Dyre Straits

For those who have the game (or those who don't and want to know what others think about it) here is a thread where you can post your impressons/opinions/questions/etc.

__________________

Dyre Straits

Until you walk out of the sewers and see the environment for the first time, you won't have any idea of just how beautiful this game is! I had to pick up my jaw from my lap with both hands.

It's gorgeous!

__________________

Dyre Straits

OK...one thing is annoying.

The way they have the grass and objects rendering as you move through the wilderness areas.

Examples:

1. Deer and animals will disappear into thin air as they move far enough away...or materialize as they approach you and reach your 'field of view'.

2. Grass will 'grow' at the edge of your field of view as you walk along.

3. Hills in the distance actually look 'dead'.


In some ways, I think using fog would have been a better solution.

__________________

Killer_uk

I have a few questions to ask you while I wait for my copy which should get here thursday with a bit of luck.

What in game settings do you run at? (Details and res)
Can you enable grass shadows? (I hear SM2.0 cards could not enable this setting)
Finally what are the in game audio options (which version of EAX does the game support?)

Thanks -

Dyre Straits

Here's a screenshot of the graphics settings:




As mentioned earlier, I'm running at 1024x768 mainly due to TV capture size limitations. I can definitely go larger for playing the game.

Below are the settings within the game:



Also, as mentioned earlier, I had to turn off AA completely due to extreme slowdown....almost to a stop....during the battles between the Blades and the Assassins. I'm going to tinker with that setting as I go through the game to see if it was restricted to only that one area or if it's game-wide.


As for Audio: I suppose I'd have to dabble around with an .ini file to make any changes for Audio settings. The ones in the game are mostly just generic settings.

__________________

SFOSOK

I know u can enable grass shadows, but I have them enabled and have yet to see them. Its got a wide variety or detail options and pretty much the norma resolution + widescreen ones.

__________________
*Warning* - Explicit Content Preceeding



METAL!!

Dyre Straits

I was checking in my default .ini file for grass shadow settings. It is enabled. I guess I'll have to look closely to see if it's working or not.

I also still don't see any options anywhere for EAX. I suppose those can be set up in the software settings for the audio card.

__________________

Retarp

When you walk out of 'newbie cave' into the world you will be very impressed. I walked out at night and spooked some deer. Then I sat in awe on top of a rock as the sun rose above the horizon

I can run the game 1600x1200 with all the draw levels at max. Sometimes it's slower but bearable. If I turn on grass shadow(I don't even see anything when it's on???) or high detail water the game is unplayable.


I don't know what it happening, but "self shadow" is broken. I just get some nasty looking jagged black areas on walls and NPC's.

The 5.1 in this game is well done too, it's just that the crickets drive you crazy after a while

Duranix

Damn i cant wait to get this!!!

__________________

Dark Lord

any one got screen shots from the game thats something other then the completly maxed out ones?

__________________

Hozz

No idea how you are playing at 1600x1200 and tolerating it. Doesnt the cursor lag on the interface option screen kill you? Its tied to the frame rate.

I have a similar system as yours:
AMD64 4000+
1 gig OCZ Platinum PC3200
X850XT PE running latest Omega

I found 1600x1200 completely unplayable and that was just in the first area. I didnt fraps it but we are talking probably 15FPS on average, just bad. Right now I am trying to decide what to do about it. My monitor is an LCD with a native 1600x1200 and it kills me to drop to a lower res. It could be that I have something fucked with my settings or rig, but I doubt it.

olaf

Dyre Straits

What do you mean? Do you want some less than stellar shots?

__________________

Dark Lord

i want to see what the game looks like on a system thats running something other then a 7800 or x1900. every shot ive seen so far has HDR in it, which appears to be SM3.0 only.

id like to see something close to what it looks like if it was played on my system.

__________________

SFOSOK

I'm not using HDR on mine, I really can't tell the difference between bloom and HDR ce[t bloom with 2x AA looks better than HDR with none

__________________
*Warning* - Explicit Content Preceeding



METAL!!

Lakevren

The sunset... is so goddamn nice. ESPECIALLY against the watery horizon. Too bad I don't have a screenshot.

But anyways, graphically, it's so beautiful. But my gripes are how they did beards. It's painted on, unfortunately.

All I wish is that I had a PCI-E + 939 board, then I could possibly upgrade, heh. But guess I'll wait until the DX10 cards.

__________________

Lowfat

all dyre's screenshots are on an X800XL.

__________________

NUCLEARWINTER

i bought it for the 360. looks great but hard getting used to the controller instead of aiming with mouse. i find that i am shooting fireballs over enemy's heads more often than i'd like to admit.

__________________
insert witty comment here!

Dyre Straits

Yes, all my screenshots are on an X800 XL...no SM 3.0 here.

But, I'm disappointed that shadows aren't corrected from Morrowind. Those who played MW will recall that people's shadows from upstairs or upper floors would show through to the ceiling below. That's still with us, I'm sad to say.

__________________

OmegaRED

Guys is this a game that is easy to get into? I've never played an Elder Scroll or MMO but I'm a FPS junkie and willing to give it a shot.

I watched the Gamespot 12 hour marathon recap and it looks really cool but complicated.

__________________

ViP3RH3LL

I noticed that when I went back to tribunal I saw shadows moving all over the place indoors, I thought my videocard drivers were messed up, glad its just the game and too bad they havent fixed those, you think it would be on the list of things to do after 4 years?.

Dyre Straits

It's not that hard at all. I mean, afterall, I'M playing it.

You can also switch between FPV and 3rd PV within the game very easily by hitting the R key.

__________________

Mrgrimrpr

is it worth 50 bucks?

__________________
[color=Green]Chaintech VNF3-250 Socket 754, AMD Athlon 64 2800+, 1GB Kingston DDR400, Leaktek WinFast A400 GT TDH, Soundblaster Live! 5.1, 400W Sparkle PSU, 3DMark05- 4623, 5.1 Logitech Surround Sound
[/color]

Duranix

yes. And in Aus, it costs $100

__________________

Dyre Straits

I was all ready to pay $50 or even a little more for the game. Fortunately, FRY's and CompUSA printed some ADs with better prices. But, I would have gladly paid full price for this game and not complain. And, that's a rarity for me.

__________________

SFOSOK

Thanks btw for the ad help, went down to comp usa and they hid them in the back, lol. Got mine for 40 : )

__________________
*Warning* - Explicit Content Preceeding



METAL!!

Dyre Straits

That doesn't surprise me.

Now, on with the game!!

__________________

Tipstaff

This posting has been making the rounds today (which, btw, is right off of Bethesdas own forums). It's in regards to the Xbox 360 version doing a lot of it's caching to the hard drive, and the stuttering/long load times this can cause.

---------
Xbox 360 – Long Pauses with Hard Drive

Oblivion uses the Xbox 360 hard drive extensively to cache (copy and reuse) game data. This is done to optimize all loading the game does. It has been found in rare cases on some Xbox 360s that the cached data can get overly fragmented. This exhibits itself by the game taking a long time to load anything from menus, dialogue, sounds, objects, levels, and more.

To solve this problem, reset your Xbox, and hold down the A button as the game is booting up. If any button is held while Oblivion is loading, it will clear its hard drive cache, and create a new one. Once you see the “Bethesda Softworks” logo video, the game is already loaded, and the cache should have been cleared.

Note, this does not effect your game in any way other than loading. You will not lose any saved data.

Original thread HERE.
-----

While I haven't had this caching problem I do know of people that have, and this has made a huge difference for them. Kudos to Bethesda for this fix.

__________________

Alistair

Thus far, the game has been WELL worth the wait for me It is visually stunning on my X800XL and runs quite smooth. I noticed a little slowdown in Chorrl but it seemed to pass after I stood still for a while upon noticing a statue in the town to gawk at.

The game seems to have the best implementation of archery I have personally seen in a game thus far. I thoroughly enjoy sneaking around and shooting people in the back

__________________
- Alistair

ViRuS2k

the game is awsome

now i will post some screenshots soon useing my X1800XTPE 512DDR card with maximum settings at 1280x1024...

all in game settings maxed + all fade at maximum + HDR
with NO AA

can anyone figure out if ati or a setting in the game where i can use AA + HDR, i remember ati boasting about this feature on the X1800XT + cards and for some reason useing 6.3 cats, when i enable AA HDR auto turns off and when i enable HDR then try to enable AA HDR turns off.....

i thought these cards could use AA + HDR ??????? most people bought these cards knowing full well these cards could do AA + HDR where Nvidia cards couldnt do both at the same time.

so where the hell is AA + HDR ehh ?

Vikingod

Now for my opinion (after about 3 hours of play)

I couldn't be much happier with this game. It really is like Morrowind, with much better graphics and fixes where there needed to be. They really took much of what was lacking in morrowind, and just added it, tweaked it, and made it better. The interface is very different, but after I got used to it, I like it. .

Gameplay is great. I love the new fighting system, the enemy are challenging, but beatable (something that was lacking is previous titles). The blocking system is fun, and adds a lot of depth to the fighting. I've run through a few missions, and they are fun. You definetely get the feeling that this game is huge (probably the only one I'll be playing for many months).

Sound. The voice acting is the best I've seen. The music is the best since the original MOH games on the PS1. The sounds of the forest and creatures are top notch, and all this together really adds to the game.

Environment. This is where the game really shines. the forests are so lush and beautiful, the towns are populated with great architecture. Lighting is beatiful, often breathtaking. The environment is more than I even expected it to be. Completely unmatched in any game to date.

Gripes. Not many here. Some graphical issues persist, but nothing major. Maybe the worst of all is the ultra low res textures on some distant hills. I didn't notice it everywhere though, only in some spots. The menu takes getting used to, and was designed for console use (grr...). thats about it so far. I forget to save, which can be a pain.

the game performs great on my system, HDR on, everything else all the way up, grass shadows off (the game is very playable with them on, but I like steady frame rates), 1280*1024 resolution (best my monitor can do). I have yet to notice a load time (except for the fact that it tells you it is loading.

Thats about all I can say now, just get the game if you haven't, you won't be dissapointed. i might install is on my lappy for shits and giggles.