why start a new game?

[noae86]

ok so im about to start a new game with a fresh install of skyrim and reinstall of mods,

dawnguard is doing something funny with c++ runtime library

 

ive been playing skyrim since its release, and for the most part have had very little issues with the game, (part from the hellish 1.5 patch and a 1/3 ratio of fixing time to playing time,

starting a new game is not a problem if i feel i have played it to an extent the char is complete and his life is over, his questing days are past him so to speak,

 

but the last two chars i had to kill off because of shady patches and/or dirty mods, lvl 39 and lvl 51 (no lvl cheating)

from what i understand and from reading in other forums etc, you never really fix anything just from a updated patch, because your old saves still have reminants of the problem,

i really hate seeing a new patch come because i know my saves will be useless and my mods will have to be reinstalled/updated. and im really picky about my mods, i watch the comments section a lot to see if there are any conflicts/errors before i install,

 

(e.g falling dust error in 1.5 wont be fixed until you start a new game in 1.6, you cant continue the same 1.5 game in 1.6 because the error is still there!)

 

it angers me that after hours of building a char that the new "better patch" will currupt and cause more CTDs then it had before,

how does this work? in other games i have played, if i patch it, it fix's the game but the save does not need to be touched,

why is this system of saves so easy to currupt? is the scripting system saved in the "save game" along with the stats/placement/stash/loot if so this is highly stupid, because it runs into a lot of problems with future mods/patchs, lucky i only had sounds of skyrim wilds install and not civ, because that was another scripting issue that cause "save game" problems

to be honest im really only venting because this char is great and killing him off is a real shame, for gods sakes man, he has 3 wife's to support!

can someone with more programing exp shed light on this whole save system,

[Moraevik]

Unfortunately, there's a lot of stuff included in the save game that shouldn't be, such as scripts in mods that are no longer installed. The game engine just isn't smart enough to eliminate all mod resources when that mod is disabled. I suspect that garbage from previous patches similarly accumulates. You might want to check out Arwen's guide to making a clean save if you don't already know how.

 

As users of Bethesda games we just have to bite the bullet, occasionally. Most Beth software is released in what seems to many of us to be a beta version, since the games, supporting software (like the CK), the DLCs and the patches all tend to be full of bugs that even a cursory partial play-through should have uncovered. It's why many of us run with Steam in off-line mode and have our games frozen at or prior to the 1.5 update which started the downward spiral into "bug hell" that plagues many users, today. On the other hand, patches do not play nicely with mods, and the vast majority of the issues that are reported on this site are not due to the vanilla game, but due to mods, either not playing nicely with the vanilla game or not playing nicely with each other. Skyrim, the game, is just not a very nice world, I suppose.

 

The bottom line is that if you want to preserve your characters and gaming experience you cannot allow Steam to push patches. Wait until you're ready to begin a brand new game before you open up the flood gates, and be aware of issues which the latest patch has caused.

[Triaxx2]

On the one hand, there are some glaringly obvious bugs that have been in various releases. On the other, consider the sheer size and scope of a game like Skyrim. The fact that it released with so few bugs compared to the amount of content within the game is pretty mind-boggling. This is considering that it's literally impossible to test all the various configurations and setups for the computer systems of the average user. And that they had to do it across no less than THREE operating systems. (XP, Vista, 7). Also it's Bethesda, which is a comparatively small company, not Rockstar or Ubisoft, who have two or three design houses, that can be temporarily retasked to scan for bugs. For all of the vastness of Skyrim, being able to definitively say 'There are no bugs', is like being able to say that within the universe 'There is no other life'. Because even if you have the time and resources to do it, it could be proven wrong the very next instant.

 

CTD's? I don't mind CTD's. It's the unexpected freezes, whether because the Convenient Horses Harvest Script is running, or because a wolf spazzed out and the game hung when it spawned. CTD's just require the game restarted usually. Freezes require a hard reset, which is no fun at all.

[Moraevik]

I've actually experienced a freeze on only one occasion, and that was during a loading screen. As often as some users complain of CTDs, I guess I've been lucky. I can count them on one hand -- without using my thumb, and I'm pushing thirty play-throughs, with characters ranging from level 10 to level 60. I've said it, before, and it may bear repeating. Skyrim, out of the box, was far more stable for me than was Oblivion, and the addition of mods has not noticeably deprecated my stability. I've been quite pleased with that.

 

On the other hand, I have not been terribly pleased with the most noticeable and well-known bugs (such as the Eldergreen bug) that users have known about since the initial release of the game and which (at least as of patch 1.5, so I understand) are still in the game. There are a lot of bugs that occur in the vanilla game that could not possibly have been missed by play-testers because just about everyone experiences them. Instead of fixing these bugs, many of which were quest-breaking, Bethesda went on a DLC spree, and issued patches that gave us eye-candy, instead of fixing the problems. I can understand this to some extent, since it is a small company with more limited resources than some of the big gaming companies, and that they are money-driven, but let's face it. As users we expect the game to be as bug-free as possible. That means concentrating upon well-tested patches to fix the problems before embarking on any new projects.

 

All that said, Skyrim is still my favorite game in spite of its bugs, many of which have been fixed, or are being worked on, by the modding community. We can't do anything about game engine bugs, of course, but most of the issues that people report in the vanilla game are failings of game design and not of the underlying engine. These can be fixed, with enough time and the patience of Job to deal with the idiosyncrasies of the CK.

[noae86]

On the one hand, there are some glaringly obvious bugs that have been in various releases. On the other, consider the sheer size and scope of a game like Skyrim. The fact that it released with so few bugs compared to the amount of content within the game is pretty mind-boggling. This is considering that it's literally impossible to test all the various configurations and setups for the computer systems of the average user. And that they had to do it across no less than THREE operating systems. (XP, Vista, 7). Also it's Bethesda, which is a comparatively small company, not Rockstar or Ubisoft, who have two or three design houses, that can be temporarily retasked to scan for bugs. For all of the vastness of Skyrim, being able to definitively say 'There are no bugs', is like being able to say that within the universe 'There is no other life'. Because even if you have the time and resources to do it, it could be proven wrong the very next instant.

 

CTD's? I don't mind CTD's. It's the unexpected freezes, whether because the Convenient Horses Harvest Script is running, or because a wolf spazzed out and the game hung when it spawned. CTD's just require the game restarted usually. Freezes require a hard reset, which is no fun at all.

 

yeah CTDs not too bad, i dont CTD much, maybe 3 since 1.5 patch, my rig is quite hefty, but its the freezing in dawnguard ATM that is killing me,

i will play another 20 hours on a new game and see if dawnguard will freeze, if so then maybe a conflict with a mod can be fixed, then my good char can quest again lol

[Brandy1123]

Bethesda gives us the world of imagination and that in itself is remarkable. What they don't give us is true game support. The support that SHOULD be there prior to the release of all the Beth games. They are riddled with bad code, broken game items, flawed graphics, abandonded content, and a myriad of other issues. They use our community Modders as a tool to fix what they refuse to fix. They release untested patches and don't care about what it does even to vanilla content. With STEAMYpile, you are fighting the in game bugs plus STEAMypiles forced updates and unrelenting demand that you play the game they deem fit ---> and when and IF they allow it.

 

You have no real option but to do as others have said. You lock STEAMypil offline, throw away the key and play the game how you want to. They are so intrusive, you can't even mod (load the CK) without letting STEAMypile into your life once again and guess what? Force you to full current update version. There is no option or ability without having a complete prior game install saved to get back to a previous game version.

 

Bethesda + STEAMypile = controlled gaming.

 

Its like making your "uber-rig" PC a Game Console on steroids

[Triaxx2]

On the other hand, it also saves me a 4 hour install and 5 hour download to reinstall the game if my modding borks it and I can't revert. One button ensures the original files are restored. Do I miss having to run around and hunt down patch after patch? No. Do I get annoyed that I can't play because the game is downloading an update? Sure, but that happens with, or without steam. At least Steam has an off-line mode, compared to other DRM schemes that require an always-on connection. I'll take Steam over that any day of the week.