A skyrim remaster? Discussion.

[legoless]

It's just an ESP file. Haven't looked into how the console mods work, but I don't see why the unofficial patches wouldn't work on console. Whether old mods would be compatible with the remaster is another question.

[noobishlord]

Now that raises an interesting question, will one be able to use the old mods, or will someone have to learn how the coding works for the PS4 and/or the Xbox One in order to make their mod work on that system as well? That might be prohibitive to the modding community if they can't just use the old mods at all. Especially if they have to go through Sony's or Microsoft's authentication process in order to get their mod onto the system.

[Damon]

Operating on the assumption that any potential remaster is just that -- a remaster that just touches up the graphics a bit and maybe polishes a couple of bugs -- then I don't see why most mods that aren't dependent on the script extender or other executable functions would not be able to run on the new system.

If this potential remaster were to include changes to the version of the game engine used in Skyrim or if the file format for the remaster's game data was different, then that could create all sorts of changes.

Of course, I suspect that were Bethesda to remaster Skyrim, they wouldn't make changes that would break a significant number of mods online.

[legoless]

I assume they'd be compatible. It seems like Fallout 4 PC mods are directly compatible with the new Bethesda.net xbone system given the amount of them currently being "stolen" by random third parties, uploading mods without the creator's permission. If the Skyrim Definitive Edition can't bank on the game's five-year-old mod catalogue, it'd be a big loss.

[Dark Spark]

You know another way to break all current Skyrim mods? Make a new game!

Which way would you prefer?

[legoless]

To be honest, I'm more salty about how bad Fallout 4 is as an RPG than I am about BGS developing this remaster. Elder Scrolls VI: Minecraft can wait if it's gonna have voiced player characters with four dialogue options. Maybe revisiting Skyrim will do them some good... something I never thought I'd say.

[Dohva.]

Because it can't be played on the current generation of consoles? And because they already have the HD textures and have internally ported the game to xbone already? That means minimal work needed to introduce the game to the current console market and the new Bethesda.net mod hosting and make $$$. I don't see what you're missing here.

Yes, this. My husband and I were discussing that it makes sense from a business standpoint to do it with Skyrim vs the other TES games because it's their latest and best selling TES game. And they must be working on the TES 6 even with Fallout dlcs still in the works. Don't they have separate teams for the games? I thought I read that somewhere.

To be honest, I'm surprised that they're even wasting their time doing this but they must have their reasons. It's strange that it's happening now while they're still providing support to Fallout 4.

[Pilaf The Defiler]

Why are we all assuming this is actually happening? Let's wait until an actual announcement. Any discussion beforehand is hypothetical and likely to be meaningless.

[MetaCthulhu]

Why are we all assuming this is actually happening? Let's wait until an actual announcement. Any discussion beforehand is hypothetical and likely to be meaningless.

Because it has a store listing and the evidence points that way? Plus we get a crack at predicting the future. In particular the future plans of something we may or may not know well (Bethesda) giving us a litmus test of who thinks the closest to Bethesda.

And it's fun!

[Damon]

I disagree, I side with the "pointless" assessment, but it's an excuse to post on the forum, which I never do. :p

If I haven't made clear despite the hypotheticals put forward, I feel that a remaster of Skyrim is utterly pointless and not worth anything more than Bethesda being able to score a quick cash-grab.

As Legoless said before, they only started "serious" work on FO4 after Dragonborn, but they were undoubtedly planning it for years. It's foolish to think that they'd not be focused reasonably on executing a new TES game with some amount of manpower, IMO, and a Skyrim remaster is manpower that's being pulled away from new Fallout content and new Elder Scrolls games.

I mean sure, yeah, they made an internal port for a proof-of-concept on the Creation Engine being in the PS4 and XB1 because they needed to see how much work needs to be done to port forward the engine itself and update it, and that's fine. It sets them up for future content development for their two flagship series, but I still don't understand the point of remaking the game as a selling point. If they're doing a cash-grab in the middle of the development of one of their best-selling games, TES6 better have a damn fine budget and excellent features.

But all this is just the opinion of a bloke who's completely jaded with the culture of rebooting and remaking all sorts of everything in the media, be that music, movies, games, etc.

[legoless]

Why are we all assuming this is actually happening? Let's wait until an actual announcement. Any discussion beforehand is hypothetical and likely to be meaningless.

The store listing sells it for me, but I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

As Legoless said before, they only started "serious" work on FO4 after Dragonborn, but they were undoubtedly planning it for years. It's foolish to think that they'd not be focused reasonably on executing a new TES game with some amount of manpower, IMO, and a Skyrim remaster is manpower that's being pulled away from new Fallout content and new Elder Scrolls games.

I'm still not convinced this remake requires a lot of effort on their part. The people who would be working on TESVI at this stage would most likely be concept artists and writers, not techies involved with console ports. Couldn't care less about FO4 development, so it's fine by me if they've pulled anyone off that project. Who knows if it's even BGS working on this though, they might have gotten a third party or another team at ZeniMax to work on the remake.

[Dohva.]

^^Right. Bethesda more than likely has a team already dedicated to TES 6 & continuing support to Fallout 4. A remastery of Skyrim doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to be complicated enough to take people from other projects or place those projects on hold. I think it's pretty safe to assume to that Bethesda is aware we're all waiting for TES 6. They're not going to put all their manpower on redoing an old game so my assumption is that it won't take that much work for them to do it.

Also, there's no harm in speculation. If you think this discussion is pointless then there are plenty of other threads to participate in.

[Kerr]

To be honest, I'm more salty about how bad Fallout 4 is as an RPG than I am about BGS developing this remaster. Elder Scrolls VI: Minecraft can wait if it's gonna have voiced player characters with four dialogue options. Maybe revisiting Skyrim will do them some good... something I never thought I'd say.

I don't think Bethesda really want to make RPGs anymore. I think they just want to make open world games where the player can customize what their character looks like, collect loot, build a house, pick what skills they have and decide which quests they want to do. So you can choose to do a quest or not do a quest right now but you don't have any meaningful decisions to make within that quest.

To me it seems Bethesda don't want you to roleplay a character in the way you'd play in a traditional RPG (so D&D, Call of Cthulhu, Shadowrun, etc.) Instead they want the player character to be an avatar which allows you the player to explore the world and consume the content which interests you while ignoring the content which doesn't. To me anyway that seems to be what they actually want to make.

---

Anyway on topic, I can't see Bethesda remaking Skyrim but I can seem them porting a slightly better looking version to PS4 and Xbox One like what happened with Dishonored.

[Damon]

Dohva, I didn't say that the discussion itself was pointless. I said that I personally felt that a remastered version of Skyrim was pointless. Speculate all you want to, I don't give a toss. I was just putting my initial thoughts in on what I felt about the concept of remastering games all the time. That's it, just my opinion. Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but who said the discussion had to only be in favor of a remake?

[legoless]

I don't think Bethesda really want to make RPGs anymore.

D-don't say it aloud TT.TT

[noobishlord]

I don't think Bethesda really want to make RPGs anymore.

Well... at least they're still making some good adventuring games. Really though, does anyone make RPGs as more strict RPGs these days? They're either more action-oriented or interactive movies it seems like.

[Damon]

I don't think Bethesda really want to make RPGs anymore.

Well... at least they're still making some good adventuring games. Really though, does anyone make RPGs as more strict RPGs these days? They're either more action-oriented or interactive movies it seems like.

Because unfortunately that's what sells, and if you make a game that's too challenging for the average idiot to play, it won't sell, so they had to simplify things over the years. Personally, I miss the really hard and picky ones. That's what made them fun for me. Or maybe I'm just old and hung up on better days. *shrugs*

[Br3admax]

I don't think anyone actually knows what the definition of RPG is, or how limited Skyrim actually was in this department anyway.

[legoless]

Skyrim Special Edition confirmed for PC, PS4, xbone. It's just a graphics update with console mod support.

[noobishlord]

I find it odd that they're adding another PC version... is something wrong with the one we already have?

[Dirty Spaceman]

Well, despite the upgrade seeming pointless in many regards, at least it comes free if you already own Skyrim with all DLC or the Steam Legendary Edition. Which means that I likely will be getting it for my Xbone. Probably still doesn't make it worth it for anyone on PC, however.

[Br3admax]

How could something that's free not be worth it? Especially if it's an upgrade to 64 bit.

[Dirty Spaceman]

It won't be worth it if it breaks existing mods (for some players it would be a graphics downgrade), but I admit I'm out of the loop where that's concerned; did they say anything about that, or will we not know how compatible it is until the upgrade is actually released?

[Dohva.]

Dohva, I didn't say that the discussion itself was pointless. I said that I personally felt that a remastered version of Skyrim was pointless. Speculate all you want to, I don't give a toss. I was just putting my initial thoughts in on what I felt about the concept of remastering games all the time. That's it, just my opinion. Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but who said the discussion had to only be in favor of a remake?

I actually wasn't addressing you.

And I'm glad the remake is free because there's no way I'd spend another $60 to get an upgraded version of Skyrim given that my current PC copy is just fine. I'm looking forward to seeing how/what it is they change though. Also, I'm with Kerr on the type of RPGs Bethesda seems aimed at making. I think the change has to do with market tastes and wanting to expand their audience, thus making the games more palatable with the voice actors, etc.

Although I love Fallout 4, there are some things in it that I rather not see in the next TES like the voiced actors and workshop stuff.

[Pilaf The Defiler]

Now that it's actually announced, my thoughts are that it looks good - and that people are unsurprisingly complaining about it somehow detracting from development for a new single player game.

Bethesda is like three times as big as it was when Skyrim came out. I'm sure they contracted this project out to a side team and that there have been people working on the next ES since like 2010. That's how this stuff generally works.