Larian Studios Forums General Chat RPG Chat Need a new game...

Well, I was planning on getting it for Xbox. guess thats bad.

Add me to the 'level scaling sucks' list. Hate it with a vengeance. I've never seen a game with it in that I actually liked. As others have said, it takes away all sense of accomplishment.

As for mods, never had much success with them

It's worth persisting in this case: they can transform Oblivion from something that's okay into something that's a tremendous experience. That's not to say you won't like it as is - in spite of the very vocal derision you'll invariably hear from some, most found it was okay, but I would strongly suggest investigating its modding potential. It does have a learning curve but it's worth the effort, and many of the folks in the modding community are very helpful (I'd avoid the official forums, but places like TES Alliance will generally bend over backwards to help).

I'd also extend the "get the PC version" to anything published by Bethesda: New Vegas for example is so riddled with bugs that many quests are impossible to complete without resorting to its command interface to unstick them, but I guess that's beyond the scope of this discussion.

So is it unplayable on xbox or something? I really prefer xbox because my computer is not that advanced. I just have a regular windows XP.

Oblivion is certainly playable on the Xbox, I think it's just better on the PC; but I won't push that one any further. It's a good game as it stands, only you can really decide whether that translates into "okay" or "great"!

Fallout New Vegas is most likely almost unplayable on the Xbox, however: it's probably the most bug-ridden game I've encountered, particularly in regard to poorly written and tested quest bugs: most area easily enough fixed using the command interface, which I found I was having to access almost constantly when I played it. So that one I would avoid getting for any platform other than the PC.

I am hearing from a friend who has it on Xbox that installing the game to the Xbox hard drive helps with the loading times when traveling. true?

anyways, I will probably go Xbox. Only games I really ever played on PC are RTS. Plus I doubt my computer will meet the requirements to make the graphics as good as or better than Xbox. I was just browsing through mods today and saw a bunch of mods for new races that piqued my interest.

Don't know for certain, but if the PC version is anything to go by, anything you can do to speed up loading times is probably a good thing. I imagine that it'll load from the hard drive a lot faster than the DVD.

As for travelling, in general I found the game "played" better if I wandered around on foot rather than fast-travelling (i.e. hopping straight to another point on the map). Not sure if that's relevant to what you were getting at, but thought I'd say it anyway.

It is worth saying that Oblivion doesn't run as smoothly as Ego Draconis in spite of also using the Gamebryo engine so don't expect to be able to completely banish stuttering and pausing.


It's unfortunate that Oblivion's hardware requirements are so high; it can still strain even current high-end PCs (well, if you add high-res textures and other highly-detailed areas like Bananasplit's Better Cities, which might be considered to be moving the goalposts!) but even without any extras, it's still extremely difficult to banish stuttering completely.

yeah, it sounds like I better do xbox. I can just imagine all the blue-screens this computer would have. In fact, this would probably happen

I definitely recommend checking out Two Worlds II and Venetica. Heck, any game in my signature is worth trying.

Two Worlds II is the best recommendation for anyone who enjoyed Divinity II. Both games don't take themselves too seriously which is refreshing when so many other RPGs try too hard to be dark and gritty.

Well, I got Oblivion and installed it on my Xbox hard drive. Loading times when running through the open world are completely gone.

Graphics are also amazing. glad I went with Xbox.

another thing, this game is gigantic. I am pretty sure I am going to disappear from the face of the earth for the next week or so

Yes, I've come across this phenomenon as well.

It is called "short-time memory" or - as I call it cynically - even "video-games induced alzheimer". Others actually call it (I have read it before !) "digital alzheimer".

It' kind of a vast decrease of both patience and of endurance.

Action games teach the players to rather lern to use their short time memory. No careful in-depth planning for over several days or so, but simply mindless hackking and slashing through also mindless crowds ... The only thing tht REAÖÖY matters is what is dropped and that n enemy dies - hopefull - as fast as possible in order to get to the dropped items as fast as possible.

In a way, it's nothing but a teaching lesson on how to be fast, and to com to the desired results as fast as possible.

And if the victim just disagrees with the robber, then the rober just rams his or her knife into the victim' body ... Lack of patience and of endurance ... Everything has to be quick and fast - and the results better come at once !


If we put this on a larger scale, and imgine that THIS generation of players once grow up and get into higher job ranks - then good night. High-tier employees will most likely adopt what they have learned into their bussiness ... And that's this short-term managing habit. Everything's got to be done in the shortest posible time. A forest ranger - someone who actually has to think in terms of HUNDREDS of years !!! - would be the direct opposite of that.


If these action players get to rule the world ... then Good Night ...

I think emerging from the dungeon into Oblivion's outside world has to be one of my top gaming moments ever. The grandeur and overall impact of its huge open world had a really lasting effect.

I'm just glad I hadn't figured out that I could swim at that point since my first thoughts on seeing Vilverin across the water were "I wonder if there's people there? I wonder if they'll be my friend?" Instead I wandered up to the Imperial City, had a guard call me "scum" and the rest is history.

What was your race? I went with Argonian.
Also, what kind of player were you, I am sort of a warrior/slash stealth. I have been stealing everything I could get my blue, scaly hands on

I tended to re-use the same character (yay for a lack of imagination!) who's a Breton "jack of all trades and master of none" type. Started off largely as a melee fighter lacking any real panache but progressed to bows and magic as a means of keeping a safe distance; I think if I play through again I'd like to whittle down my reliance on swords, maces and armour a little.

Personalitywise, mostly a paladin type (even though the sketch in my avatar is based on that character: I guess there's nothing to say that paladins must be able to hold their drink...), which means I haven't done the Thieves Guild or Dark Brotherhood questlines, though the latter is reckoned to be the best written of the guilds.

Your argonian sounds fun. The Thieves Guild sounds right up your street! And being able to breathe underwater makes life rather easier, too...

Yeah, already joined the guild. Something that annoys me though, when human (or breton, bosmer etc) enemies first chased me, I went into the water and found that they followed me, so I swam around for about 2 minutes and found they could breathe underwater too

That's rather annoying; I'd have thought they shouldn't be able to and have had enough experience with characters drowning when doing my own modding and finding them materialising in the wrong place. Maybe that's why they added that ability to them, although it still takes NPCs who don't have the water breathing ability a while to drown, so it could just be that.

Anyway, most enemies eventually give up chasing you if you run long enough. The only snag with doing that is that by then you've often encountered somebody else who fancies parting you from your coinpurse and your intestines.

Can't wait till skyrim comes out.

You finished Oblivion already, then?