For some reason, in a world like Skyrim, I have a hard time believing the magnetic compass has been invented yet. And believe it or not, people have gotten by without it just fine for thousands of years.

Why not? Magnetism and compasses were discovered in real human history at a point not dissimilar to where the more well developed civilizations in Tamriel currently are.

I don't mind the compass so much but I really hate its on the upper part of the screen. I wish it was down at the bottom with everything else.

Except you can't really draw a parallel between Tamriel and Earth. Tamriel is too much of a mishmash.

*Xbox player feeling left out*

They have telescopes, why not compasses?

I saw a mod to that effect once. You should search the nexus.

Perhaps they do, but it still doesn't change the fact that people have gotten on just fine without them for a long time. Especially for land navigation.

Yeah, they should take notes on how to make an already-optional feature even more already-optional.

Or do you mean they should be taking notes on how to ignore the ridiculous debates over whether a land where people have the ability to summon magic storms would have developed a device that can show you which direction North is?

I see your point but I can't help but imagining their joy when someone eventually invented the compass.

As I under it, it was mostly used for sea navigation. You know, where you don't have landmarks.

They had skymarks, the stars.

Not during the day and not in bad weather. The compass and accurate time keeping devices revolutionized sea navigation.

I might try turning off the compass, but not the health bar. I die too often for that to even be considered an option. Turning off the compass would be much more feasible if there were actual natural navigation tools available like IRL. Things like having more defined stars that always show up in the same location so you'd have something like the North Star to go by. Or moss mostly growing on the Northern side of tree trunks. When I'm stuck on some mountain with nothing to go by, I'll still have to consult my map for directions, and that little arrow that tells you which direction you're going is the same thing as having a compass.

And it didn't revolutionize land navigation in wide open spaces with very few landmarks?

Again, magic storms. You really think they wouldn't have developed a device that points North?

For the last 3 or 4 days I've been playing with:

-Compass Tuner - Turned off the compass entirely. I do refer to the map once in a while if necessary, but definitely makes you appreciate the vastness of Skyrim more. On cloudy or snowy days I do find myself cheating a bit by looking at the map occasionally to find North.

-Realistic Lighting - More vibrant colors, more contrast, darker nights and dungeons.

-Brighter torches - To go with the realistic lighting.

-hardcoeSkyrim - It adds the need for food, drinking, and sleep to the game. You now have to plan trips more carefully because you need food and water fairly often, and you need to find a place to sleep somewhere every day. New Vegas had a hardcoe mode, with all the food scattered around in barrels and such it almost seems like they thought about putting that into Skyrim. Of course if you cook stuff like Cabbage Stew it will satisfy your hunger more than just raw ingredients. Personally I find that it seems like I have to eat and drink too much/often, but I'm liking it overall. While wandering I now look forward to civilization so I can grab some fish off the line or raid someone's house for a few morsels of food. I also find myself hunting for food rather than just sport. The animals almost seem more nervous now.

-Camping mod - Lets you purchase a tent and tinderbox. You can pitch the tent on any flat surface (takes an hour of game time I think) and sleep out in the wilderness. The tinderbox allows you to build a fire. Not sure if it lets you cook because I haven't gathered enough firewood to try it yet.

-Realistic Running Speed - You jog at a slower and more reasonable pace and it doesn't feel like you're running through the game.

-Sounds of Skyrim The Wilds - Seems good so far, some neat sounds. Maybe too many crows.

-No music. The music is good but unnecessary. With the proper immersion you don't need music to tell you how to feel.


All that together really makes me feel like I'm surviving a vast wilderness. Now if I had a mod to make nights more dangerous and the carnivorous animals stalk you that would be great.

This^,

It's also worth noting that Tamriel is not an unknown and unexplored territory. Even its ruins have been explored and mapped out by others before your/my character arrived. Therefore maps exist and the various landmarks have already been plotted. A person with a map of an area, especially one with adequate roads would easily be able to find their way to any point on the map.

OTOH, a person walking out of a city or town with only a vague idea that the objective is kinda northwest will likely have their skeleton discovered sometime later by someone who realizes that a map is a useful tool. That said, you don't need a compass but if it's available to you and you don't use it, you're a moron.

The first compasses date back to about 2,000 years ago. As we more or less know them today, you have to go back about 1,000 years. Tamriel falls well into that time frame. But most of all consider this: if there is expert knowledge of metallurgy in Tamriel (which there is), then the magnetic properties of metal as they relate to the gravity of the planet would be impossible to miss. Throw in the fact that you can enchant weapons with magic and shoot fireballs out of your hands and the idea that a compass would be beyond the technology of Skyrim is silly.

I removed the compass a day after the game was released...

Not a parallel, but the technological capabilities of the more advanced Tamriel civs could surely figure it out, presuming they actually know about that 'science' thing. One would have to assume not all of the technological developments they possess are directly the result of magic. That would be silly.