Oblivion Awaits

[Xenocide]

<3 it so far, haven't played much but it is looking sweet, already have 13 spells ;)

[Fesan]

Talking about oblivian the place or the game?:9

[Shaneequa]

yea i was watchin it at my friends on the 360 for a bit. looked just like morrowind except 100x more amazing. makes me wanna get 360 since my pc is fucked.

[Isaac]

Been playing it, probably the best single player game I've ever see of its type. Very pleased.

[Ziot]

Yeah, I love this game. Already a list of minor mods I want to make to the game to make it better. You can tell they designed it for a console, the UI sucks.

:(

Amazing game though.

[Skunkworks]

Bastards. Still Waiting on my 360 copy : /

I heard the load times are relatively lengthy, but regardless the game is amazing. Cant fuckin wait, thank god I have Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter :D

Best Tactical Shooter Ive ever played.

[Ziot]

I heard the load times are relatively lengthy.

I think that's the whole point, you can play elder scroll games for weeks and there is still more content. You can actually tell there is four years of work into this game. That's hard to say for a lot of games.

[Skunkworks]

I remember the satisfaction of literallly getting lost in morrowind, then discovering a completely new set of quests to distract me for a solid week before I had any desire to get back to what I was doing in the first place. I LOVE that.
man Im jonesing for this game.

[Skunkworks]

Fuck that, I remember getting lost in Daggerfall.

Did'nt it take two full weeks in real time to get from one end of the game world to the other? That's pretty astonishing now, not to mention 1996.

[uro]

Ive been playing it for a bit, and ive gotta say despite the UI's shortcomings and some other annoying little shit, the game is fucking awesome.

[Vengeance]

Bought the DVD version a couple days ago, forgot I didn't have a DVD drive on my main PC. :(

[Ziot]

Bought the DVD version a couple days ago, forgot I didn't have a DVD drive on my main PC. :(

Get shit on.

[Wake]

Game is amazing aside from the interface being designed for a console controller.

I just became leader of the mages guild, I suppose it may be time to do something about that "main plot line" I keep hearing about.

[Xenocide]

what kind of character skills do you guys have so far? I made a sorcerer and I have heavy armor/shield + shield / dispell and a few low level bolt spells, and a life drain spell <3.

[Soruss]

I'd have it if it wasn't for the 60ish hours of assignments I've had to do this week :\

Soon... sooon ...

[Protagonist]

I quit WoW long ago, and this sounds like the perfect diversion =)

Can anybody post some screenshots? The official screenshots can be deceiving.

[craziii]

could you please please make a caster bar mod??? you know like the neverwinter style or wow style. When I press the 1 button it will cast that spell instead of equiping it :( That has been my major beef with all the games that are made for consoles + pcs, the UIs are horrid cuz of this horrid system for casters. If a mod like that comes out this game would be perfect!!!

ZIOT, PLEASE! I have zero knowledge of CS. I seem to like the caster type in every rpg I play :( If a mod like that is possible, plz make one!!!

[SandDemon]

I remember the satisfaction of literallly getting lost in morrowind, then discovering a completely new set of quests to distract me for a solid week before I had any desire to get back to what I was doing in the first place. I LOVE that.
man Im jonesing for this game.

Fuck that, I remember getting lost in Daggerfall.


What and you didn't spend a week in the newbie jail cell underground in Arena? Oldschool owns, Dagger < Arena.

[Soruss]

I remember the satisfaction of literallly getting lost in morrowind, then discovering a completely new set of quests to distract me for a solid week before I had any desire to get back to what I was doing in the first place. I LOVE that.
man Im jonesing for this game.

Fuck that, I remember getting lost in Daggerfall.


What and you didn't spend a week in the newbie jail cell underground in Arena? Oldschool owns, Dagger < Arena.

Townsfolk walking into walls ftw wut.

[SandDemon]

That and I think it was a lot scarier, but maybe cuz I played Arena when I was a lot younger than Daggerfall.

Sleeping in a crypt because you're out of mana to only hear "RGARNNANRGAGRNAR" and get whacked by a zombie mage which you can only see for a second because he casts blind...suddenly you're running around with your head cut off trying to find the way out.


Yeah, loved Arena :)

[Xenocide]

I quit WoW long ago, and this sounds like the perfect diversion =)

Can anybody post some screenshots? The official screenshots can be deceiving.

the games graphics are riddiculously nice, best I have seen in quite a while, not like gfx mean anything ;)

[Protagonist]

I went searching for in game screens and the game looks incredible!

Just look at this:

http://screenshots.filesnetwork.com/95/potd/1143048864_57.jpg

[Krissam]

seems pretty good so far, i like how the improved actual theif skills compared to casters (i mean, in morrowind every thief skill: stealth, pickpocket, lockpick, mages would do it better :S) and how they improved theives guild... really like how it works so far :P

[wargh]

When i escaped jail and realized i would have to walk miles and miles from here to there and miles and miles from there to there and so on i thought - well i this game is about walking i'll get bored soon. And quit.

Seriously, that monk told me to go and find this soon-to-be-king and then i checked the map and saw the distance, really annoying. And my horse allways walks away or disappears when i enter/leave a house.

Where are the guys with a yellow mark on their heads? :D Taverns were totally empty, but the gfx is nice, yes.

[mts]

When i escaped jail and realized i would have to walk miles and miles from here to there and miles and miles from there to there and so on i thought - well i this game is about walking i'll get bored soon. And quit.

You know you can fast travel between all cities on the world map? ^^ Just click the city and you'll get a dialogue box asking if you want to fast travel there... you cant fast travel to some places people mark on the map for you though like certain dungeons etc, but its just to travel to the closest city and ride from there wont take more than a few minutes.

Also when you dismount your horse will just wander for like 10 meters max so you can leave it and if you fast travel away you will automatically use the horse and leave it outside the city in the stables.

[Xenocide]

When i escaped jail and realized i would have to walk miles and miles from here to there and miles and miles from there to there and so on i thought - well i this game is about walking i'll get bored soon. And quit.


Oo

[Xenocide]

darkfall ^^

[wargh]

Well i am an Oblivion noob ^^ But nevertheless this is the kind of game you fall into because it needs alot of time, more than WoW for sure and even WoW is too time consuming for me at the moment. But thanks for the insight!

But this damn horse really walked more than 10 meters, pretty annoying. Btw i stole it from the stables in front of the starting city, that was fun - would be nice to be able to steal epic mounts in WoW :X

[Ziot]

If you steal a horse, it is going to walk back.. that is the downside to stealing it.. it is only effective till you get to the place you need to go and then you have to deal with the bounty.

There are plenty of mounts you get through the main quest and faction quests, so there is no point in stealing one anyways.

Some mod ideas I have and have been working on since I beat the game and all the factions.

1. ) Various new hotkeys and ui layouts to make it more friendly to PC users instead of a shitty console ui. "M" to go to your map, "I" to go to your inventory. Also some new setups for inventory to go through your gear a lot easier then having to scroll through lists of gear.

2. ) Allow seperate hotkeys for CTRL and ALT for spells. Instead of switching to spells having it cast the spell instead.

3. ) Ability to zoom in and out of the map with mouse scroll

4. ) ! Add dual wielding !

5. ) Automatically go to dungeon map when you're in a dungeon or town

6. ) Highlight / Gray out for Alchemy list to see if the ingredient is actually usable in combination with anything you have instead of going through it all.

7. ) A quick creation tab for potions you have already made that will load in the ingredients instantly if you have them.

8. ) A world map marker for your owned horses.

9. ) Save locations of plants for your world map. Not sure how i'm going to do this one since there are a lot of plants. Possibly mini icons or only showing them on the inner map.

10. ) Quick travel to your own houses.

11. ) Plugin manager that'll allow name, description, version, website, and text file checker so people can check to see if mods have updated and also sort/activate/deactivate mods instead of having to manually go through and move/remove/etc.

Going to start a mini page on Oblivion after the raid tonight via http://oblivion.whataboutpp.com

[uro]

a minimap for the love of christ

[Skunkworks]

http://nzone.com/object/nzone_downloads_winxp_2k_32bit_84.25.html

Tweaked Forceware Drivers for Oblivion.

[mts]

sweeeeet ziot, especially the part about dual wielding. i was wondering why bethesda didnt put it in. its an excellent option for people who want to be offensive with one-handers.

[Ziot]

Most of these ideas are simply 'ideas'. Based on what i've found out so far the modification of the game is pretty extensive but limits to just the content. I don't think it'll be possible to make a lot of these UI customizations that I wanted to.

t_t

[Cyrn]

The terrible Xbox driven UI is the one blemish on an otherwise suberb game. Also unlike morrowind where you become a walking god without even trying, I am finding that Oblivion is actually pretty hard.

[Skunkworks]

Most of these ideas are simply 'ideas'. Based on what i've found out so far the modification of the game is pretty extensive but limits to just the content. I don't think it'll be possible to make a lot of these UI customizations that I wanted to.

t_t

As ive gotten ahold of the PC version, any chance for a Transparent/minimized Quest Log, Character, inventory screen? Maybe one I can use while moving : /

[sef]

Here's a nice mod that gives an idea of what's possible so far with UI modding (more pc-friendly menus, etc).

http://www.tessource.net/files/file.php?id=1825

I think you'll find while the UI layout is fairly modable, the game-system and UI functionality isn't quite as much. Most of the mods for Morrowind focused on adding content, and that will likely be true for Oblivion as well.

But you never know; there were some really amazing mods for Morrowind that changed the game in very unexpected ways.

edit: typo

[mts]

will these mods/ui's fuck up savegames btw?

[sef]

will these mods/ui's fuck up savegames btw?

The interface one definitely won't. Other mods, you have to rely on the author not doing anything bad like messing with other quests or objects in the world.

Unrelated, but this thread on somethingawful's forums is a good resource for tech related issues and tweaks.
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1834712

[Soruss]

The third person camera is wonky as fuck.

[Soruss]

The third person camera is wonky as fuck.

http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=295459

Huzzah.

[mts]

crap! i cant get blood decals to work properly, they just refuse to show up >:[ all the blood i see is just that faint spray whenever you slash something. the blood doesnt stay on the floor, walls, monsters or anything.

i've tried all those .ini settings but they just dont do anything for me and i've tried to tweak the video settings here and there... anyone got any good tips?

[craziii]

When i escaped jail and realized i would have to walk miles and miles from here to there and miles and miles from there to there and so on i thought - well i this game is about walking i'll get bored soon. And quit.

Seriously, that monk told me to go and find this soon-to-be-king and then i checked the map and saw the distance, really annoying. And my horse allways walks away or disappears when i enter/leave a house.

Where are the guys with a yellow mark on their heads? :D Taverns were totally empty, but the gfx is nice, yes.


Real men played Daggerfall and WALKED to each location, without warping.

says the wannabe real man :P I like my conveniences :P When I want to explore n go herb crazi, I will carry around the 1000 feather hax ring for loot :P

[craziii]

Most of these ideas are simply 'ideas'. Based on what i've found out so far the modification of the game is pretty extensive but limits to just the content. I don't think it'll be possible to make a lot of these UI customizations that I wanted to.

t_t

OMG, don make ppl who are waiting anxiously cry! I sort of stop playing my mage and started my melee character. Seems the Ui is ok, just ok if you play melee characters that doesn't require alot of buttons. Gonna check official boards n see what is going on with mods.

oh guys interesting shortcuts I found, didn't even find it on the manual or maybe I missed it.

F1 = character F2 = inventory F3 = spells F4 = map + quests that will at least make it easier for ur mod purposes or general gameplay.

[SandDemon]

So, my buddy was complaining a storm up about "Scalability" - meaning, he goes and gets some new armor and goes back to the newbie cave to slaughter things and finds 5 higher level guys in it. He kept saying "wtf is the point of getting new stuff then!"

I can agree it makes the game always harder but what do you guys think of this?

[Isaac]

Never ran into any progression problems. There were some highs and lows in my characters strength along the curve, but nothing a little skill and creativity couldn't overcome. What class is your friend playing, out of curiousity?

[SandDemon]

Think he's some sort of ranger....it wasn't if it was difficult or not, it's the fact that the game scales with you - so you can't go back to for example, the newbie cave and massacre things when you feel like it - they've all scaled up with you to make it harder.

[Wake]

Yes the scalability was the worst idea ever. There is no sense of acomplisment in this game. You can beat just about anything at anytime, going out to level up and comming back to the same place, yields nothing.

They should of made all the side quests scale, but made the guild quests and main plot line just go up on their own. So you might actually god forbit run into something you can't do and have to come back to it later when you are more powerful.

[Isaac]

There definitely are things in the game that cannot be killed or accomplished until around LvL 20. Take Umbra for example. I tried killing her a dozen or more times at LvL 12 or so and couldn't even put a dent in her. I came back at LvL 30 and she put up a decent fight and died.

I do agree there perhaps isn't enough of this sort of thing though. Take Ogres or Minotaurs, for example. They are huge and menacing, but can be killed at LvL 5 with some effort. That seems a little silly to me.

Fortunatley, I think there will be plenty of mods that will address the fast leveling pace (already one out) and the difficulty of mobs. This game is certainly deserving of an expansion too. I think it already holds a lot of replayability, given the massive scope of quests, dungeons, and encounters otherwise, but it would be great to see some upgrades to the content in time.

Regardless of the inevitable flaws, this is still the best game that has come out in a long time of its sort, in my opinion. It's clear that this isn't just another trashy "make money and get out" release like 95% of the games created today are. That alone makes it work buying and playing if you ask me.

[fortysixn2]

The scaling system is great, you can still become an uber badass through skills and gear. Only thing that bugs me is guards, since they will always be +10 you. Much better than Morrowind's 'hit level 15 and one shot everything' style.

Anyways, Oblvion is the best single player RPG since Baldurs Gate 2.


Q: How do the levelled lists work?
A:Intro to Level Lists

A Level List is essentially a List of objects that can spawn in the game at a given location. Associated with each creature on the list is a level value, which corresponds to the minimum PC level required for that creature to be able to spawn. Level Lists can be set up either to A) randomly spawn any creature whose associated PC spawn level is below the actual PC level, or spawn only the creature whose associated PC spawn level is closest to, but not exceeding the actual PC level.

Example (simplified) Level List

1 Rat
1 Wolf
1 Deer
6 Timber Wolf
12 Mountain Lion
16 Brown Bear

Lets assume our PC is level 12. If the list is configured for case A above, then there is an equal chance for a Rat, Wolf, Deer, or Mountain Lion to spawn. There is a 0% chance for a Bear to spawn, because the required spawn level is greater than the PC's level. If the list is configured for case B, then only a Mountain Lion could spawn, because it has the closest required spawn level to the PC actual level, WITHOUT exceeding it. By far, the most common configuration is the A type level list, so even when a PC is high level, he will still encounter many lower level spawns in addition to the higher level ones.


Creatures

Basic Creatures

Lets start with the most basic of enemies. This is, of course, the random, non-magical animal encounter, including your mudcrabs, rats, deer, wolves, boars, bears, and mountain lions. These creatures are all randomly spawned in the wild according to the player level. HOWEVER, contrary to popular belief, all of these creatures levels are FIXED. You will never find a normal rat or deer at anything but level 1, for example, and you will never find a normal mountain lion at anything but level 10, or a brown bear at anything but level 14, regardless of the PC's level. Consequently, when you first venture out into the wilderness you won't find anything other than rats, wolves, deer, etc., but as you level up, you will see mountain lions and bears start to spawn in addition to lower level mobs. However, no matter how high your level gets, you will NEVER see these creatures "gain levels" with you.

Mythic Creatures

Another type of enemy you may encounter are Mythic Creatures. These are in separate from normal creatures and their level lists generally have them spawn around ruins and other distinctive features. These include imps, spriggans, trolls, ogres, etc. These function almost exactly like the normal creatures listed above, with one very notable exeption. In general, the HIGHEST LEVEL type of creature on the List is set to vary with the PC level by some offset (PC level -3, PC level +2, etc.). The end result of this is that while the lower level types of these enemies will get significantly easier as you level up, because they are fixed level creatures, when you encounter the highest level of these creatures, they will gain levels with you (presumably so the PC always has something challenging to fight).

Daedra

Daedra, even though they have their own separate Level Lists, function almost exactly like Mythic Creatures, in that only the highest level types will level up along with the player. (basically just Xivilai and Dremoras). All atronachs and lesser daedra are fixed level.

Undead

Ditto for undead too. Randomly generated ghosts, skeletons, and zombies are all fixed level, and the high level liches level up with the PC.

NPC's

Bandit/Outlaw type enemy NPC's

Generally speaking, all randomly generated enemy NPCs that you would typically find in a cave or in a smuggler's camp somewhere level up along with the PC.

Named NPC's

Name'd NPC's are not governed by Level Lists and typically fall into either Merchant-types or combat-type NPCs. Merchants, in general, but not always, will have a fixed level. Combatants (including NPC's involved with quests), in general, but not always, will level up with the PC.

Guards

Guards typically gain levels along with the PC. It is interesting to note that they have one of the highest level offsets in the game, at PC Level +10. They are limited to some pretty crappy armor and weapons though, so that should give the PC an advantage at higher levels.

Final Thoughts

I'll be the first to admit that I was skeptical about the new Level Lists in Oblivion when I first heard about them, however upon closer inspection, they are really starting to grow on me. Generally, they ensure that any quest or dungeon the PC encounters while roaming the countryside is doable, assuming the PC is moderately prepared and the developers didn't intentionally throw a non-random high level creature into the mix. At the same time, because the vast majority of creatures have fixed levels, the player feels a sense of accomplishment from leveling up, because eventually they will be significantly stronger than, and able to one shot, the wolves, bears, and even atronachs that previously were tough fights. Because, typically, lower level monsters still have a chance to spawn even when the PC is high level, the AVERAGE level and toughness of creature the PC fights gets lower and lower as they level up, again, giving a sense of accomplishment. However, there is always the chance of a higher level creature spawning which will really give the PC a run for their money, and keep the game challenging.

[SandDemon]

From your quote:

"However, there is always the chance of a higher level creature spawning which will really give the PC a run for their money, and keep the game challenging."

If someone can't spawn that's higher level than me, I wouldn't find it challenging at all. I'd rather go to some area with higher level stuff and have it kick my ass but drop phat loot than always be "moderately" challenged. Dumbing down the game for the masses is BS.

[Isaac]

Edit: For clarity/accuracy.

My one gripe so far is lack of mob types. I expected to eventually find things like spiders, snakes, maybe even drakes, or something really "epic" later on in the remote wilderness (maybe even rare spawn "myth" type creatures), but alas none of that so far. Maybe I just haven't explored enough. But, I'm level 30 and still haven't seen it yet.

[Skunkworks]

My one gripe so far is lack of mob types. I expected to eventually find things like spiders, snakes, maybe even drakes, or something really "epic" later on in the remote wilderness (maybe even rare spawn "myth" type creatures), but alas none of that so far. Maybe I just haven't explored enough. But, I'm level 30 and still haven't seen it yet.

255 levels, but I have a feeling your seeing the majority of mob types.

[craziii]

Yes the scalability was the worst idea ever. There is no sense of acomplisment in this game. You can beat just about anything at anytime, going out to level up and comming back to the same place, yields nothing.

They should of made all the side quests scale, but made the guild quests and main plot line just go up on their own. So you might actually god forbit run into something you can't do and have to come back to it later when you are more powerful.

I think they don want to obsolete any quest for any character lvl, hence the scalability present in the game. But nothing wrong with adding more difficulty into high end quests from guilds or similar quest chains.

[Ryanzbane]

Whats a good site to pick up Oblivion Mods?

[Isaac]

Okay, so I did some playing around with the difficulty slider in the Options menu this morning. I put it on max difficulty and went into a dugeon and proceeded to get destroyed. I could barely damage the mobs (I'm wielding Umbra, a 33 dmg long sword) and they were hitting me for a quarter or more of my life per shot through my 85 AC.

I'm not really sure it is even viable to play on that difficulty level currently. My only thought otherwise is that since I was playing on approximately 70% difficulty before, perhaps the gear I received over the last 30 levels was not tuned for the 100% difficulty. Either way, the game is definitely not too easy if you want ramp it up to max.

I still have not found any unique creatures or epic/mythical/special/rare bosses anywhere in the world, which is very disappointing. The first 2o levels or so were great, but I'm starting to get weary of killing the same things over and over again as I complete quests.

[IN88fingers]

PostPosted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 1:56 pm Post subject:
Whats a good site to pick up Oblivion Mods?

[Ziot]

After you close the oblivion gates there are some special mobs in the world. Beyond that, towards higher levels, there are some more generic mobs that are a lot harder to find which are related to 'mythic' creatures. If you start heading a random direction for an hour I am sure you will run into them. There were no epic type mobs like sea monster/dragons/etc though. I am sure these would be the first things added if you could add custom animations to the game, too bad you can't. T_T

Once you are around 20+, get ready for a very, very generic game. The game scaled improperly and you should have done the main quest before the side quests.


Whats a good site to pick up Oblivion Mods?

http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/index.php?showforum=25
http://www.tessource.net/files/

[Soruss]

I am sure these would be the first things added if you could add custom animations to the game, too bad you can't. T_T

It's kind of dumb that they didn't allow this because it was one of the main issues for modders with morrowind.

[Athrun]

so is there any story at all you can follow? i remember morrowind the elder scrolls being fucking boring since i didn't have a clue what to do.. i could just kill monsters and be imba strong, now that's freedom yeah, but i prefer having a line which you have to follow to "complete" the game. can you even complete it in any way?

[uro]

..yes

[craziii]

there is a main story which is pretty good. You can do it whenver you want.

[Shaneequa]

dude, i donno bout you guys but i just am finally able to play and went in some vampire cave for the main quest and there was a mob in there that was rediculous. it would 2 shot me, do crazy combos, heal, regen, and cast diseases and fireballs, shocks, frost attacks on me...the worst. i had to drag it out of the cave and have the imps at the oblivion gate kill it...haha the best.

[Shaneequa]

all in all it's pretty much the best game since minesweeper. i also did a huge jump off a cliff and my horse died hahaha.