Rambles of a young mind
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Oblivion...It blows my mind
I recently picked up a copy of Oblivion (The day after it was released), and before I go any further, I'd just like to say that this game is amazing. The scope of the world is just amazing, and not much else compares. Having only played Morrowind an hour or two, I can't say I've really seen anything quite so ... big.
I'm not gonna lie, this game is relatively demanding, spec-wise. My video card, while not the greatest, has never had trouble with anything before. Sure, it took a framerate hit in BF2 whenever I changed the settings to anything too demanding, but even then, they weren't rock bottom. Oblivion, however, was set to the lowest possible settings and my framerate hit 1-3 FPS. So, after scrounging the official Oblivion forums, I found that my video card was incompatible with the game. I didn't look closely enough, but I know that any low-end GeForce 5 series card will not work with Oblivion. I guess it should have been a given, especially in my case, but be forewarned.
So, as I was planning on upgrading my video card anyway, I dropped a chunk of too much money on an EVGA 6800 GS CO edition, an overclocked version of the near top-of-the-line (For AGP) 6800 GPU. With this installed, I was able to run Oblivion on high with HDR and the nifty 3.0 shaders and still get smooth framerates that were most often in the thirties, and I even had a peak FPS of around 42. Now the game looks very nice, and the HDR bloom effects are really beautiful and make dark dungeons and outdoor forests much more pleasing to the eye.
Quick note:If you happen to have the game and can't decide which to pick, AA or HDR (It sucks to have to pick), the here's a good rule of thumb: If you play on low resolutions like 800*600 or anything below, go with the AA. It smooths out those edges a bit. Otherwise, HDR is the way to go.
The gameplay is just amazing, and much more engrossing than most other MMORPGs or even other single-player RPG's, however few there are. Right from the start, the only character choices you make are race and appearance, race being the only one to actually have any bearing on gameplay. Any other character choices are decided on in the first quest or even later. After being freed from prison in a lucky break, you find yourself helping to defend the emperor of Cyrodiil, and then being forced to find your way out of the imperial palace first by a series of caverns, which lead you to another encounter with the emperor in which you choose your birth sign. Later, the emperor dies and while talking to his bodyguard, you choose your class. Who would have thought that in-quest character design would make a game so much more involving? (For me at least)
I've only finished a couple of quests, but I love it, because you never actually have to do the quest. You can just run off and do something else and come back and do another thing for the quest and then run off and steal a horse. There really are no single-player RPG's that compare with the scope of this one.
The main quest line is well done, but there's no urgency to finish it, just like all the other quests. I've played hours upon hours and still not gotten a third of the way through the main quest line. It is a very rewarding experience, though, as travelling through Oblivion (Hell, basically) is so much fun that the meager quest rewards are worth it.
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I've completed a lot more of the quests now, and I hate to say, besides all the Dark Brotherhood quests, most of them are all dungeon crawls. They're fun, but only when you stop doing the "crawls" for a while and come back. I'm a little disappointed with the repetitive quests.
I'm not gonna lie, this game is relatively demanding, spec-wise. My video card, while not the greatest, has never had trouble with anything before. Sure, it took a framerate hit in BF2 whenever I changed the settings to anything too demanding, but even then, they weren't rock bottom. Oblivion, however, was set to the lowest possible settings and my framerate hit 1-3 FPS. So, after scrounging the official Oblivion forums, I found that my video card was incompatible with the game. I didn't look closely enough, but I know that any low-end GeForce 5 series card will not work with Oblivion. I guess it should have been a given, especially in my case, but be forewarned.
So, as I was planning on upgrading my video card anyway, I dropped a chunk of too much money on an EVGA 6800 GS CO edition, an overclocked version of the near top-of-the-line (For AGP) 6800 GPU. With this installed, I was able to run Oblivion on high with HDR and the nifty 3.0 shaders and still get smooth framerates that were most often in the thirties, and I even had a peak FPS of around 42. Now the game looks very nice, and the HDR bloom effects are really beautiful and make dark dungeons and outdoor forests much more pleasing to the eye.
Quick note:If you happen to have the game and can't decide which to pick, AA or HDR (It sucks to have to pick), the here's a good rule of thumb: If you play on low resolutions like 800*600 or anything below, go with the AA. It smooths out those edges a bit. Otherwise, HDR is the way to go.
The gameplay is just amazing, and much more engrossing than most other MMORPGs or even other single-player RPG's, however few there are. Right from the start, the only character choices you make are race and appearance, race being the only one to actually have any bearing on gameplay. Any other character choices are decided on in the first quest or even later. After being freed from prison in a lucky break, you find yourself helping to defend the emperor of Cyrodiil, and then being forced to find your way out of the imperial palace first by a series of caverns, which lead you to another encounter with the emperor in which you choose your birth sign. Later, the emperor dies and while talking to his bodyguard, you choose your class. Who would have thought that in-quest character design would make a game so much more involving? (For me at least)
I've only finished a couple of quests, but I love it, because you never actually have to do the quest. You can just run off and do something else and come back and do another thing for the quest and then run off and steal a horse. There really are no single-player RPG's that compare with the scope of this one.
The main quest line is well done, but there's no urgency to finish it, just like all the other quests. I've played hours upon hours and still not gotten a third of the way through the main quest line. It is a very rewarding experience, though, as travelling through Oblivion (Hell, basically) is so much fun that the meager quest rewards are worth it.
----------------------------
I've completed a lot more of the quests now, and I hate to say, besides all the Dark Brotherhood quests, most of them are all dungeon crawls. They're fun, but only when you stop doing the "crawls" for a while and come back. I'm a little disappointed with the repetitive quests.
Wow...been a while
It's been more than a year since I updated this. I doubt I'll do much more posting ever (In case anyone accidentally stumbles over this), but if I do, it will be soon and probably not based on politics. That was just stupid and I'm tired of knowing those two posts are here.
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Iraqi Elections?
While they weren't exactly pulled off without a hitch, I thought the polling was done relatively successfully. There was a high voter turnout (in shiite areas) and only a little violence. Polling places were safe and efficient.
I agree with US presence in Iraq during the elections because the job's just not finished yet. Without US support, violence would have been more widespread. Not to mention the fact that elections might not have occured without US support.
I agree with US presence in Iraq during the elections because the job's just not finished yet. Without US support, violence would have been more widespread. Not to mention the fact that elections might not have occured without US support.
First Ramble
I just made this blog to talk about all kinds o' things: Politics, Games, and all-around nifty stuff.
