The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Development

Development

The game was developed by the United States software company Bethesda Softworks. Ken Rolston, who was Morrowind's lead designer, oversaw a development team of 268. The PC and Xbox 360 versions of the game were co-published by 2K Games and Bethesda. Work began on The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion shortly after the release of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind in 2002. By mid-September 2004, Oblivion had been officially announced, and its title revealed. 2K Games had aimed for a late 2005 publication so that the game could be an Xbox 360 launch title. The official release date for the PC and Xbox 360 versions was originally November 22, 2005, but developmental delays pushed it back to March 21, 2006. The PlayStation 3 version of the game (ported by 4J Studios) was released on March 20, 2007, in North America and on April 27, 2007, in Europe. This version includes graphical improvements that had been made since the PC and Xbox 360 release, and the PS3 version was subsequently praised for its enhanced visual appeal.

During Oblivion's development, Bethesda concentrated on creating a system with a more realistic storyline, more believable characters, and more meaningful quests than had been done in the past. The game features improved artificial intelligence (from previous titles in the series) from the Bethesda proprietary Radiant A.I. software, and enhanced physics with the Havok physics engine. The graphics take advantage of advanced lighting and shader routines like high dynamic range rendering (HDR) and specular mapping. Bethesda developed and implemented procedural content creation tools in the building of Oblivion's terrain, leading to the expedited creation of landscapes that are more complex and realistic than in past titles.