Game News Combat In Oblivion: A Rebuttal to Penny Arcade

[Stark]

EDIT: I can see why you thought that is what I meant. I wasn't really reading the thread that carefully. While it certainly could be the case, it depends on a lot of other factors, too. I really just meant "features" in general, not any specific one.

the only "missing" feature mentioned in this thread is the mounted combat. if there are other missing features (hence your comment on "features in general") I would like to hear it.

in fact, going by what you said you could mean missing features for games in general. it is certainly the case for a couple of crappy games. however it might have been better if you stated that outfront in a thread dedicated to Oblivion.

 

[Elwro]

Well, at least in my opinion bows and axes will be missing features.

 

[NeutralMilkHotel]

Bows are in. Crossbows are out. So a certain ranged or melee weapon is a feature?
jesus...

 

[Fresh]

Mmm give them a * break. As NeutralEtc said bows are in and who complains about axes anyway? Are you a dwarf IRL & feel naked without your trusty axe?

 

[Deacdo]

the only "missing" feature mentioned in this thread is the mounted combat. if there are other missing features (hence your comment on "features in general") I would like to hear it.

in fact, going by what you said you could mean missing features for games in general. it is certainly the case for a couple of crappy games. however it might have been better if you stated that outfront in a thread dedicated to Oblivion.

Games in general including Obvlivion. Quite a lot could have been included/improved with all the additional resources they would have. More weapon types? More complicated quests? Improved combat system? A more detailed game in general? Perhaps even mounted combat? There are ALWAYS things designers want to have if more resources are available. Much of what is "missing" wouldn't have been mentioned to begin with.

 

[Volourn]

Nonsense. If a game sin't devloped for multi platforms; they just get less devlopment time and money; not more resources for the single platform.

Afterall, if a publisher feels that a game si worthy of $5 mil to develop on PC, and x-box because they'd have a combined 1 mil sales while if they only developed for PC; the game would have 500k sales; do you think the developer would still get $5 mil of devlopmental money? Of course not. Only morons think so.

Game over.

I win. You lose.

Game. Set. Match.

 

[Elwro]

Bows are in. Crossbows are out. So a certain ranged or melee weapon is a feature?
jesus...

Oops, my bad.
It's not about a single weapon, it's about a whole class of weapons. I don't mind it too much myself, but wonder if the game won't feel a little strange and limited with fewer weapon types.

 

[Sol Invictus]

The lack of hardcore sex, drugs and machine guns, turn-based strategy and city simulation gameplay are 'missing features' in Oblivion. If we go by the logic of some of the posters in this thread.

 

[crpgnut]

The lack of hardcore sex, drugs and machine guns, turn-based strategy and city simulation gameplay are 'missing features' in Oblivion. If we go by the logic of some of the posters in this thread.

You mean they took these out? I'm outraged :evil:

Great post, Sol!

 

[MrSmileyFaceDude]

Well, one nice thing about Xbox development is that you use the same development environment as you do for PC development. And while there are some differences in the software libraries you use (and you have to Endian-convert all your data on the Xbox 360), overall it's not very difficult to develop for Xbox at the same time as you develop for PC. It's really not a huge time sink, especially with the Xbox 360 since it's so much more powerful than the old Xbox.

 

[Claw]

So what about drugs? I want drugs, dammit!

 

[NeutralMilkHotel]

Morrowind had moon rocks or skooma or whatever it was called.

 

[Psilon]

Moon sugar and skooma.

As for myself, I'd like to see the return of Aegrotat. Not because it did anything useful (at least that I could tell), but because it would show that someone on the Oblivion team had been playing Daggerfall recently.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

Morrowind had moon rocks or skooma or whatever it was called.

Yes, which you had to put on a table before you talked to a trader.

I don't lament the unavailabilty of Mounted Combat, I just think it's really kind of... well, "dumb" to put it bluntly. To have a game where there are horses and you can't fight from them - given the only thing hampering you from fighting on horseback would be the ability to "swing your weapon" - it just seems kind of odd to me, really. All that effort went in to make horse models and textures and all they do is look pretty and act like larger versions of the Boots of Blinding Speed. It's like going halfway. If you're going to put horses in, you've got to fight from them, right otherwise you're just not going all the way? I figured this would've been a fairly early design decision at some point.

It's more a matter of what features does Oblivion have other than pretty graphics that make it any different to Morrowind. They've made "a few tweaks" to the combat and dialogue systems, they've "added a horse" and made it all look prettier. Even some simple things like scripting ownership of a house. It just doesn't seem like all that much to me given the development time. Hell, even taking out axes just seems bizarre (if that's really the case as someone said in this thread).

I'm probably missing something but it doesn't seem like such a big improvement over Morrowind.

 

[NeutralMilkHotel]

It's more a matter of what features does Oblivion have other than pretty graphics that make it any different to Morrowind. They've made "a few tweaks" to the combat and dialogue systems, they've "added a horse" and made it all look prettier. Even some simple things like scripting ownership of a house. It just doesn't seem like all that much to me given the development time. Hell, even taking out axes just seems bizarre (if that's really the case as someone said in this thread).

I'm probably missing something but it doesn't seem like such a big improvement over Morrowind.

Hmm. Seems to me that they're trying to improve on everything from Morrowind in a big way, rather than trying to fit alot of new features in. More dynamic real-time combat, better quests, more ways to finish each quest, more interesting quests with their AI, pretty graphics, and of cource the big new feature, the AI to bring life the the barren world (while I know you all would love deep NPCs with excellent dialog, this is still a big improvment. And hell, they might have good dialogue too).

But we won't really know how much they've improved each (or really, any) existing feature until we actually play it (or get a detailed review from a very reliable source).

 

[Elwro]

The lack of hardcore sex, drugs and machine guns, turn-based strategy and city simulation gameplay are 'missing features' in Oblivion. If we go by the logic of some of the posters in this thread.

None of those features was present in Morrowind, while crossbows and axes were, and removing them is a step back. I also think that one of the developers said sth loosely like "Oblivion will be a fantasy game, and for me fantasy is riding horseback and killing things" - and that's why some of us thought the game would have mounted combat.
Of course, if sword combat is simply marvellous, no one will notice that there are only 3 (or sth.) types of weapons in all the phat l3wt one finds.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Oblivion is not Morrowind.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Oh, and I don't recall Morrowind ever having fun combat, or cool bows.

 

[NeutralMilkHotel]

To be fair, we don't know if the combat will be fun yet (no offense to the devs, it's just no one other than them and the QA guys have played it).

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

I'm with DarkUnderlord. It's just kind of pointless to have horseback in a game and NOT have mounted combat. Other than sitting on your horse and posing for screenshots, what's the point? Sure, walking around in Morrowind got boring as hell, but riding a horse in Oblivion just means you'll be bored - but for less time! Naturally, a world map would eliminate that boredom for good, but that'd be a good idea.

 

[Elwro]

Oblivion is not Morrowind.
Oh, and I don't recall Morrowind ever having fun combat, or cool bows.

It's good that we agree.

 

[Fez]

Mount and Blade has put all the other developers claiming it was impossible to shame. If M&B does well, then maybe future RPG projects will be given the time and money needed to include it too?

 

[NeutralMilkHotel]

Naturally, a world map would eliminate that boredom for good, but that'd be a good idea.

There pretty much is. You can fast travel to any place you've already been (which I assume is like most RPG's, open up the world map and then click on a place to go and game time passes then you're there).

Mount and Blade has put all the other developers claiming it was impossible to shame. If M&B does well, then maybe future RPG projects will be given the time and money needed to include it too?

Who's said it was impossible?

 

[bryce777]

I find it really funny to see muttonheads like volly and hyperboy putting themselves out as software engineering experts.

My real problem with crossplatform development is that one of the platforms is played by the semiretarded youth of america, which almost guarantees anyone over 25 with an IQ over 110 is gonna be bored after a couple of hours, no matter how many randomly spawning cliff racers there are.

It is also much more effort to do crossplatform development, and a lot of design issues are going to come up since the features of two platforms are never 100% the same. That does not mean necessarily that a certain feature will get cut, but it almost ensures the game will be crappier on both platforms in some ways than if it were developed for just one, assuming they deliver the sme product on both platforms.

On the other hand, they will make more money, allowing them to hire more people etc. etc. so actually it could have more features and a higher budget than if it were for one platform, though it will probably suck in ome ways more for both platforms, and I personally will probably fall asleep if I try to play it.


To sum up, volly and hyperboy are stupid (same moral as in most threads), and I am annoyed(again see most threads).

 

[Fresh]

On the other hand, they will make more money, allowing them to hire more people etc. etc. so actually it could have more features and a higher budget than if it were for one platform

Correct.