Oblivion - including The Shivering Isles (1 Viewer)

[EricW]

i'm only level 12, but i think the majority of stuff you get in this game is not from getting paid/rewards, but rather in picking up stuff in caves. i never fast-travel from city to city the first time - i always run and go into every cave i come across. it's slow, yes, but you'll probably be going to them eventually, so you might as well get the items now and use them rather than later.
also, it seems the caves you go to in the quests usually give better rewards than the average cave you just happen to come across, which is a roll of the dice

 

[RAF]

Ryan,

Thanks for the information. Also, your in-depth comments on Oblivion are well thought out and appreciated. I'm not a big RPG fan so I'm not as into all the things that you pointed out for the long haul. I just found the entire Oblivion World to be fascinating from a standpoint of its open-endedness and the ability to play it in either first person or third person view. But for a hard core RPGer I can see where the flaws in the leveling and reward systems would get frustrating after a bit so I understand where you are coming from.

On the other hand, I'm glad, in some sort of weird way, that Oblivion is not perfect. Otherwise I would probably never tire of it and that would not be a good thing.

Steve,

Let me know if you are successful in finding a source for KQ5. I'd like to re-live it myself, from a nostalgia aspect. Incidently, I'm not suggesting or condoning the practice of obtaining KQ5 illegally as I respect the copyrights, etc. I'm just curious about the possibility of a source for a legitimate copy of this legacy title. Let me know what you find out. On that score, based on my "discovery" of Oblivion I was recently pointed to two other series, Deus Ex and Knights of the Old Republic as some titles that I might enjoy. I found the two Knights of the Republic titles easily and they had recently been reduced in price from ~$50 to ~$20 each which was a nice surprise. The two Deus Ex titles were $1.99 (commemorative original edition) and $4.99 respectively. Interestingly, I ended up paying much more for the shipping of Deus Ex than for the CD itself, but that's because I didn't see anything else from the particular vendor that I wanted at the moment to spread the S/H costs out a bit. Maybe I should have seen if they carried KQ5 as well.

All I can say is that Oblivion has taken up so much of my time that I still have Ghost Recon and Laura Croft for the 360 still sitting in the shrinkwrap!

 

[RAF]

Fellow Gamers,

This thread has introduced all sorts of gaming issues, some related to Oblivion and others related to "legacy" gaming software availability in general (like KQV). I've had some time to think about some of this and would like to share my thoughts for feedback.

First on the matter of getting an "old" title like Kings Quest V that has gone off the purchasing radar screen: Realize that we at the HTF can't, for legal and ethical reasons, promote the active acquisition of copyrighted materials (a position that I fully concur with) in situations like this one which cry out for a solution for Steve and others. If a title has gone "out of print" and is not made available for sale (other than through collectors who will give it an inflated price - the old "Supply & Demand" story) I am of the opinion that it should be placed in the public domain and people should be free to share it. In a perfect world the rights to a copyright would also include the obligation to see that it is made available through some means. The inexpensive download (especially for a 10 year old SW title!) seems very reasonable to me. After all, this is the 21st century when it can't be that difficult for the original publisher - or whomever owns the rights to a title -- to set up a website to sell downloads. No fancy packaging, no distribution and vendor issues - all very easy (and potentially profitable) to do with very little front money. I'm perfectly willing to pay a reasonable amount for a "legacy" title like this and I'm sure that others would do the same. This would nip piracy in the bud and looks like a "win-win" situation to me.

I'm also of the opinion that SIERRA is missing a golden opportunity to release a "complete" KQ edition that, say, provides a modern implementation of the genre (on platforms and PCs) and then includes all the earlier games on a separate CD/DVD for both historical and nostalgic reference. I was a fan of Roberta Williams from the early days (I was already in my 40's when the first titles appeared on the Tandy, the PC, et. al.) but I haven't kept up with SIERRA exploits in the past decade so I'm not sure they are in a position to bring this to market or even if the KQ principals are still at that company.

On a different matter, I've given a little more thought to Ryan G's excellent analysis of the subtle (or maybe not-so-subtle) flaws in the Oblivion leveling and attribute implementation. On closer analysis I see that when I play the game again I'm going to use the CUSTOMIZE option to create a character with the Major and Minor attributes I want, based on the way the game plays. Of course the Catch 22 here is that you have to understand the interconnections of the software in order to create a player that will benefit, and not be hindered, by the way everything unfolds. So "customizing" right out of the gate the first time around is a real shot (or stab in this gun-free Oblivion environment) in the dark. That way I think that you can avoid some of the things that have soured Ryan on the game play. I realize that part of the problem is the process by which some attributes level up automatically (like Athletic Skill) which is sort of out of the gamer's control. But in that regard Oblivion mimics life in that not everything is predictable.

I also have encountered the characters that you watch as they roam around doing nothing for days on end. (Example: The Vampire Hunters in Skingrad). The "Wait" command allows you to counteract this to some extent but it is, as you said, frustrating. Once again, just like life sometimes. If I hear, "Wait here, the Count (of Skingrad) will be with you shortly" one more time I'm going to pummel the Lizard-Lackey!



So there it is, some food for thought and comments, fueled by both the great game, Oblivion and Steve's quest for King's Quest V. It's always good to talk to gamers of all ages and backgrounds (I'm on the far right side of the bell curve on that one at 63 and counting!) You're never too young nor too old.

Game On!

 

[Ryan-G]

Two different topics...

Legacy Software

We live in a different world today, one which the oddest of programs has shown us a new age of distribution, Itunes.

Itunes has shown us that a program can be written to enable digital downloads of media in a reasonably secure format. This opens up grand new opportunities for the entire gaming industry. Imagine for a moment that a program was written along Itunes design that would allow the download of older material at a neglible cost of a dollar or two. Now extend that moment and imagine that it would work for PC, C64, Nes, Sega, Arcade Games, etc.

It is extremely possible to do today, home computers have advanced sufficiently to handle legacy systems, and users have shown that digital downloads at low prices are very agreeable to them. This also creates an opportunity for companies to generate revenue streams that are pure profit years after the release of those titles.

In fact, home brew gaming has generated products specifically targetted at legacy gaming, such as those products sold by happcontrols.com who sells parts that can be made into home arcade control panels, or atariage.com who sells an adaptor that allows Atari Joysticks to be used via Usb ports. The market exists and is sufficiently profitable to have many companies creating products to cater to it.

I myself have been considering this market for sometime, and have considered recruiting a team to show feasibility in the hope of creating a front-end system that would allow digital downloads of legacy games to take off. I can't imagine that many companies would turn down the opportunity if a secure method of distribution similiar to Itunes existed.

__________________________________________________ ______________

Oblivion

I strongly agree with Robert in that custom classes are the best way to go in Oblivion. Both from a Min-Max standpoint, and a general gameplay standpoint. The Leveling system is odd enough that it is generally best to insure that support skills are not Major skills, despite the loss of points. I strongly recommend not having Major skills that are not directly combat skills, and are not under the Player's control. The way the leveling system works, the impact is just too great, and it all but eliminates certain archtypical characters such as Thieves.

 

[RAF]

Excellent points on both issues, Ryan! Some food for thought, especially in regards to the legacy games and new distribution technologies. I wish you well in any attempt to create something new and exciting in this nascent area. Keep us here at HTF in the loop if anything develops. We'll certainly use the Video Gaming sections to promote this and provide a forum for discussion of the particulars. After all, with the conflux of video, gaming and theater it certainly belongs in a Forum dedicated to all aspects of "Home Theater."

Anyone else want to chime in here on these matters (or are you too busy gaming?)

 

[Keith_R]

Hello everyone. I'm looking for new games to get on my 360 and given it's good reviews, Oblivion is at the top of my list.

The problem is, I have never been a big fan of RPG's and have little experience with them. I've seen my friends play MMORPGs and it looks pretty fun but I've never felt compelled enough to pay a monthly fee for one. Oblivion has piqued my interest though and I'm interested in getting it since there is no monthly charge and there is a drought of good FPS (my favorite genre) on the 360 right now. I'm not sure if I should sink $60 for it though.

What do you guys think? giving the stuff I've discussed in this post would Oblivion be right for me?

Thanks!

 

[RAF]

As a long time gamer I never favored RPGs either but Oblivion also caught my eye when the reviewers stressed the fact that even FPS fans (I'm one, too) would be drawn to it because it can actually be configured like one with the choice of First Person or Third Person View. Though not technically considered a "shooting" game since there are no guns involved the wide variety of combat weapons as well as the many different spells you can cast (such as fireballs, etc.) make this definitely a FPS experience, should you choose to go that route.

Let me state that after playing Oblivion for many, many hours (and still not getting anywhere close to having covered all the options available in the game) it has become, without question, my favorite computer/console game of all time. Prior to this, HalfLife2 on the PC held that title for me. I even have both the PC and the XBOX 360 version of Oblivion and it has me looking forward to more RPG games on the XBOX360 in the future. I'm looking forward to Fable 2, for example.

 

[Kenneth]

I have been playing Oblivion and having a ball. I have been a die hard single player role playing game fan since the days of Wizardry, Might and Magic, and the original Bard's Tale. I have spent more time with Diablo II and Baldur's Gates I and II than I will admit in public . I love Oblivion so far. Right now I am only level 4 (a couple of points away from level 5). I am busy questing around Chorrol right now, to level, but will probably head down to Kvatch to continue the main quest this weekend. For those that haven't done the Hackdirt quest out of Chorrol I recommend it (Lovecraft fans should enjoy it more than others).

I definitely recommend the custom approach to characters rather than the templates. The leveling system is bad if you want to be a specialist. However, with all the guilds and side quests this game favors the generalist. I chose a combat centric character but my Major skills are Blade, Heavy Armor, Conjuration, Alteration, Illusion, Destruction, and Marksmanship. Right now I level mainly due to the Heavy armor skill (and slightly due to blade, since I use blunt to slow my leveling). However, once I max my strength and endurance (probably around level 9) I can expand my focus into magic and stealth. Having key skills as a minor skill doesn't hurt you too much, especially when it is a skill like armorer or alchemy which will go up constantly. I level slow due to this configuration but I am getting the full 15 points of attribute adjustments each time I level.

The advantage of doing this type of design with a focus on less used skills is that you can level your character without spending too much effort on which skills you are increasing. Once you increase the minor skills into the apprentice range there is no difference between them and a major skill, other than they will not increase as quickly (or force you to level if you use them too much). Right now my Fighter is a decent stealth character after finding a set of +6 stealth shoes. I can get the +6 backstab bonus frequently in dungeons which will drop many enemies with one hit.

I am looking forward to more playing time this weekend over the three day holiday.

Cheers,

Kenneth

 

[RAF]

Kenneth,

Thanks for the personal comments on your Oblivion experience. As an addicted player of this most impressive title I can fully relate to all that you have said.

For those of you gamers who are sitting by the sidelines wondering whether or not to "jump in" let me tell you that if you have gaming in your blood you will not be disappointed. The world of Oblivion continues to amaze me with all the side quests and the detail that the authors have placed in them. Kenneth already mentioned the Hackdirt Quest and the homage to H.P. Lovecraft. And that merely scratches the surface of the many little gems scattered throughout the countryside. There's a quest to rescue a painter from within his oil painting that had my grandkids wide eyed. And there is a quest to help the daughter of a Lord of a manor where what he says is so full of malaprops,etc. that it had me rolling on the floor in full ROTFLMAO style. And it goes on and on. I'm sure that there are dozens, if not hundreds of other such items that I have yet to encounter.

Yes, customizing a character based on what you learn the first couple of times through is strongly advised. And "saving" the game just before you emerge from the sewers (where they ask you for the last time whether you wish to change any of your attributes, et. al.) saves you the bother of starting from scratch each time. The leveling up of your skills opens up all sorts of other doors (as well as making your opponents more ferocious). Some quests require a certain level before you can proceed. And Level 10 is significant because at that level you can embark on a Daedric Quest that rewards you with a "skeleton key" which essentially is an unbreakable lock pick. Those who are playing Oblivion already know the advantage of not letting locks on chests and doors stop you!

I'm up to Level 18 on the XBOX360 version which is my "straight" version of the game and loving every moment of it. I've completed the "main" quest and have also completed all the Mage Guild and Fighter Guild main storylines. I'm currently in the Dark Brotherhood and the Thieves Guild and will shortly embark on the Arena quests. And I know that completing all these tasks will merely make me more formidable as I take on all the side quests in this game (as well as the new ones that I'm sure will be added from time to time by XBox Live. There are already two on the site.) I also have the PC version but I mostly use that to goof around a bit since you can activate a "God" mode which makes you invincible and capable of carrying unlimited items. The PC version has already spawned an amazing number of mods that add characters, items, additional quests, etc. that can literally may the game unending. I highly recommend both versions without reservation.

One final question for Kenneth. You mention that you are (were) a big Might and Magic fan. That jumped out at me because I remember when my son (in the 1990's I believe) used to spend endless hours in the various versions of that game. He had just graduated from college and was embarking on his career and I thought it a bit odd that one game could consume his time so much. I no longer need this explained to me.

As the years passed he weaned himself from M&M and began to raise a family. When he saw Oblivion his eyes widened and now, naturally, he's hooked! My question, Kenneth, is regarding the M&M franchise. I've heard that there is going to be a version of Might and Magic that will be coming out relatively soon (in game schedule terms) for the XBOX360 and/or the PC. Have you any information on this and, more importantly, is this Might and Magic linked to the original titles or just someone taking advantage of the name recognition. I'd love to be able to lay this title on my son if and when it appears.

Game On!

 

[Kenneth]

The upcoming game is Dark Messiah of Might and Magic and it is being released by Ubisoft who purchased the Might and Magic franchise when the original publisher went bankrupt. They are actually trying to resurrect the series. They just released a new version of the Heroes of Might and Magic series (the turn based strategy series). I picked up a copy the other day but haven't loaded it on my PC yet (that dang Oblivion keeps distracting me ). HoMM is one of the better turn based strategy series (second only to the Civilization series for me) and their new release is getting positive reviews. The DMoMM release (coming in the Fall) uses the Half Life 2 Valve engine. It is creating more of a First Person action series of the M&M series. If both releases are successful (and with the success of Oblivion) they may attempt another RPG in the M&M series, but I haven't heard anything concrete in that area ... yet

The open aspects of Oblivion are great. The closest I ever came to this kind of freedom previously was in the Baldur's Gate 2 game. It was also pretty open with tons of side quests (including some very difficult romance quests). It was third person and a much more hard core RPG though (built in the D&D Francise). It was a beautiful game with lots of painted backgrounds. Took a long time to finish though. As for Oblivion I will probably be working on this one for a while. I am very methodical in RPGs. I hate to miss anything. The character I am playing now (at level 5) is my third, since I started over a couple of times after I got a feel for the character generation system. I plan to play this one through since it seems to have a good mix of skills.

For those that enjoy the progress of technology, I first got into computer gaming back around '81 when one of my friend's got a TRS80 (knicknamed the Trash 80). We played a little text based dungeon game he had (got to load it with his cassette drive ). Later our family got a cutting edge Apple II+ (4 MHz core with 10 MB hard drive, I think the RAM was around 32 KB). I had a ball with Ultima I and Wizardry I (playing through many titles in both series) and seeing many of the famous series at their initial release (Might and Magic, Bard's Tale, etc). In college I played a little Nethack but didn't get to do much gaming. After college when I went to work for Intel I got back into gaming and got to experience the Civ series, HoMM, Diablo series, and the wonderful D&D adaptations from Black Isle and Bioware (Baldur's Gate I/II and Icewind Dale I/II). Although I always enjoy gaming, I haven't had a title I find as engrossing (and time consuming ) as Oblivion since Diablo 2 and Baldur's Gate 2.

Cheers,

Kenneth

 

[RAF]

Kenneth,

Aha! I knew there was something I liked about you! Another TRaSher!!

The TRS-80 was my first "serious" PC as well (although I trace my computer roots back to 1956 when I built a Heathkit analog computer while in Junior High School.) In the 60's and early 70's I played around with a lot of printed circuit modules (this was before IC's) and built a couple of home grown computers for use in instrumentation applications (I taught Chemistry at the time). In 1978 I had one of the first TRS-80 Model Is, then a Model III, IV etc. as well as the Model 100 portable, Then came Tandy machines and a CoCo (The TRS "Color Computer") which actually was one of the better processors out there but was never really used to its potential except by some real hard core enthusiasts. Along the way I was involved with Orch-80 (then Orch-90) which did some really fantastic PC music synthesis for its time. And the text-based game you played on the TRS-80 was probably the ZORK series, right? I remember (fondly, but more out of nostalgia than actual practicality) the days of tape-based storage. Heck, I even remember paper punch tape storage on terminals! A lot of us cut our byte-teeth on the TRS-80 and similar. I was involved in Micronet (the forerunner of CompuServe) back in 1980 where I first met Parker Clack, the co-owner of the HTF. We conversed at a blistering 110 and then 300 baud and when 1200 baud came out we thought we were in cyberheaven!

I'm glad to hear that UbiSoft is trying to revive the M&M franchise. I heard or read somewhere else that they have gotten some of the original people from M&M to help design the upcoming game(s) so I'm excited about that.

And you are absolutely correct - Oblivion draws you in like very few other games in recent memory. When you make comparisons to earlier games, every one of those is a classic so that says something quite special about the efforts of Bethesda Software.

:star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

 

[Ray_R]

I used to play Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind - Game of the Year Edition on an XBox alot. I absolutely loved the game and when I'm going to buy the PC DVD-ROM version of this, it feels only natural to use a high-button gamepad so as to recreate that feel of playing the XBox version.
Can't wait to buy it and play! Now when I actually do get it, I of course shall post more in this thread.

Make it Pretty Mod Patch

^To make the game look even better.

 

[RAF]

Ray,

Thanks for posting that link to the PC Tweak to make Oblivion look even sweeter. I've seen it and even experimented with it on my game PC and it does make a great game look even better, as you said.

Since you were a Morrowind fan, you will absolutely love Oblivion. I don't say this as a Morrowind user but a friend who was into Morrowind in a big way told me that Oblivion takes it to a whole new level in game play and graphics.

For my part, I'm still playing Oblivion mostly on the XBox 360 because of the convenience of sitting back and experiencing it on a 1080p 58" monitor. As I said before, both versions are great and have their own benefits. The PC version has a large number of mods and additional quests out there (that Gamespot link you provided is a good starting point for many of them). I predict that many, many more enhancements will be forthcoming as fans start to use the development kit to generate lots of great content. And XBox Live has already provided three additional "quests" that add some interesting twists to an already rich gaming experience on the Xbox 360. The other day they added a scenario whereby you get to resurrect an old Pirate Ship and get to put together a crew that provides you will bounty (1K gold) on a weekly basis without resorting to any of the "gold glitches, etc.). Very cleverly done. I'm sure that XBox Live will continue to add content, although probably not at the same rate as in the PC world.

In any event, c'mon in - the water's fine!

 

[Ray_R]

Just bought the game earlier today and now I'm installing it on my housemate's PC. He also wants to play too, just as long as he has a character which is significantly different from mine. I just know I'm going to be sucked into the game's immersive world like I was Morrowind. Albeit my only problem, although extremely minor, is going to get used to the keyboard after I've played the previous game on a console.
You're very welcome for the mod I found online. I figure that'll be the only one I'm going to download for the game so for because right now I guess I'd be more concerned about the game cosmetics then anything else at the particular moment. I think in the previous game I had a Khajiit (sp?) who was a light armour, unbelievably accurate archer, and bladesman. Damn, he could move around fast too. I of course named him Léon after one of my all time favourite films of which I own two different editions of. I even had the glass armour and was a master trap and locksmith. I've completely forgotton all the stats for him because I played the game on a former housemate's XBox.
I'm glad I finally caved in after wanting to buy the game for so long. I'll give progress reports.

 

[EricW]

hey guys. i'm stuck. does anyone remember how they closed the Chorol gate? it's the one with the main tower surround by like 6 tall towers and 2 short ones, each tower with a bridge connecting to the main tower, and a natural disaster name like tsunami, earthquake, etc.

i can't seem to get to the top of the main (center) tower

thanks

 

[Patrick_S]

First you have to pick any one of the four "corner" towers: Tsunami, Eruption, Tornado or Landslide. Ride the "corpse masher" elevator to the middle of the tower, then climb the ramp to the top and throw the switch. This opens the gate next to that tower. (You can, from the top of any of these towers, cross over to the Sigil Keep; however, you can't go anywhere inside the Keep except to one of the other four corner towers.)

Go back down, exit the tower and head through the now open gate. Enter one of the two side towers and ride the elevator to the middle of the tower. There's a door right at the top of the elevator to a bridge over to the Sigil Keep. Inside the Keep you'll find the doors to the Rending Halls and you're on your way.

 

[EricW]

thanks.

i think i was going that way, but when i went into the main tower from one of the 2 side towers, the only way to go was down and i was like wtf?

 

[Dome Vongvises]

I've had this game for two months, and I finally started playing it. Is that Patrick Stewart's voice as the Emperor?

 

[Patrick_S]

Yes that is Patrick Stewart.

Go to the IMDB and look at the credited cast. There are several individuals you will probably recognize.

 

[Richard Kim]

Lynda Carter (aka Wonder Woman) does several of the voices in the game.