upcoming sequel to morrowind, oblivion

[Big_John]

just showing a couple of pretty screenies from this upcoming rpg.
larger versions and more info can be found at:
http://www.elderscrolls.com/games/oblivion_overview.htm
i get the feeling that i'm going to need a new rig to play this one..

[Byzantine Prince]

Amazing. I was a big fan of Morrowind. I hope this game lives up to the expectations. Unfortunatly I can't play, it would take too much of my time. Maybe when i go to prison or something.

[Murmandamus]

Excessive pixel bloom makes the baby jesus cry. I bet it will look superb with it turned off though.

More screenies here:
http://games.tiscali.cz/clanek/screen.asp?id=7903&a=1

[Productivity]

What are those screenshots running? (ie. what is the hardware required to get that level of detrail).

[Togakure]

I really enjoy a good RPG, and the original Morrowind treated me to hours and hours of fun. These screenies look good, thanks for posting them, and for the linkie. I think the sequel is prolly the game I am looking forward to most at this point. My only regret is it's not likely to be available until early next year.

I played the original on an X-box. I found it to be good that I didn't have access to many cheats. Try as I might, when I know there's an easy way around a difficult scenario, if I can't beat it quickly and I can cheat, I often do because I want to move on in the story. On the X-Box I had to slug it out and get creative, which made for a much more entertaining game in the long run.

I can't wait ... !

[Byzantine Prince]

The great thing about Morrowind was that you could edit everything they way you like it. You could make a castle let's say that bears your name on it with gaurds and pictures of you. You could name yourself the king or the emperor and edit what every one in the game says and does. Add more bad guys add more weapons and kill every mofo I see. That's fun.

[Togakure]

Yeah I can see how that would extend the fun quite a bit. I would enjoy doing stuff like that. I'd hold off until playing the game through once or twice though. What I'll probably do is get the X-Box version first, enjoy the game as is, and then get a PC version later. My current PC won't run it so I'm pretty much stuck with X-Box until I can afford to get a new PC anyway.

[Big_John]

The great thing about Morrowind was that you could edit everything they way you like it. You could make a castle let's say that bears your name on it with gaurds and pictures of you. You could name yourself the king or the emperor and edit what every one in the game says and does. Add more bad guys add more weapons and kill every mofo I see. That's fun.

indeed. it was one of the most moddable games ever. there were some great mods for that game that made it replayable for a long time. moddable.. huh..

[hrvojej]

Wow.

In Morrowind I used to take strolls across the landscape just to enjoy the view, and maybe collect another interesting item for my museum. Let alone the time I spent playing it... I usually don't prioritize graphics, but this looks truly outstanding. I hope they make the gameplay every bit as enjoyable too. If they do manage to pull it off (and they were pretty much there in Morrowind already, so I guess they will), I know when I'm going to take my vacation next year.

[Spino]

Yeah I can see how that would extend the fun quite a bit. I would enjoy doing stuff like that. I'd hold off until playing the game through once or twice though. What I'll probably do is get the X-Box version first, enjoy the game as is, and then get a PC version later. My current PC won't run it so I'm pretty much stuck with X-Box until I can afford to get a new PC anyway.

X-Box version?!? You dreamer! Oblivion won't be released on the X-Box or any of the current consoles for that matter. It will however be released on all or most of the next generation consoles, with a definite release slated for the X-Box 2 (codename 'Xenon'). The Xenon's hardware and specs are pretty much set and damn impressive. Gamespy just did an article on it...

http://xbox.gamespy.com/xbox/microso...html?fromint=1

[Nelson]

I’m a huge Morrowind fan. The mods have been remarkable for both their quality and quantity.

Oblivion looks to be greater still. Hopefully magic will get improved so that is as powerful as a strong arm.

For me it will no doubt require a machine upgrade.

[lars573]

Yeah I can see how that would extend the fun quite a bit. I would enjoy doing stuff like that. I'd hold off until playing the game through once or twice though. What I'll probably do is get the X-Box version first, enjoy the game as is, and then get a PC version later. My current PC won't run it so I'm pretty much stuck with X-Box until I can afford to get a new PC anyway.

I have the xbox cheats some where I'll dig them up and post them for you. All they do is restore health, magic, and stamina. But they got me threw the full single player story from the original game and both x-packs (sweet sweet game of the year edition for the xbox and a strategy guide).

[Big_John]

Oblivion looks to be greater still. Hopefully magic will get improved so that is as powerful as a strong arm.

according to the website, the magic, stealth and combat systems are all getting completely overhauled. bethesda brought in a designer from the thief series to implement a new stealth engine.

[Togakure]

Point taken about the new gen X-Box.

Thanks Lars. Do you think that the Game-of-the-Year version adds a lot? I've only played the original, but I've played it til I'm blue in the face. Do you think the expansions are worth getting even though I've pretty much exhausted my interest in the original?

I'm an ancient D&D veteran and Dungeon Master and have been playing these kinds of games for about 30 years, so figuring out the Morrowind system and how to become superdude without cheating was pretty easy. I used enchanted items with Constant Effect powers a lot (I paid for the enchantments). With an 80% Constant Effect Chameleon active, you could basically go anywhere undetected, and still talk with folks (100% and you can't talk to people). A ring of Constant Effect Invisibility was handy early on too, as all you had to do was pop into your inventory and re-equip it to reactivate the invisibility if you opened a door or whatever. Constant Effect Levitation was really cool--I loved flyin' around invisible and just checking stuff out. Eventually I only used these superpowers/items in situations that were really hard, to make the game more challenging.

Heh, museum indeed. I'd usually take over Tel Naga in Sadrith Mora completely and turn it into a fabulous hangout. Had my audience room, lab, and most valudable treasure rooms up top (and turned the little room with the sleeping pad into my Skooma/moonsugar and liquor hang out, with candles and laterns galore). I spent a ridiculous amount of time just turning Tel Naga into the trickest pad. The Main Hall was filled with piles and piles of stuff, and lit up with hundreds of candles and laterns, etc. I had as much fun doing that as playing the game.

Anyway, I can't wait to see what they come up with. Hopefully the NPCs will interact better--approach you and initiate things, steal, interact with each other, etc. I think that was probably the weakest aspect of this incredibly good game. Having m8s to adventure with would be cool too (that silly steam robot just didn't cut it; I ended up killing it myself after about 5 minutes it was so annoying).

[Big_John]

I'm an ancient D&D veteran and Dungeon Master and have been playing these kinds of games for about 30 years, so figuring out the Morrowind system and how to become superdude without cheating was pretty easy.

oh man, remember the potion stacking with intelligence potions.. wow. a few hours of collecting and a moderate alchemy skill and you became a god pretty quickly.

Anyway, I can't wait to see what they come up with. Hopefully the NPCs will interact better--approach you and initiate things, steal, interact with each other, etc. I think that was probably the weakest aspect of this incredibly good game. Having m8s to adventure with would be cool too (that silly steam robot just didn't cut it; I ended up killing it myself after about 5 minutes it was so annoying).

lol. well, the new 'radiant ai' they keep talking aobut is supposed to make the in-game world much more organic. npcs are supposed to be able to do all kinds of stuff and interact in new ways and all that. in some interview i read, they talked about a problem they had with the new ai.. i don't have all the details right, but it went something like this..

one guard in some town went out and killed a dear b/c he was hungry. apparently he killed it too close to the town, and one guard that was close enough to know about it went after him. well, once they started fighting the other town guards started filing in one at a time to break things up. since they were fighting other tough guards, eventually there was like only one guard left alive. and with little law enforcement around, the thieves of the town started robbing the place blind. this all happened in game calculations that had noting to do with the player. the devs only reconstructed the events after the tester arrived in the town and found the shops had very little left for sale.

i'm pretty sure there will be no kind of mp though, which sucks.

[lars573]

Point taken about the new gen X-Box.

Thanks Lars. Do you think that the Game-of-the-Year version adds a lot? I've only played the original, but I've played it til I'm blue in the face. Do you think the expansions are worth getting even though I've pretty much exhausted my interest in the original?

I'm an ancient D&D veteran and Dungeon Master and have been playing these kinds of games for about 30 years, so figuring out the Morrowind system and how to become superdude without cheating was pretty easy. I used enchanted items with Constant Effect powers a lot (I paid for the enchantments). With an 80% Constant Effect Chameleon active, you could basically go anywhere undetected, and still talk with folks (100% and you can't talk to people). A ring of Constant Effect Invisibility was handy early on too, as all you had to do was pop into your inventory and re-equip it to reactivate the invisibility if you opened a door or whatever. Constant Effect Levitation was really cool--I loved flyin' around invisible and just checking stuff out. Eventually I only used these superpowers/items in situations that were really hard, to make the game more challenging.

Heh, museum indeed. I'd usually take over Tel Naga in Sadrith Mora completely and turn it into a fabulous hangout. Had my audience room, lab, and most valudable treasure rooms up top (and turned the little room with the sleeping pad into my Skooma/moonsugar and liquor hang out, with candles and laterns galore). I spent a ridiculous amount of time just turning Tel Naga into the trickest pad. The Main Hall was filled with piles and piles of stuff, and lit up with hundreds of candles and laterns, etc. I had as much fun doing that as playing the game.

Anyway, I can't wait to see what they come up with. Hopefully the NPCs will interact better--approach you and initiate things, steal, interact with each other, etc. I think that was probably the weakest aspect of this incredibly good game. Having m8s to adventure with would be cool too (that silly steam robot just didn't cut it; I ended up killing it myself after about 5 minutes it was so annoying).

I can say that getting the GOTY edition of Morrowind for xbox is worth it, as when it came out it was 30% less than a new game and now it will be uber cheap. All of your characters from original Morrowind can be converted to GOTY edition (so you don't have to start over). Tribunal , the first x-pack has an ok mian quest. I'm not going to give it away or anything but basically you kill a mad god. No what Tribunal really has is swag, boat loads of swag. There are craftsmen in Mournhold (Morrowinds capital and where 95% of the story takes place) that can make Ebony and Glass armour from raw ebony and glass (for money of course). Tribunal adds adamantium armour. You can't buy very many pieces and you have to have the rest crafted from raw adamantium, there also isn't enough raw adamantium to make a full suit. In Mournhold you can also buy pack animals (rats) to store stuff in, you can have a conga line of like 4 rats holding your loot following you around. When you beat Tribunals main story you get a niffty suit of royal guard armour and 2 flaming swords, well fire and shock but the shock one has blue flame. Bloodmoon the 2nd x-pack adds a much larger new area called Soulstiem. An island full of Nords that is about 25% the size of Vaarfindel. This adds many new Nordish armour and weapons, bear-hide and wolf-hide armour (which needs to crafted) and ice armour (again crafted). You can also find a severed leg to use as a club. Bloodmoons main thing though is werewolfs. A little better than half way threw the mian quest you get infected with lycanthropy (part of the story you can't avoid it). Then the quest splits into evil werewolfs missions if you don't cure yourself and good missions if you do. Also when you beat the main quest, good or bad, you get a magic ring that turns you into a werewolf for a limited time (8-12 hours IIRC). Being a werewolf is tre cool. You can jump 50 feet straight up, have strength, speed, and agility of like 125. Your hand to hand skill is buffed to like 150 (claw strikes). And when you put away your "weapons" you run on all fours and can run 2 times faster than anything else in the game.

Cheats, you in put the cheats by going to your stats screen and inputting the button combo highlight health/magic/stamina then hold A.

Health: black, white, black, black, black
Magica: black, white, white, black, white
Stamina: black, black, white, white, black

I too am much looking forward to oblivion, unfortunatly I will have to shell out for a Xenon (xbox 2) first.

[Togakure]

Wow souds like fun . There's a used game shop down the road--maybe they'll have a copy. I'll give a look. Thanks for all the great info.

What is"swag"?

125 isn't that high is it? My guys stats tended to be around there with just the enchanted Items I crafted. One thing I did was make many sets of clothes (exquisite pants, shirts and belts, which do not show under armor--well, mostly anyway) that provided Constant effect boosted stats (and skills, once I found all the Threads of the Webspinner). I'd just change my clothes depending on what stats I needed to boost.

My usual "ultimate" gear was an amulet, two rings, and a belt of Constant Effect 80% Chameleon, which I had enchanted for uber-bucks. What cannot detect you, cannot attack you--whether by magic or weapon, so I'd run around in normal black clothes (well, I'd enchant them with Night Eye Constant Effect so they looked shiny and cool) and basically do whatever I wanted. Didn't need any resists or arcane defenses cuz nothing could see me--even when I attacked. I made an ebony staff for Constant Effect flying that also regenerated 1 health per turn, which was very useful. Just couldn't snipe those HIGHLY annoying Cliffracers while airborne unless I switched to something else for levitation. Still, I ran around mostly and used levitation for getting over the impassable mountain areas, water, etc. Was more fun exploring that way in the long run. You find the damndest stuff when you get lost.

How I loved sniping Cliffracers at max range with my Constant Effect Bound Bow ... that screech of death they make is one of my favorite sounds in the game: "Twittely-tweee .... twittely-tweee .... CAAW-WAAAAAGH!" Hehe.

[Murmandamus]

Also wondered about that swag statement but from the definitions here I'm guessing he means loot.

[Productivity]

I’m a huge Morrowind fan. The mods have been remarkable for both their quality and quantity.

Oblivion looks to be greater still. Hopefully magic will get improved so that is as powerful as a strong arm.

For me it will no doubt require a machine upgrade.

Magic was only weak at low levels (and as far as I can tell, this was pretty unavoidable). At high levels magic beat the hell out of combat.

If you knew what you were doing, within about an hour of starting game you could get all of your atributes up to near 1000 with little trouble. Alchemy was so easy to exploit.

[lars573]

Wow souds like fun . There's a used game shop down the road--maybe they'll have a copy. I'll give a look. Thanks for all the great info.

What is"swag"?

125 isn't that high is it? My guys stats tended to be around there with just the enchanted Items I crafted. One thing I did was make many sets of clothes (exquisite pants, shirts and belts, which do not show under armor--well, mostly anyway) that provided Constant effect boosted stats (and skills, once I found all the Threads of the Webspinner). I'd just change my clothes depending on what stats I needed to boost.

My usual "ultimate" gear was an amulet, two rings, and a belt of Constant Effect 80% Chameleon, which I had enchanted for uber-bucks. What cannot detect you, cannot attack you--whether by magic or weapon, so I'd run around in normal black clothes (well, I'd enchant them with Night Eye Constant Effect so they looked shiny and cool) and basically do whatever I wanted. Didn't need any resists or arcane defenses cuz nothing could see me--even when I attacked. I made an ebony staff for Constant Effect flying that also regenerated 1 health per turn, which was very useful. Just couldn't snipe those HIGHLY annoying Cliffracers while airborne unless I switched to something else for levitation. Still, I ran around mostly and used levitation for getting over the impassable mountain areas, water, etc. Was more fun exploring that way in the long run. You find the damndest stuff when you get lost.

How I loved sniping Cliffracers at max range with my Constant Effect Bound Bow ... that screech of death they make is one of my favorite sounds in the game: "Twittely-tweee .... twittely-tweee .... CAAW-WAAAAAGH!" Hehe.

Swag, booty, loot, stuff you take from the sucker you just clubbed over the head for his shiny boots, all mean the same thing to me. Now as to the werewolf stats you have to remember they were designed to take on your character you were describing. So they have to be able to beat them. Yes I said beat, werewolfs are like the Canton guards from the city of Vivec on crack, speed, and steroids all at the same time. And at certain points in the Bloodmoon main quest you take on 2-4 of them at once. That was when I was using Nevar's sword (1 of the flaming ones I was talking about from Tribunal) as a rolled up newspaper. Also in RPG's I'm not really the magic using kind of guy, sure I'll use spells and magic items but I prefer melee combat. I'm the kind of player that walks into a dungeon armed to the teeth with combat buffs and heavy armour and a huge (flaming if possible) sword/axe/mace. Bludgeon everything that stands in my way to death, loot their corpses, burn the place down and leave extalling my victory. Yes cliffracers they are annoying but you just wait for them to get close enough and load up your attack and get them a good sweet one and they die.

[Nelson]

Magic was only weak at low levels (and as far as I can tell, this was pretty unavoidable). At high levels magic beat the hell out of combat.

Strange because that’s not how I remember it at all.

As strength increases, so does damage from melee weapons. Any melee weapon. As fighters grow stronger so too does the damage they cause. The destruction spells are fixed damage. Increasing willpower only enhances the chance you have to cast a spell in the first place. So even if your magic user has maxed out willpower a fireball is no more powerful than it ever was. It takes a powerful mage far longer to kill enemies with magic than a powerful fighter takes. Enemies that a great warrior character can fell with three or four blows require a much longer time for a mage to dispatch. And when the mage is through his mana is depleted requiring rest. The warriors stamina comes back all by itself. Morrowind is heavily skewed toward fighters.

Magic has other neat properties besides destruction but combat is most important for doing the quests. I have found it impossible to build a strong enough magic user to battle several enemies at once and kill them quickly despite the area effects of some spells. My fighters can clear the same room full of bad guys with ease.

[Proletariat]

You all are making this game sound really appetizing. On a scale for salacious female clothing, 1-5, what would you give this game? 1 (Neverwinter Nights: Some, but easily avoided) or a 5 (Everquest: All over the place)?

I usually don't mind playing games that have prurient dress for the females, but I get a little tired of it when it gets over the top.

[Big_John]

haven't yet caught onto to your question proletariat. but if oblivion is anything like morrowind, you;ll be able to dress yourself however you want. generally, female npcs dressed quite conservatively in morrowind (long dresses, long sleeves, etc). kinda depended on their occupation.. the female guards, for instance, wore lots of armor, go figure. however, if you happened upon a female slave or dancer, she tended to show some skin. there were nudity mods for the game too, as i'm sure there will be for oblivion. there were even 'sex' mods for the courtesans.. uh, so i've heard..

did i get caught up in your wording and miss the real question?

[Proletariat]

did i get caught up in your wording and miss the real question?

Ah, yes. Sorry for my rambling. Been studying for the last four hours straight and I think my mind is melting. I was basically asking if I will be forced to roleplay the typical bikini chain mail type character or if it was a bit more diverse. I suppose I coulda just went to some of the reviews at gamespot, but thanks for the answer john.

[Togakure]

Regarding character appearance, you can buy or loot shirts, pants, shoes, skirts, robes, gloves and belts. They range from common to expensive, extravagant to exquisite. There are a wide variety of colors and styles (but all the exquisite ones are the same, dammit, and they have the most powerful enchantment possibilities). Robes cover up everything except shoes and gloves, including armor. Armor covers up shirt, pants, and belt, and usually has components that replace gloves and shoes (gauntlets or bracers, and boots). One silly thing--if you wear a skirt in will appear over the armor, which sucked because I would have liked to have the extra enchant points available but hated looking so silly walking around in armor and a skirt.

I got tired of wearing the same ol' armor all the time, even though some of the sets look pretty cool. I wanted to be able to wear whatever clothing I liked and still be effective, so that's why I enchanted the 80% Constant Effect Chameleon items I mentioned earlier. That effect alone is such an excellent defense that you could run around naked and still kick butt.

Speaking of which, running around (practically) naked can be hilarious--you can find out who the prudes are (a guard said "eww, put on some clothes, you're NAKED" ... musta been one of the conservatives from the back room), and who the fruits are--one of the Breton storekeepers said "oh my, what a REFRESHING sight!" or something like that. Had me crackin' up.

I think the funniest line was when I was playing a Wood Elf, had my Personality points up high, and was wearing some nice clothes. The male Wood Elf thief in the Balmora Thieve's Guild kept saying "I think you're a thief because you've stolen my heart ... " every time I passed by. After a while it got really annoying so I had to kill him.

I haven't played either of the games that you mentioned Proletariat, but I think Morrowind is definitely one of the better RPGs to come out in a very long time. I'd have rated it a 5 when it was new, but now prolly a 4 or 3+. I've only played the original though, so the expansion sounds like fun.

[lars573]

You all are making this game sound really appetizing. On a scale for salacious female clothing, 1-5, what would you give this game? 1 (Neverwinter Nights: Some, but easily avoided) or a 5 (Everquest: All over the place)?

I usually don't mind playing games that have prurient dress for the females, but I get a little tired of it when it gets over the top.

I'd have to say 1, clothing/armour is unisex. An iron cuirass looks the same whether a female wood elf or a male orc character is wearing it. Same for an extravaent shirt it would look identical on a make or female character. Unless you play the PC version which has an editor with it. Where you can make revealing cloths and add them to the game. But not just cloths you can make armour, weapons, monsters, entire new cities anything.

[Nelson]

Female armor is easily added via plug-ins (PC version of course). Indeed, anything you can imagine can be a plug-in. The ease with which plug-ins can be managed is probably the greatest Morrowind breakthrough of all. You move the files into a folder after which a check box appears next to that plug-in name in the data files manager. You turn the mods on or off, launch and bingo they’re in. Couldn’t be simpler.

I would never play the vanilla game again. There are too many very professional mods that enhance the game. People are still regularly building plug-ins! The Morrowind Summit database brims with thousands of mods. Many are qualitatively indistinguishable from Bethesda’s own work. It is no exaggeration to say that there is no finer monument to fan support than this site:

http://www.rpgplanet.com/morrowind/modcontrols/mods.asp

[Big_John]

Many are qualitatively indistinguishable from Bethesda’s own work.

which is a another way of saying that bethesda did a superlative job at designing a moddable game. in fact, wasn't the construction set essentially what morrowind was built with? i can't help it, i'm a huge fan of highly moddable games.

here's a list of just some of the mods and addons i was concurrently using when i last played morrowind (it's been a while).

Morrowind Comes Alive.esm
Seasons.esm
Havish.esm
Morrowind Advanced.esm
Beryl's_Head_Replacer_v1.0.esm
WeatheredSigns.esp
Bloodmoon_East Empire Essential Npcs.esp
Better Bodies.esp
Haunted Tombs v1.05.esp
The Undead.esp
Tombs Expanded.esp
Tombs Expanded - The Undead Addon.esp
Myth and Murder ver 2.0.esp
NPC Schedules (locks & schedules)
Vampire Realism - Tribunal.esp
Vivec_Expansion_v1.31.esp
Advanced Herbalism - TR & BM.esp
AtmosphericSoundEffects-3.0-Tribunal.esp
Seyda Neen Docks and Haldershore Tribunal_Bloodmoon V1.1.esp
Necessities of Morrowind 2.02.esp
The Lighting Mod (ambient, external etc.)
Vibrant Morrowind

and there were like 100 more at least.

[Productivity]

Strange because that’s not how I remember it at all.

As strength increases, so does damage from melee weapons. Any melee weapon. As fighters grow stronger so too does the damage they cause. The destruction spells are fixed damage. Increasing willpower only enhances the chance you have to cast a spell in the first place. So even if your magic user has maxed out willpower a fireball is no more powerful than it ever was. It takes a powerful mage far longer to kill enemies with magic than a powerful fighter takes. Enemies that a great warrior character can fell with three or four blows require a much longer time for a mage to dispatch. And when the mage is through his mana is depleted requiring rest. The warriors stamina comes back all by itself. Morrowind is heavily skewed toward fighters.

Magic has other neat properties besides destruction but combat is most important for doing the quests. I have found it impossible to build a strong enough magic user to battle several enemies at once and kill them quickly despite the area effects of some spells. My fighters can clear the same room full of bad guys with ease.

Absorb health 100-100 for 10 seconds on 10 feet. 100% chance to cast. Nothing can do anything against it. Even if they can hit you, you are regening at such a rate that you are healed in less than a second.

I'm not sure you are using magic in the most effective way to be honest. Destruction is the low level damage dealer, mysticism replaces it very quickly.

Plus a mage can beat round a warrior anyday with one skill. Alchemy. Intelligence potion spam and you can have your stats at 1000+ very quickly, and no matter how good a warrior is, he isn't going to stand up to a 1000 strength blow.

[Somebody Else]

Absorb health 100-100 for 10 seconds on 10 feet. 100% chance to cast. Nothing can do anything against it. Even if they can hit you, you are regening at such a rate that you are healed in less than a second.

I'm not sure you are using magic in the most effective way to be honest. Destruction is the low level damage dealer, mysticism replaces it very quickly.

Plus a mage can beat round a warrior anyday with one skill. Alchemy. Intelligence potion spam and you can have your stats at 1000+ very quickly, and no matter how good a warrior is, he isn't going to stand up to a 1000 strength blow.

Absorb health, I made a staff like that once, it was nasty.

Alchemy stacking is just plain cheeky.

The true way of the Neravarine is to beat people to death with fists... Or use the Fork of Horriliption! Without mercy!

I did notice that playing with the difficulty slider had a significant effect on enemy strength - on easy, a joke. Normal, a breeze. Hard - watch out for them werewolves!