I enjoy the current horse incarnations in so much as they are, well, horses.

I miss the unicorn.

But, frankly, the horses offer only minor contributions to game play, are a liability, and I think they could be a whole lot better. I'm most likely neither the first nor the last to bring this up, but it is thus brought.

Wish List:

1. Horse classified as a Companion.
I want to click on my horse and have the option to Mount, Follow Me, Go Home (stable), AND CARRY ITEMS.

I see those saddle bags, buddy, you aren't fooling me. >:[ Honestly, even an extra 500 pounds capacity would save the hoarders (like me) a lot of padding back and forth from dungeon to doorstep. Potions are fine and dandy, but I go through them faster than I can make them.

2. Horse Armor.
I know, I know. But...

I want my horse decked out in craftable, upgradable armor, that can be enchanted at the very least with Resists. I want Glass, Ebony, et all.

And I want matching, killer horseshoes from hell with + Damage. I don't expect the horses to kill dragons, but if one drops out of the sky, I would like my horse to survive the first breath long enough for it to either run away, or be sent back to stable. Reloading over an accidentally killed horse is annoying; especially if it resets awesome dragon loot.

3. Pony Potions.
Like a Companion, I would love to stick a health potion in a saddle bag and have it activate if the horse is about to die. Or make the horse more sneaky so it isn't targeted.

Or make the horse turn into a unicorn.

,/\,___~~
.U||--||



Playing on a console, I am forever lamenting the fact that we do NOT get Mods. So any improvement I might want to integrate, requires me going out and buying a new computer, hardware, software, and the game all over again, starting a new character, just to mess around. Which I am not even close to doing.

(Further, any exploits in the game that -might- act like a modification, is eventually "tidied up" and removed, so get 'em while they last and woe unto thee if you found out about something too late. If we want to avoid an exploit that might "break" the game if "over-used", aren't we able to make that choice for ourselves? They are, after all, typically avoidable, in that you have to go out of your way to find the exploits...But if I find a way to add 3,000 extra Carry capacity to a pair o boots, why take that away from me?? Does an extra 10 minutes going back and forth from each dungeon really add anything to the game? What if I don't have hours of leisure time to play, hence wasting time by hauling my much-needed loot in multiple trips? I'm just sayin'.)

Anyway, a Pony Package Upgrade Download Thingy would be worth about $20 to me, if it had the above mentioned. I'd spend that in a heartbeat.

Especially if it has a unicorn.

As i've said many times on this forum,horses -and wildlife in general -more similar to Red Dead Redemption was all i needed in this game from that standpoint.
(Oops..i realize only now that i've forgotten to logout yesterday )

I agree. Your ideas are expressed thoughtfully and you covered a lot of important ground but.....


Cheriphim

I wish you would post this down in the modders forum where it could do a whole lot more good 'cause that's where the players who have the power to change our game through the CK hang out.

I will have to find it & post there, thank you

Of course, Mods do me no good, as I play on PS3, but heck, any benefit is better than none.

$20!?!? For gods sake that twice what the fonv dlc cost! Shut up before someone hears you. Or are you being funny?

Well, for PS3 and other console players, we are pretty much left with NO DLC. $20 is still a truckload less than what it would cost me to purchase a computer, hardware, software, another version of the game, find a Mod, or try and make one myself.

$20 is less than what I spend on coffee every week. Working 70 hours/week, I need my coffee. Further, I only have about 5 hours to play Skyrim each week--so yeah, no point in buying an entire new computer system for one game I am only able to play half a day. I bought Oblivion bundled with the KotN and SI extras, for the console....and found out they had a Mage's Tower extra content, too, that they decided to NOT include in the console bundles. So, they are already choosing to rip us console users off; I would at least like the option to get ripped off for content I really want (!)

Wasting 10% of my 5 hours/week on pointless leg-work, makes the game feel like work, and not in the "feels-great-to-accomplish-something" way, either.

I would pay $20 for this DLC in the Sony Store, that I can download directly onto my PS3 system and use. No joke.

I avoid using any horses in Skyrim. They constantly put themselves at risk either fighting or getting in the way of my arrows. Plus the third person horseriding in Skyrim is horrid.
I loved my horse in Oblivion (although it's true I modded him), and never fast traveled because I enjoyed riding everywhere. Horses were very well done in Oblivion, and the riding in Oblivion is even better than any horse riding games I've looked at. My unobtainable wish list would be:

1. Bring back first person riding with separate controls for turning your head and turning your horse.

2. Commands as you've also requested for go home, stay, etc, but also a command to ensure your horse doesn't engage in fighting.

3. Craftable +Speed horseshoes.

4. Craftable armor, as you've also said, but I would also like craftable leather tack. A couple of bridle and saddle options would be cool, and it could be that once you buy your horse you will then need to purchase or craft tack before you can ride it.

5. Get those heels down! I've had this yelled at me all my life, and now I'm yelling this at my screen. In Oblivion the rider's form was also better than in Skyrim.

6. More breeds. I've said this in a couple of other threads, but I'd like to see destriers and palfreys, ie heavy horses like in Skyrim plus the lighter horses of Oblivion. It's perfectly feasible that any populated province will have a variety of horse sizes for different applications.

7. Be able to purchase your own stable, and have the roof high enough so that you could ride your horse into it. I think only Windhelm and Riften stables are high enough so that you can actually put your horse in them instead of making it wait outside. A DLC that included an estate with its own stables would be perfect.

I'm not too fussed about potions since I use a 'heal other' type spell on my horses, and I also cast it whenever I feel like giving my horse a pat. Too bad the only time he gets a pat is when I run home to Honeyside and have to run right past him to get in my door.

I'd also easily pay $20 for this extra content.

If they included the other mods from gamejam i would pay 20 for that. But I will never pay for a horse mod.

What about for mounted combat?

If they bring back spears I am there! If they bring back spears and have mounted combat like a picador I'd be absolutely ecstatic.

Love those suggestions!

Yes, we definitely need to be able to fight from horseback, none of this get down and turn around and such nonsense. Casting spells, bows, would be currently feasible for most situations, and other weapons could work if fighting a taller opponent (other rider, dragon, mammoth).

And purchase a horse for Companion to ride! Oi! So tired of galloping along and then wondering if my follower is just left behind or off killing things without me...

Yes, I miss the first-person riding, too

And my unicorn.

For me the real problem with horses is that they are terrible at what they are supposed to be good at- transportation.

First of all, the 3rd person view is very bad, and horse movement/control is bad.

Second of all, the animations are... odd. Horses seem very bouncy in this game, and the horses just don't move like real horses.

Third, they are so slow! The 'running' speed isn't much faster than running without a horse, and the 'sprinting' speed only last about 5 seconds before it has to recharge. Horses don't have to catch their breath that often, honesty.

Luckily mods can fix points one and three for me, but the animations are still rather disappointing. I'm glad horses are in the game, but there is definitely room for improvement.

@TheMech oddly, my horse sprints for quite awhile; I wonder if it is tied to our own stamina? Mine is quite high for my archery, and boosted with equips, as well... I can out-distance my companion by about 5 minutes (time it takes in real life for them to catch up, wearing light armor) at full gallop...less when cantering.

II managed to get the control down pretty well, in fact my hubby was just commenting on how greatly my horsemanship has improved since I first started riding--which was ALL over the place with constant minor directional tweaks--so different from Oblivion Now its straight, true, and smooth, even cornering, rearing, etc. But I had to get used to its tweaky-ness first. 200 hours of practice makes perfect-ish ._.

But my hubby can't stand the Skyrim horses, and won't use one, for most of the reasons that have been mentioned here. He would use one if these changes were implemented; namely better health/protection, control/first-person.

The only thing I like about horses as they are now is that you can carry as much as you want and still fast travel home. Good for hoarders.

That's your responsibility. To me, it feels kind of disrespectful and condescending to ask someone playing Skyrim on the console to post a cool mod idea on the PC Mods forum. For the record, I am playing Skyrim on the PC and the console. How would you feel if you wanted to change a game and couldn't but still had to post it in another board for some other playerbase to get what you suggested? I'm sorry, that statement just struck a cord with me.

If they included the other mods from gamejam i would pay 20 for that. But I will never pay for a horse mod.

After the horse armor disgrace, I don't think Bethesda has the balls to release a stand-alone DLC for horses.

Agreed! The horses and being able to hunt everything, even from horseback, was one of my favorite things about Red Dead.

Also, If my horse is loyal enough to fight for me, why can't I whistle/call it if we become separated?

Yeah, Horses could be way more useful than they are, but the usual Bethesda way is to get rid of them in the next game rather than fix them

My number one thing's i'd like for them is
Mounted Combat and no more Kamikaze attacks.

In Oblivion (and i played on Console), I was able to make my horse go like 3000 MPH and Ride on Water, and I also stuffed the Unicorn in my House so it wouldn't keep running away from me

I don't know about a follow me and go home command, those seem a little unrealistic. I haven't played Skyrim, so I'm not sure if you can take the reins and lead the horse, but that'd be an acceptable mechanic to me.

I want first person when i ride a horse+ i want followers to be able to have their own horse+Mounted combat

Abrinth

Agreed. The horses in Oblivion had a convinceable way of going, a natural looking gait. When I see the Skyrim horses way of going especially up a hill it's laughable. The Oblivion horses looked very much like my beloved Morgan Horses that I owned for years--I was wondering if Oblivion horses could be ported into Skyrim.

My wish list:

1) Ability to stable horses as well as the ability to make them wait somewhere. --- I'm sure everyone knows the pain of having a horse following you every time you fast travel. And when it comes to Shadowmere, there is no permanent way to get rid of him (bar console)

2) Ability to use a whistle type command similar to red dead redemption. --- Worked well in that game, and I would love to see it implemented here.

3) Mounted combat. --- I know this is a long shot considering they would have to add an entire mechanic to the game, but that's why it's called a wishlist. Doesn't have to be anything fancy. Assassin's Creed did a decent enough job on this and can be used as a model.

final note: I know most of the stuff listed is available through mods, but for console users like me, that's just not possible.

How?? o.o

Which house? I remember there being gates and stuff in the way most of the time...

Um, no, you cannot.

"Follow" allows me to wander around gathering alchemy ingredients, then not have to trek back over 5 miles to find where I got of my horse. If my dog and companion can do it, the horse can. Handing the reins over to my companion to lead would be perfectly realistic, though a well-trained horse will follow you with nothing more than a verbal command or whistle. They are as trainable as dogs, more so than children.

"Go Home" allows me to make my horse Fast Travel back to the last stable we were near, so the dragon that just landed doesn't eat it, and I can concentrate on the task at hand without having to ride and stash my horse a safe distance away, then run back to the fight. In real life, this is not unrealistic. Horses in times past were quite capable of finding their way back home riderless; nomadic species like horses, deer, elephants, all have good landmark recognition. Its how they migrate.

(Plus, war horses have been trained for hundreds of years to fight, so horse armor and better shoes is also perfectly feasible, and realistic.)

Also, adding progressive riding experience as the game progresses could improve handling, speed, training commands, etc.

'sigh'

Horseback riding should have been given a much better representation in this game, as it has in others (like Assasins Creed, as mentioned above). Horses and other beasts of burden have always been a huge commodity in pre-industrial civilizations. No one wants to walk a thousand miles for a quest, and human populations without animal transport, were far less mobile, and had much tighter areas of influence in their civilizations. Any culture that accomplished long-distance exploration, commerce, migration, conquest--had some sort of beast of burden that contributed immensely to their success. Its not fair to the game to add them as an after thought, or remove them instead of fixing them.

Mounted combat -at least archery -and first person view are essential in my opinion,and both should have been in the vanilla game.


I don't think that the horses in Oblivion were so convincing; at the risk of repeat myself try Red Dead Redemption and then you can see what i mean for "realistic horses and wildlife".

Even the foxes in Skyrim have a silly attitude; if you have ever seen a fox in real life is an elusive,fleeting and very quick animal.

I don't want a "wildlife" simulator of course,but at least a bit of reliability in that sense will add a lot of immersion to the game

Horses =

Horse Armor =