[Gaming] Elder Scrolls 5 - Dawnguard is HERE!

Dave

Staff member
For nvidia users, the new nvidia drivers that came out today (technically yesterday, as it's after midnight) are supposed to improve skyrim performance by 45%!
Damn it. I just updated my drivers a couple days ago because the Creation Kit stopped working.
 
I keep trying to get the hang of the Creation Kit, but it keeps crashing when I am close to finishing or just gets over complicated for what I want to do.
 

Dave

Staff member
It blows my fucking mind. I want so badly to be the big computer geek I was when I was 20 but the technology has passed me by, I think.
 
W

Weloenstal

i used contrsuction set alot in morrowind, once i get soem 3d modeling software that i liek i'll work on skyrim
 
I was planning to make my own "house" a week ago but I had issues being able to move around. The house also would need to be "instanced" as to not appear until a certain quest is completed, and I can't seem to figure that out.
 

North_Ranger

Staff member
I keep getting completely surprised by this game. Tonight I had intended to make it to High Hrothgar... but before setting off I decided to visit the Bannered Mare in Whiterun to buy me some supplies. There I ended up talking with a guy challenging me to a drinking contest, and the next thing I know I'm in Markarth with a bad case of hangover and a seriously pissed-off priestess of Dibella telling me I had desecrated their shrine.

I've never had this kind of experience in any other game. I love it!
 
I keep getting completely surprised by this game. Tonight I had intended to make it to High Hrothgar... but before setting off I decided to visit the Bannered Mare in Whiterun to buy me some supplies. There I ended up talking with a guy challenging me to a drinking contest, and the next thing I know I'm in Markarth with a bad case of hangover and a seriously pissed-off priestess of Dibella telling me I had desecrated their shrine.
That is actually a pretty fun little quest. The guy you drink with appears randomly at all the bars in all the cities, I once had him challenge me in Riften and another time in Riverwood. If you follow the questline all the way to the end you get a pretty cool item too.
 
Follow it too and don't use talking skill based shortcuts. It's much, much better if you actually go about the tasks the quest throws at you.
 

North_Ranger

Staff member
Oh, I'm definitely gonna go through with it. If for no other reason than to give the bastard who got me in trouble an enchanted dwarf sword enema :devil:

Also, I'm starting to feel conflicted about whether I should join the Imperial Legion or the Stormcloak rebellion. The Empire seems to be stabilizing the area and the Nord legionnaire with whom I escaped from Helgen seemed like a genuinely nice person - but then there's the whole thing about banning Talos worship, and the Thalmor ambassador in Markarth is a complete douchepickle. Supremacy of Mer over man my hairy ass... Any advice, suggestions or warnings on choosing loyalties? Like, if I go with the Legion, will be immediately ganked if I visit Windhelm? Or will I end up back on the chopping block if I go Stormcloak and take a daytrip to Solitude?
 

Dave

Staff member
Both sides are douchebags and both sides are nice people. The Empire is a huge clusterfuck military bureaucracy while the Stormcloaks are united under one leader. The Empire will kill you without question because it's black/white/us/them while the Stormcloaks will let you fight for them while looking down their noses at you...unless you are a Nord. The Empire brings stability and resources while the Nords just want to be free to do what they want. The banning of Talos worship was a concession the Empire made when they got schooled in the war a couple hundred years ago.

Choose neither for now. You'll get the chance later to try and get them to see eye to eye.
 
W

Weloenstal

that choice is hard. The Imperials are often corrupt, and have the courage of a mouse. It is true that they aren't the Empire we served in oblivion, since the septim line was destroyed when martin sacrificed himself, but the Empire is still the empire. General Tullius is a good man and certainly isn't the bad guy, and Ulfric would agrre with this, but also adding that he certainly isn't the good guys either. Ulfric is a greedy whelp with a lust for the High Throne. In order to open the seat for the thorne he challenged the current high king to fair combat, he used the voice to weaken him, then it was his blade that killed him. Some would say he murdered the high king, while others would say he proved the Empire's weakness. He leads the Stormcloaks, to free Skyrim from the Empire. He uses the banning of Talos as his rallying cry to advance his claim to the throne. While his cause may be true, his heart most certainly is NOT! Equipment wise stormcloacks tend to use light armor and 2 handed weapons, because this is what Nords specialize in. The Empire focuses on Heavy armor and 1 handed with shield, the empire also supports the use of magic duel weilding, and really any type of weapon. Joining Stormcloack grants you soem typical stormcloak equipment and later on grants you the same Galmar has. Joining the Empire grants you Heavy armor ( more specifically legion armor) with the same crest that I use for my Icon and is symbolic on the Skyrim main case. If you join Empire you will eventually kill Ulfric and get to take his Unique clothing. If you join Stormclocks you will eventually kill Tullisu and get his Unique golden Imperial crested armor. In my experience going stormcloack does not affect entrance of solitude or any other city, vise versa with Empire and windhelm. A word of caution though!!! No matter which side you join certain Jarls WILL be dethroned, although none are killed, they are taken to a special area in the opposing capital and remain there even after the war is over. Personally y firs character was Empire, athen made 5 stormcloacks then made an Imperial Orc Warrior, and this is where I am now. A note. The Empire only signed the White-Gold condordat thus bannign Talos out of necessity, the Thalmor were about to take White-Gold tower and kill the Emperor and enslave all mankind! Skyrim needs the Empire and the Empire needs Skyrim, and although no matter which side you choose you never feel entirely evil, you also never feel like some white knight. The Empire are not the enemy, the evil and twisted Thalmor are the enemy! I soooooo hope Bethesda lets me raid summerset isle. then get an amulet for lwo if not NO shout cooldown, and a chance to become high king/queen, or at least become jarl of sumemrset once the Thalmor are destroyed.
 
S

Soliloquy

He is talking about the "Peace Talks" if you do the main quest without joining a side. It's more of a cease fire. It does not stop the hostilities, as once the main quest ends they start fighting again.
Hooray for delaying the inevitable!
 
Hooray for delaying the inevitable!
When I first played I looked all over for a method to make the two come to friendly terms. I was very disappointed that they never gave you the option to do that since it took away a bit of the freedom I felt in the game. It's a mod idea I have if I ever get better with the Creation Kit, basically a new set of quests that allow Ulfric and Tallius to come to terms and both get a bit of what they want.
 
W

Weloenstal

that would rock! only Issue being that we don't have those voice actors... and....ulfric and tullius have already been killed thousands of times...lol
 
that would rock! only Issue being that we don't have those voice actors... and....ulfric and tullius have already been killed thousands of times...lol
You can probably make some convincing sentences just editing other voices together, and that even assumes it concentrates on them. You could have them only appear near the end of the line.

The mod idea I had was basically that, through a long, drawn out quest started by Balgruuf, you decide to look more into how the war started in order to find anything that can be used to prove to the each side that they are not enemies.

Much like you learn in the main questline, you find out that the Thalmor have been pushing for the civil war to occur in order to weaken the defenses of the province for a later invasion. The entire introduction of the White-Gold Concordant was in part a ruse to cause such hostilities between the Empire and it's strongest ally province, as the Thalmor really care nothing about Talos other then that they believe he is a false "god". You go around Skyrim finding Thalmor spies and scouts, gaining evidence to prove that the entire civil war itself was in part set in motion by them, even finding agents inside both Solitude and Windhelm.

Won't spoil too much, but it would end with all variations of the different "battles" occuring, only with the civil war enemy being replaced with Thalmor enemies. Example, the Thalmor take over Windhelm, Solitude, and Whiterun. You have to retake the cities, and once you take back Whiterun the two sides consolidate into a defense force versus a large Thalmor army. The two sides finally come to terms that even if they don't like eachother, they will in the end need eachother to survive, thus they negotiate out terms that will suite the needs of both sides.
 
To me it's more realistic that you can't completely put them at peace. It's more realistic that way, in that their conflict is essential about who the two factions are, not something about which they disagree, but isn't fundamental to them. You can probably go through at least a half-dozen conflicts in human history that while they may have had "interludes" of peace, they were never peaceful neighbors. One of them had to go away before there was peace. When one side's belief is "we must have all of this <blah> because it's been ours and you've taken it" (most of the time the blah is land), and/or it's racial, there's no disagreement to be mediated. They feel "injured" constantly while not in possession, and thus the conflict will ALWAYS re-flare sooner or later. It's usually not envy of others, but the feeling of being constantly injured, and thus it isn't the same as just not living with what you have.

Sad, but that's how it is.
 
S

Soliloquy

To me it's more realistic that you can't completely put them at peace. It's more realistic that way, in that their conflict is essential about who the two factions are, not something about which they disagree, but isn't fundamental to them. You can probably go through at least a half-dozen conflicts in human history that while they may have had "interludes" of peace, they were never peaceful neighbors. One of them had to go away before there was peace. When one side's belief is "we must have all of this <blah> because it's been ours and you've taken it" (most of the time the blah is land), and/or it's racial, there's no disagreement to be mediated. They feel "injured" constantly while not in possession, and thus the conflict will ALWAYS re-flare sooner or later. It's usually not envy of others, but the feeling of being constantly injured, and thus it isn't the same as just not living with what you have.

Sad, but that's how it is.
I kind of agree with that, actually. That's why I loved the quest with the Ghouls and Tenpenny tower in Fallout 3. You could get what looked like the cliched "everyone gets along and tolerates" ending to the quest... but then you come back later and Ghouls have murdered all the humans while you were away.

It kind of hammers home the idea that no matter what you do, people will sometimes choose to not get along.
 
I kind of agree with that, actually. That's why I loved the quest with the Ghouls and Tenpenny tower in Fallout 3. You could get what looked like the cliched "everyone gets along and tolerates" ending to the quest... but then you come back later and Ghouls have murdered all the humans while you were away.
Problem is I HATED that quest. Yes, it's neat how it does not go with the convention, but when I play a sand box game I want the convention. I want my choices to move the directions I want them to go, otherwise I don't want the freedom to make those choices.

Yes, it's silly, but that's how I am.
 
I kind of agree with that, actually. That's why I loved the quest with the Ghouls and Tenpenny tower in Fallout 3. You could get what looked like the cliched "everyone gets along and tolerates" ending to the quest... but then you come back later and Ghouls have murdered all the humans while you were away.

It kind of hammers home the idea that no matter what you do, people will sometimes choose to not get along.
Great example. I remember that quest too, and it does illustrate exactly what I mean.

I get what you mean ScytheRexx about wanting to be in control of a sandbox game, but for me it's about seeing what I can affect, and what I can't affect in a world that's "realistic enough" to immerse myself in. Sometimes that means that there are some things I just can't change. May as well make peace with Alduin and all the dragons and the Falmer and the Foresworn too. And all the Daedra, change them to non-hostile to anybody too. It just doesn't fit, and so you accept there's some things that just can't be changed.

That's how I treat it at least.
 
I get what you mean ScytheRexx about wanting to be in control of a sandbox game, but for me it's about seeing what I can affect, and what I can't affect in a world that's "realistic enough" to immerse myself in. Sometimes that means that there are some things I just can't change. May as well make peace with Alduin and all the dragons and the Falmer and the Foresworn too. And all the Daedra, change them to non-hostile to anybody too. It just doesn't fit, and so you accept there's some things that just can't be changed.
One, I would love a quest to make peace with the Falmer or the Forsworn. That should be the next setup for future mod ideas.

Two, we already ally with the Daedra, a lot actually, in various ways. Also, If you don't kill Parthenax it even implies he brings many of the Dragons over to the Way of the Voice, making them less aggressive and no longer enemies. We even gain a personal dragon allys in Odahviing. Not the best examples for enemies we shouldn't be allowed to make allies.

Three, I am not speaking about every enemy becoming an ally, but the Empire and Stormcloaks are not my enemy, they are both my allies who so happen to be enemies of eachother. They are being used by the Thalmor in order to weaken the world of man. I want to bring my allies together to fight my greater enemies.

If I wanted to play a game where outcomes can't change, I wouldn't play a sandbox, I would play a straight up narrative game. The nature of the sandbox is designed on the basis that you have more control over what to do, how to do it, and what outcome you work to reach. If all outcomes lean in unfavorable directions from what I wanted, I get angry and soon lose interest in the game. That is just me, and why I hope to see a fix in the future to better mesh with what I wanted out of that quest setup. You don't have to agree, but that's why such mods/quests you wouldn't have to play.
 
S

Soliloquy

Can we make a mod where we make allies with the bears? Because I think being allied with bears would be the most awesome thing ever.
 
Can we make a mod where we make allies with the bears? Because I think being allied with bears would be the most awesome thing ever.
Only if I get a mod that makes me the ally of the Horkers. Damn bastards are like happy walrus things but they always get mad when I get close.
 
W

Weloenstal

You can probably make some convincing sentences just editing other voices together, and that even assumes it concentrates on them. You could have them only appear near the end of the line.

The mod idea I had was basically that, through a long, drawn out quest started by Balgruuf, you decide to look more into how the war started in order to find anything that can be used to prove to the each side that they are not enemies.

Much like you learn in the main questline, you find out that the Thalmor have been pushing for the civil war to occur in order to weaken the defenses of the province for a later invasion. The entire introduction of the White-Gold Concordant was in part a ruse to cause such hostilities between the Empire and it's strongest ally province, as the Thalmor really care nothing about Talos other then that they believe he is a false "god". You go around Skyrim finding Thalmor spies and scouts, gaining evidence to prove that the entire civil war itself was in part set in motion by them, even finding agents inside both Solitude and Windhelm.

Won't spoil too much, but it would end with all variations of the different "battles" occuring, only with the civil war enemy being replaced with Thalmor enemies. Example, the Thalmor take over Windhelm, Solitude, and Whiterun. You have to retake the cities, and once you take back Whiterun the two sides consolidate into a defense force versus a large Thalmor army. The two sides finally come to terms that even if they don't like eachother, they will in the end need eachother to survive, thus they negotiate out terms that will suite the needs of both sides.
That would be awesome! I posted on the mod ideas thread awhile back an idea for fighting the Thalmor. Your idea could sort of link with that beforehand, even after the war is over. I hope bethesda does that, a crap load of people want something like that. It's in their best interest.
 
S

Soliloquy

Only if I get a mod that makes me the ally of the Horkers. Damn bastards are like happy walrus things but they always get mad when I get close.
All right, but the Horkers and the Bears have to be at war. You can eventually have them make peace, but then you have to deal with them attacking Whiterun together and replacing Balgruuf with Jarl Horkuur the Fishmonger.
 
All right, but the Horkers and the Bears have to be at war. You can eventually have them make peace, but then you have to deal with them attacking Whiterun together and replacing Balgruuf with Jarl Horkuur the Fishmonger.
What the hell! I would never bow to Horkuur the Fishmonger, I would rather be imprisoned in the jails of Emporer Mud McCrabbies then even think about that.
 
S

Soliloquy

What the hell! I would never bow to Horkuur the Fishmonger, I would rather be imprisoned in the jails of Emporer Mud McCrabbies then even think about that.
Well, Balgruuf's true loyalties have always been with Emperor McCrabbies, so you could always join him in the counter-offensive.
 
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