• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion |OT|

Orodreth

Member
Pudding Tame said:
SteveMeister, do you know if the 360 version is region coded? I'm living in Japan right now, and would love to pick this up at a import shop next time I'm in Tokyo.

I´ve also asked this question like an Oblivion times already :lol .

Some countries are not getting the 360 collectors edition and i´d love to know it asap to import the game in time for release.
 

SteveMeister

Hang out with Steve.
Dunno about region coding. No idea actually.

Map interface -- the map takes up a lot of the screen when you bring it up. The world map looks pretty much like the paper map that comes with the game, and the local map is kind of an overhead view that also looks hand-drawn. You can't make notes on it, but you can put a compass marker on the map, and you'll see an arrow on the compass that always points towards your marker. Also, most locations -- settlements, dungeons, mines, shrines, etc. -- have marker icons that appear on the map when you discover them, and you can hover the cursor over each marker to get the name of the location.

Also, in the journal you can look at the journal entry for the current phase of your active quest, and there's a Map button on that page. Click the button, and the map shows up, centered on the quest location. So it's very easy to remember where you need to go for specific quests. So hopefully that's enough so that you don't really need to annotate the map anyway.

First vs 3rd person: I play in first person all the time, except when I'm on horseback. You can't really aim for ranged attacks in third person, though melee can work OK. But when you're on horseback, you steer the horse with the controls that make you strafe when you're on foot (A and D on PC, left analog stick on Xbox 360) and you can freelook with the mouse or right analog stick. So you can look around quite a bit while you're on a horse.
 
Nice info Steve. I intend to play from the first person view as much as I possibly can, although it does sound nice that you can look around like that while on horseback. Nice way to see the awesome graphics.
 

SteveMeister

Hang out with Steve.
Kung Fu Jedi said:
Nice info Steve. I intend to play from the first person view as much as I possibly can, although it does sound nice that you can look around like that while on horseback. Nice way to see the awesome graphics.

Yeah, and I tend to do a lot of alchemy, so it's handy when exploring for new ingredients.
 

DenogginizerOS

BenjaminBirdie's Thomas Jefferson
SteveMeister said:
Yeah, and I tend to do a lot of alchemy, so it's handy when exploring for new ingredients.

Steve, the paper map you refer to is in the standard edition, correct?

In Warcraft, I have been playing as a Mage. Can you play as a Mage in Oblivion? If so, what are some features about Mages in Oblivion that you are most proud of?
 

Birbo

Member
current_avatar.gif


Is that the talking mudcrab?! Will he coming back for Oblivion? :)
 
DenogginizerOS said:
Steve, the paper map you refer to is in the standard edition, correct?

In Warcraft, I have been playing as a Mage. Can you play as a Mage in Oblivion? If so, what are some features about Mages in Oblivion that you are most proud of?

You can indeed play a Mage. I've often played mages in the Elder Scrolls games, although my first character out this time will be a thief. I've gotta check out those new stealth options. :) Basically, the game is very customizable, so you can pretty much play a mage they way you want. I generally favored the BattleMage. You can even create your own spells.
 

DenogginizerOS

BenjaminBirdie's Thomas Jefferson
Kung Fu Jedi said:
You can indeed play a Mage. I've often played mages in the Elder Scrolls games, although my first character out this time will be a thief. I've gotta check out those new stealth options. :) Basically, the game is very customizable, so you can pretty much play a mage they way you want. I generally favored the BattleMage. You can even create your own spells.

Really?!!?!?!! Oh man, this game cannot get here soon enough.
 
I wonder if there are ways to knock people out without killing them..

I'd love to rob people blind, but I wouldn't always want to leave corpses around for the guards to find.
 
DenogginizerOS said:
Really?!!?!?!! Oh man, this game cannot get here soon enough.

Yeah, you can even completely customize the class you want to play if one of the pre-created ones don't fill your need. It's very open ended in style and play.
 

DenogginizerOS

BenjaminBirdie's Thomas Jefferson
Robobandit said:
I wonder if there are ways to knock people out without killing them..

I'd love to rob people blind, but I wouldn't always want to leave corpses around for the guards to find.

I'll be a Mage Thief. I wil create a spell that temporarily knocks people out from a distance, rob them blind, and run away before they wake up. That might never get old.
 

Yusaku

Member
I wonder how thieving will be in Oblivion. In Morrowind being a thief made the game too easy, you could be a bazillionaire within a few hours.
 

jet1911

Member
DenogginizerOS said:
I'll be a Mage Thief. I wil create a spell that temporarily knocks people out from a distance, rob them blind, and run away before they wake up. That might never get old.

What about a fireball that paralyze people? In Morrowind one of my spell was a mix between a fireball and an iceshard. With an area effect. It was really fun to use. :) And I read on the official board that one of the perks for acrobatics is water walking. Awesome. :D
 
DenogginizerOS said:
I'll be a Mage Thief. I wil create a spell that temporarily knocks people out from a distance, rob them blind, and run away before they wake up. That might never get old.

If I remember right, you can loot anybody that is unconcious.. so I might run around stealing people's clothing just for kicks.. then hiding somewhere and waiting for them to wake up.

I wonder how Radiant AI would handle being naked in the middle of town :lol
 

DenogginizerOS

BenjaminBirdie's Thomas Jefferson
Robobandit said:
If I remember right, you can loot anybody that is unconcious.. so I might run around stealing people's clothing just for kicks.. then hiding somewhere and waiting for them to wake up.

I wonder how Radiant AI would handle being naked in the middle of town :lol

If done right, the reactions of the radiant AI might lead to me losing a whole weekend laughing in front of my TV. My wife and daughter might just leave me after this game drops. :lol

j/k
 

Sysgen

Member
All 85 pages of the Unoffcial Oblivion FAQ

I've always been pumped for Oblivion but never really understood what Oblivion was or is.

From the faq:

1.1.6 What is Oblivion ?

Oblivion is the many otherworldy realms of the Daedric Princes, demonic chaotic creatures that have toyed with the mortal plane of Mundus since the world was created by Lorkhan.

They are not demons in the christian term. They live in other planes of existence, are immortals and need to amuse themselves, much like the pagan greek gods.
 

Pimpbaa

Member
Yusaku said:
I wonder how thieving will be in Oblivion. In Morrowind being a thief made the game too easy, you could be a bazillionaire within a few hours.

And become god like in a few hours too by using that money on trainers. I really hope there are no trainers in oblivion, or at least have a cap on how much they can train.
 

SnakeXs

about the same metal capacity as a cucumber
Pimpbaa said:
And become god like in a few hours too by using that money on trainers. I really hope there are no trainers in oblivion, or at least have a cap on how much they can train.

They are indeed (not) out.

But I did hear you could slowly learn things by watching others train at the various Guilds and such. :D

Edit: In (), corrected by Steve.
 

SteveMeister

Hang out with Steve.
SnakeXs said:
They are indeed out.

But I did hear you could slowly learn things by watching others train at the various Guilds and such. :D

Yep, there are a couple places where that can happen!

There are trainers -- but the number of times you can train per level is limited, the trainers can only train up to THEIR skill level (so you'd have to find a Master at Alchemy to train you above Expert), and at the higher ranks training is very, VERY expensive. It's really only worth it when you have one point to go to get to the next skill level. Personally I never use them. I'd rather spend my money on arrows, spellmaking, enchanting, and weapon repair :)

Oh and on horses & a house.
 

SnakeXs

about the same metal capacity as a cucumber
Steve, quick question if I may.

How does enchanting for archers work?

And, will a mostly bow/stealth based character have a drastically tougher time in any of the bigger battles?

Not that it was a huge, huge deal in Morriwind, but (without abusing trainers) I recall big melee based brutes of mine had a much, much easier time in tougher fights than my stealthy, thief/bow based characters, despite the thief having a wee bit more in the funding and equipment area.

Not that it's a big deal, I wouldn't mind the extra challenge.
 

SteveMeister

Hang out with Steve.
SnakeXs said:
Steve, quick question if I may.

How does enchanting for archers work?

And, will a mostly bow/stealth based character have a drastically tougher time in any of the bigger battles?

Not that it was a huge, huge deal in Morriwind, but (without abusing trainers) I recall big melee based brutes of mine had a much, much easier time in tougher fights than my stealthy, thief/bow based characters, despite the thief having a wee bit more in the funding and equipment area.

Not that it's a big deal, I wouldn't mind the extra challenge.

You enchant the bow, and then the bow's enchantment gets applied to the arrows as you fly them. You can't enchant arrows yourself.

But there ARE enchanted arrows that you can buy or sell. If you fire an enchanted arrow, the arrow's enchantment is always used, even if the bow has an enchantment on it.

You can also apply a poison. If you have a bow equipped, and then you "equip" a poison, it'll apply the poison to the next arrow you fire with that bow -- and the poison is used in addition to the enchantment, if any.

Marksman is definitely viable. I have a character I've been playing where Marksman is my only combat skill. I usually try to start off things with a sneak attack on a target (you get a bonus for undetected sneak attacks), then I'll summon a creature -- usually a Daedroth -- and then let him go do the melee stuff while I dart around peppering targets with poisoned arrows. I make heavy use of potions -- shield, restore health, restore magicka, as well as poisons, and my character has The Atronach birthsign which gives me a 50% chance of absorbing magicka of spells cast at me (instead of being affected by the spell). So that gives me some good resistance to magicka and a kind of automatic refill. The downside of The Atronach is that your magicka never regenerates on its own, so Alchemy is a good skill to focus on if you choose that birthsign.
 

SnakeXs

about the same metal capacity as a cucumber
SteveMeister said:
You enchant the bow, and then the bow's enchantment gets applied to the arrows as you fly them. You can't enchant arrows yourself.

But there ARE enchanted arrows that you can buy or sell. If you fire an enchanted arrow, the arrow's enchantment is always used, even if the bow has an enchantment on it.

You can also apply a poison. If you have a bow equipped, and then you "equip" a poison, it'll apply the poison to the next arrow you fire with that bow -- and the poison is used in addition to the enchantment, if any.

Marksman is definitely viable. I have a character I've been playing where Marksman is my only combat skill. I usually try to start off things with a sneak attack on a target (you get a bonus for undetected sneak attacks), then I'll summon a creature -- usually a Daedroth -- and then let him go do the melee stuff while I dart around peppering targets with poisoned arrows. I make heavy use of potions -- shield, restore health, restore magicka, as well as poisons, and my character has The Atronach birthsign which gives me a 50% chance of absorbing magicka of spells cast at me (instead of being affected by the spell). So that gives me some good resistance to magicka and a kind of automatic refill. The downside of The Atronach is that your magicka never regenerates on its own, so Alchemy is a good skill to focus on if you choose that birthsign.

That's what I wanted to hear. Thanks a ton. :D
 

SteveMeister

Hang out with Steve.
SnakeXs said:
That's what I wanted to hear. Thanks a ton. :D

Oh and if the shit hits the fan and I find myself in over my character's head (which happened the other day, even at level 34), I'll cast invisibility and get out of Dodge.
 

SnakeXs

about the same metal capacity as a cucumber
SteveMeister said:
Oh and if the shit hits the fan and I find myself in over my character's head (which happened the other day, even at level 34), I'll cast invisibility and get out of Dodge.

Reminds me of Morrowind... Oh how I broke thee.

Using Moonshadow as a sign (In the end useless, but it helped a ton early on), and stealing a ring enchanted with Invisibility.

Oh how that helped me plunder... And also cower and run for the hills. :lol
 

SteveMeister

Hang out with Steve.
Scott said:
Did you miss my questions, SteveMeister? Or are you just not allowed to give info like that out? :p

I did miss that. Unfortunately I have no idea. Though I would not be surprised that if the CE's sold out, 2K'd make more.

New trailer? I'm not sure. I think there's some more stuff planned for the website, but I'm not involved in any of that.
 

SnakeXs

about the same metal capacity as a cucumber
Another quick question, Steve (sorry).

Just so I know wether to invest in Mercantile, is there, anywhere in the world, a Mudcrab/Creeper type character?

:)
 

SteveMeister

Hang out with Steve.
SnakeXs said:
Another quick question, Steve (sorry).

Just so I know wether to invest in Mercantile, is there, anywhere in the world, a Mudcrab/Creeper type character?

:)

The way barter works is very, very different from Morrowind... I don't think it has been explained anywhere yet, so I'll have to refrain from saying just how it is different right now. The economy & all that work much better, so there's not really a need for something like the talking mudcrab or Creeper.
 

SnakeXs

about the same metal capacity as a cucumber
SteveMeister said:
The way barter works is very, very different from Morrowind... I don't think it has been explained anywhere yet, so I'll have to refrain from saying just how it is different right now. The economy & all that work much better, so there's not really a need for something like the talking mudcrab or Creeper.

Oh you wonderful little tease you.

Makes me very happy (assuming it all works out well), since I particularly enjoy the player-NPC interactions.

Thanks yet again.
 

Spencerr

Banned
Sorry if this has been asked, but say you have a 360 controller but no 360, if played on the pc could it be the same controls?
 
Spencerr said:
Sorry if this has been asked, but say you have a 360 controller but no 360, if played on the pc could it be the same controls?

The PC version doesn't have any special options if you use a 360 controller. It will just think it's a regular controller.
 

Ark-AMN

Banned
Damnit, so many things happening that week. First Oblivion, then Prime: Hunters, and then GDC, and for me, freaking finals!

I'm so doomed
 

xexex

Banned
I'm totally stoked about Oblivion -- I have not been this pumped for an RPG since Power Crystal for the M2 was canceled. allow me to stray off-topic just for a moment to try to show you how excited some people were, including myself, for Power Crystal

pcrystalc.jpg

pcrystale.jpg


from Intelligent Gamer magazine circa 1996

One exceptional title under development off site is what is being described by IG sources as the first-ever virtual reality RPG, Power Crystal. According to those who have witnessed the game in motion, the early version of the graphics engine is blazingly fast despite its use of beautiful visual effects: You can walk up to the shore line of a river or lake and see
glimmering translucent water splashing the shoreline without polygon breakup, and you can then look into the water and see pebbles and sedimentary rocks in the basin. Early versions allow the player to fully walk around and explore a village.


those graphics were pretty awesome 10 years ago --and yet it ran at 60fps, that's 3 times the framerate of Zelda Ocarina of Time which came out 2 years later. the size and scope of Power Crystal's game-world is what really had me pumped - what a shame the M2 and the game were canned.

with that said, I'm totally stoked for Oblivion. my PC cannot handle it so Xbox 360 all the way. this will also be my first experience with an Elder Scrolls game, yeah I am new to the series but I've been looking forward to Oblivion since it was announced in 2004.
 

Speevy

Banned
Question: Can you make someone attack you simply by annoying them? Besides lowering an NPC's opinion of me, I remember simply jumping around in their faces, which sometimes triggered an attack. (especially in caves where the guys might be inclined to kill you anyway)
 

xexex

Banned
I was just reading about the soft shadows, that they're gone from the game (yes I know this is old old news to most of you)........I was wondering if Oblivion were to be ported to PS3.... if
soft shadows could be implemented and at the same time, the framerate boosted to 60fps ?
assuming PS3 has slightly over twice the raw fillrate and more geometry performance, if that might be possible?
 

Speevy

Banned
xexex said:
I was just reading about the soft shadows, that they're gone from the game (yes I know this is old old news to most of you)........I was wondering if Oblivion were to be ported to PS3.... if
soft shadows could be implemented and at the same time, the framerate boosted to 60fps ?
assuming PS3 has slightly over twice the raw fillrate and more geometry performance, if that might be possible?



I have no idea about your question (Stevemeister probably will), but that's quite a bit of assuming.

Assuming

A) A PS3 version exists or is in development.
B) Bethesda would have time to make it better, considering a likely reason for the removal of anything (including soft shadows) would have been time constraints, and not the 360 hardware. It is afterall one of the biggest games ever made.
C) The PS3 has that stuff you mentioned, but don't ask me what any of that means.

But showing respect to your hope for a PS3 version, the hypothetical version could take a while to get released, IMO. Let's not drag this thread down with such talk. I'm sure Take-Two will announce other versions if they're coming. This thread should be about the upcoming PC/Xbox 360 release.
 
Speevy said:
I have no idea about your question (Stevemeister probably will), but that's quite a bit of assuming.

Assuming

A) A PS3 version exists or is in development.
B) Bethesda would have time to make it better, considering a likely reason for the removal of anything (including soft shadows) would have been time constraints, and not the 360 hardware. It is afterall one of the biggest games ever made.
C) The PS3 has that stuff you mentioned, but don't ask me what any of that means.

But showing respect to your hope for a PS3 version, the hypothetical version could take a while to get released, IMO. Let's not drag this thread down with such talk. I'm sure Take-Two will announce other versions if they're coming. This thread should be about the upcoming PC/Xbox 360 release.


how do you know this?

honestly?
 
Top Bottom