Elderscrolls: OBLIVION ... my new addiction

[Mihail]

Dante you're running SLI too? .. sweeet.  Then that means you're seeing what i'm seeing... and if you're seeing what i'm seeing then i know your happy  ;D

Btw....To all you BF2 guys out there.... It'll be awhile before i come back to BF.... because I am so addicted to this game.... i havent tried to close any oblivion gates yet... i have been dungeon crawling, leveling, making potions, and fighting in the gladiator arena tourny.  Also i have the difficulty slider maxxed out...  makes for one wicked and satisfying experience.  I have to use every tactic (poison on my sword, invisibility, stealth strikes, skillful blocks, etc) available to me to get past everything i encounter.... i plan on savoring this game for awhile... the main quest will be the last thing i finish... I'll probably do it half way but with elderscrolls i like to finish all the side stuff first before completing the end quest.  Keeps the suspense going.

Hehe, I never thought Gunwounds to be the type for Oblivion-esque games.What is your character? :)

[GUNWOUNDS]

Hehe, I never thought Gunwounds to be the type for Oblivion-esque games.What is your character? :)

Oh heck yea man... i have played every elderscrolls series and the vampire masquerade.... some of the best RPGs IMO.  My character is a Custom Breton with dark hair named "Magnus Severus"... I figured if Samuel Jackson were white and existed in Oblivion, that would be his name.  And you know whats written on Sam's wallet. Anyways, Magnus is Custom build but he is very close to a Spellsword.  Its what i have always made in any elderscrolls game i have played.... basically the best of both worlds. 

Major: Blade, Heavy Armor, Block, Restoration, Illusion, Alteration, Destruction

Minors (but heavily worked on): Sneak, Security, Athletics, Acrobatics, Armorer, Marksman, Alchemy

     Basically an all around dude.... however what i normally do ... is play my character as a paladin/spellsword/battlemage (a knight that uses magic basically) to get a foothold in the universe... then i practice my arcane arts when appropriate (illusion for light in dungeons, chameleon, invisibility....... Alteration for picking locks, featherweight, and water breathing.....Destruction for the fireball range attacks when an enemy is to tought take up close, Alchemy for potions and poisons.  And so what happens is my magic keeps up with my Heavy armor and blade and block. And then i go for getting some enchantments. So i usually stay balanced.  But when my character becomes very powerful... i will occassionally shed the armor and replace the sword with a staff and go full mage for role playing fun.... .  Thats the great thing about elderscrolls... once you get strong enough you can play anyway you want.... pure theif, pure mage or pure warrior, pure archer, because in the end you have most or all of the skills. 

     It may be hard to play a pure class in the beginning but in the end it works beautifully.  Although i usually end up playing  as a dynamic hybrid for gaming advancement purposes and because i like to sample everything... but i do play my character in a pure class for when i feel like specifically rpging, but thats usually not available until my character gets stronger.  For instance, when my character gets extremely powerful... i will start to roleplay him in a different class from day to day.  One day send him into a dungeon as a mage... next day as an archer....etc.  I dont like starting a new character to replay all the different classes.... i just make my character become a master in all and then cycle thru them at my leisure, in order to keep the gameplay experience from being sharded and repetitive.  Which is why i delay completing the main quest for so long... i like to be a master  of everything or atleast close to... before i finish the main quest... altho dont get me wrong... i still like to play in the universe of elderscrolls even after the main quest is done.... the cities and forests have tons of content.  Now Daggerall and Morrowind got kind of boring after the main quest was done, But I think Oblivion will have endless replayability due to the enemy scaling, and realistic terrain.

Guns

[Acriku]

Being a veteran of Morrowind, I am finally getting my dream-RPG. Soon, after my order of ram comes in, I will check it out and hopefully love it. I checked out your link to the ram Guns, and thought it was such a good deal that I ordered a couple sticks. Should get it in the end of this week. As far as CPU, I'm set with an AMD 3200+ 64-bit, but as far as graphics card, I have an ATI Radeon 9600XT (128mb). Do you think I should upgrade or try it out?

[Cyborg]

That card kind of sucks.

You should get a new one if you can afford it.

[Davidu]

So, I need an upgrade to play Oblivion? ANOTHER UPGRADE? Man!!! This freaks me out!

[Anathema]

Looks like I won't have to upgrade. Instead, I'll need a new PC entirely. However since I picked up Morrowind only 3 months ago and still haven't gotten around to finish it, it can wait. Besides when Medieval: Total War comes out I at least won't be buying a PC just for the sake of a single game.

[GUNWOUNDS]

Being a veteran of Morrowind, I am finally getting my dream-RPG. Soon, after my order of ram comes in, I will check it out and hopefully love it. I checked out your link to the ram Guns, and thought it was such a good deal that I ordered a couple sticks. Should get it in the end of this week. As far as CPU, I'm set with an AMD 3200+ 64-bit, but as far as graphics card, I have an ATI Radeon 9600XT (128mb). Do you think I should upgrade or try it out?

I agree with Cyborg.. your graphics card is a little antiquated and Oblivion's textures and lighting may look pretty washed out on it.  However do NOT blow you money on a card slightly higher than what you have (like a 9800)... go ahead and save your cash for the Nvidia 6800GT  or the ATI X1800GTO

Nvidia 6800GT  http://www.pricewatch.com/video_cards/169175-1.htm

ATI X1800GTO  http://www.pricewatch.com/video_cards/991920-1.htm

These are the two lowest cards you should upgrade to... dont buy anything less than these or it will go obsolete before you know it.

The ATI card is slightly more expensive but is also bit more powerful.

Guns

[Cyborg]

Just what Gunwounds says. Don't just buy a slightly better card.

If I were you, I'd go for nothing less than Geforce 7900GT. It's affordable and very fast!

I'd buy it myself if it weren't for the fact that I already have a 7800GT.

Anyway, this game deserves SLI or Crossfire.:P

It's that good.

[Acriku]

I'm looking at this link: http://www.pricewatch.com/video_cards/991910-1.htm

Hmm... 330 bucks, I could afford it but with your honest opinion would that be a good investment (meaning, will last quite a while)? Maybe I need to see Oblivion in full action to be persuaded.

[Danuary]

In my honest opinion that card will become obsolete in the fall with all the others when windows vista comes out with directX 10, which is not backwards compatible.

[Acriku]

? Why would it become obsolete in the fall, because it won't use the features new in directx 10 or because under Windows Vista it won't work?

[Danuary]

When vista is a released there will be a whole slew of new GFX cards supporting directX 10 and if you want to use 10 at all you will need one of them or else your expensive and formerly top-of-the-line graphics card will only be able to play with DX9 effects if designers even bother to include the old DX in their game. Not to mention that DX 10 cards will likely be much cheaper than ones out today because microsoft claims it is ten times more efficient than DX9 and unfortunatly, the key to that speed is the lack of backwards compatibility.

[Acriku]

If that's so, I might as well buy it and enjoy it for a year and then save up for a cheap dx10 card (but similar power/memory) when it becomes "necessary." I don't think it'll be a problem because I'm not a hardcore gamer, more for leisure purposes, unless a game really catches my eye (oblivion). Microsoft should worry about maintaining support for dx9 anyway, since its next-gen console is run on dx9 cards/games.

[GUNWOUNDS]

Of course existing cards that do not implement DX10 features will not be able to use DX10 features. However, DX has always been a superset of functionality, so I'd be surprised if, with DX10 installed, you couldn't still be using DX9. And even if you can't, I would guess that all games would have to be both DX10 and DX9 compatible, unless they want to cut out large swaths of their market. A lack of compatibility with older DX cards would be financial suicide.  So i wouldnt worry about today's cards going obsolete when Vista comes out.

Besides that....I've read that both NV and ATI will delay their DX10 cards for an unspecified period, sometime during 2007. And i doubt Acriku wants to wait till mid 2007 to buy a new video card... I'm thinking he wants one now... plus he can always sell his old card to recoup part of his investment and then purchase a DX10 card... especially if he invests in a nice card now.  Its what i always do.

I'd say buy the 7900GT if you can afford it Acriku... if not then go for the other two cards mentioned or something in between.

Guns

[Acriku]

Yeah, I'm pretty set on the 7900gt, it'll just be a couple weeks before I can afford it. Once I get that and my memory sticks, nothing should be in the way of my Oblivion!

Just a thought, could my old-ass CRT monitor from 1998 have anything to do with performance/eye candy? It hasn't been a problem yet, so I doubt it, but I don't know much about how monitors work with regards to the video card.

[GUNWOUNDS]

Yeah, I'm pretty set on the 7900gt, it'll just be a couple weeks before I can afford it. Once I get that and my memory sticks, nothing should be in the way of my Oblivion!

Just a thought, could my old-ass CRT monitor from 1998 have anything to do with performance/eye candy? It hasn't been a problem yet, so I doubt it, but I don't know much about how monitors work with regards to the video card.

Your monitor will limit you in 3 areas.

1.) Dot pitch (the lower the less blockier... usually .24, .25, .26 is unnoticeable)

2.) Max resolution (Some monitors are incapable of reaching 1600 x 1200 !! .... some can only go to 1024 x 768 !! .. no matter what the Graphics card can do)

3.) Max refresh rate (correlates with resolution and frames per second...)

For example my 24inch Sony Monitor has .24 dot pitch and can go up to 2600 x 1600 resolution at a refresh rate of 85hz

But for Oblivion and BF2  you only need 1600 x 1200 at 85hz to be considered "graphically perfect" ... any resolution above that only serves to shrink menu boxes and text (thereby giving you more viewable space...but doesnt add anymore graphical quality).  For instance... on EVE:Online it looks fine at 1600 x 1200 @ 85Hz , but i like to shrink the HUD down to have more view space and so i play it at 2500 x 1200.  However in BF2 and Oblivion i am not interested in shrinking the HUD so i play at 1600 x 1200 at 85 Hz

A simple test is to right click on your desktop and select properties.  Go to settings tab and see what the highest resolution you can reach is... that should tell you the limits of your Monitor/Graphics Card combo.  If your are unable to select 1600 x 1200... then it means either your monitor or current graphics card is incapable of displaying it.  Of course if you have the 7900gt installed and are unable to reach 1600 x 1200 then its obviously your Monitor thats holding you back.  Also your Monitor may not be able to do 85Hz and instead may only be able to do 60Hz ... thats ok it just means you have to disable vertical sync in order to break 60 Frames per second. Whereas a monitor at 85Hz could do 85 frames per second with vertical sync enabled.  (Vertical sync is a graphical feature that when enabled, limits your frames to whatever your refesh rate is... if you disable it then your monitor refresh rate is irrelevant in regards to frames per second.)

[Megashrap]

A simple test is to right click on your desktop and select properties.  Go to settings tab and see what the highest resolution you can reach is... that should tell you the limits of your Monitor/Graphics Card combo. 

There should also be a check-box in those properties as well where you can check beside were is says,"Hide or unhide what refresh-rates this monior is capable of".

I wouldn't worry too much about Vista when or if it is a game requirement. BF2, when I first gave it a try to see how I liked the game, I played it with Windows 2k pro and a 5200/128. and 512 ddr. I know I lagged up some games, but it was nice being able to play the game smooth in single player and online at times,all while being horribly under the game requirements and of course all lowest settings. Damn, pretty soon they should just include a compatable video card with the game that is sold.

[Harkdawg]

I got oblivion and i have to say, it must be made for high end computers. While im sure the graphics shine beautiful on the high end comps... i have more of a low end comp, Athlon 2800+ , 768 MB ram , Radeon 9600 pro, i play it on 1024*768 and additional stuff all OFF , the game runs smooth HOWEVER it looks like Gothic 1 even lot inferior than WoW .

So if one wants to see the graphical beauty u better get the highest machines out there :

[Cyborg]

Regarding vertical sync, it ideally should always be turned on.

This is because the graphics card and the monitor then will run synchronised, and the monitor will only draw finished frames on the screen. Finished frames look... Finished. :P

Without vertical synch, your graphics card just draws as fast as it can, and your monitor fetches whatever your graphics card has to show at the time it's updating the screen. The result is often that half-finished frames gets shown on your screen. You've noticed that, if you move around in a game without vertical synch on, you sometimes see cuts and clipping in the picture. That's exactly what this effect is.

The only point of not having vertical synch on is that it makes a negative impact on performance. And this impact is sometimes big anough that you would rather turn on some other graphical feature.

[GUNWOUNDS]

I got oblivion and i have to say, it must be made for high end computers. While im sure the graphics shine beautiful on the high end comps... i have more of a low end comp, Athlon 2800+ , 768 MB ram , Radeon 9600 pro, i play it on 1024*768 and additional stuff all OFF , the game runs smooth HOWEVER it looks like Gothic 1 even lot inferior than WoW .

So if one wants to see the graphical beauty u better get the highest machines out there :

Yea your comp specs are kinda weak... if Oblivion doesnt look realistic on your comp then you arent seeing everything.  I will post some screenshots so you can see what you are supposed to be seeing.  Thats a shame tho that you are seeing the "scaled back" version of it instead of its full glory.   1024X768 is a very poor resolution and with everything turned off it has to look like absolute crap on your comp. I'll get to work on some screenshots so you get a good look at what the game should look like... then you can close your eyes and picture the screenshots while you play the game on your comp.  I'm all about helping people out. ;D

Guns

[GUNWOUNDS]

Regarding vertical sync, it ideally should always be turned on.

This is because the graphics card and the monitor then will run synchronised, and the monitor will only draw finished frames on the screen. Finished frames look... Finished. :P

Without vertical synch, your graphics card just draws as fast as it can, and your monitor fetches whatever your graphics card has to show at the time it's updating the screen. The result is often that half-finished frames gets shown on your screen. You've noticed that, if you move around in a game without vertical synch on, you sometimes see cuts and clipping in the picture. That's exactly what this effect is.

The only point of not having vertical synch on is that it makes a negative impact on performance. And this impact is sometimes big anough that you would rather turn on some other graphical feature.

I agree vertical sync is very good to have... which is why its nice to have a monitor that can support a higher refresh rate when locked into vertical sync... having a monitor that can perform 1600 x1200 at 85Hz instead of 60Hz will give you an extra 25 frames per second.

Guns

[Cyborg]

That's right. Oh, and 60hz flickers like damn... You won't notice it too much in game, but try it out on your desktop... Auch.

[GUNWOUNDS]

Here's a juicy screenshot..... 

NOTE: hover your mouse over the picture and an enlargement icon will appear in the lower right hand corner...click that to make the picture larger and more detailed.

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/8117/oblivion09yr.jpg

I'll make some more but that really shows off the realistic metal and lighting.  Also dont forget that this is a JPEG still-shot.  It looks even better than this ingame in realtime.

Guns

[GUNWOUNDS]

more screenshots...

NOTE: hover your mouse over the picture and an enlargement icon will appear in the lower right hand corner...click that to make the picture larger and more detailed.

1- http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/7316/oblivion17ei.jpg

2- http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/2979/oblivion29yw.jpg

3- http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/3027/oblivion31te.jpg

4- http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/4349/oblivion40qo.jpg

5- http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/9547/oblivion52os.jpg  -nice action shot here

6- http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/7199/oblivion65ua.jpg

7- http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/7686/oblivion70be.jpg

Remember ... you need atleast a 6800 GT or X1800 GTO to get anywhere close to this level of detail ... also notice the trees in the far distance.  Dont try to play this with an old directx 8.0 card like the 9600.

Take a good look at picture #5 ... look at the rocks near the lake, the lighting reflecting off the rocks.. the light reflecting off my character's back, and the detailed foilage on the trees and the grass. You see, when you turn everything OFF, it makes for a drab play experience. All the little things add up to one big experience,which is why you need to play with everything ON.  So tell your mom/dad/wife/sibling that you want a new graphic card for your birthday/christmas  ;D

Guns

[GUNWOUNDS]

NEW Screenshot with  my black horse... its the best horse in the game...

Here is Magnus on his horse doing some show jumping

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/3971/oblivion92qj.jpg

;D

Guns