400 replies to this topic

[Not another Stark]

Morrowind was very bad in this regard. Luckily I got a mod who made monsters that were considerably weaker than you flee when they met you.
Oblivion on the other hand fixes this to an extent. Outdoors monsters stop chasing you when you run away too far - even daedra near Oblivion gates. And if you run to a city, the guards usually could take care of them for you.

I suspect the GOTY comes with all the additions - Shimmering Isles, Knight of the Nine and the other patches that add various lairs, houses, horse armor and the odd big dungeon. Though it's a bit tough to double its cost just for that content.

TES and massive pointles filling outdoors: that was a far bigger issue with TES I and II than with Morrowind and Oblivion, actually. Even if at times it's a bit annoying. Then, Oblivion has a teleporting ability - well, a fast-travel feature, that is, which let you go from any point outdoor to any cave, dungeon or city you've encountered up close (even if you just spotted the door and didn't actually visit it. So, travelling is cut down compared to Morrowind, which explains why the game can be thoroughly done faster than Morrowind - even when the area is in fact bigger.

[Werthead]

Quote

My horror scenario from Morrowind was - I didn't want to fight some pointless stuff every couple of steps, outran them with high athletics and finally came to a settlement half an island away from where I first aggroed the monsters. I started to talk with the NPCs, etc, and then in a few minutes the train of monsters arrived and slaughtered the whole settlement! Can something like that happen in Fallout 3? I mean, I know that towns are walled, etc., but there are also NPCs in the wild, aren't there? I really wouldn't want to get them killed that way.

I've told this story so many times now, but it's still brilliant.

In Oblivion I visited the ruin near the Imperial City very early on featuring the redoubtable Umbra, who is unbelievably tough. I don't think she levels along with the rest of the game, or if she doesn't it doesn't matter as her armour and especially her magic sword (aka Umbra) are ludicrously statted. Anyway, after shooting her once with my bow she killed me in the face. So I kept reloading. Eventually, frustrated with my ongoing death, I fled from the tomb. After a minute later I head a scream from behind me and sure enough the she-bitch from hell was pelting along the lakeshore behind me waving her +35 sword of instadeath belligerently. I legged it, but wasn't fast enough to get away until I had the great fortune to bump into a squad of guards. She cut them to pieces, but was delayed enough for me to run away and fast-travel to another location.

Anyway, this was right at the start of the game. About 15 hours later - many weeks or months of game time - I had ascended 20 levels, slain many beasts, closed many Daedra gates and almost completed the main quest. I returned thusly to the capital with Sean Bean in tow. I'd decided I was going to give the game a rest after completing the quest, so I decided to manually travel and have a last gawp at the amazing graphics. Myself and Boromir drew nigh to the capital and started noticing dead bodies. Everywhere. A vast swathe of lakeshore appeared to have been devastated. Dozens, if not hundreds of corpses lay as far as the eye could see. Naturally I commenced looting, but had to give up as I couldn't carry even a tenth of the stuff dropped by the massacred guardsmen, civilians and merchants. Then we heard a banshee-cry in the distance and Umbra reappeared. The bitch had spent the intervening weeks wandering back and forth along the lakeshore murdering everyone in sight. Erm, because of me. Sorry.

Anyway, we fought a mighty and epic battle, and myself and Sharpe finally succeeded in killing the foul opponent, which was handy as her gear was sweet and better than anything I had. Then we went off to fight the final battle and watch 006 get turned into a dragon. Good times.

Edited by Werthead, 11 November 2008 - 05:25 PM.

[Mackaxx]

hALo BEndeR, on Nov 12 2008, 01.35, said:

The problem with the deathclaws and a couple other monsters in the game are that they're able to run faster than your character. There's no automatic athletics upgrades like in the Elder Scrolls series, and no way to increase your speed that I'm aware of -- maybe having a higher agility increases your speed but I think my character was already at a 7 or 8 out of 10 for that.

Did you put your weapon away?  You run faster with it sheathed/holstered.

[Vendetto]

You can increase your strength with perks, which lessens your load a bit. Makes you run a bit faster.

[Vendetto]

Mackaxx, on Nov 11 2008, 01.47, said:

It's a sci fi game, without training you can't sync your doobywhatsit with your flobbamagobber and thus can't zoom in.

Dumbass. (Big man bit)

Wow, I didn't know misquoting was prevalent here either. You're smart ;)

[Mackaxx]

Insert succinct snarky response here, repeat as necessary.

[ogbebaba]

Shryke, on Nov 11 2008, 03.02, said:

I hear the game also doesn't let you pee on things.

Fuck this game, WHERE'S THE REALISM?!?!!?!?!?!?!

:rofl:

[Inigima]

Vendetto, on Nov 11 2008, 19.06, said:

Wow, I didn't know misquoting was prevalent here either. You're smart ;)

Mackaxx, on Nov 11 2008, 19.33, said:

Insert succinct snarky response here, repeat as necessary.

enough already

[Mackaxx]

Good to see a bit of Gothic 2 love in this thread.  It's a shame about the third iteration as 2 with its add on was fantastic, I really enjoyed the revisiting of old Gothic 1 haunts.  At the time the first one felt huge, 2 was just enormous.  I wasn't so into the endgame however but still, nothings perfect.  I think I stuck with 1 handed swords, not sure now though off the top of my head.  A bit of magic and a little crossbow action goes a long way in this game as well.

I had to play the whole thing in German as at the time getting the knight of the raven add on to work with the english version was a bit of a bugger.  The guttural German stuff was kinda cool.

Edited by Mackaxx, 12 November 2008 - 12:40 AM.

[Vendetto]

What is gothic 2?

I can't wait for Left 4 Dead. Halo 3: Recon. COD5. RE5. Halo Wars.... The list goes on

Edited by Vendetto, 12 November 2008 - 12:46 AM.

[Inigima]

How's the first Gothic?  It's up on gog.com for $10.

[Muttering Bill]

Thanks for the reply's everyone.  I took a trip to Circuit City on Saturday (because that's where my card was for), and, as I suspected, it was more a matter of what they had, rather than what I wanted.  They had Oblivion, so that's what I got.

(But with most everyone's praise for Mass Effect, I'll be sure to keep it on the list.  Maybe the next game I pick up.  Even if it's just a rental...  I won't complain for $30.  I've paid more for worse.  *cough*Halo 3*cough*)

I put in about 2 hours to Oblivion and, so far, I like it a bit better than Fallout 3 - for which I've only gone 3 hours, so my opnions are still subject to change.  So yeah, it's decent so far.

Fallout 3 just seems to be a little less focused on story.  So far I've got: Daddy left the Vault - go find him.  No directions besided check out this abandoned city.  I only found Megaton because I finally opened the map after I got sick of aimlessly wandering around in the dark.  Meanwhile, Oblivion is giving me real places to go, and with a real purpose for going there.  

And the menu's in FO3 suck!  I find the stupid Pip-Boy to be quite difficult to read.  Tiny print, green on black?  They couldn't help me out by making it black on white and bumping the font size up a couple points?  And the map is fuzzy.  Maybe the Oblivion menu's fonts are a little bigger than they need to be, but at least I can read them.

Edited by Muttering Bill, 12 November 2008 - 11:00 AM.

[haLobEnder]

Muttering Bill, on Nov 12 2008, 10.58, said:

Fallout 3 just seems to be a little less focused on story.  So far I've got: Daddy left the Vault - go find him.  No directions besided check out this abandoned city.  I only found Megaton because I finally opened the map after I got sick of aimlessly wandering around in the dark.  Meanwhile, Oblivion is giving me real places to go, and with a real purpose for going there.

You find Fallout 3 to be less story driven than Oblivion? I found the complete opposite to be true myself.
One of my least favourite things about the Elder Scroll series --Oblivion in particular-- is it's lack of focus on story... there's just nothing to drive you forward. When I did stumble across a main plot quest --after hours of pointless NPC conversations and 'exploring'-- it often wasn't intriguing enough to make me want to continue on with the game. Eventually I did give up.
For me Fallout 3 has just the right balance between interesting sidequests and an interesting main story. If I get bored of one I just go do the other.
I'm probably going to make another attempt at Oblivion again after I'm done with Fallout 3 and Dead Space, but that will be my 4th or 5th attempt I believe.

Quote

And the menu's in FO3 suck!  I find the stupid Pip-Boy to be quite difficult to read.  Tiny print, green on black?  They couldn't help me out by making it black on white and bumping the font size up a couple points?  And the map is fuzzy.  Maybe the Oblivion menu's fonts are a little bigger than they need to be, but at least I can read them.

I take it you've never played the first two fallout games as the pipboy was taken straight from there.
Maybe I like it just for nostalgia's sake but Fallout just wouldn't be Fallout if it weren't for the pipboy and it's green on black colour scheme.
Actually the only thing I dislike about the HUD in F3 is the damn compass. When there are multiple highlighted objectives it's pretty much impossible to use.

Edited by hALo BEndeR, 12 November 2008 - 01:35 PM.

[Shryke]

The aimlessness is kind of the point of Fallout. Your released into a world about which you have no clue. In Fallout 1, you come out of the ault with no idea what the world is like and only the instructions "Fix the water system in the vault". So you start wandering.

[Muttering Bill]

hALo BEndeR, on Nov 12 2008, 13.33, said:

You find Fallout 3 to be less story driven than Oblivion? I found the complete opposite to be true myself.
One of my least favourite things about the Elder Scroll series --Oblivion in particular-- is it's lack of focus on story... there's just nothing to drive you forward. When I did stumble across a main plot quest --after hours of pointless NPC conversations and 'exploring'-- it often wasn't intriguing enough to make me want to continue on with the game. Eventually I did give up.
For me Fallout 3 has just the right balance between interesting sidequests and an interesting main story. If I get bored of one I just go do the other.
I'm probably going to make another attempt at Oblivion again after I'm done with Fallout 3 and Dead Space, but that will be my 4th or 5th attempt I believe.

So far I'm finding the opposite.  

FO3 just dropped me into the word, with a vague idea of what to do: go hunt for dad.  No clue where to go.  I spent two hours talking to random people in Megaton only to end up with a couple of sidequests - half of which I can't do.  And I have to buy the main quest info from Moriarty, which I have no money to do, so there's another trip to make.  (Now, it's not bad, just not very clear.)

Oblivion, on the otherhand, gave me the name of the guy I have to see, and the name of the city he's in, and some general directions on how to get there.

So, within the first 2 or 3 hours, I'd say Oblivion is a little more focussed.  Maybe it'll change my mind once I get a little farther into them both.

hALo BEndeR, on Nov 12 2008, 13.33, said:

I take it you've never played the first two fallout games as the pipboy was taken straight from there.

Nope, I didn't.  It's not going to make me give up the game, but I find it annoying.

Edited by Muttering Bill, 12 November 2008 - 02:59 PM.

[haLobEnder]

Muttering Bill, on Nov 12 2008, 14.58, said:

FO3 just dropped me into the word, with a vague idea of what to do: go hunt for dad.  No clue where to go.  I spent two hours talking to random people in Megaton only to end up with a couple of sidequests - half of which I can't do.  And I have to buy the main quest info from Moriarty, which I have no money to do, so there's another trip to make.  (Now, it's not bad, just not very clear.)

It's been awhile (game time) since I did the mission so my memory may be a bit off, but:

SPOILER: a non-spoiler really but you can never be too safe

You don't have to pay Moriarty for the info. You can either hack his computer terminal or if your speech is high enough I believe he'll just give you the info without the need for caps.

Edited by hALo BEndeR, 12 November 2008 - 03:21 PM.

[Vendetto]

You can change the color of the pip boy to white on black if you like it better like that

You just go through the display settings.

[Rhaco]

Played Call of Duty: World at War for the first time tonight.

The co-op campaign and multiplayer are good fun, as expected.  Not as much fun as Gears 2's co-op campaign or Battlefield: Bad Company's multiplayer, but still fun.

Singleplayer campaign on Veteran difficulty so far seems harder than COD2 or COD4 on Vet, mostly because of the ridiculous number of grenades the enemy throws your way.  I'm talking a neverending stream of grenades landing at your feet if you stay in the same place longer than a couple seconds.  A little lame.

I'm curious about the Zombie Nazi mode.  It's apparently unlocked after beating the game.  Seems like it could be a Gears 2 Horde equivalent.

Edited by Rhaco, 13 November 2008 - 01:03 AM.

[Lord O' Bones]

I'm playing Gladius.  I'm having a blast and am continuously appalled at how pointlessly flawed this game is.  I mean did anyone playtest this?  Love the concept; hate they way they executed it.

Does anyone have any recs as to similar games that aren't, you know, crappy?

[Maia]

Mackaxx, on Nov 12 2008, 00.38, said:

I had to play the whole thing in German as at the time getting the knight of the raven add on to work with the english version was a bit of a bugger.  The guttural German stuff was kinda cool.

Let me tell you that both writing and voice-acting are actually very decent, in German. I have heard that English localization is quite mediocre, but in the original these aspects are good.
BTW, it looks like the Orcs and Wargs in Valley of Mines are immune to archery damage with NoTR :uhoh:. It does prevent shameless exploits of yore and maintains the atmosphere, but it seems that being a pure sniper is no longer viable.

Inigima:

Gothic is a third-person over the shoulder action CRPG with very light adventure elements. I like it, obviously. It does have some unusual/idiosyncratic features, though:

1. All controls are keyboard, exclusively. You can use the mouse for looking around and nothing else.

2. You start very weak and most of the things can kill you and most of NPCs push you around. Early gameplay consists of sniping and running away in terror. Thankfully, you can outrun almost anything and monsters give up the chase relatively soon. Also,  NPCs help you. It is very satisfying  to gradually be able to get the better of things you were afraid of in the beginning, but it does mean that you'd be backtracking quite a lot.

3. It is relatively linear quest-wise after the 1st chapter (but free-form exploration is always enjoyable)  and somewhat light on stats. There are no dialog stats and dialog options are few and far between.

However:

Landscape design is great. Climbing some rocky peak and looking at the width and breadth of the land while sun is rising/setting is a sublime experience. Also, hidden caches, lairs and NPCs are very well placed, so that exploration  combines aesthetic pleasure, hunting drive and the ever present tingle of danger.

It is possible to climb, swim, dive, turn oneself into various animals and monsters (very fun!), roast meat, smith swords, etc.

Magic is OK, but nothing special.

NPCs have schedules, some of the monsters fight each other if you lure them together and hunt prey, etc.

The setting is interesting and unusual for a fantasy game


Well, it is an older game, so graphics and animation are no longer great, obviously, but art direction and design make up for it, IMHO.