The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Technology Interview

John?!

Anyway, although I'm not too much into RPGs, will this game be available on any other console(s)? if yes, what/if any changes will there be?

 

xbox360, and its meant to be identical on both platforms

though from 360 screenshots i think its lacking in the AF department

 

Read it again. The question is about using "other, less visible, system parts" as opposed to "multi-threading" (which has already been covered "in previous interviews") in order to "help speed up streaming new areas". The question explicitly acknowledges that multi-threading is being used, and that this topic has already been covered.

In between my nitpicking, I should add... great interview guys!

 

Fantastic interview much appreciated

It's awesome when you guys do things like this, actually asking meaningful questions with obvious thought and understanding behind them.

 

Yup, love the interview. Very informative read!

 

You know, at a quick glance that reads suspiciously like "It's by Richard and Judy!" *shudders*

(Non-UK members won't get this pun - sorry!)

 

Now, I'll admit Beyond3D does some good technical interviews but I don't really think you should compare yourself against The Masters Of The Interview.... I'll never forget the day that Judy grilled Jen-Hsun Huang over anisotropic filtering in Nvidia drivers - it was an inspired piece of daytime television (and was only slightly spoiled when Richard asked him what his favourite colour was).

 

I'm not sure I want to know more.

 

modding?

Nice interview guys! I only wish someone could squeeze a little more info out of these guys about what modders can expect. For instance, will a model exporter be available right away for 3DS Max 5 (the modeling program they used for Oblivion) so we can actually export our own models in a format the game can handle (I'm guessing it'll be the NIF format again.) Will there be exporters available for any other version of Max or any other modeling programs? Will they make NPC base animation Max files available so we have some kind of frame of reference for making our own animations? Will we be able to ADD our own animations instead of having to REPLACE animations like we did with MW.

Will we have any ability to make realistic body, clothing, and hair movement either through Max's Flex Modifier or by using the Havok engine in some way (think DOA character movement.) Are there script commands for getting the current RAI movements of an NPC? What are the RAI traits (we've heard of responsibility, aggression, confidence, but are there more?) Will there be companion share like in MW so we can actually mod in functional companions?

I have more questions but you get the idea.

 

Yes, I read the interview, which mentions the XB360 prominently, which is why I asked if it'll be available on any other consoles.

 

Glad the threat to interview Kathode was followed through really a nice read.

 

I took a look at some of the E3 2005 videos displaying outdoor scenes and noticed no character shadows outdoors. Hopefully this will not be the case in the final version.

 

It won't be. At E3, and perhaps even last fall, I don't think Bethesda had quite nailed down how they were going to handle shadows in the renderer.

Rev: no idea on other consoles. Morrowind was a Xbox/PC title so. . . .

 

Thank you Richard and John, truly some quality interviewing. It's looking to be a beautifully realized game.

 

Good interview, bad game choice. I guess you can't have it all.

Now, and more seriously, I would have been interested to know why some of the earlier pictures shown point filtered surfaces.

 

Really? To which screenshot in particular are you referring

 

Speak for yourself! For myself, and many others here, 'Oblivion' is the most exciting game on the horizon currently. It also boasts some stunning graphics and a unique engine making it a perfect choice for a technical interview. I honestly can't thing of a game more deserving of a B3D interview than this!

 

Look at the ceiling on the upper right corner of the picture.

It's either point filtering of some DXT1 low resolution normal map.

 

or a driver bug...
or an engine bug...

There could be a few things causing that particular issue.