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Interview Oblivion Q&A at RPGamer

MrSmileyFaceDude

Bethesda Game Studios
Developer
Joined
Sep 24, 2004
Messages
716
Screaming_life said:
MrSmileyFaceDude said:
You can go anywhere that you have a map marker. Map markers can get added in various ways. If you're exploring and you get to a town, settlement, shrine, etc. that you haven't been to before, the map marker will be added to your map. NPCs can also add markers to your map, though that doesn't happen often.

Also, fast travel while on horseback is faster than on foot, so if you're doing something time-sensitive (or you have a buff that might expire on the way) it can be a good choice.


I don't know much about this fast travel stuff... Are there random encounters? or is it just like warping there but it takes time?

It's like taking the Silt Strider or boats in Morrowind. If you want a chance at encounters, don't use fast travel. In my playtesting I rarely use it myself; I want to see the countryside and find all the hidden stuff.
 

Pr()ZaC

Scholar
Joined
Sep 16, 2005
Messages
431
Screaming_life said:
MrSmileyFaceDude said:
You can go anywhere that you have a map marker. Map markers can get added in various ways. If you're exploring and you get to a town, settlement, shrine, etc. that you haven't been to before, the map marker will be added to your map. NPCs can also add markers to your map, though that doesn't happen often.

Also, fast travel while on horseback is faster than on foot, so if you're doing something time-sensitive (or you have a buff that might expire on the way) it can be a good choice.


I don't know much about this fast travel stuff... Are there random encounters? or is it just like warping there but it takes time?
I surely hope the game keeps track of where enemies are so that when you travel to an area where you know there're "roaming monsters", you get a message like the dreaded "there're enemies nearby" and the journey automatically stops.

EDIT: a minute too late :lol:
 

Chefe

Erudite
Joined
Feb 26, 2005
Messages
4,731
Tintin said:
Fast travel only works for locations you have already visited. When you are first exploring all the parts (and that will take a good deal of time) of Oblivion a horse will be very useful.

Yes, but the impression I got from the interviews was that horses are something that you work to earn... it seems they cost quite a good deal of money. If it takes that long to get one, it would seem like the benefit of using them to explore new places to find "locations" wouldn't exist, since you'd already have a ton of locations by the time you got a horse.

MSFD, can you say anything about this? Does a mount take so much cash and so long to get that you will have explored a good portion of the map, all marked with locations, before you get one? Or can you get a horse early on to help you explore the map?

Avin said:
You know, the first time I played Daggerfall, for two days, I didn't knew that was such thing as "fast travel"... let's just say I walked a lot...

:lol:
 

Screaming_life

Liturgist
Joined
Oct 29, 2004
Messages
353
Location
On Maggie's Farm... No More
MrSmileyFaceDude said:
Screaming_life said:
I don't know much about this fast travel stuff... Are there random encounters? or is it just like warping there but it takes time?

It's like taking the Silt Strider or boats in Morrowind. If you want a chance at encounters, don't use fast travel. In my playtesting I rarely use it myself; I want to see the countryside and find all the hidden stuff.


So why the decision to not have any consequence to travelling? i mean fast travel is meant to remove the so called tedious travel time but if you were travelling on foot then you're likely to meet something that would want to attack you on the way. It sounds more like safe travel to me and won't it have a negative effect on exploration?

I know you say that you would rather walk and so choose not to use it and i would try to do the same but it's very likely that i will end up abusing it. Is there an option to turn it off before you start a game?

One other thing have you done anything to prevent powerplay this time round? like sticking the run key down overnight ?
 

Balor

Arcane
Joined
Dec 29, 2004
Messages
5,186
Location
Russia
I suppose there would be inexpencive horses you you'll be able to buy right off the bat.
After all, you could have bought full plate being a total noob, for a handful of gold, and that's insanely crazy in RL :). (At least, when you'll remember that 1 piece of bread costs 1 gold...)
So, some sort of a lame ;) horse would be avalable early, I'm quite sure of it.
If not, I'm sure that'll be easily moddable.
 

Chefe

Erudite
Joined
Feb 26, 2005
Messages
4,731
I'm going to take that to mean "yes, there will be horses you can buy at lower levels."

So, I guess I'm done with the mounted combat argument.
 

Saint_Proverbius

Administrator
Staff Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2002
Messages
11,475
Location
Behind you.
MrSmileyFaceDude said:
Yeah, and what an amazingly comprehensive, realistic and fun-to-play implementation of mounted combat that is. I've played it. I'd want to do better.

So... Doing nothing is better than doing something that's functional and fun but perhaps lacks a certain degree of depth?
 

MrSmileyFaceDude

Bethesda Game Studios
Developer
Joined
Sep 24, 2004
Messages
716
Sometimes it is. Doing mounted combat right would have involved a significant amount of dedicated time from more than one programmer and more than one artist and a good chunk of time spent in QA. And it was decided that that time was better spent on other features of the game. It was not something we wanted to just throw in to say it was there.
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
Joined
Jan 7, 2003
Messages
28,024
MrSmileyFaceDude said:
And it was decided that that time was better spent on other features of the game.
Like what? Just curious about features that are in the game, and I hope the answer is not soil erosion.
 

crpgnut

Augur
Joined
Dec 11, 2002
Messages
337
Location
St. Louis,MO,USA
I can't wait to find out about the story. Morrowind had a cluster-ahem for a story. As far as I know, Ken Rolston is still doing the story and I hope he gets a little in touch with reality this time. Nobody cared about being the Nevarine, nobody wanted to save the Dark Elves. I would have much rather have been the prophesied scourge of the Dark Elf race in Morrowind, than their saviour.

It is a huge mistake to have the main character be hated for any length of time. The game can start that way but respect and admiration should come fairly quickly. If a character wishes to be evil, that should be an option. I didn't want to save the Dark Elves, I wanted to annihilate them.

Terrible story. Almost anything would be an improvement. I love Morrowind, but the story was the number 1 killjoy of an otherwise good game. Gothic did this too. I didn't want to save those people, I wanted them dead with only my character escaping destruction.
 

geminito

Liturgist
Joined
Sep 24, 2003
Messages
144
I disagree completely with crpgnut's summary of the Morrowind story. I found it fascinating. How can you not like a story about a man gone mad spreading a "28 Days Later"-type plague? And the story of the Tribunal was great.

In general, I find most suggestions made as ways to improve Morrowind would have only made the game worse. Most suggestions were about making it more "realistic". People don't always suggest things that would make a game more fun.

Examples:
- Poison should kill you.
- You must eat and sleep.
- You can get crippled limbs and lose limbs in combat.

Fun? NO!
 

MrSmileyFaceDude

Bethesda Game Studios
Developer
Joined
Sep 24, 2004
Messages
716
Vault Dweller said:
MrSmileyFaceDude said:
And it was decided that that time was better spent on other features of the game.
Like what? Just curious about features that are in the game, and I hope the answer is not soil erosion.

If I listed any features, folks would latch on to them as "the reason" why mounted combat wasn't incorporated and decry them as nowhere near as important as mounted combat, so pardon me if I refrain :)
 

Balor

Arcane
Joined
Dec 29, 2004
Messages
5,186
Location
Russia
Lo and behold, and other Bethesda fanboi!
Did you read the disclaimer when you registered on RPG Codex?
"Though me you'll pass into the city of woe, though me you'll pass into eternal pain...' - this one?
If not, too bad. :twisted:
Examples:
- Poison should kill you.
- You must eat and sleep.
- You can get crippled limbs and lose limbs in combat.

Fun? NO!
Stupid sheep, I find it really fun. "Unlearn to speak for entire WWW, dumbfuck".
And besides, poison could kill you already in MW? Are you retarded or something?
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
Joined
Jan 7, 2003
Messages
28,024
MrSmileyFaceDude said:
Vault Dweller said:
MrSmileyFaceDude said:
And it was decided that that time was better spent on other features of the game.
Like what? Just curious about features that are in the game, and I hope the answer is not soil erosion.

If I listed any features, folks would latch on to them as "the reason" why mounted combat wasn't incorporated and decry them as nowhere near as important as mounted combat, so pardon me if I refrain :)
Well, they are going to do it anyway, so you might as well present your position first and do the preemptive strike thingy.
 

Balor

Arcane
Joined
Dec 29, 2004
Messages
5,186
Location
Russia
Well, not that I really think that mounted combat is a MUST in any RPG - but devs claiming that it's 'too hard to impement' rightfully deserves some flak. ;)
And while having horses is sure good, with fast travel and certain spells - they are nearly pointless, like it was noted.
So, it's possible, it was done, it was done rather nicely by a company of two... so, no wonder Bethsoft's 'it's too hard to do' is transformed into 'we are too lazy/stupid, and/or we don't care'.
Ok, if those efforts were redirected towards better dialogues or something.
But Patrick Stewart? *grumble-grumble-grumble*
Ok, we’ll see about quests, but let us reserve some healthy scepticism about it, based on the experience with previous games.
 

MrSmileyFaceDude

Bethesda Game Studios
Developer
Joined
Sep 24, 2004
Messages
716
How do you get "it's too hard to do mounted combat" out of "it would have taken too much time and so we decided to focus on other features"?
 

Chefe

Erudite
Joined
Feb 26, 2005
Messages
4,731
crpgnut said:
It is a huge mistake to have the main character be hated for any length of time. The game can start that way but respect and admiration should come fairly quickly. If a character wishes to be evil, that should be an option. I didn't want to save the Dark Elves, I wanted to annihilate them.

You're telling me, try playing one of the cat-men. Those bastards enslave my people and they and their Dark Elf gods expect ME to save THEM?

So, I performed a little ethnic cleansing (read: the whole island) and bought some Dark Elven slaves (read: the only Dark Elves that survived my wrath) for my own private residence in Vivec (formerly the home of their god... hehe). For the Khajiit!

Yea, this sounds cool. Unfortunately, no one cared. And when I met the last Dark Elf who had wandered off the path from Balmora, he didn't care that he was the last of his kind (well, un-enslaved one). He still called me "outlander" and, for a couple gold, told me everything about everything... just like nothing had happened. He then met his end. :)

geminito said:

Well, yea, those suggestions suck. They weren't what most people were asking for though, and if you have read the ES boards you'll see that the majority there hates them as well. I listed a bunch of suggestions in some thread here about what people had requested, the good ideas, which happened to be the majority. Actually, to tell you the truth, I do like required eating, but only if it's very sparingly.

And poison can kill you. Poison can kill you in every fucking RPG... ever. You just need to learn how to turn off "Godmode". ;)
 

Section8

Cipher
Joined
Oct 23, 2002
Messages
4,321
Location
Wardenclyffe
Losing limbs could be fun. A bilateral amputation below the knees, a beard and voila! The Dwemer are fucking back, yo.
 

One Wolf

Scholar
Joined
Sep 27, 2005
Messages
311
Location
Planet X
Quote:
Yeah, and what an amazingly comprehensive, realistic and fun-to-play implementation of mounted combat that is. I've played it. I'd want to do better.

Was it sarcastic?
If so, how 'better' you'd want it to make?

horse erosion.
 

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