Shivering Isles' form ID bug of a problem that we wrote about a while ago is going to be fixed next week with a patch coming Monday. Bethesda's community manager hopped on the official forums to announce the Shivering Isles patch, but acknowledged that Monday is only a target date and the release could get pushed back. So, even though most of you weren't having a problem with this little bug, it was there, Bethesda squashed it, and all is calm in the world.
Oblivion's first expansion Shivering Isles may be suffering from a bad case of the bugs. Over at the UESPWiki they've outlined a potentially crippling bug confirmed in the PC version of Shivering Isles that may also affect the 360 expansion. The bug revolves around the amount of identification numbers for in game objects exhausting causing newly created objects to disappear. And since this bug is based on the amount of time played and the FPS, the Xbox 360 version would produce the bug around 150 hours of gameplay. The Elder Scrolls community found what caused the problem and created a patch for the game, but Bethesda has yet to release anything official on the PC or 360 side of things. Though, there are a few work-arounds for each version listed in the wiki. So, have you played over 150 hours of Oblivion with Shivering Isles downloaded and if so, are you experiencing any wackiness?
Shivering Isles, the official expansion for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is now available, but what is it all about? Perhaps this video will help explain that. Apparently, Shivering Isles is about monsters, giants, and unrelenting madness. To be honest, that sounds great, doesn't it? You bet your bag of holding it does! The video showcases some of the expansion's psychotic themes as well as some seriously ferocious beasts, including the giant gatekeeper at the end. If you prefer nothing to be spoiled, you'd best skip this video, because it pretty much lays down the entire beginning to the expansion. As for everyone else, enjoy! Don't forget to tell us what you think in the comments.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Shivering Isles is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. For a hefty 2400 Microsoft Points you'll nab yourself an equally hefty chunk of Oblivion content. The 30+ hours of gameplay weighs in at 993.75 MB. You'll also have 10 additional Achievements that you can unlock in the new world. Of course you have the choice of using your current character, or creating a new character specifically for the expansion. So what are you waiting for, go grab it now!
Xbox360Achievements.org posted the achievements to Oblivion's newly hatched first born Shivering Isles. And if you're keen to remember, Oblivion will be the first game to go over the 1000 Gamerscore limit with its Shivering Isles expansion adding an additional 250 Gamerscore points (per Microsoft's new Gamerscore rules). The sad part of all this expansion happiness is that the achievements are rather ... how do we say this ... dull. They lack that creative flair, that personality, and RPG originality. Bethesda must have used up their creativity reserves on the actual game, because they included a rather lame achievement which guarantees a 20 Gamerscore boost just for purchasing the expansion called the "Tourist" achievement. Oh well, a huge expansion offering an additional 250 Gamerscore points ... who could possibly complain?
In a recent interview with Gamertag Radio, design director of Oblivion Shivering Isles Bruce Nesmith let out some interesting details. When asked how Oblivion fans who don't have Xbox Live could get the Shivering Isles expansion pack, Nesmith admitted that they were working on a retail version. According to Nesmith, there will be a new special edition of Oblivion available at retail that will include all of the previously released content including the new Shivering Isles expansion. He also went on to say that there will be more downloadable content for Oblivion in the near future. So, does this sway your decision to download Shivering Isles by just selling your current copy of Oblivion and purchasing the new special edition when it releases? Or are you happy with downloading the expansion and having it stored on your hard drive?
Back on Thursday, we reported how in an MTV interview, David Jones of Real Time Worlds said that they had a part in changing the total Achievements limit to 80 from 50. Then, of Friday we told you about Aaron Greenberg talking about more Achievement rules on Major Nelson's podcast for that week. Well, it turns out that he also touches on the Achievement limit and it doesn't coincide with what David Jones stated in the interview.
According to Greenberg, the new Achievement limit is 60, not 80, which is what Oblivion will have after the release of the Shivering Isles expansion. So either Jones was embelishing the increase, or Aaron didn't get the memo at the time of recording. None the less, we here at Fanboy Towers wanted to set the record straight and give you all the facts on this new policy.
Next month the Shivering Isles expansion pack for Oblivion will be available, but we have yet to hear any specifics. Gamehelper.com is reporting that the Shivering Isles expansion pack will only be available for the Xbox 360 via the XBLM, cost around $29.99, and weigh in at a beefy 1.5 gigabytes. Again, this isn't official information coming from Bethesda and should be treated as a rumor. Gamehelper.com doesn't site any sources or where they received the information and simply treats these tidbits as fact ... but we'll err on the side of caution. So guys, were you expecting the $30 price tag for the expansion and would you be willing to shell out that kind of cash for 30 plus hours of additional gameplay?
Last week the policy for Gamerscore and Achievements was standardized to make sure that gamers got a full 1000 points per retail game, with downloadable content able to bring in an extra 250 points. In Episode 2 of our podcast we mentioned Shivering Isles being a fine example of giving Achievements on top of the game's original 1000. Well, now it's official, Oblivion's Shivering Isles expansion will have an additional 10 Achievements worth 250 Gamerscore bringing it to a total of 1250. This marks the first game to have more than 1000 available Gamerscore, and hopefully will set the proper standard for other developers to follow. So, with the promise of more Achievements, are you more interested in getting the Shivering Isles expansion, or does it even matter?
1UP has posted a lengthy preview of the Shivering Isles expansion for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Promising to give players 30 hours of new gameplay, Shivering Isles sets players in the twisted land of Sheogorath. Sheogorath is divided into two lands, mirroring the psychosis of the game's god of madness. Mania is a pristine world of excess and Dementia is a twisted land of decay. It's up to you to become the champion of Sheogorath and stop the land's impending destruction. The expansion will offer new quests, items, and of course new baddies to slay. Thanks to the smaller size of Shivering Isles, more attention has been paid to NPCs as well, giving them more varied dialogue and personalities. Each of the two major cities in the expansion houses a smith that will craft appropriately shiny or twisted armor which you can enhance with magical properties later on. Also available is the Dawnfang sword, which becomes more powerful each time it makes 12 kills. The catch is that its original power is restored every twelve hours with the cycle of the sun.
We won't reveal any more details, but the expansion looks to suck 360 owners back into the world of Oblivion when it releases later this year. Hit the "read" link for 1UP's preview, but be warned, there are spoilers ahead.
Bethesda Vice President of PR Pete Hines sat down with Gamasutra to talk about Oblivion's Shivering Isles expansion. In the Q&A, Hines stated that the the content will only be available through Xbox Live Marketplace. According to Hines, stand-alone expansions can not work with another existing product on the Xbox 360, leaving Marketplace downloads as the only viable option. Despite Bethesda wanting to have a version for the retail market, they were unable to do so because of this. Should implementing expansions via disc become possible after some extensive work on Microsoft's part, Bethesda plans to explore that option for Shivering Isles.
As for price point, Bethesda doesn't have anything concrete yet. They are still in talks with Microsoft to find the proper balance between value and profitability. After Shivering Isles releases, Hines said that they are planning one or two more pieces of content for Oblivion, albeit not the size of the forthcoming expansion. So are you going to download Shivering Isles? If so, how much are you willing to pay?
Today, we got hold of Bethesda's official press release announcing Shivering Isles, the Oblivion expansion for PC and Xbox 360 (and presumably PS3). Promising to put players in a world split by the extreme ends of madness -- sublime creativity and complete psychosis -- Shivering Isles promises 30 hours of gameplay, so it's suitable for your existing character or a brand new one. The expansion promises new weapons and armor to find (or to have forged by the experts of Crucible and Bliss), vast dungeons to explore, a twisted landscape to admire, and new monsters to fight. We're particularly interested in seeing what a Flesh Atronach looks like (ewww). Unfortunately, Bethesda still hasn't nailed down a release date or price. We all wait with bated breath (and bloated MS Point accounts).
360 Fanboy regular, J. Goodwin, reports that the latest issue of the Official Xbox Magazine contains a six page blowout of information on the upcoming expansion for Oblivion, entitled Shivering Isles. We assumed that the expansion was 360 bound before, but it's always nice to have confirmation, right? As an added bonus, the DVD that comes with the latest issue has two pieces of previously released Oblivion content, "Wizard's Tower" and "Thieves Den." Wow, after grabbing "Mehrune's Razor" for free last month, patient Oblivionites have really struck gold. Of course, the real question is: are you buying a magazine with free Oblivion content, or Oblivion content with a free magazine?
PCZone has the latest info on the first expansion for Oblivion, entitled Shivering Isles. Those of you who have purchased mountains of downloadable content may be confused. So far, the downloadable quests have been just that: quests. Shivering Isles represents the first true expansion, offering a new realm, new monsters, and over 30 hours of extra gameplay.
Shivering Isles takes place in (you guessed it) the Shivering Isles, a desolate (and apparently cold) land ruled by the god of dementia, Sheogorath (does dementia really need its own god?). Players must ultimately overcome Sheogorath and take control of the isles. An interesting note, the isles apparently take on visible changes based on the actions taken by the character. While it has not been officially announced for the 360, we can only assume the content will be made available when the PC expansion arrives (tentatively in Q2 2007). In the meantime, somebody get those isles a blanket!
Shivering Isles' form ID bug of a problem that we wrote about a while ago is going to be fixed next week with a patch coming Monday. Bethesda's community manager hopped on the official forums to announce the Shivering Isles patch, but acknowledged that Monday is only a target date and the release could get pushed back. So, even though most of you weren't having a problem with this little bug, it was there, Bethesda squashed it, and all is calm in the world.
Oblivion's first expansion Shivering Isles may be suffering from a bad case of the bugs. Over at the UESPWiki they've outlined a potentially crippling bug confirmed in the PC version of Shivering Isles that may also affect the 360 expansion. The bug revolves around the amount of identification numbers for in game objects exhausting causing newly created objects to disappear. And since this bug is based on the amount of time played and the FPS, the Xbox 360 version would produce the bug around 150 hours of gameplay. The Elder Scrolls community found what caused the problem and created a patch for the game, but Bethesda has yet to release anything official on the PC or 360 side of things. Though, there are a few work-arounds for each version listed in the wiki. So, have you played over 150 hours of Oblivion with Shivering Isles downloaded and if so, are you experiencing any wackiness?
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Shivering Isles is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. For a hefty 2400 Microsoft Points you'll nab yourself an equally hefty chunk of Oblivion content. The 30+ hours of gameplay weighs in at 993.75 MB. You'll also have 10 additional Achievements that you can unlock in the new world. Of course you have the choice of using your current character, or creating a new character specifically for the expansion. So what are you waiting for, go grab it now!
PCZone has the latest info on the first expansion for Oblivion, entitled Shivering Isles. Those of you who have purchased mountains of downloadable content may be confused. So far, the downloadable quests have been just that: quests. Shivering Isles represents the first true expansion, offering a new realm, new monsters, and over 30 hours of extra gameplay.
