I've been seeing countless topics on how bad the PC version is since the game came out, but not many actual reasons, so I was just curious, if anyone can explain.

People are saying the PC UI is horrible because it was built for console and only works well on console. That's mainly the only complaint though. Granted it's a very legit complaint. Take Dragon Age for example. It's PC version was so much different than console in both gameplay and UI so a proper change for the PC has been known to happen. It's not unreasonable that the problem should be fixed so the PC owners can enjoy the game. This is coming from a console player.

I think the 360 version is off much worse, because of the texture issues.

I haven't seen too many texture problems actually.

Not true, it doesn't work to well on console either. The nested menus are a pain in the [censored] on a controller, I now only have two quick select buttons I used to have eight.

Lucky you, I dont get any textures loading in high res 99% of the times, only my characters head.

It only seems to be the UI which if fixed if you have a 360 controller, reviewers have stated the PC version looks the best and I haven't encountered a major glitch in 20 hours of play with the PC version.

because people hate lists, and even though it's been fixed for a while, people still claim "broken port"

it isnt. it far suparses the 360/ps3 version. people complain about the UI and various glitches but you will find an equal amount of people that are happily running the game and enjoying every single minute of it! myself included!
there are glitches, as in all bethesda rpg's, but to let them spoil the game for you is stupidity.
and to make it even better the pc userbase has INI tweaks to make things even better still!

Sorry guys but i read a lot of complaints about the UI but i play with a mouse and i never had problems so i just would love to understand what is happening to u guys?
I read about cursor not highlighting the good option...can u explain me more please?
thx

Same here, UI is fine for me. And playing ultra setting at 1080p is fine. Close up textures could of been better, but no biggy.

I just wish there was more variation of weapons especialy staffs.

Oh and spell crafting would of been nice.

The UI for PC is a horrible mess:
- the developers kept the 'console' idea of navigating with a controller (which works via the keyboard), then added the idea of clicking with a mouse. Sadly sometimes the PC thinks your mouse-click didn't hit any of the options, and in that case it reverts to whatever it thinks the controller selected (why it thinks you didn't click on anything is another issue).
- a related issue is that left-click=skip dialog. However, due to the stupid issue above - if options appear during a conversation, and you click anywhere else on the screen, the game appears to assume that you meant to click on the default option .
- if I press 'q' - the game pauses, and I get a list of 4 favourites, in a tiny font that I can scroll through. My screen is 1920x1200 and I get a modal dialog box the size of a postage stamp .
- tab=close, most of the time. Quests are weirdly on the 'escape screen', where tab!=close.
- quest screen in general. From reading reviews, it seems that it's not very intuitive how 'miscellaneous' works - even for seasoned gamers.

Beyond that, it's just a case of a dreadful UI for a mouse along with generic bad design. Not that oblivion was a great example, but in 2011 this is embarrassing.

- the map deserves it's own mention, but I assume it's basically useless for everyone - paths are not visible, height only becomes apparent if you mess with the zoom options for a while.
- ditto that an option turns grey when you've asked a question. It does not mean that shouldn't ask the same question, again and get a different answer, eventually leading to a quest .
- inventory management. If you stick with this design, a better layout is shop on left, player on right. Rather than one on top of the other (anyone else purchased things that they thought were selling?).
- inventory management[2]. Left click = transfer item (purchase/sell/pick-up), except when looking at your own inventory (where it's consume, R for drop). That's understandable, but when a chest is opened, clicking on your own inventory to transfer it to the chest instead consumes the item - this is really annoying. We don't need to equip/consume items when looking in a chest!!!
- "stealing". Not really UI, but when you become friendly with an NPC, and they let you take their health potions. Move your cursor 2 pixels when clicking to pick up the potion, and you tend to get a bounty put on your head after picking up a 1 value arrow on the same surface... we have lots of keys available - we don't need 'left-click=do everything'.

[I'm fussy on UIs, but this UI doesn't even try]

Uninstall the game and play from the disc. There's a known issue on the 360 where if you install it onto the HD, some of the textures won't load.

Thx for your reply.I will better check the UI now.

Graphics wise the PC version is better but not by the massive amount some people say. I'm looking at both side by side right now and the PC version running on ultra has better textures, less popping, better anti-aliasing and waaaay better shadows. The ps3 version still looks awesome, even next to the PC, the PC has better performance and mods as well. I don't think the PC version is worse in any way other than getting a sore back from leaning foward to use the mouse

I use keyboard controlls to cycle though UI menu and converation it feels ok. A radial meny that you can get up on screen like in dragon age would of been great. I play on 1920 1080 dialog boxes look ok.

But i dont understand what you saying about paths not visable on map. If you zoom in max you can see the paths, but not the littlke tracks like through mountains.

There's nothing wrong with the PC version, IMO. I understand the complaints about the UI, it's not particularly intuitive with a KB+M but it's not terrible either, again - IMO.

You also have to consider that many people on PC can't play due to various hardware or software problems, which will supposedly be dealt with soon via patches, driver updates or at the very least, mods.

I play Skyrim on PC and I have had no problems whatsoever during my 40 hours of play so far, it runs great, looks great and I haven't had any crashes, only the occasional visual glitch.

In terms of visuals, I can't say - friends of mine are playing on the 360 but I haven't seen it yet, but I can tell you: If you have a decent PC, the game looks amazing. I have it running on Ultra settings with 8xAA and 16xAF + a handful of .ini tweaks, the system requirements are low - for sure, but I'm still really surprised at how well it runs and how stable it is. For me anyway.

One last thing, you have to remember that alot of people come to forums because they're not happy about "something", everyone else is enjoying the game - though there's plenty of positive threads around, many people will be here to vent.

The UI is an absolute mess. It's never consistent in what controls what (Mouse, or keyboard), and in order to do anything we have to go through 20 minutes. At least in Oblivion it would allow mouse support on the menus so you could get to the menu you want pretty instantly. To find an item in the inventory is a particular chore, scroll down and sort through all the junk and hope you can locate it.

I'd certainly agree with that . My own feeling is that the PC version is the best version. Doesn't change that some rather obvious issues need fixing.


I 'agree to disagree'. (I don't know how you left/right click on favourites with the keyboard? /shrug)


I embarked on a voyage to ?MistVale? (I think). There were a bunch of issues - giants, dragon(s), spiders, scary caves... but the biggest one was the map. (there's some hints on the nexus about changing the map that I'll try - just seems pretty, but useless).

The PC version is the best version by a long shot, In no way is it bad just because a few people like to complain.

The PC KB&M UI is not great and is a genuine cause for complaint but the Xbox and PS3 use controller ONLY and that also works in exactly the same way on a PC only with better graphics, the ability to tweak and the prospect of mods!

Theres no argument as long as your PC can run the game on settings above 720p medium (which is about what the consoles acheive)

The game graphics are beautiful and the game itself is awesome you can do whatever you want and your not stuck in a single class or role type this is why so many people like this game and the previous ones. I have had a couple lock ups but nothing major and certainly nothing more then most other v1.0 releases.

The only real problem is that on a PC you use a keyboard and mouse and the game menus and commands just do not work right using a keyboard and mouse they are only designed to be used by a console controller with limited buttons.
A mouse is a extremely fast extremely accurate aiming device and since the menus and UI are designed to work with the slow inaccurate movement of a controller joystick when you use a mouse to pick options the menu cannot keep up with the fast movements and you'll be pointing at option 3 with your mouse but option 1 is the one still highlighted because the menu couldn't keep up with the mouse and so if your not double checking that the proper option is highlighted even tho your mouse is pointing at the option you want when you press ok you do the wrong option and not the one your mouse was pointing at.

There are tons of weapons, spells, potions and items that need to be used regularly in the game if your using a keyboard you have access to hundreds of keys to use as hot keys where as a controller has only a couple buttons to use but for the PC the game does not recognize that using a keyboard your not restricted to only a couple buttons but you cannot take advantage of all your keys on your keyboard. Another thing is there is a ton of problems if you change the default keybinds the same keybind does diffferent things depending on the menu or screen your on. Also the game does not recognize a change in the keybind from default so if you changed the key from E to say M on the screen the game will say hit E but when you do nothing happens because that was changed to M now.

The keyboard and mouse working on a controller UI is the only real problem with the game but it is a major issue if your trying to play using a keyboard and mouse otherwise the game is epic.

There are of course the PC specific issues of crashes and graphical glitches that some people are experiencing, but I think that most of the complaints from PC users are not PC specific.

They are complaining about things like magic spells unable to be assigned to the right hand via any of the menus if there is already a spell or weapon in that hand. Or the horrible AI pathfinding.
Most complaints however are based on the UI and while some of those are PC specific, a lot are not.
For those of you who think that there is nothing wrong with the UI, I'll give a couple of examples:

- You can't see your current equipment anywhere on the screen. This is especially relevant if your equipment is enchanted.
- There is no way to sort your inventory.(By weight, value, etc.)
- Combining alchemical ingredients when you have a list of 50 or more is way too much work.

If you still think this is ok, I'll leave you with this:

You find a heavy item that isn't worth its weight in gold, but may be an upgrade for your pack-mule(aka companion). The following happens:

1. Pick up the item.
2. Quit menu.
3. Turn to pack-mule.
4. Talk to pack-mule.
5. Select Item-option.
6. Skip annoying whining about being a pack-mule.
7. Check pack-mule's current equipment.
8. Go to your section of the menu.
9. Check the new equipment to compare. It isn't an upgrade, damn.
10. Quit menu.
11. Open your own inventory.
12. Drop item.

Rather then what you'd expect from a good UI:

1. Mouse over item, see comparison with your and pack-mule's current equipment. It isn't an upgrade, damn.
2. Don't pickup item.

It's not, some people just have issues with the UI and key-binds. Aside from this, it's bloody awesome.

It's like reviewing broadband or hotels or something - people are far more likely to come to their computer and complain about a bad experience, than they are to come and say "actually, everything is great" so it just seems like tons of people are unhappy. You can't please all of the people all of the time.

What annoys me however, is people saying "it's the worst game ever, it's broken" just because Beth didn't email and say "please give us a list of your specific requests and we'll tailor the game to YOU" - perspective required I think.

I agree the UI could do some some sort of comparison stat feature, which I'm sure can be implemented.

As for PC, I let it default my settings which are pretty much all "high", and I upped the draw distance a bit. The only problems I've had, is the very occasional flickering texture, game minimising itself once per hour (requiring a double alt-tab back in), and the horses seem a bit buggy if you're in a rocky/busy area. Considering the size of the game, I think that's impressive. Large scale testing like this will flag up issues which will be patched.

As for the lack of patching on say, xbox, blame microsoft for their ridiculous licensing laws.

The PC version looks fantastic in ULTRA mode.

Graphics are not the problem. The game looks gorgeous.





The problem is the interface. It svcks. It's stupid. You have to click through menus to do everything. To look at a map, to compare your gear, to select items to swap around...


For example: There is a ton of "JUNK" in Skyrim and you have a carrying limit based on the weight of the items you pick up. Well, some stuff you MIGHT need. Some stuff you might NOT. Some stuff might be an upgrade. Some stuff might not be.

There is no mouse-over pop-up menus showing you item stats or side-by-side comparisons of your current gear. You have to loot the gear and then look at it in your inventory and jump back and forth between your equipped gear and the other item to see if it's an upgrade or not.

There is a little UP-Arrow next to items that are supposed to be upgrades, but they are NOT 100% accurate. They only take into account an item's BASE damage. An item that has 1 point less base damage than your current gear will not appear as an upgrade, even if it has +100 Frost Damage as a Enchantment bonus and is a WAY WAY WAY more powerful item. So, you can't even trust the game's own upgrade indicator arrow.


It's just a really stupid, annoying, frustrating game interface. But it's not PC-based, All versions of the game have this issue and it is believed that it's due to it being dumbed-down for a controller interface as opposed to a Keyboard and Mouse interface. (Hence all the console-hate)