What makes Oblivion so bad?

[Sigourn]

Well it's not vanilla. That's for sure. See above. The screenshot in question was probably taken around 2012 or even before that, when rigs were shittier.

On a closer look, you are right. It seems the user wasn't using MGE XE, so everything looks pretty shit. (I'm used to modded Morrowind using MGE XE by default, it's weird to see a modded Morrowind that doesn't use it)

That said:

You are completely confusing "aesthetic" with "graphics", and it's not the same thing at all. My pics let you appreciate the vanilla Morrowind aesthetic, the only questionable thing is the draw distance, so you will have to imagine some fog on the background.

On an equal graphical level, Morrowind fucks Oblivion real hard (in my opinion, it already does with just two mods).

EDIT: in fact I don't see the need to say you were right: the pictures are so low res and with so little detail it looks like vanilla Morrowind at a first glance, so they do the job just fine. And the one I was citing (the one in Sadrith Mora) looks fairly vanilla to me. It comes from a different source than the Ascadian Isles picture, though I can see the interface is not vanilla as some elements have been moved around.

 

[Zerth]

Year 2007, I was a teenager eager to try two recently bought games on my mid tier gaming PC: Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines and TES IV Oblivion ( my first TES title). I've mentioned this because as hard as I can try to recall, I only manage to remember well playing Bloodlines. From vanilla Oblivion I can't recall anything clearly except the assassin guild and the hilariously bad AI , It must have been that bad and forgettable to me considering I am incapable of remembering something in concrete.

Since then I've never played another full vanilla Oblivion playthrough again. And I specify 'vanilla'; since I clearly remember that years afterwards I heavily modded it with Oscuro's Overhaul but eventually was for naught. Last time I installed it though, was just as basegame to play Nehrim.

 

[Eriador]

Morrowind looks like a shitbrown hellhole with mushrooms without mods. But I wouldn't expect many people to know because everyone plays this piece of shit with mods.

I play Morrowind without mods. Hell, I've played both Oblivion and Skyrim without mods.

Unmodded Morrowind Screenshots (Some of them from the expansion)

Spoiler

I like the style and the atmosphere of the visuals, even if the graphics are dated and draw distance is low. The character models are pretty bad, but I'd still choose them over Oblivion's.

Besides, Oblivion environment doesn't look bad, I've never said that. It's just that that one screen of Oblivion you've shown is basically the majority of Cyrodiil. My problem with Oblivion has more to do with variety and artistic direction. Also, the NPC models look absolutely terrible, even worse then those in Morrowind.

 

[Metro]

Horrible stat system. Horrible leveling system (yes, it was even bad in Morrowind). Horrible itemization. Horribly generic dungeons. Horrible engine. Horrible voice acting. Horrible 'join all guilds/be everything' design.

 

[Commissar Draco]

So some Generic Temperate Forest one can find in spades not only in Oblivion but also in other games including Gothic Series and Twicher as well VS unique settings and locations you cant find in other games? Its not even the content for someone with a ounce of taste Todd. At least in Skyrim they made most of holds and towns waried.

 

[buru5]

The image you posted is literally vanilla Morrowind graphics. The textures are VANILLA, I know what vanilla Morrowind textures look like. The image you posted afterwards is completely irrelevant, because I'm simply talking about that one picture.

Which image? The one in my response to you? Because yes, that's vanilla and I posted it precisely because it's vanilla. Or this one:

Spoiler

This ain't vanilla, Sigourn. And for reference, here's where the image is originally sourced from. Obviously the person who took the screenshot is using mods.

I know what vanilla Morrowind textures look like.

Apparently not.


Your aesthetics argument is probably closer to the mark but we'd be getting into a philosophical debate about objectivity and subjectivity which I just don't want to do right now. I was only initially commenting on the base claim that "Morrowind looks better than Oblivion", objectively it doesn't. But with your imagination and mods it can look like a beautiful wonderland.

I like the style and the atmosphere of the visuals, even if the graphics are dated and draw distance is low.

And that's your right. But you should realize it's a preference - not a law written in stone . If you want to include expansions then I'd say that Shivering Isles has some great settings with great aesthetics too.

Spoiler

VS unique settings and locations you cant find in other games?

Shitty brown plains, marsh and mushrooms unique?

Spoiler

Not to mention that giant mushrooms and mushroom houses have been a common fantasy trope in literature since 1864. Hell even Warcraft did giant mushrooms before Morrowind.

Spoiler

I know this is hard to hear.... but Morrowind is not unique.

 

[Wayward Son]

If you want to include expansions then I'd say that Shivering Isles has some great settings with great aesthetics too.

Precisely because it uses the visual style of Morrowind.

 

[Sigourn]

I know what vanilla Morrowind textures look like.

Apparently not.

A shame you quoted a post before an edit. And I explained why I was confused: low resolution, blurry textures with no MGE XE, etc.

Your aesthetics argument is probably closer to the mark but we'd be getting into a philosophical debate about objectivity and subjectivity which I just don't want to do right now. I was only initially commenting on the base claim that "Morrowind looks better than Oblivion", objectively it doesn't.

Objectively that wasn't what was said.

Aesthetically it's far uglier than Morrowind and you'd have to be blind not to admit this.

There's no doubt Oblivion has higher quality graphics, it's a 2006 game vs a 2002 game so that's to be expected. But it's aesthetic is dogshit.

 

[buru5]

If you want to include expansions then I'd say that Shivering Isles has some great settings with great aesthetics too.

Precisely because it uses the visual style of Morrowind.

Albeit with more colors than just tan and shit brown.

But it's aesthetic is dogshit.

In your opinion - and those of a few others... which doesn't mean shit. This comes down to preference which is why this kind of discussion always turns into a circular argument. I think it's much more productive to point out the gameplay flaws which really make the game unfun - and that's the level scaling, which I've stated and agreed with over the course of this thread. I'd rate Morrowind over Oblivion for that reason only.

 

[Eriador]

I've included the expansions since I'm doing an LP of Bloodmoon and majority of my screenshots are from Solstheim.

But fine, here's some Oblivion ones for comparison:

Spoiler

I don't know about you, but Shivering Isles doesn't exactly look that much different from vanilla Oblivion. Sure, it's more varied, but I kinda expected more from Sheogorath's realm.

 

[Commissar Draco]

Even Imperial Ruins look better in Morrowind than in both Oblivion and Skyrim; R.I.P. General Carrus the true bro among Imperial Legion bros btw.

 

[v1rus]

Since a rather interesting discussion was started, I'd like to give Morrowind a little replay. Since there's currently the debate on the esthetics of it, it seems like a good place to ask - which mods, if any, should i run?

 

[buru5]

Since a rather interesting discussion was started, I'd like to give Morrowind a little replay. Since there's currently the debate on the esthetics of it, it seems like a good place to ask - which mods, if any, should i run?

I'd say play vanilla if you want to experience the true "aesthetics" of the game intended by the developer.

Plus, mods are an admittance of "game is shit, need fixing". If you can't play it vanilla the game isn't worth playing.

 

[Sigourn]

Since a rather interesting discussion was started, I'd like to give Morrowind a little replay. Since there's currently the debate on the esthetics of it, it seems like a good place to ask - which mods, if any, should i run?

- Morrowind Code Patch
- MGE XE
- This unofficial patch I compiled.

Wish I hadn't deleted my instructions to mod Morrowind, but alas, I cannot help you much more. When it comes to gameplay, I like BTB's Game Improvements, really makes the game much more rewarding.

 

[commie]

Morrowind looks like a shitbrown hellhole with mushrooms without mods. But I wouldn't expect many people to know because everyone plays this piece of shit with mods.

I play Morrowind without mods. Hell, I've played both Oblivion and Skyrim without mods.

Unmodded Morrowind Screenshots (Some of them from the expansion)

Spoiler

I like the style and the atmosphere of the visuals, even if the graphics are dated and draw distance is low. The character models are pretty bad, but I'd still choose them over Oblivion's.

Besides, Oblivion environment doesn't look bad, I've never said that. It's just that that one screen of Oblivion you've shown is basically the majority of Cyrodiil. My problem with Oblivion has more to do with variety and artistic direction. Also, the NPC models look absolutely terrible, even worse then those in Morrowind.

Amen! I play it mostly unmodded(except for bugfixes) as well. There's just so much more character to the simpler graphics than what mods with their overabundance of colour and dense foliage give. Sure, the mods make the game look more modern, but they lose the character. By and large the locations look much more generic. I've said on many of these threads that the Bitter Coast looks much more 'bitter' with the low poly scraggly trees, the lack of grass: the low res green/grey texture of the ground reminds of lichen and moss which suits the region more than the tropical rainforest look, most mods give the region. Oblivion looks 'ok' as a world(in early 2006 it looked not that bad), but the characters look bloody awful. Indeed worse than Morrowind. In Oblivion, they all look affected by Down Syndrome.

 

[Commissar Draco]

Pick the Better Bodies and clothes mods and some fixes like those fixing armors; but aside from this Morrowind is perfect in the form it was released with.

 

[v1rus]

Since a rather interesting discussion was started, I'd like to give Morrowind a little replay. Since there's currently the debate on the esthetics of it, it seems like a good place to ask - which mods, if any, should i run?

I'd say play vanilla if you want to experience the true "aesthetics" of the game intended by the developer.

Plus, mods are an admittance of "game is shit, need fixing". If you can't play it vanilla the game isn't worth playing.

I agree, absolutely, on both points. But I want to try running Morrowind vanilla and Morrowind with some nice graphic patches, so I can note the difference.

How is Morrowind doing with widescreen monitors?

 

[DavidBVal]

Please allow me a moment while I scale my answer to the level of the OP question.

 

[v1rus]

WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS AND WHY DOES IT LOOK SO FUCKING GOOD OMFG WTF

 

[Wayward Son]

Since a rather interesting discussion was started, I'd like to give Morrowind a little replay. Since there's currently the debate on the esthetics of it, it seems like a good place to ask - which mods, if any, should i run?

MCP and unofficial patch.

 

[TripJack]

Since a rather interesting discussion was started, I'd like to give Morrowind a little replay. Since there's currently the debate on the esthetics of it, it seems like a good place to ask - which mods, if any, should i run?

mge xe, code patch, patch project, dark brotherhood attack delay, texture fix

 

[v1rus]

Anyone tried that acoustic overhaul?

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

I find it quite interesting that its universally agreed that Oblivion is shit-tier game, but that people always have different reasons for it. My personal favorite is - its a fucking plain as hell forgettable re-skin of Morrowind.

What are your reasons?

https://sites.google.com/site/damicat/

 

[v1rus]

So, I isntalled MGE XE, with all settings turned up to a maximum since my pc can run W3 on max with no problems (steady 50fps).

Now, not only do I have 15 fps in the game, but the game looks like a legit acid trip. Cant explain it, really. Guess Ill mess with this thing when I finish the exams, not now

 

[buru5]

So, I isntalled MGE XE, with all settings turned up to a maximum since my pc can run W3 on max with no problems (steady 50fps).

You really have to tweak MGEXE to run well, even on high end systems. It's total shit.