The Oblivion Thread

[DaShi]

A lot times when people say nonlinear, what they want is a game that responds to their actions.

Sure you can travel A -> E-> C -> B -> D or whatever permutation you please, but if the end result is the same, the game will still feel linear. People want to see consequences in a nonlinear game. If I kill the princess in A, maybe I can't reach B, or maybe I must take D before B then or it opens up a path F. Of course, this is really time consuming for developers. Not only do they have to anticipate every player action, they have to write in appropriate and different reponses for each one.

Deus Ex was great for creating the illusion of nonlinear gameplay (as Molineaux said). You still had to travel A -> B -> C, but because there were many ways to complete A, B, and C, you feel as if your choices matter. However, the game at its core is still very linear.

[Dis]

actually I admit I was a little dismayed that you there are unkillable characters in this game. Morrowind may still hold the crown as the most non-linear game. Killing gods is just so sweet.

And did they seriously take out levitation? I'm a bit peeved at that as well. And there doesn't seem to be any mark/recall spells or fast travel (the kind you pay for). Yeah they would never be used if you can just use the free fast travel. But so much time passes when you use those.

You can't get more non-linear than levitation. . So that is one way Oblivion is restricted.

[FrostyBoy]

Last I read they didn't take out levitation. Someone was talking about levitating on water on the TES forums.

I've never played morrowind, and Oblivion is my first vision into ES.

[snoopy369]

Levitation is not in the game in any way. Walking on Water is different, it's not "flying" just treating water as if it were land.

[snoopy369]

BTW, for cheap AGP solutions, my GF got an ATI 1300 256mb for $129 - $30rebate ($99 net) at CompUSA last weekend. Regular around $170 i think. It runs it VERY well, and supports SM 3.0 so it's sweet Better looking than mine (SM 2.0, but better system and PCI Express), and doesn't particularly slow down even on a 3 year old P4 2.4ghz 1GB ram, which is sort of low in the specs category.

[Kassiopeia]

We're going to need a Part II soon.

[DaviddesJ]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
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.

I don't see any difference between, "You can't enter here until you're Level 10," and, "You can enter any time you want but if you're less than Level 10 you'll just be killed immediately." The result and the gameplay are exactly the same in the two cases.

[yin26]

Originally posted by snoopy369
BTW, for cheap AGP solutions, my GF got an ATI 1300 256mb for $129 - $30rebate ($99 net) at CompUSA last weekend. Regular around $170 i think. It runs it VERY well, and supports SM 3.0 so it's sweet Better looking than mine (SM 2.0, but better system and PCI Express), and doesn't particularly slow down even on a 3 year old P4 2.4ghz 1GB ram, which is sort of low in the specs category.

Thanks, Snoopy. A question for you and Asher. My basic rig is:

System Model: Dell Optiplex GX 280
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.20GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 1022MB RAM
Card name: RADEON X300/X550 Series

I'm at or slightly ahead of the recommended setup except, of course, for the video card. I want to stay in the ATI family and would prefer to stay under $200 but would go to $300 if a convincing argument could be made.

My goal is to enjoy the next 200 hours of Oblivion in as much graphical glory as I can reasonably afford. Any ideas?

EDIT: The Radeon 9550 Video Card, 8x AGP, 256MB DDR is at CompUSA for $99 http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...16267&pfp=cat3 Should I just stick at that level? Surely this would crush my current card just based on doubling the memory alone.

EDIT 2: Newegg has it for a lot less, and the reviews look good. Maybe I'll go up a notch with the Newegg prices: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Custra...82E16814127153

[Solver]

Levitation is really not required in Oblivion. In Morrowind, there were directions you could only go flying, in Oblivion you can easily roam all the landscape on foot.

And,

Spoiler:

I wish there were a way to get Captain Lex on the Grey Fox's ass! would be fun

[bonscott]

Yin, at newegg they have a Sapphire Radeon x1600 Pro with 512 meg memory for only $140! The 256 meg model even cheaper. This is AGP which is what I would need. I'm actually thinking about upgrading my 9800 Pro for this myself now. Hmmmmmmmmm

EDIT: Link to the AGP version of the card. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102680

[yin26]

Wow! You're right! The core clock, for one, is twice as fast, and the memory is doubled. And if I understand the specs, it seems to have 3 times the pixel pipelines. I'm ordering this baby right now. Thanks.

EDIT: The first reviewer states "Pros: Awsome card for the price, Plays Oblivion on high settings with zero lag..." Others report being able to max out games, etc.

[Solver]

What the hell, such a card for $140? I can get only a GF6600 with 256 megs for a comparable price.

[yin26]

Here's the link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...o.x=19&Go.y=30

Seems like an awesome card for the $. Solver, if they don't ship to you, you could PayPal me or something and I'd ship it to you.

EDIT: Ordered (even paid $2.99 for rush order). Solver, I see that they don't ship internationally, but if you had a credit card you can use to place the order, I'd send you my shipping information then get it to you. I don't know what the shipping costs would be for you, though, from New Haven, Connecticut.

[Quillan]

Not a bad deal. Personally, I would have recommended something else, but if you want to stay with ATI that's about as good as it will get right now, since you are stuck with AGP. You could either do that one, or the X800GTO. I think the X800 performs a little better since it's based on the high end chip, but it doesn't support SM3.0. There will probably be an AGP X1900 Pro later, but not at this time. With nVidia, you could do either a 6800 GS for about $220, or a 7800GS for about $320.

[ZargonX]

Ok, after trying a few things, only turning off anti-aliasing completely solved the "Oblivion Gate" bug for me. Kind of a shame, but at least those parts are playable now. Might have to check out that card Yin just ordered!