7000 Word "Elder Scrolls Oblivion" HandsOn Preview

Adrian Laguna · Post by **Adrian Laguna** » 2006-03-05 10:32pm

http://tessource.net/content.php?page=O ... n%20Review

Note that the guy that wrote it is a big Elder Scrolls fan, considering he owns that fansite. However, I don't think it detracts from the review.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2006-03-06 04:15am

Any spoilers? I'll kill you with a Daedric Blade if you lead me to spoilers.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2006-03-06 05:16am

DPDarkPrimus wrote:Any spoilers? I'll kill you with a Daedric Blade if you lead me to spoilers.

Spoilers abound during one section but as long as you read line by line there are Spoiler tags in the text however it's limited to the Tutorial play on story comments.

The author played Tutorial then started trying to off civilians and rob people blind so you don't have to worry about anything be spoiled anyway.

Bad news on that point however apperntly the guards in Oblivion used Minority Report technices however as the author goes into how he tried to off civilians in their sleep and somehow the guards knew where he was(When killing in the City.) however outside of the city he stole a Horse(YES Horses!) just fine.

I'm guess this was to avoid the "get enough money to pay the murder fine then murder the shopkeep and sell his store" technice of making money in Morrowind.

Arrow · Post by **Arrow** » 2006-03-06 03:42pm

I has hoping this review would have some new information on it, but its pretty much a repeat of what's already been published. I like how he bashed the fast travel system and the compass - let's see if he still bashes 150 hours into the game and he's trying to finish a quest before he has eat dinner/go to work/whatever. Really, some of the things people complain about are absolutely mind boggling, especially when they have little/no hands-on experence with the game (yes, I'm staring at you, TES forums!).

Captain tycho · Post by **Captain tycho** » 2006-03-06 05:44pm

If you don't like the fast travel, don't fucking use it. Its as simple as that.

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2006-03-06 06:34pm

Fast Travel was a godsend in Daggerfall.

Seriously, you couldn't even dream of riding, let alone between Daggerfall itself and the first town, let alone the other side of the map.

Glad to see it's back.

Captain tycho · Post by **Captain tycho** » 2006-03-06 08:17pm

Vendetta wrote:Fast Travel was a godsend in Daggerfall.

Seriously, you couldn't even dream of riding, let alone between Daggerfall itself and the first town, let alone the other side of the map.

Glad to see it's back.

Yeah, fast travel is an absolute godsend. I probably won't use it for the first parts of the game; I'd like to reach each city on my own and see the sights. But running courier missions? Hell yeah, I'll use fast travel all the damn time.

Edit: fucking tags

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2006-03-07 01:04am

The reviewer sings the praises of the Minority Report-like guards, but it sounds like a load of crap to me. Sounds a lot like Daggerfall, in fact, which pissed me off to no end in that regard. What's the point of being a bad man if you can't get away with any crimes?

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2006-03-07 03:00am

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote: What's the point of being a bad man if you can't get away with any crimes?

He notes that outside of town you kill with relative impunnity so murder and mayham might simply be limited to hamlets rather than major citys. Plus it makes me wonder if we can't do belltower snipe jobs in major citys. Nothing was funner in Morrowind that climbing up a guard tower then going nuts with the bow as the poor guards tried to climb up to you.

Captain tycho · Post by **Captain tycho** » 2006-03-07 04:20pm

Although it might be possible the guards were summoned not beacuse the woman was killed, but because she screamed before she died. I wouldn't put that part past the developers.

However, the x-ray vision on stolen goods still sounds annoying.

Flagg · Post by **Flagg** » 2006-03-07 04:24pm

That review was almost as bad as one of Harry Knowles' "I woke up, took a medium sized shit (slightly runny), wiped 37 times..." movie wankfests.

Oberleutnant · Post by **Oberleutnant** » 2006-03-07 05:02pm

That's not really a review, it's a short hands-on preview.

Adrian Laguna · Post by **Adrian Laguna** » 2006-03-07 05:33pm

Flagg wrote:That review was almost as bad as one of Harry Knowles' "I woke up, took a medium sized shit (slightly runny), wiped 37 times..." movie wankfests.

I liked it...
Could you specify what exactly did you dislike?

Oberleutnant wrote:That's not really a review, it's a short hands-on preview.

Noted

Flagg · Post by **Flagg** » 2006-03-07 05:47pm

Adrian Laguna wrote:
Flagg wrote:That review was almost as bad as one of Harry Knowles' "I woke up, took a medium sized shit (slightly runny), wiped 37 times..." movie wankfests.
I liked it...
Could you specify what exactly did you dislike?

Oberleutnant wrote:That's not really a review, it's a short hands-on preview.
Noted

The lame attemps at humor by calling the Emperor "Patrick", and the facetious comments about being in prison, and the fact that it was far more of a preview than a review, despite being advertised as a review. He rambled on far too much for my tasted too. Plus there was absolutely zero information in this that you can't find on any number of websites that have people who can actually write something that gets to the point, and isn't tedious.

Arrow · Post by **Arrow** » 2006-03-08 07:14pm

One of the devs had something to say about the "Minority Report" guards:

Emil Pags wrote:Well, it's not like you're in the Army and they add chevrons to your arm whenever you gain rank, so no, it generally doesn't show on your clothing. But it's not simply a title, either. Rank could affect everything from the way you're addressed by NPCs, to the types of special services that are available to you.

Well, note that in the example of that failed attempt, he didn't actualyl kill his victim. So of course any nearby guards would be alerted to the sounds of combat. It really depends on a lot of factors. Is it EASY to murder someone? In the cities, no. They're crawling with guards and lots of people who can report crimes. So you have to set up your kills carefully and use every resource at your disposal. Or, ever better, kill someone in a more remote location. A roadside inn, or a farm.

In that example, the previewer also chose to resist arrest. And then the guard killed him. But he just as easily could have paid the fine or gone to jail, and then went back and finished off the weakened target!

He doesn't have to directly witness it. The NPC being attacked sent out an alarm/alert, and the guard was close enough to detect it. It's not as if the guard pulled a Lobot, switched himself into active mode, and then automatically went to the house. It wasn't scripted -- he had to be close enough to receive the alarm... which is itself sort of a simulation of the victim's cries and how that gets spread. And there are so many guards in the cities, the chances of the alarm/alert being heard or spread to one are pretty high. If we DIDN'T do it that way, you'd be able to slaughter people indiscriminately.

Link

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2006-03-08 07:26pm

Wait, does that mean that inside and outsides of a building are seemless? So a guard patrolling the street could walk into a shop and kill me?
That's pretty sweet!

Darth Quorthon · Post by **Darth Quorthon** » 2006-03-08 07:37pm

New Screenie 1

New Screenie 2

Yes, from what I've heard, enemies can follow you through loading zones. Desslock wrote a hands-on in PC Gamer where he described starting a rumble in a church, and noticed that one church-goer fled outside. He then took his character outside, only to find that the angry mob had followed him. He then noticed that the one church-goer who had fled at the beginning of the brawl had actually ran to his home to fetch a sword.

GuppyShark · Post by **GuppyShark** » 2006-03-08 07:57pm

Darth Quorthon wrote:Yes, from what I've heard, enemies can follow you through loading zones. Desslock wrote a hands-on in PC Gamer where he described starting a rumble in a church, and noticed that one church-goer fled outside. He then took his character outside, only to find that the angry mob had followed him. He then noticed that the one church-goer who had fled at the beginning of the brawl had actually ran to his home to fetch a sword.

If I had any doubts about buying this game, that just killed them.

Pick · Post by **Pick** » 2006-03-08 10:33pm

Darth Quorthon wrote:
Yes, from what I've heard, enemies can follow you through loading zones. Desslock wrote a hands-on in PC Gamer where he described starting a rumble in a church, and noticed that one church-goer fled outside. He then took his character outside, only to find that the angry mob had followed him. He then noticed that the one church-goer who had fled at the beginning of the brawl had actually ran to his home to fetch a sword.

Oh my God, that is just completely awesome.

I want this game so badly; it's just a shame I doubt it'll run well on my POS computer. Someday, though, I vow... .

LeftWingExtremist · Post by **LeftWingExtremist** » 2006-03-08 11:25pm

Horse(YES Horses!)

HORSES! HORSES! (you dont know how much i wanted a horse in morrowind) *hyperventalates*

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2006-03-09 12:22am

Morrowind didn't have horses? Daggerfall had horses.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2006-03-09 04:09am

InnocentBystander wrote:Wait, does that mean that inside and outsides of a building are seemless? So a guard patrolling the street could walk into a shop and kill me?
That's pretty sweet!

This also raises the question of if one can distract the guards via setting fire to the nearyby old copper's retierment home and bingo hall.

Either that or remeber to put the arrorw through the windpipe of the target. If you can't do it ingame, I'm going to start my own mod for it.

Adrian Laguna · Post by **Adrian Laguna** » 2006-03-09 06:42pm

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:Morrowind didn't have horses?

The native flora gives them tummy aches. Non-SOD, I don't know why the deveolpers didn't put them in. I suspect they had problems with the engine.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2006-03-09 08:22pm

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:Morrowind didn't have horses? Daggerfall had horses.

Yeah...it was bloody weird.

Still you could get running speed pretty decent as well as flight, but it was funny being Superman or the Flash.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2006-03-09 08:54pm

C'mon, who else bounced their way across Morrowind, Gummi Bears-style? If only the physics engine had allowed me to damage people by falling on them from a great height...

Covering hundreds of metres in a single jump = funny.