Official TES:Oblivion Remaster incoming (soon?)

[Dowly]

Announcement/reveal/release(?) stream today:
https://i.imgur.com/25swxCo.jpeg


Internet leaks (so you can trust them) say it's going to release today. They said the same thing about yesterday, but everyone makes mistakes.
*Huffs hopium*


Leaked screenshots from Virtuous Studios' website:
https://imgur.com/gallery/oblivion-remastered-dark-screenshots-restored-KscfaBJ

[Skybird]

I need to check that out, Oblivion was a revealtion and my entry open world gaming. I felt completely stunned and overwhelmed.



Skyrim also can be unbelievably visually ugraded via mods (no own experience of mine, I just saw the video: breathtaking).

[Dowly]

Skyrim's modding scene is wild these days with both the Vortex and the Wabbajack ways of being able to install mod collections with thousands of mods in them with one click (and lots of waiting for the mods to download).

Butttt, I've always prefered Oblivion's world. It's just too dated nowadays even with mods.

The rumour has it that the remaster will still use the bethesda engine (either gamebryo or Creation) for gameplay and UE5 for graphics, which would be great since it retains the game's moddability.

Sucks for the Skyblivion team who were intending to release their project this year, though. :doh:

[Dowly]

Didn't even have to wait until the end of stream, just released it immediately! ~120gigs.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2623190/The_Elder_Scrolls_IV_Oblivion_Remastered/

[Platapus]

Oblivion had much better writing than Skyrim did. The stories had more depth.


If they can take the writing of Oblivion and pair it was a better interface like Skyrim, it would be



https://media1.tenor.com/m/dXkKnk4UuV8AAAAd/shut-up-and-take-my-money.gif

[Skybird]

Downloading, inlcuding Knights of the Eight.
I only hope my aging system can run it. Its above minimum specs and below maximum specs.

Can be run in VR via VR mod. Reviews at YT say its awesome in VR. But I think I do not even try it, not with my old system.

[Dowly]

It's on the heavier side to run, just one of those UE5 things I'm afraid.

Only played for a bit today, but I'm really, really liking it so far. It feels familiar just modernized. A very good remaster in general. :up:


Modding the remaster will be interesting to follow, since the rumour held true and it is indeed running Bethesda's old Oblivion engine as a base with UE5 on top. I give it six months before the TES community has cracked open UE5 modding in a way never seen. :O:

[Skybird]

I fear I suffer from a hardware malfunction with my gfx board. After launching things up, gfx cloller start going crazy, things getwarm, then hot, and after a minute or so, even if just surfing the menu, the game crashes. Found out that this happens with other certain newer titles as well now. Its not the game most likely, but my hardware finally has started to break down or at least being overloaded. ~7 3/4 years of age.

And now tough decisions must be made. Go I with the much hated W11 and a - hilariously expensive - new rig, or, as I previously planned, abandon Windows gaming alltogether? I dont dare to just replace the gfx card (1080) and try my luck, these things simply are too expensive too just gamble. A newer one may again run into heat problems due to the old rest of the system (of which I dont know how much longer it will live).

I have had growing issues with 7 Days in Fallujah and AC Evolution, FS and a few other new titles, too. Older games like Fallout 4 and Skyrim and AC and Raceroom and such still run stable. It must be the newer graphics functions that push the rig over the limit.

Grrrrr. However, I have had no PC for longer than 7 years so far, mostly changing after even already 5. All of them had their gfx boards replaced twice.

Old Linux notebook has also just been replaced, the old one died, having been bought at around the same time like this PC. Its for non-gaming, "serious" functions where privacy and security matters, its fast in non gaming and office-style stuff, but cannot run games of video and graphics editing, has no gfx performance worth to be mentioned.

Spending coins or not spending coins, thats the question. With the Quest 3 being in daily use and loving it, that question is a most serious one. And I hate that W11.

[Dowly]

That sucks. Yeah, 1080 is getting to be ancient at this point especially for UE5 which makes heavy use of DLSS/FSR to actually have playable FPS.

Even my RTX4070 Super is not able to get good stable FPS without using DLSS. Though, the rest of my PC is getting a bit old and I'm way too lazy to upgrade since I would have to change the MoBo as well.

You shouldn't run into any problems with breaking anything if you just upgrade your GPU, given your PC supports a newer one. My 4070 has had no heat issues even without underclocking, maxing at at around 70-75C. You might be able to find a cheaper RTX 4000 series now that the 5000 series is out and at least you then have a GPU ready for when you decide to get a new rig. As for Win11, if you can still download the recovery Win10 thingamabob from Microsoft, you could just put that on a USB stick and use a completely-absolutely-legal windows activator to get a 100% working windows 10. That's what me my friend has always done, never owned a legit copy of Windows.

[Skybird]

@Dowly
da sagst du was! :)


Serious -l started to consider upgrading the gfX board alone, with a 4060TI card. I "chatted" with ChatGPT and gave it my precise system data: CPU, mainboard, PSU, and so forth. It says that a 4060TI should fit well (plugs, power, spacing), and should also be harmonic with my CPU. Well, that info may be artificial, but whether it is intelligent remains to be shown... I will see.


i7 8700K 6x3.7 GHz, Mainboard Asus ROG Strix Z370-F, 32 GB RAM 3000, gfx-Karte Asus Strix GTX-1080TI OC, SSD Samsung 960 Evo 250 GB, HD WD Black 2TB, PSU BeQuiet! Dark Power P11 750W, CPU fan Noctua NHD15 .


I am just not sure if my problems are realyl due to the gfx board alone, or something beyond that, in which case I would have spend the money - ~400€ - in vein.


Anyhow, I just did a SMART test of the system/Windows 10 SSD, it never was loaded with more than 50% of of the volume, has a status of "good" (94%), and 9200 running hours since autumn 2017, which indicates all that it is fine and healthy and stable and most likely has many more years of life ahead of it. The mainboard is a very solid one and said to be of good and lasting quality. So is the PSU unit. Its amazing how far SSDs have come.


I think I take the risk and try it with buying the GFX card. After all, I am lucky enough that I can afford it. And I am absolutely not in the mood to buy a new Windows 11 system. Absolutely not.

[Dowly]

If at all possible, try to get your hands on a 4070 instead of a 4060. The latter are usually the "budget" cards in each generation Nvidia releases. And whatever you do, don't buy a 8GB card instead go for a 12GB. Eight gigs is starting to be inadequate these days.

The good thing about gaming these days is that CPU and GPU dont walk hand in hand as much anymore. Games have become more GPU intensive due to offloading much of the graphics calculations on it, so even an older CPU is enough to run newer games today.

And if all else fails, you still have Skyblivion to look forward to which is aiming to release this year. :up:

[Skybird]

Well, a 4070 is more money, the rig is over 7.5 years old, and the power supply is 750W only, there is also a risk that the powerplugs need creative solutions. Finally, air cooling, I don'T know how much space for manouvering I have there, in the first year, temps were critically high quite often, now are usually in the low to mid-70s.


I am more about stability and compatability, not about buying the latest graphics orgies that kill systems much more powerful than mine.


And when I find that it was not the gfx board, and I have a different, unidentifed hardware issue - then it makes itself felt whether I spend 200 Euros more or less.


The good thing is I am not in a hurry. I made a W10 installation medium, finally, and switched the system from local account to Windows account, so that the digital license, that cannot be obtained from the depths of the hardware, is finally linked to that account and can be used to activate a possible W10 re-installation. Hopefully.


As long as Microsoft does not switch all that off in despair, their W11 business still does not go great. I hope it implodes and leaves a big crater.


W10 reaches end of life this autumn, and then gets no more unpaid updates and security updates. I dont care, am already now avoiding updates as good as I can (its no longer possible to avoid W10 updates completely, for many years I could, but no more). I will then rely on ESET Security, Malwarebytes (old life-long license)and the fact that no shopping, personal data, banking stuff or anything sensitive is being run on the Windows rig anymore since years, is all on a second Linux system.

[Skybird]

:D

https://youtu.be/v7_I25ZGOBs?si=cnhZgXFAz1wDGQj8

[Platapus]

A lot of the reviews are positive


I think I will wait the usual period for a patch or two. I am leery of buying games when they first come out. I don't like paying a gaming company to beta (or in some cases alpha) testing their product.

[Skybird]

It seems what I suffer from are temperature issues. Not the CPU, but the gfx board. I am able to keep them down by switching to low settings. It has a visible price in graphics, but it still looks so very much better than the old game, and I at least can now get into the game and play. I must expect CTDs every two hours or so. Well, it was not different with the old game and the rig I had first when playing it back then, it too was inadequate.

It feels very, very nice and well to play again in this world. I so far noticed no bugs in the game mechanics themselves, and certainly no party-crushing bugs. My issues are hardware related, not game related.



The light effects from fire in the dungeons are insanely good, even at low settings.


Oblivion, Skyrim and Fallout 4 worlds rule!

[Platapus]

I wonder if anyone is working on a Morrowwind remaster.



(rubbing hands)

[d@rk51d3]

Oblivion was my favourite............ but $85 is a bit rich for my blood.

Just started a new run on the original in an effort to console myself.

.........it isn't working. :har:

[Dowly]

A lot of the reviews are positive


I think I will wait the usual period for a patch or two. I am leery of buying games when they first come out. I don't like paying a gaming company to beta (or in some cases alpha) testing their product.A lot of the problems are to do with optimization at this point, with few small gameplay things to fix that they broke. Other than that, you're getting OG Oblivion with some QoL fixes and better graphics. There hasn't been any effort to release a fixed version of the game, so most bugs and jank is very much still present.

[Platapus]

It just wouldn't be a Bethesda game without "Setstage" :D

[Skybird]

I placed an order for an ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 4060 EVO OC Edition 8GB GDDR6.

I know its not the most modern card and that 8 GB are not considered top notch anymore, but I get it for 290 coins, which is an argument, considering the prices other versions cost, it reaches to over 800 coins. That is too huge a risk for my taste, since i am not totally certain an all this.

Also, the card is said to be signficantly cooler and consuming less power, with temps maybe beign the factor giving my old 1080TI OC troubles. My silent rig has two fans in, one fan out. CPU temps are around 28-32°C at idle and 70-75°C under load.

Performance will be higher than that of the 1080, but only a bit, it will be perceivable, but not as huge a difference than if I take a 4070 or so - for much more money.

I would invest more money into a gfx card if I buy a new system but this one ist 7.5 years old, and who knows how much longer it lives. Also, I am anythign but certainnthat I will ever buy a windows PC again, I am too pissed by W11. Managing and keeping low the risk for financial loss is a priority concern, I think. And I play in fullHD only anyway, not 1440p and not 4k. No highres textures = lesser VRAM needed.

BTW, Dowly, the driver version mentioned in the specs was old, I forgot to update the text. Its 566.14.

[Dowly]

290 moneys is definitely a good deal for a 4060. Gets you access to DLSS as well whether you choose to use it or not. :up:


Word of warning about the latest NVIDIA drivers: Users have reported that the previous drivers caused, in some instances, the GPU fail to monitor its temperature resulting in GPUs running very hot. It should be fixed in the latest game ready drivers, but have not tested them myself.

[Skybird]

^ Thanks, will have an eye on it. Compared to my previous 1080TI, the 4060 should offer a minor frames improvement of 10-15%, maybe 20%, but a reduction in power consummation of 40-60% depending on the game, and thus a temperature drop by 8-11°C, which is what kicked the ball for me. Also, I must not fear that the card is noisy.

I already downloaded (not yet installed, of courtse) the katest nVidia driver 576.28 Gaming (not studio). Breside that basic new installation, i tend to repalce gfX driver sonyl when I notice probloems of any sort. Or drivers in general. (In the past 25 years, reinstalling drivers of any sort practicalla never has solved any techncial problems for me, as long as the driver was not totally porked and withdrawn by the manufacturer).

The 5060 coming may be as cheap but the temperature is the big uncertainty, thats why I decided to not wait for it.

I stayed away from AMD cards for the simple reason that nVidia drivers are said to be way better optimised for VR.

The risk of doing this replacement in vein is limited, due to the low price tag. My RAM and drives are in very good shape still (the HD having been replaced after 4 years, amybe I do that again, but the SSDs are at 94 and 98%), the mainboard is said to be a very solid, good one with great endurance, same is said about the 750W BeSilent! power supply, which now will need to work even less than more. With some good will by Fortuna this old rig still has some years' life in it.

I read the 1080TI (mine is factory OC) is still held in high esteem, some say its the best card nVidia ever published. I have had mine for 7.5 years now, and for aölpmost 7 years it handled everything i threw at it, and was silent and behaved solid. Considering it costed over 1000 coins I too say its a damn fine card. There is controversy, to put it mildly, about the latest GFX 50xx range of cards. When building a new system, i would go with the best of the previous generation, not the latest generation - its overpriced. Am not sure whether I will ever build a new Windows rig.


And to get back to the porigonaö topic, the new Oblivion looks lovely, out plays a bit old.-fahsoned now. I do play it less and mroe just walk around and enjoy the sights and local atmosphere. In dungeons, the torches and fires create wonderful immersion. It looks very nice and - very gothic i cities, especially Skingrad, whicuh makes me think of a Mini-Gormenghast. By only complain is the same like with all Bethesda games: the nights simply are too bright. In Fallput 4, I use two mods that erase almost all human-made lights at night and turn the ambience light of stars and moon and such much, much darker. Close distance combat at night really is exciting with this, you really need NVG scopes or torchlights, and at the same time better dont use torchlights...

[Skybird]

For those who are affected: they say the known temperature bug Dowly mentions is widespread in version 576.02 (if your driver is older you should be safe) and by urgent need was fixed by nVidia in a hotfix driver release with version 576.15. The bug is especially prominent when systems get woken up from standby modes, and in 50xx cards, also on laptops. If this is true, the new 576.28 which was released just a few days ago should be safe to use.

[Skybird]

They messed the order up an delayed the deloivery and started to babble drivel on the availablity and date. Canceled the order and placed a new one for a Gigabyte RTX 4060 WINDFORCE OC instead, für 30 coins more. :shifty:

[Skybird]

The plan today was completed, and it executed very well. The card is practically soundless, the temps of the 6 CPU cores are 3-4°C lower, so is the air temperature inside the PC case (5-6°C lower), power consumption in random tests was significantly over 100W lower, the frame rate is visibly (not dramatically but visibly) higher, and the gpu temperature is a stunning 8-11°C lower both at idle and under load. The few games I tested, all ran well. I got a late price bonus, and paid around 300 coins again.

The card has two instead of three ventilators, and is significantly smaller, shorter. It takes just one instead of two 8-pin plugs.

I think my plan showed to work very well. :up:


I had Windows in safe mode, used DDU to deinstall old driver clean, col-d-booted, installed driver , cold-booted again, and that was it. No issues whatever. Only had to manually re-select sound device correctly. The procedure ran smooth as silk. I know that differently from older PCs from many, many years ago.