I've just purchased the german GameStar magazine which contains a really long article on The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion and includes a video (ca. 7 minutes) on the mag's DVD with interviews with various developers of the game, as well as a few shots of the new Construction Set and even a glimpse of what Cyrodiil (the city) will look like.
IF you have the chance to buy this mag, do it. The video on the DVD alone is definitely worth it.
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I have to say that most of what I read in that article and heard in the interviews is most exciting. On the official forums, most of the facts from the article that are being discussed are the letdowns, but apparently none of the many new and exciting things, so I decided to write a short report on what exactly is in the article.
The main article starts with a description of how the new character generation process will work: as reported in other articles, you will not pick a class right from the start, but instead you will be classless for a while, use a number of skills and then, an NPC will suggest a class to you based on what skills you have been using the most until that point, which according to the article should be reached after playing the game for about 30 minutes.
Todd also tells us that even though you, the player, can pick an age for your character and that NPCs can be made to look a specific age, there will be no in-game aging as "that would open up a pandora's box" of issues such as dying, having children, marriage, etc. It is pretty safe to assume that none of these things will be in the game.
Todd also speaks enthusiastically of the new telekinesis spell effect with which it will be possible to pick up and hurl around objects realistically.
One thing that will possibly annoy some of you is that the quest compass will be in the main interface, at the side of the screen, not on the map. That means that you will get pointers to hidden locations if you want them or not. No word yet if this can be disabled somehow. On the bright side, the article claims that there will be no noticable loading times when passing between cells. Furthermore, you will be able to see much further than in previous games - probably due to the use of LOD (level of detail) scaling.
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While some friendly NPCs will wander in the woods, most people met in the wild will be hostile rogues and thieves. Speaking of NPCs, those will have a variety of facial expressions depending on their mood, and to make their faces look more realistic, slight (and variable) imperfections in the texture. They will react to your actions a lot more than in Morrowind: If you break into houses, they will remember that and treat you less friendly, perhaps even attack you. NPCs will also have schedules, which means bars and shops will be closed at the appropriate times, just like in Daggerfall. Additionally, one of the pictures' description suggests that there may even be curfews at night. Additionally, NPCs will interact with the world more by offering you healing if you're injured or doing something other than normal on a holiday.
Imprisonment will no longer be a "some time passes, you grow weaker" experience: you can bribe your way out of prison, steal the keys from the guard or even attempt to pick the lock of your cell door in a minigame similar to those found in Splinter Cell.
Dialog will be similar to that in Morrowind, but is getting various improvements: for instance, if an NPC does not know anything new about a keyword, that keyword will be displayed in green. They are also supposed to react to and talk about current events. The player character will not have voice-overs. I don't know about you, but to me, that's a big relief! :)
Romance does not appear to be a high priority: Todd states that though people may invite you to stay at their homes if they really like you, there will not be relationships as such.
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Running around will no longer tire you, it will just result in slower stamina regeneration. Fighting on the other hand will tire you, and during fights, brainlessly clicking the attack button will only drain your stamina. If you decide to play a fighter character, you will have to coordinate your attacks, use power moves that do four times the damage and block or pary your opponent's attacks. As you grow more experienced, you will have more combat moves at your command. Combats can also be fought both in first and third person perspective. Shields can block attacks but also to push opponents out of the way. One factoid that should delight all magic users: casting a spell no longer requires you to put away your weapon :) As petition threads on the official forum would suggest, mounted combat will not be part of the game, even though mounts are in.
Hiding in the shadows is in, that much we knew already. What we didn't know was that how well you are hidden will be displayed next to the crosshair, where during combats you will also see the health status of your opponent.
The necessary skill provided, you can sell items to any NPC in the game, and shopping will overall be more realistic. Powerleveling tricks usable in Morrowind will no longer work in Oblivion, the time you can spend with trainers will be limited. Casting spells against walls will also no longer be of much use. Enemies will grow with the player character, so that quests always remain challanging even at high levels. The items the various player characters will find will depend on their characteristics. Quests will be solvable in a number of ways, suitable to all player character archetypes - warrior, mage and thief.
Finally, Pete Hines remarks that Elder Scrolls will definitely remain in the domain of traditional Elder Scrolls titles and will satisfy both experienced players as well as newcomers.
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The issue also contains a full page on technical details of the game, such as what methods are used to create the beautiful effects visible in the various screenshots, and there is a video on the DVD coming with the issue that among other things has interviews with 5 developers, shows details of how the new Construction Set can be used and most excitingly, a first look at the imperial capital of Cyrodiil which will be styled in an ancient rome kind of way. Lots of exciting details in that video, so again, if you have the chance, buy the mag!