Hey all,

I just ordered TES 4 - Oblivion (for PC) ~ the special bundled pack with Bioshock, and expect to have it installed a few days. This is my introduction into this game as I've never played any of these TES series and I am hoping to have a bit of fun. I have read varied opinions and while I understand that the graphics are not quite as "cutting edge" with some of the newer games out, from what I have seen they should be good enough to allow for some decent immersion.

The biggest draw to this game for me is the lack of linear gameplay. Or rather the ability for open ended gameplay is probably the best way to phrase it. The ability to "do whatever" I choose and play my character my way has a tremendous appeal to me. If I like this version I am going to buy Skyrim but I think for now I will wait and see. I have some concerns from what I have read about how the code seems to have been written more for console gaming and simply ported over into a pc version. I have always found that to be more frustrating than not. (For example in Assassins Creed when the camera takes over and you want to kill youself to try to make certain manuevers using your mouse and keyboard, or the fact that all their in game icons are console pics and I have to try to remember wtf button the little pic represents lol) After a while it wasn't too bad but still.

Anyway I was wondering if there was anything I should know starting out that may help transition me better~ any sage advice from fellow mature (yes, I'm old) PC gamers? Outlside of the ability to play your own class your way and create your own adventures and just do as you like, I am really looking forward to my first time playing with player made mods. I've read someplace that you can install a player mod that will grant you a free house That sounds like a good idea to start.

Well I am looking forward to playing this after exhausting AOC, AION, Witcher and a few others from the past, especially now that I have some extra free time to get back into gaming.

Any help/advice is appreciated.

Peace.

the elder scrolls nexus is a great place to get mods...the leveling system in oblivion is pretty flawed so getting a mod for that will make your game experience a lot better...without one you will have a really hard time getting up the attributes you need for your build....but there IS a difficulty slider so that can be a simple way to balance it.

The leveling system in Oblivion is only flawed if a level 30 wolf killing you when you easily dispatched a level 3 wolf insults your idea of propriety. The leveling system is a solution to keep things interesting. The Character leveling system is wonderful. I'm writing this to show you there are not absolutes- by sales alone- any criticism of Oblvion's leveling would appear to be unimportant. it won game of the year and awards for visuals and music. Hardly what is won with a 'flawed leveling system' .

But beyond that- it was a milestone in gaming. For many years it was the one to beat and remained unbeaten. If you do have your own disagreements with the character build in Oblivion, by the time you understand what you like and don't like the game will have rewarded you exponentially.

I love the leveling in Oblivion- with the sole exception that I think legendary and unique weapons should level with you instead of remaining at whatever level they were when discovered.

I can't imagine telling someone new to Oblvion that the leveling system is pretty flawed when the game is simply so great. But now you've heard from my point of view- to each his own. That the game is still played many years after its release ought to tell you something.

I'd play the game a little bit with out any mods first just to get an idea of what you'd like to change.

You wanted to know how to prepare? There is little the game can do to stop you from doing what you want that the game is not programmed for, except for some locked doors and those damned essential characters. These people can't be killed just to stop you from breaking quests. Aside from this I can't think of any other major way the game will hinder you from doing whatever whether or not you are supposed to. You just won't get any dialogue for it because Bethesda can't read minds. But you will get a few 'choose this or that' situations.

You might want a leveling mod such as nGCD to raise attributes by your actions or one that will give you +5 attributes every level just so that you don't have to jump through hoops for a maximized character. Otherwise take the time to read about Oblivion's leveling system in detail, because you are going to bleed and sweat for your character the way we had to for those +5 attributes at level up. Ask yourself if you want to eventually enchant your weapon with +25 additional elemental damage, or use spells to do more than that outright, or if you will not use magic and instead use sigil stones from Oblivion gates to do the enchanting.

As for graphics, you might want to start with Quarl's Texture Pack 3 ridimized(spelling) which comes with it's own normal maps to use bump map light trickery to add more shape.

Word of warning: Oblivion's main graphic flaw imo is not about the rendering engine... it's about how Oblivion's bottomless facegen system has made virtually all npcs ugly and the angush you may go through just to make your player look good enough to represent you.

I'd just field a character first out.... instead of breaking out the pen and pencil for efficient leveling.

I think Oblivion plays beautifully on PC. I love playing it with mouse and keyboard. It feels just as easy and natural to me as any other game I can remember playing. The only aspect that even seems remotely 'consolized' to me is the menu. I feel the tabbed menu system is extremely awkward on PC. But I won't get any further into it because we've all been through this a several times on this forum and I'm the only one who feels this way. Most players seem to love tabs.





I would like to echo things King Coin and mpls Big Daddy said above: 1.) play the game for a few hours at least before you use mods and 2.) make a test character to get the feel of the game. Run around, get used to the controls. Gawk at the beautiful scenery, listen to the music, go into a few dungeons, try out different combat styles...just have fun for awhile. There's plenty of time to get serious later.

I guess my biggest piece of advice would be to not allow yourself to feel pushed into the main quest. One of the minor flaws of the game, in my opinion, is that it is overbearing in its attempt to usher the player into doing the main quest right now, this instant. By all means do it if you want to. But don't feel you have to. Those of us who have been playing for years are able to 'tune out 'the main quest, but that's not always an easy thing to do the first time around.

If you want to take a look at some house mods, though, here is the absolute best place to start: http://oblivionsrealestate.com/






There is no such thing as a level 30 wolf. There is no such thing as a level 3 wolf either. Wolves are always level 1. There is far less scaling in Oblivion than people think. The vast majority of creatures in the game are static.

I'm sorry if I said that wrong- characters often hit level 40 and suddenly a wolf kills them. The wolf could not before. Thank you for clarifying my mistake.

I wouldn't say I love tabs, they are quite awkward, but at least they're not screamingly frustrating like some UIs I've had to use.

Just play and enjoy the game. My only advise

And why no one here had the courtesy to provide a http://images.uesp.net/c/c4/Fishystick.jpgis beyond me!

As many others have said, I suggest playing the game and not worrying too much about the leveling system or other things. Don't bother with mods until you find out what you want to change, then go looking for mods that make those changes. Many people have a special character they use to get to know a game, such as Bobo the Barbarian, or Glarrg the Barbarian, etc... Make Groo the Wanderer and go out and see what misadventures you can get into. Once you have a good feel for the game, go back and start again with a new character, built how you want them, to do what you want.

Play Arena lols Its free to download and pretty sweet. Not like it has a HUGE LEARNING CURVE or anything like that.

Thanks all for the advice. I do plan on just getting in there and getting my feet wet for a feel of the game overall with a bit of a test character. I'm looking forward to roaming through and see as much as the game has to offer without any serious stat crunching or anything like that. I have no real plans for modding for a bit as I've never done it before but am curious as to the whole process so it's just on my list for future.
I am pretty excited about getting involved in this new world and have no problem taking my time to get to know it a bit before I mess about with anything. Who knows, I may actually even take a crack at playing something completely out of character for me or perhaps even craft a bit for a change...it all depends I suppose.

One question I do have from the remarks so far though~


I took a look at this forum and it sends me to register at Skyrim Realestate....? Although I hope to enjoy Oblivion enough to possibly graduate into Skyrim, isn't that a whole separate game to go modding about it? Pardom my ignorance but if I install a house mod from Skyrim Real Estate is that going to work in the Oblivion world....is the mod kit the same and just a matter of what game you install it into or are they all version specific? Not a big thing and I don't really expect I will need a house (I like the possibility of perhaps having one but if they are anything like LOTRO then other than a money sink and a place to store some things they are pretty much all but useless outside of RP) .

Thanks again for all your patience.

I'll tell you, I was a first time TES player about 4 months ago. And I fell in love. Study up on some lore. Def play oblivion before skyrim. People were telling me it was like fallout for years, and i didn't listen. I do want to warn you though, you won't come out of your room for awhile,forget to shower, and probably lose any relationships you have currently. Enjoy! Lol

Cheers

My biggest piece of advice is this: Just make your first character and do it all with him. That way you have one play through and then you know everything that happens and what can be done with diferent skills and so forth.

Also don't fast travel, use lots of alchemy, and don't be a friggin Breton unless you like the race. They are not the best character statistically despite what a lot of people said. Plus I am personally tired of reading about noobs that play Bretons under the mage Birthsign. Breton-Mage builds just mean your way too safe.

Lastly think of the difficulty slider as a Balancing tool rather than a difficulty slider. Adjust it to fit your gaming.

So you saying that when you click my link you are sent to the Skyrim Real Estate site? That's not what happens when I click on it. When I click on my link it sends me to Oblivion Real Estate. You should be seeing a kind of reddish background with links on the left where you can click to find house mods ("Find A Home"). If the link is sending you to a site with a blue-black background and the words "Skyrim Real Estate" there's something very wrong. Am I the only one not having problems with the link?

@Pseron Wyrd
No, not at all. When I click on the link it does indeed send me to the Oblivion Real Estate page and when I click Find a Home it takes me again to an Oblivion page but on it it says: Welcome to ORE! A place for us all to relax, browse some houses and videos and enjoy the many features of this site. If this is your first visit to the site please click http://oblivionsrealestate.com/Find_A_Home/find_a_home.html#Navigate to go to the ‘Navigate ORE’ section that will explain some of the features here. On that page, also (Oblivion) it tells me to "Click on the door at the top left hand corner to access the ORE Forum. You need to be a registered member to see and post in the forum." Unfortunately when you click on that door on that Oblivion page it takes you to this link: http://www.skyrimrealestate.com/forum/index.php
Which becomes Skyrim. Do I even need to post on the forum to download a house? Maybe i am (as usual) overthinking things...

@ZeroSymbolic7188 lol, well it figures. After reading the different races I was initially planning on starting with the Breton as I am a fan of the woods. No worries though as I am not much of a magician so I was thinking more in the lines of Assassin or Thief to start. I am tired of playing tank and I want to explore more and not necessarily engage an enemy unless I've thought things through a bit... I'll keep the difficulty slider in mind, thanks for the tip.

@Daniels Thanks for the warning. This isn't my first rodeo in a beautiful immersive online world but I am not worried anyway as my wife seems to have a way with bringing me back home fairly easilly offline. But if it is all I think it can be she may wind up joining me again and we will wander the new world together

I've never seen that (perhaps because I'm a member). But you don't need to go to the forums (unless you want to read or write posts). All you need to do is to click on the button I mentioned; Find A Home.

I would try ignoring the 'click on the door' message. See if you can click on the Find a Homes button instead.

@Pseron Wyrd Thanks again. I will give that a try that today after work and let you know

I'm not a member, and I'm not seeing a problem either. I'm easily able to click on the "find a home" button, and then a whole column of buttons appear, allowing me to select from different home types.

The forum's mainly for those who make the house mods, rather than those who just use them. I'm a member there mainly because I contribute meshes, animations, scripts etc. that find their way into others' mods. The forums just had to move to another host, so a rebuild and rename was in order, but they're really about TES real estate, rather than just one of the series. The new stuff will be predominately for Skyrim (at least once the CK is released) but the Oblivion content won't go away. I don't remember if there's any Morrowind content or not, but it's not out of the question.

suggestion!

Stop reading anything on forums and play the game as if you had never heard of it before.

It's a fabulous game and nothing I've played since it's release is as good.

However there were several excellently enjoyable games in the genre BEFORE Oblivion - especially Morrowind.

Oh and I'm an old gamer... probably the oldest here that's for sure,

This!

I'm an old person too. Just play it vanilla before the whole "omg you need mods thing"
I did it and survived without mods and it was awesome. PPL get spoiled by mods. I love mods. I always download them after my first playthru in vanilla.
but as for houses nothing beats OB real estate as Pseron suggested. I always make a house in the CS for my character.
But really just do the quests without the mods first, you'll be thankful for the MODS after. But you will also be thankful you can accomplish it without them

Great, thanks all. I expect to have the game in hand soon and will plunge right in. I have no immediate plans for modding anything, as I've said it would be a first. I am merely curious how all that works and would eventually read up more on that to see how best to go about it. I am more of a learn by doing sort of guy but I was curious as a PC player used to more high level graphic games how immersive this series will get or if there were any tips/tricks to make that transition. From all your comments though it sounds like it's just my kind of world and I'm really looking forward to exploring it.
Thanks again.

This is why you should listen to senior citizens, people! I did exactly this and my initial experience wouldn′t had been half as good if I had known what it was about. That′s why I don′t like threads by noobs asking "why, when, where should I do this" because by doing that they ruin for themselves, and that′s a sad state of affairs