It should come as no surprise that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim launched with a whole host of bugs. Bethesda RPGs are renowned for their massive worlds, but with that size comes a greater propensity for stuff to just plain go wrong. Having been through this before, Bethesda started working on a major patch soon after release, and it looks like they're finally ready to deliver.
Wednesday’s patch, which has already gone live for PlayStation 3 users, is dubbed “Skyrim 1.2” and aims to fix a whole host of actual bugs. Here’s the full list of changes, straight from Bethesda:
- Improved occasional performance issues resulting from long term play (PlayStation 3)
- Fixed issue where textures would not properly upgrade when installed to drive (Xbox 360)
- Fixed crash on startup when audio is set to sample rate other than 44100Hz (PC)
- Fixed issue where projectiles did not properly fade away
- Fixed occasional issue where a guest would arrive to the player’s wedding dead
- Dragon corpses now clean up properly
- Fixed rare issue where dragons would not attack
- Fixed rare NPC sleeping animation bug
- Fixed rare issue with dead corpses being cleared up prematurely
- Skeleton Key will now work properly if player has no lockpicks in their inventory
- Fixed rare issue with renaming enchanted weapons and armor
- Fixed rare issue with dragons not properly giving souls after death
- ESC button can now be used to exit menus (PC)
- Fixed occasional mouse sensitivity issues (PC)
- General functionality fixes related to remapping buttons and controls (PC)
Note that this patch is separate from a minor one released last week that properly tied the game’s PC executable to Steam. This had the side effect of removing a bunch of mods upon update and subsequently limiting one’s ability to tamper with the game, such as installing a third-party large address aware patch that enabled Skyrim to draw on more than just 2 GB of system RAM. (There is now a workaround for those who’d like to take full advantage of their PC’s hardware.)
This likely won't be the last Skyrim patch, and future DLC packs will likely come with their own bugs and hiccups. But this should improve the game for scores of players (that texture bug on the 360 is a big one) just in time for the holidays.
Source: Bethesda via Giant Bomb
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JarredWalton - Tuesday, November 29, 2011 - link
I've been enjoying the new comic by the Penny Arcade guys working with Scott and Kris, The Trenches: http://trenchescomic.com/ Particularly entertaining are the stories below, the "tales from the trenches".If you think it's the testers missing stuff, you're probably mistaken. Even more likely considering the game shipped right at the start of the holiday season.
Iketh - Tuesday, November 29, 2011 - link
I'm talking about an NPC saying one line possibly hundreds of times during each playing session that takes .01 man hours to change. And it's an NPC that 99% of the playing population will use for at least a while. It doesn't matter who speaks up about it, just that someone should have said something and the person most likely to get annoyed by it first is the one playing it constantly. That's it, no need for diving into how your company works, or how you'll never grow because you don't have the backbone to make sure something gets implemented.Everyone else I know that plays the game have all complained about the annoyance of some of the NPCs that you consistently interact with.
As a result of this dumb discussion about a blatant quality oversight, I killed Lydia today. I replaced her with Uthgerde and it's a welcome change. So fire the guy over Lydia only. Or maybe that was the designer's goal... right.
eachbraveeye - Monday, November 28, 2011 - link
This is really going to make the PC version ultimately unplayable for a lot of gamers. "Fixed crash on startup when audio is set to sample rate other than 44100Hz (PC)" this is the only type of crash they fixed? This was an easy fix to do manually in the first place. Instead of focusing on the crashes that NOBODY in the gaming community can find a way to fix themselves, Bethesda fixes the one type of crash any gamer can easily fix.If this is really all the patch does then I'm going to demand my money back because I CANNOT PLAY THE GAME. I understand that this is a huge open-world game and that bugs were to be expected, but why spend $60 on something that gives you nothing but frustration? And yes the issues will probably be fixed in the future, but this has become an issue of principle. This is like buying a season of your favorite show on blu-ray and you only get the first disc out of 5 in the box. You're able to watch the first few episodes and are able to get the gist of the plot and where the story may be going, but instead of putting in the next disc you find a note that says "Sorry working on it, we'll send you disc 2 as soon as it's available". This would be totally unacceptable to most people!! But because Skyrim is such a huge game and has totally been geared to be played on consoles, PC gamers are left with having the game crash to their desktop or getting a black screen and having to manually reboot their system with the hope that Bethesda may fix these issues sometime in the future.
By making it mandatory to have to start the game through steam, Bethesda has made it exceedingly difficult for PC gamers to even be able to play the game. If I spend $60 on a game I should be able to play it however I want. I shouldn't be having to start up steam, and get a bunch of pop-up ads for other games that are on steam just to play the game I've been looking forward to all year.
I'll wait till the 1.2 patch comes out, although it seems that the issues affecting me aren't going to be addressed. If they are and my computer stops crashing then I guess it would be worth it because Skyrim seems like an incredible game from the few hours I have been able to play. But if my issues haven't been addressed and I'm still not able to play the game I will be asking for my money back.
It's come down to the point to where I feel like Bethesda really doesn't give a crap about my experience as a gamer, but more importantly I feel that they don't give a crap about my experience as their customer.
**fingers crossed**
jesh462 - Monday, November 28, 2011 - link
If you're having issues with quitting to desktop I'd heavily advise getting the LAA patch - that enables you to use 4gb of memory like was mentioned in the article. This not only makes the game a lot more stable, it also gives you an executable that lets you skip steam. As long as you're logged into steam in offline mode, you never have to look at it.Just so you're aware and you can get back to enjoying Skyrim sooner. It really is a great game.
About the screen going black.. that sounds more like an issue with your system. I've experienced skyrim on 3 different PCs at varying performance levels and haven't seen that. Try updating your video card drivers or seeing if you may have a hardware problem, like GPU or bad memory stick. It could be that Skyrim is the only thing you have that is really pushing your system hard enough to fail in that manner. Good luck.
far327 - Wednesday, November 30, 2011 - link
hahaha, you really think the LAA patch adds stability to the game? Sir, the game only uses 700mb of ram most of the time. I'm gaming at 2048x1536 and my game memory is still below 700mb for the most part. The LAA patch won't even be needed until some SERIOUS mods become available. So no, LAA currently doesn't add any stability. The game will never crash due to short memory until around 1.7gb. This is FACT. I'd say if anything, his system is lacking in memory to begin with and when play Skyrim, he is running short on system memory. My suggestion, go by another couple gb of ram. ;) Free up your OS and anti virus some so your game can breathe.diggernash - Monday, November 28, 2011 - link
The work-a-rounds are a pain. It would be nice to have more resolutions fully supported.darksbane3k - Monday, November 28, 2011 - link
Underwhelming patch considering the number of bugs in this game. I don't get why they say "Fixed rare issue with dead corpses being cleared up prematurely" is rare. It happens often for me. I'm kind of sad about "Dragon corpses now clean up properly". I thought it was intended for the dragon bones to stay forever.morfinx - Monday, November 28, 2011 - link
I for one am glad for that. I have like 5 sets of dragon bones clogging up the Winterhold courtyard :Peuler007 - Tuesday, November 29, 2011 - link
Check the wikis for the bug patches, some are quite hilarious, some are scary and some make you wonder who's in charge of QA at bethesday.My personal favorite is the guy that got decapitated while on god mode and is stuck walking around with a neck stump and no head. Close second to dead dragons falling out of the sky randomly for some people.
far327 - Wednesday, November 30, 2011 - link
I agree, the patch is kinda weak considering all the other issues others have found. Dragon corpses cleaning up... Hmm, I've seen when a dragons bones will hang around for a few days after I kill it, then a few days later only the skull remained, and then after another day it disappeared. Maybe that's what they meant.