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 Creation Kit video tutorial – part 7
Making a mod for Skyrim actually isn’t that hard, and Bethesda are making it even easier with a series of 15 minute video tutorials. This is part 7 – if you’re just joining us, see part 1 of the Skyrim Creation Kit video tutorial first.
Skyrim Creation Kit video tutorial – part 6
Making a mod for Skyrim actually isn’t that hard, and Bethesda are making it even easier with a series of 15 minute video tutorials. This is part 6 – if you’re just joining us, see part 1 of the Skyrim Creation Kit video tutorial first.
Skyrim Creation Kit video tutorial – part 5
Making a mod for Skyrim actually isn’t that hard, and Bethesda are making it even easier with a series of 15 minute video tutorials. This is part 5 – if you’re just joining us, see part 1 of the Skyrim Creation Kit video tutorial first.
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 Creation Kit video tutorial – part 4
Making a mod for Skyrim actually isn’t that hard, and Bethesda are making it even easier with a series of 15 minute video tutorials. This is part 4 – if you’re just joining us, see part 1 of the Skyrim Creation Kit video tutorial first.
Skyrim Creation Kit video tutorial – part 3
Making a mod for Skyrim actually isn’t that hard, and Bethesda are making it even easier with a series of 15 minute video tutorials. This is part 3 – if you’re just joining us, see part 1 of the Skyrim Creation Kit video tutorial first. We’ll be posting part 4 this time tomorrow.
The Elder Strolls, Part 10: The Pale Horse
After weeks of contentedly walking everywhere at a snail’s pace, I suddenly feel an overwhelming urge to rush. With my wedding over, I’m eager to leave Riften behind and start my new life in Whiterun. I can’t wait to move into my new home, to find a place to store my various collected possessions, and to get back to a quiet life of smithing and hunting. Oh, and also to find my wife, I guess, who wandered away halfway through our wedding ceremony and hasn’t been seen since. (You can watch the entire ceremony here on YouTube.)
So, I’m in a hurry, for a change. It feels like a cheat to hire the wagon outside the city, so I decide instead to buy a horse from the Riften stables, and moments later I’m galloping along the trail, with Jasper following. It’s strange to be traveling this fast, mostly because I’m zooming past all these flowers and herbs and thistles. I should be picking them. I’m… compelled to pick them. It’s almost making me tense, passing them all by like this. But, like I said, for once I’m in a hurry.
Skyrim Creation Kit video tutorial – part 2
Making a mod for Skyrim actually isn’t that hard, and Bethesda are making it even easier with a series of 15 minute video tutorials. This is part 2 – if you’re just joining us, see part 1 of the Skyrim Creation Kit video tutorial first. We’ll be posting part 3 this time tomorrow.
Skyrim Creation Kit video tutorial – part 1
Making a mod for Skyrim is easier than you might think. The Creation Kit, released this week, lets you create new monsters, quests, buildings, landscapes and weapons without having to take up programming. Grab it by selecting ‘Tools’ in your Steam games library – it’s under C for Creation Kit rather than S for Skyrim.
Best of all, the developers themselves are doing a great series of video tutorials on how to use the Creation Kit, aimed at absolute beginners. They’re in easily digestible 15 minute chunks, so we’ll be posting a new one every day. Until Bethesda can’t keep up, of course, at which point we’ll start calling them and asking “Is it out yet? Is it out now? How about now?” until they do. Part 1 is above.
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.
The best Steam Workshop Skyrim mods
Last night, the Steam Workshop was updated to support Skyrim mods. It’s a central repository for community made content, from tiny tweaks to total overhauls. After one night, there are already 459 mods up that you can add to the game with a click.
Steam handles downloading, installing and activating them in-game, and will even automatically update them when a new version comes out. But the sheer volume is kind of daunting right now, so we’ve trawled through to find you the highlights, divided into three categories that broadly reflect the trends in what people have made so far.
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.
