Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Screens

[NewHampshireDem]

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/theelderscrollsivoblivion/screenindex.html

Well, it looks like Bethesda is continuing to add more and more colors to its design pallet, which ramped up from ESIII: Morrowind--though you probably never knew there were so many shades of brown-- and through its expansion packs--the addition of the colors blue and green were nice.

If you are an RPG fan haven't played Morrowind, you really must. It is, IMHO, the best RPG of all time.

[TroubleMan]

1. I can't wait for that one

Morrowind was incredible.

[Ravenseye]

2. No Release Date

Makes me wonder just how far off it is. At least not this year probbaly. Probably at best late next year.

I loved Morrowind. Looking at the screenshots makes me wish I worked there so I could be alphaing and betaing it. It just looks and sounds tremendous.

[NewHampshireDem]

4. We would have had the Fallout sequel in the interim ...

But, sadly it died with Interplay's death. However, maybe that means Oblivion will be sooner.

[Ravenseye]

9. Can you even imagine???

Imagine if they used the Morrowind engine, or something like it, to make a fallout game. Instead of the top down isometric, a fully immersive post-apocolyptic world.

Just imagine for a second playing either fallout game, then sort of zoom in and imagine the 3-D world around you. bleak. dead. A ruined village in the distance with some smoke coming from it. A mutated gecko hopping towards you. You hit the keyboard and switch weapons to bring up your chain gun...

[NewHampshireDem]

12. Frankly, I am surprised Bathesda soft hasn't done more with the engine

Or at least licensed it to anyother developer who would do something worthwhile with it. I haven't played Fallout, but I would have bought BethSoft's game. Any kind of sci-fi themed game with that engine could be super.

Then again, I understand that there is going to be a SystemShock 3, which could be nearly as good--but I'm sure it won't have the same expansiveness that the Morrowind engine can provide.

[Ravenseye]

14. Yeah...Expansiveness is key.

System Shock feels like more of a constrained story. You're not going to play a 'System Shock' game where you have to walk to the next village. That doesn't jive. Plus Morrowind is more of an RPG style interface whereas SS is RPG mixed with shooter twiching.

Fallout though (at least F1 and F2) took place in large swaths of area in post-apocalyptic western U.S. It'd be perfect to be put into 3-D.

Heck if i knew anything about modding I'd make a Fallout to Morrowind total conversion.

[Occulus]

24. My understanding of the Oblivion engine

is that they are using VALVe's Source engine- the one from Half-Life 2. It's the best engine out there right now; Newell and his team have officially supplanted Carmack and id.

Source support HDR rendering and I do believe my latest issue of PC Gamer also states that Oblivion will use the Havok physics engine, also used in H-L2.

I can't wait. This one's a must have.

They're innovating on this one, too- you can now retrieve your arrows after combat, and combat itself will no longer be so much stats-based, but more damage-based; the Source engine and the Havok physics allow for hit-based combat: stab an enemy in the stomach, and the damage will be as if you had stabbed him in the stomach, rather than based on your STR, DEX, etc scores.

They're also including full scripting for all NPCs, so you'll be able to hang out in a tavern and overhear clues, for example. I wonder how far they will take that....

I've already decided I'm getting this one.

[AZCat]

13. the Morrowind engine has been licensed to make a Fallout sequel

Press Release:Bethesda Softworks to Develop and Publish Fallout 3

July 12, 2004 (Rockville, MD) -- Bethesda Softworks® announced today that it will develop and publish Fallout® 3 -- a sequel to the highly popular Fallout® role-playing game franchise. Bethesda licensed the rights to the Fallout® franchise from Interplay Entertainment Corp. (OTC Bulletin Board: IPLY) in a deal that awards Bethesda exclusive worldwide rights to the Fallout® franchise on the PC, home consoles, handhelds, and other media, with the option to develop and publish additional sequels.

“We’re extremely excited about this opportunity and what it means both for Bethesda and for Fallout fans around the world," said Vlatko Andonov, president of Bethesda Softworks. “Fallout is one the great RPG franchises. Millions of Fallout games have been sold worldwide, and fans have been eagerly awaiting the release of a Fallout 3 title. Bethesda’s proven expertise in this genre, building on our experience and the tremendous success we have enjoyed with our cutting-edge Elder Scrolls® series, will enable us to create the next chapter of Fallout that is worthy of the franchise.

Originally released in 1997, Fallout places a player in the role of a Vault-dweller, who ventures from his secluded, underground survival Vault into a post-apocalyptic world of mutants, radiation, gangs and violence. The game has been widely hailed as one of the outstanding role-playing games and video games of all time with its unique gameplay, style, and setting.

Commenting on this development, Interplay Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Herve Caen said, “This is a good agreement for both companies and for gamers. Although several parties had a high level of interest in licensing Fallout, we are most impressed by Bethesda’s execution of role-playing titles. Bethesda is an ideal steward of the Fallout franchise.
</snip>

There's a little more at the link, but not much.

[Ravenseye]

15. maybe I missed it - did they license the engine?

it just says that Bethesda licensed it not that they're using the MOrrowind Engine. Or did Miss that somewhere?

[Ravenseye]

16. Nope

Answered my own question.

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/fallout3/news_6085620.html

Screenshots have surfaced. Top down isometric. I'll still buy it and play it, I just think it should be made into a 3-D game like Morrowind.

[Ravenseye]

17. Idiot, those are for the INTERPLAY version!

"Can we expect something similar to the work done on Morrowind, in terms of that style of game experience?"

Pete Hines: Again, it's early to say, but it wouldn't be a leap of faith to say that we plan to use technologies in development otherwise. You could make some fairly safe leaps of faith that it would be similar in style. We're not going to go away from what it is that we do best. We're not going to suddenly do a top-down isometric Baldur's Gate-style game, because that's not what we do well.

http://www.nma-fallout.com/content.php?page=fo3-faq

[AZCat]

18. You're correct - I had it backwards

Bethesda has licensed the Fallout franchise, rather than the Morrowind engine being licensed to be used for Fallout.

It looks like Bethesda is leaning towards using the Morrowind engine, but hasn't publicly made a decision.

From a about the press release (end of page 2):
GameSpy: Finally, will Fallout 3 be from a first- or third-person perspective like the Morrowind series, or isometric, like its predecessors?

Pete Hines: Too early to say, but I imagine it'll probably lean towards using technology that we're developing.
</snip>

[NewHampshireDem]

19. As far as I know, that project is dead

:(

I believe it died when Interplay died.

[Ravenseye]

23. No it's alive

I was confused too and thought it dead.

Apparently Interplay was building Fallout 3, and had screenshots and everything still using an Isometric perspective. Then they folded and it was dead.

THEN Bethesda licesnsed the Fallout name and everything about it for all platforms. There has been no announcement from them on what theyr'e doing with it, but from the interview I posted somewhere else in this thread they're working on it.

It sounds like they might be making the game right alongside Oblivion and use the same engine as it, but set in the Fallout world.

That would just rock.

[realisticphish]

3. Morrowind sucked my life away

for all of fall quarter last year...i would spend entire weekends playing. hmm... (looks towards xbox with longing)


:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

[toddzilla]

5. morrowind sucked..

i played for an hour or so and it had the worst interface..

maybe i should try it again, but man it seemed really, really lame.

[NewHampshireDem]

6. Xbox or PC?

I'm thinking Xbox, because the interface on the PC was pretty simple and straight-forward.

[toddzilla]

7. pc actually..

i thought the combat interface was really bad.

i either love or hate rpgs, i don't have much in between.

best rpg i've played has been wizardry 8

i only have a pc though

[NewHampshireDem]

8. I'm not sure what to say then

:shrug:

Perhaps your character wasn't strong enough to make combat enjoyable? Though I can see a point that when you have to fight either multiple enemies or that darn little slug-like things, hitting the target can take a bit of getting used to.

Well, to each his own. :) Oh, and BTW, if you didn't like Morrowind, then you should avoid Gothic, which is very similar in terms of combat controls--actually, it is a tad more complicated, as you have to combine different movements with the mouse to execute different moves.

Just for curiousity's sake, have you played Divine Divinity or Sacred? If so, what did you think. I've only played the demos and I'm waiting until I can pick either of them up in the bargain bin.

[toddzilla]

11. i've played divine divinity.. not sacred

divine divinity was pretty average, kind of like a poor version of diablo 2 without all the polish.

i don't consider diablo 2 an rpg though.

[Ravenseye]

10. The game took a while for me to get hooked.

I wasn't keen on the combat interface at first, but i grew to be able to deal with it.

I must have played the early game like 10 times (Seyda Neen and surrounding areas, only getting to Balmora a couple of times) before it 'caught' and I was hooked.

[Skinner]

20. I'm glad to hear someone else didn't get Morrowind.

I keep hearing everyone gush about how great it is, and it was RPG of the year and all that. I'm a big fan of RPGs, so it seemed like a no-brainer to me.

I played for about two hours and I'm like I don't get it. Everything was all monochrome brown. I felt like I was awkwardly flailing this pointy little dagger all over the place. Talking to other people seemed like a chore. It just seemed lame.

I keep hearing how great it is, so I've put it back into my Xbox on a couple occasions. But each time it takes me about five minutes before I'm reminded that I just couldn't get into it.

What is the problem here? Do I need to spend five hours before I start to get into it? Does it get better? Please help.

[Ravenseye]

21. It gets better, in my opinion.

I totally understand how you can not get into Morrowind right off the bat. I think one of the problems with it, at first, is that it's so large that you can very quickly be like 'uh so....now I just kill crabs with a dagger?' which isn't very fun.

All I can say is that I kept coming back to it, hearing it was great, and eventually it clicked. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but it did. When I had great items, discovered the best combination of race/class for my play style and that if you have magic resistance the boots of blinding speed (which are available pretty much immediately) you can move really fast and still see (otherwise you can move fast but you're 100% blind...that helped also.

Dunno though. Just cause you didn't like it doesn't mean there's a problem. It just might not be for you. There are plenty of games that other people love and gush about but I just don't like. It's not a crime.

[politicaholic]

22. Oh man, I spent a total of 187 hrs playing just the first main part...

I just got Tribunal and the other suppliment. Maybe I'll get those done by the time the new one comes out.

2006? I'd better get crackin'!