October 31, 2004     

There was yet another developer post about Combat in Oblivion.

- MrSmileyFaceDude with even more combat comments:

"Oblivion is neither a twitch game nor an FPS. Combat is still largely stats based. The only stats-based difference is that there's no longer a die roll to hit for melee weapons. If you're close enough and facing the right way, your weapon will hit. You may not do any damage, but it'll hit.

The Elder Scrolls games have *ALWAYS* been about a balance between player skills and character skills, and that hasn't changed. The removal of "to hit" roll is not meant to de-emphasize character stats, and I don't believe it does. The fighting controls in Oblivion are nearly identical to those in Morrowind, however now selecting different attacks has greater meaning. You can stand there and button mash if you want to, but you can also fight strategically -- maneuver, block, select different attacks,

And quite frankly I'm tired of people accsing us of dumbing down the game. We're not. We're taking the ideas of the previous games and trying to improve the playing experience for EVERYONE, including CRPG fans. I would have thought that the Xbox version of Morrowind -- which left out NONE of the content or features of the PC version -- would have shown people that we are not in the business of catering to the "lowest common denominator". We happen to think that console gamers are smarter than that, and the success of Morrowind on Xbox proves that console gamers actually ARE interested in games with MORE depth and complexity than some people seem to think they are."

October 28, 2004     

Another dev post, this time about stealth and thieving.

- EmilPags with a long post on thieving in Oblivion:

"Hello. I'm Emil Pagliarulo. You might remember me from such Thief missions as A Tale of Two Taffers, and When Blackjacks Collide.

Ba-dum-dum! But seriously, folks.

Emil here. For those of you who don't know me, nice to meet you. Those of you who do might recall that I was indeed a designer on the Thief series. I did work on Thief Gold, and was a designer of Thief 2, Thief 2 Gold (R.I.P. along with the rest of Looking Glass) and Thief: Deadly Shadows.

First of all, let me just say thanks for this thread. Seeing how passionate you are about stealth in Oblivion makes any improvments to the system that much more worth it. I was really surprised by how many of you are Thief fans, and how many of you are really invested in Oblivion's stealth experience. So I wanted to jump in here and respond to all your comments (and all my PMs!), and let you know that we are listening, and we do care.

Secondly, thanks for all the great suggestions and design ideas. Just about everyone who has posted in this thread (and others like it) has brought something new to the discussion. Whether it be an idea for a type of quest, or a method for improving the overall stealth/thieving/assassin experience. Please, keep them coming. On a personal note, it's this type of passion shown by the players that really motivates me to do the best work I possibly can. And I'm certainly not alone in that regard.

And last but not least... When having a discussion like this, I think it's really important to draw the distinction between the Thief games and stealth/thieving in the Elder Scrolls games. Thief: Deadly Shadows is a game about being a thief in a fantasy setting. It is about sneaking. And hiding in shadows. And lockpicking. And pickpocketing. And wall climbing. And disposing of bodies. It is all of those things...and NOTHING else. Thief: Deadly Shadows' 3+ years of development time was spent solely on developing those stealth systems, and believe me the team could have spent a lot more time if given the opportunity.

Now take a look at Oblivion, and you'll see that there's stealth/thieving, but sooooo much more. Oh boy, is there more. Spellcasting. Melee combat. Individualized NPCs. Dialogue. Joinable factions. Multiple questlines. A huge landmass. Large-scale battles between the Nazis and Americans. Okay, everything BUT that last one.

The point is, there's just no way ANY game that offers as much as Oblivion does could have a stealth/thieving system as robust as that seen in the Thief series. It's just impossible -- unless you want a development cycle of 6+ years. And really, nobody wants that. Take blackjacking, for example. That's one of THE core systems of the Thief series. Strictly designed, heavily tested, and really fundamental to the core gameplay. That's just not true for Oblivion, so the chances of something like that showing up are very unlikely. And rope arrows? If Thief: Deadly Shadows didn't even have time to get them right, you can be sure we're not even going to go near something like that.

Now for the good news. The Red Sox won the World Series! The Curse has ended! Southie rules!! Woohoo!!!!

Ohhhhh....you want good news about Oblivion... Okay, I have that too!

Leveraging our strengths as a next-gen RPG, there are so many things we CAN do to make Oblivion's stealth/thieving/assassin gameplay better than it's ever been in an Elder Scrolls title. Like designing quests that better take a stealth skillset into account. Building spaces that are more fun to break into, with multiple entrances. Improving NPC AI to respond better to a player using stealth, and give more appropriate audio feedback. Adjusting light levels to really have an impact on stealth and sneaking. Making lockpicking a more satisfying experience. And simply designing an RPG with a better fundamental understanding of what makes stealth gameplay fun. These are the things we're looking at and working on. These are the ways Oblivion's stealth/thieving system are really going to outshine any other RPG out there.

So in closing, let me just say thanks again, and keep those ideas coming. And remeber, Wazowski. I'm watching. Alwways waaatttcchhiiinnnggg...."

Another interview with Todd Howard has appeared, this time on Gamespot. Most of the information isn't new, however, it clarifies a few points. More importantly, it adds a some new screenshots to the mix.

October 27, 2004     

Here are a few more developer posts that clarify some of the already released information.

- MrSmileyFaceDude with some more clarification on stats and combat:

"Your stats still govern how much damage you do when you connect. As a player, you are controlling your character. You choose movement, you choose when to attack, and what attack to perform, and when to block. The controls are very simple, in fact they're nearly identical to Morrowind's but there's a lot more variety in the attacks.

As a (primarily) first person real-time RPG, Oblivion -- like Morrowind -- is going to put more of an emphasis on player skills than a turn-based RPG might. That's always been the nature of The Elder Scrolls. The main difference between Oblivion and Morrowind is that we're trying to make the combat more meaningful, engaging and fun than just clicking and having that same "use best attack" animation playing over and over again, and wondering why when your claymore CLEARLY went right through your foe, you just heard a "whoosh" but didn't actually connect.

But stats still play a HUGE role -- it's NOT an FPS or a "twitch" game by any stretch. And there IS still randomness. We may have removed "to hit", but we haven't removed ALL the die rolls from the game."

October 26, 2004     

MrSmileyFaceDude dropped by the Official forums and made a few posts regarding Combat in Oblivion. Here they are:

- MrSmileyFaceDude with an Oblivion combat story:

"You're walking through a seedy part of a town in Western Cyrodiil. People mill about, some engaged in conversation, others minding their own business, out on their own errands. Suddenly, an ugly man decides he doesn't like you. Maybe he's drunk, maybe he's just a bully, maybe he's just showing off in front of his friends -- but for whatever reason, he has taken your measure and decided he can best you.

He comes charging at you, with a nasty looking mace in his hand and a look of hatred on his face. Onlookers move back to make room for what should be an entertaining fight.

Quickly drawing your sword and shield, you wheel around to face him. He's upon you pretty quickly though, and you barely have time to raise your shield [hold right mouse button] before his first blow thunders down upon you.

But you block well, and as he recoils from the collision, you quickly perform left & right slashes with your sword [left click, pause, left click]. The bully realizes this isn't going to be easy.

He backs off a bit, and starts dodging around you. First to the left, then to the right. You maneuver to keep him in view, looking for an opening. Suddenly he steps back, raises his mace in both hands, and steps forward, bringing the mace towards your head in a crushing blow!

But you're quick -- you step to the side as he attacks. As he passes by, you execute a spinning maneuver and slash him in the side [hold left mouse button and left maneuver key]. The hit is solid, and your foe staggers from the blow.

But it's not over yet. The bully swings his mace wildly -- his first swing misses, but the next one connects for a blow that sends you staggering. Pressing his advantage, the bully bears down on you with a power attack of his own. OUCH. This isn't going well. You take a glance at your health meter, it's getting a bit low. You quickly back up out of the bully's reach and raise your shield [hold right mouse button].

He's hurting, too. You circle each other for a time, looking for an opening, trying to recover some fatigue. Finally the bully charges forward with a devastating overhead blow, perhaps hoping to break your shield. But the shield holds and the recoil send him staggering back. This is your chance! You perform a mighty forward power attack [hold the left mouse button, press forward] and connect solidly. The blow staggers your foe once again, and you perform 3 slashing attacks in rapid succession [left mouse button, pause, left mouse button, pause, left mouse button], and finally the bully collapses to the ground, defeated.

The crowd disperses, going back to their own business."

October 25, 2004     

More news on the Oblivion front with Action Trip putting up a preview. This one seems to have quite a bit of skooma induced speculation, so make of it what you will.

October 24, 2004     

Gamespot have also put up a quick overview of Oblivion. Nothing new but publicity is always good!

A quick update today related to the new Oblivion information. I've included the new screenshots and concept art from the various sites. Also, I've updated the Oblivion FAQ to it includes the new information given. Drop me a line if I've missed any new info.

October 22, 2004     

Today the Official site was updated with new screenshots, concept art, a wallpaper and a Team diary featuring Todd Howard.

Also, Gamespy have put up an Oblivion preview with loads of info and some more pictures.

October 14, 2004     

I've just updated the Poll so it asks your opinions on the up and coming ES4: Oblivion.

The last poll showed that everyone wanted an Elder Scrolls 4 to be made next, and it looks like you are getting your wish!

October 10, 2004     

Some more Dev posts that I may or may not have missed:

- MrSmileyFaceDude on characters aging in Oblivion:

"Characters will not age. The comparison photos were indicating that you can easily set the age of characters in the game and the face will be automatically altered appropriately."

October 6, 2004     

This may interest those waiting for more Oblivion information.

- Pete talks about when to expect more info:

"I've sent info to a number of mags, and there isn't a magazine on the planet that hasn't gotten information if they've asked for it. The more pages they plan to devote to the game, the more info and screens they'll have. The (overseas) magazines that have the most interest in providing the most info are the ones that say they've been flooded with requests for info on the game.

So for those of you that scoffed at my earlier comment about letting your local game magazine know you want info, scoff away. There's a reason other developers post news items asking their fans to contact such-and-such magazine to let them know they want info on game X (although, in our case you'll want to say "Oblivion" and not "game X" or lord knows what you'll end up reading about...10 pages on City Dump Tycoon). It's because that's the way things work. Consumer demand = press coverage.

In any case, in a roughly two weeks we'll be releasing some info online and there will be a couple sites that will have additional info as well. Stay tuned.... "