TES V: what do you want to see?

[worm82075]

It took me over an hour but i finally read this entire topic(as I do any topic before posting).

Before this topic was brought back to life it should have been called "Ideas for oblivion mods".

Almost everything mentioned six months ago has been done or at least attempted since then.

 

Everyone is saying that our tech is going to fall short of TesV's requirements and this could not be further from the truth.

The truth is that computer technology is doubling every two years. Case in point; two years ago 512 meg vid was still in

development stages: while 256 was the next generation and cost over 200$us; the 128 was the norm and as all cards in

this class cost around a 100$us and i would consider that to be affordable(annual income 22000$us I am by no means a

rich man): and of course 64 meg was all but obsolete.

Today 1024 is somewhere right now being tested; 512 is the next generation and is very pricey at well over 200$us for

the lowest end card; 256 is the norm and cost just over 100$us(I can get the highest end card there is for 160$);

128 mb card's? ...well what can i say, its headed the way of the 64 as all new games released in the past two years have

been made for 256mb video cards, but not for the 512. Why? you ask, the 512 is here, its on the market they can use it.

 

Well if you have ever followed the development of any console game systems you know how these thing work but for all

you pro PC anti console people I will explain it.

When a software company starts development on a game they use the prototype hardware knowing it will take them years

to develop their medium and by the time their ready for serious testing the hardware has caught up and is being released.

Then by the time they are ready to release their game the hardware is already mainstream.

Now when Bethesda started developing Oblivion in 2001 a 256 meg video card was just a dream to us but they can see into

the future as can anyone who studies the past and they saw 2003 as a reality for the 256.Then in 2004 it became a reality

for us and wouldn't you know it, Bethesda released TES IV able to run on the norm (128) but ready for the next generation

of graphics hardware. Bethesda seeing that hardware development was progressing ever faster started development on

TES V in 2003, almost two years before the release of Oblivion.So Tes 5 will run a 256 and Max out on a 512. You can't change

your game engine half way through developing a game or else your just starting over. Those will be the system requirements

of the next game no speculation needed,thats a fact.

As far as most of you not being able run TES 5 on the system you have now.{Byline:I do apologize for being so long winded

but I'm going to quell most of your fears about Tes 5 so you might want to grab a snack, this is going to take a minute.}

 

I have a two and half year old computer that i paid 2000$ for and it only came with a 128mb x300 ati radeon and 512mb memory.

The soul purpose for buying this computer was to play Oblivion and I could barely run it. Oh well, I had planned ahead you see the

big price tag is because the mother board was next generation Pentium 4 2.8gig w/800mhrtz front side bus(thats fast),Hyper Threading & MMX

Technology,Serial ATA(the fastest harddrive interface to date) and most important a dual channel SDDR2(which will accommodate

up to 4 gigs of memory)

1 gig cards are still nearly 150$. I can't afford that, but I don't need 4 gigs just yet and since I already have 1 gig

(bought a 512 card a year ago) all I need is 2 more 512's. Dell sells 'em all day for $60 and free shipping here in states

sometimes(you have to monitor there site as there promotions and sales change regularly from month to month).And as

I said earlier top of the line 256 for 160$ bringing me to 300$ rounded up. Not a bad price to go from barely running the

game to playing Oblivion maxed out. Now that gives me two to three years to save the 500$ I need to be ready For Tes 5.

Thats 200$ for a top of line 512 vid card and 100$ apiece for each of the three 1 gig mems.I now only have 3.5 gigs

instead of 4 and depending on the actual price in 2 years I may only have 3 but could also have 4. In any case I should

still be able to play 5 pretty high up on the sliders if not maxed (did you know 512 cards run at 667mhrtz and 1 gigs run

at 800, so not only are you gaining memory size but speed as well). I can also gain a system boost by disconnecting

from the Internet.

 

But Worm, you say how can I gain memory by disconnecting my internet. Well, simple all the programs and services

running to facilitate networking and to protect you from malicious attacks can be removed and/or shut down. I do mean

remove all of your programs that are related to your antivirus especially if your using anything but AVG.

Everything else interlaces it self through windows so much that it can't help but leave an enormous foot print. After you

have removed all unnecessary programs find the services (this isn't a windows tutorial although it's sounding an awful

lot like a tutorial of some sort) and shut down anything and everything related to networking and search indexing.

If your an XP user you just gained any where from 100 to 250 mb of RAM and that goes along way even if you have

a gig of installed memory.

 

But Worm I don't have as good a computer as that and I never will and I'll never get to play TES 5 and the world hates

me and..blah blah blah shutup!

Funny story, about a year ago i had the money to upgrade my computer(did I mention I'm married and my wife is an

SL junkie and i can't never get any time on the computer)thought I had mentioned that? No? Well F*** that S*** I took

the 500$ that I saved to upgrade our computer and bought me a Dell Insporon 531s $449

plus tax.Its got Vista basic, dual channel mem w/ 2 512 cards included and a 19" widescreen monitor(see my profile

for processor and graphics)it only has a 400 mhrtz front side but even given the low low end of the onboard vid and

having to share the installed memory, the two 1 gig processor cores are very efficient.With Vista's footprint at about

350mb(and that is scaled back as described above) that only leaves about 325mb left for oblivion and I'll tell you

something this computer spanks when it comes to running a single dedicated program.I have no problems running

medium textures w/ two thirds sliders.In two months I will use the 300$ I will have then to get a top 256 and another

gig of Mem. At that point I could afford to reconnect to net (and stop ferrying data between two computers)and still

run OB maxed.

 

So in sumation for about 800$ you will have all computer you need to run Oblivion full on. And 4-500$ in the next two

years will get you playing TES V at about half to two-thirds sliders with a top of the line 512 and 4 gigs of mem.

 

OK,NOW BACK TO THE MATTER AT HAND

I would imagine the first steps to developing would be setting and story so more than likely they knew where 5

was gonna take place before 4 was even released.

Now ask yourself why did they make 4 with a map containing unused out lying provinces one of which is Morrowind

and tell us that we can't use the assets from Tes 3 in Tes 4 preventing us from merging the two together.

Their gating us to see if we'll bite on what they have in mind. That's the greatest benefit of having a moddable

game. Don't think for a second that Zenimax doesn't have teams of people monitoring all the forums and

reporting back just what we the consumers want and don't want. Not to mention all the programmers at

Bethesda playing our mods and getting ideas and concepts that their company can just take and use directly

in their work(check out my topic in the request forum to view EULA's).

 

Now I can see the future and this is what I see:

They don't want us merging Tes 3 and 4 because that is what they are planning on doing in the next release.

When I first saw the TES 4 map I speculated that the official mods would be the other provinces filling in the

whole map but my thinking was ahead of it's time.They are just getting us ready for whats to come and testing

the waters to see if thats what we really want. The Silgrad Tower's project to reproduce Morrowind in Oblivion

from scratch no less, since it can't be done with the assets from Tes 3(and they did contact Bethesda for

permission and got it) is probably Bethesda's best incentive as that project has a large following.

More likely than not Tes 5 will take place in one or more of the other provinces on an other wise empty and

unused map encompassing all of Tamriel. They will then do what is necessary to keep this going as long as

possible and that is to slow up a bit on advancing the graphics and concentrate more on content. We the

modding community have been pushing them towards this for some time by complaining that our computers

can't keep up with their development. They will probably give us permission to use the assets from 3 and 4

in 5 and while we work with what they gave us for a couple years they will develop all the remaining

provinces each for full price release and integration into the whole. It will be the biggest thing single player

platform has ever seen an it's right where Bethesda wants to be, leading the industry in innovation and

technology. And making boat loads of money by giving us exactly what we want while

gaining a new title as the pioneers in MSORPG==Masive Single player Offline Role Playing Game.

 

Now before you say how ludicrously impossible this is I should enlighten you to something no one here

has taken into mind.

What's about to happen to the gaming industry and the existing DVD format.

Remember back in 92 what the DVD did to the CD. It completely revolutionized the gaming industry

and it's about to happen again.

I'm gonna leave it at that for now. Lets see if anyone picks up on what I'm trying to get at.

 

I have been thinking about this for a very long time and it took me nearly 6 hours to gather 2 years

of thoughts and put them down in writing and I was vague on many subjects cause this post would be

five times longer if I put all my thoughts in. So shoot this Scientific Hypotenuse all full of holes if you can

and I'm not not going to cry about it. It is after all just an educated guess and only time will tell so just

mark my words. Unlike some people I will not rush to patch any holes shot in my theory and will only

respond to elaborate on anything I may have left unsaid. If a debate ensues maybe we'll have us a

poll to see who thinks my theory is a possibility or just subterfuge. I'll be back this weekend to identify

the DVD's successor if no has done so between now and then.

 

 

 

 

UNTIL THEN MERRY XMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD FIGHT

[tony007]

Travel on the whole Tamriel continent.

 

Staggering more when hit or more emphasis on battles to make each battle an epic fight.

 

Headshot with arrows (except with helmets).

 

Weapon animations more liquid (meaning weapons don't move as fast as your screen moves, lagging behind some to show the weapon's weight) instead of solid slash right, slash left, slash right again, etc...

 

Boast animations or just plain, fun animations like in most MMORPG games. Like dancing, laughing, etc...

 

Impacts, scourges, scratches on objects and people.

 

Cutscenes where you can control what to do.

 

Wayyyyy better physics. Bodies and items seem to float in the air in Oblivion. Some items that are SUPPOSED to be heavy, as in 100 lbs, are like 5 ounces in the game.

[ninja_lord666]

I disagree with this:

 

11. It is realictic to be able to kill someone using the enviorment.

15. Why not? There are plenty of people out there that hate dungeon delving and I'm one of them!

22. I can't say about Daggerfall as I never played it, but the basic thing about roleplaying games should be FREEDOM OF CHOICE (something Oblivion fairly lacked). You choose on whoose side do you stand and the game ends accordingly. So DEFINETLY YES to multiple endings.

23.-24. Since when is the empire unified? The Dunmer would most likely proclaim independence, especially now that all the emperors are gone. Same thing with the Khajiit, hell, everyone except Redguards and maybe Bretons spits on the emperor and the Imperials. So where is this unified empire you're talking about? And why shouldn't barbarians eventually raid cities.

25. Do they? The people gossip about someone who stole the elder scrolls, or about someone that killed Adamus Phillida. For an example, when someone sees you kill somebody, or you go to jail, people gossip about it? I don't think so. They only gossip about quest-related stuff you did.

29.-30. One of the things that Oblivion lacks is horseback fighting, why should I not draw a sword at someone while on horseback.

36. Well, some of us perfer roleplaying as people in real life. And killing monsters is boring anyway. Same thing with owning towns and leading bandits- why not, it is more interesting then killing monsters.

39.-40. The stupid thing is that in Leyawiin, where the Renrijra Krin are most active, there is no skooma den where the dealer does not attempt to kill you.

11. While it's possible to kill someone with anything, do you really want to go up against an ogre with a stick? Sure you could stick it in his eye and shove it into his brain, but, personally, I'd rather fight him with a sword, a very long, pointy sword, wouldn't you?

15. The thing about rpgs, is they not suppose to emulate real life. Dungeons are to rpgs as a foundation is to a building. You can build a building with no foundation, but when bad weather comes, you'd better be prepared to get a new house.

22. Basically the same as 15, rpgs don't actually emulate real life. In rpg games, you don't get to do whatever you want; that's not even what role playing is. When you role play, you don't do what you want; you pretend you're someone else and do what that person would do. In Oblivion, you aren't playing yourself in a new place; you're playing the Champion of Cyrodiil, and the Champion of Cyrodiil wouldn't join the Daedra.

29 & 30. Did you even read into the meaning of that quote or skim over it? In Oblivion, if you fall of a ledge that's just a little too high, your horse dies. Now if your horse can't even handle that, image what would happen if you charged right into battle on it? Even if you were only fighting one or two bandits, you'd need a new horse.

36. <See 15 & 22> Oblivion has you role playing as a monster slayer, not some sissy gardener.

39 & 40. Imagine that! The city that has the highest trade of illegal narcotics doesn't have a building with a great big sign saying, "Come here guards! We're doing something illegal!" If you have any common sense, you'd know that people who sell illegal products don't want to advertise their location. In fact, it's only a matter of time before the guards find the Skooma Den in Bravil and shut it down.

 

Edit:

Wayyyyy better physics. Bodies and items seem to float in the air in Oblivion. Some items that are SUPPOSED to be heavy, as in 100 lbs, are like 5 ounces in the game.

Oblivion has one of the best physics engines I've ever seen, and still you're not satisfied. You won't settle for less than perfect, will you, you spoiled brat?

[rebelmaiden]

I must say that I agree with akulakhan on everything.

 

to Ninja_lord: Perhaps you like roleplaying as the champion of Cyrodiil, but there are people out there that would prefer roleplaying as somebody else, a common farmer, a noble, etc. Just because you like killing monsters doesn't mean you need to spit on those who are different from you and would like to be able to roleplay a farmer. Everybody has the right to an opinion.

 

And I don't see anything wrong with settling for perfect only.

__________________________________________________________________

Now, I'm not saying that the option of being the Champion of Cyrodiil should be cut out. What I suggest is for you to be able to completely customize the character you wish to play. That way you, Ninja_Lord, could choose being the Champion, and akulakhan could choose being a farmer. Would that hurt any one of you? No. So why not go for that option?

 

Oh, and I can't help but notice the thing about using the enviroment. You wouldn't HAVE TO use it, you COULD use a sword. Why would it bother you if it was POSSIBLE to use it?

 

__________________________________________________________________

 

Now, onto my wishes, which could cause some raising of eyebrows and mocking faces. :biggrin:

 

I'd like the option to sleep your way up on the social ladder. Yeah, I'd also like for you to be able to marry, have children...family life option. That was one thing I really preferred in Morrowind-you could seduce people to change their minds.

 

And I'd like to be able to sell houses after buying them, to buy more houses(something better in the Imperial City than just the shack) and to buy estates out of cities from people.

 

More to come soon! :biggrin:

[Jumonji]

I haven't read all the history on this thread (sorry) but what I skimmed only touched on my desires - a really good and well-documented construction set, along with a restructuring of the scripting language to support true object-oriented programming. And they should release the CS documentation set well before the game is released, so that the modders can get a head start.

 

In other words, given what we've seen from the modding community, I think they should focus on the tools and capabilities and produce very high-quality sample content to demonstrate what's capable, and then let the modders enhance the game in a zillion creative ways that Bethesda could never anticipate. You want good AI? Then give is a really good API that gives us more control over the characters. You want a dense city with great architecture? Then give us the structure to create it - like clear glass windows, door-portals that give the appearence of opening and closing, etc. You want more intricate game-play, then just review the list of 500 things people learned about Oblivion and fix some the wierdness.

 

Anyway - maybe that's just the modder in me talking. I've been working on Rhianna II for months now and constantly fighting the construction set is a royal pain. Given how creative the mod community is - just think of all those thousands hours of free content development - they should focus on the tools and let us create the content.

 

-Jumonji

[LoginToDownload]

11. While it's possible to kill someone with anything, do you really want to go up against an ogre with a stick? Sure you could stick it in his eye and shove it into his brain...

That an Enders Game reference? :P

That said, such improvised weapons usually aren't for you, (Barring special circumstances) but for various civilians forced into combat. In the meantime, one can look at Improvised Weapons and Silverware Weapons. Non-combatants will run and grab brooms, rakes, scythes, and other things if attacked. Quite amusing, particularly when they manage to bring down a Daedra.

 

29 & 30. Did you even read into the meaning of that quote or skim over it? In Oblivion, if you fall of a ledge that's just a little too high, your horse dies. Now if your horse can't even handle that, image what would happen if you charged right into battle on it? Even if you were only fighting one or two bandits, you'd need a new horse.

Yes, but we're not talking about Oblivion, we're talking about its sequel. It's perfectly natural to assume horses, which very few liked in Oblivion, will be getting an overhaul. This problem would also be greatly nullified by horseback archery. As far as falling damage goes, judging by the neighing, it takes many of those little falls to kill a horse. It seems like 10 on average.

 

Wayyyyy better physics. Bodies and items seem to float in the air in Oblivion. Some items that are SUPPOSED to be heavy, as in 100 lbs, are like 5 ounces in the game.

Oblivion has one of the best physics engines I've ever seen, and still you're not satisfied. You won't settle for less than perfect, will you, you spoiled brat?

I'd just like to interject here with Realistic Physics and Force. Goes a long way.

[Jumonji]

11. While it's possible to kill someone with anything, do you really want to go up against an ogre with a stick? Sure you could stick it in his eye and shove it into his brain...

That an Enders Game reference? :P

 

Another Orson Scott Card fan, eh? :) Wouldn't you love to play that game??? :thumbsup:

 

-Jumonji

[LoginToDownload]

Also, last time I checked, a sword does more damage than a small fall. So, while it may take about 10 falls to kill the horse, it'd only take about 3 hits with a sword to kill it.

I don't know... I'm pretty sure, once it can count for falling damage, it's roughly equivelant to an un-modded iron/steel sword strike. I would imagine the horse's speed factors in to make it a nastier fall. That's the only explanation I can think of that it even counts for falling damage by player-standards, unless Bethesda intentionally designed it so horses are horrible at taking drops, which is sort of stupid IMO.

 

I couldn't agree more, but the game is about the player and not the NPCs.

But Bethesda obviously goes (or went) to extents to make the NPCs seem lifelike. (Admittedly, now the extents they go to are much more lame, but still there) All it requires is to turn items which have no use aside from animations into weapon-form. Very easy to do, pretty good realism payoff.

[rebelmaiden]

I don;t want to roleplay the Champion of Cyrodiil; I want to role play an evil jerk who takes over Tamriel and makes it his own Empire, but I've accepted that that's not the point of this game. If you want to roleplay as a normal non-combatant person, play The Sims. Oblivion isn't meant to have the player be a farmer; it's meant for the player to be the Champion of Cyrodiil.

 

We're talking about the changes that should be inserted into TES V. So, what I'm saying is that I'd like for you to have more options.

 

I'd like to play the evil jerk that takes over Tamriel too. :D As a matter of fact, I'd adore it. :biggrin: :biggrin:

[ninja_lord666]

Ultimately, you'll always roleplay the same thing. It doesn't matter how many different guilds there are, you'll still be the same person as everyone else. Just look at Morrowind. That game had more guilds, and more choices, but you were still the Nerevarine. It doesn't matter if you were also in the Imperial Legion, or the Thieves Guild; you were still the Nerevarine. That's exactly how it'll be in TES V.