Oblivion - including The Shivering Isles (1 Viewer)

[Steve Y]

Heard great things about this one. Then I saw it in action. Wow! Amazing graphics, and what looks to be a lot of juicy single-player depth. I'd be afraid to sink my teeth into this one... I'd hardly get any sleep. This is just the sort of game the XBox 360 needs to attract the non-"military wargame" crowd.

 

[Dave Sabo]

Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder ...

I think Q 5 was the first graphical adventure that really convinced me that it just might be ok to put down the pen & paper once in a while and hole up with a computer for an RPG fix. What a top notch game that was.

Put me on the list of Kings Quest series fans that are loving Oblivion. And if you're a fan of some of the older stuff, check out the link above. It's a site called Abandonia, a great resource for all the oldies but goodies.

My new hardware arrived yesterday, and I'm taking my time with a clean install. Already one night without Oblivion and I may be seeing signs of the DT's!

 

[Shaughan]

High-res Mystery house was my first adventure. The Wizard and the Princess followed that. I was hooked.

Oblivion is the first game to suck me in like the old adventure games in many years.

 

[paul_v]

I too am floored with Oblivian. The details are extraordinary. This is the king of adventure games.

 

[ShelbyB]

You'll like it. If you are looking to get a game, this is a good one to get. I have enjoyed it quite a bit for as little as I have played it.

 

[EricW]

i finally got this last night after hearing so much talk on this thread only a few hours into it though. i wouldn't say the graphics blew me away (that honour goes to Ghost Recon AW) but they're good. in terms of gameplay, it's not so much like a single player version of a MMORPG, but rather like Jade Empire or Star Wars KOTOR but much, much bigger and open-ended.

 

[RAF]

I finally got the PC version of Oblivion yesterday so I can compare it with the 360 version. Both versions are excellent and each has its strong points.

To me the graphics on the PC look a little better (when cranked up to maximum resolution on a high end PC) and I like some of the controls a bit better (specifically some of the shortcuts you can take with point and click). But some of the other PC controls are a bit kludgy to me (like Removing stuff from inventory requiring a SHIFT + keystroke instead of the single button on the 360.) However, I like the single numerical keystrokes to add items instantly on the PC, so its a wash.

I haven't yet fed native 1080p from my PC to my 1080p TV monitor (HP MD5880n) and since there are family obligations this holiday weekend I probably won't get to this until next week. But I'm loving the ability to have Oblivion on the XBOX 360 and also having Oblivion on my high end laptop for "on the go."

It's not my intention to give a blow-by-blow comparison review of all the similarities and differences between the two versions since that would cut into my game time.



Suffice it to say, you get the true Oblivion experience with either version. In summary - the 360 version is more convenient as a finished product and the PC version has the ability to add lots of mods and be more open-ended and malleable. (XBOX Live might add some of these features to the 360 version later on). And, of course, you get those marvelous tool kits with the PC version for the creative ones out there.

Two thumbs up for both. I guess that would be...

 

[Steven Simon]

Hey RAF,

I just started Oblivion.... Got out of that dark Dungeon... So how do I use a sword that I found?? Or a Torch??

Also , I would love to download King's Quest V... Where could I get that??

 

[RAF]

Steve,

You go into your inventory (Tab key and then move around the sub menus until you find your equipment) and then click on the item you want to equip yourself with. That's for the PC version. For the XBOX 360 version you get to the inventory via the "B" (red) button and then move around with the triggers and the joysticks until you finds what you want. Then you select the item with the "A" (green) button.

At the start of the game the first few "quests" are, like many games, training missions where you learn how all this is done. And, of course, you can always bring up the menu and go to the OPTIONS screens and look at the CONTROLS to see what's what.

I'm playing both versions (PC and XBOX 360) of Oblivion and loving both. After a few minutes it's so intuitive that I don't even think of the controls.

You can also go to a lot of different sites (I usually go to Gamespot.com) to get their strategy guides where they discuss controls and a lot of other stuff. Here's a link to the guide.

Which version are you playing? How do you like the graphics? They are astounding on my high-end PC and, of course on my XBOX 360 with HD output scaled up to 1080p on my HP MD5880n.

Gotta go. Time to close another Oblivion gate!

Oops. I almost forgot to answer the King's Quest V question. Someone posted a link a while back (I think) but I can't find it. I, too, would be interested in finding KQV once more (I looked through my old CDs and could only find KQVII.)

Maybe a member out there can chime in with a source??

Thanks.

 

[EricW]

things i didn't know until 30hrs into the game :

-using the d-pad to switch items (like toggling see-in-the-dark helmet's and normal helmets, torches)
-using the left bumper button to pickup/drop stuff (kinda like half-life)

 

[Phil Florian]

I just got this and it was my entire reason for getting the 360 (cheaper than upgrading my computer...and I love Live a lot). Man, I am only about 5 hours in and it is awesome. The scope of it is great. I am playing on a regular ol' TV and it still looks fantastic. I showed some friends and they were blown away, too. I think the control scheme reallyworks, too. The combat feels more like combat than it did in Morrowind.

 

[RAF]

Without a doubt you could make a very good case for buying an XBOX360 just for Oblivion alone. It's that good. The more I play it the more I appreciate how vast and detailed it is. You could probably go on forever. I have both the 360 and the PC versions and I love them both (playing completely different characters in each). The PC version is portable for me (without lugging a 360 around) and the 360 gives me the HD big screen, true surround sound experience. And I've discovered that XBox Live already has a supplementary "quest" out there for 150 "Gates Gold" pieces and I'm sure it won't be the last additional content available. This makes the 360 version a bit like the PC version with all the add-ons. Obviously, that's where the PC version shines since you are only limited by your imagination and time with the various toolkits out there. I'm hoping that someone will take the development kit to create a "Morrowind Gate" in the East to open up that off-limits area to the beauty of the Oblivion engine. Now that would be impressive!

One technical question for those of you playing the 360 version. Are you finding that load times increase as your world becomes more complicated (more sites found, bigger inventory, more gold, more quests, etc. etc.?) I think I've noticed longer loading times between sections over the past few days. I'm wondering if clearing out some of the unneeded SAVED games might help or is this not related to the loading times.

And, finally...

What happened to Steve Simon?? Are you out there Steve, or have you been drawn into Oblivion?

I can see it now:

The Quest For the Missing Moderator

Check in with D'arte-qua in Anvil. I love it!

 

[EricW]

right now i'm at level 12 i think, i have a question for those who are like level 40+ - do you get to those levels by going through ~all~ the guilds? i would think that the way you create your character predisposes you to go to certain ones of course, but if you have a warrior, do you eventually take him to the mages guild etc?

 

[James T]

Yup. I have three saved games file(autosave and two backups). I've had three from the start and it's not just the loading times that are increasing, but just walking around some cities causes the game to chug a bit. It also crashes a bit more now. I went through 15 levels without the game crashing once. And now that I'm in the high-teens, it's crashed a handful of times, and ironically enough, not once was it during the loading screen.

And yes, I know about the cache clearing tip, but that did not help.

 

[RAF]

Well, I'm not that high in level yet (Closing in on Level 9 at the moment) but it does appear that joining all the guilds is important to help you level up due to the increased opportunities for items, quests, resting spots, better disposition, etc. I'm using a Dark Elf character with Mage properties so I naturally gravitated to the Mage Guilds first but now I've joined the Fighters Guild and will shortly join as many other guilds as possible. In other words, while your choice of starting character and characteristics is important it doesn't seem to limit joining up in multiple guild categories. And doing as many different things as possible helps the level up process (concentrating on your Major Attributes, of course.) Remember, the higher up your level goes, the stronger the opponents become. (This seems logical, of course.)

 

[RAF]

That's something I hope is addressed in some future upgrades via XBOX Live (since the PC patches route isn't available on the 360). I think I've noticed one or two upgrades already - although I wasn't sure whether XBOX Live was upgrading the 360 or the Oblivion Game itself.

And I also notice an occasional crash no that I'm getting a little more bogged down. Had none for the first few weeks and now I've gotten a couple.

James, could you recap the cache cleaning tip here? Not that it will help, but I've got a lot more saved games (I'm lazy. They should have a "sloth" attribute ). Thanks in advance.

Also, have you downloaded the new Wizard's Tower "quest" from XBOX live for Oblivion? (150 Golden Gates') Very nice add-on (as if there wasn't enough stuff in Oblivion already!

 

[James T]

The cache clearing is simple. Just hold the button "A" as you boot up the game. When the "Bethseda" screen appears, you can let it go as you just finished clearing the cache.

I have not downloaded a single thing...yet. I'm making my way through the main quest (FINALLY), but it's starting to get repetetive with the....you'll figure it out.

The patch is coming out soon. I remember the devs talking about the 360 getting equal time with patches as the PC counter part. It should be out fairly soon as the PC beta patch is out now.

 

[RAF]

James T,

Thanks for the cache clearing information. I'll do that tomorrow first thing.

I was also going through the "main" quest at first but then I got drawn away by the side quests that were building up and sometimes overlapping with the main one. I may never return to the main quest! (Just kidding, of course). I closed the "Great Gate" and did a couple of other items. I assume that the "repetitive" thing is the closing of gates, right? Now I'm about to enter "Paradise" but I'm embroiled in the Mage Guild (Warlock level) and the beginnings of the Fighter's Guild (Journeyman level and counting). I've also slayed a good/bad guy so the Dark Brotherhood has come calling to offer me membership as well. Then, of course, there are the other guilds and their quests to consider.

I've been all over the place so far and am just about at Level 10 where, I understand, there is a "Level 10 required" Shrine Quest that gets me an unbreakable lockpin so that picking locks becomes a beautiful thing. I insisted on learning no more than that from a friend so that this is really a semi-spoiler.

If you notice the time of this message you'll see that I'm hooked. I just shut it down for the night. If I wasn't retired I'd be in serious trouble - and loving it!

 

[Ryan-G]

There's places to find it, but KQV was done by Sierra who's a member of the ESA so it's not easy to find. It's the Gaming Industries version of the RIAA/MPAA.

If I really wanted it though, I might start searching through news. Alternatively, I might want to consider that KQV was also released on the Nes and the implications that has with PC's today. That's about as specific as I'll get because I don't want to risk getting banned.

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Oblivion

I bought this game, and played it for many hours. I found it's open endedness refreshing, and oft times it's quest system outright inspired. Some of it's quests are the best I've seen since Baldur's Gate 2.

That said, I hit some pretty major drawbacks that stopped me from playing fairly quickly.

First, it's leveling system and scaling. This is hands down the worst implemenation of leveling I've ever seen. When you create a character you get X "Major skills" that increase faster than the others and get a point bonus. These Major skills determine when you level, for every 10 points you gain amongst all of the Major skills you gain a level. But attribute bonuses are determined by the number of points in skills derived from that attribute you gathered between the levels divided by 2. So if you gain 10 points in Blade and level, you can get a +5 bonus to Strength.

Which is fine, except when support skills come into play. Alchemy, Acrobatics, and Armor skills are the most glaring. Alchemy levels when you make potions, leveling your character. The other two level automatically outside of your control. If these are major skills for you, they either go largely unused or they make up the lion's share of your levels.

What makes this bad is the fact that creatures scale to your level. All creatures are determined by your level, not preset encounters. So if you level in Non-combat skills you rapidly find yourself unable to fight. Thieves and Mages are hit the hardest, because the non-combat skills they need to be that class often leave them unable to progress due to the Level Scaling. That Alchemy skill could easily be leaving you unable to fight because you can't do sufficient damage.

Worse, the whole system is easily and tediously exploited. Case-in-point, my Battlemage. Major skills are Blade, Alchemy, Destruction, Mystecism, Alteration, and Conjuration. But hand-to-hand also derives from strength. So I tediously kill things with H2H until I gain 6 points in it, gain 4 points from Blade towards my level, and *always* get a +5 to strength instead of the +2 my Blade skill would have given me.

Another fatal flaw is the quests. While they are very well written, their rewards are often bad. A couple hundred gold, or a ring, or a weapon with so few charges it runs out in 5 hits. It's "Ho hum" as it's rare you'll find a decent weapon in a shop, you can only wear 2 rings, and it's a pain to keep a weapon charged.

Often too a quest will involve insane amounts of time running around and talking to people, or even worse, just standing around. The game is plagued with "Follow this person and see what they do" quests, which amounts to you sitting there staring at the screen waiting for *something* to happen for 15-30 minutes. One memorable quest(for bad reasons) that a Paranoid gives out has you following no less than 3 people who do *absolutely nothing* but wander around. It's like an hour or more of nothing at all.

The game starts off well enough, but as I played further, I just couldn't keep myself interested.

 

[Steven Simon]

Hey Guys,

I have been so busy lately... I will make time to play this weekend... i am still just out of the first level from the Dungeon....

RAF,

I was trying to find KQ5 2 years back... Somehow, somewhere, I have to find that old gem of a game.... that was one of the greatest Video Game Experiences I ever had!!!