Bethesda Outlines Skyrim 1.5

[Earnest Cavalli]

Bethesda Outlines Skyrim 1.5


The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has a new semi-official patch available, and we've got all the details.

Before I get into how exactly 1.5 alters the beloved open-world roleplaying title, let me clarify a few things. First, at the moment the patch is only available to PC gamers via Steam, and that's only a beta release. Bethesda claims that the official patch (as well as Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions) will arrive shortly.

Second, this is the first patch for the game that has fewer tweaks than the one that preceded it. Is Bethesda running out of stuff to fix, or is support being inevitably scaled back as the game ages?

Anyway, have a look at the official list of changes:

NEW FEATURES
- New cinematic kill cameras for projectile weapons and spells
- New kill moves and animations for melee weapons
- Shadows on grass available (PC)
- Smithing skill increases now factor in the created item's value
- Improved visual transition when going underwater
- Improved distance LOD transition for snowy landscapes

BUG FIXES
- General crash fixes and memory optimizations
- Fixed issue with Deflect Arrows perk not calculating properly
- In "A Cornered Rat," the death of certain NPCs no longer blocks progression
- Fixed issue where Farkas would not give Companion's quests properly
- Fixed crash when loading saves that rely on data that is no longer being loaded
- Followers sneak properly when player is sneaking
- Fixed issue with weapon racks not working properly in Proudspire Manor
- Arrows and other projectiles that were stuck in objects in the world now clean up properly
- Fixed issue where "Rescue Mission" was preventing "Taking Care of Business" from starting properly
- Fixed issue where certain NPCs would fail to become Thieves Guild fences
- Fixed issue in "Diplomatic Immunity" where killing all the guards in the Thalmor Embassy before starting the quest would break progress
- In "Hard Answers," picking up the dwarven museum key after completing the quest, no longer restarts the quest
- Killing Viola before or after "Blood on the Ice" no longer blocks progression
- Fixed issue where Calixto would fail to die properly in "Blood on the Ice"
- In "Waking Nightmare" fixed occasional issue where Erandur would stop pathing properly
- Fixed issue where letters and notes with random encounters would appear blank
- Fixed rare issue where dialogue and shouts would improperly play
- Lydia will now offer marriage option after player purchases Breezehome in Whiterun
- Fixed issue where if player manually mined ore in Cidhna Mine, jail time would not be served
- Fixed rare issue with skills not increasing properly
- Fixed issue where the Headsman's Axe did not gain proper buff from Barbarian perk
- In "A Night to Remember" it is no longer possible to kill Ysolda, Ennis or Senna before starting the quest
- Fixed issue with the ebony dagger having a weapon speed that was too slow
- Fixed issue with "The Wolf Queen Awakened" where backing out of a conversation with Styrr too soon would block progress
- The third level of the Limbsplitter perk now properly improves all battle axes
- Fixed a rare issue where Sanguine Rose would not work properly
- In "Tending the Flames" King Olaf's Verse will no longer disappear from explosions

Unless one of those bug fixes suddenly makes your broken game save functional, the big news here is the inclusion of new kill cams for both projectiles and melee weapons. Helpfully, Bethesda also released a video to demonstrate the brutal new cinematic moments in action. That would be the thing embedded above.

Granted, it's a minor tweak, but since years of videogames have made me a murderous sociopath, I dig it. The only thing better than killing some jerk is killing him with slow-motion flair!

Permalink

 

[Fappy]

Wow, they tiptoed around it but still haven't managed to fix the gamebreaking main quest bug that me and a bunch of others encountered where you can't start the quest "A Cornered Rat"? They fixed a bug regarding it but not the one that prevented getting it. You'd think the main quest would be a priority... :/

 

[repeating integers]

Does this mean I won't be able to spam-upgrade my smithing by spamming Iron Daggers?

 

[Klagermeister]

Those killcams look... Godly...
Hurry up and release the patch on 360! NAOUGHW!

 

[Fr]anc[is]

Does this mean I won't be able to spam-upgrade my smithing by spamming Iron Daggers?

I think it means those iron daggers will be worth more

I hope this means we are going to be seeing more of that one week free for all content. Crossing my fingers for more lycanthropy stuff.

 

[Tanis]

So this means I'll FINALLY be able to finish The Companions quest on the PS3?

 

[Petromir]

I suspect its not so much a case of lessening support as the patches fix priority/fix complexity getting less favoriable.


Not all bugs are created equal don't forget, and the worlds most massive bug from the clients end may be a simple flick of a switch, while a seemingly tiny one require thousands of lines of code to be tweaked.

And any change in code risks bugs appearing in parts of the game that are seemingly unrelated.

 

[Lord Beautiful]

And just after I got myself back into Skyrim.

This video just made me want to make a hand-to-hand character.

 

[Findlebob]

Does this mean it actually works on ps3 now?

 

[Zaydin]

Hrm, looks like they are finally fixing the bug that prevents players from not being able to marry Lydia. That should make some people very happy.

 

[dantric]

*sigh* Battle for Solitude not fixed still cant play my main save character...

 

[Simonoly]

I'm loving the new additions. But why have Bethesda still not fixed the bugs that are present in every single version/copy of Skyrim by now? Two examples:

The Dragon Infusion perk which your supposed to get from Esbern for drinking his potion, can only be obtained via console commands (so are console playing buddies are screwed).
The Imperial decree in the 'Missing in Action' quest is non-existent, so you cannot peacefully finish the mission even though you are told that you can (not even console commands can save you from this error).

It doesn't matter how you play the game - everyone will come across these same bugs/errors. I would have thought these would be right at the top of the quest fix list, seeing as fixing them, would literally fix every version of Skyrim. But oh well - I KNOW NOTHING!

 

[weirdee]

Does this mean I can't cheat the murky water vision by partially submerging the camera and viewing at a particular angle?

I mean, that was the only way I could find those stupid chests...

 

[chuckey]

well this fix the quest where you can't give the orc guy the books if you found them before he asked you? i just want to get rid of that wild elves book.....

 

[BlackStar42]

YES! I can watch some poor bandit get an icy spike through his eyeball...in slow motion. Come on, don't look at me like that, you've done it too!

 

[therandombear]

I like the kill cams....if only they triggered more often...I've only had it trigger 1 time, made me send a Bandit too the dentist after that bashing though.

 

[AndrewC]

How about fixing the myriad of other broken quests?

Fix the problems with dragons not spawning on Companion side missions, which has left me with goddamn Vilkas following me around like a lost puppy and I can't get rid of him!

Other than that, sounds fine