As many of you are no doubt well aware, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is now on sale. The hugely anticipated, sprawling adventure earned an enthusiastic review from Game Rant, and has (somehow) already been nominated for Game of the Year by Spike TV’s Video Game Awards.
At the beginning of the week, Bethesda announced that Skyrim would require a day-one patch, bumping the game up to version 1.1 on its 11/11/11 release date. Now, just hours after the game finally landed on store shelves, a new technical snag has been discovered. Fortunately, the problem only affects the Xbox 360 version of the game, and preventing it is easier than causing it.
A post on the Bethesda Forums titled “Texture Scaling on 360″ neatly summarizes the situation.
“Skyrim uses a lot of dynamic streaming systems, including textures. We’ve seen a few reports of certain textures temporarily scaling down on the Xbox 360, and not scaling back up. We have verified that this issue does not occur when playing off the disk and when the game is fully cached (not installed). Skyrim makes heavy use of the Xbox 360 caching system, and caches over the normal course of play while in menus or interiors. This cache can be wiped when other games are played or when the user manually removes it. We’re working on a solution in the next title update for those who have installed the game.”
Simple enough — don’t install the game until the next title update hits. Granted, the game’s load times are likely to be a bit longer when playing straight off the disc, but until the texture scaling issue is resolved, players don’t have much choice. Besides, what’s a little extra load time when the trade-off is a better looking game? And, hey, at least Skyrim players don’t have to install a high-res texture pack to enjoy the game’s intended visuals.
Fortunately, players should find plenty to keep them busy until the next title update (sure to be the first of many) finally arrives. For starters, Skyrim offers infinite quests, though players who can tear themselves away have a chance to win a custom Skyrim Xbox 360. While we’re at it, a rousing round of the “Song of Skyrim” is always good for the soul.
Ranters, what do you think of your first hours in Skyrim? Have you encountered the texture scaling issues? Let us know in the comments below.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is available now for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.
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Source: Bethesda Softworks Forums
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I have it installed and I haven’t had any issues put in 13 hours already in it. My girl friend is putting her first hour in it and she hasn’t had any issues with texture scaling. It could be also related to console or I just haven’t played long enough. all around its really addicting with only 1 crash.
I didn’t really have a problem with installing a texture pack on BF3. Now I have to go and uninstall the game I just installed so I can have the pleasure of listening to my DVD? For all the time they spent making this, they probably should have waited a little longer instead of pushing it out for a calendrical novelty date. Now I’ve read they won’t release a patch for at least a month when it’s been released worldwide…quite lame in my opinion.
Rule 1: dont believe everything you hear.
also i installed the game played it and the disc was still running so it doesn’t make a difference in that area
Yeah I have. The draw distance is real low and the shadows are blocky. It’s worse than Oblivion, but I figured it was just an early version issue. Game is still amazing
Since I have three children of gaming age, I bought it for 360 and PS3. Totally notice a difference on the 360 with textures, frame rate, and draw distance; however, the PS3 isn’t untouched. In Bleak Falls Barrow a lot of the textures on PS3 looked horrible, especially the tower walls with snow texture. Also found a wooden fort and the wood textures look straight up Wii-like.
Granted, this sucks but at least the game flocking saves correctly with no corruptions (yet). Yeah, I’m looking at you Techland.
http://www.sipostyle.com
I’ve noticed the odd time, but I’ve always been too focused on what I’m doing to really care. I figured they’d fix it up soon enough. It’s not too much of an issue for me… Dragons, now THAT’S an issue!
Also, I’m officially an Orc… anybody else?
Yes I am a little dissapionted with the ps3 textures but its skyrim and the game is incredibly addictive. I’m just so glad elderscrolls is back.
I have encountered this issue. It’s hit or miss. there are specific pieces of gear that it happens on (steel plated heavy armor) and some areas in the game have the issue as well. It’s hard to catch while running around, but really noticeable when viewing gear in the items menu.