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oblivion, computery stuff, etc
Aug. 18th, 2006 12:03 pmLast week, speaking on the phone to an adviser, I confirmed a 19th August afternoon installation date for my broadband service with NTL. This Wednesday, I received a letter saying "Congratulations; we can install your service on 19th August". Then yesterday, I received an SMS saying "Great news! Your ntl services will be installed on 19/08/06 between 12-6." No wonder they're running out of money when they waste cash on telling me something twice that I already knew.
While waiting for this broadband installation, I've had time to play a bit of Oblivion on the computer. It is definitely very pretty, as people have said. With the view distance set to maximum, it's great to be able to look at distant forests on the horizon and feel like you're in a believable world. Gameplay is average however. The Elder Scrolls series never did have much in the way of gameplay innovation and Oblivion is no different. The much-hyped 'Radiant AI' hasn't manifested in any visible way so far. Apparently they announced all their revolutionary development to build up hype and then cut most of it out of the final version, just like Ultima Online did almost a decade ago. By far though, the main problem for me is that it's tiny. I read somewhere that it features '16 square miles of land"... which is 4 miles from one side to the other. It's disappointing to walk half way across the land, turn around, and still be able to clearly see the Imperial City you left behind you far to the east. Again, Ultima games have always felt more vast, which I think is important if you're to feel immersed. So, really, although it's very pretty, Oblivion doesn't really offer very much, and certainly nothing new.
Time to get back to Thief 3 I think. Or Might and Magic 6. Or Bards Tale 2. Or Majesty. Or Myth 2. I have too many games on the go, and not enough time for them. Yet.
I used the audio program Audacity to test my hearing last night, by generating tones of various frequencies to see whether I could hear them. Oddly, my hearing was slightly better out of my troublesome ear than in the other, though neither can register anything above 16500Hz. I think that's not very good for my age, though I suppose an aural diet of death metal for years and years inevitably has that effect. Anyway, my ear seems a fair bit better today, so my panic is reduced somewhat.
I would comment further on other computery and geeky stuff of some interest to others here, but my lunch hour is short and involves a 1.5 mile round trip to go and buy a baguette. Hopefully I can update again tomorrow from the 'luxury' of my own abode.
While waiting for this broadband installation, I've had time to play a bit of Oblivion on the computer. It is definitely very pretty, as people have said. With the view distance set to maximum, it's great to be able to look at distant forests on the horizon and feel like you're in a believable world. Gameplay is average however. The Elder Scrolls series never did have much in the way of gameplay innovation and Oblivion is no different. The much-hyped 'Radiant AI' hasn't manifested in any visible way so far. Apparently they announced all their revolutionary development to build up hype and then cut most of it out of the final version, just like Ultima Online did almost a decade ago. By far though, the main problem for me is that it's tiny. I read somewhere that it features '16 square miles of land"... which is 4 miles from one side to the other. It's disappointing to walk half way across the land, turn around, and still be able to clearly see the Imperial City you left behind you far to the east. Again, Ultima games have always felt more vast, which I think is important if you're to feel immersed. So, really, although it's very pretty, Oblivion doesn't really offer very much, and certainly nothing new.
Time to get back to Thief 3 I think. Or Might and Magic 6. Or Bards Tale 2. Or Majesty. Or Myth 2. I have too many games on the go, and not enough time for them. Yet.
I used the audio program Audacity to test my hearing last night, by generating tones of various frequencies to see whether I could hear them. Oddly, my hearing was slightly better out of my troublesome ear than in the other, though neither can register anything above 16500Hz. I think that's not very good for my age, though I suppose an aural diet of death metal for years and years inevitably has that effect. Anyway, my ear seems a fair bit better today, so my panic is reduced somewhat.
I would comment further on other computery and geeky stuff of some interest to others here, but my lunch hour is short and involves a 1.5 mile round trip to go and buy a baguette. Hopefully I can update again tomorrow from the 'luxury' of my own abode.
