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New ES4:Oblivion Video

Mods are useless in my case. By the time i had finished morrowind i was so damn bored with the combat system and skills that i didnt actually want to play it anymore. With ES4 being longer, i am betting its going to be the case again with me.

Also this PC vs Console stuff is trash. You do understand that to play ES4 with the same fidelity as the 360 you will need to buy a VC worth more than the 360 right .....

The version thats best really comes down to the individual and their finances.
 
That's one of the beauties of pc gaming, one day you will have a pc that will run oblivion with ease. Ultimate Backwards compatabilty! You're right though everyone's different. Personally i'll have no problem playing it on pc even if I turn down tons of visual settings. I ran morrowind at the lowest detail levels for half the time i played it.
 
Ryudo said:
Mods are useless in my case. By the time i had finished morrowind i was so damn bored with the combat system and skills that i didnt actually want to play it anymore. With ES4 being longer, i am betting its going to be the case again with me.

Also this PC vs Console stuff is trash. You do understand that to play ES4 with the same fidelity as the 360 you will need to buy a VC worth more than the 360 right .....

The version thats best really comes down to the individual and their finances.


I dont care about the fidelity. I care more about bug fixes and the like which you KNOW oblivion will have based on their track record.
 
Speevy said:
Although, I've read difficulty scales to your level, which I don't like. People should learn what they can and cannot fight while adventuring.

That's my main concern about Oblivion. Scaled monsters in Wizardry 8 sucked. I understand the devs wanted to prevent the overpowered condition (and resulting boredom for some) you could reach rather easily in Morrowind. I dunno if scaling the monster levels is the way to do it though. I mean by the time you reached the uber level in Morrowind you were more than capable of finishing the story, so being overpowered while exploring the rest of the game never bothered me.

And I'm also not sure about running Oblivion with ease eventually. I've seen Morrowind still hiccup regularly on rather high-end rigs to this day. The engine just isn't that good. And I wish developers would devote more attention to animation, with the level of realism that the models/textures are approaching now the big thing to me that makes or breaks the "look" of a game is how convincingly the animation is done. Oblivion is a nice improvement on Morrowind...but come on, Morrowind had some pretty bad animation. :)
 
Crazy thread and I didn't even post here yet :lol

PC version will clearly be the superior version (as with every other Xbox/PC or 360/PC game bar Condemned), no "ifs and buts", but trying to convince console people to play it on the PC instead of 360 is just crazy talk.

Let people play on whatever platform they want, Deg. Not everybody has a gaming PC and I wouldn't recommend playing Oblivion on some ancient rig. And really - you just can't beat the price of Core Pack...

We'll be enjoying the better version and that's what counts!

Oh and a big fat :lol at the insanely childlish '50" HDTV + sofa!' argument. Like I'm not posting from a 32" TV + bed now, sheesh.
 
Monk said:
I dont care about the fidelity. I care more about bug fixes and the like which you KNOW oblivion will have based on their track record.

Are you saying that Bethesda isn't going to provide bug fixes (assuming some are necessary) to 360 owners?

Either way, I'm definitely going with the 360 version. Then again, it should probably be noted that I have nowhere near the specs necessary to run it on a PC with equivalent quality. I would pretty much have to buy a new computer just to run it even. Plus, I'm more of a console gamer anyway. Playing games on a PC feels like doing homework.
 
Borys said:
Oh and a big fat :lol at the insanely childlish '50" HDTV + sofa!' argument. Like I'm not posting from a 32" TV + bed now, sheesh.


That makes no sense. Unless you're going to buy some extra equipment for my PC.

Let me know when you need my Paypal address. Until then I'm laughing since no PC head can ever counter my setup, unless they're going to purchase the setup for my house. :lol
 
The Xbox version of Morrowind was severely needing patches, and never got 'em, desipte Xbox Live and an HDD. I wouldn't hold my breath. Bethesda is famous for their buggy software... and save-breaking patches!
 
Visually this game looks like it shares DNA with EverquestII ... monsters and armor seem painfully generic. The environments do look pretty good, though (speedtree ftw)... but they seem to be more about recreating your standard stuff in high quality rather than presenting something stylistically fresh.

Animation/movement overall is quite jarring next to the polished gfx... music sounds really nice though, looking forward to that soundtrack :D.
 
I'm planning on adding a lot of content to this game once I come to grips with the new Construction Set. I'd love it if we could get a GAF community formed around this game. If we get a large enough group we could probably start our own mini-mod or do fan requests which will probably be filled with tons of Zelda inspired requests.
 
http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Articles.Detail&id=39

some good and bad about modding oblivion, but sounds all good to me. The more deatiled you can make things the more people get into it. They'll definatley be some funny voice acting going on.

Hopefully they'll be tons of difficulty mods like there are for morrowind, since the game tweaks the difficulty there's got to be a way to control it. Possibly making a difficulty mod easier to make and better.

more good news:

"Sea of Destiny II will be developed for The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. Development will begin when Oblivion is released. The storyline is still under development."
http://sodp.planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/sod/modules/news/


Alsmost feel like installing morrowind.
 
Mejilan said:
The Xbox version of Morrowind was severely needing patches, and never got 'em, desipte Xbox Live and an HDD. I wouldn't hold my breath. Bethesda is famous for their buggy software... and save-breaking patches!

Xbox version did not get patches for a GOOD reason: Microsoft. Microsoft was very strict on that during the xbox1 days. They didn't allow patches because they felt it encouraged sloppy developing and releasing unfinished products. Of course that thinking has some merit, but as you can see from Morrowind and other games it hurt more than helped.
 
Minotauro said:
Are you saying that Bethesda isn't going to provide bug fixes (assuming some are necessary) to 360 owners?

Either way, I'm definitely going with the 360 version. Then again, it should probably be noted that I have nowhere near the specs necessary to run it on a PC with equivalent quality. I would pretty much have to buy a new computer just to run it even. Plus, I'm more of a console gamer anyway. Playing games on a PC feels like doing homework.

The 360 doesn't have a hard disk, sure you can get one but it is secondary equipment. And the modding community are infinitely better on the pc, things like high res textures never happened on the Xbox morrowind game.
 
Monk said:
The 360 doesn't have a hard disk, sure you can get one but it is secondary equipment. And the modding community are infinitely better on the pc, things like high res textures never happened on the Xbox morrowind game.

No HDD standard will not matter. If they need to patch it, they will. Halo 3 will have patches. So anything else can.
 
Sure you can get one. With your console. Like most users that have an Xbox 360. I have doubts about how much Bethesda will make use of it for extra content, but it's there all the same.
 
Speevy said:
What other games? The Xbox has no more "sloppy, unfinished products" than any other console.

There was one wrestling game I recall that the online mode was completely broken and the game needed to be recalled.

But I didn't mean Morrowind was unfinished. My point was that it could have used patches but Microsoft's no-patch policy prevented that.
 
WWE Raw 2 and Wrestlemania. I owned the former.

Raw 2 was just the product of a terrible developer and really has nothing to do with PC gaming or patches. They just shouldn't have been making games, and now they're not.
 
krypt0nian said:
We'll see long before that since Call of Duty 2 360 already has a patch in the works. ;)

Dammit, you just made my life harder. But an xbox 360 now and get ES4 on it or wait and get it on the pc now. @_@
 
PC version will clearly be the superior version (as with every other Xbox/PC or 360/PC game bar Condemned), no "ifs and buts", but trying to convince console people to play it on the PC instead of 360 is just crazy talk.

Let people play on whatever platform they want, Deg. Not everybody has a gaming PC and I wouldn't recommend playing Oblivion on some ancient rig. And really - you just can't beat the price of Core Pack...

We'll be enjoying the better version and that's what counts!

Uhhhh, I have a decently high-end PC (1GB RAM, Geforce 6800 GT) and it's still no match for the 360. Unless you have a seriously expensive rig with brand-new video card, the 360 version will look better. I wonder if you (and Deg and Lambo) can say that you do.

I will probably get both versions, the 360 version to play and the PC version just so I can mess around with the editor (especially the new AI features, which intrigue me). But unless Bethesda did a crappy coding job the 360 version should look and run better than almost any current PC. In a year the PC could pull ahead but not when the game is released.
 
Animation looks awesome considering how small their development team is.

You guys can't be asking for motion captured movements in a CRPG...in the old days we didn't even have animation in CRPGs, we had black screen with some text and MAYBE some sprites appearing if we were lucky (Wizardry series).

Try to image this: For a game like Final Fantasy, they are either motion capturing things, or some Japanese guy is sitting there for five weekends straight perfecting Yuna's butt shake.

Art and content creation is the most expensive thing about next gen games.
 
microsoft is lenient on all patches fools.

Morrowind wasn't patchable because it wasn't live aware. The game came out a couple months before Live went into public testing.
 
The Prime Director said:
Uhhhh, I have a decently high-end PC (1GB RAM, Geforce 6800 GT) and it's still no match for the 360. Unless you have a seriously expensive rig with brand-new video card, the 360 version will look better. I wonder if you (and Deg and Lambo) can say that you do.

I will probably get both versions, the 360 version to play and the PC version just so I can mess around with the editor (especially the new AI features, which intrigue me). But unless Bethesda did a crappy coding job the 360 version should look and run better than almost any current PC. In a year the PC could pull ahead but not when the game is released.

I know what you sare saying, but "fidelity" doesnt matter to everyone. I dont know how someone can be pro PC and not care about having the best graphics... but who am i to judge?
 
CountZeroInt said:
Animation looks awesome considering how small their development team is.

You guys can't be asking for motion captured movements in a CRPG...in the old days we didn't even have animation in CRPGs, we had black screen with some text and MAYBE some sprites appearing if we were lucky (Wizardry series).

Try to image this: For a game like Final Fantasy, they are either motion capturing things, or some Japanese guy is sitting there for five weekends straight perfecting Yuna's butt shake.

Art and content creation is the most expensive thing about next gen games.

Motion capture maybe not, better transitions between animations (i.e. dynamic animation) is more in line with what people are expecting and want.
 
I always find it funny in these PC vs. console price comparisons, people only seem to add the cost of the console and not the (especially THIS gen) TV they'd need to get the "most" out of the game, yet they throw in whatever Alienware price quote they can find.
 
SnakeXs said:
Money for a PC to play it well is obviously not factored in to your tally.

Did I say anything was superior? I said if you don't have a home theater. You're picking and choosing. All I said is I have a home theater, which consists of a beefy 5.1 system, and a 50 inch wide screen HDTV. I have and want neither for my PC, for many reasons.

Care to try again? Or do you just wanna end this, enjoy your version, get of your high horse and let others enjoy theirs?

I guess reading isnt one your strong points.
 
Teknopathetic said:
I always find it funny in these PC vs. console price comparisons, people only seem to add the cost of the console and not the (especially THIS gen) TV they'd need to get the "most" out of the game, yet they throw in whatever Alienware price quote they can find.

Considering the price of a good big screen HD now adays, a good PC isn't that far a fetch to tack on, in making an 'ultimate' home theatre.

Throw in wireless keyboard/mouse and maybe even a smaller LCD monitor and you're set.
 
Sean*O said:
Sorry to interrupt, but I literally LMAO @ Gantz' avatar. Is that a shot at another forum member?? LOL, ;)

Yeah that is funny. The fat kid is Chunk from the movie Goonies. I'm not sure who the bald headed guy is. Patrick Stewart maybe?
 
Borys said:
Crazy thread and I didn't even post here yet :lol

PC version will clearly be the superior version (as with every other Xbox/PC or 360/PC game bar Condemned), no "ifs and buts", but trying to convince console people to play it on the PC instead of 360 is just crazy talk.

Let people play on whatever platform they want, Deg. Not everybody has a gaming PC and I wouldn't recommend playing Oblivion on some ancient rig. And really - you just can't beat the price of Core Pack...

We'll be enjoying the better version and that's what counts!

Oh and a big fat :lol at the insanely childlish '50" HDTV + sofa!' argument. Like I'm not posting from a 32" TV + bed now, sheesh.
Maybe not >.>

http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9256

Rumor has it the lighting system on the PC version got castrated for performance issues.
 
Draft said:
Maybe not >.>

http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9256

Rumor has it the lighting system on the PC version got castrated for performance issues.

Castrated? Hardly. Did you even read the quote?

Could you discuss the dynamic shadow technique you're using? They appear to be a form of shadow maps.

They are a form of shadow maps, though the technique we’re using currently differs from the one we showed at E3. Our initial shadow tests were done using cube maps on every surface, but after extensive testing we found them to be too slow overall to use as a general solution. We have switched to doing single shadow maps directed at characters. The system supports full self-shadowing and we do multiple samples and depth comparisons to provide a soft-shadowing effect. The net effect we’ve achieved is a system general enough to handle Oblivion’s diverse environments while still providing great visuals and good performance.

Are your dynamic shadow implementation a feature across all supported systems, perhaps scaling the detail on low-end machines, or are they a high-end only checkbox? How would you describe the qualitative jump from Morrowind?

They will be supported across all systems. We will have options to toggle features like self-shadowing and the softening effect, as well as to adjust the number of characters receiving shadows to improve performance for lower end machines. The jump from Morrowind is significant. Since we aren’t doing stencil shadows anymore, our current system is more accurate while using less fill cost. Also, shadows use world space coordinates instead of Morrowind’s screen space coordinates, allowing us to do more dramatic effects like fading out and softening the shadows over distances.

The only thing that was taken out was shadows from objects sitting in the world -- things like apples and furniture. There's just too much clutter in the world, and you can interact with most of it. We could have left shadows on such objects in, but then we would have HAD to reduce their count and/or their interactivity. And we thought that maybe people might prefer having lots of stuff to interact with over reducing content just so that that apple can be nicely self-shadowed.

3.jpg


You can interact with everything on that table except the candles. Every apple, strawberry and carrot, the books, plates, silverware, bottles of wine, etc. All the stuff on the shelves in the background can all be picked up, moved around, etc. You can fire an explosive spell into the middle of it and it'll all go flying. You can eat all the food, or combine it in various ways to make potions. You can drink the liquor in the bottles, read the books. You can take all the items and sell them, or just pile them up or display them in your OWN house if you want. And you and NPCs can sit in the chairs.

It's that type of thing that doesn't cast shadows and isn't self-shadowed -- though character shadows play realistically over them.

So again -- would you rather we remove that interactivity and that number of objects in the world, just so what's left can cast shadows?


I didn't think so.
 
SteveMeister said:
So again -- would you rather we remove that interactivity and that number of objects in the world, just so what's left can cast shadows?


I didn't think so.

Superb work. I've said it before and I'll say it again, you give a GAFer the world and he'll complain about the graphics! :D
 
God, I'm fucking dying for this game. I've been on Bethesda Softworks' official site for the last year and a half patiently waiting, but the wait gets harder. (especially when most conversations about the 360 version just delve into PC vs. Xbox fanboyism, something I thought exclusive to that board, but apparently not).

Say what you will about the combat engine; it looks fantastic now. They've removed everything I found boring about the game and amplified everything I loved, as well as added some fantastic new concepts.

SteveMeister said:
Castrated? Hardly. Did you even read the quote?



The only thing that was taken out was shadows from objects sitting in the world -- things like apples and furniture. There's just too much clutter in the world, and you can interact with most of it. We could have left shadows on such objects in, but then we would have HAD to reduce their count and/or their interactivity. And we thought that maybe people might prefer having lots of stuff to interact with over reducing content just so that that apple can be nicely self-shadowed.

3.jpg


You can interact with everything on that table except the candles. Every apple, strawberry and carrot, the books, plates, silverware, bottles of wine, etc. All the stuff on the shelves in the background can all be picked up, moved around, etc. You can fire an explosive spell into the middle of it and it'll all go flying. You can eat all the food, or combine it in various ways to make potions. You can drink the liquor in the bottles, read the books. You can take all the items and sell them, or just pile them up or display them in your OWN house if you want. And you and NPCs can sit in the chairs.

It's that type of thing that doesn't cast shadows and isn't self-shadowed -- though character shadows play realistically over them.

So again -- would you rather we remove that interactivity and that number of objects in the world, just so what's left can cast shadows?


I didn't think so.


Nice to see you outside the official boards, Steve! :D
 
Yeah. I think the game will be worth it for the mods alone. Although, I wish the series would go back to the way it was with Daggerfall(tons of random stuff all over place). It would be great if finding equipment in TES games worked the same as in Diablo/II where a lot of it is randomly generated allowing for the possibility of finding ultra rare stuff. Some randomly generated dungeons would be nice as well. Not all of them should be random, but some. =)


Nightelfwind!
nightelf-wind.jpg
 
Convergys said:
What the fuck happenned to the lighting and self shadowing the game had??

Teh Uglee - Current State
obliv1.jpg


Teh Hotness -
obliv2.jpg


obliv3.jpg

obliv4.jpg

No hotlinking. But the shots were obviously taken at different gamma settings, and different aspect ratios as well.
 
Steve I'm sure you're tired as hell in explaining so I apologize in advance for my question.

Is the issue with object shadowing that it impedes performance drastically when used in conjunction with a large number of objects on screen or that it simply refuses to work? If it’s the former wouldn't this be possible with a patch later down the road or can the game code itself be hacked on the PC version to allow this to function.

I'm curious to see how modifiable the game engine is a year or two down the road and how far can user mods go in regards to visuals. I remember in Morrowind they managed to work wonders with the lighting/texturing/poly counts a year after release.
 
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