The Oblivion Facts List


Footnotes
(Some side information about various items listed)
  • 1500+ NPC’s: There has been some debate over whether this includes the respawning guards/bandits/etc. Until I find something more specific, while the number is confirmed NPC's, the number that are unique is not and will just have to be something that is up in the air.
  • 200+ Dungeons: The dungeons are all hand crafted and will be darker this time around, with more diverse and ambient lighting.
  • 21 Skills: You will be able to choose 7 major skills (these will start at 15 and are the only ones that effect your leveling) and then the rest will be minor skills (will start at 5 and not effect your leveling). Also, the two attributes chosen to be your main ones will be raised 15 levels each. The starting numbers do not account for bonuses from race. Each skill will have ranks (Novice, Apprentice, Journeyman, Expert and Master) depending on how high your level in it is, and for each new rank in that skill you will receive perks that are used automatically when needed. Here is the list of the skills over 7 of the 8 attributes (Luck plays a little into all skills) and the known skill perks:
    • Strength
      • Blade (Master: Random paralyzing “neck-strike”)
      • Blunt (Master: Random paralyzing “neck-strike”)
      • Hand to Hand ("High-end" Levels: Probable counter-attack and disarming of enemies (when blocking), Master: Random paralyzing “neck-strike”)
    • Endurance
      • Armorer (Master: Repair items to 125% condition; repair hammers never used up)
      • Block ("High-end" Levels: Probable counter-attack and disarming of enemies)
      • Heavy Armor (Progressive: Smaller penalty on using magic)
    • Agility
      • Marksman (Progressive: Zoom-in feature, Expert: Knock down opponent)
      • Security
      • Sneak
    • Speed
      • Acrobatics (“High-end” Levels: Dodge)
      • Athletics (Progressive: Fatigue levels faster while running)
      • Light Armor (Progressive: Smaller penalty on using magic)
    • Intelligence
      • Alchemy (Progressive: Able to drink more potions and have more current effects)
      • Conjuration
      • Mysticism
    • Willpower
      • Alteration
      • Destruction
      • Restoration
    • Personality
      • Illusion
      • Mercantile (Master: Invest in stores to increase merchants maximum amount of money)
      • Speechcraft
    Additional Note: It has been said that each weapon will have its own sneak attack, and that when used will ignore an opponent’s armor rating to inflict more damage. It has now been confirmed by MSFD that you can still sneak and attack with 2-handed weapons, but you won't receive a bonus for the attack.
  • 9 Major Cities: Ok, here is a list of the 9 major cities in the providence of Cyrodiil ((please note that Kvatch does count as one of the 9 major ones, even though it's destroyed). Special thanks to Astarsis for the list:
    • Anvil - Southwest (Italian type port city, stone buildings with red tiles rooftop)
    • Bravil - South (Small rundown buildings)
    • Bruma - North (Skaal type city)
    • Chorrol - Northwest (26 houses, walled city, fort, church with green windows, classic imperial style, God: Stendar)
    • Cheydinhal - Northeast (Wooden buildings, paradise pond and natural surroundings, God: Arkay)
    • Imperial City - Central Island (Capital, 2.5x Vivec, main hub 4x Chorrol, 100 NPC’s, smaller hub and port around, roman stone builder with green rusted cooper domes, God: Talos (Tiber Septim))
    • Leyawiin - Southern Jungles (rural/wooden style with brown wooden buildings, long with high farm-style roofs)
    • Kvatch - Southwest (Seems classic imperial style but in ruins, God: Akatosh)
    • Skingrad - Southwest (Tall stone buildings)
    Additional Note: You must use the city gates to enter and exit cities with walls now. You will be unable to levitate/jump over the walls (but you will be able to see landscape if it’s high enough to be seen over the walls). It has not been stated exactly how the devs plan on implementing this limitation.
  • The Arena (Guild): You’ll be able to bet on fights as well as work your way through the ranks.
  • The Blades (Guild): You’ll most likely do quests for them during the Main Quest ((and perhaps various side quests), but will be unable to join.
  • Borders: Borders are invisible walls that prevent you from going beyond the edges of Cyrodiil. These borders will be comprised of natural boundaries (i.e. rivers, mountains, etc.) and other times will just be unnoticeable invisible barriers blocking your path with a message telling you to ‘go back’. Additional Note: You’ll still be able to see ‘beyond’ the borders so you don’t feel awkward about them.
  • The Counts (5 Houses): You'll be able to do quests for the five Counts that are fighting for power in Cyrodiil, but will be unable to join any one of them.
  • Dark Brotherhood (guild): To gain admittance, you will need to kill someone innocent. Only then will someone confront you about joining the guild.
  • Dynamic Water Effects: There are different types and effects (ie. waves, story weather, waterfalls, etc.) but they are just visuals and will not effect chracters. Unfortunately, rivers will not flow, but you will see water flowing heavily by waterfalls. Water will reflect the surrounding terrain and large cities, but trees and grass will not be. Objects and character will sink or float depending on their weight ((or if they're over-encumbered).
  • Expanded Character Creation Process: The new character selection has gotten a complete overhaul from the one in Morrowind. You will now use sliders to pick custom age, face, brow, cheeks, chin, forehead, jaw, mouth, nose, skin tone, beard, eyes, eyebrows, lips, and nose (eyes will be chosen from a list). There will be no ability to change body type ((as this could result in clipping issues). Also, age will be a cosmetic effect only. It will have no effect on starting stats, or affect your stats while playing the game. No character will age in game. There will be no modeled beards/facial hair. There will only be beard/facial hair shaders, so you will look like you have a heavy 5 o’clock shadow. Also, there is a RGB slider for hair color, so hair color can be as wild as you want. Additional Note: All NPC's share the same body meshes (males will all be one mesh, and females another), with different textures and normal map's to distinguish between the races. There are, though, seperate meshes for claws, tails and heads.
  • Forced Reloads (No List): Ok, they changed it again, and to our liking, I’m sure. They have taken out the forced reload and inserted in its place a new condition. If you happen to attack and kill an essential NPC, they don’t die, but instead go unconscious for a time. Eventually they will get back up, and go about their daily business (most probably with a lowered disposition towards you for killing them). Additional Note: Fortunately, it has been said that when an essential NPC has served their purpose, the flag on them will be turned off and you can kill to your hearts content. Also see Yielding.
  • Improved Combat: With the new combat system implemented you'll be able to manually block, attack quickly using different combos, or use one of the five 'special' or 'super' attacks (per skill) all of which have their own benefits when fighting. Holding up you shield will slow you down (unable to run), and you also have to be facing your opponent to block an attack. The block skill will govern all effectiveness of blocking, whether it is done with a weapon, shield or your hands. Blocking with a weapon or shield absorbs damage from the attack (preventing some of it from getting to you), but they will also take damage. Blocking with you hands will not absorb weapon damage, only hand to hand damage. Additional Note: Also this time a hit is a ‘hit’. There is no ‘to-hit roll’ for hitting or missing, it only does ‘rolls’ on your stats and skills to determine what damage is done to the enemy. Also see Yielding.
  • Improved Stealth: The stealth system has been given a complete overhual from Morrowind. Light, shadow and sound are all factors in how well you sneak around now (shine off of armor or clothing will not effect your stealth abilities, but wearing heavy will make noise that can get you caught). You can grab dead bodies and drag then out of the open now (but due to the size of wieght of a body, it will be a slow process). NPC's and guards will stop and congregate around them if you don't, thus making it more difficult to sneak around. It will not be possible to lead NPC's into traps using sounds as distractions. The forest camouflage will reduce the chance of NPC's detecting you.
  • Interactive Jail (Escaping): Picking the lock, stealing the key from the guard when he walks by, starting a fight with the other prisoner so the guard investigates, bribe the guard (possibly), wait until another prisoner is to be released and then run out of the cell, etc.
  • Lockpicking Mini-game: You are now taken to a different screen when attempting to pick a lock. You will now have to use a lockpick to tap tumblers into the “unlock” position. The harder the lock, the more tumblers there are and they are difficult it is to lock the tumblers in place. Additional Note: You can tell the game to solve the lock itself without having you do it manually, and the game does a dice roll against the lock using your security skill. The higher your skill, the better chance it opening without breaking your pick.

  • New Persuasion Interface: The persuasion minigame is very different from what was shown at E3. It plays much more like a game now. Similar to the one we showed, the game still uses a circular interface divided into four quadrants for the different persuasion types. The art is completely different and fully animated now. Each of the four quadrants will fill with wedges of different sizes. The size of the wedge reflects the scale of the potential effect of your choosing an action. Choosing a large wedge has a great effect; choosing a small wedge has a small effect.

    As you highlight in turn the Admire, Boast, Joke, and Coerce quadrants, the person 's face shows his reaction to each of the actions. For each of the four actions, he will Love one, Like one, Dislike one, and Hate one. Don't take too long, because the person 's disposition is steadily falling. The person 's disposition goes up when you select a Loved or Liked action and goes down when you select a Disliked or Hated action.

    The potential gain or loss for each action is based on your Speechcraft and how full the wedge is. Try to select fuller wedges when they are aligned with actions the person likes. Try to select less full wedges when they are aligned with actions he doesn't like.

    Additional Note: At this time, we don't have any information of the Demand or Bride features.
  • Past Actions Remembered: One point in the MQ, you must marshal armies from the 5 Counts of Cyrodiil for a large scaled battle. If you made then angry earlier on in the game, they may not come to your aid.
  • Potion Application to Weapons: You when you make a potion, you can use it on a weapon of your choice to add that effect to the weapon, and will be transferred to the next person you hit with the effected weapon. A small green droplet icon appears on the screen indicating a potion has been applied to the weapon
  • Radiant AI: NPC’s will have 24/7 schedules, such as closing their shop at night, or locking their door when they go to bed. Creatures will even venture outside their cave/den to search for food, and attacks each otehr in the wilderness to eat. NPC's also have full facial expressions and will react accordingly to what race they are talking to (High Elves would have a lower disposition to a Wood Elf, than say another High Elf). It has been said that NPC’s will have many more parameters that go into decisions that they choose. Just a couple of them are Confidence and Responsibility. Additional Note: NPC's will also comment you on your actions and events that you have been in.
  • TES Construction Set: The CS has been improved to be simpler for the developers and modders, and will be available as a free download on the Official Site (a link will be provided when the download becomes available). Dialogue, landscaping, quests, scripting and more have all been made easier to use. Modders will still need a separate program to create objects, and another for skinning (just like for Morrowind), but animations can be modded in easily with a special editor without heavy scripting. Alpha maps are supported, and NIF's and DDS's are used for meshes and textures (also just like Morrowind). Character's can comunicate with each other and the PC through dialogue, so voice acting is not required to make new NPC's. The script editor is the same from Morrowind, but there have been many improvements. Here is a quick rundown of some improvements to the scripting:
    • Ability to call functions on any reference anywhere
    • If statements can use the full range of logical operators: &&, 7C7C, >, !=, etc., as well as nested parents
    • Improved language now interacts with the whole game
    • Integration of script functions with "conditions" in the editor -- basically, any function that returns a value will be available to conditionalize dialogue, etc.
    • Objects can be used as variables (and more)
    • Variables can be used as parameters for most function calls
    Unfortunately arrays, lists, pointer and string variables are unlikely to be added. There be no ability to add in weapon types or skills into the game, no 3DMax flex modifier and no body morphing (only scaling).
  • Thieves’ Guild: To gain admittance, you will need to be thrown in jail for a non-violent crime, or go through the conventional means of talking to NPC’s. One of the bonuses for being in the Thieves Guild will be the network of fences that you can sell stolen goods to.
  • Vampires: If you should become a vampire you'll still be able to continue the main quest, possibly everything, except that you'll be required to get your daily helping of blood (now with a new neck biting animation). With that, you should be able to withstand the suns rays for the most part, and will be less recognizable as a Vampire to most people. Vampires will also be much stronger than their counterparts were in Morrowind (with new skills such as a natural invisibility ability). It will be curable, so there will not be any epidemics across the country. Additional Note: Sleeping NPC's are exceptional targets for blood suckers on the prowl.
  • Yielding: To balance the improved combat and help solve the essential NPC issue, the yield system has been implemented. So if in a fight with any NPC, there is a chance they might yield (based on their disposition, will to fight, etc.). You also have the chance to yield yourself (just by clicking on the NPC during combat) and they can either accept it or continue to fight (based on the same stats above). Additional Note: Creatures will never accept if you try to yield to them. Also see Forced Reloads and Improved Combat.

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