Octopus Overlords

Here is the link that I am using as a guideline: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/s ... p?t=922427

From the intro:

Introduction

After ordering some new (and badly needed) computer hardware I recently decided to dive back into Oblivion courtesy of steams release. This time I thought I would take the time to fully mod the game to my liking - what a pain that turned out to be. There's a huge amount of mods out there and sifting through all of them was maddening. After a few days my bookmark page has been filled with mod-related content just to help me make an informed decision. So, to save everyone the trouble of weaving in and out of Google, I've added all the information I've come across into one thread.

This is a work in progress and any help is welcome.

...

Thanks!

The sound of Skyrim video

Max Von Sydow AND Christopher Plummber? Hell ya.

Bethesda/Steam to release Skyrim at 12am EST.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/243096/w ... on_it.html" target="_blank

Can I get a WOOT! WOOT!

Was going to pass after being disappointed by so many RPGs lately, but I'll probably bite.

Any good pre-order deals for PC or is Steam the way to go?

Because it's a game that requires STEAM, I'd probably recommend against buying directly from them - cost be damned. Unless they have a preload and/or you have a ridiculous internet connection speed, the last thing you want to do is be the guy that has to download the game the day it's released. I've done it before for various STEAM games and it has sucked. So much easier to get a retail copy, plug your key in and load from the DVD.

Jag wrote:Was going to pass after being disappointed by so many RPGs lately, but I'll probably bite.

Any good pre-order deals for PC or is Steam the way to go?

I pre ordered from Gamestop. If you do you get a premium physical map. Don't know how premium it will be but we'll see. I mean it's free really. Was going to pre order anyways. I love that music from Jeremy Soule.

Maps just aren't what they used to be. *Pulls out his Ultima 7 pt2 Serpent Isle cloth map*

You get a paper map with any version of the game. But places that offer the preorder bonus ship with a higher quality, burlap-like map. It's not cloth, and it's not burlap, it's just very high quality paper. Less prone to ripping or anything, and feels nice. If you preorder from Steam you get...uh.. nothing. Except the game. Which is why I'm not doing that.

I just preordered the game from Gamestop's website. Probably stupid, but Amazon doesn't have any deal going for the PC version, only the 360 and PS3. Newegg has the game, but rumor is that it won't actually ship from them until after 11/11/11. I paid for overnight on Gamestop, and I'm hoping it gets here on the 11th. Actually, I'd hope it would get here maybe the 10th so I could install and be ready for the unlock at midnight. But that's wishful thinking, though it's why I paid extra for overnight.

Have any of you preordered any games from Gamestop's site? Do they have a reputation of being on time? Also, WTF is with them charging tax on an online order? I highly doubt the game is coming to me from Ohio. It's possible though. But still, that's shitty.

They charge tax because they operate in your state. It's the law. Actually, technically they should charge tax regardless and pay the appropriate amount to the state even if they don't have any offices or stores in that state, but almost nobody does that.

Steam and other direct download sites get away with not paying (and thus charging for) taxes because they don't have physical stores anywhere.

I used to not have to pay Newegg taxes but then they built a warehouse on the other end of my state and I now am forced to. thanks a lot Newegg. least I get stuff fast .....it's also why I started ordering from ZipZoomFly a lot more. Then they tanked

I preordered my copy on Direct2Drive. No cloth map, but I did get $6 off.

well, I was going to wait a few months to get the game but Gamestop is providing a nice map with pre orders. Since as I am a cartographer by natural inclination I just went for it.

On the downside the Gamestop guy said that the maps are "while supplies last" directly stating if I wait two days to pick up my game - no map. He said I would "probably" get one if I pick up the game at midnight.

I preordered from Amazon. The 99c "release day delivery" sold me.

Smoove_B wrote:Because it's a game that requires STEAM, I'd probably recommend against buying directly from them - cost be damned. Unless they have a preload .... [snip]

There will be a preload (source: http://www.gamezone.com/news/players-wi ... m-on-steam" target="_blank)

I ordered from steam simply because I want to be able to play it as soon as possible. According to tweets by the developer, it will be available for unlock at midnight for each time zone.

"Vice President of PR and Marketing at Bethesda, Pete Hines, has said that they will release the game just after midnight, although this has bewildered some gamers. In Hines latest tweet he states that Steam will unlock the game hour-by-hour for various time zones." (source: http://www.inentertainment.co.uk/201111 ... ease-time/" target="_blank)

I also ordered the Prima Official Game Guide to make me feel better about not getting a map.

The unlock by hour thing has since been clarified as a mis-speek on Hines part. He apparently was referring to the various regions the game will be released in, so he meant midnight in North America, Europe, Australia, etc. He has since suggested that at least in North America there will be a universal unlock time on Steam, and that they are aiming at doing what they did for Rage, which is midnight EST. That would mean 9PM on in the Pacific timezone. That hasn't been officially confirmed as happening so far, though.

Either way, it sounds like Midnight somewhere in the US for Steam, which is nice.

I'm really torn. I have bought every succesive Elder Scrolls game on release day since Arena. I really didnt like Oblivion at all though. It was beautiful, but by far the least compelling of the Elder Scrolls games, with the least interesting gameplay and the most long stretches of boredom. And all the dungeons were the same!

Im very sad. I want to play Skyrim. But I also don't. Sigh.

Orgull wrote:I'm really torn. I have bought every succesive Elder Scrolls game on release day since Arena. I really didnt like Oblivion at all though. It was beautiful, but by far the least compelling of the Elder Scrolls games, with the least interesting gameplay and the most long stretches of boredom. And all the dungeons were the same!

Im very sad. I want to play Skyrim. But I also don't. Sigh.

That is exactly how I feel. I'm going to risk it and hope for another Morrowind, though. If it isn't magical I'm done with the series.

Orgull wrote:I'm really torn. I have bought every succesive Elder Scrolls game on release day since Arena. I really didnt like Oblivion at all though. It was beautiful, but by far the least compelling of the Elder Scrolls games, with the least interesting gameplay and the most long stretches of boredom. And all the dungeons were the same!

Im very sad. I want to play Skyrim. But I also don't. Sigh.

so what else are ya gonna play?
I was of the exact same mind regarding Oblivion, but as far as new games go, I'm caught up. So it looks like Skyrim is in the queue. BTW, I did get in about 40 hours of good play time on Oblivion until the boredom set in. And Oblivion allowed me to play Nahrim (?) which was also good for about 30 hours until Fallout Vegas lured me away. So I definitely feel like I got my money worth. I guess I'm hopeful because they are throwing around a lot of Fallout 3 play comparisons and I really liked Fallout 3 (but loved Fallout Vegas).

Good points D.A. Strangely though I found Oblivion disappointing I loved fallout 3. Easily the most fun I've had with a game since Titan Quest. I'm not sure why Fallout 3 worked so well for me and Oblivion didnt since they are strikingly similar games. VATS and being able to choose what to level rather than levelling based on use are probably the two biggest. If Skyrim had VATS I'd be in heaven. Frankly just put VATS in all First or Third Person RPGs and all FPSes and I'd be a happy puppy. If Skyrim is just more Oblivion though it may not work for me.

This is not something I would normally recommend, but, well... If you're really on the fence and unsure how different the game is going to be from Oblivion, there are videos out there of people who pirated the 360 version. Obviously I'm not going to post a link. Nor am I endorsing those friggin' pirates. But if you're really having difficulty, watching one of those to get a feel for how the game plays is an option. Google is your friend.

I will say that as some one who was already super extremely excited for the game, watching one of those videos today made me even moreso. I had to force myself to stop watching.

I absolutely LOVED Morrowind. I could not get enough of it. I finished it and all the add-ons it had and could have played more. I think where it was set really made it a good romp for me. Then because of Morrowind I got the collector's of Oblivion. But something about it never grabbed me. I did almost all the Thieve's Guild quests, got the dark brotherhood ones going. Joined the fighters guild. I must have been 6/8 done with the game but I hit a wall and quit. Never did go back to it and never will. It just lacks something that Morrowind had but hell if I know what that is.

I also really loved Fallout 3. I went crazy in there exploring every little crack hoping to find another vault to explore. But for some reason New Vegas didn't grab me. I didn't finish it. I swear it's a better game so I do plan to reinstall and try it again. I think I ruined my NV first play through by using WAY TOO MANY mods in it. Next try I plan to use only the minimal I can and get what I want...better graphics and sounds really.

I gave up on Oblivion on the 360 when every few steps I took a Oblivion Gates was opening and I know that the PC had mods that eventually fixed this issue. I loved Fallout 3 and all the DLC as I easily put in 150+ hours into the game on the 360, but I could not get into NV and made myself finish the game and I have no interest in the DLC. I am hoping the Skyrim on the PC brings back the love affair again

I liked Oblivion, but only after the big big mods like Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul were mature. Since I know similar mods will be coming for Skyrim, I'm going to wait until they're done.

Daehawk wrote:I absolutely LOVED Morrowind. I could not get enough of it.

I hope someone mods in a way to add the theme from Morrowind into the music rotation in Skyrim. I can still hum Jeremy Soule's fantastic Morrowind theme song to this day.

I used to be addicted to Morrowind, but ever since I got used to the fighting in Oblivion I just can't get back to it.

It seems too limiting now. Don't know why.

I would love a Morrowind with the added combat of Oblivion.

EzeKieL wrote:I would love a Morrowind with the added combat of Oblivion.

You probably want this.

hepcat wrote:I hope someone mods in a way to add the theme from Morrowind into the music rotation in Skyrim.

If it's anything like their previous games, you should be able to just drop the mp3s in the appropriate folder and it'll work.

EzeKieL wrote:I would love a Morrowind with the added combat of Oblivion.

Morroblivion. It's Morrowind in the Oblivion engine. Takes a bit of time to set up, but from what I've seen, it's totally worth it. You don't hear much about it these days because they're not allowed to talk about it on the official Elder Scrolls forums. Because it uses assets from an older game in a newer one. Or something. But this mod's been worked on for years now. They update it very frequently (last update was two days ago). Last I checked, every quest on the main island is done. Just some stuff with Bloodmoon and Tribunal left to do. Other than little fixes here and there.

Malcolm Lock wrote:You probably want this.

?! !?

I see myself waking up on a prison ship in the near future.

I think I've already tried it but the downside was that it was purely cosmetic. None of the quests were in it, but apparently they are now ^^.

I'll have to give it another try, thanks!

Oh! I was beaten to the punch. Must've posted while I was typing.

I pre-ordered from game stop, simply because they gave me a 15% off coupon to a new game, and they give the map for pre-orders.

I hate gamestop, but <shrug> if it is easy to get to, which this new store is, and the price is okay then I am game.

I am watching all three of my kids on Saturday, while my wife is out, but the youngest is 3 now, so they don't require constant watching..So we shall see how much time I can spend gaming.

I never played Arena, but I LOVED Daggerfall and played all the way through three times.

I enjoyed Morrowind but I didn't care for the setting. Everyone was ugly and all the creatures were mutant bugs. Still, I played it as much as Daggerfall but never finished it.

I loved the look and setting of Oblivion but the auto-levelling and the endless Oblivion gates eventually caused me to get bored with the game and though I easily put 80+ hours into it, I never finished it.

Fallout 3 was a lot of fun but I couldn't imagine a setting I would have enjoyed less than walking around a ruined, post-apocalyptic world fighting punk rockers and mutants. It says a lot for the game design that I enjoyed the game despite the fact that I absolutely hated the setting.

I was initially reluctant to embrace Skyrim as I know it will have some of the same flaws of the earlier games, i.e. it's too damn easy when you get past 12th level or so, not enough monster variety, etc. But after watching a lot of the preview videos, I got excited again. After all, whatever it's flaws, Skyrim offers a huge new world to explore, an attractive setting, and Dragons!

My pre-order will be here on the 11th, and my hardback strategy guide on the 14th. Here I go again...

Apollo wrote:I never played Arena, but I LOVED Daggerfall and played all the way through three times.

I recently tried to play Daggerfall again, but for some reason I couldn't get into it. I was fine with everything - except - being forced to climb near-verticle slopes with no way to look "up" or "down" ... maybe it was there and I missed it? It drove me a little batty.

Paingod wrote:

Apollo wrote:I never played Arena, but I LOVED Daggerfall and played all the way through three times.

I recently tried to play Daggerfall again, but for some reason I couldn't get into it. I was fine with everything - except - being forced to climb near-verticle slopes with no way to look "up" or "down" ... maybe it was there and I missed it? It drove me a little batty.

Hmmm, I don't remember having to climb any steep slopes, but then it's been at least 12 years since I cranked up Daggerfall. While it has a very dated look and features a lot of randomly-generated wilderness, dungeons, etc. there was a lot to like about the game. It seemed edgier than the later games and was certainly more difficult in ways. In Oblivion, to summon a Daedra lord you simply had to find their statue and make a simple offering to get the quest to find that lord's artifact. In Daggerfall you had to read books to find out about the Daedra lords and the ONE day of the year that they could be summoned! Then you had to find a temple that would summon them and pay them a huge sum of gold for the attempt (100,000+). And even after all of that, the summoning might not work despite the king's ransom you paid for the attempt!

It was either Arena or Daggerfall where I got rich by exploiting. I'd find a house in town with 2 or 3 loot rooms. I'd empty them, exit the house, then go right back in and they would be full again. I had a horse and cart follow me around to fill up

That'd be Daggerfall, I think, Daehawk. Arena is pretty decent, guys. If you liked Daggerfall it's worth a try. It's a bit more linear and stuff, but it's decent.

I really, really want to get back to Daggerfall but I'm waiting on DaggerXL. Daggerfall just doesn't feel right to me in DOSBox, and ever since I played the first DaggerXL demo, I knew that's how I wanted to play. Actual 3D acceleration, higher resolutions, antialiasing, etc. Right now the guy's working on merging his different projects into one engine, but should get back to DaggerXL in the near future. I can't wait. I hope, some day after DaggerXL is "finished" that he'll consider doing Arena. Assuming it's possible.

I just got my key from Direct2Drive and I was able to register it on Steam. I'm pre-loading it on Steam now. Friday, here I come!

ARGH! Seriously? I'm so jealous. I hope my shipment from Gamestop comes before the 11th.