In our effort to bring you the latest news from the Oblivion modding scene, we have arranged an exclusive interview with Tandem, creator of several mods for The Elder Scrolls Oblivion (which you can find in our download section) . It's really nice that within one week after the release of Oblivion, Tandem has already created seven different modsfor this wonderful fantasy game. And all on his own. The following interview will give you a little look at the modder himself and his history. We can't tell you too much about what he's doing next, because frankly, we just can't keep up with him. The man is a machine, by the time we have published this article, he's already working on something new. So without any further ado, ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you : Tandem !!

Zoch:  How old are you ?

Tandem:  22

Zoch:  Where do you come from?

Tandem: Durango, Colorado.  But I live in NYC Manhattan.

Zoch:  Have you done any mods for other games before? If so, which ?

Tandem: I created Commando Wars for Starcraft (Kryn).  I modded quite a few things in Morrowind for myself, but I'm now at the point where I feel confident releasing mods to the community.

Zoch: Have you done any more mods except Marksman Velocity to The Elder Scrolls Oblivion? If so, which ones?

Tandem: Arcane Velocity, Marksman Velocity, and Slower Leveling.
 (admins remark: see download section!)

Zoch:  How did you come up with the idea of the Marksman Velocity mod?

Tandem: I used to be really into archery while in Colorado.  I just noticed that a supposedly powerful bow with well balanced arrows in this game fly much slower than an arrow fired  from a real life $10 plastic bow.  This had to be changed.  Plus, I felt that it is too easy to manipulate the combat in Oblivion to trick the AI into shooting into a wall by sidestepping  t the right moment.  Marksman Velocity and Arcane Velocity fix this.

Zoch:  What was the hardest part with the MV mod? How long time did it take ?

Tandem: It took about 3 hours of balancing and repetitive value changes.  The hardest was deciding on the improvement curve, and the bow/ammo relation of value.

Zoch:  What is your first impressions about Oblivion ? Any tips you would like to give the newbies playing Oblivion ?

Tandem:  Oblivion is what I've always wanted an RPG to be!  There are many ways to improve the experience.  Try to travel on the roads when you've never been to a city before.  Don't succumb to patterns when you make new characters (I/E go to x place to get y artifact...).  Play a variety of classes and personalities.  Lower the gamma and you'll start to appreciate your torches and light spells.  Turn off Subtitles, and you'll notice dialogue means a lot more to you.  This is an open world, you will only have as much fun as what you make of it!

Zoch:  Are you working on some other mods/tweaks for Oblivion? If so, can you give us a hint of what that would be ?

Tandem: I'm planning to resurrect Magicka Based Skill Progression if the previous author doesn't show.  I hope to work with Galsiah when he gets up and running.

Axe: Tandem, I want to thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with the Oblivion community and we hope to see a lot more of your work !