News - Major Skyrim patch released for Xbox 360, PS3, PC

[Jasp]

The merchants are generally located in each town, try Whiterun, as you enter the blacksmith on the right allows you to sell weapons, further down in the market their is 2 shops, a general shop which allows you to sell anything and a alchemy shop. If in doubt look for the doors with the hanging signs, they normally signify the fact its a shop.

[kalniel]

PC users can fix the accidental resistance bug by using the Skyrim Script Extender (SKSE).

SKSE is a dll injector which patches the main executable during runtime (ie no permanent change) and adds in extra scripting functions for the most part - the same sort of tool was used in both Morrowind and Oblivion to provide more useful scripting controls (loops, strings, arrays etc.) and returns which the default editor doesn't provide. One of the programmers diff'd the 1.2 patch changes found a possible mis-naming error from Bethsoft regarding the resistances, and they've added a quick fix so that the correct function is called.
http://forums.bethsoft.com/index.php...t__p__19568346

It's still a work in progress, but link to download current version (7z archive), includes readme: http://skse.silverlock.org/download/skse_1_02_01.7z

bug reports/feedback to go here: http://forums.bethsoft.com/index.php...extender-skse/

[Noxvayl]

In what sense? It's still the same engine that was used in Oblivion, and Morrowind, and Dark Age of Camelot etc. Obviously evolved somewhat with new features each time.

yea its not a brand new engine

"Skyrim is powered by Bethesda's own Creation Engine which is the company's entirely new engine."

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creatio...ne#Development
http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/12/12/co...ly-new-engine/

Bethesda used Gambryo for their previous Elder Scrolls games and have developed the Creation Engine for Skyrim. They've kept certain technology they used in conjunction with Gamebryo but they've now got engine source code that was built by them so they should have a much better understanding of the engine and be able to better optimise their games.

[j.o.s.h.1408]

interesting. maybe thats why the game is so stable

[kalniel]

"Skyrim is powered by Bethesda's own Creation Engine which is the company's entirely new engine."

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creatio...ne#Development
http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/12/12/co...ly-new-engine/

That's just early, inaccurate PR spin in the same way that GameBryo was a new name for the NetImmerse engine. They've tweaked it, added much better lighting, animation etc. models and some behind the scenes stuff, but it's the same engine. (They just decided that they'd made enough tweaks to call it a new name).

We've always used a lot of our own stuff, mixed with other middleware that we liked. Coming off of Fallout 3, we made a pretty big list of what we wanted to change technically. So we redid the rendering, lighting, shadows, animation, faces, foliage, mountains, scripting, interface and more. And by the time we got through it all, it was clear the technology was new enough to give it its own name, The Creation Engine. Same with our editor, The Creation Kit. They go together as technology.

http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/115/1158651p1.html

[Noxvayl]

I guess the Source Engine is the same as the Quake engine then? You're being a bit silly with it's "origins".

[kalniel]

I guess the Source Engine is the same as the Quake engine then? You're being a bit silly with it's "origins".

HL1 vs Quake, yes. Source, I don't know enough about it - could be, but I doubt it.

The way the engine handles data, the philosophy it has etc. is all the same between Fallout 3 and Skyrim, and distinct from other games not based on the NetImmerse/GameByro engine. Even the graphics engine isn't new - different parts of it have been re-written.

You might have some different definition of game engine, for me it's the core basis of how the game handles data and would be the same for Skyrim even if the graphics engine was separate and different (cf NWN2 for example - aurora (NWN) data engine, custom graphics engine).

A quick look at the way you build content will also highlights the similarities - above and beyond just a familiar toolkit operation.

[Noxvayl]

Well I disagree with you. I don't think derivative engines should be viewed the way you do.

As for the original point, whether the engine is completely new or a derivative the point still stands. The developers are more familiar with the engine and because of the modding they've done to the engine they should be able to improve games they make based on the changed engine they are now using.

[baius]

Sound like I'm out of touch, here, but I didn't know you could get patches on consoles... I don't use consoles, so I wouldn't know. I know there's DLC, which is extra levels and stuff, but not patching!

I suppose as consoles become more like - and, perhaps, in some ways exceed - PCs, then some of the issues (like patches/patching) have to spill over too.

As I just said in another post, 8gb+ games suggest that an awful lot of code has to be maintained - and considering that's for each platform, ... phew!

[3dcandy]

8gb is because of cut screens and music and textures, not really code....but yes they are getting huge. The xbox has had patches for years, they were just downloaded onto the hard drive before you played the game