I can't figure out how this game works

Remove all ads!

Ugh. This game makes no sense. I can't play for more than 5 minutes without getting stuck. I'm still wandering around what seems to be the keep after jumping out the window in the opening scene. The quest log says to find the keep and a way to escape. The map says I'm in the keep. There's nothing to do there, no one in there, and no instructions. My hands are tied, so I'm guessing I need to fix that, but I have no idea how. I can't even figure out what objects can be manipulated or how to interact with them. I've tried both the PC and XBox versions and have had the same experience in both. What's the deal? Where can I find a "Complete Idiot's Guide to Skyrim"?

 

Once you are in the keep you need to head towards the basement. One of the bodies from the initial fight with the guards has a key that you can use to go through most of the doors. You'll eventually end up in some caves that lead you out of the keep. If you can't figure it out from that description, I planned on re-installing tonight anyhow so I can make a quick vid of it while I am doing it with my character.

 

thanks

Thanks -- I think the map was the problem. I wasn't in the keep, even though the icon on the local map indicated that I had reached my quest destination. I eventually gave up and restarted. I guess maybe I didn't land in the right spot when I jumped the first ten or twelve times.

Also, I'm really disliking the RTS instead of turn-based thing. Is there any way to get it to pause during combat so I can target and select an action? And can I change the keyboard assignments? How about moving the camera to the cursors instead of the mouse? My friends keep telling me it's got a great story and a huge world. But I'm finding it nearly unplayable. I'm just not that coordinated on the controls.

 

No way to pause. You can map keys on the keyboard to turn with IIRC.

Sounds like you are trying to get out of the first building you run into after the dragon starts tearing the place apart....there's a broken wall that you have to jump out of into the 2nd story of a burning building.

This vid goes through getting past the dragon attack.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsmsmNBPUO4

 

Yeah let that video help and there should be a guy that is yelling at you what about what you should do. So turn on the audio if you have it off for some reason.

 

While the game can be paused at any time to select a different weapon, spell, etc., there's no way you can pause it to assign an action. That said, the keyboard assignments can be changed to anything you like under the "Controls" option in the game menu.

The reason you cannot interact with any objects in the early game is because your hands are bound. Once you get them untied, you'll be able to open chests, wield a weapon and interact with the world.

 

Worse yet, it could be that you got hit by the same bug that has caused me to stop playing with my current computer: The game notices that there's "too much stuff" going on and decides to skip loading some game elements.

Game-breaking hilarity ensues when the element that failed to load is a quest script trigger and/or a quest NPC you're supposed to meet. In the very annoying but manageable category would be missing doors, cave entrances or your own summons.

 

Thanks everyone

Thanks for all the tips and info. Since I last posted, I got hit with the flu -- so I've been able to spend quite a bit of time playing. I've got it figured out sufficiently that I can generally play the game.

But I still suck on the controls when it comes to combat. I hit my follower probably 25% of the time, and spell casting is a joke (I don't even bother). I also find it silly that I can pause during combat long enough to eat an entire horse and a small farm worth of vegetables, but not long enough to pick my next target.

I guess I'll keep going since there aren't any new D&D based RPGs out. But I *strongly* dislike the RTS approach, and I'm definitely not a fan of Skyrim's no-class/no-stats system.

 

I actually didn't mind the RTS aspect of the game - it's not like a FPS that gives your fast twitch muscles in your hand a workout, and even an old geezer like myself was able to keep up adequately with the speed - but it is definitely a different type of role-playing experience with no classes and no stats. Honestly, I feel that is an area where things could have been made better. It's one thing to put a system in place where any character can use any weapon, but some class-specific or stat-specific bonuses to certain types of weapons or equipment would have been nice. It's one of the few places where I feel to game did not live up to expectations. (Note - I love the game, and I definitely got my money's worth out of my purchase. I'm just old school where it comes to RPGs, and I like the class and stat systems, so this is nitpicky.)

 

When my character's ability to target an opponent or to pick a lock is entirely dependent on my (in)competence with the game controls, it feels a lot more like an FPS and very little like role-playing to me. I actually am getting quite a bit of a "fast twitch" workout from this thing. The mouse is the hardest part. I have a horrible time trying to get pointed in the right direction to hit opponents. Maybe if I had some kind of AI like my followers are using -- is there a mod for that?

 

Well, part of that is just the game design. I play on an XBox, and like it or not, the game was designed with console users, and not PC users in mind. Targeting and lockpicking are fairly easy with two control sticks. Especially locking picking - unless we're talking master level locks, I rarely need more than a couple of picks to get through.

 

Bombur, if you are playing Skyrim on PC I recommend a trackball in preference to a mouse. It definitely made targeting and looking around much easier...

 

Or just plug an Xbox controller into your PC.

 

Thanks, all. I use a trackman (thumb does the ball). I'm just not terribly good with it. But I'm far worse a mouse or normal trackball. And all our XBox controllers are wireless. Of course, I'm terrible at XBox games, too. The only ones I can survive are the Kinect games, since they don't use the controllers.

I've gotten a little better at Skyrim. But not much. Fortunately my follower now has more health and decent armor, so I rarely kill her. I still hit her plenty, though.

Lots of things I don't like, but I'm still playing. So, I guess there are more pros than cons.