Planning to come back to Oblivion. Should I? :)

[Ryu]

Hello everyone!

 

My name's Ryu and I'm a modder making new armors/clothing for Skyrim/Oblivion, but also body models and conversions. Maybe some of you know me from the Ryu's Stash of Conversions thread.

 

Currently I'm working on a major armor replacer for Skyrim that would suit the anatomy of my HGEC body for Skyrim (HGECR). However, as I was working on those various armors it came to me how much simpler and more enjoyable it was to mod for previous TES games and Fallouts. Oblivion was a fantastic experience to me. Extremely fulfilling. Thanks to mods there is so much that can still be done with the old Gamebryo engine .

 

Alas, here comes the painful part. I unfortunately noticed that our LoversLab Oblivion section is more or less deserted, unlike that for Skyrim. Same goes for The Nexus.  Seems like barely anyone is playing Oblivion .

 

On the other hand, ENB made it's way to Oblivion, improving on the already greatly refurbished graphics. The game might have less flashy physics effects like Skyrim, but basing on the videos/screenies still shines.

 

Moving to the point of my thread and the question I would like to ask you, the community of LoversLab.

 

Do you think it's worth going back to Oblivion, modding for it and trying to enjoy it both as a 3D platform and a game? This would require me to temporarily quit Skyrim .

[Captain Cobra]

Go for it, dood.

[Symon]

Of course. Oblivion (and Morrowind for that matter) still have huge followings.

[Victoria K.]

You should, yes! Definitely!

Oblivion is still alive and well.

I've returned to it after years and many people migrate from one game to another from time to time.

Enb surely made it easy to come back in Oblivion.

 

Hope you'll decide for a trip in Cyrodiil!

 

[Vaelorian]

There is no reason to be afraid to try Oblivion for a while. But it doesn't mean you have to quit Skyrim.

Redownload\reinstall Oblivion. Slap all the texture mods, armors, clothes, combat enchantments and miscellaneous mods you want on it and wander around for a bit.

If you're having fun at that point, it can be safe to switch over. If not, switch back. It's just that simple.

 

Because in the end - these are just games. And the end goal should always be first and foremost to have fun. You shouldn't ever feel like you owe loyalty to either of the games, and always remember that anything in one game can be copied over to the other in some shape or form.

[dult]

Come back, I'd love to have more people modding oblivion!

 

More seriously, I play Skyrim, Oblivion, and Morrowind for different reasons. For just hopping in for a mostly relaxed play-through of any sort, I play Oblivion. The graphics just lend itself to that by default, and most of my favorite mods for Oblivion are of the pervy or colorful variety. Meanwhile, not that I play Skyrim super-seriously, but if I want to play an elder-scrolls game a bit more straight, I prefer Skyrim for that. And if I want to be super serious and RP, I pull out Morrowind. Still the coolest and most original world out of the ES games!

 

But yeah, each of the games has reasons to play, and I'd probably be adding arena and daggerfall to the list if I wasn't too lazy to get dosbox installed!

[Ryu]

Thank you very the support and encouragement everyone . I'm already in the process of installing Oblivion anew. Might take a while, since I want to run all of those giants like Ozmo's High Rez Textures and XEO.

 

When I'm done though, I can already start modding and maybe even make some animations! It was a pain in Skyrim because of the behavior files and having to convert .hkx anims to .kf files for Blender .nif scripts to load them .

[myuhinny]

Yeah there are still plenty of people playing oblivion and I also find oblivion easier for conversions as most bodies used are in the set body mod which makes finding the correct one for the converter easier. 

[CouldBeAtaxia]

Heck yeah, Oblivion's as fun as ever, especially when modded to your liking!

[Ryu]

Ok, I finally got things started. I adjusted the HGEC S lowerbody and E-cup upperbody to my taste, and added some lady parts ;P.

 

Thanks for the support boys and girls! You might expect some modding from me soon .

[yosyoy]

Most definitely, Oblivion is still very alive.  If you want to play an after Skyrim, huge, great quest mod, with 1,000 endorsements try Knights of the Nine Revelations.  But Oblivion is the game everyone seems to come back to play.  I've gone thru many after Oblivion games, but Oblivion is always there.  Skyrim fell short when it became dependent of Steam, they took away the fun of modding.

 

[Ryu]

Most definitely, Oblivion is still very alive.  If you want to play an after Skyrim, huge, great quest mod, with 1,000 endorsements try Knights of the Nine Revelations.  But Oblivion is the game everyone seems to come back to play.  I've gone thru many after Oblivion games, but Oblivion is always there.  Skyrim fell short when it became dependent of Steam, they took away the fun of modding.

 

I think it's not only Steam's fault. TES games went through major changes from Arena to Skyrim now. Morrowind was beaming with lore and had great RPG elements. Oblivion built on this, improved certain pitfalls of game mechanics regarding skills and statistics. Also, it became one of the most 'moddable' games created. Thanks to that the game lives and we still enjoy playing it after over 8 years .

 

Skyrim is a different story. Bethesda went for a wider, more casual audience, enticed to play their console-centered product through a crap ton of hype. Most of TES lore got thrown out of the window. Complex game mechanics got dumped too, because who in the right mind needs stats other than Health, Mana and Stamina, right? Also, the completely anti-atmospheric modern X-box HUD and Inventory (yack!).

 

Until modders seriously got to Skyrim, it was a disaster. Even now, modding Skyrim is quite demanding.

 

I want to end my little runt with a more positive tone. Let us all rejoice in the nostalgic land of Oblivion .

[Yami X]

Let's just say if you decide to come back to oblivion. I'll be there right along with you lol.

[Ryu]

Just to let you know guys, I reworked the HGEC E-cup, S lowerbody combination a bit. Made the hips and butt a bit more feminine, removed the odd too-high shoulders and fixed the mesh-based seams between feet and head .

 

If anyone's interested, I'd be happy to share ;D.

 

Also, I tried to convert UNP to Oblivion, but it turned out that HGEC looks better (who would've thought xD).

[cyanide]

Can you convert Robert's male body to Skyrim, please?

[Ryu]

Can you convert Robert's male body to Skyrim, please?

 

I could, but I have no interest in it, especially knowing how difficult it is (re-building the UV map for instance ).

 

Sorry to disappoint you .

[Myst42]

Hello??...

Is there anybody out there??

 

I see so much people complaining about how the got bored of Skyrim... I got the Skyrim fever and I completed what I wanted done, not that I got "bored" but I don't want to push it more, I felt like there was a story, and I lived it with my main and some secondary ones too. The story is over, "happily ever after"

 

Came back to modding Oblivion and our numbers seem to be diminishing 

Just when I was planning a big return... I'm finishing a total outfit conversion to HGEC with special models, I wanted to release my head06 cosmetic overhaul scavenged from the best of the best of the best... I'm even attempting to greatly enhance argonian look and make it more like Skyrim... female body textures are finished, head and male are left

 

I have big plans for a lot of rips from other games,

I'm releasing some random outfits I made, I still need to release a Luis Royo inspired collection

 

And you're telling me the Oblivion community is dying???

Oh god please no, that would be just so sad....

It' not like it even looks old, there are modern games that look far worse than a modded Oblivion...

 

HELL NO!!

I refuse to accept that!!!

I got late to the party as I discovered Oblivion a few years after it was new.

Now I really don't want the party to end so I'mma fight to my last breath to keep it alive!

[myuhinny]

There are still many that play oblivion and many that still mod it. It is just many might of moved to skyrim but they might be back after they get tired of it. I played skyrim awhile back but came back to oblivion because it's easier to convert armors for and you only need 1 skeleton to rule them all instead of 50+ skeletons that skyrim has and using the wrong one results in a CTD.

[Schmendrick]

Oblivion is not dead yet, there are many of us still playing and modding it. And many are coming back after geting bored of skyrim, so I'll say it's a good time to turn your eyes back to Oblivion and help keeping it alive.

[fejeena]

Skyrim ? Oh yes I remember, I once played it.

Log live Oblivion !

[Lamae Bal]

If Skyrim isn't lore friendly, neither is Oblivion. The whole place is supposed to be tropical rainforest and wetlands. Of course Beth made a far flung excuse that Talos changed the land after Morrowind. It's only remotely like that in Blackwood. Until someone finally makes a mod that corrects everything to be rainforest and wetland instead of wasting time with the monumental amount of work that went into Unique Landscapes, Oblivion won't be lore friendly. No offense though, UL is amazing work, but so many modders for Oblivion have been making things that have nothing to do with each other or the actual lore of the game. I enjoy quite a few of them, but I still want my game to be mostly lore friendly at least, with some silly easter egg type mods in there. I think one of the main problems with modding for Oblivion is that modders didn't communicate ideas well enough and didn't want to... it was just random super talented people that made things no one understood how to make, but didn't really have a thing to do with the game (like Estrus). Or people who spent years on their own making giant dungeons that were based on entirely different games (Underdark). It would be nice if some modders came back to Oblivion and tried to finish and polish off the rest of Tamriel's provinces in a way that they all function together and remain mostly lore friendly. The work that's been done on the heightmaps and landscapes and provinces of Hammerfell and Elsweyr is amazing and so is Morroblivion... and Haldar is making the entire provinces of Skyrim and I think High Rock and surrounding areas. It would be great if all these people could come together with a common goal and try to make all their mods work together. I guess I'm dreaming though, at this point. If I could mod worth a shit and if I had the free time I'd definitely try to join one of the teams and get some work done or do it myself, but I have my own talents and goals I need to focus on. Everything I said is besides the point, though, that the gamebryo engine is outdated and nothing will ever run properly on it. I've barely played Morrowind but it still seems like the best of the three games.

[fejeena]

Oblivion tropical rainforest and wetlands ?

That was 4000 years ago ! In the old Age, the altmeri Age; as the Mer from Almeri (Ehlnofey) had an out post on Summerset and Topal the Explorer charted Tamriel: Cyrodill jungle and wetland, a bird-human race on the imperial isle. Then Aldmeri sank into the sea , the Mer came to Tamril, influenced the wild elfs of Cyrodill, they became the Ayleids. The Ayleids bild their cities and they need Wood ( In the quarries, to Transport the Stones, scaffolding for constructions,...) the beginning of the end of the rainforest.

1 era:(2920 years) the tibes of Skyrim established the first kingdom of men. The Human slaves of the Ayleids revolt (Alessia), first human kingdom in Cyrodiil, The war and the construction of new towns destroyed forests.

2 era: (896 years)

3 era: ( 433 year up to Oblivion ) The Septim era

 

And you believe that there are still wetlands (not drained for Farmland) and Tropical forest ?

See Europe the Mediterranean Region: Phoenician  the first great seafaring culture about 1000 to 520 B.C. they destroyed the forests in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine. Then the Greeks destroyed the forests in Greece. Greece had many forests (there were lions) and also in Italy there were many forests and swamps in the North (Crocodiles in the marshes near Venice) Then the Romans  ( till 480 AD) destroyed all the forests arround the Mediterranean sea,and that changed the flora, fauna and the climate.

So we need only 1500 years to change the flora, fauna and the climate of a large Region.

And in Cyrodiil they had more than 4000 years to destroy the landscape.

And I only read about rainforest in Cyrodiil at the time of Topal the Explorer. Yes Cyrodill should look something southern, perhaps Pine forests and olive trees, not so North Europe/North America forest.

Yes the best game was Morrowind , the isle Vvardenfell a volcano Island with own Flora and Fauna. Many Modders make the mistake and use the Vvardenfell Flora for the mainland of morrowind.

[Lamae Bal]

*Aldmeri*. In the pocket guide to the empire, it is described as endless jungle. The point I am basically making is that it's somewhere in between; it may have been deforested over time, but that doesn't change the climate to Roman Britain, and people having Roman names like Hieronymus Lex seemed totally contrived to me. It also now makes zero sense how you go from this climate to the wetlands of Blackwood and the deserts of Elsweyr and the jungles of Valenwood. And from the wiki: "Former game developer Michael Kirkbride wrote a minor text rationalizing the change within the game, wherein Emperor Tiber Septim uses his mastery of the Thu'um, as well as his understanding of CHIM, to bring a temperate climate to the region. The Imperial Library refers to the text as a "retcon". They call this a retcon, which is to change something in the past for the purposes of the plot; what does the landscape/climate changing have to do with the plot?? It pisses me off how they made excuses for making Oblivion appeal to the mainstream, who want medieval war games.

[fejeena]

Yes the Oblivion Landscape is shit, like I said it should be more "southern", like the Mediterranean Region totay ( Pine forests, olive trees, bushland and some still preserved forests with southern trees. Near Leyaviin sould be the last remaining Jungle)

And if the climate was changed with or without Magic or only by destruction of jungle in 4000 years is not important, but today Cyrodiil is not Tropical and it should be also not Roman Britain climate (North Europe or North USA)

And Jungle in Cyrodiil and behind the Jerall mountain in Skyrim is Scandinavia/ North Canada landscape and climate ??? That's a Fantasy game, not a real world.

 

But the names of the Imperials was always latin-roman (emperors like  Pelagius , Tiber Septim, Reman, Kintyra Septim, Cephorus, Kastav, .... ) also in all older games and the whole history of Tamriel. And the Nord always have nordic-Viking names. Both since the beginning of Elder Scrolls game, as the Producer(Bethesda) designed the Background.

[movomo]

Well, the game is meant to be played, that is all. And everyone has their own way of wasting time.

What makes Morrowind excellent isn't something like whether Vvardenfell is lore friendly or not. Even if the red mountain erupts the fleeces of snow instead of the burning lava it's still a good game because the story is interesting, gives much freedom, there is a whole large world to explore, good rpg elements, etc. Lore is but a tool to give the game more immersion. For example, GW overhauls their lore on every publishment of the new codex, but the fandom is all ok as long as Warhammer remains fun.

And so Oblivion is an excellent game to me as well as Morrowind. It's really easy to mod, and has exhausting amount of play contents of great diversity thanks to all the modders and the communities. Critics tend to rate it with a poor score but that doesn't impress me. After all, it's quite difficult to find better rpg video game than Oblivion around 2005-2007.