Blu02

Woha, been playing a couple of hours more, through the "falmer"-part. This DLC is seriously huge, more like an expansion imo. Contains so much more than I thought it would.

Vampires aside, this should also be very interesting for any necromancers. Lots of new stuff and places for those types of characters to explore. My next character for the vampire-quests will definitely start out as a necromancer :D Fits perfectly. I also get a sense of that the new NPC's move around a lot more when it comes to animations, like when they're talking and being idle. Tons of new dialogue as well with new voices for everyone. So it feels like they really put some more work into the characters this time, compared to original game. What I'm still missing though is melee weapons for Dawnguards. Might show up later, but so far I'm matching my heavy armor with a silver sword instead :P Not using crossbow so much yet as I'm not an archer. Gah, really cant get enough of this!

Weird. Well, you should at least be able to start it through console. According to UESP Wiki you should write this in console to start the first step in your diary; setstage DLC1VQ01MiscObjective stage 10

No, it's the esm-file and a bsa-file. Make sure it's activated in your mod-list, because Steam doesn't do this automatically after downloading the DLC. Or at least it didnt for me. Also, lol @ went to Dawnstar :D But yeah, I had to check the uesp wiki on how to start the quests as well. Just talked to a random guard and got it started.

Been playing a couple more hours now, and it's really a lot bigger than you might think. Haters dont know what they're missing ;) Also, full Dawnguard heavy armor combined with "Winter Is Coming"-mod is AWESOME stuff :D

That's strange. Are you carrying any bolts to shoot? It doesnt use regular arrows.

I remember I had to install it for Immersive HUD, which I really feel is a must-have mod. Since then I just update Script Dragon whenever SKSE is updated.

Well, it's not exactly standalone, so there are of course still lots objects and textures borrowed from the full game, like random clutter and furniture. But both Dawnguards and vampires have their own new architecture, for example. They have their own new robes, light armor, heavy armor, and some weapons. There are also a bunch of new "enemies"/creatures and special objects and effects. On textures, I wouldn't say they are the same awesome quality as our 2/4k texture mods, but they're definitely not as bad as Skyrims original textures. It's good enough to blend in with the various texture-packs you have installed. Definitely not something I instantly feel needs to be improved. So I'd say Bethesda has put a good amount of work into this DLC, and not just built a few missions in the editor with already existing Skyrim material. I guess with a DLC they didnt have to compress everything into pure s*** so it would fit on a DVD ;) I took a few screenshots of some things I could find in my current save. No spoilers for anyone who have seen the trailers.

Well, yes. It's quite obvious really. Quakecon is practically Bethcon nowadays, or Zenicon if you will, ever since they bought id Software a few years back. But I dont think people have gotten used to it yet. Quakecon is nomally just followed by fans of id Software and Quake, which doesnt sound very special to the younger crowd of gamers who missed their golden days.

Just started my first mission after choosing the side of Dawnguard. So far I havent met any problems or conflicts at all, and I'm running tons of mods. I'll make a list of most of the ones that are messing with scripts and such; -Total Realism - Basic Needs -Hypothermia -Cloaks of Skyrim -Winter is comming -FNIS -Camping Lite -Dynavision -RCRN -People have torches -No NPC Greetings -More Village Animals -Pretty Sit Idle -SkyUI -Immersive HUD -Tons and tons and tons of texture-replacers I really think that Dawnguard is high quality stuff so far (Even on texture-side). Many new meshes and textures for gear and architecture that makes it fresh. Anyone who're into vampires should definitely get this!

You get the same script-files from Workshop as well, only difference is that they're packed in a single file instead of spread out in directories. But it seems it's mainly the SoS Civilizations that mess things up, so you're probably fine anyway. Save-files past 20mb should be considered bloated. If you have a normal save-file to roll back to, your chances should at least be bigger to being able to save it. But it seems to be an even bigger problem to uninstall it than keep playing with it, as your save seems to get bloated when the script-files are missing. Kinda hard to see the logic in this problem :P

Rogers cable, that sounds funny :P Dawnguard took me barely 5 minutes to download AND install. Official Texture-pack is closer to 10 minutes due to its size, but I still keep a stable 2.7 mb/s download-speed from Steam. But I guess Steam is getting some heavy traffic now that more people know about the release.

Texture-packs doesnt create such conflicts, so they're fine. I currently use RCRN and Dynavision instead of ENB, which seems to work just fine with Dawnguard so far, I dont believe any mods would have problems with the DLC except possibly those that mess with level-, perk- and skill-systems. So I'd be careful with any skill-overhauls and alike. Anyways, your computer wont explode if you try it yourself. Just make sure to keep backups of your savegames in case you have to roll back.

Hehe. There might be conflicts with mods that alter level/skill-systems and stuff like that though. See what BOSS says if the problems continue. Apparantly you start the quests by hearing a rumor from NPC's about vampire-hunters. Good to know :) I'll start playing after Carmacks Keynote and see how it goes.

Woot, seems to at least boot up perfectly fine for me. Not sure how to start or reach the whole dawnguard-stuff yet though. Any changes for the general game should have been made in the 1.7 patch.

Bought and downloading! :D

AAAAAHH, Dawnguard will be downloadable from Steam today! Confirmed on Quakecon keynote a few seconds ago! :D

Favorite hold is hard, but after 300 hours of playing I will have to agree on The Reach, because it's huge, full of places to explore, and has the Forsworn which can still be quite dangerous on higher levels. Least favorite hold is definitely the Rift, as it just feels so empty and boring. I think they could've filled it with thicker autumn forests alá Cyrodiil and more places of interest. Favorite city has to be Falkreath, as I love the style of it and the characters who live there. Green and rainy! Least favorite city is probably Morthal. There is just nothing there but a potion-store and cranky people! There should be an alternative choice in the vampire-quest there to help taking over the city and make it a blood-farm for vampires instead.

Gaah, they have Dawnguard commercials all over Quakelive on Quakecon. On a PC convention that is just evil man! :P I hope Bethesda takes the oppertunity to reveal something about it there in the next few days. http://www.own3d.tv/QuakeCon/live/95671

Skyrim is not a competition. So whatever type of character is the most powerful feels completely uninteresting. I prefer more challanging gameplay and RP, which I think is most fun with a warrior. My current level 41 warrior only uses iron and steel equipment, which is fitting to the characters background and keeps the game fairly balanced even on higher levels. But the most interesting character I've played so far would be a really sneaky illusionist, manipulating her enemies and in worst case scenario do backstabs. I'm definitely going to do that again later, but with a Dawnguard vampire :) This is how I think you make the game more fun anyway, by not becoming something of an invulnerable god of destruction :P Especially considering how badly balanced the game is. So I think you should do what you think is most fun, and not what's best when it comes to stats.

Never heard of it and I'm having no problems with any of the body-mods I'm using for both males and females. Maybe you're thinking of the BSA overriding, which I'm not sure is an issue anymore (Long time since I reinstalled the game). Anyways, here's the how-to-fix-guide just in case, if you're having any problems; How to use the new Official Hi-Res texture pack with user created mods: 1. Disable or delete the esps that came with the official texture pack. 2. Backup then open SteamAppsCommonSkyrimSkyrim_default.ini & DocumentsMy GamesSkyrimSkyrim.ini 3. Change this in both files: [Archive] sResourceArchiveList=Skyrim - Misc.bsa, Skyrim - Shaders.bsa, Skyrim - Textures.bsa, Skyrim - Interface.bsa, Skyrim - Animations.bsa, Skyrim - Meshes.bsa, Skyrim - Sounds.bsa To this: [Archive] sResourceArchiveList=Skyrim - Misc.bsa, Skyrim - Shaders.bsa, Skyrim - Textures.bsa, Skyrim - Interface.bsa, Skyrim - Animations.bsa, Skyrim - Meshes.bsa, Skyrim - Sounds.bsa, HighResTexturePack01.bsa, HighResTexturePack02.bsa 4. Save both files. Now user created mods will be able to override what they need to override in the official texture pack.

Blackreach was cribbed from the Lost Spires mod for Oblivion, right down to the ambient chimes. Yea, but still, they at least put some effort in creating it, and not making it DLC. I rather see it as a tribute from Bethesda to the huge excellent originals mod-team. And I really never saw it coming in Skyrim. Didn't realize what or how big it was until after several hours of exploring. It was constant-goosebump-epic.

Kinda hard question. I prefer the style and art of mysterious Ayleid, but Dwemer is a lot more interesting and frightening to explore because of their unpredictable machinery. I have some sort of light phobia against that kind of stuff, so I really feel uncomfortable when exploring Dwemer ruins :P Blackreach also came as a huge OMGWTFBBQ-experience, but that basically says that Dwemer got a lot more attention during Skyrims Development than Ayleid got for Oblivion. But I agree with recent posts, that both Dwemer and Ayleid ruins lacked logic in their design. I rarely get the feeling of lost civilizations, but more like dumped and forgotten shrines, tombs or industry. Black Reach is one exception though, which was much more clearly designed with main buildings, farmer buildings, arenas, meeting halls, and many small areas by the water for chilling, just like any city. Eventhough it look a lot bigger than it is, it's still quite impressive. But Bethesda's lack of imagination on level-design doesnt really have anything to do with these cultures. I know Oblivion got lots of mods containing very impressive Ayleids, and I'm sure the same will be for Skyrim and its Dwemer. Hoping there will be some sort of Ayleid resource-pack released soon ;)

I love to see a game that is not censored in any way, and that includes naked bodies when completely looted. I dont care much about the various animated sex-mods though, or skimpy gear. I keep things realistic and tasteful. But I'm not hating on, since I support all kinds of mods being available for anyone who whould be interested in it. That's what's so great about this community. Whatever you might want in your game have most likely been done at least once and are available for download. But to be honest I think Skyrim is doing a lot better than Oblivion when it comes to proper immersive clothes and armors. There are a lot of great new non-skimpy gear to enjoy already, for both males and females. A lot more than I remember Oblivion had. So I'm not complaining.

Why complain about achievements? It's something you either enjoy or ignore. Bethesda obviously didnt spend any valuable time on this, since the achievements are quite retarded. Probably just added it for they who would complain if there wasnt any at all (Yes there are many of these people out there too). Personally I dont care about it. Doesnt matter if it's there or not. But as long as it pleases other people and not bothering me, I'd say I still support it. A stupid thing to complain about imo. The topic about Elder Scrolls being dumbed down with each new sequel is a whole other discussion though and doesnt have anything to do with achievements.