So what would your dream oblivion mod be like ?

[Tokra]

Ok, so I think we can all agree that oblivion was a rather weak RPG, but is freaking awsome with mods (AKA: Bethsoft should fire their folks execpt for the lore people, and hire from the moding community, theyd get better games).

 

So, heres what I think a 'dream mod' of oblivion would have. (PS: Try to list WHY you want the changes)

 

1- Starting options. Im sure most folks have at least tested some of these, they make the begining not annoying as hell after the 3rd time AND make more sense, weather it be starting on a boat as an immigrant into Cyrodil, not even STARTING the main quest until you get arrested in the IC, or whatever as there are many variations out there. It makes much better RP sense than the generic 'LOL TUTORIAL DUNGON 4U AGAIN' start and can, especily since the way bethesda made oblivion 95% of the roleplay is all in your head and this element allows you to customize your start to your characther.

 

2- Level Scaling. Yeah. Worst. Idea. Ever. Totaly removed, if you try to dive into a high level dungeon, you get pwnd, period. Leave the levelscaling that lets you beat the game @ level 1 for the xBox. It makes the game make more sense, and makes it more fun, which makes RPing it easier as you no longer see bandits wearing the most expenseve armors in the game every two steps in caves.

 

3- Size. Cyrodil is SMALL. REALLY small. So riding a horse from 1 main city to another takes 5-10 minutes. Theyre basicly a couple miles or less apart BY ROAD for the most part. Thats a freakin joke, as cyrodil is supposed to basicly be its own continent/country. The main cities should be regional capitals for cyrodil, not just villages. So my dream mod would have to basicly totaly re-do the worldspace. The IC would have to be freaking HUGE, with multiple shops of all types in every district, and with the market district having some of the best shops ever dreamed of (but with similarly high prices) as well as a general open bazaar type atmosphere. From there, add realistic small villages in the outlying areas around the other towns, and smaller farms and such outlying from those, however the average 'farm' in vanilla oblivion is about the size of a backyard garden plot. In general, this means travel and such takes a LOT longer w/o quicktravel, while that may get old it adds a LOT to the RP aspect of it as hauling that expenseve but heavy artifact back to the IC market to sell means you have to pass up a LOT more loot along the way.

 

4- Time. We all know you can do it via the console, but the vanilla setting for time moving 30x as fast as it really does, should be scaled down to several times as fast at most.

 

5- The influence of gender. Ok, this isnt a 'lol sexmod' thing, but rather a 'would it actualy fit the setting' thing. Sexuality should be a part of it, as it would fit a world like tamerial (I mean FFS, Tiber Septim knocks up the girl who later became the queen mother of morrowind, and he forces her to have an abortion in one of the VANILLA books so its not TOO far out to suggest having it in gameplay). Towns with ports, or legion forts (which I'll get into later) should have brothels. Male PCs can have a good time there. Female PCs can earn coin there (with things like age selected in char setup having an effect on the profit). Bandits should offer female PCs 'alternete' ways to pay the toll (Ill discuss bandits in more detail later). Clothing items (also, more detail later) should also play into this, wearing a revealing outfit should cause some NPCs to start dialouge with the PC suggesting various things. Basicly, take the sex mods out there, and make them FIT the lore/setting. Hell, that could even bring up a whole new possible plotline of the female PC getting knocked up by martin septim (or other NPCs) or a male PC knocking up a member of the nobility (or some poor farmgirl whose father demands you do the honroable thing).

 

6- Forts. Ever notice how EVERY fort that wasnt inside a town (IE: town guards barracks) is a ruin ? Any fort on or near a road should be fully functional, instead of a bandit hideout. Forts should also be present along the borders with other provinces, with occasional ones in the wildernes. Have guard patrols following logical patrol routes over long distances as well, and have merchant convoys with legion patrol escorts along the roads, because the empire as it stands is a joke with the state of saftey on the traderoutes in its own heart.

 

7- Bandits/criminals. Currently, theyre a joke. Level scaling aside (IE: they start with and KEEP a certain level of kit, mostly lower level armor/weps) they should make more sense. Having camps right beside a main road should NEVER happen, as theyd get wiped out. There should be scripted bandit band encounters, usualy using a lookout that is never hostile to cause a larger band down the road to pop out of hiding. Also, when its a lone bandit, or just a few, they should be less stupid, no more charging to their death no matter what faces them, when theres just a few they should almost ALWAYS try to talk the victim into PAYING. Easier/safer for them, they should convey a bandit that wants coin, but wants to LIVE above all else. Also, they should ACT like criminals. They should attempt to capture/enslave victims, have lurid taunts for captured female player characthers even, then from there have something similar to the current 'crap Im in jail with rags and a lockpick' jail system, were you have to break out and escape, or break out and take over if your playing an evil characther, and how long you have should depend on your characther. A female PC should have longer, as she has more 'enjoyable' uses for the bandits, but less uninterrupted time to manage an escape, where a male PC would have less time, but be interrupted/checked on/abused (with health and such damage) occuring far less often.

 

8- Clothing. Should always have an impact on how your viewed in dialouge by NPCs. Wearing full blade armor (minus gloves/helmet/shield anyway) you get treated with a LOT of respect by guards/legion, and all lawfuls tend to give you a bit of distance out of fear/respect. Wearing rags ? You get treated like a beager, guards tend to watch you more 'just in case', and characthers scripted for low morals tend to proposition your characther a lot more often, assuming your desperate for coin. Wearing very expenseve clothing ? Upper class folks should like you a lot more off the bat, where poorer folks snub you as another rich person (however, can be fixed localy by quests and giving coins to beggers). Also, clothes should wear out over time and need to be replaced. taking damage (IE: fireball up the ass) should greatly accelerate the wearout time, causing you to be treated as if your wearing rags if you keep wearing them (IE: if you dont go and buy a clean set or change before heading back to town). Wearing a uniform (blades armor, mages robe, etc etc) with damage however wouldnt cause such an issue, just cause members of your faction to suggest you get a new set to wear (IE: mage guild hall, they suggest heading to the basement and getting new robes). Shield enchantments would have course slow/negate clothing damage.

 

9- Quests and timeframe. Quests should have a timer of sorts. If you choose to accept every quest in a city, then wander off for a few months, you should auto-fail some of them, or get penalties on others, or trigger a failure on truly important ones (IE: going to kavatch, seeing its burning, then heading elsewere for a while should trigger martins dying, and cause a general oblivion invasion that you can no longer stop.) Same for guild memberships. The fighters guild and mages guild aint exactly the best of freinds, you shouldnt be able to become leader of both. Once you get past a certain rank in one guild, you should be given a choice of which to stay in and which to leave. Dark brotherhood doesnt apply of course as noone but the gods know.

 

10- Weapons: They should be a lot more deadly. Basicly, something like deadly reflex. However, blunt weapons (clubs) should find it far more easier to knock out someone. Wearing heavy armor should also increase the odds of being knocked out instead of killed. Being knocked out while surrounded by enemies should lead to being captured if bandits/guards, or just some tourterd to death cutscene if a worse enemy (daedra, necromancers, etc etc).

 

11- Horses. Either remove them totaly, or make them useful. Horse comabt FTW.

 

12- Dialouge. Scrap the japanese RPG style dialouge of oblivion (yes/no/topic for more info choices) and get actual RPG dialouge (think Fallout/Fallout 2 as theyre proably the best two RPGs Ive played to date, not counting the 3 spinoffs of course). You should have actual responses, based on your stats (not just speach but various other skills as appropiate) and what youve seen/done ingame.

 

13- I saw a mudcrab the other day. Do u liek mudcrabs? That is to say, wildlife (or: whoever at bethesda thought the mudcrab comments were a good idea for a RPG needs a swift kick). The distribution of animals should, you know, make sense.

 

To start with, game animals. Deer/boar plus more should be added. They should also have a LOT more meat, cause a 100 pound deer wouldnt have a single 2 pound steak. Either have a deer contain about 50-100 pounds of meet (similar for a boar) or have the unbutcherd carcas be carryable and sellable for a reasonable price to a resturant, or if you have the right gear (smaller knives or what not) you could butcher it yourself.

Consumable predators. Bear for example, should have a lot more meat as well

 

Predators. They should be a tad on the rare side, as they need the prey animals to support them. They should mostly avoid roads and populated areas (and thus people) unless they run into you as they cross a road.

 

Higher leveld wildlife such as minatours, ogres, etc should stick to places that make sense for them, and be rather rare. Hunters in vlllages nearby should have conversation topics discussing stuff like how you should avoid that valley because it has an ogre family in it, but they mostly stick to themselves.

 

 

Anyway, post yer own lists.

[David Brasher]

Quests! Quests! Quests! I want more quests! Playing around in caves and ruins is nice, but I think the game has a lot more flavor when there are guilds, factions, and quests. My dream Oblivion mod would be about the size of the main quest and give a player all those new quests to go on.

[5ivexxxxx]

I agree. Having more quests would be awesome. The thing is, I don't want epic quests. I want a logical plot, not one where you have to saaaaaaave the world, or somesuch. Game developers today tend to either make epic quests or fetch quests. I want a personal reason to go on this quest, or at least an external reason that makes sense. Moreso, I want equal support for evil and good characters. Evil characters shouldn't just get an alternate path where they rule the world, or commit genocide. Why? Simple. That's not necessarily evil. Oh, yes. It all depends on the reasons. Sure, I'll have my evil character save the world, but their reasons really make it evil. I want to save the world, but then use people's respect and admiration against them. Most quests and games do not have this kind of immersiveness, making them quite linear.

 

Although, asking for such a thing is just going to lead to disappointment. The chances of an incredible, breathtaking masterpiece of a quest or game being made are just so sadly low. It takes a lot of effort, will, and emotion to make such a thing.

[Eshenaleros]

Although, asking for such a thing is just going to lead to disappointment. The chances of an incredible, breathtaking masterpiece of a quest or game being made are just so sadly low. It takes a lot of effort, will, and emotion to make such a thing.

there are a couple quests like that on here. check out Tears of the Fiend and Malevolent, both by simyaz, who has even been mentioned in a video game magazine for his quest "The Legacy" which is one of the component parts of TotF. they might not be exactly what you're looking for, but they're still crazy awesome. and you get some nifty stuff from them too.

 

 

as far as it goes, I don't care what kind of quests they are, I'd really like more quests as well. side-quests, guild quests, linear, save-the-world, destroy-the-world, I can make a character for any of it, and so I'd play it.

[5ivexxxxx]

Heh, yeah. I've played Simyaz' quest mods. But when I say 'masterpiece', I mean it. Like Baldur's Gate 2, or Lord of the Rings, or Fallout 2. Something that is so absolutely brilliant that it makes you depressed and believe that you can't ever match that level of quality. Trust me, I've had it happen before. After I watched Elfen Lied, I couldn't do anything for a week, was detrimental to my writing. :biggrin:

[dezdimona]

add toilets,brothels and really tough to beat adversaries. I'd like more reality to the game. Lose the Guards AI, its ridiculous to kill someone in the middle of nowhere and get arrested for it.

[AncientSpaceAeon]

A mod that makes my ancient pc play Oblivion with it's highest quality.

[Eshenaleros]

A mod that makes my ancient pc play Oblivion with it's highest quality.

I totally know how you feel. I need to play on low quality for any kind of framerate.

 

that said, operation optimization helps quite a bit. I should probably get that again

[BadPrenup]

A mod that makes my ancient pc play Oblivion with it's highest quality.

lol mod your PC with some RAM and a solid Graphics card. Even a old PC running windows 98 can still be a powerhouse with the right tools.

 

I'm actually quite happy with my oblivion mods. MMM, Deadly Reflex and UV make an epic fighting system. I have a level scale mod as well as one for just Mercantile. Some random companions homes and bugfixes that I made myself. I could use some actual solid quests that aren't 'epic' as describe elsewhere on this thread

[gpstr1]

<snip>

I have a level scale mod as well as one for just Mercantile......

This is sort of off-topic, I guess, but which ones? I was using Smarter Mercantile Leveling and liked it, but after playing yet another character at the unsatisfying vanilla breakneck pace, I decided that a leveling mod was in order. I dl'ed and installed KCAS (and like it quite a lot) but I was wary of running it (or any other leveling mod) alongside SML-- I figured a conflict was pretty much inevitable, since both affect leveling-- so I disabled SML. Which means I'm back to selling arrows one at a time.....