Are All Bethesda Games Ports?

[Foxhound]

I feel dimwitted for asking this question, but have Bethesda's games always been console ports?

[raubrey]

Since Morrowind at least, if I recall correctly.

I think the https://youtu.be/QKn9yiLVlMM touches on the switch.

Then there is this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Bethesda_Softworks_video_games#List_of_video_games

[Foxhound]

Originally posted by raubrey:

Since Morrowind at least, if I recall correctly.

I think the https://youtu.be/QKn9yiLVlMM touches on the switch.

Then there is this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Bethesda_Softworks_video_games#List_of_video_games

Alright, thanks for letting me know. It's no wonder why they bug out over 60 fps and have limited graphic settings via the launcher. I hope they put an end to these ports to PC so the game is better optimized.

[Yhwach]

It's less of a port and more like they kit the game for all platforms and have to compensate for that, so they opt for a console interface so they don't have to change anything for pc.
For example, with New Vegas on the PS3, they disabled quite a lot of things with a script if it detected you were playing on one.

[SeriousCCIE]

really--so if someone were to have altered that script (or dare I say, mod) stuff would run differently? I imagine not everything would work. The PS3 by all accounts was tricky to develop for.

[Yhwach]

The PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, etc. are all locked down so they wouldn't really expect it to happen, but let's say you were able to change "values" for the game:

You could run the command console (But not be able to put anything in there unless you connect a keyboard) just to get an idea, since it's only just disabled by default on those platforms.

It's less of any development needed, and more like certain switches, if a certain platform is detected, are flipped off if it knows you're on the PS4 or Xbox One.

[Incunabulum]

Originally posted by Foxhound:

I feel dimwitted for asking this question, but have Bethesda's games always been console ports?

Since Morrowind. At the very least, definitely since Oblivion.

[Brandybuck]

You code for the lowest common denominator. That's just how it is. Now a console is just a PC with a fixed set of hardware, and a controller instead of a mouse and keyboard. So what everyone is gnashing their teeth over is not the lowest common denominator, but a UI that is geared more towards controllers than mouse and keyboards. This causes some people to absolutely lose their siht.

So yeah, for any software you want to develop for the most constrained platform. And for consoles that constraint is the controller. Remember how horrible the UI was for Morrowind on the controller? Yup, let's avoid that. People may call the Skyrim UI stupid, but it flipping works on every platform. As a UI designer, the SkyUI mod doesn't even fix the glaring problems, it just makes the UI more complicated.

[FauxFurry]

Originally posted by Brandybuck:

You code for the lowest common denominator. That's just how it is. Now a console is just a PC with a fixed set of hardware, and a controller instead of a mouse and keyboard. So what everyone is gnashing their teeth over is not the lowest common denominator, but a UI that is geared more towards controllers than mouse and keyboards. This causes some people to absolutely lose their siht.

So yeah, for any software you want to develop for the most constrained platform. And for consoles that constraint is the controller. Remember how horrible the UI was for Morrowind on the controller? Yup, let's avoid that. People may call the Skyrim UI stupid, but it flipping works on every platform. As a UI designer, the SkyUI mod doesn't even fix the glaring problems, it just makes the UI more complicated.

SkyUI isn't all bad but I did end up removing the Crafting Portion since it does completely ruin the material categories that every thing is normally categorized into.

[Jurassic Fart 1]

Originally posted by Foxhound:

It's no wonder why they bug out over 60 fps and have limited graphic settings via the launcher.

I'd hardly call the available display options in the launcher limited. I have played very few games that offer more in-game, and I've been PC gaming since 1984.

[tulle040657]

Morrowind was written for PC and ported to console. all games since then were written for console and ported to PC

[raubrey]

Originally posted by Foxhound:

Alright, thanks for letting me know. It's no wonder why they bug out over 60 fps and have limited graphic settings via the launcher. I hope they put an end to these ports to PC so the game is better optimized.

PC was only the master race because of modding and graphics, mostly. Oblivion was a nightmare to play with the UI but was such a breakout game -- truly amazing at the time -- we put up with it. It was worth it. The UI mostly improved from there out.

Today, now that PC gamers are dwindling and consoles improving even some of the crpgs (read: D&Dish-like isometric games) are being developed for console. For now, most are done on PC first but it has an impact on how games are developed. Some aren't too bad and rather decent, others, not so much.

Still, it's really something in an industry that wants $1000 for a GPU or $3-5K for a *top* gaming PC to get game not optimized for such.

One thing with Bethesda games though is that the world has much more interaction with it than most ARPGs, where graphics may be nicer but the world and NPCs are more static. Physics has always been an issue in Beth games but they are making progress. Given the scope of their world's it's not an easy job.

Morrowind was an amazing game but financially didn't do that well at first. I think the video I listed covers it a bit. Such the move to console.

I guess now we have to hope both groups don't get trashed on for phone games. :)