Hmm... Steam help?

[Rath Darkblade]

Hi there folks,

I'm not sure what's happening. I bought The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim when it came out some years ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it. As you can see from the attached screenshot, I have the DLCs too.

But now... for some reason (as you can see), Steam thinks that I have the Skyrim "Special Edition" too. I don't know what it's talking about, as I certainly don't have it - and it's confusing as heck.

Any ideas what's going on?

[adeyke]

The Special Edition is a new version with remastered art and effects. When the it was released, everyone who owned the original Skyrim with all its DLCs got this new version added to their library for free. So you do own it now.

[Rath Darkblade]

Oh! OK, then. Thanks, adeyke!

So... what content does this "special edition" have that 'original Skyrim + DLCs' doesn't already have, then? Or does it simply make the game look a bit nicer?

[adeyke]

According to the store page:

The Special Edition includes the critically acclaimed game and add-ons with all-new features like remastered art and effects, volumetric god rays, dynamic depth of field, screen-space reflections, and more.

The Special Edition is a way to get the game on current-generation consoles. For Windows, it mainly just looks nicer.

[Rath Darkblade]

OK... I've seen this too. Any ideas what all this means - i.e. volumetric god rays, dynamic depth of field, screen-space reflections... what on earth does this mean? *shrug*

[adeyke]

God rays
Depth of field
There's no Wikipedia article for screen-space reflections, but it's a technique for making shiny surfaces (e.g. water) look more realistic.

It's all just ways to make things prettier.

[Rath Darkblade]

OK then. Thanks, adeyke!