LE Replace Skyrim's Combat with Oblivion's

[arshan272]

Now I understand that this is a tall order, and will probably go unnoticed among the flood of topics here on the forums, but hear me out at least. Now let me explain: I had no idea or inkling to the elder scrolls before Skyrim. I knew it existed, and apart from playing 20 minutes of Morrowind at my cousins home when I was much younger, I had never played any ES game before. So I bought skyrim, played it, and loved it. It was and is a great game. Then I realized that Skyrim was only the fifth in a long line of successful games, and I resolved to play them in order. I couldn't find arena or daggerfall, but Morrowind was easily accessible and I enjoyed it just as much. I moved on to oblivion, modded/patched the bugs that I had been hearing about, and played. Instantly, I noticed something was off. While morrowind's combat was good, the physics of it were close to skyrim. In other words, almost nonexistent. I'm not saying Morrowind was bad, it was definitely just as enjoyable if not more than the other two, but its combat was a little light. Morrowind has a very valid excuse, it's old, and despite its age it is still awesome. Skyrim has no such excuse, especially because the combat phys' are actually a little worse than morrowind's. I like melee characters, but in Skyrim, the only focused melee character I created never got past Whiterun. There was no feedback, no satisfying hits with the swords, the maces, the axes. I found myself only creating hybrid or caster chars. In oblivion, the physics were present, that much was clear, and the casting system seemed far better than skyrim's. I've stopped playing skyrim for a few months now, not even Dawnguard brought me back, simply because while the RPG and storytelling elements were extremely well done, the combat sequences in between became stale and boring. I am still, however, playing Oblivion. While the game does have obvious shortcomings (most of which have been modfixed), it still manages to do what skyrim did and also provide good combat which didn't bore you to death between quest stages.

 

So here is my request: A mod that replaces Skyrim's combat with Oblivion's combat. What I'm asking is near-impossible, or would take months, or perhaps both, but I'm sure that I'm not the only one who would enjoy it.

 

Constructive Criticism welcome

Reality checks (if said nicely) also welcome.

Speculation welcome

Non-Constructive Flames unwelcome

All Trolls unwelcome. (Comment type, not race. I mean no offense to our furry three-eyed friends.)

Edited August 17, 2012 by arshan272

[darkofan]

I agree the melee combat could be a lot better in skyrim but I don't see how the combat from oclivion could be imported nor do I see how it is better in anyway... It might be possible to replicate it to an extent but I don't know if the difference would be worth the trouble, but I definitely agree that something needs to be done about the skyrim melee combat!

[arshan272]

I agree the melee combat could be a lot better in skyrim but I don't see how the combat from oclivion could be imported nor do I see how it is better in anyway... It might be possible to replicate it to an extent but I don't know if the difference would be worth the trouble, but I definitely agree that something needs to be done about the skyrim melee combat!

 

So I'm not crazy! thank goodness.

 

I also forgot to mention that while there are mods (Such as Duel- CR, Deadly Combat, and ACE) that greatly improve the strategic value of combat, they do very little to improve its visceral quality(or lack-thereof) and substance. And yes, I did try them. I'd also like to stress the fact that I dislike skyrim's combat as a whole, not just melee.

[Shoestring6]

So I'm not crazy! thank goodness.

 

I also forgot to mention that while there are mods (Such as Duel- CR, Deadly Combat, and ACE) that greatly improve the strategic value of combat, they do very little to improve its visceral quality(or lack-thereof) and substance. And yes, I did try them. I'd also like to stress the fact that I dislike skyrim's combat as a whole, not just melee.

 

I've noticed this too. Oblivion got something wonderfully right about combat, something that made it feel so visceral. Damned if I can actually describe what that difference is exactly and perhaps that's what is needed before any such mod can be attempted.

 

Having said that, my ideal would be to somehow get the combat from Dark Messiah of Might and Magic implemented in Skyrim.

[arshan272]

So I'm not crazy! thank goodness.

 

I also forgot to mention that while there are mods (Such as Duel- CR, Deadly Combat, and ACE) that greatly improve the strategic value of combat, they do very little to improve its visceral quality(or lack-thereof) and substance. And yes, I did try them. I'd also like to stress the fact that I dislike skyrim's combat as a whole, not just melee.

 

I've noticed this too. Oblivion got something wonderfully right about combat, something that made it feel so visceral. Damned if I can actually describe what that difference is exactly and perhaps that's what is needed before any such mod can be attempted.

 

Having said that, my ideal would be to somehow get the combat from Dark Messiah of Might and Magic implemented in Skyrim.

 

May I attempt to describe the diff for you? I think that there was just more weight and physics behind the comabt, you could feel the sword cleave into your enemies flesh, and almost smell the sizzled skin as he was staggeringly hit by that Lightning Surge. In other words, exactly as you said: visceral.

[JanusForbeare]

Interesting. Personally, I don't miss Oblivion's melee combat at all. My memories of it are countless hours of whacking monsters with my ebony sword of uber-leetness, only to have their health bar drop down by a fraction of a millimetre. I find Skyrim's combat faster paced, and enemy responses more lifelike, than that of its predecessor.

 

That being said, I usually play as an archer, so maybe I'm not the best judge.

[arshan272]

Interesting. Personally, I don't miss Oblivion's melee combat at all. My memories of it are countless hours of whacking monsters with my ebony sword of uber-leetness, only to have their health bar drop down by a fraction of a millimetre. I find Skyrim's combat faster paced, and enemy responses more lifelike, than that of its predecessor.

 

That being said, I usually play as an archer, so maybe I'm not the best judge.

 

May I remind you that I too, played both oblivion and skyrim, and I am trying to replace the combat system, not the damage system. I also don't understand what you mean by a fraction of millimetre, because from what I've played it still goes down (for you and the mob) very quickly. On the point of it being more lifelike, that is actually one of the issues I have with skyrim's combat, that it isn't lifelike or visceral at all. But you play archers, and I'm talking about melee and magic, so perhaps you're right in that case.

[JanusForbeare]

Not a fan of dissenting view points, are we? :rolleyes: You might consider toning down the hostility a little bit; I was simply offering my opinion, not attacking you and everything you stand for.

 

I don't quite understand what you dislike about Skyrim's combat system when compared to Oblivion's. You mention physics, but that's a catch-all term that could describe anything from an actor's collision radius to the speed at which someone falls when knocked down. Can you offer specific examples of the features you like and dislike?

[Shoestring6]

JanusForbeare is right, what's needed is precise descriptions of behaviour. I'll fire up both games tonight and see if I can pin point what the differences are that make the difference.

 

After doing a google search a lot of people seem to find Skyrims combat to be more visceral than Oblivions so our perception is hardly universal. Have you tried Duke Patricks combat mod? My impression is that it attempts to bring this feel to the game, I'm not using it as Better Vampires conflicts with it, using Duel instead.

 

Physics can be changed, after all we have the Realistic Force mod. A very high quality combat sound replacer would help with things too.

[arshan272]

Not a fan of dissenting view points, are we? :rolleyes: You might consider toning down the hostility a little bit; I was simply offering my opinion, not attacking you and everything you stand for.

 

I don't quite understand what you dislike about Skyrim's combat system when compared to Oblivion's. You mention physics, but that's a catch-all term that could describe anything from an actor's collision radius to the speed at which someone falls when knocked down. Can you offer specific examples of the features you like and dislike?

 

I understand I may have came out with a little hostility, but what I am trying to state is that you and I have the same experience with both games, and have come up with differing opinions. I'd also like to draw attention to the fact that combat/weapon physics isn't the only thing I have a problem with. I will now attempt to explain (I hope) what I mean by physics. In skyrim, the general feel of the weapons when you attack isn't there, the swings are empty, and essentially it seems like the sword/axe/mace simply glides through without any "real" impact whatsoever. In oblivion, this actually was present, and I don't know why it didn't make a return in skyrim. On the term of other things I dislike about Skyrim combat is that, on higher difficulty levels, or with mega-difficulty mods, if you can't block, you're useless. That renders dual-wielders, spell-swords, and pure casters useless. They wouldn't be if you could avoid damage in some other way, but it is nigh impossible to dodge or parry in skyrim, and mods that attempt to add it require script extenders that so happen to be the one you didn't install, and the one you have is required for twenty other mods. In oblivion, you could still be a pure mage and have the capability to avoid damage, whereas in skyrim you have to go crazy with WASD and spacebar every few seconds, and still have a very high chance of not avoiding the attack, and dying.