Anyone else play like this? I'm on Xbox, so this is the most immersive the game can get for me. It's a very different game without quest markers or names on every NPC, and with the difficulty on expert it makes every encounter extra deadly. The walk from Whiterun to Riverwood is even a treacherous journey if you take the main road. Saber cats, Dark Brotherhood assassins, hired thugs, Thalmor justiciars, old Orcs. Not using fast travel (I do use carriages) has given me a new appreciation for the random events and the landscape. As someone who found Skyrim boring and repetitive a year ago, playing like this has made the game so much more of a real adventure. Using the map to find locations has become second nature, and aiming my fire bolt without a crosshair makes every successful attack that much more satisfying. When I finally land a finishing blow on a bandit chief and go to collect my well earned bounty, it feels like a real victory against a strong opponent, and combat need real tactics, not slash slash slash, but potions, poisens, shouts, and abilities.

Yeah no HUD is much better, also turn off the music.

I turn the music down low, but not so low that I can't hear it. It pops up when it's a good quiet moment, and adds a nice fantasy atmosphere.

Nope, I use the HUD, and fast travel when I don't feel like hoofing it. Heresy, I know, but there's nothing you can do about it.

I once tried no HUD and Fast Travel once... Lets say It took a long time just to go to every hold, and town...

That's not a bad thing stop smell the mountain flowers kill a bear or three and explore all those random caves

Eh, there is merit in forgoing FT. You take in a lot more world detail. Bump into a lot more people. Some days it's just good to hit the road.
But I certainly don't do it as a feat of my gamer pride.

I've been trying to do no fast travel but I'm too impatient.

I turn off the compass but not the status bars. Doing this forces me to pay attention. Although I have much of the landscape memorized I can still get lost with surprising frequency (especially at night and during snowstorms). I like finding my way by watching for landmarks and reading signs. And as I'm becoming more familiar with the landscape I'm also cutting back on using the map. For me, not looking at the map has the effect of making the game world feel twice as big.

My characters fast travel, but by carriage only.

I always keep the HUD as it's never really in my way, but I never fast travel. I do this in New Vegas as well. It's really neat when you don't fast travel. Eventually, you will come up with your own routes that get you to a location. You will actually remember what each road will lead you to. I love it.

The way I treat fast travel is, if I am going to do a quest or going some where I dont use it, but if im a turning in that quest then i will use fast travel.
I seems to work out well for me.

If there's no music you can't hear the it spike when enemies are nearby or preparing to attack you. Some find it to create a more realistic feel.


I've played no fast travel, no hud and all that. Even tried dead is dead on a high difficulty which was crazy, but that stuff doesn't always suit my playstyle.

Unfortunately I have barely enough time to play and enjoy games so when I load up Skyrim it's almost counter-productive for me to not use the fast travel option. Sometimes when I play I just want to jump into the action, complete quests, kill people, etc. Then there's also times where I'm really into that wonderful TES immersion and play the game on a more realistic basis.

I tried playing with no Hud on a Master difficulty character, was doing find till about level 12ish, then I died alot past that.

Current game I've cut back on fast travel a lot - generally only use it when turning in quests.

Can't do without me HUD, though

I have always had the music turned off. I don't want to be notified when about to be attacked. I want the sound of the enemy to be the notification. Even if it's the sound of the enemy chewing my buttocks...

When I was on the Xbox, I wanted very much to play with no HUD. However, the need of a crosshair to pick up small objects and the description of said objects, along with other discriptions like doors and NPCs, forced me to play with it active. I just turned it down low and taped a piece of paper over the compass....The red dots are cheats. No matter how you look at it.

I fast travel, but only if I have been through the area before. Even then, it is by carriage. There was an issue reported with never fast traveling. It seems to have been with the area resetting properly... IIRC.