Elder Scrolls Oblivion review

lPeregrine · Post by **lPeregrine** » 2006-03-22 02:58pm

Arrow wrote:
Silver Paladin wrote:
Someone Else wrote: There were rumors way back in like October or November that they were really trying to increase the marketability of the 360 version (to the point where there would be Official mods from Bethesday for the 360 only).

Stopping the PC gamers from being able to create and share mods would be a fantastic way to increase the marketability of the 360 version.
Stopping the PC modders would be an ultra stupid idea, since mods are one of the things that are going to draw in a lot longtime Elder Scrolls fans with lower powered PCs, and who don't have/want a 360.

(fixed your quotes)

I'm not sure that it's something that direct, that would be an incredibly stupid idea (and why give the CS at all?). I think it's more like apathy towards the community, dismissing the modellers as not worth the time. It's the "copyright issue", the refusal to release the plugin for current versions of 3dsmax (all we get it max 5, which you can't legally buy anymore), and the refusal to give any explanations for why we're waiting.

Now, I'm not familiar with the Max5 plugin issue, but I can understand it being a copyright issue (I've seen a few at work, mostly over little things). Either something in the Max5 EULA or some license for some piece of code used in the plugin could easily stop the works.

One of the devs made a statement on the official forums about it being related to the use of Havoc for Oblivion's physics. Which makes no sense at all... other games using Havoc have released model plugins, and 3dsmax already uses it in Reactor. It makes no sense for Havoc's owners to deny a plugin.

Not only that, but the Havoc data the plugin needs to work with is extremely minimal, limited to a few numbers included with the model. These could easily be added in the construction set, the model plugin never even needs to touch them.

So whatever it is, Bethesda isn't trying very hard... they could easily get a plugin released if they actually cared enough to try.

nickolay1 · Post by **nickolay1** » 2006-03-22 04:02pm

I'd like to express the opinion that this game is great, too. I'm currently in the process of stealing all of the merchants' keys in the market district of the capital. As soon as night comes, I'm going to empty out every single shop there.

Arrow · Post by **Arrow** » 2006-03-22 04:15pm

About the plugin: This is probably a purely business decision between all the involved parties, and someone is hung up on something. It has nothing to do with Bethesda wanting to support the community or how much work it takes to make the plugin. This is what happens when suits (that will most likely never play Oblivion) get involved and want their cut. Licensing issues just plain suck.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2006-03-22 05:24pm

I have my collectors edition, let me say that was the longest tutorial I've ever played(Could it be up for a record?)

Few things have hung me up however.
Questions:
1.Is there an easy quick way to select a item in inventory and drop it on the ground?
2. No dual-weild agian?
3. Can I change my crosshairs?
4. On enemy heath meters, it's nice but it's rarley if ever right.
5. Havoc physics are fun but can I acutaly pickup bodies ala-Thief series or Deus Ex. I want to hide my handwork. Or prehaps stack them in a closet somewhere.
6.(Important!) Can I join multiple Guilds? (IE Thieves and Mages)

lPeregrine · Post by **lPeregrine** » 2006-03-22 05:29pm

Mr Bean wrote:I have my collectors edition, let me say that was the longest tutorial I've ever played(Could it be up for a record?)

Few things have hung me up however.
Questions:
1.Is there an easy quick way to select a item in inventory and drop it on the ground?

Shift + left-click the item to drop it.

2. No dual-weild agian?

Correct.

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2006-03-22 06:05pm

Mr Bean wrote:6.(Important!) Can I join multiple Guilds? (IE Thieves and Mages)

Pretty sure you can advance in all of the guilds this time around.

As for modding, I believe the .nif exporter for Morrowind actually followed it's release as a download, rather than shipping with the CS. They'll probably wait for people to get up and running with the CS first, and learn the basics before landing that on them.

They certainly do want to encourage modding for the PC version, it and the 360 version are essentially aimed at two different audiences, the PC at modders and those who want to fiddle around with game parameters and the 360 at people who want instant accessability, and just to lose themselves in Tamriel without fiddling with it.

Captain tycho · Post by **Captain tycho** » 2006-03-22 07:16pm

Just posting a tiny review here.

The game is orgasmic. Get it.

Now.

Edit: Yes Ace, it should arrive in Jew-Land on Saturday.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2006-03-22 08:08pm

Thanks for the tip about the shift click. But still, can I pick up bodies? It's miffing to snipe a townsperson and see their body laying around when I come back.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2006-03-22 10:30pm

Been playing Oblivion for about 5 hours today (one of the perks of being a sub teacher is you can take a day off whenever you want without having to call in sick or explain anything to anyone). I was one of the people who took a pass on Morrowind after played it for about 20 minutes because I found it immediately dry and boring.

I know a lot of people loved it, and I really liked Daggerfall, but Morrowind just plopped you into the world and said "here you are!" Well, in my world, that just doesn't cut it, and I'm happy to say that Oblivion doesn't repeat Morrowind's mistake there, but rather introduces you to the world cinematically and puts the main quest right in your face from the start. Unfortunately, the starting tutorial dungeon is too long, not quite as bad as Baldur's Gate 2's dreadfully long starter dungeon, but almost. Hopefully someone will make a "dungeon-be-gone" mod soon, because I'm not enamored with the idea of spending an hour in the starting dungeon every time I want to try out a new character concept.

Once you get outside, the game really starts to come alive. The visuals are reminiscent of Far Cry, with its large and beautiful outdoor vistas that you can actually go to. I was pleased with the graphics on my A64 3000+, 9800 Pro, 1 GB RAM system, although the character models up close at 800 x 600 with no AA left something to be desired. I jacked the resolution up to a more desirable 1280 x 960, which seemed fine until I got into combat and it chugged, so back to 800 x 600 for me. It's still visually pleasing, even stunning at times, but Half Life 2 looked much better on my system.

The physical combat system is satisfying and fun. Certainly better than Daggerfall's tactics bereft backup-and-slash dances. The archery is very well done, as is the sneaking. I'd compare all three systems to Thief 1 and 2's systems. Since those games had, in my opinion, the best swordfighting, best archery, and best sneaking in any game of all time, this is high praise. Oblivion's systems are not as good as Thief's, however, because a traditional "start small, end uber" RPG can never approach the well-polished feel of Thief, where the designers did not have to worry about 100 different possible levels of skill at each task.

The "Radiant AI" is fairly cool. People (well, most people) sleep at night and are up during the day. But if you follow someone around into their house, you'll find that most of them just mill about their house all day, doing absolutely nothing. Even my life isn't that boring!

The magic system is more or less reminiscent of Daggerfall, although more accessable and polished. Ditto for the world map. Horses are a nice addition, although I can't help but notice that you can't fight, shoot arrows, or cast spells from horseback like you could in Daggerfall, so that's kind of lame.

All in all, it's a very fun and enjoyable game that will probably win some Game of the Year awards, but like all Next Big Things, the reality is never as good as the dream was. Luckily for me, I never bought the dream, so I'm happy with my awesome game.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2006-03-22 11:39pm

Another question I have yet to have answeared.

For those that got the collectors edition, the map in the 110page history guild, is that world map the game world?(Which would be friggin beyond awsome.)

Or is the game world limited to the Captial province?

Xon · Post by **Xon** » 2006-03-22 11:45pm

Mr Bean wrote:1.Is there an easy quick way to select a item in inventory and drop it on the ground?

There is a bug in the tutorial about dropping an item.

It only kicks in when you are over your wieght limit. You can not move when you reach your wieght limit.

Some idiot put a ">" where a ">=" was needed in the scripting trigger.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2006-03-22 11:47pm

The game world is limited to the Capital Province, as is the map.

Suffice to say, the game world is maybe about the same size as Morrowind, but that's just by eyeballing it.

GuppyShark · Post by **GuppyShark** » 2006-03-23 12:56am

WTF? The GeForce XP series is on your list. Le sigh.

Adrian Laguna · Post by **Adrian Laguna** » 2006-03-23 12:57am

Empire of Tamriel, it's also the entire continent. Morrowind took place on Vvardenfell, albeit a scaled-down version of it. Oblivion takes place on a scaled-down version of Cyrodiil.

GuppyShark · Post by **GuppyShark** » 2006-03-23 01:13am

Oh, wonderful.

When the box and the Readme say "NVIDIA GeForce FX series" they actually mean GeForce FX 5700+.

I'm running an NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600XT.

GuppyShark · Post by **GuppyShark** » 2006-03-23 01:52am

New graphics card purchased. Bethesda better refund me the game or the GFX card or I'll be taking it up with Consumer Affairs.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2006-03-23 01:56am

GuppyShark wrote:New graphics card purchased. Bethesda better refund me the game or the GFX card or I'll be taking it up with Consumer Affairs.

Good luck with that. See you day after never.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2006-03-23 02:11am

The game is neat. It runs okay in 1280x960 on my 6600GT, so no arguments from me spec-wise.

It's actually amusing for me - someone who hates everything - to read lame complaints about Oblivion. The spear thing, lack of dual wield, etc etc... it's a mark of a good game when the only complaints are such trivial nonsense.

I *do* kindof wish you could switch the UI into 'PC' mode, so you could window a bit more. But it's not really a problem, and I haven't had problems with any part of the game, even without reading the manual and ignoring the tutorial bits. I love the new, faster, better combat, and they seem to have put a lot of work into the skill curves.

I also await the 'skip opening' mod. The start dungeon is fine if you're learning, but if I make another character, I do *not* want to play that again.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2006-03-23 03:08am

Stark wrote: I also await the 'skip opening' mod. The start dungeon is fine if you're learning, but if I make another character, I do *not* want to play that again.

So make a save before leaving the tutorial, since it gives you an option to rearrange everything for your character.

Luzifer's right hand · Post by **Luzifer's right hand** » 2006-03-23 03:27am

DPDarkPrimus wrote:
Stark wrote: I also await the 'skip opening' mod. The start dungeon is fine if you're learning, but if I make another character, I do *not* want to play that again.
So make a save before leaving the tutorial, since it gives you an option to rearrange everything for your character.

A special autosave would have been a good idea though.

The game is awesome nevertheless, although I would prefer an Interface more like the one in Morrowind.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2006-03-23 03:43am

Luzifer's right hand wrote:
DPDarkPrimus wrote:
Stark wrote: I also await the 'skip opening' mod. The start dungeon is fine if you're learning, but if I make another character, I do *not* want to play that again.
So make a save before leaving the tutorial, since it gives you an option to rearrange everything for your character.
A special autosave would have been a good idea though.

Autosaves are replaced... automatically as more of them accumulate. So it wouldn't do that much good.

The game is awesome nevertheless, although I would prefer an Interface more like the one in Morrowind.

There is a text file included that gives extra info about the interface for PC. F1 through F4 open up the various "main info screens" so you don't have to just Tab and cycle through every time.

Luzifer's right hand · Post by **Luzifer's right hand** » 2006-03-23 04:01am

DPDarkPrimus wrote: Autosaves are replaced... automatically as more of them accumulate. So it wouldn't do that much good.

I said a "special" autosave. An autosave which is only replaced if you replay the tutorial again. Kind like the final saves in the Baldurs Gate games which don't get replaced with normal autosaves if you start a new game.

DPDarkPrimus wrote: There is a text file included that gives extra info about the interface for PC. F1 through F4 open up the various "main info screens" so you don't have to just Tab and cycle through every time.

I know. I would prefer to see every info screen at once and I also liked the Morrowind inventory more.
It is a nuiscance, but it's hardly game breaking

GuppyShark · Post by **GuppyShark** » 2006-03-23 04:54am

This game is fun now that I have a supported video card.

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2006-03-23 05:26am

I don't suppose there is a free trial/demo available?

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2006-03-23 03:41pm

wautd wrote:I don't suppose there is a free trial/demo available?

Heck no!

Hey where did the last four hours go? Yes that old Morrowind feeling is back, and I'm still decided which house should be mine.