Opinions on a Skyrim Remaster?

[B3boy]

I think it is going to be a skyrim remaster for sure, all the evidence points to that. If they are going to do it i think it would contain loads of bug fixes and update the graphics to fallout 4. This means they could stick with the same engine. Im guessing it will be bundled with all the DLC and maybe some new content.

 

If its not that we can just hope for an elder scrolls 6.

[Notanon81]

I just want a 64-bit version of the Skyrim Creation Kit, most of all. Getting sick of the standard 32-bit version crashing constantly.

[highwind1985]

doesn't need a remaster IMO.. oblivion should be redone first

 

Oh lordy I wish! A ground-up retooling of Oblivion could be a tremendous success. I don't see how a remastered Skyrim could match/exceed what modding has already done for it, but Oblivion is old enough and the engine has matured enough to really knock it out of the park.

 

And don't get me started on a Morrowind remaster.

[avallanche]

I wouldn't mind... just wonder the real reason for it... of course they would create a new Skyrim bethesda.net for console mods as well and we all saw how that went down...

[LordNyron]

 

doesn't need a remaster IMO.. oblivion should be redone first

 

Oh lordy I wish! A ground-up retooling of Oblivion could be a tremendous success. I don't see how a remastered Skyrim could match/exceed what modding has already done for it, but Oblivion is old enough and the engine has matured enough to really knock it out of the park.

 

And don't get me started on a Morrowind remaster.

 

Well, a 64bit executable plus DirectX11/12 features would go a long way to improving the game where PC mods can't. Plus removing the mod cap and the VRAM cap would also be a big help. We don't need more unless they made the game stable too. And perhaps that's what they're planning and why none of the leaks suggest a PC version of Skyrim: Definitive Edition. It'll just be an update for us rather than a whole new game that we have to buy.

 

I also agree that Oblivion would be a far better choice for a remaster. I never found it to be that bad looking and I can go back and play it. It is my favorite after all. But I wouldn't mind an updated version of it with modern bells and whistles.

[kasai409]

 

doesn't need a remaster IMO.. oblivion should be redone first

 

Oh lordy I wish! A ground-up retooling of Oblivion could be a tremendous success. I don't see how a remastered Skyrim could match/exceed what modding has already done for it, but Oblivion is old enough and the engine has matured enough to really knock it out of the park.

 

And don't get me started on a Morrowind remaster.

 

skyrim remaster is an easy money grab, they dont have to remake the models or animations, all they have to do is making better textures or using the texture patch from the pc version and add mod support.

[jeedge]

Anyway - I heard this remaster would be for the consoles only which makes some sense to me since we PC 'gods' can mod the game to our hearts content already. True that there are many Skyrim players that don't know much about computers, working with files, edirting, etc that might benefit from a pre-modded game but not enough to make it worthwhile for a cash grab? I heard xbox user can now use mods but how much can they really do with the mods? They certainly can't load in mods that require added ini file editing for example.

 

If they do come out with a remaster, what mods should be included? That could be a separate thread. I only hope that if they do choose to use some of the best mods (SkyUI, Skytweak, etc) that they plan to compensate the mod authors appropriately. I wouldn't see that as the same as what Steam tried to do with the short lived pay for mods scheme since Nethesda would be re-releasing the game for profit. Adding mod support or adding preselected great mods and limited mod support? I've read it both ways so only time will tell.

[kasai409]

As far as i know, the xbox one supports 2 GB of mods, this limitation is set by Microsoft/Xbox, not Bethesda, 2 GB is really not much. the console version also doesnt support script extenders, so a big chunk of mods would not work for the console version.

[Madrias]

Weighing in on this discussion with my own opinions here, but they're in line with some of what I've seen here, plus things I feel need to be addressed.

 

Personally, I don't want a remaster of Skyrim on PC. If anything, what I'd want to see is Bethesda focusing on TES VI. If they were going to do something for Skyrim, I'd love to see it get a 64-bit update. Even better if they gave it to everyone who already had Skyrim (I know a lot of Steam games can do dual-mode. Kerbal Space Program is one I play a good bit of where you right-click and launch in 64-bit instead of 32-bit.), but I doubt they'd do that.

 

If they were going to remaster Skyrim, I think a graphical console reboot makes sense. Skyrim was launched in 2011, and the xBox 360 was kinda, well... It was old even then. The PS3, from what little I've heard about, was a total pain in the butt to work with, delayed the DLC's enough that we never got our rumored 4th DLC, and left things in the main engine broken until someone fixed some of it with SKSE. So bringing it up to the PS4 and xBox One makes sense. It's an easy cash-grab with little risk. Fallout 4's Creation Engine, the same base engine Skyrim was built on (it's just like Fallout 3/Fallout New Vegas all over again. The older will run in the newer's engine), would give all the minor boost Skyrim needs on consoles.

 

However, I think the problem is that if they re-release Skyrim now, and then turn around sometime late this year, early next year, or late next year, and release the latest game, they're going to run into a big problem: Skyrim, unless you blitz through the main quest in 10 hours flat (granted, that's doable. Especially if the Unofficial Patches were ported to a console to allow a bug-reduced game), is a fairly big game. There's a decent amount of replay value. Re-releasing Skyrim on the modern consoles might stifle sales down the road of TES 6.

 

At the same time, a console remastering could backlash pretty hard. Let's all remember, just for a brief moment, the whole paid mods fiasco. Now, let's make this rumored Skyrim Remastered a Console Only Exclusive, but requiring PC gamers to make mods for improved content and a more stable engine that we don't benefit from. I could see that backlashing pretty harshly and tearing apart the community, one which is still barely recovering from the paid mods experiment.

 

On the flipside of that, let's say they do remaster Skyrim and they do include the PC, with all 3 DLC's. And let's say, just because this is what a game company would do, they set the release price at $105. Oh, and even though you've already bought Skyrim, you'll have to buy it again, at $105. And your mods, the ones created for Skyrim Original Edition, won't work. Because reasons. (We'll just assume some form of code has changed between the game engines, and now old mods don't work at all, even though they could be rewritten, at great time and expense, by the mod authors.)

 

How many of you would buy Skyrim all over again, knowing your old mods won't work, and knowing you'll have to wait, again, for the CK to be released for it, and knowing you'll pay full release price and price of the DLCs all over again? How many of you would, like me, just ignore it and keep playing with what we've already got?

 

Now, if I wanted them to remaster anything, I'd love to see Morrowind brought into the more modern engine. Sure, some of the RPG elements would need to be tamed (I am not a fan of RNG dice rolls, especially when I swear the one in Morrowind is stuck permanently rolling 1's.) and the whole game redone because it's ancient, but I'd play a Morrowind Remastered.

 

Oblivion's still okay enough. The graphics are a bit clunky and the leveling system kinda sucks, but with the right combination of mods, it can look decent and play well enough to be enjoyable.

 

If we look outside of Elder Scrolls, though, I could see a viable remastering of Fallout 3 / Fallout New Vegas. Let's face it, Fallout 4 is much the same genre of game. They've got their biggest sales done, and now they're waiting on sale-jumpers to do their thing. Reviews have kinda said it's not as good as it could have been, and FO3 / FNV are both more RPG driven games (at least, from what I've heard. I've not played FO4, and I'm not sure I'll ever really intend to.), so they'd be interesting with an updated engine behind them.

 

FO3 stands a better chance, honestly, because it's nearly unplayable with how many bugs were left behind. FNV is stable-ish, although it does flip out, puke, then crash hard occasionally.

 

So... My guess is that if they do remaster a game, it'll be Fallout 3. (trying to bring in easy money using assets they literally have laying around by bringing a classic back from the dead, and in the process, appealing 100% to the fans who all seem to say 'Fallout 4 just kinda sucks' for one reason or another.) It makes the most sense from a business standpoint. (Nothing to lose - FO3 is a good game stuck with a buggy first-rendition engine, saddled with hours of DLC and a good time sink. It also won't step on the toes of any upcoming releases in a different genre, and the only toes it trods upon are the ones who won't care anyway, because they'll still be playing FO4. At the same time, the assets from FO4 could be used to make FO3, I'm sure.)

 

The game that, to me, makes the least sense to remaster is Skyrim. It's the most recent Elder Scrolls title, they'd annoy too many fans of the game who still play the game, they'd possibly drive another wedge in the modding community (which isn't a good thing if they want people making mods for the Consoles, after all), the only thing they could offer to the PC users is an updated 64-bit engine, and they'd have to do all the assets from scratch because the old ones were... well, we'll just say they're not pretty. Not to mention the fact that if they charged for what amounts to the exact same game + DLC on PC with a moderately updated engine, they'd tick off everyone who's playing Skyrim. (or modding it. Imagine the troubleshooting hell soon to come: "Which version of Skyrim do you have, original or remastered?" "I dunno, I bought it from Steam.") If they chose not to release it on PC, you've now given PC users a reason to hate consoles and we're the ones with the modding tools, thereby allowing the community to tear itself apart between consoles (Gimme mods naow!), PC elitists (We didn't get any updates, you don't get any mods!), and PC neutrals, who would end up being the guys trying to make mods for consoles, getting called sell-outs and getting all manner of spite from both sides, until they gave up modding entirely. (Sound familiar? Paid Mods all over again, with a third side tacked on.)

 

In the end, I don't see this being a good idea. Maybe, just maybe, if they hadn't tried the Paid Modding Experiment last year, I could see it going over smoother, but not after we nearly shattered the community.

 

So to answer my opinion, and as a TL;DR for anyone who skipped my wall of text:

I don't think Skyrim Remastered is a good idea.

If I were to want a Remaster of a Bethesda game, I'd want Fallout 3.

However, I'd prefer they focus their efforts on making TES 6.

[Jonay]

I don't understand what a remaster could do that mods haven't already done. Even an engine change to the "next-gen" fallout 4 engine would be meh ...