Rumor: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Remastered to be announced at E3

[Getsune]

Will we get an official announcement about how STEP will react to SSE and the future of the project in general? I know there are a lot of details that need to be addressed first before making major decisions, but I'm interested in the general mindset of the team right now.

 

I hope they adress some of the technical limitations of the game, such as switching to x64 and improving the overall performance, so that the modding community can create even more amazing content. 

Edited June 14, 2016 by Getsune

[TechAngel85]

Will we get an official announcement about how STEP will react to SSE and the future of the project in general? I know there are a lot of details that need to be addressed first before making major decisions, but I'm interested in the general mindset of the team right now.

 

I hope they adress some of the technical limitations of the game, such as switching to x64 and improving the overall performance, so that the modding community can create even more amazing content. 

We're all in a "wait and see" mode right now. If SSE works with most or nearly all mods, then we can support both versions. Since everyone is going to be getting the game for free, there would be no excuses if we decided to simply support the new SSE version in the long run. If SSE doesn't work well with most or nearly all mods, then we'll stay with the original game until we feel like STEP can be moved over to the SSE version. Though there hasn't been any official discussion on the subject by the team, yet.

[rootsrat]

Here's a nice comparison tool (at the end of the article): https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2016-skyrim-hd-special-edition-compared-to-maxed-out-pc

[Nebulous112]

Here's a nice comparison tool (at the end of the article): https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2016-skyrim-hd-special-edition-compared-to-maxed-out-pc

Thanks for the link. Good info in there.

[TechAngel85]

Here's a nice comparison tool (at the end of the article): https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2016-skyrim-hd-special-edition-compared-to-maxed-out-pc

Thanks for that. I actually didn't notice the added foliage. Makes you wonder how far they went with added details. These details will might be an issue with some mods like ETaC and JK....possibly even ICAIO. Foliage will simply clip until disabled though so nothing major with it. But if they've expanded the towns at all...that will be an issue.

[DoubleYou]

I wonder if the foliage is actually added, or if that is simply due to the randomness of the Bethesda grass system.

[TechAngel85]

Added. The randomness only comes into play for grass and landscape. Foliage (bushes, mushrooms, harvestables, etc...) are objects which have to be manually placed in the CK.

[moho25]

I'm really conflicted about this.

 

On one hand, I agree that the bump up to DX11 is a good thing, and if there is also a bump to 64-bit (has this been verified yet?), then that's also great. I think both these are indisputable improvements, and would be the best reason for PC users to take the free upgrade. What I'm not certain of is if these provide enough of an advantage to compensate for the disadvantages to modders and mod users.

 

 

1. It will inevitably fracture mod support.

With every new DLC, Legendary Edition, or Special Edition, things get more fractured. A majority of modders within the community start making the new DLC mandatory, or switch to the new edition of the game (USKP to USLEEP, etc). All new content is placed into the new version of the mod and they stop supporting the old version. If a user doesn't have the money to purchase the new edition -- or if they simply don't want to -- then they are out of luck (yes, I know SSE is free, but the point remains). Since few serious mod users are going to play Skyrim without SkyUI or the Unofficial Patch, it becomes a forced upgrade based upon how those two mod teams handle the situation.

 

2. It will result in more issues with incompatibilities.

After 5 years, more and more modders have dropped off the grid. Depending on how this plays out, it's possible folks will have to make very hard decisions about which mods to keep using. If the SSE is different enough that even half of ESPs need an upgrade to function, that's still a lot of mods. This issue will be compounded by the fracturing of support of various mods. If mod X depends on ver# of mod Y to work properly, and mod Y isn't getting ported to SSE, then the user can't use either mod.

 

3. The complexities of paid-for mods.

This throws an entirely different wrench into the situation. It exacerbates the issues with fracturing and support if we end up in a similar situation to last year, where mod authors were only going to put new features into the paid-for mods. And, then we get into the problem with authors resorting to hiding their mods to prevent theft. As a mod author (Mass Effect 3), I understand this kneejerk reaction, but all it does is punish your user base.

 

4. It wipes the slate clean (to a degree).

People may view this as good or bad, but it applies to both mod authors and users. Mod users will need to re-consider every mod in their load order to see if it's now redundant. Mod authors will need to reconsider if their mod is redundant, or if it needs to be rebuilt from the ground up. As active as the Skyrim modding community is, that's a lot to ask at the ripe age of 5 years. I have no doubt that some will do it, but that's sort of the problem... some.

 

 

For Skyrim PC players who don't use mods, the SSE is a no brainer. But for those of us who do use mods, I think the situation warrants a good bit of caution. I'm finding it hard to be excited right now. I've actually just upgraded to a new machine -- something I've been trying to do for over 3 years, in large part so I could mod Skyrim exactly how I wanted. Now... I'm not sure what to do. I don't know whether to wait for the SSE to come out, allow 6 months for the dust to settle, and then get started. Or, just say screw it, resign to sticking with the Legendary Edition (which I haven't even installed yet), and get started now. Since I do a lot of research as I pick and choose mods, the whole process will take me a few months, which further complicates the issue =/

[Guest]

Who else can't even believe that they didn't even at least bother to remake the terrain textures? I mean, I don't like to use the 'lazy devs' phrase because I know they usually work incredibly hard, but this is a remaster and they could have at least bothered with that. The snow also now has a glow map sparkle effect on it. I tried that a few months back, but I didn't know much about the Creation Kit then so I gave up. Probably that Texture Set thing I could of used, but oh well.

 

From the comparison, it just looks like they threw too much post-processing effects on it. I'm not sure how I feel about that as it just makes everything look blurry and washed-out.

 

@moho

 

We'll just have too wait and see as usual. There's only guessing right now obviously.

[TehKaoZ]

I think it is likely just a straight port more or less to a new engine. They may have remade what they had to but overall if they could just re-use old assets they probably aired on that.

 

Personally I am really excited for this. While I do think it will cause some mod difficulties in the beginning; I am hoping the more popular mods will be ported over (if they need to be) and as someone who spent YEARS tinkering with a load order and troubleshooting, I for one am very happy for the engine upgrade. With any luck, I can finish a play-through in its entirety without having to stop and fix a CTD or some other nonsense.

[moho25]

From the comparison, it just looks like they threw too much post-processing effects on it. I'm not sure how I feel about that as it just makes everything look blurry and washed-out.

This was my thought, as well. I'm very much looking forward to being able to use an ENB and some decent weather mods, but I'm actually not entirely impressed with that game footage. It looks orange and muddy. Yes, it's obviously sunrise/sunset in those shots, but there are good ways and bad ways to do that, of course.

 

Something a bit funny, is I can actually see a decent amount of the user base not particularly liking these changes, as they are so drastically different from the bleak feel of vanilla Skyrim. It'll be very interesting to see what folks think when it's released.

[SynthetikHD]

Oh ****...what if the reason they are releasing Skyrim: Special Edition for free on PC...is because they are bringing back paid mods?? Think about it...Skyrim on PC doesn't need this Special Edition at all really, and it makes even less sense that Bethesda is releasing this update for free to PC users out of the goodness of their hearts. I think their plan is to release the 'upgraded' version of Skyrim for free to make everyone happy, and they bring back paid mods along with it.

 

They're really pushing and emphasizing the idea of mods on the consoles, so what if for Skyrim: Special Edition, it's released with paid mods?

 

I think I'm onto something here guys.. Thoughts?

Edited June 14, 2016 by SynthetikHD

[redirishlord]

It's a free standalone upgrade, what's not to like?

 

STEP doesn't have to be affected anymore than it wants, like MO 1.3.11 / 2.x we have a working version that isn't going away & a new version with potential.

 

As far as the modding community going in different directions, that's bound to happen anyway (FO4 over TESV). If SSE incorporates the new stuff from FO4's engine that might bring back authors to Skyrim who were tempted by the new shiny options.

 

Me, I'm just happy to get gifts from generous mod makers year round, many thanks!

[moho25]

Oh ****...what if the reason they are releasing Skyrim: Special Edition for free on PC...is because they are bringing back paid mods?? Think about it...Skyrim on PC doesn't need this Special Edition at all really, and it makes even less sense that Bethesda is releasing this update for free to PC users out of the goodness of their hearts. I think their plan is to release the 'upgraded' version of Skyrim for free to make everyone happy, and they bring back paid mods along with it.

 

I think I'm onto something here guys.. Thoughts?

It's already been said by Gopher, myself (see post above), and many others. It's still speculation at this point, but I'd say it's likely.

Edited June 14, 2016 by moho25

[SynthetikHD]

It's already been said by Gopher, myself (see post above), and many others. It's still speculation at this point, but I'd say it's likely.

I don't think I've even heard anyone on here mention the thought of Bethesda doing this because they're going to bring back paid mods until you did. I agree I think it's very likely as well.