New Oblivion screenshots

[Hieremias]

Shacknews has posted <a href="http://www.shacknews.com/screens.x/tes4/The+Elder+Scrolls+4:+Oblivion/1/012105/obliv13B.jpg">three new screenshots</a> for the upcoming Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion.

Make sure to wipe the drool off your face after viewing.

[Renzatic Gear]

:gurgle:

[Aku]

Actually, it makes me kind of dread it. My pc came out more than a year after Morrowind, and that game really taxes it (of course, my game is jam-packed with mods - the base game runs a lot better). Is Oblivion using a modified version of the same engine or a new engine? The screenshots look similar to the graphics in Morowind. I certainly hope they optimize this engine better, and not have your computer trying to process everything on the other side of the wall you're staring at.

I'll be getting a new video card later this year without question. My ti4800 is adequate for everything I'm playing now (TDS and Morrowind are the only games that really grind my system), but is going to be too antiquated for the things that are starting to come out (and which I'll get to a year from now).

[Renzatic Gear]

I hope it isn't using the same engine. Bethesda licensed an engine (forgot the name, netenhance or something along those lines) that is fairly well know for being a lumpy unoptimised piece of bastard. Think about it...MW came out back when the Geforce 3 was in it's heyday, and it's still hard as hell getting it to run well without a ton of tweaks a few prayers even with a modern graphics card. The only different I saw when going from a Geforce 3 to a 9800 Pro was being able to use AA without a huge framerate hit, otherwise it runs exactly the same.

If Bethsoft decided to do an inhouse engine then chances are good it'll run quite a bit better. Here's hoping.

[Mochan]

Oblivion's a totally different engine. They say it actually runs faster than Morrowind, becuase it's smarter. And that you can turn down a lot more options. And Aku, the screenshots look NOTHING like Morrowind! It's like the difference between chocolate and crap.

I forgot the name of the new engine they're using. They licensed a Physics Engine (Havok) and a Graphics Engine (I forgot) for the game, in addition to developing an AI Engine (Radiant). I've also heard that one of the developers is using a Radeon 9800 Pro. I still think I need to upgrade my system when it comes out but I think it'll be playable on my PC at least when it comes out.

[Hieremias]

Yeah, engine optimization is something I definitely hope they're focusing on. And judging by some comments the developers have made, I think they are. Even with my 256mb Radeon 9600XT and a gig of RAM I still get only 20fps in Balmora. Now it's perfectly playable, I'm not going to toss it out or anything. But I'm hoping for something more from Oblivion. I mean Far Cry ran beautifully, it had plenty more on-screen than those Oblivion shots.

[Renzatic Gear]

The big difference between the foliage in Oblivion and Farcry is that FC uses cleverly twisted 2D sprites and textures for most of it's foliage while Obv uses 3D models.

So if you wanna play Oblivion with all the bells and whistles you'll probably have to upgrade to a brand spanking new videocard by the time it comes out...I've already started saving up. :P