Unofficial Oblivion preview!!! Must see to believe!

[Sarkile]

Did they ever have an excuse for excluding mounted combat? Sounds like laziness to me. So far I have to say Mount&Blade looks like a better action game than Oblivion will prove to be.

 

[Astromarine]

You know, MSFD, Your reply in this thread was the first time since you've been here where I though "stupid arrogant dev fucker". You had such a good track record, too.

Is complaining about the lack of random encounters petty? Yes, if nothing esle then because there's a shitload of other stuff to complain about. But can you seriously look us in the HTML Renderer and say that oblivion will be as much an RPG as your previous games? Seriously? I'm not questioning you about whether you think the game is good or not. I am asking you to please tell me that you seriously consider the game being talked about in the first page of this thread to be a roleplaying game. Remember where you are. Here, saying the game will appeal to people who are not Hardcore or "RPG Geeks" (and Fuck You for that) is NOT a feature.

Of course, I'm expecting you to either ignore this or lie. You can't make any statements that will be harmful to your "product" (hateful word).

Note that I'm not questioning your right to be an arrogant fuck. In this site, we all are (Angry Cunt and Arrogant Fuck should be forum ranks, IMHO). But at least we're honest arrogant fucks, and someone whose tongue is tied by the marketing department can't be that.

 

[NeutralMilkHotel]

So much drama.

 

[Balor]

Well, about skills... just a small suggestion:
Why not allow players to add their own skills CS?
It's mega-easy, it even was done by me and many other people in MW (Emulating it with global vars and scripts).
So, simply have a 'add skill' option in CS, where you'd pick it's name and stats it requires.
What it will actually affect and how it will work should be entirely up to the mod-maker.
Like, take my herbalism mod as a simple example.
You add a skill named 'Herbalism', make it depend on Int.
Then, put a script (it's even easier now, since you can run global scripts on any instance anytime, thank the archetype) on every plant, and each time you activate a plant, you:
1. Disable the plant.
2. Put its contents into player's inventory, depending on the Herbalism skill you have.
3. (Most important) Run "UseSkill(Herbalism)" function. (That will rise the skill depending on it’s group (major, minor, misc) and current value, just like a hit with a sword would rise ‘Bladed weapons’ skill it by a small degree.)
That’s it.
ANYTHING will be possible this way. I'm quite sure that in no time we'll have mods that add languages to all races (well, it was possible in MW, I even planned to do it, but got so fed up with its scripting system that never completed it).
Of course, meaningful (and vise versa, at low skill levels ) dialogues would have to added manually, but heck, that's details.
On the other hand, if there is one sure thing about devs of MW and Oblivion - it's that they love to hard-code everything, making modders to break their brains trying to go around this. *sigh*

 

[Astromarine]

Custom Title 4 teh win :D

 

[MrSmileyFaceDude]

Astromarine, it wasn't my intention to appear arrogant -- hence the in my post. I know that Elder Scrolls RPGs aren't everyone's cup of tea, particularly of a lot of the folks who post here. And I have no problem with that, which is something I thought I'd made clear in my posting history here. I'm sorry you missed my facetiousness.

That said, as a programmer I didn't get much of a chance to see too much of the "real" game outside of test areas for much of the development time. But as the game has started to come together over the past several months, as I've had more opportunities to actually play the game as opposed to just testing my own parts of it, I have to tell you -- this is one hell of a game. I get more & more impressed at what the designers and artists have put together the more I see of it. I truly believe that a lot of doubters are going to be impressed, and I'm not talking about visuals alone. That's my honest opinion. If I had bad things to say about the game, I wouldn't say anything at all. So those of you who do give the game a chance, I hope you enjoy it.

Oh, and mounted combat? No time. This game is freaking huge and even with the large team we have, we just weren't going to have time to get it into the game. Don't think we're not disappointed about that. There are (as always) plenty of other features we had talked about including but ended up cutting due to lack of time -- even on a 3+ year project.

 

[Vault Dweller]

...as I've had more opportunities to actually play the game as opposed to just testing my own parts of it, I have to tell you -- this is one hell of a game. I get more & more impressed at what the designers and artists have put together the more I see of it.

I know you can't provide details, but can you clarify your comment? What impressed you? Exploring? Interacting? Playing in a living world? Fighting? How does the game compare overall to DF, MW, other RPGs?

 

[Astromarine]

Another question. You say that Elder Scrolls RPGs don't appeal to people here, and that is certainly the case. Myself, for example. I didn't get to try Daggerfall, but I did attempt to play Morrowind several times only to grind ot a halt because of the hollowness of the experience.

But it's not everyone. Vault Dweller, your main critic here, was IIRC a HUGE Daggerfall fan. What do you say to THOSE people? Not the ones like me who dislike the whole genre in itself, but the ones who used to but no longer consider Oblivion to be a part of that same genre? Do you understand the criticisms of fans of Daggerfall? Do you understand that for people who played that game, calling this one freakin' huge is probably a nice big slap in the face? The only thing huge about it is the workload on the graphics card.

 

[MrSmileyFaceDude]

...as I've had more opportunities to actually play the game as opposed to just testing my own parts of it, I have to tell you -- this is one hell of a game. I get more & more impressed at what the designers and artists have put together the more I see of it.

I know you can't provide details, but can you clarify your comment? What impressed you? Exploring? Interacting? Playing in a living world? Fighting? How does the game compare overall to DF, MW, other RPGs?

Well, the fighting I am quite familiar with, since combat AI is one of my primary tasks. So aside from that, obviously the environments have impressed me, you've all seen the screenshots but there's soooo much you haven't seen yet. Dungeons, cities, forests, settlements, etc, exploration is great. But I wish I could tell you about the quests I've seen & played. Very, very cool stuff.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Ok, the environment - check, kinetic fighting - check, and quests - teh mystary!!! Don't care about the first two, but I hope that quests are interesting.

 

[Vault Dweller]

But it's not everyone. Vault Dweller, your main critic here, was IIRC a HUGE Daggerfall fan.

That is correct. Still playing it occasionally.

 

[crpgnut]

Daggerfall is king. If Daggerfall was remade with the same graphics but a much better automap, I'd still pay $30 for it. I might never have stopped playing Daggerfall if it wasn't for the difficulty in finding quest items in dungeons. A great compass would have been a good thing in Daggerfall, IMO.

I'm just praying that Oblvion is more than a pretty fighting game. With all the talk about combat and rendered forests, we haven't heard anything yet about what makes up playing a mage.

I can't wait to see how enchanting, alchemy, and spell casting has been improved. With only 3-4 months until the game is supposed to be released, you think we would have some interviews about the magic system.

Morrowind was very poorly balanced for non-melee players. Nothing that has been released about Oblivion has addressed this.

 

[6pack1]

Ok, For all of you who don't seem to know what a ROLE-Playing game is, You are playing a ROLE of a character. In Oblivion, you are taking the ROLE of the person going to save Tamriel.

I say it is as much a ROLE-playing Game as Morrowind. I personally believe it will be a great game, and the revamped combat and stealth and magic makes it eve more RPG than any other game.

The spotlight of RPGs was the ability to level up. You can do that in Oblivion.

Also, the dev team has put in 3 years to make this game. At least half of that is to make the coding for the RPG element, and then they also need to make the environments and then implement them into the game. I can see how you don't know half of the work that goes into making a game, let alone an RPG. I say that they are making the best RPG to ever come out because of the immersion into the game.

All the people against it, I don't understand your reason for being in this topic, other than to Bitch and Complain, like the whiny babies you are. Sacrifices must be made to make ANYTHING better. to make this the best RPG out there, they needed to get rid of certain things to make innovations on other things.

Go ahead and complain and bitch and moan, but Oblivion WILL be the best RPG ever made. Until the next one is coming out.

And I don't think calling Bethesda's dev team arrogant assholes and then being nice to their fanbase is a very good tactic on your part...."Angry Cunt" was it? Kinda funny how you called yourself a cunt...at least you have self-esteem, if not a egotistical outlook on life.

Oh and these types of RPG's are even better than Final Fantasy, IMO.

 

[HanoverF]

Ok, the environment - check, kinetic fighting - check, and quests - teh mystary!!! Don't care about the first two, but I hope that quests are interesting.

Ok, I'm not at liberty to disclose how I know this, but mystary solved... there will be quests where you get things for people, and quests where you kill things for people... and get this, there will be quests where you kill people to get things for people!!!

Ok, For all of you who don't seem to know what a ROLE-Playing game is, You are playing a ROLE of a character. In Oblivion, you are taking the ROLE of the person going to save Tamriel.

And in Ms. Pac-Man you play the ROLE of a character, a character driven eat pelets, power pelets, and ghosts (and maybe the occasional cherry pretzel or key), while roaming a 2d maze, there is even a romance sub-plot and animated cut-scenes, like every true ROLE-playing game!!!1!

 

[Sarvis]

Ok, For all of you who don't seem to know what a ROLE-Playing game is, You are playing a ROLE of a character. In Oblivion, you are taking the ROLE of the person going to save...

Contra meets that definition. Is everything an RPG to you? If so you are in the wrong place, by which I mean the <i>internet</i>.

I say it is as much a ROLE-playing Game as Morrowind. I personally believe it will be a great game, and the revamped combat and stealth and magic makes it eve more RPG than any other game.

Please explain how I can roleplay a master warrior if my own reflexes suck? My warrior in Oblivion will always suck if my reflexes suck, no matter what level he is. That is not roleplaying in any fashion.

The spotlight of RPGs was the ability to level up. You can do that in Oblivion.

No, that is not the "spotlight of RPGs." It is one of the more visible elements, but like stats it is only there to support the main actual element of RPGS: Player Decides, Character Does.

Also, the dev team has put in 3 years to make this game. At least half of that is to make the coding for the RPG element, and then they also need to make the environments and then implement them into the game. I can see how you don't know half of the work that goes into making a game, let alone an RPG. I say that they are making the best RPG to ever come out because of the immersion into the game.

Vault Dweller, in particular, is actually getting close to releasing his own CRPG. You might want to, you know, learn about people before judging them. Oh wait, you already celebrate a game which <i>hasn't been released</i> as the best game ever... I guess there's no hope for you.

All the people against it, I don't understand your reason for being in this topic, other than to Bitch and Complain,

Welcome to the Codex.

Sacrifices must be made to make ANYTHING better. to make this the best RPG out there, they needed to get rid of certain things to make innovations on other things.

This is not an RPG, it is an Action game. Maybe Action/Adventure or some kind of other hybrid.

quote]
Go ahead and complain and bitch and moan, but Oblivion WILL be the best RPG ever made. Until the next one is coming out.
[/quote]

Again, not an RPG. Might be a great game, even the best game ever. Still not an RPG.

And I don't think calling Bethesda's dev team arrogant assholes and then being nice to their fanbase is a very good tactic on your part...."Angry Cunt" was it? Kinda funny how you called yourself a cunt...at least you have self-esteem, if not a egotistical outlook on life.

I'm not even sure that paragraph makes sense...

Oh and these types of RPG's are even better than Final Fantasy, IMO.

No. Also, Oblivion is not an RPG.

 

[Astromarine]

OK, MSFD, you made that account just to lighten the mood, didn't you? Oh, you quirky developer you...

What do you *mean* 6pack1 is real? He just got schooled by *Sarvis*, for fuck's sake.

 

[Sarkile]

Go ahead and complain and bitch and moan, but Oblivion WILL be the best RPG ever made. Until the next one is coming out.

Yeah? This is just my opinion, so other's will disagree, but it goes something like this.
Fallout>Arcanum>Torment>Fallout2>>>>>>>>Bloodlines>Daggerfall>>>>>
>>>Morrowind>Lionheart
Now I understand people's pov when they say Torment wasn't an rpg, so you can remove that from my list if that's your argument.

Oh and these types of RPG's are even better than Final Fantasy, IMO.

Yeah? How special. I just took a shit that's a better rpg than any of the Final Fantasies. I don't see why this is something to brag about.
(Just a note, I actually enjoy a decent number of the Final Fantasies. Just not as rpgs.)

 

[obediah]

Ok, For all of you who don't seem to know what a ROLE-Playing game is, You are playing a ROLE of a character. In Oblivion, you are taking the ROLE of the person going to save...

Contra meets that definition. Is everything an RPG to you? If so you are in the wrong place, by which I mean the <i>internet</i>.

and think you could expand internet to "not mounted on the wall above my fireplace".

Although, if this retard was right, we could rename the genre to 'Evenything But Tetris', which would be a pretty cool name for a web site.

 

[Atrokkus]

The spotlight of RPGs was the ability to level up. You can do that in Oblivion.

Then every fucking single hack'n'slash is RPG, right?
This ain't no spotlight, this is a vveeeeeeeery optional feature.


Although still I have to disagree with Sarvis and say that Oblivion CAN be RPG, but only if it has fixed the following Morrowind's issues:
- hypertext-wiki-NPCs (nonexistance of dialogs)
- no NPC personalities
- crappy guild system
- mostly dumb and boring quests (except for a few)
- abscense of any real decision in the game

So if those issues are fixed and those aspects imrpoved, i'll consider Oblivion as a worthy, even pure RPG.
No matter what combat system it employs.
(btw, i think the combat system will be great)

 

[Sarvis]

mEtaLL1x:

Please explain how you can roleplay a character if HIS success in combat depends on YOUR skill/reflexes.

 

[Sarkile]

mEtaLL1x:

Please explain how you can roleplay a character if HIS success in combat depends on YOUR skill/reflexes.

To some extent a character's success in combat always depends on the player's skills. I see where you're coming from, and I agree as to that being my preference, but I don't think that's necessarily all that important to recieve the rpg classification.

 

[callehe]

It's funny that some people (i e 6pack1) consider VD's compilation of various qoutes critisism of the game. For fuck sake, the comments originate from Mr Pete Hines himself. If an Elderscrolls fan thinks that these (nearly?) verbatim qoutes from the Beth boss himself implies bad game features... that surely tells us something about the game?

 

[Sarvis]

mEtaLL1x:

Please explain how you can roleplay a character if HIS success in combat depends on YOUR skill/reflexes.

To some extent a character's success in combat always depends on the player's skills. I see where you're coming from, and I agree as to that being my preference, but I don't think that's necessarily all that important to recieve the rpg classification.

Traditionally RPGs have always rewarded decision making ability and planning, whereas action games have rewarded quick reflexes and good timing.

But if you are playing a masterful warrior, and have crap reflexes and timing... how can you roleplay him?

IF you are trying to negotiate a treaty, but YOUR skills at persuasion are what gets tested how are you roleplaying a master negotiator?

The simple answer is that you aren't, you are playing yourself in a different setting. Similar to the holodeck in star trek.

 

[Vykromond]

Shut. The. Fuck. Up. If you want to keep talking about why PDCD Pac-Man would be an RPG whereas regular Pac-Man wouldn't be, go back to the 13-page thread where it was discussed and leave the Bethesda-bashing thread to Bethesda bashing.

 

[jiujitsu]

This is a Bethesda bashing thread?

Oh, come on. Are they really that bad?