The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

[Xarthok]

Only 10 days since the release but I already think that a run of this would be great I'm not sure about how long it would take to finish the main quest. One thing I know is that it won't be hard at all if you choose the right methods (because of the monsters being levelled according to you). My guess would be to take a Destruction mage and stay level 1 through the whole game but get decent equipment early. Run like hell through tutorial. Use fast travel a lot.

Anyone interested? I'll get home and see how could this turn out.

*EDIT* Woops, there was another thread in consoles with quite some info. http://speeddemosarchive.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=consoles_newer;action=display;num=1143387084

[Lloyd1337]

I posted some stuff in the console thread about what I've done so far.

Here are the links to the videos so far:

http://files.filefront.com/Oblivion_segment1avi/;4938679;;/fileinfo.html

http://files.filefront.com/Oblivion_segment2avi/;4938749;;/fileinfo.html

[flech]

Have you actually beaten the game, or are you just running as fast as you can, hoping that nothing screws up a lvl 1 character from winning? Just wondering, because I'm thinking about doing this run also, but I know I'll be doing things a bit differently than you. I still need to run the game through once, at least, to see what to expect at the end.

-flech

[Lloyd1337]

Yes, I've beaten the game.

And now that you mention it... I'm pretty sure there are some quests in the main storyline that you need to level up for. I'll look into it.

[Xarthok]

Pretty nice performance up to now. You could have taken full Chainmail armour set from the dude fighting in Oblivion, near gates.

[Lloyd1337]

That would just slow me down.

Heavy armor makes you run slower.

[notBowen]

 Isn't chainmail light armor?

[Lord_Booga]

Yep.

[Mazuli]

Light armor also slows you down.  Unless it's necessary, and there are only 3 parts where I can recall it possibly being necessary, no light or heavy armor of any kind should be worn.
The three parts are: Getting the xarxes book, killing off the swarms of mobs coming out of the gates until the big one opens, and running through imperial city to get to the center with martin which is the very end of the quest.  And even those 3 parts I'm skeptical about.

I'm going to go check every shop in each major city and see if any non armor equipment is available to buy and could be useful.  I'm wondering if umbra might not even be needed if you could recharge the staff quickly, such as in Bruma when it is a requirement to run there.

[Lloyd1337]

Light armor also slows you down.  Unless it's necessary, and there are only 3 parts where I can recall it possibly being necessary, no light or heavy armor of any kind should be worn.
The three parts are: Getting the xarxes book, killing off the swarms of mobs coming out of the gates until the big one opens, and running through imperial city to get to the center with martin which is the very end of the quest.  And even those 3 parts I'm skeptical about.

I'm going to go check every shop in each major city and see if any non armor equipment is available to buy and could be useful.  I'm wondering if umbra might not even be needed if you could recharge the staff quickly, such as in Bruma when it is a requirement to run there.

When collecting the Xarxes, you can just kill the two guys at the entrance so that you don't have to forfeit your equipment and stuff. This might slow you down a bit, because everyone in there follows you and tries to kill you and stuff, but that ends up happening once you take the book anyways.

[Mazuli]

Killing him at the start is faster because if you give up your stuff, you might not be able to quickly find him in the big mess.  Plus, with 6 or 7 guys beating on you, it would be harder to kill him to get your stuff back.

But now that I think about it, everyone in there casts shock spells, so armor might not be necessary.  Maybe just resist shock for that part, if anything.

[Lloyd1337]

I tried it earlier, and I was able to get in and out pretty quickly without getting killed or fighting. I just cast Restore whenever my health got low, and ran/jumped around as fast as I could. That part shouldn't be much of a problem so long as you keep your health up and don't stop moving/wait for them to catch up.

[Mazuli]

How did you get your equipment back if you gave it to that guy?

[Lloyd1337]

I didn't.

=p

But seriously, there isn't really any need, is there? The only thing that I actually would have lost was my weapon, some potions, and some lockpicks. I just grabbed a new weapon at the earliest convenience, and the rest I decided I could live without.

[Knu]

Some notes after watching the "segments". I if were to make this run, I'd try following things:

1) Race.
I suppose, the system works like in Morrowind, with your running speed determined by Athletics, Speed, Strength.
So you might need to choose between Dark/Wood Elf/Argonian (for +10 Speed) or Redguard (Spell of +50 Speed/Strength for 1 min)
Class.
Need +5 Speed/Strength, might be good to have Athletics as major
Sign.
Steed, no comments.

2) Before you choose your class you can raise your athletics/acrobatics pretty fast (since they start with 5). I suggest jumping and running around like crazy instead of waiting.

3) Don't take the short sword in the dungeon. You barely do any damage to the asassins, and anyway you take a better one later, in WP.

Random thoughts of what might be possible:
1) Instead of waiting for npcs to walk to the next location, try attacking them so they run after you. When you arrive where you need, yield.
It might also be possible to break down some scripted scenes that way. Needs a lot of testing.
2) Try diagonal/sideways/whatever running. I also think jumping slows you down a bit.
3) I encountered a bug in Cloudrest Temple, when Martin didn't walk up the stairs and spoke the words he has after the blades scene. Certainly reproducible, and cuts down 30 seconds, if not a minute.

I donno if I want to participate in this, since the game's disappointing, both in terms of gameplay and speedrunning. Its not even nearly as fun to rip it apart as Morrowind. I'll help with what I know, though.