Minor Gameplay Improvements

Post » Thu May 10, 2012 11:31 am

As it says, I think these would improve the game:

1. The map.

Clearly show the roads and tracks. Yes, snow is nice and may be 'atmosphere', but atmosphere counts little if you are frustrated from trying to find the path to the next town or village you haven't been to yet. I'm all for exploring, but I'd rather explore rather than groping my way in circles looking for a track.

2. Horses.

I've given up on them. The lack of mounted combat is a big drawback. Having to jump off the horse, ready weapons, then turn and fight the wolf nibbling my horse's heals is annoying, same same for trying to speak to someone. Further, the lack of being able to mount companions is a drawback as well.

3. Companions.

So far, my companions have: Pushed me off a cliff after I rode up on an outcrop to look at the view, and Lydia ran into the rear of my horse; Got in the way of dual-wield sword attacks numerous times, after we started the combat with her behind me; Killed me twice by shooting the opponent I was attacking with my sword; Got lost more times than I care to remember. Not to mention being so close behind me that 3rd person view was useless.

4. 3rd Person View.

Try shooting arrows at a dragon overhead when you are standing in a field of wildflowers. 1st person view is almost pointless because the dragons move so fast that they are out of your tunnel vision too fast to make it worthwhile, and 3rd person view with wildflowers etc is even worse.

5. Signposts.

When the light hits them a particular way, they are almost unreadable. Surely the locals would realise this and darken them somehow.


Good game though, very speccy.
User avatar
Juan Suarez
 
Posts: 3395
Joined: Sun Nov 25, 2007 4:09 am

Post » Thu May 10, 2012 5:34 pm

1. The map.

Clearly show the roads and tracks. Yes, snow is nice and may be 'atmosphere', but atmosphere counts little if you are frustrated from trying to find the path to the next town or village you haven't been to yet. I'm all for exploring, but I'd rather explore rather than groping my way in circles looking for a track.

I agree with this. Even the close-up maps aren't very good. I spent 20 minutes in the sewers getting chased by the Thalmor going round and round in a circle because I couldn't figure out how any of the rooms connected together.


2. Horses.

I've given up on them. The lack of mounted combat is a big drawback. Having to jump off the horse, ready weapons, then turn and fight the wolf nibbling my horse's heals is annoying, same same for trying to speak to someone. Further, the lack of being able to mount companions is a drawback as well.

This is the same as in Oblivion, so no point worrying about it. You can get the PC version of Oblivion for like $20 or less now, and there is a mounted combat mod available if you like that sort of thing.

3. Companions.

So far, my companions have: Pushed me off a cliff after I rode up on an outcrop to look at the view, and Lydia ran into the rear of my horse; Got in the way of dual-wield sword attacks numerous times, after we started the combat with her behind me; Killed me twice by shooting the opponent I was attacking with my sword; Got lost more times than I care to remember. Not to mention being so close behind me that 3rd person view was useless.

I haven't tried out companions in Skyrim yet. I don't want them to die since I'm playing on a PS3 and can't just reanimate them with a console code. They sure stunk in Oblivion though (When I am in sneak mode they should NOT rush out and attack any enemy they see!!).

4. 3rd Person View.

Try shooting arrows at a dragon overhead when you are standing in a field of wildflowers. 1st person view is almost pointless because the dragons move so fast that they are out of your tunnel vision too fast to make it worthwhile, and 3rd person view with wildflowers etc is even worse.

This is the same with any RPG that has archery! If you want peripheral vision, you would need like 5 TVs or a virtual reality kit. That would be a cool mod though - to work out what is in your peripheral vision and send it to the correct television. If you want to "lock-on" to the target, then you should be playing Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time not an open world [sort of ] realistic RPG :-) Archery is darned hard and it's not a valid complaint on the gameplay that you're not good at it yet. Takes practice.

5. Signposts.

When the light hits them a particular way, they are almost unreadable. Surely the locals would realise this and darken them somehow.

Some shop's signposts are hard to read but you can always go up to the door, the shop's name will be displayed when you look at it. It would be nice if the signpost's contents were displayed in your subtitles too when you looked at them but that's life. The signposts on the roads are usually pretty good.
User avatar
Sammygirl
 
Posts: 3378
Joined: Fri Jun 16, 2006 6:15 pm


Return to V - Skyrim