The launch of a new game from Bethesda Softworks typically means a period where the kinks (the ones that Bethesda can reasonably address, anyway) are being worked out.
Players have been reporting texture streaming issues on The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for Xbox 360, resulting in some lower quality textures never being replaced by their better looking counterparts.
What are people talking about? This.
Bethesda admits it's a problem, specifically as it relates to the Xbox 360 version being installed.
“We’ve seen a few reports of certain textures temporarily scaling down on the Xbox 360, and not scaling back up,” said the studio on its forums. “We have verified that this issue does not occur when playing off the disk and when the game is fully cached (not installed). Skyrim makes heavy use of the Xbox 360 caching system, and caches over the normal course of play while in menus or interiors. This cache can be wiped when other games are played or when the user manually removes it.”
Of course, not installing the game means you’ll have to deal with longer load times, so there’s a decision in front of potential Skyrim players staring at their Xbox 360 discs after work today.
Bethesda said a title update is in the works to address this issue, but there’s not timeframe for it yet.