I was convinced Oblivion Remastered would satisfy my childhood nostalgia when, in the middle of its official reveal, Todd Howard declared with a slight grimace that the devs had made sure to preserve its “charm.” That is to say, those baffling bits of jank and strange NPC behaviours that still make the original one of the funniest games ever made.
But even I’m pleasantly surprised by just how much jank Virtuos and Bethesda left in. Fans have been very excited to find that the devs have even left in a now-legendary flubbed take, where High Elf actor Linda Kenyon speaks, says “Wait a minute, let me do that one again,” and then delivers the line a second time. Bonus irony: the line comes from Tandilwe, the Imperial City’s master speechcraft trainer.
Oblivion Remastered “Let me do that one again” – YouTube
Which is, frankly, great. It’s one of those little testaments to the original Oblivion’s ambitions and limitations from all the way back in 2006. Before TES 4, Bethesda had used voice acting in its games pretty sparingly—in Morrowind NPCs just had a few barks (mostly people just being tremendously xenophobic at you) and only a few important scenes were voiced. Oblivion’s dialogue was all spoken.
Problem was, Bethesda hadn’t quite figured out the best practices for that kind of thing in the early 2000s, so the game’s limited pool of actors were just given a load of practically context-free lines in alphabetical order, which goes a way to explaining why some of the game’s acting is so uncanny.
After that the devs had to cut all that dialogue up and insert it, and sometimes they accidentally left re-takes in. Tandilwe’s flubbed line is far from the only one in the game, too. Here’s a compilation of iffy reads from the original game that I’d bet my bottom dollar are still in the remaster (I can’t check for myself yet because I haven’t gotten far enough in for these lines to trigger).
I love it, and not even in an ironic way. That the devs went so far to leave the basic weirdness of Oblivion untouched is excellent. That game is defined by the oddities that emerged when Bethesda’s ambition ran up against the limits of technology and game design in 2006. Taking them out would give you something that, well, just wouldn’t be Oblivion.
Source link
I recently spent an afternoon getting the original Oblivion to work optimally on Steam Deck. Despite being “playable” out of the box, it’s kinda not: the vanilla PC version of Oblivion lacks gamepad support, meaning gamepad glyphs aren’t present. While the Steam Deck’s community controller layouts tab is a godsend for situations like this, it still means having to adapt to the disconnect between keyboard or mouse prompts and the Steam Deck’s Xbox-style glyphs.
Or, of course, installing mods. After an hour or so spent installing mods, OG Oblivion transformed from a dubiously “playable” Steam Deck RPG into something that rivals Skyrim in terms of a brilliantly optimised handheld experience. It’s just perfect. But now that Oblivion Remastered is out, and with a Steam Deck “Verified” status to boot, is any of that hassle worth it anymore?
Part of the reason I dropped an Oblivion replay on Steam Deck is because of all the rumours of the remaster, but I probably shouldn’t have waited: Steam Deck can definitely run the remaster, but—and hear me out—I’d still recommend going with a modded version of the original.
But who knows, you may feel differently. If you like a locked 60 fps framerate and crisp albeit slightly antiquated graphics on ultra settings, with over a decade worth of mods to draw from, OG is the clear winner. If you prefer modern UE5 graphics at a framerate that struggles to keep 30 fps in most outdoor areas, and with that low-spec vaseline quality that also affects other “Verified” titles like Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and The Last of Us Pt. 1, then sure, preference the remaster.
Image 1 of 2
I don’t expect Steam Deck to run these aforementioned games perfectly: it’s a small miracle that a handheld manages them at all, especially one that released three years ago. But it is increasingly the case that one should not mistake the “Verified” category to mean “this is a brilliant experience on Steam Deck”. Remaster definitely runs on Steam Deck with no fuss, but it doesn’t look good or run particularly well.
The starter dungeon can mostly keep to a solid 30 fps, but as you’d expect, the open world proves patchy at best. Using the automatic “low” quality graphic settings, traversing the open world around the sewer exit will occasionally drop to around 21 fps, but it’s mid-combat when things get shaky. During a prickly encounter with two dogs and a goblin on a grand hillside overlooking the Imperial City, the combination of smudgy image quality and an average 25 fps (dipping lower occasionally) made combat a real drag.
It gets worse, too: west of Lake Rumore I experienced drops to 15 fps at times, though I suspect this occurs when the game is loading in a new part of the map: it tends to coincide with the UI prompt announcing a new area. Which probably explains why the tomato plants at Odill Farm caused my Steam Deck to grind to a fleeting halt, likewise when I discovered Weynon Priory. The area around the first Oblivion gate, near Kvatch, would bring me down to 10 fps at times, seemingly thanks to the fancy modern thunder effects.
Drops like this are fine, I guess, when there’s not an imp throwing fireballs at me, or a dog taking chunks out of my rear. But combat in the open world against more than one foe, with a detailed vista in the background, just feels terrible. When I lower all settings from “low” to “lowest” and toggle from XeSS “performance” to “ultra-performance” mode, the frame rate around Lake Rumore varies from around 25 to 50, while in the less detailed area around Kvatch, it can actually hold to 60 fps most of the time, though the image quality is, frankly, pretty shit.
To summarise (and this applies to the Steam Deck OLED, where a difference in battery life will probably be the biggest difference):
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Steam Deck OLED | Oblivion OG | Oblivion Remastered |
|---|---|---|
Average FPS | Locked 60 fps | Hovers around 30 fps |
Battery life | Up to six hours, but realistically, five hours | Up to three hours at best |
Average battery draw | Rarely above 8w | Between 15 and 22w |
Price | $15 / £15 / AU$20 | $50 / £50 / AU$85 |
Some visual comparisons:
Image 1 of 2
Image 1 of 2
Image 1 of 2
Image 1 of 2
Is any of this a dealbreaker? I played Skyrim at launch on the PlayStation 3, so it depends on your perspective. Playing Oblivion Remastered actually made me nostalgic for the days of substandard console ports. If this was the only way to play Oblivion on Steam Deck, we’d all have to make do. But ye olde Oblivion is just sitting there, and it’s perfect on Deck.
Priming Oblivion for modding on Steam Deck is an easy process and will work with the version of Oblivion you can buy on Steam and probably already own. I followed these helpful instructions from user halycon8 on the Steam Deck subreddit and they held me in good stead; it takes about an hour all up. To summarise, it’s a matter of downloading and installing the Oblivion Script Extender in desktop mode, which is essential for most mods, and then eventually downloading the Northern UI mod, which not only adds controller glyphs but also reskins the UI to mirror Skyrim’s cleaner, controller-first approach. Don’t worry: If you prefer the quaint high fantasy approach of the original Oblivion’s UI, there’s a version of the mod that doesn’t include the reskin.
Follow the afore-linked instructions and you’ll have a silky smooth version of Oblivion running on your Steam Deck that will run at ultra settings and—though this may depend on how many mods you end up using—will run on battery for a projected six hours. Not only that, but Oblivion: Game of the Year Edition costs $15 on Steam compared to the $50 price of the remaster.
To be clear: I’m not being a crank. I’m not saying you shouldn’t play Remastered. If you game across both desktop and handheld, but predominantly the former, it’s probably worth getting the newer and shinier version if you like newer and shinier graphics. If you’re in the habit of streaming from your desktop to your Deck, the same holds true. I just think the original Oblivion is a far better native experience on Deck, and since it’s essentially the same game (albeit with some quality of life improvements) you might as well opt for the version that runs better on handheld.
Since we’re here, I should point out that Daggerfall is also a brilliant Steam Deck experience after a bit of work, even though its official Steam Deck compatibility status is “unsupported”. Just grab the original game on Steam (it’s free) and install the Daggerfall Unity mod, which, as the name suggests, transplants Bethesda’s gargantuan fantasy life sim into the Unity engine. Full installation instructions are in this tidy video below:
How to Play Daggerfall On Your Steam Deck In 2024 – YouTube
Source link
Monster Hunter Wilds kicked off April with Title Update 1, adding new monster hunts, challenge quests, and a new Grand Hub as a central base of operations and socializing space for hunters to hang out between quests. It’s also the venue for Blossomdance, the first Monster Hunter Wilds seasonal event, which kicked off last night in a blizzard of cherry blossom petals and sakura-themed armor sets.
When you first enter the Grand Hub during Blossomdance, you’ll be greeted by a lot of pink. It’s Monster Hunter’s own hanami festival, covering the Hub with cherry blossoms and spring pastel streamers. The main attraction, however, are the event’s sakura-themed armor sets. The Sakuratide armor sets are easily among the prettiest outfits in Wild, and I’m sure they’ll be frequent features in layered armor getups for years to come.
Do I feel like my weeb levels are getting a little unsustainable while wearing them? Yes. But look at them. It’s good stuff. (And yes, you can tone the pink down by changing the armor pigment if you want.)
To craft the Sakuratide sets, you’ll need Blossomdance Tickets, which you’ll get as login bonuses and limited bounty rewards during the event’s two-week duration. One week’s bounties will only get you enough tickets for one of the armor sets, but you’re in luck: Wearing pieces of Sakuratide armor will give you the Blossomdance Boon skill, giving you a chance to earn additional Blossomdance Tickets whenever you complete a quest. Just throw on your new duds, run some hunts, and you’ll have enough materials for both sets in no time.
You can also use Blossomdance Tickets to craft a—frankly unsettling—papier mache bobblehead getup for your palico. There’s also a new event quest to hunt a Tempered Xu Wu to earn yet another form of ticket that you can use to craft a cool new eyepatch. It’s a big week for building out your Monster Hunter Wilds aesthetic options.
And there are still more goodies on offer. After accepting your login bonus during the event, you’ll automatically unlock a new Seikret decoration, a petal-tossing gesture, sakura-themed pop-up camp gear, and more. You can also talk to one of the Support Deck palico NPCs and select Claim Content to get a free weapon pendant. A veritable bounty of freebies.
All those armor sets and cosmetics will only be available while the event lasts, so jump in-game and grab them if you want them. You’ve got until Blossomdance ends on May 7.
Source link
We’re here to help with your daily Wordle, with everything from quick tips designed to supercharge every line to a fresh hint for the April 23 (1404) game ready to go. And if those green letters don’t turn up, your yellows refuse to behave, or you’re just running out of rows, feel free to scroll down to today’s answer and enjoy an instant win.
Seeing three greens tidily grouped together on my second line should’ve surely felt like a gift, but instead it threw a spanner in the works. That word? No. This one, then? Also no. Well if not those then… what? It was only after a serious comb of the remaining letters (and a bit of time spent staring blankly into space) that I finally uncovered the answer.
Today’s Wordle hint
Wordle today: A hint for Wednesday, April 23
A pleasant smell near the sea or after a storm, as well as a protective layer around the planet.
Is there a double letter in Wordle today?
Yes, there is a double letter in today’s puzzle.
Wordle help: 3 tips for beating Wordle every day
Playing Wordle well is like achieving a small victory every day—who doesn’t like a well-earned winning streak in a game you enjoy? If you’re new to the daily word game, or just want a refresher, I’m going to share a few quick tips to help set you on the path to success:
- You want a balanced mix of unique consonants and vowels in your opening word.
- A solid second guess helps to narrow down the pool of letters quickly.
- The answer could contain letters more than once.
There’s no time pressure beyond making sure it’s done by the end of the day. If you’re struggling to find the answer or a tactical word for your next guess, there’s no harm in coming back to it later on.
Today’s Wordle answer
What is today’s Wordle answer?
Let’s win Wordle. The answer to the April 23 (1404) Wordle is OZONE.
Previous Wordle answers
The last 10 Wordle answers
Knowing previous Wordle solutions can be helpful in eliminating current possibilities. It’s unlikely a word will be repeated and you can find inspiration for guesses or starting words that may be eluding you.
Here are some recent Wordle answers:
- April 22: ARTSY
- April 21: SPATE
- April 20: PATCH
- April 19: INBOX
- April 18: DIRGE
- April 17: STOOD
- April 16: MORAL
- April 15: ASHEN
- April 14: CREST
- April 13: LAUGH
Learn more about Wordle
Wordle gives you six rows of five boxes each day, and it’s your job to work out which five-letter word is hiding by eliminating or confirming the letters it contains.
Starting with a strong word like LEASH—something containing multiple vowels, common consonants, and no repeat letters—is a good place to start. Once you hit Enter, the boxes will show you which letters you’ve got right or wrong. If a box turns ⬛️, it means that letter isn’t in the secret word at all. 🟨 means the letter is in the word, but not in that position. 🟩 means you’ve got the right letter in the right spot.
Your second go should compliment the starting word, using another “good” guess to cover any common letters you missed last time while also trying to avoid any letter you now know for a fact isn’t present in today’s answer. After that, it’s just a case of using what you’ve learned to narrow your guesses down to the right word. You have six tries in total and can only use real words (so no filling the boxes with EEEEE to see if there’s an E). Don’t forget letters can repeat too (ex: BOOKS).
If you need any further advice feel free to check out our Wordle tips, and if you’d like to find out which words have already been used, you can scroll to the relevant section above.
Originally, Wordle was dreamed up by software engineer Josh Wardle, as a surprise for his partner who loves word games. From there it spread to his family, and finally got released to the public. The word puzzle game has since inspired tons of games like Wordle, refocusing the daily gimmick around music or math or geography. It wasn’t long before Wordle became so popular it was sold to the New York Times for seven figures. Surely it’s only a matter of time before we all solely communicate in tricolor boxes.
Source link
The not-so-secret shadow drop of Oblivion Remastered finally happened, and at this point, the only genuine surprise for some is the price. Bethesda is selling the 19-year-old RPG glow-up for $50, which I consider on the cusp of reasonable. Yesterday, I said I’d be on board if the price was closer to $30 than $70, so of course Bethesda chose the exact middle point.
I was ready to hold out for a sale, but then I learned there already is one: Fanatical is selling the Steam version of Oblivion Remastered at a decent 17% discount, which brings the tag down to a palatable $41.50.
If it’s your first time buying through Fanatical, rest assured it’s one of the legit PC game vendors. The site regularly runs sales on brand new games like this one with no downside—unless you consider the extra step of receiving a Steam key through email and then redeeming it a huge pain.
But for $9 off Oblivion on launch day, it’s worth the extra 30 seconds. The Steam codes Fanatical sells are typically global, but if you want to confirm the code will work in your country before buying, there’s a dropdown menu under the Add To Cart.
Fanatical is also running the same discount on the $60 Deluxe Edition, down to $49.79, so you’re basically snagging that new horse armor at no additional cost.
Source link
Bem vindos a Shadows
Entra numa aventura no Japão com Naoe e Yasuke, não te vais arrepender 😁
Acompanha os próximos episódios de AC Shadows AQUI 👉 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDowRCnCZ6UKvixy-Kq7_TxyetIR127ja
Espero que gostem, deixem o like, subscrevam, partilhem e ativem as notificações para não perder nenhum episódio!!!
Segue-me nas redes sociais 📲
LINKS TEMPORARIAMENTE APENAS NA PÁGINA PRINCIPAL DO CANAL!
source
If there’s one thing we should have learned by now, it’s that technology is a tool. It can be used for both good, bad, and every weird state of morality humans can dream up inbetween. The same is true for AI, though often it’s used as an entity in itself, rather than as tools in most cases. Still in the right situations, such as doing complex computations, sorting through lots of data, and precise controls, the right AI can be great. It seems the next logical step in machine learning is to see how it can be used to help human learning, and China is about to put it to the test.
According to Reuters, China is set to start rolling out AI in efforts to improve its teaching and textbooks across all levels of school education. This is a part of a larger plan by the country to help bolster the education system as well as looking for new paths of innovation. China is hoping to reach what it calls a “strong-education nation” by 2035
China’s education ministry believes using AI to these ends will help “cultivate the basic abilities of teachers and students,” as well as help shape the “core competitiveness of innovative talents.” An example is helping to develop basic skills for students starting with things like communication and cooperation to more complex tasks independent thinking and problem solving.
AI in schools might sound horrifying, but if we go back to thinking of AI as a tool it could be pretty great. Even America is considering it, though they keep calling it “A one” for some reason. As long as we use AI for the tasks it was made for, in these instances AI could help make learning more individualised. With AI’s ability to wade through large piles of data and find working patterns and pathways forward, it could lead to a much more limber education system that’s ready to shift to the accommodation of its students.
When AI is used poorly is often tied to creative tasks, or when there’s not enough oversight. With most AI’s in the wild being language models they’re mostly designed to pick the most likely word in a sentence, rather than provide valuable information, and they’re known to be wrong. Confidently wrong. This could also be fine and a useful tool but people trust these results, and that’s where we end up with a lot of confusing garbled information.
So if we are going to use AI in schools it needs to be bespoke and transparent. A purpose built AI trained by educators that is constantly open to scrutiny and adjustment could be a wonderful addition to schools. I just don’t know if I necessarily trust China or the United States of America to deliver such an AI any time soon.
Source link
STAY CONNECTED
We Accept
