Rock, Paper, Shotgun

If you’re looking to take your mind off impending global catastrophe this weekend you could do worse than checking out the v1.0 release of Oblivion mod Dibella’s Watch. It’s a new “continent” for Oblivion, which includes “a major city, castles, towns, villages, farms, monasteries and all the good stuff that makes up a Medieval landscape.” It’s a pretty huge Oblivion mod put together by a single person, and, while not as ludicrously as full-featured as total conversions like the almighty Nehrim (yes, I am still meaning to come back to that one day), it’s a really impressive piece of work, and worth a look if you just want a new landscape and some fresh quests for Oblivion itself.

The gigantic Oblivion total conversion Nehrim: At Fate’s Edge was release a few months back in its native German. The colossal four-year project is a remarkable undertaking, both revamping the standard Oblivion mechanics (improving skills by use being massively toned down, for example) and creating an world of its own, complete with lore and quest lines. The mod features a hand-crafted “continent-sized” map and a core storyline that could last over forty hours. Boonfully it has now been translated into English, so that all the UI and quest text is in English, and the German voice-acting is now subtitled. Clearly, Oblivion owners are going to want to consider this. But what should they expect? Some thoughts below.

Read the rest of this entry »