Oblivion out today

B

brandons1313

It Wandered In From the Wastes
I'm going to pick up a copy in a few hours if I can find one. If anyone has the game, let us know what you think about it.
 
What is this a "FIRST!" kind of post? This is basically a contentless topicstart that doesn't offer anything remotely interesting to say.
Thus: bad three-legged dog.

As for Oblivion, Saint Proverbius posted a 'review' on the Codex (Yes, you smilinghappydevguythingie, the codex), here's the full text:
Saint Proverbius said:
I changed my mind. The streaming video was actually worse than my low expectations. Like Sheek said, the animations are AWFUL. Everything from the combat animations to when people are talking are all just utterly pitiful. The lips didn't even sync up with the words, which is kind of something as leading edge as Oblivion is supposed to be probably should do considering even dated KotOR could do that.

The combat didn't look very interesting at all. It was the same old flailing around melee you kind of got used to in Morrowind. It's kind of funny how most developers figured out that melee works better in third person five years ago, but Bethesda can't quite figure it out. I did enjoy when the guy flipped to third person for a bit and then said it looked better in first. It really does, because the player models movements don't sync up with the movement along the ground - "skating".

As already commented on, it's funny to see the NPCs walking along and then trying to look at the player while still walking and then resuming course. It kind of looks like they're having a quickie seizure.

As for the radiant AI, there were some great moments. I really liked when the player was resting. After the player got up, everyone else in the room woke up at the exact same time, had the same animation for getting up and moving away from the bed all at the same time, and then stood there for a bit like they were lining up for inspection. It was like some kind of freaky syncronized morning activity or something.

When he was battling the dagon cult underground, it was pretty funny to see tricks like luring one enemy out of a room at a time still works. While the player managed to kill a few of them, most of them just ran back in the room when their health got too low. I don't know which is funnier, the fact they'd scream, "YOU CAN'T ESCAPE!" while running away in terror, or the fact when he entered the room they all clumped up waiting to be killed without even fighting back. Man, that radiant AI kicks ass!

It's also rather annoying that the player can pop his head over a ledge to look down and the monsters instantly know he's done that and start zapping with spells. The same thing goes for when the player steps around a corner or from behind a pillar off in the distance. Considering the whole point of first person is to have some degree of IMMERSHUN, it would be nice if they actually had some sort of more life like delay times in them noticing the player. If they know the player is there, which they'd have to know this to instantly attack when he pops in to line of sight, why not move to get the player or something?

I didn't notice hardly any life when he was running around the big, white city. I saw one NPC walk passed the player, but for the most part, it was a ghost town with the exception of a few guards. Where's the life like world they kept talking about? Maybe the player was just walking through town while everyone was doing syncronized laundry. Hell, even when the player stepped in to shops, the shopkeepers just stood there like statues occationally having the neck seizure to look at the player while the rest of their bodies remained complete paralysed.

As for the dialogue, I really liked the part where the player chose to say, "My motives are my own" or whatever, and the NPC responded with "Not on my watch!" and then something even more totally off from what the player chose to respond with. Great job there, Bethesda!
Click to expand...
 
In other words, the game is an even bigger piece of shit than we originally thought?

Great. Just great. It's good to know that Fallout license is in such good hands.
 
Sander said:
What is this a "FIRST!" kind of post? This is basically a contentless topicstart that doesn't offer anything remotely interesting to say.
Thus: bad three-legged dog.

As for Oblivion, Saint Proverbius posted a 'review' on the Codex (Yes, you smilinghappydevguythingie, the codex), here's the full text:
Saint Proverbius said:
I changed my mind. The streaming video was actually worse than my low expectations. Like Sheek said, the animations are AWFUL. Everything from the combat animations to when people are talking are all just utterly pitiful. The lips didn't even sync up with the words, which is kind of something as leading edge as Oblivion is supposed to be probably should do considering even dated KotOR could do that.

The combat didn't look very interesting at all. It was the same old flailing around melee you kind of got used to in Morrowind. It's kind of funny how most developers figured out that melee works better in third person five years ago, but Bethesda can't quite figure it out. I did enjoy when the guy flipped to third person for a bit and then said it looked better in first. It really does, because the player models movements don't sync up with the movement along the ground - "skating".

As already commented on, it's funny to see the NPCs walking along and then trying to look at the player while still walking and then resuming course. It kind of looks like they're having a quickie seizure.

As for the radiant AI, there were some great moments. I really liked when the player was resting. After the player got up, everyone else in the room woke up at the exact same time, had the same animation for getting up and moving away from the bed all at the same time, and then stood there for a bit like they were lining up for inspection. It was like some kind of freaky syncronized morning activity or something.

When he was battling the dagon cult underground, it was pretty funny to see tricks like luring one enemy out of a room at a time still works. While the player managed to kill a few of them, most of them just ran back in the room when their health got too low. I don't know which is funnier, the fact they'd scream, "YOU CAN'T ESCAPE!" while running away in terror, or the fact when he entered the room they all clumped up waiting to be killed without even fighting back. Man, that radiant AI kicks ass!

It's also rather annoying that the player can pop his head over a ledge to look down and the monsters instantly know he's done that and start zapping with spells. The same thing goes for when the player steps around a corner or from behind a pillar off in the distance. Considering the whole point of first person is to have some degree of IMMERSHUN, it would be nice if they actually had some sort of more life like delay times in them noticing the player. If they know the player is there, which they'd have to know this to instantly attack when he pops in to line of sight, why not move to get the player or something?

I didn't notice hardly any life when he was running around the big, white city. I saw one NPC walk passed the player, but for the most part, it was a ghost town with the exception of a few guards. Where's the life like world they kept talking about? Maybe the player was just walking through town while everyone was doing syncronized laundry. Hell, even when the player stepped in to shops, the shopkeepers just stood there like statues occationally having the neck seizure to look at the player while the rest of their bodies remained complete paralysed.

As for the dialogue, I really liked the part where the player chose to say, "My motives are my own" or whatever, and the NPC responded with "Not on my watch!" and then something even more totally off from what the player chose to respond with. Great job there, Bethesda!
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

LMAO!

This is exactly why I won't be buying Oblivion. I don't need to buy shit and test it out, to know it is going to be a pile of crap. The fact that its a Bethesda product, should be enough for most people to know that they shouldn't waste their money.

The whole gaming industry is and always will be based on hype man. I guarantee that every further installment of the Elder Scrolls series, will promise all sorts of cutting edge features and graphical enhancements. I also guarantee that all those cutting edge features will only half-ass be there, and the graphics, although they will be great, will be poorly implemented.

This "rpg" game will please the masses, but I seriously doubt any true roleplaying game fans will ever be satisfied or duped by a crap Elder Scrolls product.
 
Ratty said:
In other words, the game is an even bigger piece of shit than we originally thought?

Great. Just great. It's good to know that Fallout license is in such good hands.
Click to expand...
Well, it's a first impression by the Codex, which is always negative, and for good reason, since this in no way any RPG.
There have been some positive mentions, though, mainly regarding the quests, which are somewhat surprising and can still be completed after mucking up if you're creative, and the dialogue, which is actually better and gives the NPCs some personality.
 
Is there something wrong with the codex? I can't seem to be able to access it for the past 2 days.
 
Should I feather then tar myself for liking Fable and Ocarina of time? Or should the tar bucket only be brought forth when I play games made 2003+ labeled as RPGs? Will you never love me for who I really am?

Seriously though, have no idea how it will be. I guess it will be a Fable, only bigger and better looking, no real replay value (that crap about choosing path and making your own choices is getting old, we all know it's nothing to talk about) and good for some simple fun in a couple of weeks. 7/10, 8/10?
 
I suspect it is *worse* than Fable, because Fable at least had a good engine powering it.
 
Is there something wrong with the codex? I can't seem to be able to access it for the past 2 days.
Click to expand...
Me neither…
It must be the horde of Oblivion fans, trying to access the site and writing post about how kewl Oblivion is.
 
Yep, the Codex has been sporadic over the past days, although it seems to be a DNS problem since Firefox reports a 'failed to look up' instead of a 'failed to connect' error.
 
I really have no idea if this will be good or a flop.

I hear the most fantastic storys by the "fan boys" and some pretty hard criticism from "codex" people :)

I didn't like MW.

Lifeless world and boooooring fighting system. But both these issues should have been dealt with so i dent know.

snip by Sander
We don't want or need to know anything about that. Bad gangster.
 
Lesson for game developer: NEVER develope a game on PC and console platform at the same time. *cough* :roll:

Think I'm gonna sell mine when it arrives... :lol: Anyone?
 
problem with fable is that its far too easy for the auto-save to become corrupted. when that happens you basically lose that "charecter" and this usually happens when you try to exploit to get lots of xp or get lots of hp/mana expanding pots.
 
I've decided I'm going to go about playing the game as if it is an action game; maybe then, my buyer's remorse will diminish, because Oblivion is hardly an RPG.

Blar, I should have waited. Both things I most hated about morrowind were not fixed as said they were, the boring combat and the generally lifeless world are still highly intact. Next time Bethesda, instead of relying on some shoddy AI gimmick to make the NPCs interesting, do it yourselves, because the former did not work. And if "Mount & Blade" can have excellent medieval combat, so could Oblivion.

Gosh, I could go on and on about the many problems with this game, but I won't. Ahh, nothing like good marketing and hype to replace solid RPG design. Hey, I can't say it didn't have an effect on me, I bought the game afterall.

Next time though, I will not make the same mistake. Unless there is a completely different design philosophy behind Fallout 3, I won't even consider buying it. It's not just me, I'm certain many others will be doing the same thing. We're not impossible to please, just make the fucking thing like a Fallout game should be made.

Also Ratty, the game seems better than Fable, and so does the engine. From a technical standpoint, the game is sound and quite goodlooking, with an interface more conducive to a mouse and keyboard than the fable interface. Unfortunately, those don't make up for the unfavorable game design in general.

*reloads oblivion*

I'll be damned if I don't at least *try* to have some fun with it.
 
Mingus said:
I've decided I'm going to go about playing the game as if it is an action game; maybe then, my buyer's remorse will diminish, because Oblivion is hardly an RPG.

Blar, I should have waited. Both things I most hated about morrowind were not fixed as said they were, the boring combat and the generally lifeless world are still highly intact. Next time Bethesda, instead of relying on some shoddy AI gimmick to make the NPCs interesting, do it yourselves, because the former did not work. And if "Mount & Blade" can have excellent medieval combat, so could Oblivion.

Gosh, I could go on and on about the many problems with this game, but I won't. Ahh, nothing like good marketing and hype to replace solid RPG design. Hey, I can't say it didn't have an effect on me, I bought the game afterall.

Next time though, I will not make the same mistake. Unless there is a completely different design philosophy behind Fallout 3, I won't even consider buying it. It's not just me, I'm certain many others will be doing the same thing. We're not impossible to please, just make the fucking thing like a Fallout game should be made.

Also Ratty, the game seems better than Fable, and so does the engine. From a technical standpoint, the game is sound and quite goodlooking, with an interface more conducive to a mouse and keyboard than the fable interface. Unfortunately, those don't make up for the unfavorable game design in general.

*reloads oblivion*

I'll be damned if I don't at least *try* to have some fun with it.
Click to expand...

I've always known that no matter how big the hype, Bethesda just wouldn't fix the "lifeless" world and "boring" combat. Simply put. They don't know how.

Regardless, I wouldn't get so down just yet, Mingus. I'm sure with the extreme popularity of the game, will come a few high quality mods. Just might have to wait a bit.

Also... get drunk before/during hell even after you play, that should increase the fun factor 10fold! This tactic worked perfectly for me when I bought Deus Ex 2 and realized it was total garbage.
 
i wanna buy it to see how badly they fucked up an RPG even considering something like Fable with its low bar.

but i also dont want to get it for like 2-3 weeks to give time for the first patch and to get a 7800 gt or 7800 gx.

the 6200 turbocache really isnt fast enough to do oblivion any kind of justice i think.

plus if whats so good about oblivion is the graphics i dont want to prejudice myself by having such a low-ball card for a game like this.
 
From what I've been reading on the Codex, and laughing at the morons that come in there (anything is a role playing game cause you can pretend to play a role LOL!) there are some good and bad points to Oblivion. The good points being that the combat is better than Morrowind and that the NPCs now have some personality.

The bad parts seem to be that graphics are nowhere near the next-gen they promised, with pop-up, poor draw distance, ugly-as-hell faces and incredibly annoying load screens every few seconds when outside. Further the conversations can be somewhat nonsensical and only a few NPCs are really cinematic and unique.

Lastly, the interface is complete and utter console crap on the PC. Hotkeys are uncommon, with no I for inventory and M for map but F1 through Fwhatever for different parts of the UI, but this is documented *nowhere* in the manual. What's more, everything is done by non-intuitive icons, without tooltips and no text whatsoever in a non-scaleable window. Meaning that whether you're running on 800x600 or 8000000x600000, you're going to be seeing exactly five icons without text in the inventory windows, which means lots and lots and lots of scrolling.

Oh, and they fucked up the German localisation text-wise. The voice-acting done by Take Two seems to be superb, but Bethesda did the text, and they managed to do such a good job at it that they translate 'minor healing' with 'Feuerball'(fireball).
 
I bought it last night, unfortunately one of my hard drives started dying yesterday so I was up all night backing up things and re-installing windows instead of playing it. Fun! I'll post my first impressions later today.
 
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