Skyrim Special Edition

It feels like no game has seen release on as many platforms as this universally heralded RPG. Perhaps it is because of that very reason - but Skyrim: Special Edition is actually trying to offer a bit more than a mere port to another console. Without much ado - this version is a remaster of the game for the then-current generation of consoles.

The special-edition offering includes all the extra DLC - and attempts to fix up some of the nuances that plagued earlier releases. From a player's point of view - the game offers more customizability options. That includes opening the hood up to the lucrative modding world. Yes, Skyrim: Special Edition is a re-release. But because of its acolytes - it falls short of feeling like a corporate milking.

Winner of more than 200 Game of the Year Awards, the Skyrim Special Edition includes the game and add-ons with all-new features like remastered art and effects, volumetric god rays, dynamic depth of field, and more. Also bring the power of mods to the PC and consoles. New quests, environments, characters, dialogue, armor, weapons and more – with Mods, there are no limits to what you can. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition is a 2016 remastered version of the 2011 game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the fifth installment of The Elder Scrolls series. It was released for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 on October 28th, 2016. It was also later released for the Nintendo Switch on November 17th, 2017.

The Special Edition includes the critically acclaimed game and add-ons with all-new features like remastered art and effects, volumetric god rays, dynamic depth of field, screen-space reflections, and more. Skyrim Special Edition also brings the full power of mods to the PC and consoles. New quests, environments, characters, dialogue, armor. Oct 28, 2016 The Special Edition of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim provides players with a bunch of enhancements, tweaks, and features. Below is a list of new features that are found in the remastered version. As with the original Skyrim, Special Edition has a cap of 60 fps, though I get that 60 fps almost constantly on my GeForce GTX 980. Everywhere I go, whether running through the woods, riding.

Dovahkiin Revisited

As one of the most recommended games, perhaps of all time, you have probably played it. If you haven't, you probably at least understand what Skyrim and Elder Scrolls are all about. If none of this makes sense to you as a self-proclaimed gamer - I suggest you take your head out the rock it's under and play this game immediately.

Here we'll focus on not Skyrim - but what Skyrim: Special Edition offers in contrast to its original. The bottom line is not much - other than a more fluid experience for new players and those who fell in love with the game. There are some graphical improvements to 64-bit colors, models look sharper, and the land itself feels more realistic.

Those who have spent thousands of hours on the game and understand every minor blemish will enjoy the fact that developers have responded to their outcries. Trivial annoyances and nuances have been fixed in favor of offering more on top of the game. Some will feel it is just a better-looking repeat of Skyrim. Others will revel in its fluidity. Especially the modding community.

Older mods may no longer work - but developers have set the groundwork for better, future mods. Many enthusiasts have already gotten to work in recreating the entirety of Tamriel - with a 20-hour long 'expansion' named Beyond Skyrim: Bruma already released to a player recommendation. But apart from the above feats - not much has changed in the Northern Province. Just a bit of touch and repair here and there.

A Special Edition for a Special Game

There's no denying Skyrim is a magnificent game. The offering has seen universal acclaim for critics, with consistent ranking as one of the best games of all time. Skyrim: Special Edition feels like a developer's response to what players complained about on forums and social media. Not really much more than that.

It's hard to say that it's not worth getting - as those who already owned Skyrim got this game for free. If you are new to Skyrim - you'll likely be directed towards this edition - and yes, it's better than its original release. Comparatively to other RPG special editions like Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning - there are barely noticeable differences. But this improves on an already near-perfect game - and it's there for the taking.

Pros:

• Facilitates a path for amazing mods for Skyrim
• Improves fine details on a magnificent game
• Adapted to the current generation of consoles

Cons:

• Not much difference over the original besides tune-ups
• Older mods may not work with Skyrim: Special Edition

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition is a remastered version of Skyrim released in October 2016 and only available on PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Special Edition is 64-bit and built on an updated version of the Creation Engine that Bethesda Game Studios used for Fallout 4. The remastered game features high-resolution textures, upgraded graphic effects including new shaders and volumetric god rays, and dynamic field-depth. Skyrim VR is a version based on Special Edition but only supports virtual reality headsets.

Special Edition includes all three official add-ons, Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn. An in-game mod browser is introduced, allowing players to download approved mods from Bethesda.net. This support is extended to players of the console versions for the first time in the series, although PS4 players cannot use mods with custom-made assets. The Creation Club offers paid official add-on content exclusive to the Special Edition.

Special Edition has all the original Patches installed, and there is ongoing patch support with the Special Edition Patch. For updated system requirements, see the official specifications.

• 1Differences from Classic Skyrim
• 2Bug Fixes
• 3Compatibility with Classic Skyrim

Differences from Classic Skyrim[edit]

Gameplay[edit]

• Saved games are now categorized for each character and grouped and displayed separately on the main menu.
  • Saving the game in a cell that has an underscore in its EditorID will cause saved games to not be categorized correctly. No such cells are present by default, but may be added by mods.
• Pressing the Esc key on PC now always opens the Journal instead of the System menu, even if this button is not configured to do so.
• Torturer's Hoods are now marked as playable and can be obtained as loot from the Torturer and generic Thief NPCs. They could not be obtained or used in the original release.
• Reverting from Beast Form will automatically reequip the items you were wearing before transformation. In the original release, your character would always be naked after reverting.
• You can no longer see whether you are far away or not from your next skill point on the Vampire Lord skills screen and on the Werewolf skill screen.
• When being arrested and paying a bounty in Winterhold stolen items are now confiscated, though they end up in the evidence chest in Dawnstar.
• Sprinting is now a toggle instead of holding the key
• Vampire attacks on settlements, a feature introduced with Dawnguard, have been permanently disabled.
• Achievements and trophies are tracked separately for Special Edition and do not carry over from the original game.
  • Achievements and trophies are disabled when the Special Edition is loaded with mods on both PC and console. However, the use of console commands does not disable them. Mods had no effect on achievement progress on the original release.
• Steam trading card support has been removed.
• Kinect Command support has been removed. Although this feature was present on Xbox 360, it has not been carried over to Xbox One.
• Certain locations such as the Ancestor Glade contain far more harvestable plants.
• Many new spawn points have been added where rabbits may appear. These rabbits will be replaced by hostile Bonewolves^CC or Zombies^CC if you have either the Bone Wolf or Plague of the Dead Creations installed, respectively.

Engine[edit]

• Skyrim Special Edition is 64-bit and has been updated to use DirectX 11, giving superior stability and performance compared to the original release. The game can utilize more than 4GB of memory without need for modifications.
• Havok physics and animations have been updated to 64-bit and use a different format to the original release
• Meshes use a different format to the original release
• Special Edition has a native option for borderless windowed mode in launcher settings.
• The game can support vastly more actors on-screen than the original release.
• Alt-Tab performs smoothly with the game and does not cause the visual issues that could occur in the original release.
• Loading screens are now 60 FPS.
• New engine and scripting functionality has been introduced to accommodate Creation Club content.
• A message of the day appears on the main menu advertising Creation Club content (introduced in Patch 1.5).

Graphics[edit]

• Volumetric god-rays have been added
• Screen space ambient occlusion (SSAO) is now supported.
• Rain and snow occlusion is now supported, and is an optional visual setting.
• Flow-based water shaders have been added and enabled for all bodies of water.
• Temporal anti-aliasing support (TSAA) has been added as an alternative visual option to Fast Approximate Anti-Aliasing (FXAA).
• Shadows now display in full resolution, no longer appear blocky or striped, and move smoothly instead of in increments.
• Trees and flora are in higher-resolution.
• The exterior worldspace features vastly more detail, e.g. extra grass, rocks and flora.
• Character generation now morphs between face archetypes instead of abruptly changing.
• A subtle sun flare effect has been added to light sources.
• Special Edition has warmer and more colorful visuals compared to the original release.

Audio[edit]

* Audio is severely compressed and consequently much lower quality than in the original release. This has been quickly fixed in the first update patch for Skyrim: Special Edition. Audio quality is now the same as in the original release.

Mods[edit]

• Special Edition introduces an in-game mod browser via Bethesda.net. The mod menu, displaying load order and allowing mods to be enabled or disabled, is now accessed from an in-game menu. The launcher mod menu has been removed.
  • Mods can be enabled and disabled at any time in-game, though the game will immediately reload all assets.
  • Console version players may download approved mods for the first time, though they must have an account at Bethesda.net.
    • PS4 support is limited and only allows the use of mods utilizing assets already included within the game. Custom assets are not permitted.
    • Xbox One users are limited to using up to 5GB of mods.
• Steam Workshop support has been removed in favor of using Bethesda.net.
• Creation Kit has been updated to 64-bit. The original Creation Kit is not compatible with Special Edition.
• Special Edition ESM and ESP plugins use a slightly different format to the original release. Plugins for the original release need to be updated in Creation Kit 64-bit to work correctly with Special Edition, and assets and archives must be updated to the new formats.
• The ESL format has been introduced for Special Edition with Patch 1.5. It is primarily used for Creation Club content, but can be used for custom mods as well. ESL files do not count towards the 255 plugin limit but do have other limitations.
• A lot of Creation Club content is implemented into the base game at some level, enabling modders to take advantage of certain new scripts and assets. An example of this is the root tunnel tileset from Saints & Seducers, which was added to the base game as a modder's resource.
  • As a result of this, some Creation Club-exclusive items can be obtained via console commands without actually owning or installing the relevant Creation. Examples of this are Rot Scale, Screaming Maw, and Thorn Hook.

Bug Fixes[edit]

Several issues from the original release of Skyrim and Dawnguard have been fixed for Special Edition.

Skyrim[edit]

• Fires no longer display a thin black line around them (issue originally introduced with Classic Patch 1.6).
• NPC lip movement is no longer desynchronized with their dialogue.
• Z-fighting issues on mountains in Whiterun Hold have been resolved.
• The Glass Helmet of Resurgence is now properly named and no longer mistakenly called 'Glass Armor of Resurgence'.
• 21 trees and shrubs have had their 3D positions corrected.
• Some textures that had visual issues have been fixed.

Dawnguard[edit]

• The boats at Icewater Jetty no longer overlap.
• Dawnguard.esm no longer strips A Daedra's Best Friend quest of most of its script properties.
• Wolf howl sounds can be heard again (fixed in Patch 1.5.39.)

Creation Kit 64-bit[edit]

• Argonians are now properly displayed in the Creation Kit instead of appearing as disembodied tongues and eyes.

Does This Include All DLC? :: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim ...

Compatibility with Classic Skyrim[edit]

Skyrim VR— A Virtual Reality Version Of The Special Edition

Save files[edit]

PC players can use unmodified save files from the original game by copying or moving the save file from the Skyrim user folder to the Skyrim Special Edition user folder. Some modded save games may function on Special Edition if all of its mod dependencies are present. If a 'This save relies on content that is no longer present' warning is displayed when loading a modded save from Skyrim on Special Edition, then that save must not be used at all and may crash the game upon attempting to load.

Characters from ported save files will not be displayed separately on the main load menu. This can be fixed by opening the console, typing the command showracemenu and then immediately saving changes.

Skyrim Special Edition Script Extender

Save files from Special Edition cannot be used at all in the classic version of the game.

Mods[edit]

Achievements are disabled when using mods. A warning will be displayed when loading a save with ESP plugins enabled, and future save files will be prefixed with [M] to denote it as a modded save file.

ESP and ESM files for Special Edition are not compatible with the original release. The game will not launch if a Special Edition plugin or BSA archive is in the Data folder. ESL files are ignored by the classic version of the game as it does not support the format.

Mods for the original release must be updated to function correctly on Special Edition, otherwise they may crash the game. Mods that edit exterior cells with water in them will also need to include additional water flow information to support the new shaders, otherwise water will not be displayed correctly.

Notes[edit]

Skyrim Special Edition

• The add-ons Fall of the Space Core, Vol 1 and High Resolution Texture Pack are not officially available for Special Edition as Bethesda has not ported them.
  • The High Resolution Texture Pack is obsolete as the game comes packaged with higher-quality textures by default.
• Flow-based water shaders and screen space ambient occlusion were originally developed as part of the Game Jam.

Skyrim Special Edition Mods

Bugs[edit]

• Creep Clusters are misaligned when grown in a plot of Fertile Soil, making it very difficult to harvest them. See this page for tips.

See Also[edit]

• Skyrim VR — a virtual reality version of the Special Edition