The Oblivion Thread

[Tuberski]

My computer won't run the game, according to one of those test sights.

However, it also said it wouldn't run CIV IV, which it does just fine.

Should I chance it?

ACK!

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Bethesda doesn't make traditional type RPGs. Their RPGs are totally focused on the 'go anywhere, do anything' idea. Level scaling allows that.

You don't need level scaling for that. Just foolhardiness

Seriously, "go anywhere, do anything" should include "getting yourself killed because of stupidity."

[Asher]

What are your specs?

[Asher]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
You don't need level scaling for that. Just foolhardiness

Seriously, "go anywhere, do anything" should include "getting yourself killed because of stupidity."

And it does.

But "go anywhere, do anything" should not include "you can't go here, you can't do this until you're level 25".

Do you comprehend the difference?

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by yin26
I wouldn't call it the easy way out ... just the best way out. As it stands now, you could reach level 50 before ever starting the main quest. If all subsequent quests are hard-coded for difficulty, then the game is over.

That appears to be a flaw in how experience is earned. Or maybe there is a flaw in the game that does not bestow a sense of urgency.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Asher
And it does.

But "go anywhere, do anything" should not include "you can't go here, you can't do this until you're level 25".

Why not?

That's a typical case of getting yourself killed because you go somewhere that's too tough for you.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
Why not?

That's a typical case of getting yourself killed because you go somewhere that's too tough for you.

Because if you can't do everything, and can't go everywhere, you are violating the definition of "do anything, go anywhere".

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
Why not?

That's a typical case of getting yourself killed because you go somewhere that's too tough for you.

Which adds linearity to the game. You can't go there because you aren't a high enough level. So stay in the newbie area, then go to the mid level area, then the hard area... but the game is totally non-linear!!

Can't you see where doing so would totally destroy any non-linearity? Going anywhere, doing anything, should mean that you shouldn't be destroyed in one shot because you decided to go somewhere they didn't want you to go yet.

Those type of linear games are a dime a dozen, this one doesn't follow that formula.

[Tuberski]

Originally posted by Asher
What are your specs?

This is the part that kills me:

You Have: Intel(R) 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset Family (Intel(R) 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset Controller)

Video Card Features - Minimum attributes of your Video Card Video RAM: Required - 128 MB , You have - 128.0 MB
Video Card 3D Acceleration: Required - Yes , You have - Yes
Video HW Transform & Lighting: Required - Yes , You have - No
Vertex Shader Ver.: Required - 2.0 , You have - 0.0
Pixel Shader Ver.: Required - 2.0 , You have - 2.0

Those are my only problems.

ACK!

[Asher]

You definitely will not be able to play.

Not from a performance standpoint, but from a "you don't support the code it runs".

[Tuberski]

Originally posted by Asher
You definitely will not be able to play.

Not from a performance standpoint, but from a "you don't support the code it runs".

I know, what's worse is that there is no way to change graphics cards on this system.



ACK!

[Silver14]

Originally posted by Dis
As for the levelling thing, from what was said above, everything seems cool.

One question though. How is the wilderness areas? I don't want to be travelling the wilderness only to be bothered by huge packs of monsters...

At lower levels outside seems rather barren as far as getting attacked. There are wolves and bandits but usually only 1-2 at a time. At higher levels there are other monsters but again rarely more then 1 or 2 at a time unless you are at a dungeon entry point or so forth.

Originally posted by Urban Ranger


Why not?

That's a typical case of getting yourself killed because you go somewhere that's too tough for you.

The thing is there are SO many areas, to go to, dungeons, gates, keeps, ruined temples it isn't like the average player is going to run out of them when they are higher level or anything. I doubt most people will actually find them all much less explore each one. (and note each one feels hand crafted and different unlike many mmrpg's) There isn't really a need to limit the player from choosing which one to go to. There will always be a dungon to explore at higher levels. The game is big enough that it doesn't need the kind of area restrictions many rpgs have.

Also as a side note I want to praise the traps in this game. They are the best traps I think I've ever experienced in a game. If you keep an eye out you can avoid them, but sometimes a little slip up happens. Some pressure plates are obvious, some are better hidden. Plus the traps will work on enemies as well if they happen to get too close. If you see blood stains on the floor look up and you'll see a spike pit on the ceiling, a ball and chain ready to fall, logs about to roll or some other calamity waiting for something to make the wrong move.

My theif character got hit in the head by a log on ropes when I failed to notice a trip wire. I use the 'Sense Life' spells to spot prey and was going in for the kill when I triggered it. Didn't die but it took me off guard and caused some damage.

[Dis]

Originally posted by Asher
Which ATI card did you get?

yeah I kind of winged it. I'm not sure if I got a good one or not. I usually research these things before I upgrade. But I kind of upgraded on a whim today when at Fry's. I tend to splurge when I'm there. That's why I don't go too often.

I got a Radeon X1600 Pro.

I was a little confused over the memory. This one had 512 megs. But more expensive ones had 256. I'm sure they were better cards, but I'm not sure why.

This game runs great. The RAM is a great help as well. I can exit the game immediatly and startup firefox in about 1 second. It's a well designed game as well. Civ4 used to take me a very long time to exit before I can even think about loading my browser. But I haven't tried civ4 since my uprgrade. Maybe it will run better. But no time for that game now. this will be taking up a lot of my computer time.

Anyways I found the first dude you are supposed to find. I didn't explore much around the main city much. Just to sells some stuff and buy some armour and a sword. Playing as a redguard crusader. Should be interesting. I should go to the main city again and find a guild to join before I get too far along with the main quest.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Which adds linearity to the game. You can't go there because you aren't a high enough level. So stay in the newbie area, then go to the mid level area, then the hard area... but the game is totally non-linear!!

Lets use a very simple game with five dungeons (I use this term to denote any areas the PC(s) can explore, be it towers, ruins, caves, alien spacecrafts, or actual dungeons) A, B, C, D, E as an example.

The game is competely linear if you can only explore these dungeons in sequence, say, A -> B -> C -> D -> E due to artificial barriers. For example, a big sign that says "You can't come here until level 10," complete with a force field.

It is completely nonlinear if you can explore the areas in any order you wish. However this does not preclude your character getting knocked off by baddies. IOW, you can go there, but there's no guarantee that you can come back.

That's nonlinearity to me. YMMV.

A more ambiguous case is you can only explore an area only after you have a certain item. This can go either way depending on the setup and your own view of nonlinearity.

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Can't you see where doing so would totally destroy any non-linearity? Going anywhere, doing anything, should mean that you shouldn't be destroyed in one shot because you decided to go somewhere they didn't want you to go yet.

Nothing stops you from going, but you ain't coming back

If you charge headlong without finding out more about where you are going, why shouldn't you get toasted?

I don't think it's a case of "somewhere they don't want you to go." It's more like you aren't strong enough to go. There's a difference, you know.

[Dis]

And I enjoy the open endedness of this game. After playing it (though I'm still only level 2), it seems to work well. It's different from games such as KOTOR and NWN, and that's just great. And it's better than MMORPG's by a long shot, which I also like. MMORPG's were so tedius, I just couldn't find them fun.

The game is different. Accept and move on. . I'm glad it's not like every other mmrpg or other rpg out there.

Find me a more open ended RPG out there. Sure it's not the most realistic. But static enemy monsters and NPC's aren't realistic either. But I know Oblivion has it's limitations. My character just ate like 50 carrots. . all that good healthy beta carotene.