Poll for Oblivion XP Users

[AndalayBay]

I am trying to determine how many skill points to allow for the new release, so I'd like to know if people change the number of skill points they have to spend each level. I would also like to know how many players use the Specialist preset, which makes Major and Specialized skills cheaper, versus the "Jack-of-all-trades" setting, which makes all skills cost 3 points to increase.

 

If you do change the number of skill points you have to spend, please list what you change it to.

 

And for those of you who don't know, I've taken over development of Oblivion XP. The new version is available here.

[WastelandAssassin]

well, i don't usually mess with the settings of mods, because the settings are usually so for a reason

the whole challenge is to deal with what you get (though i do step out of this line some times)

still, i use it as it is, with no changes

 

and i use the Specialist preset, because there are many skills that i don't use, and the few that i do, i want to have on as high a level as i can (while still maintaining some balance in the skills)

[AndalayBay]

well, i don't usually mess with the settings of mods, because the settings are usually so for a reason

the whole challenge is to deal with what you get (though i do step out of this line some times)

still, i use it as it is, with no changes

 

and i use the Specialist preset, because there are many skills that i don't use, and the few that i do, i want to have on as high a level as i can (while still maintaining some balance in the skills)

 

Yeah, it's interesting you say that because that has been part of my challenge. Since SirFrederik left the scene long before I starting working on this, I haven't been able to ask him how he arrived at some of the defaults he selected. I know that he set it up with the Specialist preset in mind, but 36 seems like a rather low number. I do think a lot of players leave it this way though, so I'd like to get a better feel for what settings they do use.

 

In the upcoming release, I have changed the way skill point spending works by putting a cap on the amount you can raise a skill each level and increasing the cost to increase higher level skills. This will all be optional, so players can change the settings in the ini file if they don't like the new system. I've made this change because I have had a number of requests to change it - especially the bit about capping the amount you can increase a skill each level.

[WastelandAssassin]

well, i don't usually mess with the settings of mods, because the settings are usually so for a reason

the whole challenge is to deal with what you get (though i do step out of this line some times)

still, i use it as it is, with no changes

 

and i use the Specialist preset, because there are many skills that i don't use, and the few that i do, i want to have on as high a level as i can (while still maintaining some balance in the skills)

 

Yeah, it's interesting you say that because that has been part of my challenge. Since SirFrederik left the scene long before I starting working on this, I haven't been able to ask him how he arrived at some of the defaults he selected. I know that he set it up with the Specialist preset in mind, but 36 seems like a rather low number. I do think a lot of players leave it this way though, so I'd like to get a better feel for what settings they do use.

 

In the upcoming release, I have changed the way skill point spending works by putting a cap on the amount you can raise a skill each level and increasing the cost to increase higher level skills. This will all be optional, so players can change the settings in the ini file if they don't like the new system. I've made this change because I have had a number of requests to change it - especially the bit about capping the amount you can increase a skill each level.

 

if you think about the original leveling system, you would level up once for every 10 skill points that you increase

so if you want a leveling system like the main game, it would be 30 points per level, without the Specialist preset

however, the original leveling system was only about the 7 skills you choose when you make the class, so you are usually able to raise a few extra skills, from time to time

so in my opinion, the 36 points system reflects this quite well

 

as for the new system, i think it is brilliant!!

i loved Oblivion XP, but i always felt kind of bad for leveling my skills up so fast

and with this new concept, you will make it much more immersive

what i mean is that even in real life, you can't master everything

so it should be much harder mastering something, than just learning some "normal" information (what i mean by normal is that it's not the basics, but nothing too advanced)

 

so with this new system, you will have to decide whether to make a character with balanced skills, or a master of a few, but lacking other talents, which is just the way i think it should work

you definitely have my vote on this new system :thumbsup:

[AndalayBay]

Great! Glad to hear it. The way I've set it up right now is that you can only raise a skill by a maximum of 5 per level. This is actual skill increases, not skill point costs. So if you have a skill at 26, the most you will be able to increase it to is 31. Second, skills of Journeyman level will cost 1 more point to increase, skills of Expert level will cost 2 more points to increase and skills of Master level will cost 3 more points to increase. So if you play with the Specialist preset and you are increasing a skill that's a Major and Specialist skill, it will cost 2 pts to increase it by 1, up to Journeyman rank, as it does now. Then it will cost 3 pts to increase it from 51 to 75. Once it reaches Expert level, it will cost 4 pts to increase it further, and when it finally reaches Master level, it will cost you 5 pts to increase it any further. At this point, I'm thinking of increasing the number of skill points for spending to 48 to partially compensate for the increased costs at higher levels. This new system is based on Phitt's model. He posted a tutorial and a script on how to implement something like this for the old version of Oblivion XP (4.1.5). I've been talking to him and ironing out the details for incorporating his ideas into the new version.

 

Also, the new version will finally have the HUD fixes. No more enormous progress bar! The ini file will also have an option to turn off the progress bar altogether if you want. This is mainly for people who like to run HUD Status Bars.

 

So please vote - I'd like to get as many responses as possible to make sure this works for everyone!

[tinylampe]

I tend to increase the number of skill points to 70. Using the specialist setting, my goal is to be able to raise my 7 major skills in 5 points each time I level up. Thus, I need 5 * 7 = 35 skill increases which cost 2 points each.

 

I believe that this fast-paced growth is ideal for low level characters (those who still have their major skills below journeyman level). When you reach this milestone though, increasing your already-high skills so much and so cheapely (just by investing 2 skillpoints) becomes kind of unfair.

 

Fortunately, the fact that you will increase the cost of improving your skills from journeyman onwards solves this issue. A much needed change I'd dare say!

 

And by they way AndalayBay, I don't know if you remember but I wrote a post suggesting that you could award points by repairing weapons and armor (x points each time a rapair hammer is broken). Any chance of seeing this implemented in this new update or in the future?

 

Tiny Lampe.

Edited February 16, 2011 by tiny lampe

[AndalayBay]

...snipped...

And by they way AndalayBay, I don't know if you remember but I wrote a post suggesting that you could award points by repairing weapons and armor (x points each time a rapair hammer is broken). Any chance of seeing this implemented in this new update or in the future?

 

Tiny Lampe.

 

Yup, I've got it on the list. I haven't looked at it yet, but it's been percolating in the back of my mind :) I would like to key it off successful repairs rather than broken hammers, but I might also have to inverse scale it to level then, because at high Armorer skill levels, you never break hammers... I've got a similar change to the lockpicking planned. Basically at high levels you don't get as many points. At low Security levels, you would get even more points for opening a hard or very hard lock, but at high Security levels, you wouldn't get that many points.

[xchargerfanx]

Personally, I like to level up slowly so that way the leveling feels much more rewarding. I think that the default 36 skill points and 13 attribute points are just too high. I set my skill points to a value of 32, and the attribute points to 8, with a maximum of 3 (default 5) attribute points increase per level, and I use the specialist skill set. I also set the "multXPNeeded" in the ini file to 0.5 for slower leveling. Using the default values for the first time, I was able to reach a master in Agility by level 6, (since attribute increase does not have a cap at apprentice, journeyman, etc.). Needless to say, the default values were WAY too high for my taste. Note that I am using FCOM Convergence while using OXP, so that is probably why I was leveling up so fast(?)

 

Aside from the default values, this mod is a great piece of work. I have tried using other leveling mods such as nGCD and Realistic Leveling as well as Progress, but they still felt like the vanilla Oblivion leveling system where I just had to grind skills to level up. Rather than being awarded for standing in a corner and holding down block+cast key or repeatedly repairing armor to gain experience, Oblivion XP offers rewards to go explore, kill, collect nirnroot, complete quests, read books, and much more. In other words it actually AWARDS you for PLAYING the game ;).

 

Thanks a ton AndalayBay, hope to see more additions and improvements in the near future!

Edited February 18, 2011 by xchargerfanx

[Zetsuboketti]

 

Also, the new version will finally have the HUD fixes. No more enormous progress bar!...[snip]

 

This is pretty much the only issue I have with OXP as I have moved around the other HUD icons and made them semi-transparent or fade in at specific values [using DarkUId DarN], and the xp bar stands out quite a bit.

 

In any event, thanks for working to improve this mod!

[AndalayBay]

Thanks for the support and the votes everyone! From the poll results here and one the Beth forums I've seen so far, I think you'll like the new changes. I had two options in increasing the number of skill points and I've opted for the lower number. This will be configurable in the ini as usual, but I wanted to come up with a number that will allow most people to just play the game and not have to mess around with configuring it! :)

 

I'm testing the new version right now and have a couple of people helping me. I've got a couple of more changes I'd like to make, but the new version should be out shortly.