Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Preview

by Maarten Goldstein Dec 02, 2005 9:41am CST tags: Bethesda, Elder Scrolls 4
Many gamers were saddened when Bethesda announced that The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion would not make its late 2005 release, robbing the Xbox 360 of one of its most anticipated launch titles. Today we have a preview of the game for you, as David takes you back to Tamriel while talking with Bethesda's Pete Hines about all the features you should get excited about.
Various character attributes are available to coincide with the skills available: strength, intelligence, willpower, agility, speed, personality, luck, and endurance. Each attribute will govern three skills, though it's important to note that luck does not govern any, but has an affect on them all. The more a skill governed by a particular attribute is used, the larger the modifier will be when it comes time to level up. "If you're playing a thief-type character," Hines states as an example, "who uses stealth and picks locks a lot and you improve those skills a number of times, then when you level up, you can assign one point to your Agility and actually have it go up by four, or five, or whatever the modifier might be for that attribute." This is put into practice for any skill, so if you happen to be using skills that aren't a part of your regular repertoire, you'll still receive a substantial modifier for that attribute when it's time to level up. If you're partial to switching back and forth between multiple styles of play, you can alter which attributes will receive the largest bonus.
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  • #103
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    By: qarl666 x
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    Something horribly lacking in Oblivion:
    I initially was very excited about the release of Oblivion, but now that I've learned that the one improvement to MW I wanted most of all is out, my enthusiasm as all but dropped to zero.

    The body, hair, and clothes we now know won't move any better than Morrowind. The Better Bodies mod bodies for MW were terrific, but due to the game engine limitations, moved like Barbie dolls (hard plastic.) And it now appears it'll be the same for Oblivion. So much for next-gen. Just for reference, here's how clothing, bodies, and hair should move in a modern game:

    http://qarl.rpgmods.com/doa4battle60_103105_wmvlowwide.wmv

    Compare that to how they move in MW. Now realize that they will be that still and lifeless in Oblivion as well. :(

    According to THIS INTERVIEW:
    http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/2005/11/09/elder_scrolls_4_int/1.html

    Gavin Carter says there won't be ANY cloth physics (let alone physics for bodies and hair.)

    BT: Speaking of physics, the forests look amazing. And it has been rumored that the trees even sway with wind, which got me thinking. Wind is something that is very difficult...it's hard to think of all the subtle interactions it creates. If there's wind that is swaying trees, etc, will there be leaves blowing free? Will it blow your cape, if your character wears one, or their hair? Or change an arrow's course of flight, since you spent so much time in the effort of making ranged fighting more realistic?

    GC: The forests and grass do animate differently in response to changing weather conditions. There are also ambient effects to increase your sense of immersion like leaves falling from trees, butterflies flying around, and birds chattering in the trees above you. No cloth physics unfortunately. We found they are a huge sink for processing time and we'd rather spend it in places that really make a difference to the gameplay like AI. Arrows will shoot through the air using physics; arcing based on force and gravity. Wind won't blow them off course however. I think that would really decrease the fun of archery, and you'd start wanting to clutter the UI with things like wind indicators.

    The really stupid thing is that this sounds like they have no idea what they're talking about. I've talked to others about this and they say the inclusion of support for 3DS Max's "Flex Modifier" take barely any CPU hit at all, doesn't take much time or effort to implement, and even if Bethesda doesn't want to apply the flex modifier to all their clothing, bodies, and hair, it would've been nice if they could have at least supported it with the game engine so modders could take advantage of it -because if the game engine doesn't support it, no amount of modding can do anything about it.

    So, without the game engine support of the Flex Modifier:

    When you gallop by on a horse as fast as she'll go, will your hair be flowing back in the breeze? No. It'll be pasted to your head like a helmet.

    When a female character jumps up into the air and lands back on the ground her bosoms will remain stiff as board.

    No nice, flowing dresses like this:
    http://raspberryberet.setglobal.net/img/whitepalacecat-1387_640x480.jpg
    will be possible (as it is not possible in MW) because the sleeves would remain stiff and without movement. They'd end up looking stiff like cardboard.

    Will your cloak or skirt flow around you with effects like gravity and momentum when you're moving quickly? No. They be just as they are in MW.

    The more I think about what could have been, the sadder I become. :(
    Dec 16, 2005 6:37pm CST
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