What happened?
mary clarke
Terry Pratchett
<mary.c...@btinternet.com> writes
>Where did this group go?
Well, in my case to Far Cry, which may be a fps but has something to
interest the discerning taffer, at least on the outdoor maps. But I
feel that another visit to 'Life of the Party' is overdue:-)
--
Terry Pratchett
MosNot
"mary clarke" <mary.c...@btinternet.com> wrote in
message news:ULydncEpyKCQX6fZ...@bt.com
> Where did this group go?
Shh....we're hiding in a dark corner, waiting.
Albert Conklin
> Where did this group go?
>
>
>
Catching up on FM's right now. At least I am.
Albert
Mika Latokartano
"Terry Pratchett" <tprat...@unseen.demon.co.uk> kirjoitti
viestissä:1uIJ6BfF...@unseen.demon.co.uk...
> Well, in my case to Far Cry, which may be a fps but has something to
> interest the discerning taffer, at least on the outdoor maps. But I feel
> that another visit to 'Life of the Party' is overdue:-)
Hallo Terry, good to see you here again!
Have you tried Oblivion yet? It's got me hooked pretty well. While not
exactly like Thief, it's an immersive and extensive, not to mention
jaw-droppingly beautiful gameworld that has also a lot going for a Thief
fan. I'm playing - rather unimaginatively, I'm afraid - a thief character.
Oblivion has sneaking and stealth, even a visibility gem (or a visibility
'eye' in this case), and other things familiar to a taffer.
It's not surprising, though. Oblivion's stealth was designed by Emil
Pagliarulo, who worked on Thief Gold, and as a senior designer on TMA and
T:DS.
Best of all, Oblivion doesn't force you into doing things all the time. You
can take things at your leisure, wander around the massive world, visit
towns and cities, even ride a horse (!), explore, look and listen, and take
on a quest or two or join some guilds to spice up the gameplay. Joining the
Thieves Guild was fun in itself -- not so straight-forward, and you'll see
what I mean when you play it. When I finally succeeded in that, I felt like
I had actually earned the right to be a member of the guild. I've been
playing for goodness knows how long, and haven't even touched the main
quest. I'm having far too much fun doing other things!
For a thief there's lockpicking, pickpocketing, and with a couple of neat
fan-made modifications (which can be conveniently selected and automatically
loaded from the game menu itself -- no installation hassles at all) you also
get a blackjack and water arrows, and bodies that can be dragged out of
sight. A few other mods further add to the Thief-like experience.
For me, Oblivion has been the most interesting and engrossing gaming
experience by far since all the Thief games and FMs. I warmly recommend it
to Thief fans. Just as long as your computer packs plenty of punch.
- Mika L
Terry Pratchett
<mika.lat...@REMOVETHIS.kolumbus.fi.invalid> writes
>
>Hallo Terry, good to see you here again!
>
>Have you tried Oblivion yet? I
No, but it's now been ordered:-)
--
Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett
<mika.lat...@REMOVETHIS.kolumbus.fi.invalid> writes
Bought the game on your recommendation, and now I see my life slipping
away. You're right -- it's a natural world for taffers.
PS. PS, is the Thieves Guild in the big white city? At the moment I'm
wandering happily in the wilds, knocking over small crypts and such to
get a bankroll.
--
Terry Pratchett
MosNot
news:b4e4421bj392loqro...@4ax.com
> To join the TG let yourself be caught stealing something
> with a low bounty and spend a night in jail. That will
> start you on the path... --
Sheesh, now I have to get the game.
Uh, you guys salesmen for the company....?
Albert Conklin
Too busy to search here, are the graphics any good?
Albert
Mika Latokartano
"Albert Conklin" <acon...@satx.rr.com> kirjoitti
viestissä:0Du0g.32645$yy4....@tornado.texas.rr.com...
> Too busy to search here, are the graphics any good?
Oblivion is by far the most gorgeous game I have ever seen, but it takes a
powerful machine to run it in good, let alone full detail. But even with
medium settings the gameworld and everything in it is jaw-droppingly
beautiful.
I have an AMD 3000+ CPU, 1.5 GB RAM, ATI AllInWonder 9800Pro 128MB with
older Catalyst drivers (5.3), and SB Audigy 2 sound card. With this, I'm
able to run the game at 1024x768, large textures, and medium to slightly
higher detail settings on everything (there're many adjustable graphical
options), water ripples and reflections, plumage shadows etc., and I'm
getting quite good framerates (meaning no choppiness but smooth playing
indoors and outdoors). So even with a slightly older system it is perfectly
playable. I could also run it with 2xAA fine, but some spell effects
brought the frame rates almost to a halt. Many people have reported the
same problem, and I don't know if it's a driver issue or a bug of some kind.
Check off Anti Aliasing, and the problem's removed, though. And the game
still looks amazing.
- Mika L
Mika Latokartano
"Michael Cecil" <mac...@comcast.net> kirjoitti
viestissä:b4e4421bj392loqro...@4ax.com...
> To join the TG
> let yourself be caught stealing something with a low bounty and spend a
> night in jail. That will start you on the path...
There's also another way, but you have to gain some reputation first, and
talk to the beggars in the Imperial City. Bribing them is probably also
required. But enough of hints... :)
- Mika L
Mika Latokartano
"Terry Pratchett" <tprat...@unseen.demon.co.uk> kirjoitti
viestissä:D0gk8fAc...@unseen.demon.co.uk...
> In message <e1f8c5$kmv$1...@phys-news4.kolumbus.fi>, Mika Latokartano
> <mika.lat...@REMOVETHIS.kolumbus.fi.invalid> writes
>>Have you tried Oblivion yet?
> Aaargh! What have you done to me?
Set back your next novel six months? ;)
> Bought the game on your recommendation, and now I see my life slipping
> away. You're right -- it's a natural world for taffers.
I'm glad you like it. It's not quite like Thief of course, but has plenty
to offer for a Thief fan.
> PS. PS, is the Thieves Guild in the big white city? At the moment I'm
> wandering happily in the wilds, knocking over small crypts and such to get
> a bankroll.
As Michael Cecil said in another reply in this thread, there's no Thieves'
Guild to find, at least initially (and I haven't finished my Thieves' Guild
quests so I don't know if that will change over time). You need to get in
touch with the right people, who will help you find what you are looking
for. Ask around the Imperial Waterfront, talk to the guards and especially
the beggars. Do a bit of looting. Bribe some people. Get them to like you
(play that strange mini-game to increase their disposition towards you), and
they will tell you what to do.
I'm also just wandering about the Cyrodil, sneaking about caves and old
ruins, visiting towns, talking to people, doing a small quest here and
there - I haven't even touched the main quest yet, and don't think I will in
a good while. I really like that you are free to do what you will and
pretty much when you will.
Speaking of sneaking and stealing, there are a couple of modifications made
by fans that balance the gameplay a bit, and make it a bit more enjoyable to
play. You might want to check out this TTLG thread on Oblivion Mods, and
especially the section on Thief Targeted Mods, and install some of those if
you haven't done so already. I'm running a few of them, I think they've
made the game better suited to my playing style.
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105373
They're easy to install. Basically you just drop them in the Oblivion data
directory, and from the game's loading menu select Data Files and check the
mods that you want to load up with the game. Very simple, and no dealing
with separate installers.
- Mika L
Albert Conklin
Sounds good, but couldn't find a demo anywhere. Any idea if a demo
came out?
Albert
Anders Thulin
> Sounds good, but couldn't find a demo anywhere. Any idea if a demo came
> out?
There are some demo videos at http://www.elderscrolls.com/downloads/media_movies.htm .
Try those listed under the heading OBLIVION E3 2005 DEMO VIDEOS ...
the earlier ones are mainly teasers.
--
Anders Thulin ath*algonet.se http://www.algonet.se/~ath
Albert Conklin
> Albert Conklin wrote:
>
>> Sounds good, but couldn't find a demo anywhere. Any idea if a demo
>> came out?
>
>
> There are some demo videos at
> http://www.elderscrolls.com/downloads/media_movies.htm .
> Try those listed under the heading OBLIVION E3 2005 DEMO VIDEOS ...
> the earlier ones are mainly teasers.
>
Well, the Nude Mod was different. Anyway, I glanced at several clips
and did not see anything in the thievery realm. Just sneaking and
fighting, oh...also a horse riding segment. :-)
Albert
Mika Latokartano
"Albert Conklin" <acon...@satx.rr.com> kirjoitti
viestissä:znb1g.63169$_26....@tornado.texas.rr.com...
> Well, the Nude Mod was different.
Teenagers and their hormone-overdrives. Sigh. I wonder how long it took
for that one to be developed? I bet it was the very first one, too.
> Anyway, I glanced at several clips and did not see anything in the
> thievery realm. Just sneaking and fighting, oh...also a horse riding
> segment. :-)
Well, it's not Thief. It's a different kind of a game. But if you play the
right character in a certain way, it has many similarities. Just don't
expect to be playing a Thief clone if you get Oblivion.
That said, a Thief fan should feel pretty happy about many things in
Oblivion. It has for example stealth and a visibility indicator; shadow and
light affect your visibility, so does your speed of movement, and the line
of sight to your enemies / other AIs, even the weight of your boots. The
same way you moved about in the shadows of Thief works in Oblivion. You'll
feel right at home. You have skills that affect how good you are in the
thiefy arts, and that can increased over time, like the Security skill,
which is governed by your character's agility. It affects your lockpicking
skill. Or the Sneaking skill, again governed by agility. It affects how
good you are at picking pokets and moving unseen and unheard. The other
Stealth Skills are Acrobatics, Light Armor, Marksman, Mercantile, and
Speechcraft.
Even the guards and the other AIs have familiar barks: "Who's there?", "Must
have imagined it." and so on. Not as many and not as varied, but they are
there.
You can join the Thieves' Guild, if you can find them - which is an
interesting 'quest' in itself; are you worthy of becoming a thief, if you
can't even find the mysterious Thieves' Guild? The Guild will give you
quests to perform, and serving the guild is a world within the greater world
of Oblivion, as is the case with other Guilds, like the Mages Guild, or the
Dark Brotherhood.... Both guilds whose membership might - or might not -
benefit a thief.
As a thief you can sell your stolen goods to your fences. Honest merchants
won't even touch the stuff. You may get a bounty over your head, and moving
freely may become a bit more difficult with all the guards looking for you.
Trust me, Oblivion as a thief is a fine take on the arts of thievery and
stealth. Not like Thief, but almost instantly familiar to a taffer.
There's room for improvement, and the mods go some way at that, but it is
still a great game.
You can make Oblivion an entirely different type of a game by selecting a
different type of a character. But if you choose to play a thief, you'll
find that many things are familiar. Not exactly the same, but familiar and
fun. I've found it supremely enjoyable. And like I said, with a few
hand-picked mods you can make the experience even more Thief-like (water
arrows, blackjack, etc.) I wouldn't be surprised to see even more
fully-fledged Thief-type mods popping up soon, but even without them, it's
fun.
As to the videos, they can only show glimpses of this game. It's huge and
varied. What kind of a gaming experience it will be for you is influenced
by so many things, starting from the type of character you choose to be, and
then by your choises in the gameworld. It's impossible to show every
element of the game.
Just buy the game already ;)
- Mika L
Terry Pratchett
<mac...@comcast.net> writes
>
>It's not there until you've taken over as guild master. To join the TG
>let yourself be caught stealing something with a low bounty and spend a
>night in jail. That will start you on the path...
Okay, but what do I do about my current stash? I'm loaded with loot,
and the guards will pinch it if I go to jail(I picked the lock in one
jail, but couldn't sneak out) There are a number of mines and goblin
holes that are, I'm pleased to say, empty of inhabitants right now.
I'm with Mike on this. I just love the exploration.
--
Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett
<mac...@comcast.net> writes
>
>
>All I know is that I needed to go to jail to gain the trust of someone for
>a quest in Bruma anyhow and the next day or maybe the next time I slept, a
>TG representative contacted me.
I'm ashamed to say that I sat down and read the manual, and then went
out and made new friends. Guild membership here I come...
--
Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett
<mac...@comcast.net> writes
>
>All I know is that I needed to go to jail to gain the trust of someone for
>a quest in Bruma anyhow and the next day or maybe the next time I slept, a
>TG representative contacted me.
Bur have you mastered the art of persuasion? I've got a big score to
unload and and I've yet to find any logic that wheel:-)
--
Terry Pratchett
Cookie McCrumble
> - after you start, hold your cursor over the four quadrants and remember
> which 1 or 2 the NPC likes and which he hates. Try to pick the liked ones
> when the quadrant has a large "slice" and a small one for the hated ones.
> You can rotate the wheel once per 4 quadrants. It's very goofy. You can,
> eventually, raise their opinion of you but it's also timed so you've got
> to do it fast.
Yeah I'm not fond of it at all. Not found a great deal of use for high
speechcraft yet anyway.
*** Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com ***