Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=99https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=286 Outside of the castle. Wow. These are the first letters I can say when I step out into the world. I look around and I see mountains, rolling hills, trees, and a river flowing below me. Before I try to find the next town, I look around the environment for a bit. I first go to examine the trees. There are hundreds of trees rendered in real time, surrounding me. As I closely examine the leaves, I notice that the afternoon shadows on the ground are swaying with the leaves. I am amazed! When I go into my inventory, I see that I can “fast travel”, or jump from city to city within the world, so I warp to the nearest town. This is where most of the interaction occurs. As I walk through the town, I go to talk to the peasants. When I talk to the peasants, they interact in the same way as with the guardsmen and the king earlier, except that I can now gain favor or disfavor. When I suggest something positive to a character, they tend to smile, or look pleasant. When I say something they do not like, I am usually greeted with a scornful face. There is even a game that will grant you more or less favor, dependent on what their likes and dislikes are and how you respond to them. After asking around the village, I collect quests from the NPCs, usually to help more NPCs. Thus ends my adventure for now.Fri, 13 Oct 2006 23:36:56 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=286&iddiary=930https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=286The adventure continues. After leaving my cell, I follow the king and his guards into a secret underground passage. I try different things like punching the guards, and I am greeted with threats. I get seperated from the caravan and am forced to interact with the environment. After picking up a bow, I shoot a bucket on a well. The arrows have weight, so the pail is weighted down until I pick it back up. The AI of the monsters is pretty good. They do not recognize my presence until I get close to them, unless I sneak in and fire a shot at them. When I meet back up with the caravan, the guards cry out as "battle mages" attack. Before I can really react, the guards kill our attackers. As I observe the characters more and more, I begin to see some of the details the game designers have implemented in Oblivion. When I walk by the guards, I can hear there is conversation between them. I can choose to interact with any of the NPCs (Non-Playable Characters) at any point in the game (including monsters). Though the characters in the game look a little funny, especially when they speak, their mannerisms when they walk their facial expressions resemble human behavior. At the end of the dungeon, the king and I have a conversation that opens up the rest of the game, and then I walk outside... To be continued...Fri, 13 Oct 2006 23:36:06 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=286&iddiary=929https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=286My first critical look into Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. To begin with, the character creation tool is very detailed. There are a number of races to choose from. Today, I chose the Khajiit, a cat-like race, for my main character. After choosing a race, you can morph the physical features and color of your character. This is the physical look to your character, but these options do not complete your character. After creating the look of my character, I start the game in a dungeon, where I patiently await the king (voiced by Patrick Stuart) to arrive at my cell. While you wait you are able to interact with the environment. Chains hanging on walls rattle as I move into them, bones are moved as I toss them about my cell, and people try to talk to me from outside of the room. When the king arrives, the guards tell me to stand beside the window. The guards keep yelling at me until I comply. The king gives me his story before we head out through a secret passageway. As the king speaks, I am given options to respond back with, similar to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. From a cosmetic perspective, though not perfect. the game looks gorgeous. Even though the interaction with the king is detailed and sensitive to my responses, the face morphing looks a little bit off. I cannot place too much fault on the model manipulations, especially since the king reacts to my comments not only in dialog, but in facial expressions as well. The king can smile and frown not only with his mouth, but even with his eyes. After our discussion we head off into the dungeon... More next time...Fri, 13 Oct 2006 16:05:22 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=286&iddiary=895https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=286Fri, 13 Oct 2006 16:05:14 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=286&iddiary=894