Oblivion : first impressions

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Didou

Posts: 4,190   +11
After the Morrowind - First impressions thread, it's time to do the same for Oblivion.

I went to the store on Saturday hoping to get my hands on the collector's edition of the game only to find out that all of them had been sold on the first day. In a way, it's a good thing for me for I would've had the choice between the French or Dutch versions of that edition. I generally prefer to play my games in English as it keeps the originals voice acting intact (if indeed there's voice acting). I decided to get the Dutch version of the game as only the manual (& the map?) is in Dutch, the game itself being in English. I quickly installed it after getting home, ran the diagnostic application which set everything on full, set the resolution to 1280x1024 & took off for the hills of Cyridill.

The game runs very well so far, be it indoors or outdoors. There's some nice bump mapping on the walls & such. The water effects are nice & even though the reflections weren't so complex in Morrowind, I somehow preferred it there. The water just seemed colder & more nervous (nervous water?), the water in Oblivion seems way too calm, it barely shakes when I walk in it. It's like syrup rather then water (;)). The sky once again loooks impressive & I found myself looking at it for 20 minutes (you can see the moon move, albeit slowly). The grass looks very nice & although I haven't tried hiding in it, I hope that's possible :)D).

The interface is very handy, nicely done & very snappy even though it has a lot of information shown at once. Even the inventory works fast, letting you browse through your equipment & it even works with the mouse-wheel (teh win!).

Just like the interface/hud, the combat system seems much improved. First of all you can manualy block with the right-mouse button & the fights feel more reactive. The hotkeys are also very useful to switch between distance & melee weapons. There are a few quirks here & there, such as when you hit a skull with your sword, it sounds as if you're striking iron or something. :rolleyes:

The compass might come in handy but since I've only went to the island across the lake from the dungeon exit, I haven't had the time to use it much.

I continued my character from Morrowind which was a Redguard scout born under the star of the Shadow. I'd like to post a screenshot but it seems the print screen button doesn't do much. I tried pasting in mspaint, but the clipboard was empty. The game didn't write any file either so I'm still looking on a solution for that.

I was glad to hear Jeremy Soule also worked on the soundtrack. They went with a more "Lord of the Rings" type of soundtrack this time, I just hope the Soule effect can still shine though.

I'll add more impressions as I play a bit more. :grinthumb
 
Finaly got Oblivion to take screenshots. I give to you Erbawan! (yes I was drunk at the time)



To take screenshots, go to My Documents -> My Games -> Oblivion -> Oblivion.ini & change :
  • bAllowScreenShot=0 -> 1
  • SScreenShotBaseName=ScreenShot -> whichever filename you want for the screenshots
Hitting print-screen from now on will create a bmp file in the Oblivion folder (the one where the game is installed, not the one where you modified the .ini file).
 
thanks Didou! I changed the oblivion.ini file to allow screen shots. I will try to post my character if I get around to it. I played Redguard in Morrowind, but I decided to go Imperial for Oblivion.

What do you guys have the graphics settings at? Should I enable HDR? What is HDR?
 
High Dynamic Range rendering is a method/algorithm that gives a more realistic lightning effect in games (although it doesn't exist only in games).

You can see some examples of it HERE. It's very taxing on the VGA card performance so if it lags too much, turn it off.
What do you guys have the graphics settings at?
The game set everything to full & I let it. It's been running fine so far. :)
 
I haveplayed this game nonstop.

Much like i played Morrowind. lol.

My overall impressions are very very good.

I have to say, i really liked the "Great House" scheme in Morrowind. It IMO felt more fun then the Guilds, but was also a nice alternative to the main quest. To stick with my Morrowind roots, i am a dark elf, and i will post pictures later.

I too think the combat system is far far improved, and the horses are a nice touch.

The enviorment-It does have a bit of a middle earth feel. Compared to varfendel, is seems alot nicer. I totaly agree with the water thing, and you put in very good terms didou. I could not of done a better job of describing it.

The AI system is cool, a bit clunky but cool nonetheless.

But i have had some problems with bugs in the game. I have been trying to shut down oblivion gates for the main quest, and the one outside bruma is whre i was stuck. I kept getting to the top of the tower and my game would crash. AFter a few tries it worked but was a pain nontheless.

And the sound is amazing!

OK well i gotta try the changing the .ini file.
 
She is beautiful in all her glory, reckoning she is not perfect, as not anything.


(I can go alot depper with the whole talking like them but I purfure not :rolleyes: )
 
A fantastic game.
Truely worthy of the title of Elder Scrolls.

As usual I am starting with my Imperial Stealth Marksman/swordsman. Next I will be a hand to hand combat/brawler style.

I only have 2 problems with the game.
1: 7/10 times when exiting the game it crashes.
2: When I try to join the Thieves guild, the Aragonian that is meant to be there aswell NEVER shows up; and I can't find him anywhere :(

Apart from that it's fab!

One question for you techies... In options/graphics I can't enable HDL... I have a Radeon X800 Pro 256. Is my card sufficiant? Or can I not enable it for another reason?
Thanks
 
I couldn't stand Elder Scrolls Morrowind. Good graphics and sound and all, but irritating game play. Mainly the fact that they give you a HUGE world, with everything far apart, then set a lameO out-of-breath deal so you can't run for very long. In other words, you gotta walk all over the map. Well I don't have 3 years to play.

So I'm debating giving this a try.

And I consider the X800 Pro to still be in the high-end, as AGP cards go that is.
 
There wer silt striders for that. ;)

But in Oblivion you can travel directly from the map or if you like manual travel, you can walk or *drum roll*...

use a horse!
 
huh?

hey you all, i just joined here, and i also have the same great passion for morrowind and oblivion as u guys.

but it's kinda odd...why the oblivion first impression suddenly stops here, at the very early stage? u guys gave a really long n good first impression for morrowind though... :confused:
 
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