Preview THE Oblivion article

[Vault Dweller]

Tags: Bethesda Softworks; Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Thanks to an <a href=http://www.rpgcodex.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=141993&highlight=#141993>anonymous phone call</a> that tipped us about a major <a href=http://www.elderscrolls.com>Oblivion</a> coverage, you are about to learn if there is more to this upcoming masterpiece then soil erosion and pretty graphics.
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...10 minutes later... Hmm, you know what, I can't see any new or substantial info here, so MSFD has some 'splaining to do. Page 1 is dedicated to the "you escape from the prison" part, page 2 tells you that the game looks awesome and that each city looks unique and - you guessed it - awesome, page 3 mentions that the game apparently has quests, giving one example with a magic painting (you get sucked into a dungeon through a painting and must find the artist inside to draw an exit) and that later on you'd be able to download extras like horse armor, and page 4 has a map and small stats which I'll finally quote here:
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<blockquote>400+ books scattered around the world that you can read
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200+ total dungeons
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200 approximate hours it takes to see and do everything
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150+ total quests
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121 plant types randomly generated in the wilderness areas
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40 length in hours of an average player's experience
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21 secondary character attributes (i.e., skills)
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16 size of the game world in square miles (above ground only, doesn't include dungeons)
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9 major cities
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8 primary character attributes
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5 types of horses you can purchase
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0 number of experience points you'll ever earn (leveling up is skill-based) </blockquote>
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Thanks, MSFD! Those are some awesome details!
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[Naked_Lunch]

My god, the boner I got from reading that just ripped through my pants.

 

[Sol Invictus]

That actually looks pretty good.

 

[Naked_Lunch]

Who's saying it doesn't?

 

[Sol Invictus]

Eh?

 

[fnordcircle]

But crossbows

 

[Sol Invictus]

So

 

[Kratos]

121 different plants are useless unless you can smoke some of them

 

[Tetragrammaton]

Jeez, guys. I can't tell who's being sarcastic or mocking or admiring. This is getting too confusing.

 

[Excalibur]

they better have a mining skill or armour making or somthing i wanna be a smith

 

[Sol Invictus]

Sarcasm? What's that?

I mean really 121 plants for you to do HERBAL STUFF! Innovation, guys.

 

[Jung]

Epic! ...can my character sit down this time around?

 

[Sol Invictus]

Here's an exclusive screenshot that I received, depicting the 'sitting' innovative command in Oblivion.

 

[Naked_Lunch]

Lollerskates

 

[Jung]

Sweet! Now maybe my elf will be able to hop a fence too.

 

[Zli]

A new dev diary is up at the official site.

Here's a couple of quotes

We purposely made the dungeons much darker than those in Morrowind
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For example, I thought it would be fun to walk into a dungeon and stumble into a raging battle between rival factions. So while you won't find bandits, skeletons, and goblins all hanging out together in underground harmony, you may find a band of loot-mongering goblins fighting for their lives against hordes of angry undead. In other locations, you might actually bump into wandering adventurers who are out hunting for the same treasure you planned to take home with you - it's the chance to add subtle touches like this that make dungeon design so much fun.

And it looks like there's 8 people working on dungeons alone, which is good.

Also, this is how I'd like Fallout 3 to look like.

I'll leave the sarcastic comments to the pros.

 

[gromit]

Eh?
(insert huge image / joke that's over)

So
(insert huge image / joke that's over)

Can we stop that now, pretty please?
Also, good to see that the books are back; I am one of the few I know that poured over Vivec's sermons in MW.

 

[TheGreatGodPan]

I actually kind of liked the sound of that painting quest.

 

[Jaesun]

Sounds good so far. Now how about combat and dialoge trees?

 

[Twinfalls]

The text in that dev diary is the usual blah ('tons of hand crafted dungeons' - the same stuff we heard before MW) but the first screenie looked promising, a return to Daggerfall looking dungeons. But then the last screenshot shows the final look of the thing - and its that dull brown again, like all the MW dungeons.
Meh.

 

[LlamaGod]

I've lost my faith in all of you.

Did you even play Morrowind?

sheesh.

All that crap sounds lame. The dungeons are just the same thing, the books dont matter, the character system is garbage..

150+ total quests

All linear and lame 'HAY GO FIND MY PUZZLE BOX'

121 plant types randomly generated in the wilderness areas

Who cares!

Dang you guys. This is all crap but you're all A+++ WOULD SUCK OFF MSFD AGAIN.

 

[aboyd]

the first screenie looked promising, a return to Daggerfall looking dungeons. But then the last screenshot shows the final look of the thing - and its that dull brown again, like all the MW dungeons.

Well, the first image just doesn't seem "normal" to me -- it's as bright as day in a dungeon. Weird. However, I have to admit, I'm not quite sure why cut stonework looks like dirt in the final version. Shouldn't a dim room full of stone walls just look like dimly lit stones? Why mud?

 

[DarkUnderlord]

Do we get a link to this article or something or isn't it online?

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

While I like the idea of monsters hating one another and the idea of battles in dungeons, it does have to make a little sense about it. If the goblins are a new presence in the dungeon, I can see how they might be waging a war against the undead for control. However, at some point one side has to win and one side either would be erradicated completely or flee the dungeon. The idea of goblins hanging around for an extended period of time in a dungeon with overwelming undead would be rather silly. Now, goblins accidentally tunnelling in to a crypt a week ago and are trying to keep the undead at bay makes more sense.

 

[aboyd]

Do we get a link to this article or something or isn't it online?

http://rpgcodex.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php ... e13#147769

We're commenting on the dev diary link in that post.