Hi everybody
My problem is as follow. I launch the game from Steam. The game opens. I click "start new game", are you sure, "yes". Some sounds is playing, and I start in a wagon. I can hear background noises, birds, wheels, wagons etc. The character in front of me, the blond hear, looks at me but he does not talk, his lips does not move. Nothing. He sits and look at me. I can look around, I can hear the back ground noises but that's it.
The wagon eventually gets into town, drives itself against a wall, and that's it. Nothing happens further.

I've searched on the internet for causes, solutions etc. The most common seems to be related to sound and DirectX.

In that regard, I've turned the sound down to 44KHz already, both 16bit and 24bit. I've browsed to the install folder, and rerun directX. I've downloaded the full DX-pack from Microsoft (90+MB), installed that. I've restarted my machine, I've nearly kicked it, and still nothing happens. I've changed various settings for my graphics card, still nothing.

Now before somebody blames my rig, this is it's specs:

CPU: i7-950, stock speed
RAM: Corsair dominators, stock speed
GPU: GTX580, stock speed
Motherboard: Asus Rampage III Extreme
RAID controller: Adaptec 6405
PSU: Corsair 1000HX
OS HDD: 2xOCZ Vertex 3, RAID 0
Game HDD: 6xVelociraptors 150GB, RAID 5
SAS Expander: Intel 6 bay SAS Expander
CPU cooler: Corsair H70
Case fans: 120mm Coolermaster x 6
Case: Custom built solid mahogany wood case
Headset: Corsair H1
Keyboard: Logitech G19
Mouse: Logitech G5
CPU temps at full load: <50C
GPU temps at full load: <60C
RAID temps at full load: ~50C
OS: Windows 7, 64b Professional
Clean install: last week
As such, I believe the system itself is more than capable to run the game. I have a fresh install of Windows 64, with only BF3 been loaded thus far. (BF3 works fine)
Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Is there something else that I need to do still, can do, please help?
I am gearing myself up mentally to play some serious Skyrim the next week or so when I am on leave, so would be a real let down if I am stuck now.
Kind regards
Skouperd

sorry, I forgot to mention that I am running the latest NVidia drivers, and also the latest sound drivers for my motherboard (as downloaded from ASUS). Granted the sound drivers dates to 2010, but it is the latest that ASUS have on this motherboard.

Nah bro your rig is way too old runs way too hot at full load and your peripherals couldn't be any more cheap and not well supported......and you didn't even kick it.

In all seriousness nice machine man nice temps my GPU is 71 under full load and everything I have is stock speed as well. That is a strange issue I have never heard of lurking on the forums looking for CTD fix. My ASUS Xonar DG soundcard drivers are very old but the most recent if that makes you feel any better. Normally as far as the sound thing works the game will just CTD on the Main Menu so if you are getting past that and getting sound I don't think its the onboard or the drivers. Have you uninstalled the game cleaned your registry with like CCleaner and then reinstalled it fresh? Sounds kind of noob but since the latest patch I did the same just backed up my saves and have had no issues since. Fingers crossed and hope you can figure out what it is. I see it says clean install I assume that is your OS not the game but if I am wrong then I guess you tried my suggestion already.

"Game HDD: 6xVelociraptors 150GB, RAID 5"
^ Awesome

Thanks for the comments, and the compliments on the PC Thoth, I personally really like the Mahogany case, which you can see here, http://www.grrr.co.za/forum/index.php?topic=2672.msg45285;topicseen#new but that is a whole different topic.

Anyevent, back to the serious issues, I did a clean install of the OS recently (after I've finished building my case) so haven't tried making a backup of the game and reinstall it again. I'll try it out tonight, and hopefully it will work. I've seen a couple of people mention realtek being a culprit, but somehow I don't think my problem is the same as theirs since they talk about CTD rather than a stuck wagon / game. It is almost as if the game forgot to actually start.

Again, thank you for the kind and prompt response, much appreciated.

Kind regards
Skouperd

Re-verify the Steam cache.

If that doesn't work, delete your Skyim folder entirely and re-download. Also delete your Skyrim INI files.

Hi Generalnmx, I've verified the steam cache already, (no fix). I am trying to hold off on the "re-download" part for as long as possible. I am located in South Africa, and bandwidth here is ridonculous expensive not to mention very slow. (The fastest ADSL line I can get is 4Mb) So to redownload a 6GB or 7GB programme is something I am holding off for as long as possible. If nothing else works, then I will opt for your suggestion.

Thank you for taking the time to comment, much appreciated.

You can try deleting the files in the main Skyrim folder and re-verify (just the files, not the folders). These are relatively tiny.

Also small BSAs you can delete and re-download relatively quickly: Misc, Shaders, Animations, Meshes, Interface

The big BSAs are these: Sounds, Textures, Voices (make up about 90% of the game's total size)

Thanks, I'll have a try at it. Just to clarify, when you say :"Main Skyrim folder" you refer to :"d:\win.....\steam\steamapps\skyrim\" or is there another one I should be aware of? (Basically the folder which holds all my steam games?)

Are you using an EVGA Nvidia card mate? Also do you have any mods/ini tweaks?

No, the GPU is an ASUS GTX580 CU-ii (http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/NVIDIA_Series/ENGTX580_DCII2DIS1536MD5/)

I don't have any mods / ini tweaks nothing as yet. I don't even have my own character... ;-(

Is it a dual gpu (SLi)? If so try disabling SLi in the Nvidia control panel.

Here is what did at least....went into steam right clicked on the game in my library and clicked delete local content. Opened my documents/mygames and copied my save games(you can skip that step obv lol if you have no saves) deleted the skyrim folder.
Then went into programsx86/steam/steamapps/common/ and deleted the skyrim folder that was left behind with a few configuration files I would assume left over. Ran CCcleaner(which is freeware) and cleaned out my entire registry(sometimes running it a few times in a row is good). Then I turned off my computer.....went to get some food and let it be for about an hour. Opened it up and made sure my GPU , Mem, Sound Card all were nice and snug.
Then booted logged into steam and installed the game again with absolutely nothing running just out of sheer paranoia. This was after the patch 1.3 was released which is the current version so it installed right to 1.3. Ever since then I have had zero CTD issues and I get a nice cool 64 degrees on my GPU and a solid 45 to 50 avg fps with settings I would say are on average High instead of the Ultra/High that the game recommends. I am going to play for a long period tonight and I will check back to see how it went for you. Also I am using the new 12.1 catalyst preview I see you have an nVidia 580 but I know they just released new drivers last night that had some skyrim tweaks and they also have a good support page about the game on their forums...they seem to be more on the ball than AMD for this release so far. http://www.geforce.com/News/articles/optimize-your-skyrim-experience
I also run the TESVlauncher and TESV application in admin have no clue if it helps but it sure can't hurt. Good luck and mmmmm that case is so cool!!!

no, it is just a single card. I've had enough troubles with SLI in the past not to venture down that road easily.

Oh and ya I have a realtek onboard but its not being used and I did see lots of issues with it but I still have to keep my sounds at a low freq
41000 hz to not immediately crash on the Main Menu even with the Asus Xonar DG.....sounds is kind of low people mention and I def notice that too as far as volume. I think that has to do with directional sounds and maybe gets tweaked a little in the future....regardless the cart isn't supposed to hit a wall and the blond dudes lips should def be moving def a very strange bug. Heh with that rig you should see the sweat on the guy to your rights face.

For Realtek 889 you may find you can use the audio drivers on realtek.com, they get updated fairly regularly. They worked for me and worth trying at least.
But if a character simple does not try to talk, that is odd indeed!
Did you install any third-party software after reinstalling Windows? Anything with codecs might be a possible suspect to me, but would that allow background sounds still?
I would ensure any other running application is closed, perhaps try a clean boot, to rule that out.

@Thoth: I just installed a Xonar DG yesterday and the drivers I installed were updated October 2011, did you try those? : http://www.asus.com/Multimedia/Audio_Cards/Xonar_DG
With Dolby Headphone on, 8 channel and headphones I'm not having the same low volume issue I had with the Realtek.

Hi everybody, thanks for all your input and feedback. I will have a go at it tonight, in the following order:

1. Download the latest NVidia drivers, install them
2. Download the latest Realtek drivers from Realtek site, install them
3. Uninstall all DirectX programs / reinstall from MS website
3. Try the game
4. If the game does not work, I'll backup the game, delete the game, delete mysaved game folder, delete all traces of skyrim folders, run ccleaner, and restore the game
5. Try the game
6. If that does not work, I'll delete some of the smaller files and "repair" / "validate" steam copy.

I'll give you feedback on how this goes in case somebody else have the same problem and is looking for a solution.

In the meantime, if you can think of other possible solutions, please feel free to post them.

I recommend the latest drivers from http://www.geforce.com/Drivers/Beta for your Nvidia card.Good luck.

Ok, problem solved. This is what I've done, in case somebody else is experiencing the same problem.

1. I've updated to the latest NVidia beta drivers, http://www.geforce.com/Drivers/Beta, version Geforce: 290.53
2. I've updated to the latest Realtek drivers, http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=24&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false, version R2.67, the one that is 99,093KB in size
3. I've changed my sound settings to 44100HZ, 2 channel, 16 bit. (right click on speaker, playback devices, select your headset, properties, advance, combo box

Wanted to test out the game, I've opened it up, only to be greated with a Steam update of about 500MB or 600MB. (Don't worry, if you launch from steam this should happen automatically). While it was downloading I was listening to iTunes, but before I launched the game, I've closed everything and actually restarted the machine (just in case)

Went into the game, and everything just worked. Now, I am not sure which one of the above fixed the problem I've highlihgted in my original post, but the game is a joy. The next thing I need to do now is to play around with some graphics settings.

I trust that this will help other people that experiences a similar bug, and once again, thank you for all your feedback and comments, appreciated.

Adios
Skouperd

Congrats man

Just in case someone else ran into this problem, my solution was:

Uninstall game
Remove all files related to the game in the Steamapps folder and in My Games folder
Reinstall game

When it worked, I installed from the disc, not from steam, I'm not sure if that made a difference.

(I did try everything else, updating drivers and so on, before doing a this reinstall, that time making sure everything related to the game was removed. You might as well update your drivers, even though it might not matter when making the game work. The game did run smoother with my graphic card updated though)

FML I pre paid in full for this game on Steam like 3 months before release....no physical disc.....

It was almost certainly the steam update that fixed it. Sounds like it was missing some files. grats on getting it working