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latest Skywind dev update, looks awesome https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_K7Kpt7X84
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Jun 24, 2021 08:48
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That's really pretty enticing.
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Jun 24, 2021 12:34
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I think when Skyblivion comes out I will prefer it to vanilla Oblivion but as someone who can tolerate vanilla Morrowind I don't see myself ever really using Skywind. What is Morrowind without its mods?
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Jun 24, 2021 13:17
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I think I'll both enjoy it and also not at all replace Modded Morrowind with it. One playthrough of what is essentially a different game, whereas I'll be playing "real" morrowind ten years from now, I'm sure.
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Jun 24, 2021 13:51
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I wonder if TES6 will be out by the time Skywind does, making it essentially obsolete. I don't think that was the case with Morrowblivion, but Skywind has been in development a lot longer.
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Jun 24, 2021 18:49
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After 15 years I've decided that this is the year that I'm going to beat Oblivion. Stop me if you've heard this one before, but...woof this level scaling, even when modded. I'm level 20 and just did the "kill 12 Slaughterfish" quest for the guy just west of the Imperial City, and I think these 12 fish could've conquered the world if they worked together. I'm not very far into any of the main quests despite being level 20 and I have half a mind to start a fresh character with some duds as my Major Skills. Someone talk me out of it (or further into it).
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Jul 25, 2021 23:10
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I just beat unmodded Oblivion recently as well, basically only doing the main quest and that alone convinced me to never touch Oblivion ever again. Do it so you can set your soul free.
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Jul 25, 2021 23:21
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The trick with Oblivion, without cheesing it, is to start turning down the difficulty slider when you start finding the combat tediously unfun. The cheese it trick is 100% Chameleon takes only 5 Grand Souls and Frostcrag Spire or access to the Arcane University, and it renders you practical invincibility and perfect stealth.
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Jul 26, 2021 01:55
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Yeah the difficulty slider is necessary, it's not like you're gonna die at high level anyway
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Jul 26, 2021 02:17
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I totally blanked on there being a difficulty slider, good call y'all.Big Scary Owl posted:I just beat unmodded Oblivion recently as well, basically only doing the main quest and that alone convinced me to never touch Oblivion ever again. Do it so you can set your soul free. That's kind of my plan: beat the main quest, beat Shivering Isles, don't go into any dungeon unless directed to by a quest, see how much else I feed compelled to do. Honestly I don't mind much else in the game, it's just that combat makes everything take an order of magnitude longer. It actually makes me excited to see lovely little rats and mudcrabs, because those at least don't scale to your level.
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Jul 26, 2021 02:42
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oscuro's and maskar's are basically mandatory to enjoy oblivion imo, for many reasons but most especially the complete removal of level scaling. the base game is just dire
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Jul 26, 2021 03:04
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the best way to play oblivion is to play two worlds instead
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Jul 26, 2021 03:10
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You should absolutely do the guilds. Oblivion Guilds are some of the best TES content bar none.
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Jul 26, 2021 03:18
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Jazerus posted:oscuro's and maskar's are basically mandatory to enjoy oblivion imo, for many reasons but most especially the complete removal of level scaling. the base game is just dire I'm running Francesco's which purports to do something similar, but I didn't install all of the add-ons that came with it so maybe there's an .esp in there that really brings down the level scaling. I did install all of these mods five years ago and kind of forgot how to swap them around with wrecking things! DEEP STATE PLOT posted:the best way to play oblivion is to play two worlds instead One step ahead of you friend, but that was a decade ago or so. Another playthrough wouldn't be the worst thing in the world though...
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Jul 26, 2021 04:49
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I tried playing Oblivion a long time ago and I didn't know about the level scaling so I made a sneaky/charismatic type like I always do; once I completed the Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood stuff I decided to go through the Oblivion gate and the first clanfear would one-shot me despite the difficulty slider being on its easiest setting. Haven't played since, though I'm sure I'll get back to it some day.
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Jul 26, 2021 11:06
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The issue with the big balance mods is that they are tuned for folks who already played the game half a dozen times so you got to lower the difficulty slider a bit and be careful not to add any extra modules that increase the difficulty. Also I can’t find it now but there’s a mod that spawns you in the final room of every Oblivion gate which is just brilliant. Takes all of 5 minutes to close a gate, just one fight and a decent reward at the end of it.
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Jul 26, 2021 11:20
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Fruits of the sea posted:The issue with the big balance mods is that they are tuned for folks who already played the game half a dozen times so you got to lower the difficulty slider a bit and be careful not to add any extra modules that increase the difficulty. Holy poo poo I need this, the Gates suuuuuuuuuck.
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Jul 26, 2021 12:38
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Hey there is all of one randomly spawning oblivion gate with named loot in it think about the vast wealth of content and alchemy ingredients you're missing.
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Jul 26, 2021 15:17
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I legitimately enjoy the first 3-4 gates in a play through and then the gimmick is played out. Would have been so much better if they just kept gates to the story beats and spent the extra time on making all the caves and ruins more interesting.
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Jul 26, 2021 16:19
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C-Euro posted:I'm running Francesco's which purports to do something similar, but I didn't install all of the add-ons that came with it so maybe there's an .esp in there that really brings down the level scaling. I did install all of these mods five years ago and kind of forgot how to swap them around with wrecking things! fran's doesn't really do anything meaningful to level scaling by itself iirc. it's used in big installations mostly for the weapons and armor that it adds. putting fran and oscuro together is the goal of FCOM, which is the most complicated thing to install in any oblivion modlist, so yeah i wouldn't really suggest layering them outside of a fresh install. maskar's is much more modern tho and can be added into any install at any time
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Jul 26, 2021 16:47
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I was planning my own Oblivion playthrough a few years back but I decided to watch a completionist LP instead (at 2x speed) and I believe that was the right call.
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Jul 26, 2021 18:50
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For those wanting to replay Oblivion I'd recommend giving PushTheWinButton's Through the Valleys modding guide a go. It's explicitly based on the same principles as the Viva New Vegas guide for FNV, which is to say, offering a vanilla+ experience that focuses on stability and gameplay balance, without adding a bunch of extra fluff. Unusually, like half of the mods in the list were made by the guide creator himself and were released within the last two years. I originally found this a bit odd, but every time I read through the changes they add I find myself nodding along approvingly. Attribute Progression Redesign posted:Description: Makes unused attribute points carryover into future levels, reducing the min-maxing of vanilla leveling without overhauling the original intent. Balanced Creature Stats posted:Description: Fixes Oblivion's unfair creature level scaling by making all creature levels static or enforcing a maximum level for scaling with the player. Also balances and fixes creature stats logically across similar types, without altering the vanilla intention. Balanced NPC Level Cap posted:Description: Adds consistent level caps to every NPC in the base game and all DLCs (over 1,400), to prevent unfair level scaling at high levels. Balanced Unleveled Rewards posted:Description: Removes level scaling from all leveled quest rewards and items, instead giving them balanced stats based on how difficult they are to obtain compared to generic items. Practical Training posted:Description: Makes unused training sessions rollover into the next level, and training costs are now dependent on the trainer's disposition and skill. This reduces the min-maxing of having to use all your training sessions every level, and pairs nicely with Ascension and Attribute Progression Redesign.
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Jul 26, 2021 20:49
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...I liked the gates and would actively farm them for free enchantments 
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Jul 27, 2021 00:17
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I don't hate the Gates, but I remember them losing their appeal and getting kinda tedious until I discovered you could make a full set of gear enchanted with Chameleon and Speed and just rush the stone.
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Jul 27, 2021 01:56
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They're probably fine if every enemy doesn't take 2-3 minutes to kill. The enemy level scaling just makes every dungeon drag.
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Jul 27, 2021 03:11
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Ofecks posted:I was planning my own Oblivion playthrough a few years back but I decided to watch a completionist LP instead (at 2x speed) and I believe that was the right call. One of the weird things about Oblivion - and I guess this is true of Skyrim too - is that "beating" it is never the goal really. I faffed around Oblivion for years before I finally did an end run playthrough and the main story is meh at best. There's this weird thing with these games where the main story is complete crap but serves a purpose mainly in explaining the tone of the games.
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Jul 27, 2021 21:18
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C-Euro posted:They're probably fine if every enemy doesn't take 2-3 minutes to kill. The enemy level scaling just makes every dungeon drag.
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Jul 27, 2021 21:27
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the only oblivion character i made that could survive on the default difficulty had 100 magic resist and 100 reflect damage and just stood there while all the bandits in daedric armor beat themselves to death
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Jul 27, 2021 21:38
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The only time I ever had a problem with level scaling was with my sneaky thief character who ended up too weak and fragile to kill the skeletons in the Springheel Jak quest. And goblins, in general. gently caress goblins.
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Jul 27, 2021 22:55
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RBA Starblade posted:And goblins, in general. gently caress goblins.
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Jul 27, 2021 23:02
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Mendrian posted:One of the weird things about Oblivion - and I guess this is true of Skyrim too - is that "beating" it is never the goal really. I faffed around Oblivion for years before I finally did an end run playthrough and the main story is meh at best. While not an Elder Scrolls game, I'd like to bring up the main quest line for Fallout New Vegas. It is unique in that it's actually quite compelling, and a big part of that comes from how... diffuse it is. The early sections are entirely optional, and if you skip past them you'll almost immediately reach a point where you're told to check out several different factions spread all across the map, who themselves have a ton of compelling quests. In order to proceed with the main questline you need to have dealt with these factions in some way, particularly because every single one of them affects the ultimate resolution of the main quest. By designing the quests in this way, you (almost) completely avoid the whole issue of "shouldn't I be [solving the big problem] instead of messing around with this?", because you are in fact working towards [solving the big problem]! Compare and contrast with Oblivion (becoming a professional burglar while ignoring the deadric incursion), Skyrim (dungeon delving for the Bard's College instead of defeating Alduin), or Fallout 4 (immediately abandon search for son in favor of building quest furniture for strangers). Like imagine if these separate storylines were properly interconnected, where working towards becoming a trusted member of (let's say) the mage faction had a positive impact on the main quest and the main quest itself encouraged and incentivized you to do side content, rather than pulling you along by the nose while constantly chattering "We need to act now! It's super important for you to do the next main quest entry right away!" even though putting it off has no actual effect. It's so endlessly frustrating to play a game where the devs clearly want you to explore the world and experience the fun side content they've made, only for them to have inexplicably implemented a main quest that narratively and structurally makes you feel bad for doing anything other than completing it. The big problem with main quests like these is that you could remove them from their own games and it wouldn't make much of a difference for the remaining content. They're about as well-integrated into their own worlds as a piece of DLC. The main questline in FNV is good because it isn't a clearly distinct questline. It's seamlessly integrated into the world in which it occurs, even if you're just aimlessly exploring and doing whatever sidequests you come across, you're still indirectly contributing to the resolution of the main story. I wish that neat trick of quest-structure-design would make its way into Starfield and TES6, but I don't expect it will. ThaumPenguin fucked around with this message at 03:18 on Jul 28, 2021 |
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Jul 28, 2021 03:13
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It's funny to compare F:NV and F4 that way, since both of the main quests are this epic multi-faction battle for control. But the difference is, in NV, you care because it's important, whereas in 4 it's all about your son. Imagine how much more impactful the first meeting with Preston Garvey would be if that was you discovering what the world was like, instead of a sonward stepping stone.
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Jul 28, 2021 03:17
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Muscle Tracer posted:It's funny to compare F:NV and F4 that way, since both of the main quests are this epic multi-faction battle for control. But the difference is, in NV, you care because it's important, whereas in 4 it's all about your son. Imagine how much more impactful the first meeting with Preston Garvey would be if that was you discovering what the world was like, instead of a sonward stepping stone. It still absolutely baffles me that they set up this whole son kidnapping plot hook only to immediately distract you with a questline about spending several days doing carpentry and building up the local community. My son was kidnapped by cyborgs and you want me to become the general of your dead militia?? I am a lawyer and I want my son, who is in peril. There's this bizarre conflict between the main story's plot hook and the hooks of literally everything else in the game. Like usually Bethesda games are troubled by mere disconnects (being the arch mage has no bearing outside the school), but here it's as if the dev team is actively trying to tear the Sole Survivor into two separate characters; the meandering wasteland wanderer the game is very clearly built to support, and the immensely goal-oriented parent (lost son!!!), who belongs in a game with Bioshock levels of linearity. Hang on, this is just Bioshock 2. Fallout 4's core premise is just Bioshock 2 again what the hell ThaumPenguin fucked around with this message at 03:52 on Jul 28, 2021 |
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Jul 28, 2021 03:29
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My tiny baby! Kidnapped!! Oh noo- wooow that's a whole ship crashed into a building, I gotta take a look at that
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Jul 28, 2021 03:59
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ThaumPenguin posted:Like usually Bethesda games are troubled by mere disconnects (being the arch mage has no bearing outside the school) Not true, Neloth has special dialogue if you tell him you're arch mage. He offers to make you his apprentice someday.
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Jul 28, 2021 04:06
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There's also the confusing interplay in Oblivion where becoming the archmage before starting the thieves guild means you steal your staff from yourself and then later you have to steal something from a random court wizard who is friendly to you (but none of the other enemies in his tower are)
Wolfsheim fucked around with this message at 04:45 on Jul 28, 2021 |
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Jul 28, 2021 04:36
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Wolfsheim posted:There's also the confusing interplay in Oblivion where becoming the archmage before starting the thieves guild means you still your staff from yourself and then later you have to steal something from a random court wizard who is friendly to you (but none of the other enemies in his tower are) "I have Hrormir's Icestaff...I wonder who put it there when I was away All I need to do is leave the note in the nightstand. I don't know who from the Thieves Guild is monitoring my progress, so I'd best play along and do so."
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Jul 28, 2021 04:44
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Agents are GO! posted:Not true, Neloth has special dialogue if you tell him you're arch mage. He offers to make you his apprentice someday. Skyrim or morrowind?
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Jul 28, 2021 07:57
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ThaumPenguin posted:It's so endlessly frustrating to play a game where the devs clearly want you to explore the world and experience the fun side content they've made, only for them to have inexplicably implemented a main quest that narratively and structurally makes you feel bad for doing anything other than completing it. That's a good example, and a better one than what I normally think of: Morrowind. In New Vegas, as you said, the main plot is properly interwoven with the side content. In Morrowind, it really isn't, not in the same way. What Morrowind has, in contrast to Oblivion and Skyrim, is a main quest that isn't urgent. It's dire, but venturing into Red Mountain prematurely is a mistake—you have time to wait. Dagoth Ur is winning, but slowly, and his patience is divine. In contrast, the Second Battle of Hoover Dam is pending: everybody knows it's going to happen soon, but unlike Oblivion / Skyrim it's not like it's happening right now. It'll happen the moment the balance gets tipped. [Enter: One Mailman.]
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Jul 28, 2021 08:25
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RBA Starblade posted:The only time I ever had a problem with level scaling was with my sneaky thief character who ended up too weak and fragile to kill the skeletons in the Springheel Jak quest. goblins and trolls had absolutely ridiculous amounts of hp once you gained a bunch of levels. i remember trying to do a pure melee build and my weapon broke before i could kill a single troll.
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Jul 28, 2021 14:19
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