Skyrim update beta brings mounted combat to PC

The icy lands of the North got a little bit more interesting today with the announcement that gamers who opted into the latest Steam Beta Update will have access to mounted combat in Skyrim.

It's just in the beta right now, though. So others, especially console gamers, will have to wait a little while until that content can migrate to the Xbox 360 and PS3. As of right now they do not have a firm release date for when that might happen.

The full patch notes for the update can be found below, and instructions for downloading the beta on PC are located on the Bethesda Blog.

1.6 Update (all platforms unless specified)

NEW FEATURES

  • Mounted Combat - Skyrim now allows you to do melee and ranged combat while riding a horse

BUG FIXES

  • General stability and memory optimizations
  • General AI pathfinding optimizations and bug fixes
  • Optimizations and crash fixes for data leaks
  • Fixed rare crash with lighting
  • Fixed crashes related to loading and saving games
  • Fixed crash with summoned creatures/NPCs
  • Fixed rare issue where saves would be corrupted
  • Improved logic for when ranged kill cams are played
  • Fixed issue with ranged kill cams while killing a dragon
  • Fixed rare issue with certain ranged kill cams not playing properly
  • Fixed issue with nirnroot lighting not properly cleaning up
  • Fixed issue where bow damage was being calculated incorrectly
  • Fixed rare problem with werewolf kill moves would not finish animating properly
  • In “The Break of Dawn” fixed rare issue where Meridia’s Beacon would disappear from player’s inventory
  • Fixed occasional issue where followers would disappear after player pays off a bounty after committing a crime
  • Fixed issue where certain creatures and NPCs would fail to respawn properly
  • Fixed rare issue with dialogue subtitles not displaying properly
  • Fixed issue with water appearing blurry when loading a saved game after creating a save underwater
  • Fixed issue where map cursor would occasionally disappear after closing a message box with Kinect enabled (Xbox 360)
  • Fixed rare issue with shouts only performing the first level and not other unlocked levels with Kinect enabled (Xbox 360)
  • Fixed issue where the shout buttons would stop working properly if users mashed LB and RB during cooldown with Kinect enabled (Xbox 360)
Andrew Groen

Andrew is a freelance video game journalist, writing for sites like Wired and GamesRadar. Andrew has also written a book called EMPIRES OF EVE: A History of the Great Wars of EVE Online.