I don't want to go back and forth on the matter, but I used to dabble in Morrowind modding. The stat files Morrowind used did have two or three versions of the same monster to use depending on the PC level that capped out at PC level 20 or so.
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What are your memories of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion?
- Thread starter MrOogieBoogie
- Start date
I don't want to go back and forth on the matter, but I used to dabble in Morrowind modding. The stat files Morrowind used did have two or three versions of the same monster to use depending on the PC level that capped out at PC level 20 or so.
texhnolyze
Banned
It was my first experience with PC modding. I still remember my first installed mod back in the day.
IdreamofHIME
Member
Drooling at that infamous Gameinformer cover.
Watching GameSpots's 24hr stream and being hyped as fuck.
It being the 1st 360 game I bought.
2017.
Never actually played it.
Watching GameSpots's 24hr stream and being hyped as fuck.
It being the 1st 360 game I bought.
2017.
Never actually played it.
That story is pretty awesome.
That reminds me of Bethesda telling stories of their AI task system pre-release solving problems outside the box. One story I remember is a towns-person AI who needed a rake to farm killing another NPC to steal his rake. IIRC Bethesda toned the AI down quite a bit to make the NPC population function without killing themselves/others, but that's cool the AI potential was still in there.
Screaming Meat
Unconfirmed Member
Ah, didn't know that. Could've been cool if they worked out the kinks.
It wasn't until much later that I discovered the King of Miscarand business was a known glitch. Didn't make a difference, mind.
I am basically you, OP. Oblivion was my first open world RPG, and I was stunned at first by the fact that I was Let loose in the world after the tutorial bit. Had no idea what I should do, so I wandelen around and did some sightseeing. Great memories, and it's still my favourite game of all time.
Had so much fun with that quest-line, especially (do I need spoiler tas for such an old game?)
the quest where you get to kill people in the house looking for a hidden Treasure.
Blue Ninja
Member
Wandering away from the sewer exit, reaching an old ruined fort and getting killed by bandits.
I love this game, must've put thousands of hours into it.
I love this game, must've put thousands of hours into it.
Love stories like this.
I had something in a similar vein happen to me. My memory is fuzzy on the details, but there's a quest in the Imperial City where you have to investigate corruption within the city guard. If all plays out as planned, you'll send the guilty captain away to prison and the quest seems to conclude.
......except something like 14 in-game days later, after this guy and his quest are long forgotten, this bitter asshole will break out of prison, wearing nothing but his peasant trousers and a raggedly shirt, and hunt you down across Cyrodiil, wherever you may be. I just happened to be on the road east of Chorral, hacking at goblins and otherwise enjoying the morning stroll, when I could see far off in the distance a strange looking man charging full speed my way. When we finally closed the distance enough for me to make him out, I realized this was no run of the mill bandit, but a loony-toon wielding a knife with blood-lust in his eyes. I turned tail and ran, him following me all the while, back to Chorral where he met his end with help from some of his former city guard friends.
After he bit the dust, I walked over to his corpse and sure enough, it was the guard I had put away. I remember marveling at the whole thing; that at the very moment I was out for a walk, somewhere else in this world was an angry disgraced man planning and executing his prison escape to exact revenge on the person who put him away. It had the effect of feeling as though there really were other stories going on in this game, ones that I wasn't even privy too, and I just thought that was the coolest, most immersive thing ever.
Whodunit is the best quest in the series. I had two characters at the same point and replayed it over and over to see everyone's reactions / thoughts / trust with every other characters who were alive at the time.
There's kind of bug with the quest though as one of the characters attacks Vampires on sight and it kick starts the killing a little early. (It's why I had two characters)
Characters had different prejudiced thoughts and trusts on you based on your race too, especially the Breton women in green being racist to dark elfs. I really wanna replay that quest again now.
The Dark Brotherhood was easily the most memorable parts of the game and had some fantastic quests.
There's kind of bug with the quest though as one of the characters attacks Vampires on sight and it kick starts the killing a little early. (It's why I had two characters)
Characters had different prejudiced thoughts and trusts on you based on your race too, especially the Breton women in green being racist to dark elfs. I really wanna replay that quest again now.
The Dark Brotherhood was easily the most memorable parts of the game and had some fantastic quests.
Lord of Castamere
Member
Horror at stumbling on an Oblivion gate in the open world. I ran far away from it. I was genuinely afraid of FPSs back then though. Wouldn't play the game at night(game time), kept my head on a swivel, afraid of my own shadow, ect. Fallout 3 was more horror than RPg for me, and I'm still not sure how I beat it. I never beat Oblivion, or Morrowind. I've beaten all of their games since though.
Definitely a game that did not age well. I had a lot of fun with it back in 2006-2007, but now I mostly remember it for that great Dark Brotherhood quest with the house party and the incredibly unfair level scaling shit. I wasted around 300 arrows on some high level Goblin chief.
Before the dupe glitch was patched on the 360, I obtained and duped a Chameleon Sigil Stone and enchanted a full set of one of the later tiers of light armor, maybe glass?
I went through the game completely undetectable unless a guard was trying to arrest me or an NPC was scripted to interact with me.
I went through the game completely undetectable unless a guard was trying to arrest me or an NPC was scripted to interact with me.
They are finite iirc, there are only 60ish?
BouncyFrag
Member
It was the first game I played after not gaming since the 16-bit era and was floored. I wasn't following gaming at the time and was all the better for it. Every time I hear this track I feel a little sad knowing I won't play it again since I poured countless hours into it and know every nook and cranny.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxSko6vvWGc&feature=youtu.be&list=RDiED1RK6z29w&t=855
The composer Jeremy Soule almost died in a car accident before working on Oblivion and decided to create music celebrating the beauty of life. Amazing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxSko6vvWGc&feature=youtu.be&list=RDiED1RK6z29w&t=855
The composer Jeremy Soule almost died in a car accident before working on Oblivion and decided to create music celebrating the beauty of life. Amazing.
One of my earliest wide-open world titles. Warm memories. Odd NPCs. Great quests, though perhaps not the main quest. I can never be too arsed about the main quest in these games anyway. Not before I become immersed in the world.
Gorgeous soundtrack that I still listen to this day.
I HAVE NO GREETING
I remember making a low damage, high radius spell that I named "Bookshelf Dismantler." I took it to the biggest wizardly libraries I could find, fired it off, and watched the books go flying.
Gorgeous soundtrack that I still listen to this day.
I HAVE NO GREETING
I remember making a low damage, high radius spell that I named "Bookshelf Dismantler." I took it to the biggest wizardly libraries I could find, fired it off, and watched the books go flying.
Rodolink
Member
But there are also random ones http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Oblivion_Gates
When I realised this I just moved on to complete the main quest not caring anymore about them
Cuningas de Häme
Member
Oblivion is one of the best games I've ever played. I played on PC, as TES should be played.
I made my first mods for that game.
Never played a lot of the vanilla version, one of the first mods for it was an UI mod. And a mod that fixed the scaling. And ugly faces.
I used a console trick in most of the Oblivion gates, the one that lets you fly, so to speak. I hated Oblivion gates, I hate them still.
Some hate how "bland" the world is, but the side quests are best in the series. Thieve's Guild is awesome, Dark Brotherhood good too. Then there's the vampire hunter quest line with a neat twist, and so many more.
And the lore...
I made my first mods for that game.
Never played a lot of the vanilla version, one of the first mods for it was an UI mod. And a mod that fixed the scaling. And ugly faces.
I used a console trick in most of the Oblivion gates, the one that lets you fly, so to speak. I hated Oblivion gates, I hate them still.
Some hate how "bland" the world is, but the side quests are best in the series. Thieve's Guild is awesome, Dark Brotherhood good too. Then there's the vampire hunter quest line with a neat twist, and so many more.
And the lore...
Rudimental
Member
"It's you, the Hero of Kvatch!"
"I saw a mudcrab the other day."
"Must have been the wind."
That quest where some paranoid guy outsources his stalking to you.
"I saw a mudcrab the other day."
"Must have been the wind."
That quest where some paranoid guy outsources his stalking to you.
From your link: "There are 90 possible random gate locations in all, although a maximum of 50 random gates will appear (plus the 10 fixed gates)."
So exactly 60 gates in any one save game.
NormalFish
Banned
Still my favourite TES game. Has lots of fantastic mods that fix all the glaring issues with the game -- though stability can be problematic if you're not savvy with optimizing your load order. Fantastic quest design, open world is kinda boring but I really enjoy the general dungeon "archetypes", even if they get a bit samey I think Oblivion does it better than Skyrim (which obviously suffers from the same same-y-ness).
Rodolink
Member
Random "locations" in one location the gate may appear many times no matter if you already destroyed it
"If you have closed 60 Oblivion Gates, you have closed them all (this includes 50 random gates, 9 standard gates, and the Great Gate). Since no gates reopen (unless you use the console to change the default game settings), no more Oblivion Gates will appear."
UnluckyKate
Member
Quest bug. Key never spawned. Had to open game editor find key item drop it near my character. Load my save. Find key on the floor. Open door. Shit reward.
Screaming Meat
Unconfirmed Member
That's exactly it! It was the first time a game didn't feel completely solipsistic; that the game world existed and 'lived' outside of my limited perspective. It's an illusion, of course, but a very potent one the first time.
Great story, btw. I remember that 'quest'.
His Majesty
Banned
the start of Bethesda's decline
Red Liquorice
Member
It blew my mind too. That and Dead Rising were the reasons I bought a 360, and I was so in awe of Oblivion I built my first (and only) gaming PC to play it with mods etc, which I quickly got bored of but that's another issue.
The series and engine have their problems, still, but I can't deny that sense of amazement and freedom as you start exploring, it's the kind of wonderment experience I still game for.
The series and engine have their problems, still, but I can't deny that sense of amazement and freedom as you start exploring, it's the kind of wonderment experience I still game for.
Rosvoja Torilla
Member
That exit from the sewers. Daaaaaamn. I was sure videogames couldn't get any prittier.
Go in a cave. Nice. It's a cave.
Killing an enemy on a slope and the body rolling downhill. Fucking awesome physics.
Throwing stuff in the water with telekinesis.
Go in a cave. I think I've been here already. No, it just looks the same.
Even at the time I understood the absurdity of the horse armor.
Make the lousiest lock opening spell and spend the next 45 minutes grinding your level on a lock you can't open.
Go in a cave. They all look the same.
Shooting arrows on hanging buckets.
Diving somewhere and finding a random hatch at the bottom of the lake. Go through. A dark deep water pit awaits. Hit myself with invisibility potion and waterbreathing and all sorts of potions cuz am scared. Dive and keep diving. Find a giant slaughterfish at the bottom. Kill it with sword panicking and get the fuck outta there.
At some point realize the game has scaling enemies. It's all been a lie.
Go in a cave. Nice. It's a cave.
Killing an enemy on a slope and the body rolling downhill. Fucking awesome physics.
Throwing stuff in the water with telekinesis.
Go in a cave. I think I've been here already. No, it just looks the same.
Even at the time I understood the absurdity of the horse armor.
Make the lousiest lock opening spell and spend the next 45 minutes grinding your level on a lock you can't open.
Go in a cave. They all look the same.
Shooting arrows on hanging buckets.
Diving somewhere and finding a random hatch at the bottom of the lake. Go through. A dark deep water pit awaits. Hit myself with invisibility potion and waterbreathing and all sorts of potions cuz am scared. Dive and keep diving. Find a giant slaughterfish at the bottom. Kill it with sword panicking and get the fuck outta there.
At some point realize the game has scaling enemies. It's all been a lie.
Rodolink
Member
If you don't close them all they keep appearing that's my point, but anyway, it doesn't matter
SuperEpicMan
Banned
I was 15 when I played it, and it was probably the first open world RPG that I really got invested in. I remember coming home from school and just being engrossed in it for hours each day. In the end I think I probably clocked in a handful of saves, and hundreds of hours spent across them, including 200+ in my original save.
A few things stick out in particular:
Being way underpowered and getting killed dozens of times trying to lead Umbra from a dungeon into the imperial city. Basically so the guards would end up killing her for me, and I could take her sword and armour.
Not realising I could fast travel until I was dozens of hours into the game.
Sean Bean playing that Martin guy.
Being teleported to paradise.
Painted trolls.
That sweet Imperial Dragon Armour you get for finishing the game.
The awesome DLC.
A few things stick out in particular:
Being way underpowered and getting killed dozens of times trying to lead Umbra from a dungeon into the imperial city. Basically so the guards would end up killing her for me, and I could take her sword and armour.
Not realising I could fast travel until I was dozens of hours into the game.
Sean Bean playing that Martin guy.
Being teleported to paradise.
Painted trolls.
That sweet Imperial Dragon Armour you get for finishing the game.
The awesome DLC.
KainXVIII
Member
This, so i not played it to this days 😀
Roufianos
Member
I remember I was hooked on GRAW at the time but saw the reviews for it.
Thought it looked pretty shitty but gave it a go. Bought it with my dad and I remember the cashier saying "So you're going to enter the world of Oblivion" in an Indian accent.
Started it up and thought it was quite good. I realised you could switch to third person which was a relief.
Then I got out of the sewers my mind was blown. I remember killing someone on the way to Kvatch and was amazed that people were shouting "someone's been murdered".
I got 1000/1000 gamerscore and used to play it for about 9 hours a day on weekends and in the summer.
It's up there with MGS, Witcher 3 and Fallout 3 as one of my favourite games ever. Shame about Skyrim and Fallout 4.
Thought it looked pretty shitty but gave it a go. Bought it with my dad and I remember the cashier saying "So you're going to enter the world of Oblivion" in an Indian accent.
Started it up and thought it was quite good. I realised you could switch to third person which was a relief.
Then I got out of the sewers my mind was blown. I remember killing someone on the way to Kvatch and was amazed that people were shouting "someone's been murdered".
I got 1000/1000 gamerscore and used to play it for about 9 hours a day on weekends and in the summer.
It's up there with MGS, Witcher 3 and Fallout 3 as one of my favourite games ever. Shame about Skyrim and Fallout 4.
mavericktopgun
Member
The Atmosphere in Oblivion is unmatched. Skyrim is so boring look wise.
RedSparrows
Member
I was similarly blown away by that view. I thought it was absolutely incredible.
Despite this, it never dislodged Morrowind, even at the time. I played the shit out of Oblivion, and enjoyed it (Dark Brotherhood especially), but it never topped Morrowind.
soldierblue
Member
I ultimately still think of it as a disappointment and really just kinda shitty when held against Morrowind or Skyrim.
Someday I'll revisit and see what I think now,
Someday I'll revisit and see what I think now,
Royal_Flush
Member
I was so slow during the tutorial that it was sunset when I exited the sewers. It was the most astonishing view I think I've ever witnessed in a video game. (I also immediately swam across to the dungeon on the island)
I remember great side- and guildquest. That's where the game really shines.
And I remember it being my gateway to the great and rich lore of Elder Scrolls.
I remember great side- and guildquest. That's where the game really shines.
And I remember it being my gateway to the great and rich lore of Elder Scrolls.
