Forums » General Gaming

Skyrim Kinect - The future or waste of time?

    • 426 posts
    February 10, 2013 4:37 AM EST

    Im not sure if this has been discussed before but I recently got the Kinect device for my xbox. I was really looking forward to doing the shouts with my own voice. My wife wasn't impressed lol But unfortunately I haven't been able to get that particular feature to work yet. Im not sure if its because of my accent or if it is just a bit rubbish?

    One thing that did impress me though was the item allocation feature. I can now change to my favorite weapons, spells and potions all under the command of my voice. It has def changed the game for me as I found trawling through the favorite menu especially as a mage to be a adrenaline stopping chore. How have you found the additions of Kinect to Skyrim?

    • 253 posts
    February 10, 2013 5:00 AM EST

    I do not have kinect, do you recommend getting it?

    • 158 posts
    February 10, 2013 5:08 AM EST

    I've got a kinect but have never used it for skyrim. In my experience in other games I found the kinect to be laggy. I wonder if this is the case in skyrim. Looks like I have something to do tomorrow :D

    • 426 posts
    February 10, 2013 5:10 AM EST

    Zach - I had put off getting it but I picked it up quite cheaply. Tbh i have had a lot of fun with it. The voice recognition system is brill not just for Skyrim but for general functions in the dashboard. The games are pretty basic but a lot of fun if you have a few people. But you def need at least 8ft or 2.4m depending where you are from in front of your TV and xbox.

    • 253 posts
    February 10, 2013 5:15 AM EST

    Hmmm. The voice menu thing sounds great to me. 

    • 426 posts
    February 10, 2013 5:18 AM EST

    Yeah i was surprised by it. Minimal calibration and you can get into stuff like you tube etc using just your voice. Obviously it hits a point were you need a pad. 

    I havent really noticed any lag with mine like Josh has but I have only been using it for a week or so now.

    • 952 posts
    February 10, 2013 6:02 AM EST

    I play on PC, there are mods that make you use a microphone to do the shouts, and the favourites menu can be modded to become more usable as well. I guess that for Xbox players it does add some usefull tricks to use but I don't think it would change everything that much.

    • 426 posts
    February 10, 2013 6:08 AM EST

    Yeah I havent been able to figure out why the shouts won't work for me. A little bit gutted about that. But being able to bring up the map and change weapons is brilliant without having to stop gameplay.

    • 1595 posts
    February 10, 2013 10:43 AM EST

    I actually like using the Kinect commands in Skyrim but don't often get to use them. My flat is quite small and I kinda feel silly shouting commands at my tv, especially when my wife is in the next room and calls back "what did you say?" I'm like, "don't worry I'm talking to the telly!" So I pretty much wait until I'm alone to use the voice function.

    I found it really sped up my gameplay being able to switch weapons at a command, but always had a problem with "equip bow" but allocating my bow to another slot worked, so now I call "equip mace" and I up pops my bow!

    Guy, is it the individual words of a shout that you're having problems with like "fus" or the whole shout? I found that to be tricky too; holding down R1 and shouting "Fus Ro Dah" could be hard work. Now I just shout "Unrelenting Force" rather than try the individual words and it automatically unleashes all the words I've unlocked without me having to press anything.

     

    • 12 posts
    February 10, 2013 11:29 AM EST

    I loved playing Kinect with Mass Effect but I haven't with Skyrim yet.  I will defo give it a go.

    • 426 posts
    February 10, 2013 11:40 PM EST

    Hey phil yeah I have problems with either form of shout, single word or full. Even the english version doesn't work. Its funny that you mentioned equip bow as I was repeatedly shouting at my tv last night to equip bow to no avail with my wife just sat shaking her head at me lol I may try your equip mace tactic good idea.

    I think the shouts have more to do with my accent to be honest but it is really frustrating.

    • 1913 posts
    February 10, 2013 11:41 PM EST
    Don't get kinect... Take it from someone who owns one... It's not worth it at all
    • 1913 posts
    February 10, 2013 11:42 PM EST
    The voice menu doesn't work, and you have to scream the words to get them to work, which sucks if you live in an apartment
    • 253 posts
    February 10, 2013 11:53 PM EST

    I have a turtle beach headset so I could use my mic 

    • 426 posts
    February 10, 2013 11:58 PM EST

    I have been impressed with the voice recognition in everything else its just skyrim that seems to have a few bugs in it. Granted don't get Kinect just for Skyrim its not worth it but if you like leaping around your front room to all the dance and adventure stuff its great fun. I downloaded fruit ninja the other day which is hilarious.

    • 1913 posts
    February 11, 2013 12:01 AM EST
    Don't get "steel battalion" ... My god... That game, is unbelievably bad, the controls with the kinect are terrible... You have to sit down and use your controller, while using the kinect. The kinect cannot read your body morions when you are sitting down or have your arms to close together so it is a complete mess
    • 158 posts
    February 11, 2013 12:34 AM EST

    I gave Kinect skyrim a go and I take back what I said, my lag is hardly apparent and it's really fun shouting at my T.V! I'm still getting a grasp on how everything works though 

    • 426 posts
    February 11, 2013 12:40 AM EST

    Open your favorites menu in game and you can assign weapons, spells, potions to equip commands. You can even have dual weilding weapon commands and sword and shield. There is a full list of commands in the help menu I found it invaluable.

    • 158 posts
    February 11, 2013 12:44 AM EST

    Oh, help menu...right...I probably should have thought of that 

    I wonder though, what it's limitations are. Have you come across any serious ones?

    • 426 posts
    February 11, 2013 12:46 AM EST

    It def changes the gameplay as you dont need to pause the game mid battle to change weapon or spell. I think I have found it most useful with my mage as you can assign a spell to each element, even shield, calm etc etc Makes it much smoother being a magika user.

    • 1595 posts
    February 11, 2013 1:53 AM EST

    For me, only that it isn't 100% reliable. Whilst good fun, sometimes when that dragon is swooping down and I shout "equip ward spell" and my command wasn't recognised Dovahkiin gets a little singed. 

    Also, beware being in a town or city when your missus walks in and says anything that even remotely sounds like "sorm call". You can gaurantee Kinect will pick that up...

    • 426 posts
    February 11, 2013 1:56 AM EST

    Lol thats funny I was sorting my equipment out last night and the missus came over yakking and all of a sudden everything was reorganised lol 

    Unrelenting force def doesn't work for me i haven't tried any others yet I will have to fire my elf mage up he has every shout and see what is good n bad.

    • 253 posts
    February 11, 2013 3:04 AM EST

    Is it possible to limit kinect? Like so maybe it only does menu things and shouts for example?

    • 426 posts
    February 11, 2013 3:47 AM EST

    I dont think so as there is only one option to switch kinect on or off so its all or nothing. I wish I could switch off the shouts. It would make it alot easier.

    • 158 posts
    February 11, 2013 3:54 AM EST

    I use a remote with kinect voice commands at the moment. Shouts aren't getting picked up for me so I just use the remote to shout. So yea, The remote kind of limits it.