Support NeoGAF

[PotatoeMasher]

I guess I have to go to sleep tonight

 

[Sysgen]

We are pleased to announce that The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is currently in development for PC and future generation consoles. In development since 2002, Oblivion is another leap forward in role-playing with its combination of freeform gameplay and cutting-edge graphics. The world-exclusive details on Oblivion are featured in the October issue of Game Informer. Check out their mammoth 12-page cover story to get all the details and screenshots. (And yes, that's in-game art on the cover.)

Hell yeah!

 

[Speevy]

Sounds good. I wish it would come out this generation though.

 

[Sysgen]

What makes this so awesome is that all versions should be just about on equal footing and perhaps the console versions just might have the edge this time.

 

[SteveMeister]

Here, use the bigger picture:

 

[Redbeard]

He's riding a horse

Hopefully it's a sign mounts will be in the game.

 

[DrM]

He's riding a horse

It looks like dragon to me...but it is a mean looking horse

 

[Sysgen]

He's riding a horse

Hopefully it's a sign mounts will be in the game.

Daggerfall had mounts. This is a very good sign. I missed traversing the countyside on horseback in Morrowind. It also would of made traveling easier.

 

[SteveMeister]

Horse with horns?! It looks like dragon to me

Ears...

 

[DrM]

Ears...

yeah, my mistake

 

[Sysgen]

Not that is affects me in anyway but no Revolution on the cover.

 

[Nerevar]

they're going to put it on playstation 3? Interesting. At least now we'll have fewer people bitching and moaning about "BAD ART"

 

[Redbeard]

That image is ingame. :O

Found this dev post browsing their forums:

It is a shot using real in-game assets. The guy on the cover is actually the "player character" who we use most often when we're playing the game right now. Obviously he has been posed by hand for purposes of the cover, but there is no graphics magic or sleight-of-hand going on. That is how his armor will look when you play the game. The same for the horse, his face, and the castle in the background - all in-game assets that are rendered in real time by our engine.

 

[AeroGod]

Ohh shit son that looks great. The #1 ultimate problem with Morrowind were the god awful shitty character models. That looks hot though!

 

[B E N K E]

Redbeard: Your definition of in-game is pretty strange. My definition is an actual screen capture. Obviously this is of higher resolution. Just because an asset is from in-game doesn't mean it will look like that in-game. Hail to the normal mapping...

 

[gofreak]

Redbeard: Your definition of in-game is pretty strange. My definition is an actual screen capture. Obviously this is of higher resolution. Just because an asset is from in-game doesn't mean it will look like that in-game. Hail to the normal mapping...

Agreed. The dev's post is confusing though. Swings from saying that the shot uses in-game assets to the shot itself being in-engine. The former means this shot looks better than it will in-game..they just took the game models, and rendered them, AAed them up etc. etc.

 

[Redbeard]

...there is no graphics magic or sleight-of-hand going on. That is how his armor will look when you play the game. The same for the horse, his face, and the castle in the background - all in-game assets that are rendered in real time by our engine.

My definition of "ingame" is simply if it isn't prerendered or otherwise enhanced/faked, and is being rendered in real time - just as the developer is quoted. Whether there's no HUD or the camera isn't behind the character or whatever seems a little nitpicky to me.

 

[Xellos]

So can we infer from this that Xbox 2 and PS3 will have some sort of hard drive or other type of mass storage format built in/optional from launch? Didn't Morrowind need the HD on XBox 1 to stream data?

 

[TekunoRobby]

So can we infer from this that Xbox 2 and PS3 will have some sort of hard drive or other type of mass storage format built in/optional from launch? Didn't Morrowind need the HD on XBox 1 to stream data?

It depends on the engine really. Morrowind heavily relied on a constant data stream in order to vastly reduce loading times and to keep the overworld relatively load-free.

I'm sure it's somewhat safe to infer that a harddrive might be possible in the consoles considering the nature of the product.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Streaming can be done on the fly directly from the disc, a few seconds buffered in the memory (pretty standard method on GC) and then loaded in main memory for use. PS2 does plenty of streaming. Doesnt require an HDD at all. Next gen platforms with their new disc formats will have higher speed transfers from the disc and a lot, a lot more memory.

 

[TekunoRobby]

Streaming can be done on the fly directly from the disc, a few seconds buffered in the memory (pretty standard method on GC) and then loaded in main memory for use. PS2 does plenty of streaming. Doesnt require an HDD at all. Next gen platforms with their new disc formats will have higher speed transfers from the disc and a lot, a lot more memory.

CD streaming with the complexity of Morrowind and the relatively load-free environment is a VERY tough task with the current DVD speeds (on all consoles). The PS2 does in fact do plenty of streaming (as with the GC and Xbox) but none of the environments have been as expansive and relatively load-free as Morrowind. With the NetImmerse engine that they used (which is heavily based on PC standards) it wouldn't have been possible on the PS2 or GC without a harddrive or massive optimization and even then there would have likely been 'load zones' a-la the GTA franchise. This was one of the main reasons why Bethesda did not port Morrowind to any other console.

Now nextgen platforms with the properly optimized game engines could certainly do massive amounts of streaming and rather well but right now it's uncertain if Bethesda is using the same engine or they are going with a much friendlier console based alternative.

NetImmerse recently turned into GameBryo, here's a link to their website:
http://www.ndl.com/

And here's a link to request an evaluation copy:
http://www.ndl.com/eval_request.cfm

 

[B E N K E]

The key word here is asset. An asset used with normal mapping can be riddiculously detailed, but scaled down in the actual game engine. Therefore, the statement doesnät really say that much.

 

[Rhindle]

Does anyone know when this GI issue hits the stands?

 

[Sysgen]

Does anyone know when this GI issue hits the stands?

From GameInformer

Game Informer Magazine subscribers should be getting their new issues any day now. Our October issue should be arriving newsstands and GameStop stores around the week of September 20th.

 

[Zachack]

The key word here is asset. An asset used with normal mapping can be riddiculously detailed, but scaled down in the actual game engine. Therefore, the statement doesnät really say that much.

That is how his armor will look when you play the game

I thought it was pretty clear.

 

[jedimike]

Excellent news! Nintendo better do something about Revolution. I haven't seen any games announced for it yet.

 

[D2M15]

Daggerfall had mounts. I missed traversing the countyside on horseback in Morrowind.

I missed traversing the rooftops, naked, on horseback in Morrowind.

God, I love/hate the Elder Scrolls.

 

[StoOgE]

Man, I cant wait to find a city in this game that doesnt effect the main story.. I was the nicest guy in Morrowind until I got into the NorthEast corner of the island... then it was slaughterhouse. I literally made ghosttowns out of most of the tel and vos whatever the hells up there.

 

[u_neek]

So, when can I expect to see some pics from the mag?

 

[gofreak]

Excellent news! Nintendo better do something about Revolution. I haven't seen any games announced for it yet.

:lol

 

[Eric-GCA]

My problem with Morrowind was that there was a bit too much open space on Vvardenfell itself, since that other than the coastal regions, the rest of the place was pretty barren and uninteresting. Hopefully Bethesda will measure the landscape better so that there are at least an equal amount of barren space and populated areas.

 

[SiegfriedFM]

I hope there is still as much freedom as in MW. I made a dragoon (FF style) complete with the Jump command. I would travel the countryside skipping 15 m from one side of the river to the other, go through Balmora without touching ground... really fun.

 

[Mejilan]

Looks fantastic.

Expanding the userbase is fine. But you'd all be fools to consider getting a console version over the PC one. The game WILL launch, on all platform, with a slew of bugs and plenty of content left out for expansions. It's home on the PC, and after all of the expansions and constant bug fixes (and possibly mods) it will be home to the ultimate version of Oblivion.

 

[Ghost of Bill Gates]

source:TXB

apparently PS3 is not confirmed. I don't have the issue, but some people have it and they say in it that they aren't sure what PS3 is capable of because there are no dev kits in the U.S. yet. So if/when/what it will look like is still kind of up in the air for PS3.

I hope this wont hold back the launch..I mean playing catch up on PS3 will drag the others as well. Who's knows what kind of design Ken Kutaragi has for PS3... probably something that will give developers a headache.

 

[Ghost of Bill Gates]

Part I of Oblivion Game informer article summarization :

-- There is an in-game pic that shows a knight on his steed staring in the distance with one of the most breath-taking sights I have ever seen, to detail it would be that it has the most incredibly expanse draw distance I have ever seen in a game (better than FarCry) and there are massive scale mountains that it says you can ride your horse to the very top (wonder if the horse riding is going to be 1st person or 3rd like halo, or both… either way

-- There are no specific consoles that it will be on as of right now (meaning it might change) Bethesda might have gotten the Xenon Dev kits but GI doesn’t know for sure because they were not allowed in that certain area (meaning basically they do have it) and Bethesda commented on the fact that they don’t have a dev kit for PS3 or Nintendo Revolution so they will judge the other systems based on how they play and there specs to see how they are

-- QUOTE: “If and when Oblivion comes to PS3, there is no telling how it will look” (good or bad thing)

-- Current release date is Winter 2005

- You will be able to train with your weapons on combat dummies that physically take damage with any of the weapons in the game

-- A small bit of the weapon selection as of now is Swords, Axes, Maces, Daggers, and Bows (which implies there is more than that)

-- According to Todd Howard they are trying to make the game as appealing to mainstream gamers as possible without alienating the hardcore players that prefer more complex RPG's (maybe good or bad)

-- They say the game is very very large, but (sadly) it will be smaller than Morrowind for two reasons \/

(Stated by Todd Howard)

A. "Budgets and schedules for games will not change much while the enhanced graphics will require more development time

B. "It’s a fact that, statistically, gamers prefer shorter games, and often do not finish more involved titles

-- They go on to say that this will still be the most Expansive game on the next-gen market

-- Will be unlike the conventional RPG in which the combat outcome does not depend on the luck of “dice rolls”

-- The damage that you dole out will be determined by your strength, your opponent’s armor, and the attack you unleash

-- Your opponents will block and dodge, so taking down an enemy is entirely on the player’s shoulders

-- To make this more mainstream appealing(?) they have made most of the tedious aspects of Morrowind fun (Lock picking, mixing potions, and forging armor for example are going to be done through a mini game of sorts and)

-- Still made for the 1st person player there are options for both 3rd person and 1st person (like Morrowind), while also saying that the "combat is visceral and bloody”, and that it is designed to recall intense swordplay seen in movies like LoTR and Brave heart. Not to mention the fact that they said, “The combat will be every bit exiting as a FPS"

-- More than 1000 NPC’s that are all unique and full dialogue for each due to the interaction and CS's amazing capabilities

-- There are expansive forest regions that are the most breath taking of them all, if only you could see the screen, but they are packed with almost photorealistic trees and at least a thousand slivers of grass

-- CS program is slated to be included with the PC version and maybe even the Consoles if they have that sort of capability

-- All NPC's have a basic day to day schedule so they go to sleep, shop, and even if a poor guy that can’t afford food wants food enough, he will steal from some one, maybe even you

Part II

-- You can still kill anyone in sight, and Guards still come but since you are in the capital province of Tamriel (or whatever) there’s a strong difference in the way the guards react

-- The guards will pursue NPC's that have committed a crime an give them a royal ass kicking

-- Game focuses on growth of your character (you still make your own of course) and the missions can be tackled from many different ways

-- Here’s another quote "The elder scrolls games are about freedom, and oblivion takes that freedom to a whole new level ~~~ The combat is a much bigger focus than in the earlier games"

-- Characters will converse in free flowing non scripted discussions that are possible due to this new CS

-- Character animation will be among the best ever seen with facial expressions representing what they are talking about and if they hate you they will greet you with a dark scold, while if they like you you’ll get a great big smile

-- NPCS maybe even age (shows a pic of a woman, then another with a caption saying it’s the same woman but in the CS all they did is use a slider to change her age in which she looks very aged compared to the younger looking one

- This is the most capable CS so far and runs on the havok physics engine

-- GI claims it has the most realistic lighting possible

-- When you see the GI pics and can’t believe your eyes, don’t act like they are CGI or FMV, but all pics are in game

-- There is going to be a castle and from the pic it is the most astonishing screen I have ever seen

-- Takes place in Cyrodiil, here’s a quote from GI "the world of Tamriel is a beautiful place: these are, without a doubt, the most amazing graphics the console gaming world has ever seen (look better than doom from the pics I saw)

-- Oblivion will function as a "fantasy world simulator" and wants to recreate such beautiful vibrancy as LoTR, and with these graphics being the best I have ever seen I would guess they will do just that

-- Either on foot or on HORSE BACK, players can explore a huge exterior world that looks shockingly real

-- They mention the new Construction Set which has supposedly like best AI ever in which It has created and rendered most things in which after words they hand touch every thing else

Part III

-- NOTE: as I said about the NPC's earlier and how they sleep, shop and so on, here is a couple of other things they mentioned that I didn’t.... Explore, Eat, Report for work, and none of this is scripted, this is supposedly the new development CS at work
-- Attacks will be mapped to right trigger block on left for Xenon (or whatever you want to call the damn thing) hitting trigger does basic swipes, while holding the trigger down and press a direction you perform a power swing, each different direction is a different attack for both basic and power swing. And there are special attack abilities

-- Magic features 6 schools (how many Morrowind had escapes me at the moment, seeing as I haven’t played the damn thing forever) but all the ones mentioned are all in Morrowind so no new schools of magic.... yet

-- Schools of magic are
- Destruction
- Mysticism
- Restoration
- Conjuration
- Alteration
- Illusion

-- You can combine said magic for different effects and can create custom spells

-- Can join any/all of the following guilds, each with unique quests
---- > Fighters Guild
---- > Mages Guild
---- > Thieves Guild
---- > The Dark Brotherhood Guild
---- > Arena Guild
---- > The Nine Divines Guild

-- Can become the leader of every faction during the course of one game all at the same time. Unlike factions in Morrowind where you could only get in all by cheating, while in Oblivion you will be able to do all without doing anything special to the game

-- Fighters/Mages Guild = Noble (Quests like Morrowind’s)

-- Thieves Guild = Sinister (Quests like Morrowind’s)

-- Arena Guild = Focus on Gladiatorial Combat (Quests ??)

-- The Nine Divines = Religious order for Monks (?? Quests)

-- Dark Brotherhood = Sinister (?? Quests)

- Judging from pics there are some sweet monsters in store, ranging from a Sweet dragon-esc type of monster to a Minotaur that was said to look so real that it could have come from the real world and many, many others

- Over 40 types of said monsters such as goblins, skeletons, real world animals (like deer and horses which you can ride) and a very wide selection of the demons from Oblivion

- Mentions that there will be massive conventional boss battles

- And to end it all, it says you will go through subterranean dungeons, ancient ruins, cities/towns that will have you teeming with people going about their daily lives, churches, and castles

- QUOTE: "You will experience a truly living; breathing world brought to life through cutting edge technology that will power the games of tomorrow."

-----
source XMX, Gamefaqs

STORY LINE: In XMX words.

You are in Cyrodiil

You are in prison when the emperors guard says that an assassin has sneaked into town and plans to kill the emperor, so the guards proceed in trying to evacuate the emperor through a secret tunnel that leads through the prison you are currently in. In other words it goes straight through your cell. The guards end up coming through your cell and tell you to stay back in your cell and do not follow after they escape. But the assassin quickly kills one of the guards. In which now you can gank all the guards stuff and proceed in your escape. You end up running along the emperor, until the assassin kills all of the guards until you are the last one standing, in which you must help the emperor evacuate, but as you help him escape the prison, he is mortally wounded by the assassin. Before finally dying he ends up leaving the worlds fate to you by handing you an item called the "Amulet of the Kings" then in his dying breath proclaims "Find him and close shut the marble jaws of Oblivion." In which with the emperor dying, weakens the magic that prevented the portals from Oblivion from entering Tamriel. Now there are several portals to Oblivion and demons straight outta hell escape into the surrounding Cyrodiil province landscape leaving the innocent people waiting to be mercilessly slaughtered by these undaunted beasts. Finally it is your task to find the one person who can close the gates to Oblivion and save Tamriel form utter destruction. GI hints at this special someone (that is very important throughout the game, the one that can close the doors of Oblivion that is) being maybe a sort of love interest in the game.

This is everything known about OBLIVION as of this moment

 

[Gattsu25]

well...like a sucker i'm excited for this game....even though I put way too many hours into Morrowind (don't ask -_-) and ultimately came out hating the game i'm still looking forward to the next

let's just hope that the world being smaller means that they spent more time on what's in the world...that the 'nobody' civilians don't all act like carbon copies of eachother and brush you off whenever you try to talk...that there are side jobs that you can fill (pointless GTA-style sub-missions would be great IMO) and that in the end, you can still complete the game without ever having to spend more than 5 minutes on the story

 

[Pimpbaa]

The modeling looks great going by that cover pic. Can't wait to see pics of some of you characters you can create.

 

[Hournda]

The emperor dies? That sucks (though everyone knew it was going to happen). The only thing that really got my attention (besides how much cooler this game will be) is that they said it would be SMALLER than Morrowind which is not exactly what I wanted to hear.

 

[TekunoRobby]

Holy shit, BEST RPG ever. Anything else would belittle what they are trying to do.

 

[LAMBO]

well if they make it mod friendly like Morrowind they'll be plenty to play. I'll hope that combat is alot better.

 

[TekunoRobby]

I'll hope that combat is alot better.

I know it's way to early too say this but from the GI preview it definitely looks like the combat will be much better than Morrowind. I'll point out a few important points:

-- Will be unlike the conventional RPG in which the combat outcome does not depend on the luck of “dice rolls” (as with Morrowind)

-- The damage that you dole out will be determined by your strength, your opponent’s armor, and the attack you unleash (as with Morrowind)

-- Your opponents will block and dodge, so taking down an enemy is entirely on the player’s shoulders

-- Here’s another quote "The elder scrolls games are about freedom, and oblivion takes that freedom to a whole new level ~~~ The combat is a much bigger focus than in the earlier games"

-- This is the most capable CS so far and runs on the havok physics engine

-- Still made for the 1st person player there are options for both 3rd person and 1st person (like Morrowind), while also saying that the "combat is visceral and bloody”, and that it is designed to recall intense swordplay seen in movies like LoTR and Brave heart. Not to mention the fact that they said, “The combat will be every bit exiting as a FPS"

-- Attacks will be mapped to right trigger block on left for Xenon (or whatever you want to call the damn thing) hitting trigger does basic swipes, while holding the trigger down and press a direction you perform a power swing, each different direction is a different attack for both basic and power swing. And there are special attack abilities (Morrowind featured controls similar to this)

 

[Duke Juan the Beast]

Holy farking christmas, just saw the pics of this game and I'm damned impressed (hint: rhymes with Brain Snacks).

Light years beyond Morrowind.

 

[TekunoRobby]

Holy farking christmas, just saw the pics of this game and I'm damned impressed (hint: rhymes with Brain Snacks).

Light years beyond Morrowind.

You wouldn't mind sending me a PM to the pictures would you?

 

[u_neek]

Holy farking christmas, just saw the pics of this game and I'm damned impressed (hint: rhymes with Brain Snacks).

Light years beyond Morrowind.

PM baby...

 

[u_neek]

Thx Duke, I love you...

 

[Sirolf]

PM here too please!!

 

[Claus]

Can you throw a PM of those shots my way too, pleeeeeeeeeeeeease?

Thanks neek and Duke.

 

[u_neek]

Can't wait to see some hi-res screens or videos of this shit.. DAAAMN!!

 

[Sirolf]

It's really incredible!!Totally incredible!!
I hope my config will support it :lol

 

[TekunoRobby]

First off, thanks to Duke Juan the Beast.

Secondly, they do not lie those are definitely in game shots. The magazine cover pic is a bit overdone on the lighting and alaising but the article shots do confirm that they are infact in-game models and texturing.

The landscape engine is absolutely gourgeous (so much grass!) and the dungeon shots remind me of the UE 3.0 video that was shown at E3. Aside from the blocky hair the picture they have of the NPC can easily be confused to be real, (of course thanks to the heavy blurr of the photograph) it's really that good.

Now let the speculation begin, what third party engine do you think they're using? I'm kinda leaning towards the UE 3.0 myself.