Oblivion Previewed at GameSpot

[Morrolan]

GameSpot (www.gamespot.com) has posted a preview (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/theelderscrollsivoblivion/preview_6128768.html?tag=boxcar_all_preview_image) of TES: Oblivion. It contains a fair bit of interesting info.

GS: At what stage is the team at in development and what's left to do? What kind of hardware should PC owners look at to run the PC version? Can we expect both versions to ship simultaneously, or do you see a staggered launch, similar to that of Morrowind?

TH: We're in alpha, so the gameworld is built, we're polishing it up, balancing, optimizing the game for speed and other new graphical features. In terms of system requirements, can't say yet. But if you want to turn everything on, expect to buy the best PC available when the game comes out. It will certainly look perfect on every 360, so I'd probably go for that if you're not sure what kind of performance your PC will deliver. Regarding launch dates, we hope to make them available at the same time.

Other interesting tidbits include the use of procedural faces to make each character look unique, and the mention that Oblivion will contain even more 'books' than Morrowind (400+ in all)to allow players to read up on Oblivion's backstory.

[Heretic Machine]

I really, really hope my PC is good enough to run this game decently... I have no illussions about running it cranked up, but with my 128mb Radeon 9700 I hope to get moderatly good performance. I live for the mods in Morrowind, so buying it for 360 just doesn't cut it for me.

[president_fred]

I am upgrading ram, buying a second 6800 sli card, and getting 2 new hardrives for this baby when it hits shelves. Hopefully then I should be able to run it decently after all I already upgraded about 3 months ago but I am prepared to upgrade again (only a slight upgrade not a total revamp) for a new elder scrolls

[MehMeh]

I just hope that the graphics settings which are somewhat on level with Morrowind, don't run as badly as Morrowind did (though I admit that could be due to my own ineptitude in choosing the right settings and such).

[Reanimated]

Nice. This is easily my most anticipated title for 360. I'd get it for PC, but I really can't stomach the thought of 100+ hours of sitting in front of my computer after I've spent 8 hours a day doing the same at work. Blech. Plus I'll be picking up a that 50 inch Samsung DLP HTDV next month, so... there's that.

[Kelegacy]

I really, really hope my PC is good enough to run this game decently... I have no illussions about running it cranked up, but with my 128mb Radeon 9700 I hope to get moderatly good performance. I live for the mods in Morrowind, so buying it for 360 just doesn't cut it for me.

I've resigned myself to a dreary PC-fate. I just cant afford to upgrade anymore, because graphics cards are the same price as a console...at launch. So i might just try to play Oblivion on Xbox 360 someday. It saddens me, because I dont think I'd enjoy using the controller and the experience may be muddled, but what's a man to do?

Certain games are starting to show my card's age now...and unless i can find an electronics store that I can readily steal from, upgrading would be a painful process.

[vladthedog]

my current specs will allow me to play oblivion nicely (hopefully... amd64 3400 w/ a 6800 ultra) but i may hafta agree with you on that kelegacy. i've put way too much money into my pc... and i used to balk at owning at 3 previous gen systems :) heh...

[Borys]

Oooooooooohhh... this will be like the RPG I always dreamed about - Ultima X.

[eatme]

I've resigned myself to a dreary PC-fate. I just cant afford to upgrade anymore, because graphics cards are the same price as a console...at launch.

Seriously, what the fuck happened? I used to upgrade my video card all the friggin time. You could get something more or less top of the line, not long after release, for $200 bucks.

Now, you look at these latest nVidia cards, and they've just started coming DOWN near $300. It's out of control.

[Chiggs]

Seriously, what the fuck happened? I used to upgrade my video card all the friggin time. You could get something more or less top of the line, not long after release, for $200 bucks.

Now, you look at these latest nVidia cards, and they've just started coming DOWN near $300. It's out of control.


This is why I'm leaving pc gaming. Well, that and carpal tunnel.

[vladthedog]

ya know Chiggs? i've been noticing my mousing arm has been gettin a bit funny lately... i think... no.. i know it's all my twitchy mouse movements :-(... i guess its back to sore thumbs.. heh :)

[Taran Wanderer]

This is why I'm leaving pc gaming. Well, that and carpal tunnel.

I feel your pain. Well, actually, I have tendonitis.

Anyway, I'm pretty excited about Oblivion on the 360. I gotta save up for a nice TV too. The holidays are looking good!

Oooooooooohhh... this will be like the RPG I always dreamed about - Ultima X.

I would've loved to have seen an Ultima X by Richard Garriot. Ultima IX was such a disgrace in its original release. Actually, the first quest was amazing because it was relatively bug free, and you could just see the love and care that went into the game. Sadly, the game quickly went down hill. I remember they actually sent out a replacement CD to customers because the game was simply broken. Ah well.

[Morrolan]

One thing about connectivity between PCs and the 360, plus that marketplace bullshit, is that we may see some user-created content making its way to the consoles, now.

[Shodan2020]

This game will be the impetus for me to get a top of the line graphics card. I can't wait for it to come out! :)

[president_fred]

One thing about connectivity between PCs and the 360, plus that marketplace bullshit, is that we may see some user-created content making its way to the consoles, now.
Except MS did promise something very similiar with Xbox, it was one of the few promises they didn't even come close to providing. I won't hold my breath for the same kind of free user content available on consoles any time soon simply because of the medium and the ability of console manufacturers to control their services like live, I could be wrong but until then I am prepared to pay for the premium of PC gaming.

[Kelegacy]

I feel your pain. Well, actually, I have tendonitis.

I would've loved to have seen an Ultima X by Richard Garriot. Ultima IX was such a disgrace in its original release. Actually, the first quest was amazing because it was relatively bug free, and you could just see the love and care that went into the game. Sadly, the game quickly went down hill. I remember they actually sent out a replacement CD to customers because the game was simply broken. Ah well.

Is it still mostly unplayable? Are there patches that solve most of the innate problems/bugs? I have it but havent tried it out past the very beginning. The controls were horrendous so i quickly lost interest. But it FELT like an Ultima game, so i really want to play it. The world was beautiful and interactive, too.

[Kelegacy]

Except MS did promise something very similiar with Xbox, it was one of the few promises they didn't even come close to providing. I won't hold my breath for the same kind of free user content available on consoles any time soon, I could be wrong but until then I am prepared to pay the premium of PC gaming.

I took advantage of the Morrowind mods and had a blast with them. Nothing that affected gameplay or allowed for an easier time, but just things that toyed with the environment. If these mods were available for Oblivion on the consoles, I'm guessing I would have to pay a shit-ton of cash for that downloadable content. That's me being pessimistic, but I'm afraid that in the future mods might start to cost money, even simple things. If that's the case, I'll be playing the original game without any added fluff. The great thing about the PC community is the amount of stuff you can add to your game for free, but in the console world it is practically non-existent. But with the consoles finally catching up with PC-quality programming, this opens the doors for all sorts of things. On the PC the Halo 2 map pack never would have sold for 20 bucks, mostly because user-created maps would have been out there in the dozens or hundreds...who would pay 20 bucks for 9 official maps w/out a singleplayer expansion when you can get a shitload more for free?

Hopefully downloadable content doesn't dry up or stop being free anytime soon. It's one of the great things I love about playing PC games. The community is incredible. Without the free mods, some of the games I've played in the past just wouldnt have been as great. Hopefully this never changes, and the consoles adopt user-created/free content for the future.

[mister_slim]

Except MS did promise something very similiar with Xbox, it was one of the few promises they didn't even come close to providing. I won't hold my breath for the same kind of free user content available on consoles any time soon simply because of the medium and the ability of console manufacturers to control their services like live, I could be wrong but until then I am prepared to pay for the premium of PC gaming.
Why isn't there a $5 Doom 3 flashlight available? Maybe the 360 will come with a coin slot.


And Kelegacy, I know that's not a real town.

[Deadend]

Why isn't there a $5 Doom 3 flashlight available? Maybe the 360 will come with a coin slot.


And Kelegacy, I know that's not a real town.

Coin slots are soo 1990s.

360 will have a part on it where you can slide your credit card. It will also have a hole where you can pour in (female) virgins blood to pay for things.

[Mason]

Eh, a "pay for mod content" style system wouldn't really make sense. It'd require really flawless file-signing technologies, and in the past it's only been a short amount of time before someone breaks those. I imagine that MS will be happy to host some amount of mod content just to make XBL a valuable service, since Oblivion is one of the most anticipated Xbox 360 games and as of right now it doesn't use XBL at all.

And of course on the PC end of things you either have free mods or nothing. And it isn't in Bethesda's interest to have nothing.

[Mason]

But regarding the main topic, this isn't really a preview, is it? It is yet another interview without much content, aside from the usual vague assurances. I have high hopes for TES4, but I personally expect some broken promises and shattered expectations. If development is going great, developers usually aren't so unwilling to go into detail about some of their game mechanics and features, and they are always very evasive about Oblivion's combat system and AI (both of which were done horribly in Morrowind).

[Taran Wanderer]

Is it still mostly unplayable? Are there patches that solve most of the innate problems/bugs? I have it but havent tried it out past the very beginning. The controls were horrendous so i quickly lost interest. But it FELT like an Ultima game, so i really want to play it. The world was beautiful and interactive, too.

I played the game shortly after it came out (and after the first major patch). It still was quite buggy, but at least it was possible to finish the game (you couldn't get past this force field in the pre-patched version). I never really followed up on the game after I finished it.

I just did a search and came up with this site:
http://reconstruction.voyd.net/
They have a link to the last official patch (1.18f), and also a link to a "fan" patch (1.19f).

Good luck!

[MrMeatshake]

This is why I'm leaving pc gaming. Well, that and carpal tunnel.

yep, i think there's a lot of PC gamers who've had enough of the price u have to pay in terms of hardware, set-up time and RSI. though the xbox original controller was much worse for the wrists, the S ones without rumble on are just about ok, and much better than carrying on with that keyboard and mouse you've used all day for work...

i used to look down on the console band, but when i finally realised that FPS on consoles could actually be done well (right about when i first played halo multiplayer) there wasn't really anything tying me to the PC for games apart from RTS. DoW is the only reason i've glad i've got a decently specced PC still.