Hi everyone. Here’s a video to watch when you finally get a quiet moment away from family on this nice Christmas Day. I’ve always celebrated Christmas and not any of the other ones but I’m a big fan of rituals and agreed upon celebrations so all of them are cool in my book. Be safe and have a good new year and I’ll see you next week probably.
the way you describe ivarstead makes me want to see a "real estate agent of skyrim" series. just going to uninhabited houses around the world and rating its features for prospective buyers.
This needs to be upvoted for sure. I have binged almost everything on Austin's channel and this would fit perfectly with the 'unemployment rate' and the 'restaurant and bar reviews' series.
This feels like an incredible idea for this channel, yeah. Doesn't even strictly need to be uninhabited homes - he could go into ones where it isn't tresspassing and advise the owner of his assessment and recommended fixes and so on, a lot like the bar reviews.
OMG YES! I can just imagine it being a "Flipping Skyrim" style series, like something you would see on those home flipper shows, but set in Skyrim with that unique Austin spin. 😂@@MoonwalkSA
Theres a spot between the Rift and Eastmarch just off the path. There's a giant mourning his lost mamoth friend. I always take a moment to just stand there with him before moving on. The giant won't agro you and the two of you can stand there mourhing his friend together as long as you like.
I know exactly where that is. First time I saw it, it was raining. Took a screenshot as it was a very sad moment with the storm clouds blotting the daylight and the heavy rain pouring on us all. Very melancholic beauty.
I use to play DDO and there is a memorial shrine for Gary Gygax (sp?) in Delara's Graveyard. I always stopped and knelt in front of it and said a few words in thanks.
That house in Ivarstead used to belong to that guy walking around but it burned down. He is involved in 2 quests: the first one has you listen to his emotional story about losing everything, including a very important person in his life, recovering something from her corpse and bringing it back to him, causing him to have an emotional breakdown. The second one has you murder him in cold blood for the dark brotherhood. Happy new year!
I stealth him. The guilt irl is overwhelming, but it's the way the game goes with the dark brotherhood. I tried to justify it saying it'd get him to his sister. But na. It's kill for cash.
My peaceful alchemist merchant, Al'che'mia, turning violent as literally every 20 meters a pack of wolves attacks. 🤬 The Rift had a pack on every corner and spaced out along the roads. I literally spark up a monologue then not even three words in... Aaawwwwoooooooooo. 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 Al'che'mia is obviously a Khajiit so I guess it is my fault that I get attacked every twenty seconds like I am in ESO.
I love that you made this. When I was younger, I was a very angry person, and for anyone else who has ever had that experience, they know usually it cones from deep pain, insecurity, invalidation and sometimes trauma. I realized even as a teenager that I needed a mental state, like a "happy place" to go to, but "happy" felt too silly. I wanted a place where I could be nearly alone, in quiet, to be serene. The colder the better. After a little thought, I chose The Throat of the World, where Paarthunax lives. I respect Paarthurnax, but the cold mountaintop away from the rest of the world, where the snow drifts down so fine it looks like fog on the ground and everything is so far away, and the air is so cold it's like it's standing still, that's calming to me. It took me a long, long time to work on that anger, but that was the day I started, where I gave myself a safe place in my mind to go, and Skyrim was perfect for that. What is better, to be born good, or to overcome your nature? Maybe that Paarthurnax comment was why I picked that place. Anyway, this video speaks to that feeling, that potential.
The best thing to help me rediscover Skyrim was survival mode. It was exciting going shopping for basic supplies, preparing for the trip, eating and sleeping at inns when I had enough money, building a camp and just sitting on a little bench near my firepit for 5 minutes before going to sleep. It really helped me appreciate the landscapes, the cities and these little moments of calm at this new home I finally built from my own hands.
The Survival modes really do enhance the experience of Bethesda games. They really don’t fix everything and make it an amazing game but it certainly makes for a more unique experience. It improved Fallout 4 a lot for me as well. Surprised that Starfield didn’t drop with Survival right off the bat, which is extra weird because there is obviously husks of systems left behind that obviously were meant to have Survival elements but I guess Bethesda always likes to make sure their new games are underwhelming and thoroughly disliked first before they actually try doing anything about it.
I wish you could build settlements like Fallout 4, the scenery is so much better, and having wars and raids involving your settlement would make it so much more immersive.
@@burgbass Yeah why did they do that I wonder? Since we know they knew the valid criticisms Fallout 4, 76 and Skyrim, yet somehow they forgot about that and just made Oblivion remake in space.
I reckon the "lighthouse" is more of a beacon to warn ships not to approach because the water is shallow and they will get beached. If so, the fact we don't see any ships is a sign that it is in fact serving it's purpose.
But it IS situated right at the entrance to a harbor that houses the country's largest port. I really don't think that in-universe there aren't supposed to be any ships nearby.
But the ships are never sailing, ships in skyrim just kinda pop into existance or stay in one place for eternity. The lighthouse truly does need to face the absurd every single day
Dude I dont genuinely laugh that often but I kept cracking up throughout this video because of how candidly honest, bone dry and self aware your humor happens to be lmao
Hey Austin, regarding the part of the video where you were staring back at the island from the top of the lighthouse and had trouble deciding why it felt weird, I think the answer is that it forces you to think about the passage of time. In your head you can visualize the past "you" down on the little lump of ground, walking around staring at rocks, and even a layer deeper, you as a person, sitting in front of your TV playing skyrim, trying to decide what to say about that rock. When you looked up at the top of the lighthouse, you were unwittingly staring back at your future self, staring down, visualizing the past. Its so interesting that in a game with a calendar system and fully realized day and night cycle with weather patterns trying their absolute best to differentiate one in-game day from all the others, looking down at a rock where you were standing earlier is really what impresses the passage of time. It makes me recall your halo multiplayer map video where you said something along the lines of the maps being playgrounds that never change. A video focusing just on the details games use to try and define artificial time passage and how effective or uncanny they are, might be a good way to flesh out the topic.
I think this is very well put. Thanks for putting words on this strange feeling. On a similar note: I find it weird and very hard to reconcile the fact that places I've been to previously still exists when I'm not there. For example a flat I used to live in or that spot you went hiking to last summer. To think that these places exists right now in this moment, but you're not there makes feel very strange. I don't know if this makes any sense at all..
I was thinking that due to the fuzziness of the visuals from the lighthouse, it's easy to think that you are standing down on the little strip of ground staring back up at yourself. And maybe you were down there looking up at yourself. Something uncanny about if you exist in both places, due more to the brain not /knowing/ that you can't exist in two places at once, even though we consciously understand that concept.
One of my favorite liminal spaces is in Fallout 4 at the edge of the Glowing Sea. It's so starkly beautiful, quiet and intimidating and depending on where you enter you can get completely swallowed up by the sadness of the place and feel lost. There are parts of the Glowing Sea that are so purposefully alienating, where every visual clue tells you you're on the bottom of an ocean and not what once was probably Sherborn, Massachusetts, where radioactive spores float past you like they're carried on the tide and only the sound of the wind and the steady ticking of your Geiger counter (or sudden radscorpion ambush) reminding you where you are. I especially love moving out of the Glowing Sea to the south near Somerville Place, the ocean floor illusion gives way to menacing petrified trees that blend into a quiet rainy swamp. It feels like such a thoughtfully constructed liminal space designed to bring you from somewhere that feels alienating and contaminated into something familiar and natural.
expanding on the prayer bit in a more positive way- the lighthouse is sending a message but something unexpected is receiving it. it’s there to send a message to ships but it ends up messaging the player details of the world. what it intended and what it conveys ends up being totally different from each other, but nonetheless something sees it and takes something from its message. that’s not dissimilar to how prayer can comfort others or provide a sense of internal strength even if the purpose is to reach a god
Except that that's the actual reason the lighthouse was built. It was never intended to send a message to ships. It was built by the game developers to message the player details of the world.
@@carltheshivan yeah but i was jumping off the stuff mentioned in the video which treated it as if it could be independent from those developer intentions
One of the reasons I enjoy the house-building DLC is that it requires you to stay in a single location for an extended period of time, gathering materials, going to town for supplies, crafting. It gives a lot of opportunities to stop and absorb your surroundings. Ideally, you've also chosen a particular building site because you like how that location looks and feels.
That part about the lighthouse reminds me of the fact that there's no real economy in Skyrim. NPCs don't go out and buy stuff, stores never sell their wares or get new stock (without it magically appearing in their inventory). Only the player buys and sell stuff. The shops only exist to serve a singular purpose. They are not tied to the conventions or lore of Skyrim, they are only tied to the actions of the player.
@@deadboyo2773No what the comment actually mean is there no npc that actully buy stuff in *Game play* that also happen in oblivion and alot of game too But in lore or story of skyrim people talk about buy stuff in market all the time same as economy, Such as Black bair business And East empire company And merchants cargos that got destroyed all over skyrim I don't understand why it's such a big deal since most of newest game also not have this mechanic Just RP it out bro
Theres a mod for this! I forgot the name tho.. it makes the vendors sell their goods to bandits and you actually see your sold items on bandits sometimes. I think its called bandit economy mor or something.
I think the beauty of Skyrim is that you CAN just wander around and absorb the amazing atmosphere if you want to, but if not - there's plenty of action to be found around every corner. It can do both!
I like that there's plenty of action, but also relatively non-hostile. I love HZD or Elden Ring, and these games make it very challenging not to fast travel as they're mostly hostile and focus on a one-time experience - as in, you're supposed to go somewhere only once or it feels liminal
my friend was stunned when I mentioned I still haven't beaten the main Skyrim story. I just spend so much of my time wandering, happening upon random people or quests, and enjoying the atmosphere all the while. it's probably my ultimate comfort game (which is saying something as a lifelong harvest moon fan), when life gets tough my brain starts craving skyrim's quiet and ambience
@@rnightyaubs I put probably 100 hours into my first playthrough without completing the game lol. Totally agree, the world is just comforting to explore.
This video reminded me a lot of a game I loved called "INFRA". It's a game where you explore an abandoned part of a city, looking for structural flaws. It might seem boring, but for people who enjoy those moments of "quiet emptiness," it's pure pleasure. Also the world is very detailed for an indie game, with lots of Easter eggs to find.
I made a mod that makes almost all animals completely passive. Bears, wolves, sabrecats, mudcrabs, elk, rabbits, etc... It's actually easier to list the animals I deliberately left out of the mod. My dad retired a year or two ago and started playing Skyrim. To help him get a modded set up going, I would watch him play for a while, take notes of his complaints and issues, and later track down a mod that would fix it. Well, one of the things I was genuinely shocked by was how much time he spent fighting off animal attacks. On a simple walk from Riverwood to Whiterun or something, he'd be attacked like half a dozen times. He didn't mind, but I'd gotten so used to being able to walk right past a sleeping sabrecat that I forgot how often the game thrusts you into combat situations. I really appreciate my mod because it makes these quiet and peaceful moments much easier to find. You can enjoy the atmosphere of Skyrim much more when you're not fighting off a pack of wolves who popped in right when you were getting comfortable
I wish games in general made animals a lot more neutral. In real life, sure, animals can be dangerous but they also tend to be conflict-avoidant and skittish, even the predators, and yes, even the apex predators. Actively seeking out conflict is not a trait that evolves in animals because even a slight wound can lead to a deadly infection out in the wild. Animals in real life are dangerous only if they perceive you as a threat in some way. Animals in game are just hostile for the sake of being hostile.
@@thegamesforreal1673 yeah the way they emulate animal behavior is effectively giving every predator the temperament of a polar bear and every herbivore one of a rabbit it's very silly (especially considering the fact that irl large herbivores like elk, bison, moose, etc. are more likely to exhibit extremely territorial behavior)
I use to play a hunting game when I was like 8 called Hunting Unlimited 2008. Really fun. But I use to wonder the maps and you can find farms, houses, camps, occasional planes and vehicles. And every one of them I wanted to go into. I would try to drop what I was doing and go into the house, try to interact with the plane, fish on a solemn dock, drive the tractor and tend the fields, maybe even go inside one of the houses and talk to the people who live there. I would be so long trying to trick the game into letting me do these things. But I couldn't. I was in a hunting game. A lonely lonely hunting game with me and an assortment of animals. The saddest part was when I would find small roads and follow them. They would lead to the edge of the map. I would stand in the middle of that road on the edge of the map border. I would look as the road stretched far beyond what I could see. I would use my gun sights to look down the road and look for cars, lights, anything. But there was nothing. I wanted to go further, beyond the reaches of this game and it hurt my heart that I couldn't.
Old hunting games were amazing like that. Obscure/shovelware hunting games would have so many small details and seemingly abandoned places to explore for a game genre that doesn't strictly need it. The atmosphere, I swear.
I used to do the same thing. One of the first games I ever played was a similar game I forgot the name of. I would just ride around on the atv and explore. It's an odd feeling looking back and remembering how desolate the world was but seeing evidence of human life.
Honestly I've never related to a Skyrim video as much as I did with this. One time I was walking through the Pale on my way to Windhelm when I noticed the night sky above me. I dunno if it was part of vanilla Skyrim or just one of my mods but the aurora borealis was absolutely gorgeous, just vivid hues of green and blue. I stopped sprinting and just looked up at the sky. It was then I noticed the cloud textures on the snowy hills, the wind blowing, and the sort of crispy sound of the snow and trees creaking. And like you said, it almost brought a tear to my eye. I audibly whispered to myself "THIS is Skyrim".
Oh, and for those wondering, I didn't have a mod installed that decreased or negated random encounters. As a matter of fact, I have a mod downloaded that INCREASES the frequency of random encounters! And I'm pretty sure right after that anecdote I was attacked by Frost Spiders but the point is; quiet moments out in the open are not impossible, they just take some efforton the player's part. Let the quiet moment find you every once in a while, instead of the other way around.
For me, that "THIS is skyrim" moment was late in the main quest. I think I was on the throat of the world, I had just learned clear skies and I just looked off the mountain at the endless world below. The sky was pink and purple and just peaceful
Also, favourite way to relax is definitely through the following steps - fast travel to throat of the world, preferably at night - clear skies if it’s windy or cloudy - summon Durnehviir so he can fly around and enjoy the fresh and free air under his wings (I felt really bad for him) - enjoy the music and ambiance of the scene, chat to partysnaxx and repeat until feeling peaceful again
I've never had this experience in skyrim, but in oblivion. it was late, and I was in the aleswell inn, and the ambience kicked in that I actually slept from the background music. proper sleep as well, woke up 4 or 5 hours later. now that's peace and tranquility
What makes your “looking at things” videos so compelling is that the contemplation of these artificial spaces is inherently subversive to the purpose of the existence of the space. Taking solace in the quiet, mundane moments is like an escape within an escape. Skyrim is a vast world, where you are meant to be all powerful in a narrative crafted around you, yet the power is found in the sublime- the things that exist without you and remind you of your insignificance- vast seas and mountains- experiences that ground you. However, you are occasionally interrupted by inconsistencies such as not seeing boats or not needing to sleep. We are free in this fantasy, but the illusion is just that. It’s the straddling of that dichotomy that your videos explore- the real versus the simulacrum; meta engagement vs the immersive experience, revealing a matrix of life within art, and discovering our place within it all. (I’m just rambling and trying to make use of my philosophy degree 💀)
survival mode fixes the sleep, hunger, temperature inconsitency. You need to dress warm or stand next to a fire place to be able to enjoy the cold regions. No fast travel. It gives you more immersion.
I really enjoyed playing Skyrim (modded ofc) in the year of our lord 2023. The big change was that I decided to give the survival mode a try. Fast travel disabled, I had to take into consideration things like travel time and following the road so I don’t get lost. I’ve witnessed so many beautiful and tranquil vistas on the slow way from Whiterun to Ivarstead, riding up the mountain on a winding road, seeing a dragon soaring far, far away through the aurora in the reddish sunset. I got lost in a blizzard at night on the side of another mountain and was desperate to find some source of warmth so my character won’t freeze to death, found a burning shack and huddled next to a smouldering corpse to survive the night. It was a fresh new world. I experienced so many beautiful and tranquil moments.
I honestly got a bit choked up watching this video. Skyrim is something that my sister and I have shared since it came out. She passed in April, and it just hasn’t been the same since. The reflection and moments of comedy of this video just hit me the right way. Thanks for another great video on a hard day :’)
Skyrim was one of the games that me and my older brother really enjoyed together. Obviously we couldn't play at the same time, but I loved watching him play or asking him for pointers. He just passed a few weeks ago, so I've been trying to do things that keep him close to me, including playing skyrim. I'm sorry for your loss and I hope your healing is going as smoothly as it can
My first moments in Skyrim transcended the overall experience. I was young at a sleepover and my friend hands me a controller. I am informed that the guards (who I barely, if ever, saw) were after me for stealing. I was escaping Windhelm through the dark docks at night when I caught the briefest glimpse of a dragon before it blew ice, which filled the screen and killed me. When I picked up my own copy years later, that now-imaginary memory romanticized the actual game in question. I still put 2000+ hours in like everyone else as Skyrim quickly became my favorite game, but the liminality of waking up from someone else's nightmare made the game much darker and more vivid than any subsequent adventure in that engine.
my personal quiet and peaceful spot in Skyrim is on the upper level of Narzulbur Stronghold, in front of the entrance of Gloombound mine, overlooking the landscape beneath. Go there late at night, with clear skies and the auroras shining above. There's no place quite like it.
A few years back, I had to move to another country for work, this was a dry arid piece of land. But I grew up in a relatively wet and rainy place. One night while playing, it started raining in game, not a down pour just light rain. I looked for a quiet place in the game and just let it rain for as long as possible... This reminded me of my home town.
This is why I love virtual worlds. While yes, it is possible for them to get erased off of every server, hard drive, disc or cartridge on the planet, and while your methods of accessing them may be restricted at times, they are always familiar and unchanging
'Scrolls games live and die by those quiet moments where you've just emerged from a dungeon and are wandering through some dark foggy woods only to crest a hill and be met with a picturesque view of the twin moons illuminating the land as Jeremy Soule's elegiac music softly starts to play
A couple more quiet/surreal places to see, as a supplementary. The best tourist destinations are those less-traveled: 1. Go north of Ivarstead, astride the steep waterfalls leading out of town. Cross the shallow rapids between the first fall and the second when you find a troll cave to your right. Follow the faint unpaved trail northwest. It will lead to a mountain trail descending toward the main roads bordering Whiterun and Eastmarch. The overlooks are insane on this trail; where you can see the White river valley stretch all the way to the coast and Windhelm. 2. The main road north of Rorikstead. It crests at a point between two hills and sharply descends. On that crest you can see a wide vista. It feels like one of the steepest standard road descents in the game.
I always build a house by the lake north of Falkreath. I like to sit on the deck and watch the sun go down and see the colors fade out and the huge moon come up. Listening to the soft music and nature sounds. One of my favorite parts of Skyrim. I also like to walk around the northernmost shore. It is windswept and barren. It makes me feel the cold air.
Well, that is true. That is why I usually leave the kids in Whiterun with Lydia. Safer and less lonely for them. More kids to play with.@@qbertking1910
"I recommend that in any game that has the ability to just sit" - yes. I used to do this in skyrim, and I do this even more now that I'm an adult, in a lot of different games. Some of my best times in cyberpunk even are just riding around night city on my motorcycle, looking at all the pretty lights, or just finding an area just outside the city where I can watch it in all it's glory while I take a couple dabs and just chill.
I have a ton of gripes with 2077's gameplay and story stuff. But it is a fantastic-looking game, and it feels nice to just cruise around the city at 50mph or so, or just look at everything
I used to do that a lot in GTA San Andreas, I used to pick a bicycle and go really far away (the woods outside the city) then come back to CJ's house. I would spend hours just riding the bicycle.
I've never even played skyrim, but I had a pretty shitty christmas and this video helped me unwind. Thanks dude. Side note I love those channels that make hour+ long game / show ambience videos, nothing like falling asleep to the star trek Enterprise bridge ambience
If you think about it the lighthouse could guide you, the player, to shore, or wherever you were going, despite not being a boat. In fact that very lighthouse may have guided and/or touched/inspired millions of players across the world :)
Back in the 360 days (my early teens) I would always find myself playing Skyrim late into the night, just wandering and adventuring. These adventures would ALWAYS somehow end up in the frozen northern coast amongst all the icebergs and glaciers. I could've been doing quests down in the Reach but inevitably I would always wander up north to those glaciers. It's been a long time since then, but I still think about that every time Skyrim is mentioned
I genuinely love the atmosphere in Skyrim. I remember when I first downloaded a camping mod....I was obsessed with camping in random places in the middle of the wilderness. Nothing but the soundtrack and the ambient sounds surrounding me. Skyrim can be really meditative, it all depends on how you choose to play it.
My favorite spot is the Falmer camp at the end of the Forgotten Vale, underneath the Monastery. The ambience, music and snow aesthetic is criminally underated
I couldn't say I have a favorite single spot in this game to stand around..... usually my most contemplative moments are in the negative space after a dungeon, or during the relatively slow on foot traversal. Climbing a mountain, even in it's silly kinda janky way in this game, still provides mental air for the player to breathe as you go between things.
I love the college because of how cozy it feels. Like it feels like people should be outside but the cold is keeping them in. Reminds me of visiting friends during winter break and we’d walk around the empty campus grounds.
I think that is on its own a "good" thing to make your game available everywhere. I think people's main problem is that Bethesda has made doing this its ONLY action of note, as opposed to, well, releasing new quality titles.
In Fallout 4, I love to build a pier out from Nordhagen Beach or Spectacle Island and just have a little chair with a lantern, looking out onto Boston Harbour and the city lights. That feels a bit like this.
i was 6 years old when skyrim came out. i’m 18 now and still obsessed with it. it’s my most played game ever. i can play it over and over again and still feel the magic. i started playing survival mode and at first i hated no fast travel but then as i started playing it, i found so many random interactions and encounters i never got before because i just fast traveled a lot. now i actually look around at everything and i explore a lot more playing survival mode. the music, the sky design, the god rays, i just love traveling horseback all across skyrim now. traveling up all the roads and mountains and exploring even more of my favorite game. slowing down, i feel like i’ve enjoyed the game even more now.
Damn, 6 years old when Skyrim released must be a trip. I was literally 13 years old when this game came out and even nowadays I notice things I never saw or done in all my years playing
I totally get that "standing here and looking at the place I was just standing" thing in games. It trips me out in a way that I can't really describe, like whole different perspectives are actually there in this simulated world. It's also there in large scale multiplayer games but in a different way, like in ESO looking down at an area that's densely populated with players. Very weird. Thanks for making this video, I always went into this weird meta-aware zone or kind of opposite of meta zone playing games as a kid, particularly open world games and it's interesting to see someone sees them the same way.
I really enjoy the fishing content added by the Anniversary edition. The fishing spots are often quiet and beautiful. It’s easy to relax and zone out a little while fishing for those magic rings. Traveling to each fishing spot and discovering new ones made me think differently about exploration.
I wonder how many people stood on that rock gravel island mound. You may of been the first to admire it's gravely gravel rocks and it's stick. It is a nice stick, a feature of the island mound thing for sure. I will go and stand there and contemplate about lighthouses. Standing man.
god, your videos are always so lovely. just a cozy, contemplative type of energy with just the right amount of comedy sprinkled in. great work, as always!
This video is single-handedly responsible for me diving back into my obsession with Skyrim I just know it. Thanks for providing the inspo for me to play again!!
I feel like that this effect is 10x stronger in SkyrimVR. I love it so much, at the end of an exhausting play session I often just lay down on my bed and watch the stars and passing clouds and just take in the ambience and music. It really made me appreciate all the little areas like this.
5:00 Regarding sitting, I find Inigo to be great for this. There are certain conversations you can only hold with him while one or both of you are sitting down and in a safe area. Probably other mods that do this too- but then that's not the base game I guess
I BEG ANYBODY if you like scenery like this my favorite is using the emerald paragon in the forgotten vale (and the forgotten vale in general) and walk to the end of the waterfall. The beautiful sky is in all its splendor, you can see the temple balcony and the icy mountains in the distance, the sound of water and snow. I would stay in there all my life if I could.
I used to roleplay being a town drunkard and hanging out with the bums of the cities back in my youth. Sometimes I wish I've had that much time on my hand these days.
The music in Skyrim is such a special one. It really feels like a lot of time and arrangement went into it. Immediately recognized Narfis destroyed house from the quest he gives and the Brotherhood quest. The ship is either the Brinehammer or the Strident Squall. Probably the latter, because of the Red Mountain. Using the Clear Skies shout is a very simple way to get the northern lights :)
I actually love skyrim ambience videos. It's like having sounds of nature play in the background, but it's the sounds of a fantasy world that I love very much
my favorite part of skyrim was always looking into the distance, seeing the beautiful scenery, and saying hey i want to go there! and i would run there and look back down the mountain or slope or whatever and that feeling of exploration was such a high lmao. i don't think any other game has ever encapsulated that feeling of complete freedom of traversal and exploration
It's been awhile since I played, but from memory, these are some of my favourite liminal spaces in Skyrim; The little rocky pass to the west of Harmugstahl. There's a noble who pases through there from time to time, but he doesn't have much to say. The path wraps around and connects in a way that you can see the rest of the path below/above you, which I really like. The icy areas towards the North-East edge of the map. Not really anything out there aside from a few Horkers, but you can kinda travel between the ice and just get lost for a bit between the chasms. The little path that wraps around Forelhost. It's one of the few areas in The Rift where you can't see the capital city. There are a few frostbite spiders there which attack randomly, but otherwise it's just a nicely forested area with nothing of note. It might be getting a bit more attention now as it's near the entrance to Fort Dawnguard, but back when the game first launched, it was quite peaceful. It's also just my favourite hold in the game, overall, and near Bear's Shrine, which is one of my favourite mods to this day. The path leading to Helgen's West gate. Approaching from the East will lead you down the game's starting path, which many players are well familiar with, and coming from the North will have you going back through the game's starting area from Riverwood, but going East from Falkreath once again presents you with a path where there really isn't anything going on. Then, when you finally reach the gate, it dawns on you where you are in a sort of awesomeness sets in. Slightly South of one of the Dwemer ruins (I think Alftand) is a little outcropping with a chest in the snow. The location's memorable for me because this is where I first ran into the Ebony knight, but the location itself is quite peculiar looking back on it. The swamps above Morthal. This is quite a small area, but it's got a unique presence in the game. Not a whole lot of swamps to be found in Skyrim, and if your first experience with it is walking out of the abandoned shack during the Dark Brotherhood quest and trying to find your way back to civilisation, it can be pretty cool. Clearpine pond's also quite nice, but it's a named location, so I don't really count it.
I absolutely love these videos. You could almost make an endless video with Minecraft. It hits different because it's a randomly generated landscape but when you find a realistic landscape it hits a weird uncanny valley feeling.
The lighthouse is a great place to just hang out. It reminds me of places I've been, just hanging out somewhere next to a fire, taking in the environment with nothing really going on. Paying close attention to the rocks, listening to the water, feeling time. Good stuff.
I think in the mentioned video the guy meant more that the world has no realistic size, thus everything is very close together and thus if you're walking around you're constantly run into things. Of course if you stand around somewhere there can be quiet moments, but it's hard to aimlessly wander for a while before the game runs you into a dungeon or enemies or some kind of landmark
not really about map size, it's that the devs very deliberately avoided having any organic emptiness; look at a filled out map, it's a near uniform distribution of POIs. Skyrim forces a rote stream of content onto you that leaves the world feeling contrived, and the experience lacking tranquillity.
Sometimes it’s actually more peaceful seeing places like this for me. Coming across a town or cave and imagining the people who live their lives within
Not the content I knew I needed, thank you sir. It's really something special to all come together and appreciate the same imperfect thing. May you walk on warm sands friend
I believe that the feeling you are looking to express has no word to describe it (and maybe it's better this way). I take it like a way of a reminder of the peaceful and relaxing the absurd of existence can be.
I played the opening of Skyrim for the first time recently. I didn't even realize it was having me choose a faction until after I followed the Imperial, and the Stormcloak guy yelled at me. I was like, "welp, guess I'm a bad guy now." 😅 I liked the Imperial guy better anyway, but I assume he was only nice to me because I was Nord.
Both sides have their pros and cons imo, but whether you think there's a set bad side depends on your own political leanings. But the choice isn't set, don't worry. You can swap later if you like - even if you've started fighting for the Imperials, you can betray them.
@@silvergodofice5039 Yeah it just kind of gives you a light flavor trajectory. But I changed my faction opinion several times throughout the game and then ended up as a filthy middle-of-the-roader, so you're never really locked in to anything. You can literally be the head of every guild and undo becoming a vampire, Skyrim will never lock you into everything too early. Except carrying a single item around for the rest of eternity because it was bugged to a quest in the early days of release.
There's a road out in the Rift near Treva's Watch where the road is just straight ahead, and it's lined by the autumn colors of the trees, plants and bushes. It's always one of my highlights whenever I take the road towards Riften or Ivarstead.
For anyone with access to mods, would highly recommend survival mods like Campfire, Frostfall, and Last Seed. Those mods seriously made me appreciate the quiet moments in the game. Spending the time to set up a camp and sit around the fire with your companions is just so lovely
I don't know if you'd be interested in a puzzle game, but I think the talos principle (especially 1 but also 2) have some great moments for standing somewhere and just contemplating a really beautiful but uncanny environment, and how in the first game how that's even justified within the lore. I really love that game
That feeling of seeing where you were standing earlier I think is a form of existential dread. Like that person who you were when you were standing there is gone now, they aren't there anymore, and that moment will never be again.
This was really nice and meditative. And you're right, I think the reason Skyrim is so immersive is the way you can ground yourself in that reality despite it just being a video game. I would love to walk around Skyrim some more with you :^) Please make more videos like this
people have started properly recording 2-3hrs of chill gameplay or ambience and getting dedicated fan bases for it, because it's a tight niche, who does it right just get's the winning seat almost right away. I'm glad that these days we have it more with out most favorite games ever, we're also talking more about this vibe subject of games and their experience. If you're a person that thinks they can make reflective gameplay and vids - do it! I think Austin called it boring because of his chill vibe, but a lot of us have that soft spot in our hearts need more content like that
You bring such a special and unique appreciation to mindfulness in video games. I just wanted to say that, I really love your videos man. Especially in an age where it feels like everything is constantly vying for your attention, wanting you to move on to the next thing as quickly as possible. It's important to reinforce just how much value there is in taking things slow and appreciating the world around us and how it makes us feel. Going for walks is my favorite method of meditation for that same reason, and if you ever did some sort of "Odd and Unremarkable Places IRL" type video, it'd probably be my favorite thing you've made lol. Merry Christmas
I totally feel you, man. I have always travelled by foot everywhere in Skyrim, just enjoying the views, the sounds, the music. The feelings and emotions it can evoke are just unbelievable. I can recommend you using mods like Frostfall, stronger wind mod, better weather mod, Campfire and iNeeds Mod. This mix, for me, creates an incredible mix of ambience, evokes many thoughts, and lets you get mentally rested. I am so happy you've created this video, I'm delighted to know there are other people who also feel it similar way I do about the game's insane philosophical, calming, thought-provoking views. ❤
Merry Christmas! I click on your videos the moment I see them. Your Riften unemployment rate video is my all-time favorite. Your commentary on games hits the nail right on the head. I spent my formative years exploring every inch of the few games that I had, and I used to think about them just like you do. Video games are so special in the way that they unite us. Keep up the good work!
I’m really glad this channel rebounded in the last year and change. I’ve been around since the Eggbuster days and have always considered you a great creator. Hoping for you continued success in the coming year!
This game had amazing atmosphere. Gazing up at the stars, looking at the aurora, getting out of a blizzard into a warm inn... one of the greatest ambient soundtracks of all time.
13:10 I know that wonderful feeling or atleast something that comes close to it. Games let you explore many different places and often I take the opportunity to look back at places I previously visited far in the distance. The best example I can give is in Dark Souls 3 when the player holds up the banner to travel to the Undead Settlement. The game shows this amazing view of future levels that the player will explore. This feeling makes the world believable, alive, Immersive. The best games have worldbuilding that connect in a way that makes sense.
I've been playing Skyrim VR lately and man. These places hit fuckin different that way. I've been playing Skyrim my entire adult life (not like, all in one go, but you know) but this is the first time I have truly appreciated Skyrim's environments. The sheer scale of some locations is really something you just don't realise in 2D. And you definitely do sit. When you've been on your feet for three hours running across the icy wastes, flailing your arms and stooping down to crouch walk, you will want to rest. You'll look forward to reaching the inn and sitting by the fire. You'll sit on the edge of a bridge watching the river, eating salmon steak, because you're invested enough you started roleplaying meal breaks. It genuinely is on another level.
Your content is amazing! I'm so glad I found you. The way I found your channel was being linked your recent video on Assassin's Creed 1 ( one of my favourite games ever) and it really struck a chord with me. You deserve many more subscribers my friend. Thank you for posting this video on Christmas for me and others to appreciate in our quiet moments of reflection.
The magic of Skyrim is all the detail put into every interaction and scene, whether you’re playing along a quest line or taking a break from the action, there’s always something to admire. There’s a charm to the quiet places that makes even the downtime of the game seem refreshing. Skyrim has become a comfort game to me, especially as someone who enjoys the Skyrim ambience RUclips channels
wonderful video as always austin! it's my birthday and i'm taking a quiet moment to relax for myself in the middle of the christmas chaos and this was a perfect watch :)
Hi everyone. Here’s a video to watch when you finally get a quiet moment away from family on this nice Christmas Day. I’ve always celebrated Christmas and not any of the other ones but I’m a big fan of rituals and agreed upon celebrations so all of them are cool in my book.
Be safe and have a good new year and I’ll see you next week probably.
Merry Christmas!!!
Happy Honda days ❤💚
Happy days of holly, fellow mellow person :p
"Rituals and agreed upon celebrations" is my new favorite way to describe modern holidays lmao
thank you for crimus video
the way you describe ivarstead makes me want to see a "real estate agent of skyrim" series. just going to uninhabited houses around the world and rating its features for prospective buyers.
This needs to be upvoted for sure. I have binged almost everything on Austin's channel and this would fit perfectly with the 'unemployment rate' and the 'restaurant and bar reviews' series.
This feels like an incredible idea for this channel, yeah. Doesn't even strictly need to be uninhabited homes - he could go into ones where it isn't tresspassing and advise the owner of his assessment and recommended fixes and so on, a lot like the bar reviews.
OMG YES! I can just imagine it being a "Flipping Skyrim" style series, like something you would see on those home flipper shows, but set in Skyrim with that unique Austin spin. 😂@@MoonwalkSA
Are you familiar with the channel Cor Canish?
ruclips.net/video/7r1jUZLYOcc/видео.htmlsi=SNHju47dZRCgKxTn
Does this guy count😂
Theres a spot between the Rift and Eastmarch just off the path. There's a giant mourning his lost mamoth friend. I always take a moment to just stand there with him before moving on. The giant won't agro you and the two of you can stand there mourhing his friend together as long as you like.
Wow. I just googled it. This is entirely new to me even after 10 jears of playing. Really cool.
I know exactly where that is. First time I saw it, it was raining. Took a screenshot as it was a very sad moment with the storm clouds blotting the daylight and the heavy rain pouring on us all. Very melancholic beauty.
I use to play DDO and there is a memorial shrine for Gary Gygax (sp?) in Delara's Graveyard. I always stopped and knelt in front of it and said a few words in thanks.
That's very sweet
Damn I feel like I might have killed him already. Feel bad now. But maybe he respawn lmao
Feeling bad for a digital lighthouse is a new Christmas tradition.
If you put the lighthouse out, a ship does come and gets shipwrecked 😢
@@hallamhal Well aint that about a b-
@@hallamhalthat's so funny. no boats come until you put out the light
@@hallamhalYeah isn’t that a quest you can get in Solitude?
"Where should we go be quiet next?" is such an underrated question and I wish more people asked that
I cannot tell you how many times I came out of the college of Winterhold only to be greeted with battle music and an Ice Dragon.
Came to the comments looking for this. Basically the first thing I think of whenever I'm at the college yard
Fortunately, the College Mages tend to rapidly prove why everybody around is very happy they keep to themselves :D
So many dragons attack winterhold why?
@@Jcornman24they were the reason winterhold fell into the ocean all along. I blame delphine
@Jcornman24 because bethesda bad
That house in Ivarstead used to belong to that guy walking around but it burned down. He is involved in 2 quests: the first one has you listen to his emotional story about losing everything, including a very important person in his life, recovering something from her corpse and bringing it back to him, causing him to have an emotional breakdown. The second one has you murder him in cold blood for the dark brotherhood.
Happy new year!
poor Narfi 😅
I stealth him. The guilt irl is overwhelming, but it's the way the game goes with the dark brotherhood.
I tried to justify it saying it'd get him to his sister. But na. It's kill for cash.
@@spacecat3198 2 hander to the head even on a mage playthrough babyyy
I usually just slip some generic lingering poison in his pocket and quickly Sonic the Hedgehog away so I don't have to see him go.
I subscribe to the fan theory that whoever put the hit out on Narfi did it out of mercy, but couldn't do the deed themself.
I've actually tried to find a peaceful place to sit and enjoy the ambiance, and about 5 minutes into chilling a pack of wolves had to ruin it
Sir Todd has decreed that you shall not rest
cap?
Damn thats impressive realism
Not five minutes after reading this, wolves attacked my house lmao
My peaceful alchemist merchant, Al'che'mia, turning violent as literally every 20 meters a pack of wolves attacks. 🤬
The Rift had a pack on every corner and spaced out along the roads. I literally spark up a monologue then not even three words in... Aaawwwwoooooooooo. 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
Al'che'mia is obviously a Khajiit so I guess it is my fault that I get attacked every twenty seconds like I am in ESO.
I love that you made this. When I was younger, I was a very angry person, and for anyone else who has ever had that experience, they know usually it cones from deep pain, insecurity, invalidation and sometimes trauma. I realized even as a teenager that I needed a mental state, like a "happy place" to go to, but "happy" felt too silly. I wanted a place where I could be nearly alone, in quiet, to be serene. The colder the better. After a little thought, I chose The Throat of the World, where Paarthunax lives. I respect Paarthurnax, but the cold mountaintop away from the rest of the world, where the snow drifts down so fine it looks like fog on the ground and everything is so far away, and the air is so cold it's like it's standing still, that's calming to me. It took me a long, long time to work on that anger, but that was the day I started, where I gave myself a safe place in my mind to go, and Skyrim was perfect for that. What is better, to be born good, or to overcome your nature? Maybe that Paarthurnax comment was why I picked that place. Anyway, this video speaks to that feeling, that potential.
That line from Paathurnax was transformative for me as well. He always felt like an older brother to me which I didn't have.
Thats incredeble. I can really sea why it speaks to you.
Yo dog nobody is reading this
@@castfive4038it has been read. A good read, do recommend!
@@castfive4038this is absolutely the type of comment this community will read
The best thing to help me rediscover Skyrim was survival mode. It was exciting going shopping for basic supplies, preparing for the trip, eating and sleeping at inns when I had enough money, building a camp and just sitting on a little bench near my firepit for 5 minutes before going to sleep. It really helped me appreciate the landscapes, the cities and these little moments of calm at this new home I finally built from my own hands.
The Survival modes really do enhance the experience of Bethesda games. They really don’t fix everything and make it an amazing game but it certainly makes for a more unique experience. It improved Fallout 4 a lot for me as well.
Surprised that Starfield didn’t drop with Survival right off the bat, which is extra weird because there is obviously husks of systems left behind that obviously were meant to have Survival elements but I guess Bethesda always likes to make sure their new games are underwhelming and thoroughly disliked first before they actually try doing anything about it.
I wish you could build settlements like Fallout 4, the scenery is so much better, and having wars and raids involving your settlement would make it so much more immersive.
The actual need for food improves the game drastically
@@burgbass Yeah why did they do that I wonder?
Since we know they knew the valid criticisms Fallout 4, 76 and Skyrim,
yet somehow they forgot about that and just made Oblivion remake in space.
@@dinobro4273 prolly time and resource constraints.
Jeremy Soule's music seals Skyrim as an atmospheric classic.
his music is really incredible and enduring. unfortunate that the man himself is genuinely monstrous
@@tsvtsvtsv The accusations have never been proven to be true.
Agree, the embiance is so great
@@tsvtsvtsvlast time I checked we live in a society where you’re innocent until proven guilty
@@tsvtsvtsv He did something wrong?
I reckon the "lighthouse" is more of a beacon to warn ships not to approach because the water is shallow and they will get beached. If so, the fact we don't see any ships is a sign that it is in fact serving it's purpose.
But it IS situated right at the entrance to a harbor that houses the country's largest port. I really don't think that in-universe there aren't supposed to be any ships nearby.
Not to mention the fact that the Dark Brotherhood questline has you kill the Emperor on a ship that sails right into the bay
Not to mention the fact that there is a quest where you have to put out the fire in order to beach a ship
That's (a big part of) what a lighthouse is for
But the ships are never sailing, ships in skyrim just kinda pop into existance or stay in one place for eternity. The lighthouse truly does need to face the absurd every single day
Dude I dont genuinely laugh that often but I kept cracking up throughout this video because of how candidly honest, bone dry and self aware your humor happens to be lmao
Hey Austin, regarding the part of the video where you were staring back at the island from the top of the lighthouse and had trouble deciding why it felt weird, I think the answer is that it forces you to think about the passage of time. In your head you can visualize the past "you" down on the little lump of ground, walking around staring at rocks, and even a layer deeper, you as a person, sitting in front of your TV playing skyrim, trying to decide what to say about that rock. When you looked up at the top of the lighthouse, you were unwittingly staring back at your future self, staring down, visualizing the past. Its so interesting that in a game with a calendar system and fully realized day and night cycle with weather patterns trying their absolute best to differentiate one in-game day from all the others, looking down at a rock where you were standing earlier is really what impresses the passage of time. It makes me recall your halo multiplayer map video where you said something along the lines of the maps being playgrounds that never change. A video focusing just on the details games use to try and define artificial time passage and how effective or uncanny they are, might be a good way to flesh out the topic.
I think this is very well put. Thanks for putting words on this strange feeling.
On a similar note: I find it weird and very hard to reconcile the fact that places I've been to previously still exists when I'm not there.
For example a flat I used to live in or that spot you went hiking to last summer. To think that these places exists right now in this moment, but you're not there makes feel very strange. I don't know if this makes any sense at all..
A good game design lesson - if you want to impress upon your players the passage of time, make them stare at a big rock they were on five minutes ago.
ive heard that time that we experience can be described a a landscape, and this illustrates how the illusion works.
This is the most Woke humans can be
I was thinking that due to the fuzziness of the visuals from the lighthouse, it's easy to think that you are standing down on the little strip of ground staring back up at yourself. And maybe you were down there looking up at yourself. Something uncanny about if you exist in both places, due more to the brain not /knowing/ that you can't exist in two places at once, even though we consciously understand that concept.
One of my favorite liminal spaces is in Fallout 4 at the edge of the Glowing Sea. It's so starkly beautiful, quiet and intimidating and depending on where you enter you can get completely swallowed up by the sadness of the place and feel lost. There are parts of the Glowing Sea that are so purposefully alienating, where every visual clue tells you you're on the bottom of an ocean and not what once was probably Sherborn, Massachusetts, where radioactive spores float past you like they're carried on the tide and only the sound of the wind and the steady ticking of your Geiger counter (or sudden radscorpion ambush) reminding you where you are. I especially love moving out of the Glowing Sea to the south near Somerville Place, the ocean floor illusion gives way to menacing petrified trees that blend into a quiet rainy swamp. It feels like such a thoughtfully constructed liminal space designed to bring you from somewhere that feels alienating and contaminated into something familiar and natural.
expanding on the prayer bit in a more positive way- the lighthouse is sending a message but something unexpected is receiving it. it’s there to send a message to ships but it ends up messaging the player details of the world. what it intended and what it conveys ends up being totally different from each other, but nonetheless something sees it and takes something from its message. that’s not dissimilar to how prayer can comfort others or provide a sense of internal strength even if the purpose is to reach a god
That’s awesome thank you.
Except that that's the actual reason the lighthouse was built. It was never intended to send a message to ships. It was built by the game developers to message the player details of the world.
@@carltheshivan yeah but i was jumping off the stuff mentioned in the video which treated it as if it could be independent from those developer intentions
@@carltheshivanintended meaning vs intrinsic meaning
@@carltheshivan A piece of the true self existing within the false self
One of the reasons I enjoy the house-building DLC is that it requires you to stay in a single location for an extended period of time, gathering materials, going to town for supplies, crafting. It gives a lot of opportunities to stop and absorb your surroundings. Ideally, you've also chosen a particular building site because you like how that location looks and feels.
That part about the lighthouse reminds me of the fact that there's no real economy in Skyrim. NPCs don't go out and buy stuff, stores never sell their wares or get new stock (without it magically appearing in their inventory). Only the player buys and sell stuff. The shops only exist to serve a singular purpose. They are not tied to the conventions or lore of Skyrim, they are only tied to the actions of the player.
Oblivion is superior for having the people of the world live their lil lives
@@dellmegasNearly every named npc has his daily schedule, so what are you talking about?
@@DundGI think they mean that oblivion NPCs actually go to different places, whereas Skyrim NPCs just move around the same area
@@deadboyo2773No what the comment actually mean is there no npc that actully buy stuff in *Game play* that also happen in oblivion and alot of game too
But in lore or story of skyrim people talk about buy stuff in market all the time same as economy,
Such as Black bair business
And East empire company
And merchants cargos that got destroyed all over skyrim
I don't understand why it's such a big deal since most of newest game also not have this mechanic
Just RP it out bro
Theres a mod for this! I forgot the name tho.. it makes the vendors sell their goods to bandits and you actually see your sold items on bandits sometimes. I think its called bandit economy mor or something.
you really nail the "i dont really know what im going to talk about but i like talking about it" voice and its so nice to have in the background
I think the beauty of Skyrim is that you CAN just wander around and absorb the amazing atmosphere if you want to, but if not - there's plenty of action to be found around every corner. It can do both!
I like that there's plenty of action, but also relatively non-hostile. I love HZD or Elden Ring, and these games make it very challenging not to fast travel as they're mostly hostile and focus on a one-time experience - as in, you're supposed to go somewhere only once or it feels liminal
my friend was stunned when I mentioned I still haven't beaten the main Skyrim story. I just spend so much of my time wandering, happening upon random people or quests, and enjoying the atmosphere all the while. it's probably my ultimate comfort game (which is saying something as a lifelong harvest moon fan), when life gets tough my brain starts craving skyrim's quiet and ambience
This is how I play the game. I just wonder around, ignoring 90% of the quests/storyline. I did get some shouts though
@@rnightyaubs I put probably 100 hours into my first playthrough without completing the game lol. Totally agree, the world is just comforting to explore.
Right? I got so much enjoyment out of Skyrim from just getting on a horse and riding wherever
This video reminded me a lot of a game I loved called "INFRA". It's a game where you explore an abandoned part of a city, looking for structural flaws.
It might seem boring, but for people who enjoy those moments of "quiet emptiness," it's pure pleasure.
Also the world is very detailed for an indie game, with lots of Easter eggs to find.
This sounds really goos
I made a mod that makes almost all animals completely passive. Bears, wolves, sabrecats, mudcrabs, elk, rabbits, etc... It's actually easier to list the animals I deliberately left out of the mod.
My dad retired a year or two ago and started playing Skyrim. To help him get a modded set up going, I would watch him play for a while, take notes of his complaints and issues, and later track down a mod that would fix it.
Well, one of the things I was genuinely shocked by was how much time he spent fighting off animal attacks. On a simple walk from Riverwood to Whiterun or something, he'd be attacked like half a dozen times. He didn't mind, but I'd gotten so used to being able to walk right past a sleeping sabrecat that I forgot how often the game thrusts you into combat situations.
I really appreciate my mod because it makes these quiet and peaceful moments much easier to find. You can enjoy the atmosphere of Skyrim much more when you're not fighting off a pack of wolves who popped in right when you were getting comfortable
I wish games in general made animals a lot more neutral. In real life, sure, animals can be dangerous but they also tend to be conflict-avoidant and skittish, even the predators, and yes, even the apex predators. Actively seeking out conflict is not a trait that evolves in animals because even a slight wound can lead to a deadly infection out in the wild. Animals in real life are dangerous only if they perceive you as a threat in some way. Animals in game are just hostile for the sake of being hostile.
@@thegamesforreal1673 yeah the way they emulate animal behavior is effectively giving every predator the temperament of a polar bear and every herbivore one of a rabbit it's very silly (especially considering the fact that irl large herbivores like elk, bison, moose, etc. are more likely to exhibit extremely territorial behavior)
I use to play a hunting game when I was like 8 called Hunting Unlimited 2008. Really fun. But I use to wonder the maps and you can find farms, houses, camps, occasional planes and vehicles. And every one of them I wanted to go into. I would try to drop what I was doing and go into the house, try to interact with the plane, fish on a solemn dock, drive the tractor and tend the fields, maybe even go inside one of the houses and talk to the people who live there. I would be so long trying to trick the game into letting me do these things. But I couldn't. I was in a hunting game. A lonely lonely hunting game with me and an assortment of animals. The saddest part was when I would find small roads and follow them. They would lead to the edge of the map. I would stand in the middle of that road on the edge of the map border. I would look as the road stretched far beyond what I could see. I would use my gun sights to look down the road and look for cars, lights, anything. But there was nothing. I wanted to go further, beyond the reaches of this game and it hurt my heart that I couldn't.
Old hunting games were amazing like that. Obscure/shovelware hunting games would have so many small details and seemingly abandoned places to explore for a game genre that doesn't strictly need it. The atmosphere, I swear.
I used to do the same thing. One of the first games I ever played was a similar game I forgot the name of. I would just ride around on the atv and explore. It's an odd feeling looking back and remembering how desolate the world was but seeing evidence of human life.
Honestly I've never related to a Skyrim video as much as I did with this. One time I was walking through the Pale on my way to Windhelm when I noticed the night sky above me. I dunno if it was part of vanilla Skyrim or just one of my mods but the aurora borealis was absolutely gorgeous, just vivid hues of green and blue. I stopped sprinting and just looked up at the sky. It was then I noticed the cloud textures on the snowy hills, the wind blowing, and the sort of crispy sound of the snow and trees creaking. And like you said, it almost brought a tear to my eye. I audibly whispered to myself "THIS is Skyrim".
Oh, and for those wondering, I didn't have a mod installed that decreased or negated random encounters. As a matter of fact, I have a mod downloaded that INCREASES the frequency of random encounters! And I'm pretty sure right after that anecdote I was attacked by Frost Spiders but the point is; quiet moments out in the open are not impossible, they just take some efforton the player's part. Let the quiet moment find you every once in a while, instead of the other way around.
@@iconicnzz6414 That's kind of like life too, isn't it
For me, that "THIS is skyrim" moment was late in the main quest. I think I was on the throat of the world, I had just learned clear skies and I just looked off the mountain at the endless world below. The sky was pink and purple and just peaceful
ur gonna lose ur shit if u ever go to like a park or the beach
Lol ^ bro really said go touch some grass
your sense of humor is so specific and his the exact right spot in my brain of being silly but serious and taking the piss while being genuine
Also, favourite way to relax is definitely through the following steps
- fast travel to throat of the world, preferably at night
- clear skies if it’s windy or cloudy
- summon Durnehviir so he can fly around and enjoy the fresh and free air under his wings (I felt really bad for him)
- enjoy the music and ambiance of the scene, chat to partysnaxx and repeat until feeling peaceful again
Imagine they could interact and just tchat in dovah
I was absolutely ready to fight the Ideal Masters for his freedom.
I've never had this experience in skyrim, but in oblivion. it was late, and I was in the aleswell inn, and the ambience kicked in that I actually slept from the background music. proper sleep as well, woke up 4 or 5 hours later.
now that's peace and tranquility
I love that story :)
What makes your “looking at things” videos so compelling is that the contemplation of these artificial spaces is inherently subversive to the purpose of the existence of the space. Taking solace in the quiet, mundane moments is like an escape within an escape. Skyrim is a vast world, where you are meant to be all powerful in a narrative crafted around you, yet the power is found in the sublime- the things that exist without you and remind you of your insignificance- vast seas and mountains- experiences that ground you. However, you are occasionally interrupted by inconsistencies such as not seeing boats or not needing to sleep. We are free in this fantasy, but the illusion is just that. It’s the straddling of that dichotomy that your videos explore- the real versus the simulacrum; meta engagement vs the immersive experience, revealing a matrix of life within art, and discovering our place within it all.
(I’m just rambling and trying to make use of my philosophy degree 💀)
survival mode fixes the sleep, hunger, temperature inconsitency. You need to dress warm or stand next to a fire place to be able to enjoy the cold regions. No fast travel. It gives you more immersion.
You sound like someone who has read their Baudrillard, possibly against their will.
Beautiful ❤️
some videos feel like diary entries that glimpse austin's tense relationship with existence - and i'm so here for that
"GO BE QUIET IN SKYRIM!" Mom yelled at the kids playing outside. And so they did.
I really enjoyed playing Skyrim (modded ofc) in the year of our lord 2023. The big change was that I decided to give the survival mode a try. Fast travel disabled, I had to take into consideration things like travel time and following the road so I don’t get lost. I’ve witnessed so many beautiful and tranquil vistas on the slow way from Whiterun to Ivarstead, riding up the mountain on a winding road, seeing a dragon soaring far, far away through the aurora in the reddish sunset. I got lost in a blizzard at night on the side of another mountain and was desperate to find some source of warmth so my character won’t freeze to death, found a burning shack and huddled next to a smouldering corpse to survive the night.
It was a fresh new world. I experienced so many beautiful and tranquil moments.
I honestly got a bit choked up watching this video. Skyrim is something that my sister and I have shared since it came out. She passed in April, and it just hasn’t been the same since. The reflection and moments of comedy of this video just hit me the right way. Thanks for another great video on a hard day :’)
I’m so sorry for your loss ❤
Thank you 🤍
Skyrim was one of the games that me and my older brother really enjoyed together. Obviously we couldn't play at the same time, but I loved watching him play or asking him for pointers. He just passed a few weeks ago, so I've been trying to do things that keep him close to me, including playing skyrim. I'm sorry for your loss and I hope your healing is going as smoothly as it can
My sincere condolences. I hope the hard days get easier and the easy days get better still. Good luck this April.
@@abidoran3439 I'm sorry for your loss. I'm glad you've found things to keep him close, and I hope that those good memories take the fore.
My first moments in Skyrim transcended the overall experience. I was young at a sleepover and my friend hands me a controller. I am informed that the guards (who I barely, if ever, saw) were after me for stealing. I was escaping Windhelm through the dark docks at night when I caught the briefest glimpse of a dragon before it blew ice, which filled the screen and killed me.
When I picked up my own copy years later, that now-imaginary memory romanticized the actual game in question. I still put 2000+ hours in like everyone else as Skyrim quickly became my favorite game, but the liminality of waking up from someone else's nightmare made the game much darker and more vivid than any subsequent adventure in that engine.
my personal quiet and peaceful spot in Skyrim is on the upper level of Narzulbur Stronghold, in front of the entrance of Gloombound mine, overlooking the landscape beneath. Go there late at night, with clear skies and the auroras shining above. There's no place quite like it.
A few years back, I had to move to another country for work, this was a dry arid piece of land. But I grew up in a relatively wet and rainy place. One night while playing, it started raining in game, not a down pour just light rain. I looked for a quiet place in the game and just let it rain for as long as possible... This reminded me of my home town.
This is why I love virtual worlds. While yes, it is possible for them to get erased off of every server, hard drive, disc or cartridge on the planet, and while your methods of accessing them may be restricted at times, they are always familiar and unchanging
'Scrolls games live and die by those quiet moments where you've just emerged from a dungeon and are wandering through some dark foggy woods only to crest a hill and be met with a picturesque view of the twin moons illuminating the land as Jeremy Soule's elegiac music softly starts to play
A couple more quiet/surreal places to see, as a supplementary. The best tourist destinations are those less-traveled:
1. Go north of Ivarstead, astride the steep waterfalls leading out of town. Cross the shallow rapids between the first fall and the second when you find a troll cave to your right. Follow the faint unpaved trail northwest.
It will lead to a mountain trail descending toward the main roads bordering Whiterun and Eastmarch.
The overlooks are insane on this trail; where you can see the White river valley stretch all the way to the coast and Windhelm.
2. The main road north of Rorikstead. It crests at a point between two hills and sharply descends. On that crest you can see a wide vista. It feels like one of the steepest standard road descents in the game.
I always build a house by the lake north of Falkreath. I like to sit on the deck and watch the sun go down and see the colors fade out and the huge moon come up. Listening to the soft music and nature sounds. One of my favorite parts of Skyrim. I also like to walk around the northernmost shore. It is windswept and barren. It makes me feel the cold air.
And then an IRS agent (giant) comes to steal your property
Well, that is true. That is why I usually leave the kids in Whiterun with Lydia. Safer and less lonely for them. More kids to play with.@@qbertking1910
"I recommend that in any game that has the ability to just sit" - yes. I used to do this in skyrim, and I do this even more now that I'm an adult, in a lot of different games. Some of my best times in cyberpunk even are just riding around night city on my motorcycle, looking at all the pretty lights, or just finding an area just outside the city where I can watch it in all it's glory while I take a couple dabs and just chill.
I have a ton of gripes with 2077's gameplay and story stuff. But it is a fantastic-looking game, and it feels nice to just cruise around the city at 50mph or so, or just look at everything
I used to do that a lot in GTA San Andreas, I used to pick a bicycle and go really far away (the woods outside the city) then come back to CJ's house. I would spend hours just riding the bicycle.
I've never even played skyrim, but I had a pretty shitty christmas and this video helped me unwind. Thanks dude. Side note I love those channels that make hour+ long game / show ambience videos, nothing like falling asleep to the star trek Enterprise bridge ambience
Hope things get better for you
me and u both
Any Austin is truly the David Lynch of videogame youtube videos. Banger video, keep up the good work
If you think about it the lighthouse could guide you, the player, to shore, or wherever you were going, despite not being a boat. In fact that very lighthouse may have guided and/or touched/inspired millions of players across the world :)
Back in the 360 days (my early teens) I would always find myself playing Skyrim late into the night, just wandering and adventuring. These adventures would ALWAYS somehow end up in the frozen northern coast amongst all the icebergs and glaciers. I could've been doing quests down in the Reach but inevitably I would always wander up north to those glaciers. It's been a long time since then, but I still think about that every time Skyrim is mentioned
I genuinely love the atmosphere in Skyrim. I remember when I first downloaded a camping mod....I was obsessed with camping in random places in the middle of the wilderness. Nothing but the soundtrack and the ambient sounds surrounding me. Skyrim can be really meditative, it all depends on how you choose to play it.
My favorite spot is the Falmer camp at the end of the Forgotten Vale, underneath the Monastery. The ambience, music and snow aesthetic is criminally underated
falmer I think you mean
You're right, I fixed it
I couldn't say I have a favorite single spot in this game to stand around..... usually my most contemplative moments are in the negative space after a dungeon, or during the relatively slow on foot traversal. Climbing a mountain, even in it's silly kinda janky way in this game, still provides mental air for the player to breathe as you go between things.
my favourite spot is the forests of falkreath when the atmosphere tracks start playing (5:18)
11:45 sounds like the lighthouse is working perfectly :)
I appreciate the way you pronounced Ivarstead differently every time you said it.
I love the college because of how cozy it feels. Like it feels like people should be outside but the cold is keeping them in. Reminds me of visiting friends during winter break and we’d walk around the empty campus grounds.
3:58
Finally someone who understands why Todd is truly based in releasing skyrim on every platform possible
I think that is on its own a "good" thing to make your game available everywhere. I think people's main problem is that Bethesda has made doing this its ONLY action of note, as opposed to, well, releasing new quality titles.
For me, Blackreach is the most eerily quiet, beautiful and devastatingly melancholic setting I have ever experienced in Skyrim.
In Fallout 4, I love to build a pier out from Nordhagen Beach or Spectacle Island and just have a little chair with a lantern, looking out onto Boston Harbour and the city lights. That feels a bit like this.
Dude fallout 4 is lokey unmatched in creating your own cozy, lightly lit spots to chill
Skyrim takes a huge amount of its strength from the simple idea that so many environments and exploration are just massive atmospheric liminal spaces.
i was 6 years old when skyrim came out. i’m 18 now and still obsessed with it. it’s my most played game ever. i can play it over and over again and still feel the magic. i started playing survival mode and at first i hated no fast travel but then as i started playing it, i found so many random interactions and encounters i never got before because i just fast traveled a lot. now i actually look around at everything and i explore a lot more playing survival mode. the music, the sky design, the god rays, i just love traveling horseback all across skyrim now. traveling up all the roads and mountains and exploring even more of my favorite game. slowing down, i feel like i’ve enjoyed the game even more now.
Damn, 6 years old when Skyrim released must be a trip. I was literally 13 years old when this game came out and even nowadays I notice things I never saw or done in all my years playing
I totally get that "standing here and looking at the place I was just standing" thing in games. It trips me out in a way that I can't really describe, like whole different perspectives are actually there in this simulated world. It's also there in large scale multiplayer games but in a different way, like in ESO looking down at an area that's densely populated with players. Very weird. Thanks for making this video, I always went into this weird meta-aware zone or kind of opposite of meta zone playing games as a kid, particularly open world games and it's interesting to see someone sees them the same way.
I really enjoy the fishing content added by the Anniversary edition. The fishing spots are often quiet and beautiful. It’s easy to relax and zone out a little while fishing for those magic rings. Traveling to each fishing spot and discovering new ones made me think differently about exploration.
Austin you continue to be a gift to this world and I hope you know this.
mr austin makes me so happy, he made my christmas day better and i hope his christmas day is really nice
I wonder how many people stood on that rock gravel island mound. You may of been the first to admire it's gravely gravel rocks and it's stick. It is a nice stick, a feature of the island mound thing for sure. I will go and stand there and contemplate about lighthouses. Standing man.
god, your videos are always so lovely. just a cozy, contemplative type of energy with just the right amount of comedy sprinkled in. great work, as always!
This video is single-handedly responsible for me diving back into my obsession with Skyrim I just know it. Thanks for providing the inspo for me to play again!!
I feel like that this effect is 10x stronger in SkyrimVR. I love it so much, at the end of an exhausting play session I often just lay down on my bed and watch the stars and passing clouds and just take in the ambience and music. It really made me appreciate all the little areas like this.
5:00 Regarding sitting, I find Inigo to be great for this. There are certain conversations you can only hold with him while one or both of you are sitting down and in a safe area. Probably other mods that do this too- but then that's not the base game I guess
I BEG ANYBODY if you like scenery like this my favorite is using the emerald paragon in the forgotten vale (and the forgotten vale in general) and walk to the end of the waterfall. The beautiful sky is in all its splendor, you can see the temple balcony and the icy mountains in the distance, the sound of water and snow. I would stay in there all my life if I could.
I used to roleplay being a town drunkard and hanging out with the bums of the cities back in my youth. Sometimes I wish I've had that much time on my hand these days.
I love to go by the coast near the sea of ghosts and watch the waves, hear the ocean, and see the clouds drift by. It's my favourite spot to relax.
Wolf enemy try not to be annoying challenge.
Find a spot irl to do this..
@@Retrohunter1994Yeah bro lemme just take a casual trip to the arctic circle
@@baron3904 you have nature almost everywhere. Go at night.
@@Retrohunter1994Maybe some of us are more picky
These videos are just so cozy. This has quickly become my favorite channel on RUclips
The music in Skyrim is such a special one. It really feels like a lot of time and arrangement went into it.
Immediately recognized Narfis destroyed house from the quest he gives and the Brotherhood quest.
The ship is either the Brinehammer or the
Strident Squall. Probably the latter, because of the Red Mountain.
Using the Clear Skies shout is a very simple way to get the northern lights :)
I find the idea of shouting at the sky so you can sit in silence with a good view to be pretty funny 😆
theres a reason theres so many skyrim ambience videos and i use them quite often to study or read to
I actually love skyrim ambience videos. It's like having sounds of nature play in the background, but it's the sounds of a fantasy world that I love very much
I love this channel. The appreciation of small things made as part of larger games.
my favorite part of skyrim was always looking into the distance, seeing the beautiful scenery, and saying hey i want to go there! and i would run there and look back down the mountain or slope or whatever and that feeling of exploration was such a high lmao. i don't think any other game has ever encapsulated that feeling of complete freedom of traversal and exploration
It's been awhile since I played, but from memory, these are some of my favourite liminal spaces in Skyrim;
The little rocky pass to the west of Harmugstahl. There's a noble who pases through there from time to time, but he doesn't have much to say. The path wraps around and connects in a way that you can see the rest of the path below/above you, which I really like.
The icy areas towards the North-East edge of the map. Not really anything out there aside from a few Horkers, but you can kinda travel between the ice and just get lost for a bit between the chasms.
The little path that wraps around Forelhost. It's one of the few areas in The Rift where you can't see the capital city. There are a few frostbite spiders there which attack randomly, but otherwise it's just a nicely forested area with nothing of note. It might be getting a bit more attention now as it's near the entrance to Fort Dawnguard, but back when the game first launched, it was quite peaceful. It's also just my favourite hold in the game, overall, and near Bear's Shrine, which is one of my favourite mods to this day.
The path leading to Helgen's West gate. Approaching from the East will lead you down the game's starting path, which many players are well familiar with, and coming from the North will have you going back through the game's starting area from Riverwood, but going East from Falkreath once again presents you with a path where there really isn't anything going on. Then, when you finally reach the gate, it dawns on you where you are in a sort of awesomeness sets in.
Slightly South of one of the Dwemer ruins (I think Alftand) is a little outcropping with a chest in the snow. The location's memorable for me because this is where I first ran into the Ebony knight, but the location itself is quite peculiar looking back on it.
The swamps above Morthal. This is quite a small area, but it's got a unique presence in the game. Not a whole lot of swamps to be found in Skyrim, and if your first experience with it is walking out of the abandoned shack during the Dark Brotherhood quest and trying to find your way back to civilisation, it can be pretty cool.
Clearpine pond's also quite nice, but it's a named location, so I don't really count it.
I absolutely love these videos. You could almost make an endless video with Minecraft. It hits different because it's a randomly generated landscape but when you find a realistic landscape it hits a weird uncanny valley feeling.
The lighthouse is a great place to just hang out. It reminds me of places I've been, just hanging out somewhere next to a fire, taking in the environment with nothing really going on. Paying close attention to the rocks, listening to the water, feeling time. Good stuff.
This was very therapeutic, thank you. Your rambling commentary made me feel very peaceful.
I think in the mentioned video the guy meant more that the world has no realistic size, thus everything is very close together and thus if you're walking around you're constantly run into things. Of course if you stand around somewhere there can be quiet moments, but it's hard to aimlessly wander for a while before the game runs you into a dungeon or enemies or some kind of landmark
not really about map size, it's that the devs very deliberately avoided having any organic emptiness; look at a filled out map, it's a near uniform distribution of POIs. Skyrim forces a rote stream of content onto you that leaves the world feeling contrived, and the experience lacking tranquillity.
Sometimes it’s actually more peaceful seeing places like this for me. Coming across a town or cave and imagining the people who live their lives within
Not the content I knew I needed, thank you sir. It's really something special to all come together and appreciate the same imperfect thing. May you walk on warm sands friend
As long as the Courier breathes, you will not know peace.
Even if he stopped breathing, he will wait for you into the Oblivion.
I believe that the feeling you are looking to express has no word to describe it (and maybe it's better this way). I take it like a way of a reminder of the peaceful and relaxing the absurd of existence can be.
I played the opening of Skyrim for the first time recently.
I didn't even realize it was having me choose a faction until after I followed the Imperial, and the Stormcloak guy yelled at me. I was like, "welp, guess I'm a bad guy now." 😅
I liked the Imperial guy better anyway, but I assume he was only nice to me because I was Nord.
In case someone hasn't told you for your benefit that doesn't actually confirm your faction choice you can still choose either faction
@@silvergodofice5039
That's what I figured. I have gotten out of the dungeon but haven't reached the first town yet.
Both sides have their pros and cons imo, but whether you think there's a set bad side depends on your own political leanings. But the choice isn't set, don't worry. You can swap later if you like - even if you've started fighting for the Imperials, you can betray them.
@@silvergodofice5039 Yeah it just kind of gives you a light flavor trajectory. But I changed my faction opinion several times throughout the game and then ended up as a filthy middle-of-the-roader, so you're never really locked in to anything. You can literally be the head of every guild and undo becoming a vampire, Skyrim will never lock you into everything too early. Except carrying a single item around for the rest of eternity because it was bugged to a quest in the early days of release.
There really isn't a good side and bad side. Both of them have serious issue
Me, having never played Skyrim: yes this is perfect content
There's a road out in the Rift near Treva's Watch where the road is just straight ahead, and it's lined by the autumn colors of the trees, plants and bushes. It's always one of my highlights whenever I take the road towards Riften or Ivarstead.
For anyone with access to mods, would highly recommend survival mods like Campfire, Frostfall, and Last Seed. Those mods seriously made me appreciate the quiet moments in the game. Spending the time to set up a camp and sit around the fire with your companions is just so lovely
I don't know if you'd be interested in a puzzle game, but I think the talos principle (especially 1 but also 2) have some great moments for standing somewhere and just contemplating a really beautiful but uncanny environment, and how in the first game how that's even justified within the lore. I really love that game
That feeling of seeing where you were standing earlier I think is a form of existential dread. Like that person who you were when you were standing there is gone now, they aren't there anymore, and that moment will never be again.
There is a purpose to the lighthouse, one of the quests with the dark brotherhood - Emperor’s ship arrives
Honestly, I was a bit depressed before this video, but the lighthouse part honestly helped for some reason. Thank you
This was really nice and meditative. And you're right, I think the reason Skyrim is so immersive is the way you can ground yourself in that reality despite it just being a video game.
I would love to walk around Skyrim some more with you :^) Please make more videos like this
people have started properly recording 2-3hrs of chill gameplay or ambience and getting dedicated fan bases for it, because it's a tight niche, who does it right just get's the winning seat almost right away. I'm glad that these days we have it more with out most favorite games ever, we're also talking more about this vibe subject of games and their experience.
If you're a person that thinks they can make reflective gameplay and vids - do it! I think Austin called it boring because of his chill vibe, but a lot of us have that soft spot in our hearts need more content like that
You bring such a special and unique appreciation to mindfulness in video games. I just wanted to say that, I really love your videos man. Especially in an age where it feels like everything is constantly vying for your attention, wanting you to move on to the next thing as quickly as possible. It's important to reinforce just how much value there is in taking things slow and appreciating the world around us and how it makes us feel. Going for walks is my favorite method of meditation for that same reason, and if you ever did some sort of "Odd and Unremarkable Places IRL" type video, it'd probably be my favorite thing you've made lol. Merry Christmas
I totally feel you, man. I have always travelled by foot everywhere in Skyrim, just enjoying the views, the sounds, the music. The feelings and emotions it can evoke are just unbelievable. I can recommend you using mods like Frostfall, stronger wind mod, better weather mod, Campfire and iNeeds Mod. This mix, for me, creates an incredible mix of ambience, evokes many thoughts, and lets you get mentally rested. I am so happy you've created this video, I'm delighted to know there are other people who also feel it similar way I do about the game's insane philosophical, calming, thought-provoking views. ❤
I think the feeling you’re feeling of seeing the lighthouse from the island and then the island from the lighthouse is the joy of filmmaking
Merry Christmas! I click on your videos the moment I see them. Your Riften unemployment rate video is my all-time favorite. Your commentary on games hits the nail right on the head. I spent my formative years exploring every inch of the few games that I had, and I used to think about them just like you do. Video games are so special in the way that they unite us.
Keep up the good work!
I’m really glad this channel rebounded in the last year and change. I’ve been around since the Eggbuster days and have always considered you a great creator. Hoping for you continued success in the coming year!
This game had amazing atmosphere. Gazing up at the stars, looking at the aurora, getting out of a blizzard into a warm inn... one of the greatest ambient soundtracks of all time.
13:10 I know that wonderful feeling or atleast something that comes close to it. Games let you explore many different places and often I take the opportunity to look back at places I previously visited far in the distance. The best example I can give is in Dark Souls 3 when the player holds up the banner to travel to the Undead Settlement. The game shows this amazing view of future levels that the player will explore. This feeling makes the world believable, alive, Immersive. The best games have worldbuilding that connect in a way that makes sense.
I've been playing Skyrim VR lately and man. These places hit fuckin different that way. I've been playing Skyrim my entire adult life (not like, all in one go, but you know) but this is the first time I have truly appreciated Skyrim's environments. The sheer scale of some locations is really something you just don't realise in 2D.
And you definitely do sit. When you've been on your feet for three hours running across the icy wastes, flailing your arms and stooping down to crouch walk, you will want to rest. You'll look forward to reaching the inn and sitting by the fire. You'll sit on the edge of a bridge watching the river, eating salmon steak, because you're invested enough you started roleplaying meal breaks. It genuinely is on another level.
Your content is amazing! I'm so glad I found you. The way I found your channel was being linked your recent video on Assassin's Creed 1 ( one of my favourite games ever) and it really struck a chord with me. You deserve many more subscribers my friend. Thank you for posting this video on Christmas for me and others to appreciate in our quiet moments of reflection.
The magic of Skyrim is all the detail put into every interaction and scene, whether you’re playing along a quest line or taking a break from the action, there’s always something to admire. There’s a charm to the quiet places that makes even the downtime of the game seem refreshing. Skyrim has become a comfort game to me, especially as someone who enjoys the Skyrim ambience RUclips channels
wonderful video as always austin! it's my birthday and i'm taking a quiet moment to relax for myself in the middle of the christmas chaos and this was a perfect watch :)
CHRISTMAS BABY