Oblivion General Technical Issues Thread, What’s buggin’ yas? Options

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

I didn’t see a thread for general issues with Oblivion that has been posted in in the last decade, so I decided to make a new one, because yesterday I ran into an issue that I think is pretty major.

I decided that I wanted to add the Wizard’s Tower DLC to Saryn’s game before she went up north to Bruma for her last recommendation. So I went to the Microsoft Store on the Xbox Series X and tried to purchase and download it. First of all, it’s weird that I needed to purchase it because I’m positive I had already done so many years ago before my Xbox360 died. Ok whatever, I thought it was probably just because it was so long ago and it was less than $2. It gave an error message saying something went wrong and to try again later. I stopped after that and forgot about it for a few days and tried again. Same error message. I looked it up to see if there were known issues with this, and sure enough, there were. I tried things people said worked for them but no dice. I tried about 20 times or so. This morning I looked at my bank account. It charged me each time I tried. I had to contact Microsoft support and now I have refunds pending, but still no Wizard Tower DLC. Frankly, I’m not sure if you can even get this DLC on Xbox anymore since they shut down the Xbox360 storefront like just last month. I don’t expect this to be resolved, but I thought I would make a post about my experience to serve as a warning for anyone else trying to get this DLC on Xbox Series X/S or XboxOne.

[Renee]

I've no idea for a solution; this is consoleland, so you might just be stuck. I managed to get all the DLC on my 360, but this was (hmm....) about 13 years ago.

But Damn, you got charged each time!

And also: there's a chance you might see some posts in this thread in upcoming weeks, as no doubt I'll hit a few snags as I install Oblivion, its DLC & unofficial patches, and all the mods + plugins I've used over the past 10 years. One thing I did right is I've still got all the archives. And have fallen into the habit of keeping lots of notes, explaining why I use this but stopped using that, and so on.


This post has been edited by Renee: Aug 27 2024, 06:37 PM

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

I've no idea for a solution; this is consoleland, so you might just be stuck. I managed to get all the DLC on my 360, but this was (hmm....) about 13 years ago.

But Damn, you got charged each time!

And also: there's a chance you might see some posts in this thread in upcoming weeks, as no doubt I'll hit a few snags as I install Oblivion, its DLC & unofficial patches, and all the mods + plugins I've used over the past 10 years. One thing I did right is I've still got all the archives. And have fallen into the habit of keeping lots of notes, explaining why I use this but stopped using that, and so on.

Yeah, it was quite alarming, lol. I talked to Microsoft and they agreed to reverse the charges. Indeed I already have pending credits on my account. It did say I could install some of the other DLC including The Shivering Isles, and Battlehorn Castle, so it’s just a few DLC that I can’t access right now.

That’s a good policy about taking notes about your install. I think I’ll do that next time I feel like messing with mods.

This post has been edited by TheCheshireKhajiit: Aug 27 2024, 06:53 PM

[Lena Wolf]

I think probably Microsoft messed up with this. Probably? Ha!

I still have the original Xbox360 but the servers have closed already for a couple of years here in Europe. So the result was that I got locked out of all my local accounts too. No way to access those save games, can't login. Because it appears that an Xbox360 account can be either "pure local" or "online", and of course mine were "online" because I used to buy stuff in the store. Now the closed the servers and "online" accounts won't log you into Xbox360 locally without logging you into Xbox Live first, which is impossible.

I did find information on the Microsoft website concerning this. It amounts to "Suck it up, Princess - time to by an Xbox One".

However, I can still play Xbox360 games on the console, but I had to make a new account, local only, carefully avoiding any attempts to connect to Xbox Live, because that will lock it.

I understand from Renee that you have a better experience over in the US, these things are managed regionally. But it looks like may be it is coming to you too.

Anyway, since you are on Xbox Next Gen, you should not have such issues. But yeah, I am not surprised they messed up with the DLC! They probably figured it's an old game, and everyone is buying it on Steam or GOG now...

<rant over/>

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

I think probably Microsoft messed up with this. Probably? Ha!

I still have the original Xbox360 but the servers have closed already for a couple of years here in Europe. So the result was that I got locked out of all my local accounts too. No way to access those save games, can't login. Because it appears that an Xbox360 account can be either "pure local" or "online", and of course mine were "online" because I used to buy stuff in the store. Now the closed the servers and "online" accounts won't log you into Xbox360 locally without logging you into Xbox Live first, which is impossible.

I did find information on the Microsoft website concerning this. It amounts to "Suck it up, Princess - time to by an Xbox One".

However, I can still play Xbox360 games on the console, but I had to make a new account, local only, carefully avoiding any attempts to connect to Xbox Live, because that will lock it.

I understand from Renee that you have a better experience over in the US, these things are managed regionally. But it looks like may be it is coming to you too.

Anyway, since you are on Xbox Next Gen, you should not have such issues. But yeah, I am not surprised they messed up with the DLC! They probably figured it's an old game, and everyone is buying it on Steam or GOG now...

<rant over/>

Yeah I think the problem is that they didn’t update the 360 to use the Microsoft Store so it was still running Xbox Live. Since they shut down the 360 storefront, you can’t download content that depended on that 360 storefront, even though it is listed on the newer Microsoft store. I wonder if it would be different if I was running Obliv on Gamepass…

[Renee]

I understand from Renee that you have a better experience over in the US, these things are managed regionally. But it looks like may be it is coming to you too.

If I understand correctly, you are talking about XBL suddenly shutting down entirely? Or was it more involved than this?

If it's just Xbox Live, I think I've already lost access to that. Which is why I had to buy the Mass Effect trilogy on discs, from eBay a couple years ago. And if it's more involved than just XBL that's scary. Thank the Gods I'm not in the habit of keeping my 360 online.

Edit: I see, you are talking about getting locked out of "all your local accounts". Yeah, that's .... stupid. That MS would be able to influence local accounts. Again, I'm not in the habit of keeping the 360 online, just in case such a policy becomes standard in North America; hopefully my console will remain untouched.



This post has been edited by Renee: Aug 29 2024, 05:37 PM

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

I understand from Renee that you have a better experience over in the US, these things are managed regionally. But it looks like may be it is coming to you too.

If I understand correctly, you are talking about XBL suddenly shutting down entirely? Or was it more involved than this?

If it's just Xbox Live, I think I've already lost access to that. Which is why I had to buy the Mass Effect trilogy on discs, from eBay a couple years ago. And if it's more involved than just XBL that's scary. Thank the Gods I'm not in the habit of keeping my 360 online.

Edit: I see, you are talking about getting locked out of "all your local accounts". Yeah, that's .... stupid. That MS would be able to influence local accounts. Again, I'm not in the habit of keeping the 360 online, just in case such a policy becomes standard in North America; hopefully my console will remain untouched.

Yeah I’m not sure. I’m pretty sure I deleted the Obliv downloads and saves off of my 360 years ago, and since it red ringed, I can’t check and see what’s going on with it.

I would love to just buy a replacement 360 like the one I had, but they still want over $100 on Amazon for a refurbished unit. I’m just not willing to do that, lol

This post has been edited by TheCheshireKhajiit: Aug 29 2024, 05:46 PM

[Renee]

It is amazing my 360 still runs. Got it in 2012. Granted, becoming more of a PC gamer over the years has extended my 360's life, methinks. I only play Mass Effect on Xbox once in a while, and occasional Skyrim (with Kinect voice commands) once it gets cold outside.

Well, Time to get my Oblivion back & running, Khajiit. Main difference: this time I'm going to document the process, in this thread! I already got the base game installed a week or two ago (Oblivion, Shivering Isles, Knights.esm) so that's a half-hour or so out of the way.

There's gonna be a lot of text in this post, just to warn ya! I feel it's necessary, though.

The error I made when rebuilding Morrowind and Fallout 3 in July and August is I would simply install the game. Then the utilities, then the patches, and finally the mods. Load up the game, and nothing! CTD on launch or whatever. And now I'm needing to work backwards; troubleshooting when I should be playing.

So today, my plan is to have a gamesave ready; actually two saves. Snaat Rayag the skooma dealer, Saves 1 and 948. Save 1 is, of course, his Imperial Prison beginning, circa 2014. Save 948 is from this past spring, some time in May. Save 1, obviously, includes zero mods, whereas 948 includes everything. His game is lighter than some of my others though, no Better Cities in his world for instance. This is why it'll be better to start with him. Less content, less potential headaches.

As I add this and add that, I'll occasionally start up his game. And if there are any problems, it'll be easier to track them. -- One thing I did right over the years is I've gotten into the habit of saving the folder structure for all my games on an external disc. This way, I can see how my Oblivion {or any other game with mods} was structured when it worked in the past.


1). Going into Documents > My Games > Oblivion and change Oblivion.ini's [Display] > SScreenShotBaseName to reflect the character and the time (Snaaty_Summer_2024). I always do this, which makes keeping screenshots from cluttering under the same name.

2). Next come the utilities, starting with OBSE. At this point, I've got three windows open: from left to right.

First window is my Downloads folder. As mentioned, I've saved all OB archives here.
Second window is empty.
Third window is my Modded Oblivion folder, where the game lives.

So the process literally becomes like a factory conveyor belt. Start with the Downloads > Utilities folder. Right-click & extract OBSE's archive into the empty window (so I can see if the archive includes any sort of folder structure). And then cut/paste everything in this folder into Modded Oblivion, right next to Oblivion.exe. Or the Data folder or wherever the folder structure calls. This 3-step process continues with every archive I'm installing, except archives which'll become OMODs or installed through Wrye Bash.

3). I made the OBSE_Loader into a desktop icon. Then right-clicked on this icon and went into Properties so I could change the nondescript loader icon to the proper Oblivion icon.

Alright, let's start the game! I loaded Save 1. No point trying to start Save 948; chances are that save relies on all kinds of junk, and will CTD right away.

4). Game loaded fine, but I can't move my character, or do anything with the menus. Ah, forgot to load up X-padder! Exited thegame, got my 'Oblivion - Variable Movement' template loaded. There we go. (I use two templates for OB: one of them makes the movement joysticks behave similar to consoles, with variable movement; the other template focues on 2-speed movement. 2-speed is for when I want to use Autowalk, usually during longer journeys.)

5). Next comes OBSE - Elys Universal Silent Voice, which keeps text onscreen whenever mod-added dialog occurs, but there's no voice. I actually have no idea where these files are supposed to go, and there's no Readme in the archive.

....And see, THIS is why it's good I still have the old folder structure on that external drive. Turns out, the four files in Elys go into Data > OBSE. I could've gone online to NEXUS (or wherever) and figured out where they're supposed to go. But I just saved X amount of time looking up my old folder structure instead.

6). I began going alphabetically through Downloads > Utilities folder, so next comes BOSS. My Downloads folder includes three versions of BOSS (what the...?) so it's a good thing I left myself a Notepad file (dated 11/9/2016) explaining why there are three archives. Right, 2.31_Installer is what I'm supposed to use. I included the other two versions "for reference" whatever that means. Perhaps in the past I tried versions 2.30 and 2.31 to see which one worked best.

BOSS went right into the main Oblivion folder, made a shortcut to desktop, making it easy to "BOSS" around the load order in the future. 💻

7). TES Construction Set is next. Odd. Why doesn't this get installed off the disc like Morrowind's version? Anyway, the CS installs through a Wizard. Again, put it straight into the main Oblivion folder. There is also a patch I'm supposed to install, but I got an error message when trying to do so. Weird. Moving on...

8). Now the first manager: OBMM. This folder's a mess! And I didn't leave any notes. Started with OBMM Extended Setup, I guess. *shrug* Tried to install it, got an error message, yet I was able to put OBMM into the main OB folder, make a desktop icon, and everything works.

Started the game after making sure to turn on Oblivion.esm, Shivering Isles, and Knight.esm, Save 1. "Prisoner, get over by the window, NOW!" the guard says. All good.

9). TES4Edit was a simple download from the archive. Cut/paste into the main OB folder. I've got version 3.2, which is probably old.

10). Next comes a folder with five CPUUnpark files. I know what this is for (getting the best performance from the quad-core) but I've got no idea where this goes, and these files are not in the old folder path I've using for reference. However, These files are from Microsoft according to their File Description. So, double left-clicked on the main executable and after a minute or so, got a panel which had an "Unpark All" button. Clicked on that. Says it worked, I guess.

11). Ah, Wrye Bash. Only one file in this folder, version 304, which is an installer. Cool. Installed into the main OB folder. The program actually found this folder automatically.

Dang, Error message. WB will not even run, what the hell?

Well, that's enough for now. Gonna have to do some research and my temperance is waning. Roughly two hours have passed, so far.

Hope this isn't too intrusive of a post, CheshireKhajiit! I'll move it into my own thread if it is. But see, I just wanted to outline the processes we all go thru as we're trying to rebuild these games from scratch!

This post has been edited by Renee: Aug 31 2024, 01:30 AM

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

I mean, this is the kind of thing I made this thread for so I have no objections! I’m sure I’ll have questions after I read through it.

*Edit*: Already have a question. So you still have the save files for these characters, did you just delete all of the mods you used for the 948 file, or do you still have those stored somewhere?

*Edit*: Nevermind, you answered my question lol

This post has been edited by TheCheshireKhajiit: Aug 30 2024, 11:58 PM

[Renee]

I mean, this is the kind of thing I made this thread for so I have no objections! I’m sure I’ll have questions after I read through it.

Thank you.

*Edit*: Already have a question. So you still have the save files for these characters, did you just delete all of the mods you used for the 948 file, or do you still have those stored somewhere?

*Edit*: Nevermind, you answered my question lol

Yes, I save all archives, even the ones I DL but choose not to use, sometimes I'll save them 'for reference'. I am an archive packrat.

I got stuck on Wrye Bash. Keeps saying it's not installed properly or something. But maybe it's 'cause I got an old version of WB, version 304. There are newer versions now. 312 is the latest one at THE Nexus, later I'll see if that works.

This post has been edited by Renee: Aug 31 2024, 01:31 AM

[macole]

From what I know WB 312 requires 64-bit system and does not support Windows 7. If you have a 32-bit system you'll need WB 307.

[Renee]

I've got 64 and went with Windows 10 after weighing pros & cons and then deciding a month ago, thank you.

[Lena Wolf]

I am running Wrye Bash 309.1. I suppose it was the latest when I installed it. No issues. I think perhaps try the latest from Nexus and follow instructions, hopefully that will work. Otherwise I'll look into it in more detail.

Oh, by the way, my version says "stand-alone". Which makes me wonder if there is also some sort of a not stand-alone version? Not sure.

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

I am running Wrye Bash 309.1. I suppose it was the latest when I installed it. No issues. I think perhaps try the latest from Nexus and follow instructions, hopefully that will work. Otherwise I'll look into it in more detail.

Oh, by the way, my version says "stand-alone". Which makes me wonder if there is also some sort of a not stand-alone version? Not sure.

I think there is the stand alone and then the one that requires you to install all of the Python stuff separately. I remember trying to get all of that working for Morrowind back in the day. Talk about a headache!

[Renee]

I just looked into this not long ago. Seems there's three sub-versions nowadays: a Standalone installer for Steam-derived games, a Standalone installer for games bought from other sources (GoG, Epic, etc.), and the Python version, which is for the pros. "This is a copy of Wrye Bash's source code. In order to use it, you will have to install Python and the required dependencies manually." is the description. Yeah, think I'll avoid that!

312 is the latest version, released early this year. Since OS does make a difference (as macole indicated) I'm thinking the reason WB 304 didn't work for me yesterday is 'cause it's not compatible with Windows 10. I'll find out later!

This post has been edited by Renee: Aug 31 2024, 03:10 PM

[Lena Wolf]

I think there is the stand alone and then the one that requires you to install all of the Python stuff separately. I remember trying to get all of that working for Morrowind back in the day. Talk about a headache!

They integrated the Python stuff into the main WB some time ago. This must be the "stand-alone" version, as Renee pointed out. It wasn't hard to install, from what I remember. That is, I don't remember anything - which means I didn't run into any trouble!

[SubRosa]

I am running Wrye Bash 309.1. I suppose it was the latest when I installed it. No issues. I think perhaps try the latest from Nexus and follow instructions, hopefully that will work. Otherwise I'll look into it in more detail.

Oh, by the way, my version says "stand-alone". Which makes me wonder if there is also some sort of a not stand-alone version? Not sure.

I think there is the stand alone and then the one that requires you to install all of the Python stuff separately.

Yeah, back in those days you had to travel to the Amazon and wrestle a giant snake. Getting it into your computer case was a real chore. Glad to hear that it is simpler these days.

[Lena Wolf]

I think there is the stand alone and then the one that requires you to install all of the Python stuff separately.

Yeah, back in those days you had to travel to the Amazon and wrestle a giant snake. Getting it into your computer case was a real chore. Glad to hear that it is simpler these days.

In a way. That is, Python is considered kinderspiel now and is therefore integrated with the main package. But for the pros, Python has grown into an Anaconda...

[Renee]

Yeah, no Python for Renee. Anyway, back in business! Wrye Bash 312.1, got it working, no problems. Gonna continue with the install until I get bored or hit another snag.

12). Next utility is the 4gp_Patch_plus_Ram_optimization. Although its readme instructions are vague, and I got a couple error messages once again, I tried chucking the patch into the main Oblivion folder and double-clicked on it. Got a Success! message, woo hoo!

Next archive down the list is Animation Fixer. I couldn't find its files in my old build of OB, but left myself a note. Says "Animation Fixer is supposed to fix the A-bomb. It seemed to work okay, but the game would crash on loadup sometimes." So... getting rid of that one.

13). Console Commands, yes. This is the utility which includes tfc2, the floating command which also freezes animations. This was a simple download > cut > paste.

14). I also installed CRS Sound Fix (into Data) it's an esp. Don't know what this does exactly, but I remember I had some prob years ago and CRS was needed.

15). FastExit, a simple DL > cut > paste into the main folder.

16). Hotkey Pro, allows extra hotkeys and more. Chucked into the Data folder. And in my old build I had a configuration file already set up, so I copy-pasted this into the new build.

17). OSR, what the heck is OSR? Oblivion Stutter Remover is my guess. Yep. Another cut & paste, this time into Data folder.

Finally, there was the ShowRaceMenu Fixer, but this seems to work outside the game. I've also got TES4Gecko 15_2 but apparently never used it.

Anyway, that's it! That's all the utilities for Oblivion.

18). BOSSed the load order, which indicated Knights.esm is dirty so cleaned with TES4Edit.

19). Started the game. "Do you hear that? The guards are coming...." All good.

20). Alternate start mods, I got two of these. One simply called Alternate Start, the other TUStartingOptions. Both of these were made into OMODs.

21). My Animals, Creatures, and Monsters folder is packed! Because it was my goal years ago to get as many peaceful critters into my gameworld; sick of getting attacked by nearly everything while gaming on consoles for 6 years. This folder Contains Betty's Animal Planet, Betty's Crocs and Birds, Birds in Oblivion, Circling Ravens, Ducks and Swans for Cyrodiil, Dude Where's my Horse (I never used that one), Maigrets House Cats, Maigrets Toc Toc the Raven, Small Creatures (makes baby versions of a lot of animals & monsters), and Will-o-the-Wisp Companion.

All of these were download > cut > paste. I also remembered I changed Betty's Crocs & Birds so the crocodiles are mellow, and I also hand-placed a bunch of extra birds. Saved a copy of this .esp years ago thank the Gods, so now this modified Betty .esp was easily pasted into my new build.

22). Added Lizardmen.esp (my own creation, as described here).

23). Added the rest of my homemade .esps including 4th Era NPCs*, Generic Cyrodiil Quests and Generic Cyrodiil Quests 2, Lady Saga's World, Renee Gade III's World, and Snaaty's World.

*4th Era NPCs.esp is something I created for Renee Gade III's game long ago. Since it's supposed to be 20 years after the OC, deep into the 4th Era, I actually went through all the human characters, all the named Bretons, Imperials, Redguards, and Nords, and aged them all one by one approximately 20 years! Gave some of them gray hair, and so on.

Well, to save space I won't continue describing the rest of those 100 or so mods. I've got their archives organized into a bunch of folders: Animations, Armor Clothing & Looks, Better Cities, Companion mods, Dwellings & Locations, and so on. I foresee it's going to take the better part of a week to get them all installed. But bottom line is I've changed the way I'm installing nowadays, and it's working.


EDIT: one last thing. I realized my Oblivion (which was installed off the Anthology disc) hasn't got most of the DLC like Battlehorn Castle, Vile Lair, etc. But at some point I did buy the GoG version of OB. So I downloaded Oblivion again, this time into a separate folder. Then I copy/pasted the DLC and all their corresponding folders, .BSAs, and .esms into my working game.

This post has been edited by Renee: Aug 31 2024, 08:41 PM

[Acadian]

Good to hear, Renee!