Warfare 3 gets the same ambient occlusion treatment, boosting war torn grittiness by 32%. Additional AO for the Diablo 3 beta applies a chunky 35.2% hike to lingering sense of dread levels and PhysX fixes improve Batman: Arkham City’s bat-punchiness with 10% extra Pow! 4% extra Zam! and a minor increase to overall levels of Biff! You can download it now from the Nvidia site, where they also have some fancy interactive screenshots that show off these Ambient Occlusion updates quite nicely.
Skyrim beta patch removes 50 mod limit, free official iphone map app released
The latest Skyrim patch has gone into Steam beta testing with a fix for the “issue with downloading mods when you are subscribed to more than 50 mods,” which seems to suggest it’ll fix the current 50 mod limit. That’s great news for those of us who just can’t stop whimsically adding user made updates, slowly turning our copies of Skyrim into a fairground of monocled mudcrabs and gianter giants. You can apply the beta patch by opting in via your Steam settings menu, though Bethesda warn that it is currently in beta, so you’re applying it “at your own risk.”
Also, if you’re unsatisfied with Skyrim’s map, or have the urge to perch an ipad next to your monitor so you can plan your route and scout ahead with a few gentle strokes, the Bethesda blog has word of a new official app that you can download to your Apple device right now. The free version will give you the map of Skyrim and the nine major cities. Interior maps and more locations can be bought as extras. You can grab that from the App store now. Meanwhile, here are those patch notes from Bethblog.
Skyrim mods are quite popular: two million downloads in three days
The Skyrim Creation Kit was released last Wednesday. Within hours, the Steam Workshop was stuffed with mods, including good ones, bad ones and downright scary ones. In case it wasn’t obvious already, Skyrim mods have proved extremely popular with players. Bethesda say that two million mods were downloaded within three days of the release of the Creation Kit.
Players have had plenty to choose from. According to Bethesda “more than 2,500 mods have been published by the gaming community.” It’s an almost overwhelming selection that ranges from new armour and upgraded textures to new combat moves and devastating magic. Thankfully, the Steam Workshop now has a much needed search bar, making it easier to find mods your friends have recommended. Speaking of which, here’s our round up of some of the best Steam Workshop mods so far.
Skyrim video shows fantastic unused features: colossal crabs, spear fighting, house building
This video is from Todd Howard’s speech at the DICE 2012 keynote in Las Vegas, spotted on Eurogamer. It shows the results of a week-long Bethesda game jam, in which developers were given one task: “Do anything you want, and add it to the game.” The results were impressive. Enormous crab monsters, a lycanthrope skill tree, seasonal foliage, moving platforms, adoption and house building were just a few of the ideas the team came up with.
Skyrim gets high resolution texture pack
Last week Bethesda mentioned that the Skyrim Creation Kit would arrive with a “special surprise.” Rumours immediately appeared which hinted at an official high-res texture pack, rumours which turned out to be entirely true. You can download it now from Steam.
It could tax your machine a bit. Bethesda recommend the mod to those with “a minimum of 4GB of system RAM and a DirectX 9.0c compatible NVIDIA or AMD ATI video card with at least 1 GB of RAM and the latest drivers.”
The pack adds three gigabytes worth of sharpened surfaces, which should hopefully clean up some of Skyrim’s smeary walls and blurry rock textures. I quickly booted it up to have a look, but was stabbed by a barbarian while I was busy pushing my face into a wall :(
Skyrim Creation Kit released, Skyrim goes mad
The Skyrim Creation kit is live! The Steam Workshop is already filling up with dozens and dozens of mods, some of which are quite mad. Not enough goats? Download the goat summoning mod. More dog eyebrows? Mod some in. Giants not big enough? Download the bigger giants mod. Skyrim is going nuts. In a very good way.
Skyrim Creation Kit to be released tomorrow with “special surprise”
A tweet from Bethesda’s VP of PR, Pete Hines, on Friday announced that the long-awaited Skyrim Creation Kit will be out tomorrow. TOMORROW. The tools will let modders create their own campaigns using the same tools that Bethesda use to create their environments. Take a look at last week’s Creation Kit trailer for an idea of what’s included.
Skyrim patch 1.4 optimises performance, fixes Wabbajacks
Wabbajack-loving Skyrim players will know that there’s nothing worse than a Wabbajack you can’t equip, which is why it’s vital that Skyrim players log into Steam immediately to download the full release of patch 1.4. It fixes a “rare issue” in “The Mind of Madness” that would leave players burdened with a Wabbajack that they’d be unable to wield. A fate worse than death.
Now we’ve won search ranking for the Word “Wabbajack,” we can move on to the full list of patch notes, which will be familiar to those who road tested the beta version. The patch will apply automatically through Steam, and adds some behind the scenes support for the incoming Skyrim Workshop. According to yesterday’s Skyrim Creation Kit trailer, that’ll be arriving soon.
Skyrim Creation Kit trailer shows mod tools in action
Here’s a video Bethesda just sent over showing off the Creation Kit for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The video mentions extensive wiki documentation written by Bethesda staff and shows how Skyrim mods will integrate with the Steam Workshop. It’s exciting to contemplate the astonishing things that modders will make with the kit in the coming months. They’ve already been hard at work making massive changes to the game, as you can see in our round-up of the top 25 Skyrim mods.
But what’s this at 1:12, on the left of the centre row? Mudcrab armour? A familiar sight for readers who reached the back page of PC Gamer UK issue 232, drawn by the lovely Marsh Davies. The mod tools are due to arrive soon, which isn’t soon enough.
Skyrim patch 1.4 beta available now
Patch 1.4 for Skyrim is set to arrive soon, but if you’re really eager to take advantage of the latest round of fixes then you can sign up for the beta through Steam. A post on the Bethblog says that you can opt in on the accounts tab of your Steam settings page. You’ll want to back up your saved games first, though, just to be safe.
The preliminary patch notes for patch 1.4 include many, many quest and crash fixes. Bethesda recommend that you sign up for the beta if one of the fixes applies to your game. You’ll find the list below. The first entry suggests that Skyrim will be getting Steam Workshop support shortly, the infrastructure that will let modders share projects created with the incoming Skyrim Creation Kit. The mod tools are still set to land sometime later this month.
Bethesda to release Skyrim modding tools and patch 1.4 fixes as early as next week
The updates and improvements to Bethesda’s already amazing Skyrim just keep coming. The latest additions: The Creation Kit and Steam Workshop (to be bundled in patch 1.4), and they’re almost ready to be unleashed, amidst a plethora of other game-related fixes. More details within!
Skyrim mod lets you summon undead dragons and dual wield greatswords
If there are three words you’d want above any other in your Skyrim spell book, “Conjure Undead Dragon” would be the those words, closely followed by “Conjure Spectral Bear.” The Tytanis mod adds both of these abilities, along with a fat tome of additional updates, including new magical greatswords that can be dual wielded with a beefed up Warmaster perk.
The 25 best Skyrim Mods
Skyrim mods are amazing. In the two months since release, thousands of mods have been released, some of them quite spectacular. It’s not like Skyrim was an ugly game to begin with, but with new high resolution textures and post processing it becomes truly stunning. Not to mention new items, expanded crafting and a full UI overhaul.
With so many mods available, choosing them can be a little daunting, which is why we’ve rounded up the 25 best here for you to enjoy. Check inside for the full list.
Bethesda-Interplay settlement official, Bethesda gains full Fallout MMO rights
The bombs have dropped, the dust has settled, and Fallout Online, sadly, is no more. After an ugly legal scuffle that lasted nearly two years, Bethesda and Interplay have cased trading blows and started trading cash. More specifically, $2 million – for which Bethesda receives all Fallout MMO-related rights, according to VG247. Interplay, meanwhile, can continue to peddle its own post-apocalyptic wares in the form of Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics – but only until December 2013.
For the time being, Bethesda’s merely happy to be “able to develop future Fallout titles for our fans without third party involvement or the overhang of others’ legal claims,” but could a Bethesda-born attempt at some irradiated online action be headed our way? At this point, it’s a toss up. But given Skyrim’s all-consuming success with an allegedly draconian single-player-only approach, I’m not counting on it.
Fallout MMO court battle allegedly reaches settlement, details coming this month
All’s fair in love and war. Fortunately, however, no one had to break out the apocalyptic nuke salvos this time around, as Bethesda and original Fallout owner Interplay have finally reached a settlement in their tooth-and-nail struggle over Fallout Online.
After Bethesda whipped out the legal equivalent of a Rock-It Launcher and fired off everything from a (failed) development-halting injunction to a claim that Interplay could use Fallout’s name and nothing else, Duck and Cover claims that the two have declared a cease fire. The site cites a “source” that took part in the hearings and claims that we’ll learn of Fallout Online’s fate later this month. Fingers crossed for good news, but given Interplay’s recent agonized-wail-inducing financial woes, I wouldn’t count on it.
