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Fair points. The counter, I guess, is that it forces you to actually get used to each mechanic to be good at it, and that this more accurately reflects reality. But there is, admittedly, no right answer as to how "realistic" a game should be. I find myself liking parts of it and disliking others, but liking it a bit more than not, simply for the immersion of getting better at something by doing it.



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Fair points. The counter, I guess, is that it forces you to actually get used to each mechanic to be good at it
Sure. The only way the game can do that though is by artificially hindering you in the beginning, which is by far my biggest gripe with Fallout 3 and New Vegas. On the risk of sounding like a CoD fanboy (which I'm really not) I do appreciate the bullets hitting where I bloody point them. I know I headshotted that ghoul and I expect its head to blow up, because I'm good at shooting stuff in videogames. In Fallout I'm alllllways aware of the dice rolling behind every shot I take. And it sucks. Still brilliant though.



The People's Republic of Clogher
One thing I would love to see is the Dragonborn/Lone Wanderer/Vault Dweller/Karl Dongwaver the nudist Nord (Hey, I loved that character!) being able to climb ladders.

Even steps are a pain in Skyrim - The ascent to High Hrothgar is much faster if you stick to the edges of the path.
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"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan



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All F4 will share with Skyrim is the engine, and even that (I expect) will be pretty heavily modified seeing as it looks like it'll be a next-gen title. Who knows, PC players might even get DX11 options and console owners might get a Playstation version that actually works. It'll be a first for Bethesda.
I do believe you're right. They always get it eventually though, I find. Haven't had any issues with F3 or FNV in recent memory. It's no excuse though.



The People's Republic of Clogher
In Fallout I'm alllllways aware of the dice rolling behind every shot I take. And it sucks. Still brilliant though.
The engine's just not set up for FPS combat sadly. I wonder if Bethesda have looked at the success of the Fallout Wanderers Edition mod and will take note of it for Fallout 4? The mod makes the game finally viable for realtime combat - It's not perfect but a heck of a lot better.

I rarely have to use VATS playing Fallout 3.



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One thing I would love to see is the Dragonborn/Lone Wanderer/Vault Dweller/Karl Dongwaver the nudist Nord (Hey, I loved that character!) being able to climb ladders.

Even steps are a pain in Skyrim - The ascent to High Hrothgar is much faster if you stick to the edges of the path.
I read somewhere that they just couldn't get ladders to work and it made Todd Howard feel retarded.



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I rarely have to use VATS playing Fallout 3.
That sounds amazing. VATS is cheating in my book but if I don't use it I'm dead. In the beginning at least.



The People's Republic of Clogher
I do believe you're right. They always get it eventually though, I find. Haven't had any issues with F3 or FNV in recent memory. It's no excuse though.
I got F3 for PS3 on release day and it was a mess and apparently NV was even worse. They're playable now but still the ginger stepchildren of the family.

The PS4 will be a lot easier to program for, by all accounts.



The People's Republic of Clogher
It had the same savegame bug as F3 and Skyrim apparently. It's a shame that Bethesda (ok, Obsidian did New Vegas but they used Beth's engine and Beth had the final QA apparently) never got a handle on the PS3.

I borrowed PS3 Skyrim from a friend to see how it compared to even the Xbox version. It's pretty poor.



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Anyone bought a graphics card recently? My eBay selling has done well and it's pushed me up into 660ti territory. The 7870 is £25 cheaper and bang-for-buck it seems as strong, if not stronger in some aspects, as the Nvidia card. They're both 2GB cards which will be a decent hike on my 560ti's 1GB VRAM.

My head says ATI but my heart says Nvidia. Unless someone says different I'll probably order the 660.

Of course, if I had a spare £800 I'd have to get the new Nvidia Titanium. 6GB of VRAM and huge specs. Yeah, totally worth the price of a decent used car.

EDIT - Damn, the 7870 XT is the same price as the 660ti. I think I've found my new card.



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See, these are the reasons why I don't do PC gaming. Too much hassle just to have a graphics card that'll run the latest games at an acceptable framerate, only to have it be outdated a few months later. Plus, the prices for these things are nowhere in my vocabulary.



The People's Republic of Clogher
Well, acceptable framerates for me these days is 60fps constantly at High or Ultra settings. Consoles are locked to 30fps and I really notice the difference. It's also a degree of future-proofing as I'll be able to cope with next-gen titles pretty easily at better than PS4/Nextbox settings.

A £100 GPU will run games at 30fps and on console resolutions, maybe higher.

In the scheme of things, that 7870 XT is on a par with Nvidia 670 cards, according to the PC gamer review, which cost £100 more.

EDIT - My big problem here is drawing a price line. Another £20 will get me a 7950, a real high-end card. Sheesh.



I don't remember asking you a ******* thing!
I'm not really bothered by a game that runs 30fps because it doesn't hinder the gameplay at all for me. Yeah, 60fps looks better, but it doesn't really play any differently to me. I've always preferred console games because the games they have appeal to me more. I'm not really a fan of RTS games, FPS games honestly don't feel that much different on PC, and I have little to no experience in modding, which is something I know draws in PC gamers.



The People's Republic of Clogher
I'm just too used to 60fps now from the point of view of smoothness and response rather than the way things look. Sadly for me, I'm so used to a solid 60 that when games have lag spikes and stutters it bothers me more than it should, hence the need to future-proof when I've got the funds. It's costing me less than a console and will slot straight into my PC with no other parts needed with the old card raising 50 or 60 (maybe more, I'll need to check the going rate for 560ti's) quid by being sold.

I think I'm sold on the 7950 now. It's got an extra GB of RAM and doesn't draw any more power than the 7870, same size too, although it's apparently a bit noisier when the fans are going full pelt. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.



The People's Republic of Clogher
Well, I've gone and done it.

The 7950 should be here on Tuesday. I'm guessing it'll be complete overkill right now as the only times cards like that get stretched are when you're using multiple monitors (or trying to play Crysis 3 on Medium ) but it'll be fun seeing how many garish HD mods I can stick in Skyrim.

I've made my list already, and these are real mods:

HD Teeth
8k Rocks
Ultimate HD Fire Effects
HD Dragons
Detailed Lips
Silly Level of Detail Potions & Poisons (I actually already run this and it's ace)
HD Plants and Herbs
HD Mushrooms (!)
Nicer Snowflakes
Finer Dust
Detailed Rugs (apparently Elton John runs this mod)
Realistic Paper
Detailed Chests (nope, not an XXX mod )
HQ Beards (apparently [JOKE REDACTED] runs this mod)
Ash Pile Retex
HD Linens

Nah, this is just silly.