I'm not graphics fanatic, i like old games like abe oddyssee, super mario bros, fallout 2 but I am disappointed with skyrim graphics especially because bethesda was claiming that it's a completely new engine and that graphics are great and I don't like lies, so here's what I think about the graphics:

Animations apart from killing animations and character walking aren't really improved at all in skyrim since oblivion, so we've got animations from year 2006. No animations for grabbing items, opening doors, falling from a high place, animations in the game look just bad there are lots more missing and bad animations than those I just mentioned, most of them are just reused from oblivion.

Physics are terrible, there is no improvement at all for nearly 6 years now, the same buggy bad ragdoll physics as in oblivion, npc reactions for getting hit are really bad, and are very similar to oblivion ones, their reaction doesn't depend on where you hit them etc.

Shadows, lighting: Huge improvement since oblivion but still very bad as for 2011/2012 game, shadows look horrible on people, lots of lines instead of a normal shadow, many lights don't give shadows at all, shadows don't change in real time but every couple of game world minutes.

I have to say textures are good, but on some walls and ground they look very bad and have low res.

I like the detailed world, every plants, food etc. are detailed.

You can't see your own body in first person view and camera is too low.

There should be more graphical options like blur or better reflections.

Still you can't see through windows which maybe isn't a big thing but changes a lot at least for me.

Water looks really bad, and has nearly no reflections, and it just looks unrealistic.

AI is not bad, but it's not very good either. They finally don't magically know where you are so you can hide behind walls etc.
They react to many things like dropping items, running into them, moving their things etc. so that's good.
But they are still stupid, especially companions AI, I don't need to say why because everyone know why.
Also they don't react when you put something on their head and they talk normally with you after some time when you killed their relative.
They just run into traps, don't go around them, sometimes they can't get into simple places, I have never seen them jumping so that's a big minus for me.

So what do you think about skyrim graphics and AI? Please if you want to write about skyrim graphics, try writing more than just one sentence because from one sentence I won't know very much about your opinion

I think the AI is better than Oblivion's, but it's still kind of nutty. Sometimes, it amazes. Other times, it makes me facepalm. Fortunately, some of its bad moments are hilarious.

Great graphics.

The AI could use improvement though. The AI just takes random actions instead of having any sort of cohesive strategy when engaging the player. Though at least it SEEMS like they try.

I also have to say that graphics engine is clearly gamebryo with just different name and some little improvements

I'm not a gfx nut either, to me they look amazing. I have no qualms over the water or whatever, I like it. I know it's not the best humanly possible gfx, but then I'm not a huge gfx nut.
As to the AI I'm somewhat satisfied. Enemies and guards and all that seems fine enough for me to immerse.
Companions however I have stopped using alltogether. They are simply too annoying. Especially for a sneak character, and even more so in dungeons. "Dude, the 6 foot spider is coming, you mind moving a bit? Dude!?"

2007 graphics. Not much improvement upon Oblivion.

The only reason one would think graphics better is due to the frequent use of snow and fog, to hide the ugly distant views.
Just wait for a clear sunny day and enjoy the Oblivion quality distant view.

One thing they do improved is the characters' faces. I would say that is quite a good job. But beyond that? Meh.

Great aesthetics. The http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Sceneryporm is wonderful and all the visual elements mesh well together. Unimpressive graphics, though. But what did you expect, building the game for the same hardware? It's a shame, too. It's not hard to imagine how much better the aesthetics would have been if they had made good use of the graphical tools available right now (though not on the consoles).

The AI? I can't say I've seen a noticeable improvement. Enemies seem to behave pretty much the same.

I think Bethesda('s shareholders) are incredibly happy that they are making games for the console now. (I have nothing against consoles. I'm just explaining the probable thought process behind the below comments.) They get to excuse shoddy work like:


Shadows and lighting are terrible. I can't believe they made this the work of the CPU instead of the GPU. (This is actually a good thing for me. I have a decent CPU, but my GPU's showing its age. Still, this is not how things are done.)


I don't like the textures. They should have included HD ones for the PC. And they have this weird habit of juxtaposing decent textures with really crappy ones, which does nothing but drag down your enjoyment of the decent textures.


This is one of its biggest saving graces.


The camera height is one of my biggest annoyances. It makes everything look oversized when you're in first person. Very 'uncanny valley' feeling.


It doesn't bother me that much that you can't see through the windows, but the texture on those windows (as well as the light that they throw; actually, DO they throw any light?) is soooooo ugly.


I like the water, actually. :teehee:

Addendum: as for the AI ... We all know it svcks. They could have improved upon this much more than they did. The impression Bethesda has given me is that they just aren't very talented coders. They have vision, but not enough ability to execute that vision.

Zenimax is a privately held company they have no share holders. Bethesda game studio is owned by Zenimax.

I wish they did, I'd own a good chunk of their shares. As a business they are doing well, as makers of games they are pandering to the highest bidder and it shows.
Still their games are lots of fun and I don't have too many issues. I'd just like for them to up the quality a little and spend a little time testing on a wider range of gadgets before releasing these things.

My copy works fine most of the time, but others seem to have the worst game ever released. This is strange when the problems are found on the most common systems, the consoles.

I have more issues with their DRM partner and their incessant breaking of their service and consequently my games.

Noted. But Zenimax is owned by whom? Even privately owned companies have shareholders/stakeholders/owners/whatever.

Graphics are only slightly better than say, The Shivering Isles expansion. Shadow quality is worse - much worse. AI - better, but not a big leap. I'm enjoying the heck out of the game (170 hours so far), but its an evolutionary, not revolutionary, step forward.

AI is terrible a usual, graphics mediocre. They improved aesthetics a lot though, the faces in particular.

Poll should probably split graphics question for PC and Console users though, the graphics are probably good for console but are definitely way behind when it comes to PC.

The graphix are 10 times oblivions, animations a little better, but the overall look of the game is quite good for such a big world.

The AI has no real notable difference from oblivion, enemy notices you and attacks, you either kill it/they kill you or run away till you loose them and hide, repeat process. Same as companions, but they usually end up jumping infront of you as you unleash your fireball/power swing and they get upset and attack you.
I cannot undersand, becuase they obviously have a faction rating; 1-friend 2-neutral 3-enemy, can't they make it that during a battle you cannot attack a friend, you can only innitiate an attack? I generaly don't have companions becuase they always seem so eager to get in the fight as to jump between you and the foe mid swing.

Seems like everything is either too hard, or too easy.

graphics are great, the IA is idiotic

Anybody who thinks the AI in Skyrim is amazing is probably a ward of the state. I mean can you even feed yourself with that level of brain damage?

Everytime I see the words shadows being done on the CPU I laugh. Real time shadows on the CPU is impossible.

You say you are not a graphics fanatic, but then list a bunch of crap only graphics fanatics would even think about, let alone care about.

The AI does blow massive donkey dike, though, like it does in every game ever created.

Graphics are much better than oblivions computer nuts be damned. A.I on the other hand are still as derpy as ever, but that's what makes this game enjoyable for me. They do seem to be better at path-finding than usual, and no more of that circle flailing thing they did on oblivion.

The graphics are clearly better as there is a lot more scenery going on, even off in the distance is slightly improved over Oblivion but naturally when the fade effects kick things are a bit closer to oblivion but unless you look really far off into the distance it looks ALOT better then Oblivion.

The AI is slightly improved but still a lot of oddities and arrows in the... that is a lot of repeated lines still. Worse yet they actually had different voice actors say the exact same lines in several cases... there is still annoyances like how as a summoner your thrall/summon tends to get lost behind you, companions too.

There's a lack of consistency in textures - consider for a moment the amount of detail they put into a slab of meat, yet one glance at the table it's lying on and you're trying to figure out if the table is made out of leather or just stretched out textures. But, it doesn't detract from my experience that much, if at all.

AI is a lot better, with respect to stealth characters who aren't made as soon as they fire off one arrow.

For anyone who has played oblivion for at least 500 hours, anything short of amazing is short changing skyrim.

I know absolutely nothing about programming/processing/whatever. Some really clever people I know do, though, so I'll take their word for it that something funny is happening with shadows.

Whatever is going on, they look absolutely [censored].

im amazed the graphics are as good as they are while keeping an oblivion sized world. as for the ai i was being chased by a bandit and hid behind an open door and my pursuer lost track of me even tho with the timing he most certainly would have seen me go behind the door. well sensible reactions aside the idiot loses track of me and i successfully elude him and later kill him in his sleep. so i do believe the ai needs reworking.

Graphics are exactly the same as they were in Oblivion in technical terms there has been 0 improvement what so ever



Art Style is excellent and improved over all previous games including FO3 and especially Oblivion.

Poll is filled with people who have no idea what they are talking about but that's the norm I guess.