I have a feeling that Todd stated this stuff in previous interviews, but it all still is quite nice to read nonetheless.
http://www.gamechronicles.com/qa/elderscrolls4/oblivion.htm
http://www.gamechronicles.com/qa/elderscrolls4/oblivion.htm
GCM: Since Oblivions story will revolve around a character the player will design, could you tell us a little about the plot of the game, and perhaps a favorite sequence of yours?
Todd Howard: The game starts inside a prison cell, which happens to be a secret escape route the Emperor and his guards, the Blades, are using to evade an assassin. You make your escape and before the Emperor dies he hands you the Amulet of Kings, the token of the true emperor, and implores you to find the rightful heir to the throne and shut the jaws of Oblivion. Favorite sequence, hmmm, theres a part after you find the heir and reunite him with the Blades that I love.
GCM: One of the things highlighted during the E3 demo of Oblivion was a fairly advanced physics engine in the game world, did you use the Half-Life 2 engine for this or was it something of your own creation?
Todd Howard: We use Havok for all our physics. Its fantastic.
GCM: Wed like to know more about the radiant AI that was used for the NPCs, aside from saving time and space, what advantages does it have over scripting these characters?
Todd Howard: Using the Radiant AI system, we have the ability to do things on a larger scale. Where other games NPCs require individual scripting, we can simply provide our NPCs with goals and our system allows them to think on their own and complete the task. It allows us to have that same advanced behavior, but on a massive scale.
The other thing it does is give the game a more organic feel than scripting could. NPCs wont always be standing there doing the exact same thing at the same time. The fact that your experience and whats going on in the world around you in your game is a bit different than other people is pretty cool. The conversations youll overhear and subsequent quests youll be able to get as a result will vary. It makes the world feel much more realistic and alive.
GCM: Oblivion is scheduled to be released for the Xbox 360 and high end PCs. Will it be a launch title for the 360? What sort or system requirements will be needed in order to run Oblivion from a PC?
Todd Howard: Were shooting for the holidays, but cant give you an exact date yet. As far as system specs for the PC you know us! If you want the full-on graphics, expect to buy the best thing you can when the game comes out. We plan on having it run on as many systems as possible, but its too early to say how far we can drop the spec right now. We do have that as a goal having it run on a wider variety of systems than Morrowind did.
GCM: What was different about developing this title for the PC and for the 360?
Todd Howard: The content in the game is the same, but the interfaces differ and the rendering pipelines are different. We use the same source art on both, but how they get drawn in-game differs.
GCM: One of the things Microsoft is pushing with the 360 is the ability to connect with anyone anywhere in the world. Will Oblivion take advantage of the online capabilities of that system?
Todd Howard: Were planning some cool Xbox Live things, mostly involving lots of downloadable content and mods, but I cant really get specific yet.
GCM: Moving on to some game play specifics, how in depth will character creation be? Will all the original races (including Khajiit & Argonian) be playable? Will there be any new ones introduced, such as the various races of Akavir? What form of Khajiit will be prevalent in this game?
Todd Howard: You can expect all the classic Elder Scrolls races to be available. All the beast races will be there again. The appearance of your character can be customized much more than ever before.
Character generation is very different than our previous games. It takes the Morrowind paradigm that you play the character generation even further. We let you play the game for a while and watch what kinds of things you do before you get to the point where you pick your class. We offer up a class suggestion based on your style of play, but ultimately you can be whatever you want to be.
GCM: Are you planning on including features that were found in Daggerfall but left out of Morrowind, like banks, mounts, wagons, or the ability to climb or buy/own a ship or a house?
Todd Howard: Weve added a lot of new features, including some you mention. Weve brought back the fast travel map to allow you to instantly travel to any location you already know about, and there are mounts you can buy and use for traveling on foot more quickly. Yes, there will be houses you can buy in each major town where you can keep all of your stuff. At the same time, we spent a lot of time and energy on features that people do and experience all the time in our games: talking to people, killing stuff, NPC AI, etc. We wanted to do some new things in these areas to make the overall experience more enjoyable. More time having fun and less down time.
GCM: How much of Tamriel outside of Cyrodiil will the player be able to explore?
Todd Howard: The game takes place entirely in Cyrodiil and in Oblivion itself. Its huge.
GCM: What familiar guilds/factions will be available for player membership?
Todd Howard: The four main guilds are the mages, fighters, thieves, and Dark Brotherhood (assassins guild). Each of these is a main quest unto itself and you can join all four if you like. Theres also the Arena, which is a lot like a guild in that you can spend a lot of time fighting in the Arena circuit and improving your status. We feel all of the guilds are a lot more rewarding and polished than ever before and each will be a lot of fun if its the only thing you do in the game.
GCM: The title name Oblivion sounds pretty final. Where do you see the series going from here?
Todd Howard: I cant imagine a scenario where this is the last game, but I do love the title. The series after Oblivion? We always have crazy ideas, so well see.
