Oblivion GOTY Question

[Demon G Sides]

Okay, I owned Oblivion before, but traded it in later on for something else down the line. I regret that decision now, but that's not the point. I have been jonesing for some questing, and was thinking of picking up the GOTY edition, get the Shivering Isles since I've never played it.

Two questions;

1) Do my achievements carry over, character progress, all that good stuff? Essentially is it the same game just with the extra content added in or is it considered a different game?

2) If I buy it preplayed and the extra content comes on a separate disc (As I've read), will I still be able to access the content? Or is it lost?

Thanks!

[Rock8man]

1. You achievements, character progress from your saved game, etc. carry over. It's the same game. But there's an extra disc.
2. The second disc adds the content to your hard drive, but it doesn't assign it to any particular account. When Oblivion loads up, it detects the extra content on the hard drive and loads it, and you're good to go. So yes, it will work even with a pre-played disc.

[Demon G Sides]

Awesome. I was more worried about it being a download code and that I was getting ripped off. No dice, so awesome.

[Balasarius]

Oblivion should really be played on the PC for the mods.

[Demon G Sides]

I know, but my laptop could never handle Oblivion. It'd likely start sparking and explode.

[Enidigm]

Oblivion should really be played on the PC for the mods.

I just played it for the first time on the PS3, and i vastly disagree. Except for some draw distance issues and NPCs vanishing at range, Oblivion IS a console game. I never knew that. Even combat is "better" on the PS3 (in the sense that ranged combat is much harder on the PS3 using those little analog sticks instead of the 99% accurate pointing from a mouse).

[ElGuapo]

Since I have the PC version, now and mods I love I'll likely not go back to the console version, but I had a fantastic time on the console. The controls are great for it, especially combat. You can get into a great rhythm with the left trigger right trigger block/attack moves. This is old hat now, but after playing Morrowind a ton, active block was a revelation.

I don't own Shivering Isles but I might pick up a cheap used GOTY editon on console to play it.

I wish my 360 controller worked flawlessly on the PC version, but alas, a few buttons do not map right, and you really do need all of them.

[WarrenM]

I really like it on the 360 as well. Especially for melee combat - very intuitive controls.

[Rock8man]

Yeah, the melee combat was very well done on the 360 controller. Pressing the triggers for block and attack was very satisfying, as was the use of vibration for the combat. It made the basic mechanics of the game a lot more fun. I imagine an archer build, which is the only way I haven't played the game, was probably better with mouse/keyboard.

However, theoretically couldn't you get the same thing in the PC version using the 360 controller? Or was there poor support for the 360 controller? If the support was good, then you could get the advantages of the better feel of the combat with the controller AND the mods.

[ThornFalconeye]

I never felt that playing with the controller was any better, but this may be because my setup has me sitting in a subpar office chair two feet away from my monitor- and it is not exactly as comfotable as relaxing on a couch for playing.

Aside from that I did feel the combat was weaker than it should have been while using the mouse and keyboard, yet the menus were far less tedious with a controller, and much easier to check your status and inventory.

[Enidigm]

Yeah, the melee combat was very well done on the 360 controller. Pressing the triggers for block and attack was very satisfying, as was the use of vibration for the combat. It made the basic mechanics of the game a lot more fun. I imagine an archer build, which is the only way I haven't played the game, was probably better with mouse/keyboard.

However, theoretically couldn't you get the same thing in the PC version using the 360 controller? Or was there poor support for the 360 controller? If the support was good, then you could get the advantages of the better feel of the combat with the controller AND the mods.

Yea, but you're not playing it on a 42" plasma either :).

One of the big differences that i noticed (i picked up the GOTY addition on a whim to try out Shivering Isles) is how the colors seemed to have been chosen to work best on typical TV settings; daylight is blindingly bright, unlit dungeons are nearly pitch black, night time is moonlit and clear. Using a torch seems all that more necessary, ect. The greens are geener, the browns are browner, the blacks are blacker. Sure, i'm playing on the oversaturated "game" presets, but still, it's a noticeable contrast.

The menus are also a bit faster to scroll around with the PS3 remote in most cases. There are a few acts such as moving around on the map that are easier to perform on the PC.

[Demon G Sides]

Never use a torch! They gave you night vision spells for a reason.

[BDGE]

My only real problem with playing on the 360 was the borked leveling system. How I wish I could have gotten some of those mod fixes on the PC. Fallout is similar regarding all the community fixes that adjust the damage values and VATS balancing in the PC version because you do reach a point where the default system just doesn't seem to work as intended.

Otherwise I adore playing Oblivion with a controller. I was a sneaky ranger type and for the most part it gave a real Thief vibe(except again for the screwy leveling and gameplay balancing Bethesda put in place).

[Enidigm]

The leveling system never bothered me; i just know not to "overlevel", but i don't obsess trying to min-max my level increases either.

I can't help but be a lone-wolf, flower picking, loner, spell casting type, occasionally sallying into town to sell my crap. I'm trying the Atronach birthsign, and it's really pretty fun (in a masochistic, make-it-harder-on-yourself because that's the way i roll, way) having to manage my mana instead of just casting summon spells left and right.

[Rock8man]

The leveling system never bothered me; i just know not to "overlevel", but i don't obsess trying to min-max my level increases either.

Yeah, same here. The game had it's peaks and valleys in terms of difficulty, sure, but until I got to the 20s, it was really fun. It was only after you hit level 20+ that the game becomes pretty unbalanced. It becomes way too easy. You can adjust the difficulty manually with the slider they provide, but then the fights just become more tedious because all the slider does is give enemies more hit points, and makes them do more damage, which just makes the fights last longer, which isn't any fun either.

[BDGE]

Yea, I tried not to min/max either, foregoing all the kooky steps to ensure 5x multipliers for each level-up and such. There is still a laundry list of issues inherent to the game design that makes mods so appealing.

As an archer, you get to a point where the sheer weight of lugging arrows(which are an unruly burden) do not come close to matching their usefulness in combat. Thus poisons and potions are necessary to help boost the physicality of the shots just to match the ridiculous stat boosts enemies gain in the lategame. This further pushes inventory space to a premium, which would make for a compelling experience if it didn't just feel broken. Either I forcefully zoom back and forth to replenish supplies, or dramatically lower the difficulty bar to even out the imbalances.

Reading mod fixes is like a horrible tease, the game could be SO GOOD, as the fanbase has really taken to retooling the algorithms into a more pure experience.

[Fugitive]

Mods are why I haven't even properly started a game of Oblivion yet. I get so excited about the idea of adding on a ton of stuff and fixing the problems, but then the prep work of actually looking through them all and making lists gets rather tedious and I wind up getting distracted and playing something else instead.

I really should just grab one of those all-in-one bundles and just run with it, suppressing my "but maybe there's something even better I could add in" compulsions...

[Rock8man]

Ah, I see. None of my characters have been archers, so I didn't know. I think my absolute favorite character to watch was a friend of mine's melee boxer character. Just watching him move in and out of the enemy's reach, doing quick jabs and hitting the enemy, it was the most entertaining character to watch by far. What really made it a viable character is that he chose a sign that gave him a major healing spell that he could constantly use during the low levels to get most of his health back.

What really had me rolling on the floor laughing was watching him fight a Troll, because he had basically created a troll character. They were both very vulnerable to fire, and yet weren't equipped with fire. They were both really regenerative, and they were both boxers. Troll fights could go on for hours without a victor, because they both couldn't do enough damage to counteract the other's health regeneration. It was like a comedy circus.

[BDGE]

That does sound funny. I've always been curious about unarmed focused characters, but I could never abandon my loot instincts. I just like dressing up my doll too much.

[ElGuapo]

I went through the Fighter's Guild and some other quests with a character, got tons of fat loot and houses and all that junk . . . then joined the Assassin's Guild. I roleplayed a bit and dumped all my crap into the lake as a cleansing ritual. I started over again with the same stats and spells, but with no equipment. Which means some spells didn't work because no enchantments.

It's been interesting, as my character is obviously not a sneaky guy. But he has the Skeleton Key and is a hell of an archer! He's working up his crappy alchemy and sneak skills. Starting over like C. Montgomery Burns in the Stonecutters.

Patience, Monty.

[Desslock]

It looks so much better on the PC it's not really comparable. That said, I did somehow manage to spend 300 hours on the 360 version...

[Rock8man]

I figure I'll probably come to own the PC version eventually, in order to play some kind of modded version. It's much more of a realistic option with Oblivion than it is with Morrowind. I've tried a few times to return to Morrowind with all these new fancy mods, but none of those fix the main problem: the combat feels so....... bad, especially now once I've experienced Oblivion. There's an immediacy and sense of satisfaction to Oblivion's combat that's completely missing from any version of Morrowind, and although the other things that modders added might be really cool, nothing overcomes the fact that the thing you're doing minute to minute doesn't feel satisfying.

[Balasarius]

It looks so much better on the PC it's not really comparable. That said, I did somehow manage to spend 300 hours on the 360 version...

There's also a 2GB "mod" the replaces all the textures in the game with higher resolution textures. Looks awesome.

Oblivion is the only game to make the fans on my system speed up. I don't know what it is. Far Cry 2 may run at 15fps, but the fans don't care. Oblivion runs at 20+ fps while exploring the countryside and suddenly there's a small vacuum cleaner underneath my desk.

It's worth it, though.