Playing without the HUD. Easier than you might think.

[Dohva.]

Agreed. I put the HUD back on and it seemed like cheating! So I turned it back off. The health thing is still a bit weary for me because my screen isn't turning red...but I am getting the hang of when certain enemies hit me and how hard they do, so that tells me about when I need to heal. The sneaking isn't as hard now that I have had some practice. It is WAY cooler to play this way. It really feels like another world. Skyrim is a lot like Alaska to me (my sweet home) with the freezing winds and tundra.

[DarkEastwood]

I tried this on my mage. Difficult at first but easy to get use to. I don't mind switching between the HUD and no HUD though. I gotta try it on my Wood Elf...

[Witchery]

Agreed. I put the HUD back on and it seemed like cheating! So I turned it back off. The health thing is still a bit weary for me because my screen isn't turning red...but I am getting the hang of when certain enemies hit me and how hard they do, so that tells me about when I need to heal. The sneaking isn't as hard now that I have had some practice. It is WAY cooler to play this way. It really feels like another world. Skyrim is a lot like Alaska to me (my sweet home) with the freezing winds and tundra.

Just today, out of no where, a Flame Atronach hurled a firebolt at me. I wasn't expecting it at all! With the HUD, I would have been able to see . . . . haha, it's so much more fun. I had issues with shooting arrows on my assassin at first, but now I've gotten the hang of it. (Aim low!) When I'm being beat badly, I admit, I do check "Potions" to see my health. XD

[tatortodd22]

I personally recommend this. With the music off it was easier to feel on the same level with the world. It grounded me (instead of making me feel epic and important) and I was better at sticking to the character of my current roleplaythrough. To get used to HUDless archery I just went to the Companions training ground and practiced on the target dummy. VERY helpful. Just careful for those awkward moments when Vilkas will walk between you and the target. "Ey! Watch it! :L"

[Wolfie]

It's weird I like it and yet I feel naked with out it....
weird

[tatortodd22]

It's weird I like it and yet I feel naked with out it....
weird

I almost cannot play with the HUD anymore lol. I feel like I'm cheating, or if I'm just having my hand held throughout the whole game. Like one time...

Spoiler:

I emerged from the The Silver Hand quest, at the Silverhand camp for my first werewolf slaughter outside of Whiterun. I emerged from the dungeon, and found myself in snowy mountains, no clue where I was.

I don't pull up the world map or the compass so I was completely lost in the wilderness. (if anything, i take out the map that came with the preorder. I don't think "you are here, set waypoint here" is realistic enough. I should atleast have to judge by the geography. So I trudged through the mountains, stumbling and evading packs of wild wolves, a sabre cat, a camp of bandits, and some novice fire mages and necromancers, before i finally came to a path. I follow the path in one direction to a high point, and climbed the nearest rock to scan my surroundings (im a hunter character and this has become a cool, fun, and realistic habit of mine). I saw windhelm in the distance, and ran for it before a blizzard came in (which REALLY decreases my situational awareness, with HUD and music off and giving me no warning) I got onto the carriage at winterhold, put on some warm furs, and the carriage driver greeted me with "trying to get out of this weather, huh?"

"Yes." I replied in a Khajit accent, sitting in my gaming chair in my dorm warm in northern Chicago.

Most immersive experience of Skyrim I've had to date. It was so much fun!

[Frost Mage]

I love playing without the HUD, though quest rewards not appearing on screen, a minor annoyance, but is enough for me to turn the HUD back on when turning in/finishing a quest, though since that isn't very often, I spend 99% of my time HUD-free, and it's amazing.

[tatortodd22]

I love playing without the HUD, though quest rewards not appearing on screen, a minor annoyance, but is enough for me to turn the HUD back on when turning in/finishing a quest, though since that isn't very often, I spend 99% of my time HUD-free, and it's amazing.

Adrienne Avanecii gave me a token of gratitude for being such a frequent and loyal customer. Too bad I have absolutely no clue what it was....

Still worth it

[DarkEastwood]

Ive decided my new thief will not use HUD. However Im not at all use to no HUD. Can someone provide tips on how to really make sure youre not seen. Hes been caught many times already and hes only level 3. I usually go into 3rd person and look around my charcter to make sure nobody has their front toward me.

[Giordano]

Couldn't one make the health bars and crosshairs transparent with an image editing program, so you can keep the HUD text (like quest, gold acquirement) on? I vaguely remember stumbling upon health bar images on Oblivion, but it could of been another game...

[DarkEastwood]

Im on Xbox ):

[Frost Mage]

Ive decided my new thief will not use HUD. However Im not at all use to no HUD. Can someone provide tips on how to really make sure youre not seen. Hes been caught many times already and hes only level 3. I usually go into 3rd person and look around my charcter to make sure nobody has their front toward me.

I say wait until you're a higher level to stop stealing more out-in-the-open things, like if you were a thief in real life. Once you get your Sneak to a high enough level, you won't even notice it.

[DarkEastwood]

Ive decided my new thief will not use HUD. However Im not at all use to no HUD. Can someone provide tips on how to really make sure youre not seen. Hes been caught many times already and hes only level 3. I usually go into 3rd person and look around my charcter to make sure nobody has their front toward me.

I say wait until you're a higher level to stop stealing more out-in-the-open things, like if you were a thief in real life. Once you get your Sneak to a high enough level, you won't even notice it.

I dont mean to sound naive or unintelligent or anything, but Im not entirely sure what much of what you said meant. Can you rephrase it a bit please?

[yodah]

I love playing with no HUD, but there can be some moments that make you jump. I was walking through the roads of northern Haafingar hold, in the cold and snow. I got the urge to suddenly whip out my bow and launch an arrow behind me, as if something was following me. Did that little 360, and after feeling accomplished with myself, kept walking on my way. A second later, an arrow flew out from the trees behind me, where I had launched my arrow, and hit my character square in the back of the head. I completely freaked out for a second, thinking that my arrow had somehow bounced off of something and came back to hit me. Upon closer inspection, there was a lonely bandit hiding behind a rock.

[DarkEastwood]

Losing so much money paying off these bounties... But I certainly feel more immersed and that the more I use it the more I'm actually improving.

[Frogmander]

You know a fun way to increase immersion? Get a fan, put it somewhere out of sight but still to where it is close and would hit you hard (just out of your FOV for example) and turn it up/down based on where you are, and what clothes you are wearing (in a warm spot with well insolated clothes, just plain turn it off, yet in a cold place in a blizzard with not very well insolated clothing, turn it to max and take your shirt off)

Once you start shivering and such from being so cold, you will think "FFS FIND A FIRE OR SOMETHING" so you can turn it down

I recommend the fan be quiet or it breaks the immersion adding

By clothing you are wearing I mean your character, and by remove shirt I mean your real shirt, assuming you are wearing one in the first place.

[Yomnom]

Tried it... I really love playing without the compass and crosshair, but everything else is more difficult to do without, especially the reward warning and item names
But playing without the music is very immersive!

[yodah]

Archery without HUD reminds me of archery in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. No aiming dot or anything. Much more realistic.

[SpikeSpeigel]

I tried this on my mage. Difficult at first but easy to get use to. I don't mind switching between the HUD and no HUD though. I gotta try it on my Wood Elf...

That is the most difficult move for me HUDless: Targeting with ranged magic.
With archery the aiming is consistent. One for standing and one for crouching. Not so with spells.
It really sucks when you miss! With different spells your characters' hands and imaginary reticle may be different. Making it harder to target.

Getting good at stuff like this is very rewarding, IMO.

[DarkEastwood]

Would it be cheating if I put a small piece of tape on my TV where the crosshair would normally be I hate picking things up not knowing where my crosshair is. I do however enjoy all the other effects that come with no HUD (except no notifications).

[Frost Mage]

Ive decided my new thief will not use HUD. However Im not at all use to no HUD. Can someone provide tips on how to really make sure youre not seen. Hes been caught many times already and hes only level 3. I usually go into 3rd person and look around my charcter to make sure nobody has their front toward me.

I say wait until you're a higher level to stop stealing more out-in-the-open things, like if you were a thief in real life. Once you get your Sneak to a high enough level, you won't even notice it.

I dont mean to sound naive or unintelligent or anything, but Im not entirely sure what much of what you said meant. Can you rephrase it a bit please?

Aye, sorry about that mate. I meant to say that you should hold of stealing valuable items until you're a higher level, as they are more heavily guarded.

[DarkEastwood]

Aye, sorry about that mate. I meant to say that you should hold of stealing valuable items until you're a higher level, as they are more heavily guarded.

Ah ok thanks. The character has been getting his Pickpocket up plenty, and has done some normal thieving on the way. Ofcourse he's had his share of jail visits

[JebeTheGreat]

In my opinion, it would have been pretty amusing, except for one pain in the ass thing. That motherfu*ker took my crosshair. I can't live without my crosshair... :'(