Oblivion - Everything you ever wanted to know....

[Hetz]

Taken from the Oblivion Forums, this is a HUGE list of what is and is not in the game....very cool! Special thanks to Sothis for the original list

BLUE color = something added since the last fact list.

An asterisk (*) denotes a footnote detailing the item lower down the list.

Yes List
(Things that WILL be in the game)

• 1st and 3rd Person Views
• 1500+ NPC’s*
• 121 Plant Types
• 150+ Quests
• 16 Square Miles (Not including dungeons or the realms of Oblivion)
• 200+ Dungeons*
• 200+ Hours of Gameplay (Main Quest is 20-25 hours long)
• 21 Skills*
• 40+ Creature Types (Many broken down into sub-types)
• 400+ Books
• 5 Counts Fighting for Power*
• 5 Different Breeds of Ride-able Horses for Purchase (Will be kept in stable while in towns or not using)
• 6 Factions/Guilds (The Arena*, Blades*, Dark Brotherhood*, Fighters’ Guild, Mages’ Guild, Thieves’ Guild*)
• 7 ‘Big’ Battles (Entailing more than the average 6-8 NPC’s fighting on screen at once)
• 9 Major Cities*
• 9000+ Objects (All of which are movable, and react accordingly with the environment)
• Ability to Purchase Homes (One in every major city)
• Birthsigns (Same 13 from Morrowind but apparently with more detailed and specific effects)
• Borders*
• Cast-on-Strike Enchantments
• Compass (Will only show places relevant to current selected quest)
• Daedric Quests (Shrines scattered across the world where you can pick up quests)
• Decoration (For your homes but unknown what kinds)
• Dynamic Soft Shadows (For all objects and NPC's/creatures)
• Dynamic Weather and Time
• Elven Power Crystals (Wield great power that you can use, but unknown what powers they are)
• Essential NPC Indicator (Subtle icon appears when looking at an essential NPC)
• Expanded Character Creation Process*
• Events/Festivals (Official mod downloadable for PC and X-Box 360)
• Evidence chest (When you're arrested all of your belongings end up here)
• Fast Travel Map
• Full Character Voice Acting (50+ Hours, Announced: Sean Bean, Linda Carter, Terence Stamp, Patrick Stewart)
• Greater Powers for Each Race (Imperials: Star of the West, Voice of the Emperor)
• Hoods/Hooded Robes
• Horse Armor (Official mod downloadable for PC and X-Box 360)
• Improved Combat*
• Increased Graphics Options (More optimization for lower end systems)
• Infamy Rating (Crime level that goes up but not down, helps calculate NPC disposition)
• Interactive Jail (Serve your time or find a means to escape)*
• Light, Shadow and Sound Based Sneaking
• Lockpicking Mini-game*
• Magical Staves (Fire spells from staff (oversized wand?))
• Magicka Regeneration (Based on Willpower)
• Necromancy (Ability to reanimate defeated enemies or NPC's and have them as followers but unknown for how long)
• New and Improved Dialogue System (Listen in on conversations for new topics)
• New Persuasion Interface*
• Oblivion Realms Locked after Main Quest
• Physics-based Sound (A sword sounds different when hitting stone then it does when hitting wood)
• Potion Application to Weapons*
• Quiver (Container for arrows you wear on your back and arrows visibly disappear)
• Races from MW (Altmer (High Elf), Argonian, Bosmer (Wood Elf), Breton, Dunmer (Dark Elf), Imperial, Khajiit, Nord, Orc, and Redguard)
• Radiant AI*
• Realistic Physics (Havok Engine implemented, meaning objects have mass, weight, and react to one another accordingly)
• Red Hand (A hand will turn red if an item you're looking at belongs to someone)
• Respawning of some NPC’s (Guards and Bandits)
• Sitting/Lying Down
• SpeedTreeRT Technology (Realistic trees and vegetation that will animate in real time to the weather)
• Stats Menu (Tracks kills, stolen items, necks bitten as a vampire, etc.)
• TES Construction Set (PC Only)*
• Traps (Physics based booby-traps)
• Traveling NPC’s
• Vampires*
• Visibly Sheathed Weapons (Swords at belt, bows and long-swords on back)
• Yielding*

No List
(Things that will NOT be in the game)

• Aging (In-game aging of the player character or NPC’s)
• Banks
• Beheading/Dismemberment (Hacking apart limbs of NPC’s)
• Capes/Cloaks
• Cast-On-Use Enchantments (Except for staves)
• Children
• Cliff Racers (Quite pleasing)
• Climbing
• Combat Staves
• Crafting (Forging Weapons/Armor)
• Crossbows
• Dual Wielding
• Experience Point Leveling System (This is a good thing)
• Forced Reloads*
• Imperial Legion or Nine Divines (Ability to join)
• Jobs (Non-quest employment through an NPC)
• Locational Damage
• Locking of Doors (With a key)
• Making Traps
• Mark and Recall
• Modeled Breads/Facial Hair
• Mounted Combat
• Multiplayer
• New Playable Races (Just the same 10 from Morrowind)
• Nudity
• Sleeping Anywhere (Sleeping will be restricted to taverns, inns and camp sights)
• Spears
• Thieving of Your Possessions (NPC’s stealing from you)
• Throwing Weapons (shurikens, darts, throwing knives)
• Terrain Destruction or Deformation
• Were-creatures (Bears, wolves)

Maybe List
(Things that are unknown)

• An Appearance of MW NPC’s (Such as Caius Cosades, Fargoth or Jiub)
• Breaking Down Doors (Using your sword to open a door)
• Chains, Flails and Whips
• Clocks (In-game item clocks that indicate what time it is in the game world)
• Dragons (LOL, I don’t ‘think’ so, but it has been hinted at)
• Mercenaries (NPC’s you can hire for assistance in combat)
• Naming of Pets
• Realistic body/hair/clothes movement*
• Sinking in Water (Of objects and/or yourself when overweight)

Footnotes
(Some side information about the various items listed)

• 1500+ NPC’s: There has been some debate over whether this includes the respawning guards/bandits/etc. Until I find something more specific, while the number is confirmed NPC's, the number that are unique is not and will just have to be something that is up in the air.
• 200+ Dungeons: The dungeons are all hand crafted and will be darker this time around, with more diverse and ambient lighting.
• 21 Skills: You will be able to choose 7 major skills (these will start at 15 and are the only ones that effect your leveling) and then the rest will be minor skills (will start at 5 and not effect your leveling). Also, the two attributes chosen to be your main ones will be raised 15 levels each. Each skill will have ranks (novice, apprentice, journeyman, expert, and master) depending on how high your level in it is, and for each new rank in that skill you will receive perks that are used automatically when needed. Here is the list of the skills over the 7 attributes (Luck plays a little into all skills) and the known skill perks. At the moment, we do not know how they are split up by specialization:
  • Strength
    • Blade (Master: Random paralyzing “neck-strike”)
    • Blunt (Master: Random paralyzing “neck-strike”)
    • Hand to Hand ("High-end" Levels: Probable counter-attack and disarming of enemies (when blocking), Master: Random paralyzing “neck-strike”)
  • Endurance
    • Armorer (Master: Repair items to over 100%)
    • Block ("High-end" Levels: Probable counter-attack and disarming of enemies)
    • Heavy Armor (Progressive: Smaller penalty on using magic)
  • Agility
    • Marksman (Progressive: Zoom-in feature, Expert: Knock down opponent)
    • Security
    • Sneak
  • Speed
    • Acrobatics (“High-end” Levels: Dodge)
    • Athletics
    • Light Armor (Progressive: Smaller penalty on using magic)
  • Intelligence
    • Alchemy (Progressive: Able to drink more potions and have more current effects)
    • Conjuration
    • Mysticism
  • Willpower
    • Alteration
    • Destruction
    • Restoration
  • Personality
    • Illusion
    • Mercantile (Master: Invest in stores to increase merchants maximum amount of money)
    • Speechcraft
  Additional Note: It has been said that each weapon will have its own sneak attack, and that when used will ignore an opponent’s armor rating to inflict more damage.
• 9 Major Cities: Fully identified cities from 20 min video: Anvil, Chorrol, Kvatch, Imperial City, Skingrad and Sutch. The rest have either been confirmed through screenshots, or are educated guesses. Special thanks to Astarsis for the list (check here for a much more detailed list with pictures of the towns):
  • Anvil - West (Italian type port city, stone buildings with red tiles rooftop)
  • Bravil - (Suspected South) (Small rundown buildings)
  • Bruma - (Suspected Northern Skall Village) (Skaal type city)
  • Chorrol – North West (26 houses, walled city, fort, church with green windows, classic imperial style)
  • Cleydinhal - (Suspected South/East) (Wooden buildings, paradise pond and natural surroundings)
  • Imperial City - Central Island (Capital, 2.5x Vivec, main hub 4x Chorrol, ~100 NPC’s, smaller hub and port around, roman stone builder with green rusted cooper domes)
  • Leyawiin - Southern Jungles (Similar to Bravil)
  • Kvatch - Southwest (Seems classic imperial style but in ruins) (Doesn't count as one of the 9 major cities)
  • Skingrad - Southwest (Tall stone buildings)
  • Sutch - Southwest (Classic imperial style)
  Additional Note: You must use the city gates to enter and exit cities now. You will be unable to levitate/jump over the walls (But you will be able to see landscape if it’s high enough to be seen over the walls). I’m guessing that there will be invisible borders at the walls, preventing you from going over.
• The Arena (Guild): You’ll be able to bet on fights as well as work your way through the ranks.
• The Blades (Guild): You’ll most likely do quests for them during the Main Quest (and perhaps various side quests), but will be unable to join.
• Borders: Borders are invisible walls that prevent you from going beyond the edges of Cyrodiil. These borders will be comprised of natural boundaries (i.e. rivers, mountains, etc.) and other times will just be unnoticeable invisible barriers blocking your path with a message telling you to ‘go back’. Additional Note: You’ll still be able to see ‘beyond’ the borders so you don’t feel awkward about them.
• The Counts (5 Houses): You'll be able to do quests for the five Counts that are fighting for power in Cyrodiil, but will be unable to join any one of them.
• Dark Brotherhood (guild): To gain admittance, you will need to kill someone innocent. Only then will someone confront you about joining the guild.
• Expanded Character Creation Process: The new character selection has gotten a complete overhaul from the one in Morrowind. You will now use sliders to pick custom age, face, brow, cheeks, chin, eyes, forehead, jaw, mouth, nose, skin tone, beard, eyes, eyebrows, lips, and nose. There will be no ability to change body type (as this could result in clipping issues). Additional Note: There will be no modeled beards/facial hair. There will only be beard/facial hair shaders, so you will look like you have a heavy 5 o’clock shadow. Also, there is a RGB slider for hair color, so hair color can be as wild as you want.
• Forced Reloads (No List): Ok, they changed it again, and to our liking, I’m sure. They have taken out the forced reload and inserted in its place a new condition. If you happen to attack and kill an essential NPC, they don’t die, but instead go unconscious for a time. Eventually they will get back up, and go about their daily business (most probably with a lowered disposition towards you for killing them). Additional Note: Fortunately, it has been said that when an essential NPC has served their purpose, the flag on them will be turned off and you can kill to your hearts content. Also see the Yielding footnote.
• Improved Combat: With the new combat system implemented you'll be able to manually block, attack quickly using different combos, or use one of the five 'special' or 'super' attacks (per skill) all of which have their own benefits when fighting. Holding up you shield will slow you down (unable to run), and you also have to be facing your opponent to block an attack. Some damage might get through based on you shield's armor rating, you block skill, and your Luck and Fatigue, and what doesn't get absorbed you recieve. You can also block arrows, it your block skill is high enough aand you have a good shield, they will just bounce off. Additional Note: Also this time a hit is a ‘hit’. There is no ‘to-hit roll’ for hitting or missing, it only does ‘rolls’ on your stats and skills to determine what damage is done to the enemy. Also see the Yielding footnote.
• Interactive Jail (Escaping): Picking the lock, stealing the key from the guard when he walks by, starting a fight with the other prisoner so the guard investigates, bribe the guard (possibly), wait until another prisoner is to be released and then run out of the cell, etc.
• Lockpicking Mini-game: You are now taken to a different screen when attempting to pick a lock. You will now have to use a lockpick to tap tumblers into the “unlock” position. The harder the lock, the more tumblers there are and they are difficult it is to lock the tumblers in place. Additional Note: You can tell the game to solve the lock itself without having you do it manually, and the game does a dice roll against the lock using your security skill. The higher your skill, the better chance it opening without breaking your pick.
• New Persuasion Interface: The new interface is almost a mini-game in itself, but not really on if you think about it (just a new way of looking at it). The new interface has an option for Boast, Admire, Joke, and Bully and you will have to watch the subtle cues on the NPC’s face to see which one will work the best (ok, maybe a little like a mini-game). There is also a button for Demand as well as one for Bribe.
• Potion Application to Weapons: You when you make a potion, you can use it on a weapon of your choice to add that effect to the weapon, and will be transferred to the next person you hit with the effected weapon. A small green droplet icon appears on the screen indicating a potion has been applied to the weapon
• Radiant AI: NPC’s will have 24/7 schedules, such as closing their shop at night, or locking their door when they go to bed. They also have full facial expressions and will react accordingly to what race they are talking to (High Elves would have a lower disposition to a Wood Elf, than say another High Elf). Additional Note: It has been said that NPC’s will have many more parameters that go into decisions that they choose. Just a couple of them are confidence and responsibility.
• Realistic body/hair/clothes movement (Maybe List): Such as bodies, hair, and clothes moving realistically to simulate such things as gravity, momentum, winds, etc. Go here for the thread that is discussing this issue.
• TES Construction Set: The CS has been improved to be simpler for the developers and modders. Dialogue, landscaping, quests, scripting and more have all been made easier to use. Modders will still need a separate program to create objects, and another for skinning (just like for Morrowind). Here is a quick rundown of some improvements to the scripting:
  • Ability to call functions on any reference anywhere
  • If statements can use the full range of logical operators: &&, 7C7C, >, !=, etc., as well as nested parents
  • Integration of script functions with "conditions" in the editor -- basically, any function that returns a value will be available to conditionalize dialogue, etc.
  • Variables can be used as parameters for most function calls
  Unfortunately arrays, lists, pointer and string variables are unlikely to be added.
• Thieves’ Guild: To gain admittance, you will need to be thrown in jail for a non-violent crime, or go through the conventional means of talking to NPC’s.
• Vampires: If you should become a vampire you'll still be able to continue the main quest, possibly everything, except that you'll be required to stay out of the sun and get your daily helping of blood.
• Yielding: To balance the improved combat and help solve the essential NPC issue, the yield system has been implemented. So if in a fight with any NPC, there is a chance they might yield (based on their disposition, will to fight, etc.). You also have the chance to yield yourself (just by clicking on the NPC during combat) and they can either accept it or continue to fight (based on the same stats above). Additional Note: Creatures will never accept if you try to yield to them. Also see the Forced Reloads and Improved Combat footnotes.

Misc. Notes
(Various items that don't fit into the lists above)

• Known Armors Types: Thanks again to Astarsis, go here for a more detailed list
  • Quick notes
    • ~80 Armor sets (700+ pieces around the world, based on armor = helm + pauldrons x2 + gauntlets x2 + cuirass + greaves + boots + shield (9 pieces), matching horse armor not taken into account)
    • 2 armor skills (heavy and light)
    • Both cover 6 subtypes, for 12 subtypes total
    • Each subtype probably cover 6 armor sets and a bunch of unique ones for a grand total around 72 armor sets + a crap load of unique sets!
  • Confirmed Armors
    • Daedric
    • Ebony
    • Dwemer
    • Mythic Dawn
    • Elven type I
    • Elven type II
    • Arena armors
    • Steel armor
    • Steel armor
    • Blade (legionnaire) armor (on guard, foreground)
  • Uncertain Armors
    • Imperial legion? Heavy Leather/Iron?
    • unidentified (on player, background) (could be some sort of leather armor)
    • Leather armor
    • Leather armor? (on Khajiit)
  • Guards armors (city associations not confirmed)
    • Cleydinhal guard
    • Choroll guard
    • Sutch guard
    • Anvil guard
  • From artwork
    • Mithril
  • Other armors known to be in
    • Glass
• Known Creatures: Thanks to Human_84 and Orix
  • Clannfear
  • Deadroth
  • Deer
  • Dogs (20min video)
  • Dremora
  • Ghosts
  • Goblins
  • Horses
  • Insects (Butterflies (20min video), small bugs (dev quote))
  • Land Dreugh? (crab thing in trailer)
  • Lich
  • Minotaur
  • Ogre
  • Rodents (Giant Rats (gameplay video), mice & moles (dev quote))
  • Sheep
  • Skeletons (Fall apart when killed)
  • Unicorn (dev quote)
  • Trolls
  • Zombies
• X-Box 360 Controls: Based on the TeamXbox preview, commentary from players at X05, and other various other sources (thanks to Daemon782):
  • Right Trigger – Attack
  • Left Trigger – Block
  • Right Bumper – Cast Spell
  • Left Bumper – Grab Objects
  • A – Pick Up, Use, Activate
  • X – Draw/Sheath Weapon
  • Y - Jump
  • B - Menu Mode
  • Right Analog - Look
  • Right Analog (Pressed) – Switch 1st/3rd Person
  • Left Analog – Move
  • Left Analog (Pressed) – Stealth Mode
  • D-Pad – Hot Keys for various weapons, potions, spells

Works Cited
(A list of site that contain developer quotes, interviews, etc. that confirm many of these items listed)

• Developer Quotes, Fan Interviews, Team Diaries
  • Destination Morrowind's Oblivion FAQ, Developer Quotes, Fan Interview #1, Fan Interview #2, Nachokoolaid’s First Hand Review, Official Oblivion FAQ, Team Diaries, TESSource FAQ, Waiting4Oblivion's FAQ
• Interviews, Reviews (By site)
  • ActionTrip, Armchair Empire, BonusStage, Boomtown, CBS News, CVG, Console Gold (1, 2), Daily Game, Elite Bastards, Evil Avatar, FileFront, GameBanshee, Game Chronicles, Gamecloud, Gameplay Monthly, GamersInfo, Games.net, GamesFirst, GameSpot, GameSpy, Gamesradar, Gaming Target, Gamesplanet, Gamezone, HC.Gamer, IGN, MyGamer, Next Generation, Next-Level Gaming, Oblivion Source, PSIllustrated, RPGCodex, RPGDot, RPGFan, RPGamer, RPG Vault, Shacknews, TeamXbox, TeleFragged, TGSN, TVG, UGO, Waiting4Oblivion, WarCry Network, Worthplaying, Xbox.com, Xbox Evolved
• Videos, Demos (List copied from here, all thanks to SirOnTheEdge)
  • Official
    • (15.3MB - Low-res Windows Media Movie)
    • (77.4MB - Hi-res QuickTime Movie)
    • (84.3MB - High Definition DivX AVI Movie)
  • Unofficial
    • Short Interview + Prison Area
    • Long Interview + Clips of Trailer
      [*] Dungeon Video (Download (Right click, select "Save Target As") -> IE Only) (This is the newest video)
      [*] E3 Interview
      [*] Character Creation 1 (Right click, select "Save Target As")
      [*] Character Creation 2 (Right click, select "Save Target As")
      [*] Character Creation 3 (Right click, select "Save Target As")
      [*] 26min Audio + Picture Chat (X05) (This is the newest video) (Right click, select "Save Target As")
    [/size]

[Cofcos]

The only thing on the "no list" that won't be added in by modders later is multiplayer and terrain deformation-- so I don't know why whoever made this list bothered...

[Blackhawk]

I love it all, with a couple of reservations:

No crossbows? Blah! (What fantasy game doesn't have crossbows?)
No facial hair? Blah! (I wantsa beard!)
No children? Blah! (They don'thave to be everywhere, but I found their absence in Morrowind to make it feel a bit artificial. One here and there - doing chores in a tavern, fighting over a rake, whatever would be nice.)

[Hetz]

and some more about the cities...

Cities

Thanks to Kestral, Freddo, Broga, Rendelius, Hayt, Mithrandir
All screenshots are legal and approved by Freddo

Will update when more LEGAL screenshots become availlable
Please do not post illegal screenshots in that thread, thank you !
General Info - The 9 cities
(Not Kvatch is destroyed and does not count as a city)

Imperial city - 100 buildings - 2.5x the size of Vivec
Choroll - north west - 25 buildings - God = Stendar
Skingrad - north west -
Kvatch - north west - destroyed
Anvil - north west - a port
Sutch - north west -
Bruma - north
Cheydinhal - home to the hauted manor - God = Arkay
Bravil - south east
Leyawiin - south

The Cyrodil map
The Nirn Map map
from the imperial Library
The city direction correspond to the roads on the map of Nirn
140% the landscape area of Morrowind
1000 interest points (Morrowind had only 400)
200 large scale dungeon (1 week to create each dungeon)
12+ smaller settlements

ON With the Cities !

Imperial City
Deity: Talos (tiber septim)
+statues of all 9 deities
location: map, center
guards: legionaire uniform (20 min demo)
symbol: unknown
a map
entrance to main hub
base of emperor tower
top of emperor tower
lovely garden
-seen in the trailer, and the german video
-2.5x Vivec
-100 npcs
-roman stone builder with green rusted cooper domes
-main hub 4x Choroll
-smaller hub and port arround
-located in central lake

Choroll
Deity: Stendar (confirmed in oxm)
location: north west of imperial city
guards: blue surcoat
symbol: tree
map in oxm magazine
Choroll guard
city gates
streets
open city gates
lovely church
player house
player house
houses in Choroll are 3 stories + potential basement
-seen in videos and main site
-full city map in oxm magazine
-26 houses, walled city, fort, church with green windows
-classic imperial style similar to Caldera/Ebonhearth/Seyda Neen

Anvil
Deity: unknown (I bet it's Zenithar, god of commerce)
location: map, south west, port
guards: leather surcoat
symbol: wavy yellow symbol
Anvil docks thanks to Freddo
Khajit a t Anvil docks
(removed)Bonus Anvil shot from russian preview
see oxm for screenshots
italian type port city
-look really cool almost knightly city
-stone buildings with red tiles rooftop
Cheydinhal
Deity: Arkay (Statue, hold symbol of Arkay)
location: east (confirmed in lattestGamestar)
guards: unknown
symbol: unknown
Cheydinhal (background)
paradise city
Cheydinhal guard
(removed)Look like Cheydinhal walls

-wooden buildings, paradisiac pond and natural surounding
-full of flowers in spring
-cheapest house (haunted)

Bravil
Deity: unknown (look like Mara's perfect spot)
location: unknown, probably near Black marsh
guards: unknown
symbol: unknown
smell like argonian country
-small rundown buildings
-argonian standing in picture

Kvatch
Deity: Akatosh (Statue: Akatosh was the god-hero Reman the 1st)
location: map, south west
guards: leather surcoat
symbol: see shield
lovely sight
kvatch citizen at work
brand new church
City under attack from Daedra, seen in main trailer
-main video trailer
-main site screenshot of horseman and daedra through gate
-city destroyed in video trailer
-seems classic imperial style (Caldera) but in ruins
-does not count as a city !!!!

Bruma
Deity: unknown (I bet it's Dibella)
location: suspected north
guards: unknown
symbol: unknown
tavern
snowy
Skaal type city
note: the tavern was identified as Bruma in a magazine,
and a dev confirmed to broga that the snowy skaal city
and the tavern shot were the same place

-----------------------------------
uncertain assignments
most likely all wrong !
I made my guesses based on magazine description and known neighboring cities

According to 20 minute demo map, no cities were added to the Colovian west except Chorol, so Bruma must be north, and Bravil would be south, not sure where Cheyindhal would be, probably south too

Sutch
Deity: unknown (It has to be Kinareth, please)
location: map, south west
guards: yellow leather surcoat
symbol: eagle
Sutch guard
the city
the fort
only city left ! (besside Leyawiin, to the South
we may as well consider Sutch confirmed !!!!

LATTEST
Skingrad
Deity: unknown
location: west of Imperial city
guards: red surcoat
symbol: unknown
described as a city similar to the Thief serie
screenshots :
Skingrad the mysterious
here is what a city look in Thief
a city in Thief
seem to have the same shadowy stony look
A close shot of a Skingrad guard in red surcoat confirm Silgrad identity

LATTEST
Leyawiin
Deity: unknown
location: south jungles (from Gamestar lattest)
guards: unknown
symbol: unknown
no screenshots yet
(Description of city from screenshots)
(Unnable to post screenshots due to legality constraints)
The city has a rural/wooden style with brown wooden buildings looking like farms. Building tends to be long with high farm-style roofs
Leyawiin Guard has a white surcoat
The cathedral has brown-yellow-stones

[CeeKay]

I love it all, with a couple of reservations:

No crossbows? Blah! (What fantasy game doesn't have crossbows?)
No facial hair? Blah! (I wantsa beard!)
No children? Blah! (They don'thave to be everywhere, but I found their absence in Morrowind to make it feel a bit artificial. One here and there - doing chores in a tavern, fighting over a rake, whatever would be nice.)

You know they'll be modded in by someone.

On the no list, I'm not sure we'll see aging or making traps either. I bet they do the were creatures in an expansion pack (officially that is, someone will probably mod it like they did before Bloodmoon).

[Elenkis]

No temple guild/faction to join? Weird.

List sounds good to me, can't wait.

[Lee]

Thanks for posting all this Hetz.

[Vinda-Lou]

Great information, thanks!

I can't stand up yet. Must think about baseball.

[knob]

"Everything" you wanted to know would include a release date


Great information.

[Incendiary Lemon]

"Everything" you wanted to know would include a release date

And system specs

[baron calamity]

X-Box 360 Controls: Based on the TeamXbox preview, commentary from players at X05, and other various other sources (thanks to Daemon782):


* Right Trigger – Attack
* Left Trigger – Block
* Right Bumper – Cast Spell
* Left Bumper – Grab Objects
* A – Pick Up, Use, Activate
* X – Draw/Sheath Weapon
* Y - Jump
* B - Menu Mode
* Right Analog - Look
* Right Analog (Pressed) – Switch 1st/3rd Person
* Left Analog – Move
* Left Analog (Pressed) – Stealth Mode
* D-Pad – Hot Keys for various weapons, potions, spells

Glad I decided to skip the 360 version.

[Hetz]

"Everything" you wanted to know would include a release date


Great information.

Hehe....you've got me there!

Ok, kathode....you heard the man....we need a release date!

[rrmorton]

My God, if only we could harness the power of dorks in heat.

[kathode]

[*] Modeled Breads/Facial Hair

Awesome!
I can indeed confirm that there is modeled bread in the game.

[Papa Smurph]

[*] Modeled Breads/Facial Hair

Awesome!
I can indeed confirm that there is modeled bread in the game.

You are a big fat tease! If this game doesn't kick ass, I'm gonna kick your ass!

[Jeff V]

[*] Modeled Breads/Facial Hair

Awesome!
I can indeed confirm that there is modeled bread in the game.

I hope it's modeled better than it was in the last game. I could carry it around for weeks and it would never get moldy or petrified.

[Hetz]

Here are a couple of new dev quotes about the Arena and Dark Brotherhood:

The members of the Brotherhood are primarily evil simply for the fact that they accept money for the taking of innocent lives... that's a pretty heinous act in any culture!

That being said, throughout the Dark Brotherhood, there are a variety of quests -- some more blatantly "evil" than others -- and the player will have additional opportunities, both through action and dialogue, to further develop his/her character as really evil... if that's their choice.

Overall, as mentioned before, the questline is certainy more sinister/more evil than Morrowind's Morag Tong, by a long shot. In Morrowind, assassination was sanctioned through the writs. In Oblivion, when you murder for the Dark Brotherhood, you're mocking the Empire's established laws.

All hail Sithis

When you join the Arena, you obviously don't get quests like you do in the Dark Brotherhood, Fighters/Mages/Thieves guild, but it is considered a guild because you're signing up as a combatant and progressing throough the different fights...working your way up the ladder, as it were.

and one about camping in the wilderness etc..

There are camps and settlements scattered all over the place, and some dungeons have areas where the bad guys slept. After you clear out the dungeon, there's nothing stopping you from sleeping on that bandit's bedroll. Not like he's going to be using it anymore.

[Jaymann]

Sleeping Anywhere (Sleeping will be restricted to taverns, inns and camp sights)

So if you see a camp you can sleep?

[Hetz]

Sleeping Anywhere (Sleeping will be restricted to taverns, inns and camp sights)

So if you see a camp you can sleep?

I think they mean you have to sleep on a bedroll at a camp. No more of the sleep anywhere in the wilderness stuff from Morrowind. Should make things much more difficult....

[Blackhawk]

That was pretty heavily abused in Morrowind. Time was irrelevant, as nothing was set to happen on a certain date, so you could waste all you wanted. Sleep was free, and it was quick. You could drop a 24 hour rest in five seconds and not think twice. Sleep was infinite free healing and mana potions. Neverwinter Nights had the same problem, originally.

[Odin]

This game looks really great. I can't wait to play it - even if it's no more fun than Morrowind, it'll still be outstanding.

Sith

[DuckofDeath]

just curious, did Bethesda ever confirm that SM 3.0 doesn't really matter? (I say this as an owner of a X800XT) I've heard from several developers 3.0 is a bit of a white wash (not a significant improvement over 2.0b, just speed tweaks) but I'd hate to be missing a lot of pretty stuff in Oblivion and now would be the time for me to move up to PCIE if I was going to (I'm buying a new mobo/cpu, but most likely keeping my X800XT AGP card).

I remember reading an interview with kathode on Oblivion somewhere that somewhat downplayed 3.0 so any commentary o' glorious developer?

[D.A.Lewis]

(no) Experience Point Leveling System (This is a good thing)

What does this mean?

[wonderpug]

(no) Experience Point Leveling System (This is a good thing)

What does this mean?

Maybe it means powergamers don't have to raise non-essential skills just to get a maximum multiplier on their stats when they level up?

[Blackhawk]

(no) Experience Point Leveling System (This is a good thing)

What does this mean?

In Morrowind, it meant use a skill, improve that skill. Improve enough skills of the type your 'class' specializes in, and you go up in level, as opposed to 'kill 75 orcs @ 15XP each go up in level, regardless of how you killed them.'

[qp]

Today is a grand day, I have a rig that can run Oblivion at last!

[Normann]

The ones I will miss from the "did not make it" list:

No crossbow.
Can't join the imperial legion. Ahhhhhhhhhh... that sucks.
No mounted combat. So no archery from the back of a hourse...
Apart of the above and the cliff racers ... I will like the game.

[docvego]

[*] Modeled Breads/Facial Hair

Awesome!
I can indeed confirm that there is modeled bread in the game.

Kathode, can you confirm if the team added Radient AI to the bread?

[Toe]

[*] Modeled Breads/Facial Hair

Awesome!
I can indeed confirm that there is modeled bread in the game.

Kathode, can you confirm if the team added Radient AI to the bread?

Unfortunately your video card has to have Dough Shader 5.0 or higher in order to see the bread in its full glory.

[Eightball]

[*] Modeled Breads/Facial Hair

Awesome!
I can indeed confirm that there is modeled bread in the game.

Kathode, can you confirm if the team added Radient AI to the bread?

Unfortunately your video card has to have Dough Shader 5.0 or higher in order to see the bread in its full glory.

And Anti-alias mold (AAM) enhancement 4x for full graphical glory.

[wonderpug]

This is one area where where the Xbox 360 version will have a clear advantage over the PC version. Unless you've got a dedicated Bread Physics Card in your computer, your CPU is going to be completely bogged down.

AGEIA BreadphysX Processor
AGEIA BreadphysX Processor is the world's first bread physics processor, an entirely new category of technology that promises to transform gaming. By offloading software bread physics processing from the CPU and GPU, AGEIA’s BreadphysX Processor completes the triangle of game function, graphics and interactive real-time bakery goods from bread physics computing, balancing the load of these processing tasks and enabling incredible realism in tomorrow’s dough.

Experience the world of pervasive interactive bread with BreadphysX technologies.

[docvego]

The "radiant" part just refers to the fact that bread will react with its surroundings - so it might examine objects it finds interesting, it might go look for someone to eat it if the bread gets lonely, it will sit on a bench and read a good book, it will have conversations with other break about what's going on in the bakery. The cool thing about it is that it's not scripted at all. It's all governed by rules we can dictate in the editor. We give the bread goals, and it chooses how to complete the goals based on its personality traits - aggressiveness, whole grains, mold, etc.

I totally read it somewhere... honest...

Also, I found some screenshots using the new BreadPhysX Processor

Without BreadPhysX:


With BreadPhysX:

[Roguetad]

BreadPhysX is going to rock. That's really the main selling point for me. Well, that and the Radiant BreadAI. You'll need a beefy system to fully take advantage of the RBAI and BPX together.

[Animus]

I just hope the bread acts like a rational loaf would and doesn't just do all kinds of crazy shit like setting the lunch meat on fire.

[rrmorton]

We've come a long way, baby.

[jeansberg]

We've come a long way, baby.

Yeah. All the way from nothing to something.

Baby.

[qp]

I just realized one big thing i'd like to know about Oblivion:

What is the PC release date??

[docvego]

What is the PC release date??

Oh noes.. now the thread is going to get locked!

[Hetz]

I just realized one big thing i'd like to know about Oblivion:

What is the PC release date??

That is the huge question on everyones minds....all signs are now pointing to late November/early December.

We need some official info kathode!

[Kyosho]

I'm willing to bet the delay is due to getting the BreadPhysX Processor working correctly. You see what you've done guys? Always complaining about bread and now they're going to do it right, but it's going to delay the game! Whoever said bread that doesn't mold is a BAD THING is insane!