Jul 12, 2006

Oblivion's essentials reminded

Let me get one thing clear. This post has absolutely nothing to do with Wraith: The Oblivion. [Then again, this disclaimer wasn't probably necessary, as I don't really think many remember this dark OOP RPG of yore. Except -of course- for the 12 regular readers of Gnome's lair, that is... They do tend to remember stuff.]

Anyway. On to contemporary Oblivion of the Bethesda flavor. Quite an impressive feat of advanced ludology one must admit, both visually and as a game per se, but extremely power hungry. This can of course be fought on a variety of levels:
a) buy and play on an Xbox 360
b) go berserk and spend billions (or at least a few hundred euros) on a new graphics card along with memory and processor upgrades
c) Follow some general PC game performance enhancing techniques
d) wisely tweak Oblivion's graphic settings
e) if you're really desperate and an owner of a vintage and non-DirectX9 compatible card, try using OLDblivion.

With the performance issues more or less settled then, it's high time a gnome (what/who else?) showed you how to actually enhance the game. Without (apparently) paying more to Bethesda, or to anyone else. Of course.

The Oblivion UI, generally speaking a good one even if a tad console oriented, can be considerably improved and helped satiate the average PC gamer's (dirty) wants, through the wisely-crafted BTmod. For a simpler tweak, namely for a swift crosshair-size reduction, you'd be fine by trying this.

The next, not-so-essential, but unobtrusive, very handy and quite beautiful mod everyone and his dog (for Oblivion pets have a look here) should install is Harvest, a useful alteration of the game's 3d world, that visually and realistically marks looted objects. For example:


More impressive (and discovered over at Mr. Elderly's) is the multiplayer mod MultiTES4, still though in Alpha mode. Or perhaps the eye-candy lovers favorite Color Map Mod.

And, please, don't maltreat your cyber-gaming-persona. Do make your life easier by curing your accursed vampirism (without having to endure one of Oblivion's most tedious quests) and by 'fixing' your maximum carrying capacity. More fixes (and not 'fixes') can be found here. FAQs and guides, on the other hand, here and there.

(cue classic musical theme)

That's all folks!!! The rest, I am sure, you can find for yourselves.


Related @ Gnome's Lair: More Oblivion mods, some Morrowind mods, 60+ nice free games, a humble DOOM rant


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36 comments:

  1. I put in about 60 hours on the PC version of Oblivion and loved it all. The game was a vast improvement over Morrowind and runs pretty damn good on even a mid level PC.

    I would never buy the 360 version simply due to the incredible mods available for the PC version. To hell with that piecemeal pay-per-download crap that they are pushing.

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  2. essential Oblivion post, mr.Gnome and now i can go to bed convinced i was a total nutcase to buy a 360 instead of upgrading my pc........(elderly cries......)

    ps ludology is a great find, bookmarked thanks!

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  3. Thanks for the comments mates, but I do believe that theXbox is the cheaper way to play Oblivion, even if missing on the mod-scene. An Xbox does cost less than a good 3d card after all...

    Glad you enjoyed ludology Mr. Elderly.

    PS. Morrowind -mind you- was quite a larger game.

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  4. Ahh morrowind on the pc.....bliss and numb buttocks......

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  5. Actually Oblivion is the larger game

    http://www.elderscrolls.com/codex/team_rpgnextgen.htm

    Now, we do change scale in each game, because certain things you do cause the game to flow differently. Even though Morrowind is about 0.0001% the landmass of Daggerfall, the way you play it makes it feel even richer. Oblivion's landmass is larger than Morrowind's, but you can fast travel around much easier. It still has Morrowind's feel of open exploration, but Arena's feel of ease of travel and, well, it's more fun.

    As far as the "cheaper" version, my card was only $150 and plays Oblivon fine =)

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  6. Despite what Bethesda's PR guys are saying, I still believe Oblivion is smaller... On the other hand I could be stuck in a bygone gaming era. O, look, Mr. Elderly 's still there :)

    As for my cheap "cheaper" argument... You could be right, but allow me to believe that Xbox will have better graphics than your (or my) card.

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  7. (shouts from distant Bygonia)

    still here......can you hear me! this is the elderly calling.....hello..I found the Silt Rider....I say I foun.....)

    crackll zzzzapappp .....

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  8. I fully believe Oblivion to be larger. The only reason Morrowind seems larger is due to the crappy Travel system. Oblivon allows instant travel which makes the world seem smaller.

    You will never convince me the XBox version is better. The mods for Oblivion on the PC blow away anything the XBox can provide.

    Plus, the way you can customize the PC version via editing config files and the plain old Options Menu make the Xbox 360 version pale in comparison.

    Yes, I have played both so it isn't like I am basing my opinion soley on having played the PC version =)

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  9. Silt Rider? I'd rather walk than touch an obese bug... Ah, Mr. Elderly, Bygonia, a fine place :)

    Well, I can't argue with that Jakanden (I could, but it 'd be futile, wouldn't it)... And I don't believe that Xbox's version is better... It's only cheaper, as the hardware costs quite a bit less than a decent PC and provides brilliant visuals. A rather cost-effective games console methinks...

    Still, I'll just buy me a Wii.

    You might be right on the sze thing though. Quite a point.

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  10. (by mobile video link from Bygonia)

    .....sorry i'm stuck in a dust storm....just found shelter in an uncharted cave....oh no vampires...

    sprackle....czessshhh shhhnnnning...

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  11. Not ninja-vampires, are they?

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  12. sneellze crikssnt plink

    ...... i don't know they won't talk to me just yet......in fact their trying to......oh my god!...nooo

    ---this broacast has been made possible by Bygonia natural gas, the choice of a new generation------

    sssssh....cnick snaklzzzt

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  13. This episode from the "Twilight Zone" has been brought to to you by Gnome's Lair and 7eKeyboards.

    (sponsored by Ueberpr0n ltd too)

    ReplyDelete
  14. snnllszzz ccrkkkllls sspppp

    .........gnome they're wearing Burger king t-shirts.......is that any indication of their ninjabilities?....

    snklly snafff scliczzzz

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  15. Nope. Not at all. Burger King. Dear. I'd rahter have deer, or perhaps a South African Impala. Tasty little things...

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  16. (static simple version)

    ....ah yes impala....i can't quite get my hand on wikipedia...back you evil demon....hands on wikipedia.....take that.......right at the moment.....here you freaks taste damnation..but i'll check it.....no...NO!

    Gnome I think i've been bitten.......i guess thats what an impala must feel like....

    (static simple version)

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  17. Actually Impala quite enjoy being eaten... It's a brainwash thing they tell me... Added to that they tend to get roasted before actually getting eaten, thus your metaphor falls to the ground!

    Got you!

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  18. sprackle....czessshhh shhhnnnning...

    I've been.....biten....vampire..and all you can....is metaphors....for the love of......who gives a flying.....impalas.......dried or roasted......help me......

    ...czessshhhsprackle. shh...

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  19. Sorry (again, it must be the day)... just got a bit carried away there. You know how I can get with literature. Ah, the subtle play with words... Yes, quit fascinating...

    Akkk?

    What you do mean akk? Oh, this kind of akk! Sorry, got carried away.

    (throws shuriken, rubs elderly's neck with holy water)

    All settled...

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  20. .........!

    howd ya do that then, and why am i suddenlty standing in your sitting room.......

    oh look the man with 80 wives is on......

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  21. No need to know everything my friend... Some ninja stuff (or even ganinja) must remain secret.

    let'swatch some telly now...

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  22. 80 wives, wow! how do you manage to marry 80 wives.....

    (passes popcorn to gnome...)

    hey I doknow how you did it, but thanks for getting me outta bygonia...


    pal!

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  23. Why, nice to be of help, but I'm sure I'm missing something here mr. elderly...

    Perhaps it's me hat?

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  24. no, not your hat, but i am a bit traumatised what with the bygonia thingy and stuff.

    way i see it we're watching a documentary on your tv, about a north american preacher/prophet whose belief in polygamy has led him to marry 80 wives.......

    well it must be happening.....cause you've eaten half the popcorn.....

    wait you are gnome aren't you?

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  25. (the being turns slowly around, eyes dark like a dark thing)

    :)

    "Of course I am", it whispers... "whatch the telly. watch".

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  26. (elderly wets his boxershorts........)

    now look......what did i tell you about throwing scary faces........

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  27. Scary faces... can't remember hearing anything about them...

    It must have been something you told gnome, i'm sure.

    ;)

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  28. you haven't got a spare pair I can borrow by any chance........

    .....and you don't remember doing the dark eyes thing!...likely story.....

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  29. Everything is likely... Confucius said so (at some point or another)

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  30. well coudl confuscious get a move on, someone might walk in .......(elderly covers his indignity with gnomes fruit basket)

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  31. Not to bust in on what promises to be an enlightening conversation about polygamy and herd animals... *I*, for one, as one of the old-schooliest of the old-school-RPG-dorks around, remember White Wolf's Wraith: The Oblivion quite well. So, I know that disclaimer was for me.

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  32. Well spotted, oh monogamous master of the obscure! And an amazing game Wraith was...

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  33. I tried and tried to get my brother to get Oblivion for the PC, but he said he liked playing Morrowind on the Xbox. Plus, having the 360, he needed games for it. Now, I think he regrets it because of the mods.

    I've been meaning to sort through the content mods and pick my favorites.

    I confess that I used one mod that gnome would probably shake his head at-- the horse pack mod. I look at it like this: The horse has saddlebags, and I would logically put stuff there if I had it. Unfortunately, the mod is limitless storage, though I try to logically check it.

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  34. I do see the use, but having to pay for mods -especially such simple ones- is quite the rip-off...

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  35. Have played almost 200 hours of Oblivion on Xbox360 but recently I got Oblivion GOTY for PC and it is amazing. It runs briliantly on my PC and there are lots of awesome mods available free. The GUI definetly works better with console controls as the gnome guy said but apart from that it is fine. And if you ever get bored of other peoples mods you can make your own (although this is hard and takes f**k ages). If you have a PC that can run Oblivion well then get it for PC

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  36. Mind you, Fallout 3 is alos quite decent on the PC

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