Mounted Combat Comes to Skyrim

[Andy Chalk]

Mounted Combat Comes to Skyrim

It's time for the Dovahkiin to saddle up and crack some skulls!

I've never had much use for horses in Skyrim [http://www.amazon.com/Elder-Scrolls-V-Skyrim-Xbox-360/dp/B004HYK956/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337957487&sr=8-1]. They get you from point A to point B marginally faster than running, but then you have to find a parking spot, and then you have to remember where you parked after spending 20 minutes running around killing everything within a half-mile radius, and odds are that by the time you get back, the stupid thing's already being eaten by a frost troll anyway. Who needs that kind of aggravation?

But soon those equine punching bags will have a little more utility, thanks to the Skyrim 1.6 patch, which fixes a pile of bugs and also adds mounted combat to the game. And unlike a certain other infamous horse upgrade [http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-GB/Product/Horse-Armor-Pack/00000000-0000-400c-80c0-0000425307d1?cid=search] - yes, I'm still tapping that vein - this one will be free.

The mounted combat add-on is another product of the Skyrim Game Jam [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/115750-Bethesda-Shows-Off-Skyrim-Game-Jam-Mods], an internal Bethesda event in which everyone on the development team was given a week to create whatever sort of Skyrim mod their hearts desired. Todd Howard said in February that he wasn't sure how many of those Game Jam creations would actually make it out the door, but the new kill camera and recently-added Kinect support for the Xbox 360 version of the game spring from the same well, so maybe we'll get to see even more in the future.

The Skyrim 1.6 update is available now to PC users who opt in to the latest Steam Beta Update, while release information for other platforms will be announced when it's ready. And, since this is actually a patch, plenty of bug fixes and optimizations are included as well, although at this late stage most of them are fairly obscure. The full list of fixes can be found at the Bethesda Blog [http://www.bethblog.com/2012/05/24/mounted-combat-arrives-in-latest-skyrim-update/].


Permalink

 

[Jaeger_CDN]

Finally....

the lack of mounted combat was a bit of an immersion killer

 

[Agent Larkin]

Still no word on an official "No-Spiders" mod?

*sigh* Oh Bethesda the only thing I want out of your game.

OT: Well mounted combat should be fun so long as it works well.

 

[Raven's Nest]

"About fucking time" will probably represent most of the views on this subject....

Does it include archery and spellplay?

 

[Antonio Torrente]

How many of you expect this added feature to be bug-free and requires no outside help (read:user created mods) to work properly?

Well if there's gonna be bugs, let's at least hope it's hilarious.

Like those backward flying dragons.

 

[Ragsnstitches]

"About fucking time" will probably represent most of the views on this subject....

Does it include archery and spellplay?

Says ranged combat too on the blog. Would be odd if it didn't cater for Mages as well.

 

[Hungry Donner]

Eh, mounted combat seems horrendously overpowered . . . unless they are added speedy or mounted enemies, in which case horses will practically be a requirement . . . unless spears/polearms are added to the game.

These balancing issues likely continue until you give a mouse a cookie.

 

[Headsprouter]

Awesome, I can tell this is gonna make horses really fun! I always found they were pretty pointless. Not even enjoyable.

 

[HobbesMkii]

Won't they need to introduce some freaking lances? What's the point of being mounted if you're not able to take the same advantage of it that people took for thousands of years?

 

[Veldel]

Alright Beth now give me the one weapon I been wanting sense I heard Dragons for skyrim


MOTHER FUCKING SPEARS BABY
I want them so much they are the truest of dragon slayer weapons

 

[Vrach]

Still no word on an official "No-Spiders" mod?

*sigh* Oh Bethesda the only thing I want out of your game.

OT: Well mounted combat should be fun so long as it works well.

I'm sure you could make or look/ask for a mod that turns spiders into something else. Someone already replaced them with Spidermen, so it's a fair bet you can remove them/turn them into something else quite easily as well, it's just a model change. Btw, arachnophobia?

OT: Awesome, good to hear, they've been talking about this since the development of Oblivion. Let's hope it doesn't suck (or that if it does, mods will take care of it soon enough). Also, I wonder what works for mounted combat. Is it just melee weapons? Bows too? Or the whole shebang where everything, including magic goes? Hope everything works, personally, I'd love to be able to ride and pick shit off with a bow and arrow, but my next character is set to be a wizard, so hopefully they won't restrict it to just weapons.

edit: captcha asked me to describe some brand crap I never heard off. Apparently, "fuck off" did the trick. Huh.

 

[Ragsnstitches]

Eh, mounted combat seems horrendously overpowered . . . unless they are added speedy or mounted enemies, in which case horses will practically be a requirement . . . unless spears/polearms are added to the game.

These balancing issues likely continue until you give a mouse a cookie.

Balance isn't an issue in non-competitive games. What you mean is difficulty. If you want more of a challenge, don't abuse glitches and/or try handicapping yourself. The game is tailored to a lower level of entry and the ability to ramp up the difficulty in a satisfying way is actually a lot harder to do when the established system is not intended to challenge.

When people abuse refundable trainers in the game or max out enchantment and smithing, and wonder why the game is so piss easy, its their own fault. The game makes it possible to overpower, because some people like to be overpowered.

The game is never going to be (or even meant to be) a challenge. The series has always been like this, but with a little initiative and imagination, you can tailor the games difficulty...

This is literally a case of having a cake and wanting to eat it too. You can't have access to everything in the game, but still be challenged by it... it's just not possible without creating an entire different structure to the game for higher difficulties.

 

[Agent Larkin]

Still no word on an official "No-Spiders" mod?

*sigh* Oh Bethesda the only thing I want out of your game.

OT: Well mounted combat should be fun so long as it works well.

I'm sure you could make or look/ask for a mod that turns spiders into something else. Someone already replaced them with Spidermen, so it's a fair bet you can remove them/turn them into something else quite easily as well, it's just a model change. Btw, arachnophobia?

Yes Arachnaphobic. Quite badly. I have seen the mods for removing them but I would prefer an actual bethesda backed Arachnaphobic friendly mod.

 

[smearyllama]

That's great to hear! It'd be nice if companions could ride horses, instead of just jogging along behind you, but at least this is something.

 

[Misterian]

Whoever did the mounted combat mod is clearly a true hero.

 

[OManoghue]

I am really pleased with the way they update this game, a few bug fixes sure, but then they add a neat little feature that'll get me back into the game for a few hours.

 

[Lethos]

I bet the guy creating the mounted combat mod is a bit peeved.

I'm glad it's finally going to be in the game. I haven't touched Skyrim in a while now.