true highlander

I picked up my ASUS G74SX three months ago for $1199 Cdn on sale from a small local retail store to mostly play Skyrim, it's a huge flat black rubberized beast and can play almost anything maxxed out. I did tons of research and it's definitely the best performing laptop for the money. The twin fans are essentially totally silent and the massive exhaust ports are very impressive, it doesn't even get warm after playing Skyrim for many hours on ultra settings with all of the higher res. mod textures applied. i7 2630QM, 8GB 1333MHz RAM, 560M (3GB-192-DDR5 version), 750GB 7200rpm HD, 4x Blu-ray, 1920x1080-17", awesome backlit keyboard, DX11, 3DTV Play etc all for $1350 Cdn inc. tax! The only weak point is the speakers max. volume, setting them to external actually significantly improves the sound or add some sound enhancing software or just use some decent headphones like me, if you get one. I'm also using Nvidia Inspector to safely OC the 560M because of its very conservative speeds for ~20% better fps. I haven't used Riva Tuner to help the theoretically slow 2630QM because I don't need to, yet... (pending the coming huge overhaul mods) Overall, I'm very, very happy with my ASUS G74 and have zero regrets, if you have any other questions you can PM me as I rarely return to threads I post on. :)

Wow... I'm totally blown away and I've seen pretty much everything. I've actually had to save this masterpiece for inspiration! (and watched it 5 times so far) Personally speaking though, I really enjoy the excellent (and very difficult) camera work as well as the very subtle edits that really make this work for me. You could certainly do this professionally if you don't already, considering the commonly known constraints of the engine/ini. Thank you for sharing your many talents, your other Skyrim vids are totally fricking hilarious too by the way. :)

'And consider the joys of knowing that, if for any reason, Steam goes offline--whether from hackers, or power outages, or simply going belly up--there goes your game.' ' B, I'm just going off this particular statement which is vague and also essentially incorrect, and yes I'm quite aware of what's being discussed. Basically, I'm stating there's another level of control as there are executables that can easily load the game without said online dependencies. Hey, I hate using Steam and using a 3rd party launcher regardless of the version I use is certainly not wrong in my books. Totally avoiding Steam in my purchased game, which I haven't... would be kinda illegal, no? ;) Always telling people what they want to hear is not my forte... @discovery1 Cheers amigo and have fun! I'm doing the same and please try posting some images and I'll do likewise! :) Thread reply: I'm still playing (offline) v1.21 with no issues after many hours played, I did have a CTD the other day though... just after start-up.

@discovery1 The available offline mode is the solution for most, I personally never play any RPG/single player game while plugged in anyway because it only contributes to crashes and poor performance regardless of FPS. I really like your images btw :) ~ultimately, someone at BS suggested StupidSteam and the senior staff there obviously endorsed this crap and now unfortunately here we are... @Balakirev Nope, only the lame accomplishments would be lost, Skyrim can be played exclusively offline once enabled (as default) indefinitely as I've done since v1.21 on my new game/movie laptop.

Funny thing is that defrag is actually really relevant before/after any Skyrim load, Auslogics free defrag is totally the way to go. David, (love your mods!) obviously only the vast minority of PC users actually post on the Bethesda forums and seemingly only because they have personal/hardware/config/software issues. Just to let you know, I've tried to make the game fail after enabling more memory (both versions) without any crashes and I've also added many replacers with total success. (manually installed) My laptop is on ultra settings (shadows high but all @ 4096) with a bunch of master ini changes thrown in there as well. StupidSteam offline mode is a given... I'll even throw in a grrrr, because I effing hate steam... Only a G74SX: i7 2630QM, GTX 560M, 8GB DDR3 1333, modified :) link: STEP http://www.image-share.com/upload/1137/80.jpg

If you just manually add (after extraction to a temp folder) said textures/meshes to your data folder they automatically show up, super simple stuff. :) NMM is optional, limited/problematic and seemingly may require its third party archive invalidation activated.

First off, you certainly don't need NMM for any of the presently available mods, even the ones that have esps. I currently have five esps with no load order issues and have done nothing/nada/zip about it, I've also tried/added/deleted almost every texture/meshe/sound mod without issue. 4GB enabling is certainly mandatory. Relying on a third party application can always problematic for new users as they don't get to know the actual fool-proof manual method of adding files that have precedence over the BSAs, I don't use NMM. If you believe, which you should, your game load is corrupt for some reason just re-install it and start it up to verify operation. From there add one mod at a time and restart the game and play for a bit to verify stability/content and go from there. One of the best things of mods is mixing and matching to your own tastes as you probably know, manual placements are totally the way to go and very simple even for someone new. ariinya, you can PM me with your specifics if you want my help. :) The 'master' ini is just that and not visible unless you ~saveini... 1400+ lines: If you believe your prefs and Skyrim ini are fooked and don't have a vanilla backup, just delete them and they will be regenerated upon start of any save.

Learning the simple file structure/tree is imperative for all file re/placements, I totally recommend doing a simple manual install to instigate your learning curve. That being said, I also have to mention that mod authors don't have any rules for their file/mod structure which can cause issues. Basically, if there are textures and or meshes files etc in anything you download, just drag and drop them in your Data file but only after you first extract them to something like an empty folder on your desktop. Any more problems with mods, just PM me and I'll help walk you through it. :) Archive invalidation or NMM is certainly not required.

"2. Non dynamic quests. I came across a quest in a city called Markarth that got me interested in the beginning but at the end, made me quit the game outright. This quest has you enter an abandoned house with another person that is hunting deadra and their worshipers. I won't explain the whole quest but at the end, instead of having a choice to do the right thing, you are forced to beat an old man to death TWICE or you'll just have to ignore that quest altogether. There is no 'good' ending to that quest which really upset me. Again, if you want to be a good guy, you are just SOL." Really? There are several opt-outs during Molag Bals quest, it seems you failed the test of actually being a 'good guy'.

Still? The same thing just happened to me though via a supposedly minor ini change, I went back to my ini saves and all is now good. If someone hasn't already uploaded the stock ones for repair purposes for all, now may be the time.

Thanks Jim. It's the unnecessarily invasive PC application that seems to be the issue for many, the internet connection requirement actually leaves some of my friends out of luck though, maybe they should tote around a XBOX360/PS3 as well? Unfortunately this is a reality if you do field work for months on end in very remote locations without admin access, books are really good though... Internet/bs Steam requirement = something a Board of Directors would come up with versus the tried and trued s/n enabling of the game that works just fine, no excuses.

In my case, overclocking the 9600M GT I have yielded a significant (10-15% fps) increase, equivalent to a 9700M GT with no associated heat/failure issues. It's a minor, free and easy download/upgrade, your call.

Sorry, as above so below. (double post)

I saved up for a long time (2 years) for a new laptop when I was somewhat disappointed with the one that I got for a great deal at the time, it runs a very modded Oblivion though with no problems, Skyrim should be interesting. 18.4" 1680x944 Core 2 Duo P6600 4GB RAM 9600M GT 500GB 5400rpm BD player I just picked up my new G74SX (1200$ Cdn!) last week: I'll be running it on max settings regardless of fps, I'm not a whirling dervish, I just do the role-play thing. 17.3" 1920x1080 2630QM i7 8GB DDR3 1333MHz GTX 560M (the good one: 3GB DDR5) 750GB 7200rpm Blu ray & 3D I'll post fps stuff/visual comparison images the day after release, if I'm not too distracted... edits: like right now

Just in case you don't know: old CRT (cathode ray tube) tvs etc will definitely kill/weaken your eyes at close distances when stared at for hours whilst gaming, the 5-10+lbs of lead on the inside of the 'tube' screen was meant to help lessen the visual deterioration for consumers... :blink: A while ago when I was desperate for a replacement monitor I got a perfectly functional (& free) 15 year old professional 19in monitor from a senior fellow at my work that cost almost as much as an entry level car at the time and almost weighed the same, I had it recycled in short order.

The 9600M GT I have in one of my laptops has the standard 512MB of dedicated VRAM and virtually identical specs as yours except it's a 18.4" 1680x944 rig. Run/search dxdiag to verify yours, medium/low is the prediction: link. For reference, I play a my mega modded Oblivion load on it with everything maxed etc. I also have a 4 year old Toshiba with very meager specs that I also didn't play on low settings. ...I saved my money for a very long time and just picked up my new G74SX (woohoo!) for a killer deal and I'll be loading the game on both rigs for comparison sakes, should be kinda interesting. I'll be running max settings regardless of fps on the G74, might turn down the resolution (1920x1080 on 17" is total overkill) outdoors, toggle shadows etc. The Sony I have with the 9600M GT will run the game just fine with just more attenuated settings outdoors, I'm going to try max indoors though, but I digress... Hopefully you don't have some weird, relatively unheard of version of the quite capable 9600M GT. :smile:

My experience: I've personally used both methods for two years, with very significant success on both accounts on my very heavily modded TESIV game, MERP too. Stability is a total non-issue compared to other issues/conflicts that other mods/plugins have, oh and then there's all the ini tweaks too... Apx. 2.7GB seems to be the max. usage with my 4GB laptop though, regardless of how scantily configured my Vista is. (~700MB) ~1.65GB usage is typical

Overclocking is a free and easy upgrade for most, significant increases performance is the result. Your graphics chipset, RAM and CPU are pretty decent especially for 1366x768 resolution: should be good for some decent fps on higher settings, you may have to turn off shadows, grasses etc to get more fluid game-play though in demanding outdoor settings. Turn it up once inside though. :thumbsup:

You have a virtually identical rig as mine except for the GTX 260M, but yours is still considered a high-end class 1 piece of hardware (notebook check) so you should be good to go as it is, how about overclocking it? I only have a 9600M GT but now equivalent to a 9700M GT and gets about 10%+ fps, same deal with the CPU. I haven't looked into the cost effectiveness or feasibility of replacing the RAM with some faster DDR3 yet but I'm faced with the same performance concerns. Mine has a sweet 18.4" display (only 1680x944) and I really don't want to permanently shelve it. Dells new XPS line is seriously kick-ass powerful in all categories and at low-ball prices, check it out.

Wise words indeed! (from the three of you) Crossbows are a cocked one-shot-wonder for the untrained... the one redeeming factor is that they're immediately ready to shoot once loaded, just don't go for that second shot unless your opponent is 100 yards away and in heavy armor. :tongue: Realistically, thrown weapons are for the desperate and are relatively ineffectual especially against any kind of armored foe unless your watching a movie... I'd like to add that the simple spear is the most versatile as well as the deadliest form of weapon configurations ever created by mankind, what singular weapon would you chose if given only one choice? The real Nordic races were famous for their combat prowess, spears again... It really doesn't matter to me what's not included in Skyrim by Bethesda because it'll be fixed by the true enthusiasts in short order. ;)

Hey, so I was thinking: how can we have some fun with all that experience garnered making and playing all the many mods out there & also kill some time before Skyrims release? Eventually... a little light bulb popped up over my head and I actually had an idea. Woohoo! (hopefully this is somewhat original, this is my actual first thread) I decided on a visual trivia game of sorts that requires an image from a mod content as a reference, all you have to do is accurately identify said mod by content and by name, simple right? Hopefully others will post their own obscure mod discoveries as well, so we can all share some great, unique and undiscovered stuff. Prizes! well not really. Anyone that successfully identifies something from what I post certainly deserves some kind of prize though. The only currency of sorts around here are kudos, so the first member that correctly guesses any of my submissions will certainly deserve one purely and solely for their exemplary mod knowledge. Did I mention it won't be easy? Some simple rules should be followed though so all can potentially enjoy this: 1) Please only post your guesses in text (see #4) and don't say something like: "this is 100% this mod, it's super easy". 2) There should/will be a 48h delayed reply given, purely to ensure max. participation/input. 3) Totally specific mod identity criteria is very important, generalizations don't really count. 4) Don't add full/high resolution images to this thread, use links instead in consideration of others. 5) Misleading edits are not suggested for obvious reasons, it's all about identifiable & newly discovered in-game stuff! Hopefully this will be fun, if not, hey I tried. :tongue: ~J #1: In-game particles: moderate/difficult... http://img828.imageshack.us/img828/5448/012zyp.th.jpg

Hi, I'm helping to bring Middle-earth to life as a TES4 rpg. unintentional... lost in the dark of Mirkwood, my solace is dawn ~J

For the record, I personally don't equate physical age as a reality, perspective is everything. I could be 14 or 94, this is irrelevant...as far as what you have to offer. Just my two cents.

Hi Vagrant0, Vocabulary is a form of personal expression, critiquing this is counterproductive. If you believe this is a Google Translate issue, please indicate so. Furthermore, I hope your not attempting to reduce someones communication to what some refer to as the 'lowest common denominator' as this unto itself is problematic. :tongue: Hey, I love prime numbers! What is interesting though is that your interpretation of my post is not at all what I was attempting to convey. FYI the 'message' pertains to esoteric knowledge, it exists. Apparently I still really have to work on my communication skills. Regretfully, I have to say though that I will not be back, with all due respect. ~James

Hello, (Hannah, I couldn`t resist :wink:) With all due respect, there are a number of suppositions of the the original post that are presumed definitive, therefore flawed. There are numerous examples of supposed controversial research that have provided us with great insight into to the greater picture of our existence and who we truly are. I personally believe that limiting ourselves to this base perspective, that has surreptitiously been dealt us, hinders any real development for us as individuals and additionally as viable members of the universe. Fundamental understanding, nonetheless is base and we should always respect this knowledge, but move quickly onward. Obviously there are massive holes in anthropological and theologian perspectives. Disclaimer: I have personally spent my entire existence here asking all the perennial questions, as apparently you may have as well. I have to say though that few are subjected to certain circumstances. As enigmatic and crazy as it may seem: all the answers are available and all you have to do is listen...dogma is fundamentally flawed: patience and perspective are underrated. James