Another Oblivion Thread

[Brillo]

Anyone noticed how that "unintrusive" GPS compass showed a location to elven ruin before it was even really visible?
Now, even previously excellent exploration ascpect of the series has been retardened. Great job!

Pretty sure they've said you could turn the thing off.

 

[MrSmileyFaceDude]

Oh, and you can still bribe people.

This isn't good MSFD. I liked the exploration in morrowind enough to play it through to the "end", but the bribe button was probably the worst sin of a bad dialog system.

Just because you can attempt to bribe someone does not mean they'll automatically accept it. That depends on their responsibility and a number of other factors.

And no, you can't get that close to a deer in the game unless you're sneaking, and good at it. They run away pretty much as soon as they can see you. Good luck hunting them. The most common sighting of a deer is their backside as they're running away.

As far as the compass goes, in playing the game I actually rarely use it. I'm usually spending too much time looking around. But the times when I've been looking for a specific quest target, or a camp or settlement where I can rest, it has come in extremely handy.

 

[Micmu]

Pretty sure they've said you could turn the thing off.

Actually, no.
They explicitly said it is not toogable and it is "absolutely neccessary to play, trust us". And they called it Dynamic Quest Compass but it looks like it is also phat l3wt and legendary item compass. (Assuming that elven ruins are now like daedric/dwarven ruins in MW).
I can't understand why they don't want it toogable (at least for remote dungeon/ruin entrances). They did made that moronic "Use best attack" in MW why can't they add a better option in Oblivion? Maybe toogle boxes are difficult to put in that xbox interface...

 

[Section8]

Man, Todd Howard is very accomplished when it comes to jibber-jabber. It is, nonetheless, good to hear that Bethesda can see the value of procedurally generated content when it comes to forests, let's hope next time Bethesda start from scratch and try to imagine what the game of the future will be like they'll harken back to Daggerfall's procedural gameplay content in addition to forests and NPC schedules.

As far as the interface goes, I think it looks like a definite step forward from Morrowind's atrocious UI if it gets a rescale for PC. I couldn't really give a fuck what motifs are used, throw in more pink love hearts for all I care, just so long as it isn't like the overlarge, obstructive UI that Thief 3 (and other console ports) had.

I'm hoping the compass is somewhat configurable too. Exploration was the best thing about Morrowind, and probably the only part of the game I actually enjoyed, so I'd hate to think that's now replaced by a tourguide who points out the sights along the way. And just quietly, I'd fucking love getting lost in a game like Oblivion, or using the game mechanics to avoid getting lost, by sticking arrows into trees, etc.

The stealth, combat, dialogue and Radiant AI all looked fairly impressive, but that's exactly what they're supposed to do. I'll reserve judgment until I see typical examples, rather than the "OMFG! Look at this feature!" examples.

 

[HardCode]

Are you kidding? MW had a great UI. It was so easy to look at all of your stuff at once, and at a high res so much was visible at one time. This new UI looks ... well ... bad. I must agree that it is completely designed with a console in mind. Too much of the MW --> Oblivion changes seem to favor the ADHD demographic

 

[match000]

Fuck this, I'm not buying Oblivion.

I'd like to believe that

Want to alienate you're long and trusting userbase for a bunch of console shitheads?

I wouldn't actually consider you or other Codexers as "long and trusting userbase"..

Tintin. two words: bit, torrent LOL!

 

[tanjo]

And just quietly, I'd fucking love getting lost in a game like Oblivion, or using the game mechanics to avoid getting lost, by sticking arrows into trees, etc.

Exactly. The narrator in the video said something about "in case you get lost" when explaining the compass, and I was like, "uh that's half the fun." I would be perfectly happy if the compass was togglable.. WHY do we have to stare at this thing when we don't want to? If I ever get so lost that I'm pissed off, then I'll just toggle the compass on.

It's like when I was talking to my cousin about intro. movies in games the other night. Why do some game developers force you watch their intro. movies if you don't want to, when the game is solely designed to be fun for the player? I don't care how long you worked on your intro. or your compass or how important you think they are, if I don't want to see them why should I have to? Meh.

 

[Tintin]

Hmm....watched the movie....Very good, the forests are amazing, as are the dungeons and graphics overall. Liked the Radiant AI demos very much. Dialogue didn't seem that bad, and unless I'm missing something here I don't see why it should be too much of an issue with the Oblivion-skeptics. Didn't like fast travel. The compass didn't seem to do too much, so I didn't care. The bit at the end with the ruined city battle was nice. Also, the stealth portion was enjoyable too.

 

[Tetragrammaton]

I'm cool with fast travel since you had to have traveled to Kvatch to begin with. It saves you from repeat trips, not from all traveling alltogether.

And I, for one, very much dislike getting lost. Too much realism. It sucks in real life and it sucks in a game.

 

[Tintin]

True, but I didn't like the "transported" kind of feel I got from it. Don't know how else they could've done it, though.

 

[Shagnak]

As far as the interface goes, I think it looks like a definite step forward from Morrowind's atrocious UI if it gets a rescale for PC.

My feeling too. Though I doubt it will be rescaled for the PC, and perhaps that is part of the issue.
Overall, I don't think that it is that much of a deal.
It is tabbed after all, and if I can deal with interminable scrolling down in Fallout, then I can deal with scrolling and flicking between tabs in Obivion.
[I'm assuming that if there is a heap of ingredients collecting (unless alchemy etc is out the window?) that those items appear on another tab.??? Did the footage show what the individual tabs hold, and can someone therefore clarify?]]

 

[Micmu]

Wow, speaking about fast travel. Mr. Todd Howard about Morrowind's travel system (July 2001):

Q: So, the fast-travel isn't as dull as in used to be in Daggerfall. You just take a bus. Or a bug...

TH: This is a very cool travel system. There will be a man up here that you talk to, and ask him, tell him where you wanna go...

TH: Your journey is an adventure. You don't just decide "I wanna be across the world". It should be an adventure, we should take advantage of it, y'know, getting somewhere. Finding a dungeon travelling up in the mountains, battling away through stuff. Roadside adventures are cool. Finding a guy on the side on the road, like "Have you seen my wagon?" That's cool, we're missing this opportunity by just having fast travel.

http://til.gamingsource.net/interviews/dev.shtml

 

[truekaiser]

Anyone noticed how that "unintrusive" GPS compass showed a location to elven ruin before it was even really visible?
Now, even previously excellent exploration ascpect of the series has been retardened. Great job!

Pretty sure they've said you could turn the thing off.

nope you can't the best you can do is have it point out a quest you don't want to complete and ignore how it directs you to secrets you don't even see yet.

 

[Tetragrammaton]

Wow, speaking about fast travel. Mr. Todd Howard about Morrowind's travel system (July 2001):

Q: So, the fast-travel isn't as dull as in used to be in Daggerfall. You just take a bus. Or a bug...

TH: This is a very cool travel system. There will be a man up here that you talk to, and ask him, tell him where you wanna go...

TH: Your journey is an adventure. You don't just decide "I wanna be across the world". It should be an adventure, we should take advantage of it, y'know, getting somewhere. Finding a dungeon travelling up in the mountains, battling away through stuff. Roadside adventures are cool. Finding a guy on the side on the road, like "Have you seen my wagon?" That's cool, we're missing this opportunity by just having fast travel.

http://til.gamingsource.net/interviews/dev.shtml

And then they found that rather than have grand adventures, many people just wanted to get somewhere. And they would get lost. And they would get frustrated. So now, grand adventures are easier to find, and if you just want to get somewhere you are not put through tedium in walking there.

 

[Drakron]

Those interviews just make him look like a Xbox fanboy ... retarded and cluess.

I dont want to hear something is "cool" because being "cool" or not is relative to a point of view, by using such words it means they are simply trying to be in, like when Xbox 360 presentation was in MTV (and how it was blown away by PS3 presentation that followed the normal gaming standarts, it just shows that trying to appeal to a certain demographics is not working).

That is why I have a hard time to take Bethsoft press releases serious, they try to be hip by saying "this is cool, that is awesome" without giving any detail on the features thenselves, just their opinion on those features with "trust us" ... they think we are stupid or something?

They must be and in most cases they must be right, I am suprised of the number of people that are "looking forward" to Oblivion and have no clue to the game actual confirmed content of the game, they have no idea that swords and daggers use the same skill ...

I could understand casual gamers that pick up the game based of pre-release hype but people that are "looking foward"?

I mean we in the Codex know more about Oblivion that the people in TES forums ... we are not even a freaking fan site for crying out loud!

I dont trust any developer word over a game they are involved in, BioWare issued "trust us" posts over NwN every time a point was raised and we know the result ... now we can hear then state what many of us did when NwN was released, how the OC was substandart ... sure I am going to trust then and as I am at it you can call me FEMA, the Unicorn.

 

[jasondragon]

Those interviews just make him look like a Xbox fanboy ... retarded and cluess.

If you're referring to the post above you linking to interviews. Those were related to Morrowind, not oblivion. So... hmm.

 

[Twinfalls]

Listen to the video voiceover. Todd the Imp says things like "the compass lets you find cool stuff around you".

Tintin - I've told the TES board moderators that you've watched the video.

It seems you're in trouble.

 

[jiujitsu]

Why does it matter if anyone sees the video?

 

[Watermark]

Does that mean that we're going to be spanked?
Cause if that's the case i have to pm the moderators to be gentle...

 

[Tetragrammaton]

Listen to the video voiceover. Todd the Imp says things like "the compass lets you find cool stuff around you".

Tintin - I've told the TES board moderators that you've watched the video.

It seems you're in trouble.

Oh? He could have seen it at his local Gamestop, like a bunch of people on the boards.

 

[spacemoose]

Oh? He could have seen it at his local Gamestop, like a bunch of people on the boards.

It does not matter, we will track him down and make sure he pays for his crimes.

 

[Tetragrammaton]

Oh? He could have seen it at his local Gamestop, like a bunch of people on the boards.

It does not matter, we will track him down and make sure he pays for his crimes.

Meh. IGN posted it in four sections, available in two resolutions, and available through streaming video. Everyone will see it.

 

[Twinfalls]

Don't you understand? It's illegal.

I've told them about you, too.

You are both in BIG trouble.

 

[truekaiser]

Don't you understand? It's illegal.

I've told them about you, too.

You are both in BIG trouble.

illegal to watch it?
since when has the united states fell down to the kind of junk in 1984?

 

[merry andrew]

LOL did you see that lady get mad at the dog ROFL.