OBLIVION: Game Experience and Opinions

Tipstaff · Mar 26, 2006, 10:53 AM

Quite a few people have asked me about where to go to learn specific schools of magic. While I don't mean to be rude, all I can say is: when you join the magic guild (doesn't matter what city) you are given the Magic Guild Guide. The last page has a listing for all 6 schools of magic, and what cities to goto inorder to learn them.

Another popular question that keeps popping up is, "How do I make potions?". While I don't want to give anything away, I will say this: a very common item that people keep passing up while hunting for loot are books and scrolls, especially ones that are based on recipes and shopping lists. Who needs them, right? What you don't know is that a lot of these recipes and shopping lists contain instructions on how to create potions. Do yourself a favor, and read everything! It may be tedious, but some of the best potions are written in the most inconspicuous books and scrolls.

Dyre Straits · Mar 26, 2006, 11:39 AM

I just stumbled into a very hilarious situation.

Early in the game a lady met me on the street in the Imperial City requesting that I meet someone at night at a particular home.

Well, I finally got around to checking out this quest and met with the fella. He was SO happy to see me, bragged on how my reputation preceded me, etc. Then, asked me to follow him to his basement.

Upon arriving there, with a couple other fellas, he introduced himself as a member of a group of vampire hunters.

Then he proceeded to tell me how elusive and wily the vampires are and how difficult it is to identify them.

The reason he needed my help is to take care of a 'suspected' vampire in the city.

And there I was, standing right in front of him.....a vampire. LOL!

Zardon · Mar 26, 2006, 11:46 AM

Yeah there are some funny experiences in game - like porkchop the boar and the fact he went a bit postal on me and ended up trying to kill me (ill not detail anything else as it would be classed as a bit of a spoiler). I just beat the arena and made quite a bit of money which came in handy for a few upgrades.

There are a few little quirks with this title like one person I noticed walking around 12 foot in the air and when I went to talk to him, the camera panned up to his chest and nothing happened. Also it is clear they didnt get specific actors to record certain speech as frequently you find people you talk to end up speaking in 2 different voices depending on what you ask them, normally this doesnt matter that much however last night I was talking to a woman and I asked her a question and she starting speaking in a young mans voice. that freaked me out as I didnt notice the surgeon giving her the sex change mid conversation. damn invisiblily spells !

Randomletters · Mar 26, 2006, 05:25 PM

Im pretty disappointed I cant play 1024x768, no shadows, no long distance options on, no AA/AF without dipping into the low 20s and stutters. Other then that Ive just started the game and when it doesnt randomly crash to desktop its an excellent game that looks incredible.

Asmoday · Mar 26, 2006, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randomletters

Im pretty disappointed I cant play 1024x768, no shadows, no long distance options on, no AA/AF without dipping into the low 20s and stutters. Other then that Ive just started the game and when it doesnt randomly crash to desktop its an excellent game that looks incredible.

That's weird I can run the game at 1280x1024 at Ultra high detail without any hickups. You would think that with your hardware it would run pretty damn great.

Randomletters · Mar 26, 2006, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asmoday

That's weird I can run the game at 1280x1024 at Ultra high detail without any hickups. You would think that with your hardware it would run pretty damn great.

Yea thats what I was hoping for. Im definately not upgrading this computer any time soon, Id rather sell it.

Sandok · Mar 26, 2006, 07:10 PM

Well on my rig which is no weakling I get tons of stuttering... But 1280x960 all maxed nonetheless! Sure, some dips

dipstick · Mar 26, 2006, 08:08 PM

Changing these settings have made the game into butter for me while also making it look better. Maybe worth a shot, especially dual core users

For performance:
bUse Joystick=0
iNumHavokThreads=2(default 1)
bUseHardDriveCache=1
iPreloadSizeLimit=52428800(just doubled the default)
iThreads=10(default 3)
bUseThreadedBlood=1
bUseThreadedMorpher=1
bUseThreadedTempEffects=1
bUseThreadedParticleSystem=1
bUseMultiThreadedTrees=1
bUseMultiThreadedFaceGen=1

For IQ:
uGridDistantCount=50(default 25)
uGridDistantTreeRange=30(default 15)
bUseWaterReflectionsMisc=1
bUseWaterReflectionsStatics=1
bUseWaterReflectionsTrees=1
bUseWaterReflectionsActors=1
bForceFullLOD=1

Lowfat · Mar 26, 2006, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randomletters

Im pretty disappointed I cant play 1024x768, no shadows, no long distance options on, no AA/AF without dipping into the low 20s and stutters. Other then that Ive just started the game and when it doesnt randomly crash to desktop its an excellent game that looks incredible.

something is wrong, i run @ 1280X1024 no problem.

Lowfat · Mar 26, 2006, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyre Straits

I just stumbled into a very hilarious situation.

Early in the game a lady met me on the street in the Imperial City requesting that I meet someone at night at a particular home.

Well, I finally got around to checking out this quest and met with the fella. He was SO happy to see me, bragged on how my reputation preceded me, etc. Then, asked me to follow him to his basement.

Upon arriving there, with a couple other fellas, he introduced himself as a member of a group of vampire hunters.

Then he proceeded to tell me how elusive and wily the vampires are and how difficult it is to identify them.

The reason he needed my help is to take care of a 'suspected' vampire in the city.

And there I was, standing right in front of him.....a vampire. LOL!

That happened to me a few days ago, but i am so poor at lockpicking i broke every lockpick i had trying to get into his house

riles9262 · Mar 26, 2006, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randomletters

Im pretty disappointed I cant play 1024x768, no shadows, no long distance options on, no AA/AF without dipping into the low 20s and stutters. Other then that Ive just started the game and when it doesnt randomly crash to desktop its an excellent game that looks incredible.

Weird...i play at that res with medium settings and it plays well, and i've yet to have a crash (i can almost get fluid play with high settings - wider areas are the main problems). I have gotten a couple 'send error reports' when exiting the game, but that's it.

Randomletters · Mar 26, 2006, 08:55 PM

Well I reformatted again cleaned out xp drivers instaled 6.3s installed chipset driver installd all latest updates defragged right now im going to install and scan for spyware, defrag, Install Oblivion, Defrag, And play Ill use those tweaks posted by dipstick.

I assume you edit an ini file? If so which?

cleanfil · Mar 26, 2006, 08:59 PM

Well I posted in another thread but this one seems more active. Maybe someone will be able to help me out.

Quote:

Wow. I want to play this game so badly but it just doesn't work for me. It's so laggy thats it's unbearable and my pc I think has a normal setup.

I am running:
Windows XP Sp2
X800xl 256mb PCI-E 16 Pipe
Intel P-4 3.0Ghz with HT
250 GB HD
1 Gig of DDR2 ram

And it lags so much. I let it find the settings for me and it sets them to high. The funny thing is if I set all my setting down, it lags even more.

I get 6-7 FPS on high and if I trun everything down I get 5-6 FPS.

riles9262 · Mar 26, 2006, 09:26 PM

@ cleanfil

Make sure you don't have the ati cp settings set to some crazy iq level, like 6x aa for instance. This could also be done with a per application tweaking program like radlinker or ati tray tools if you have that. If you don't have any of those, do a driver clean and try a couple different driver sets. Do you have this sort of problem with any other games?

@random

it should be the main oblivion ini in the game folder...i think that there's only one. Sorry i'm not at home to confirm the exact name of the ini.

Randomletters · Mar 26, 2006, 09:34 PM

havent done the tweaks yet but at 1280/1024 no aa in the jail cell i shoot a flare at the dor and it drops down to 21fps.

Np Riles thanks I found the ini but a few of the tweaks you listed wernt even in the ini do I just add all of it to the bottom of the ini or do I have to find the right section for each one?

cleanfil · Mar 26, 2006, 09:37 PM

@Riles. Well I have reinstalled the drivers once already and nothing helped. This only happened to ES IV. I am finishing up reformmatting right now and I want to see what will ahpped.

Dyre Straits · Mar 26, 2006, 10:28 PM

@Randomletters: I'm really surprised at the trouble you're having with your system. I'm enjoying the game immensely and seeing FPS averaging above 30 and even up to the 60s.

I notice that you have a 40 GB hard drive listed in your sig. Is that your only HD and how much free space is on it? Being that it's a 40 GB, I'm going to assume that it's an older HD and probably has a comparatively slow access rate when you consider the newer HD with 8 and 16 MB caches and faster access rates. So, that makes me wonder if the HD is your bottleneck on this rig.

Otherwise, the basic system is very similar to my own.

I'd also check in the CCC settings -- or other apps if you're using them -- like mentioned above for settings that might be forcing higher quality settings unknowingly. Go into CCC or the other app and set things to Performance settings.

@Everyone: BE SURE that you realize that, if you edit the .ini file, you HAVE to edit the one in My Documents....not just the one in the game's folder.

If you installed the game to its default location, that will be found here:

C:\Documents and Settings\[your user name]\My Documents\My Games\Oblivion

Dyre Straits · Mar 26, 2006, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randomletters

Well I reformatted again cleaned out xp drivers instaled 6.3s installed chipset driver installd all latest updates defragged right now im going to install and scan for spyware, defrag, Install Oblivion, Defrag, And play Ill use those tweaks posted by dipstick.

I assume you edit an ini file? If so which?

See my other post to you:

.ini file is located here:

C:\Documents and Settings\[your user name]\My Documents\My Games\Oblivion

Dyre Straits · Mar 26, 2006, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lowfat

That happened to me a few days ago, but i am so poor at lockpicking i broke every lockpick i had trying to get into his house

I have a couple of cast spells that can open Very Easy, and Easy locks. That at least keeps me from breaking so many....but I still end up without any when I really need them.

cleanfil · Mar 26, 2006, 10:36 PM

I am going to marry my computer. Well not really.

I just reformatted and I am runnning the game at 35-60 frames at times. I am in love. I had to wait a whole week before I bought the game and I am so happy. Hope this continues.

Randomletters · Mar 26, 2006, 10:40 PM

Dyre the drie i bought new with the rest of the system its a Samsung 40gb 8mb cache http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152023

Im going to edit the ini now and adjust the settings in the CCC

cleanfil · Mar 26, 2006, 10:43 PM

Will configuring my ini as shown by dipstick do anything to my gameplay?

Sandok · Mar 26, 2006, 10:50 PM

Well I tried the stuff he wrote down and it did smoothen the game up and I don't got dual core...

riles9262 · Mar 26, 2006, 10:51 PM

He says so, at least for him, but results will vary depending on your system. Best thing to do is to make a backup of your present ini files that you're going to mod, and then make changes and test them.

Dyre Straits · Mar 26, 2006, 11:00 PM

In case it makes any difference to anyone, I'm using Omega's 6.2 drivers and using settings in ATT. I just posted a copy of those settings for Ray Adams as there has been a couple of times that I've had problems after exiting the game....not during the game. So that you don't have to go looking for that post, I'm showing a copy of my ATT settings:

Pluvious · Mar 26, 2006, 11:05 PM

I 'heard' that if you turn off Catalyst A.I. you might see a little boost.

Dyre Straits · Mar 26, 2006, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pluvious

I 'heard' that if you turn off Catalyst A.I. you might see a little boost.

I have mine on Low settings. I might try if Off to see if it does make any difference.

Randomletters · Mar 26, 2006, 11:26 PM

all the tweaks seemed to increase fps but my system still hard locks, last time i played for about 15 minutes

I have about 29gb free

cleanfil · Mar 27, 2006, 12:17 AM

Well I turned my Catalyst A.I off and boosted my rez to 1280 by 1024 and I am running 30-55 FPS sometimes. Mostly though Its 29-37/39.

I have a questions. How do you throw away items? I am sort of overencumbered and dont know how to discard items.

jblade · Mar 27, 2006, 12:19 AM

For those running on "max" settings, and still want more eye candy.

Use this

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=66785

Personally Im using the increased draw distance, and better water, I have a X850XT and everything else is max.

P.S. besides fraps, any way to get a in game FPS counter?

Mar 26, 2006, 10:53 AM	#181
Tipstaff HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Real capital of Canada: Torauna Posts: 6,660 Rep Power: 187 System Specs	Quite a few people have asked me about where to go to learn specific schools of magic. While I don't mean to be rude, all I can say is: when you join the magic guild (doesn't matter what city) you are given the Magic Guild Guide. The last page has a listing for all 6 schools of magic, and what cities to goto inorder to learn them. Another popular question that keeps popping up is, "How do I make potions?". While I don't want to give anything away, I will say this: a very common item that people keep passing up while hunting for loot are books and scrolls, especially ones that are based on recipes and shopping lists. Who needs them, right? What you don't know is that a lot of these recipes and shopping lists contain instructions on how to create potions. Do yourself a favor, and read everything! It may be tedious, but some of the best potions are written in the most inconspicuous books and scrolls. __________________ Portal: The Flash Version _________________________________ Brain: So, you sacked the cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker? Mr. Sackett: The second cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker I've sacked since the sixth sitting sheet slitter got sick.

Mar 26, 2006, 05:25 PM	#184
Randomletters ))<>(( Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 2,418 Rep Power: 52	Im pretty disappointed I cant play 1024x768, no shadows, no long distance options on, no AA/AF without dipping into the low 20s and stutters. Other then that Ive just started the game and when it doesnt randomly crash to desktop its an excellent game that looks incredible. __________________ <----------- Sexy Budget Rig stats to the left.

Mar 26, 2006, 08:55 PM	#192
Randomletters ))<>(( Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 2,418 Rep Power: 52	Well I reformatted again cleaned out xp drivers instaled 6.3s installed chipset driver installd all latest updates defragged right now im going to install and scan for spyware, defrag, Install Oblivion, Defrag, And play Ill use those tweaks posted by dipstick. I assume you edit an ini file? If so which? __________________ <----------- Sexy Budget Rig stats to the left.

Mar 26, 2006, 09:26 PM	#194
riles9262 Driverheaven brewmaster Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: British Columbia, Canada Posts: 4,842 Rep Power: 70 System Specs	@ cleanfil Make sure you don't have the ati cp settings set to some crazy iq level, like 6x aa for instance. This could also be done with a per application tweaking program like radlinker or ati tray tools if you have that. If you don't have any of those, do a driver clean and try a couple different driver sets. Do you have this sort of problem with any other games? @random it should be the main oblivion ini in the game folder...i think that there's only one. Sorry i'm not at home to confirm the exact name of the ini. __________________ A beer a day keeps the doctor away.

Mar 26, 2006, 09:34 PM	#195
Randomletters ))<>(( Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 2,418 Rep Power: 52	havent done the tweaks yet but at 1280/1024 no aa in the jail cell i shoot a flare at the dor and it drops down to 21fps. Np Riles thanks I found the ini but a few of the tweaks you listed wernt even in the ini do I just add all of it to the bottom of the ini or do I have to find the right section for each one? __________________ <----------- Sexy Budget Rig stats to the left.

Mar 26, 2006, 11:46 AM	#183
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 177	Yeah there are some funny experiences in game - like porkchop the boar and the fact he went a bit postal on me and ended up trying to kill me (ill not detail anything else as it would be classed as a bit of a spoiler). I just beat the arena and made quite a bit of money which came in handy for a few upgrades. There are a few little quirks with this title like one person I noticed walking around 12 foot in the air and when I went to talk to him, the camera panned up to his chest and nothing happened. Also it is clear they didnt get specific actors to record certain speech as frequently you find people you talk to end up speaking in 2 different voices depending on what you ask them, normally this doesnt matter that much however last night I was talking to a woman and I asked her a question and she starting speaking in a young mans voice. that freaked me out as I didnt notice the surgeon giving her the sex change mid conversation. damn invisiblily spells !

Mar 26, 2006, 07:10 PM	#187
Sandok DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 9,472 Rep Power: 66	Well on my rig which is no weakling I get tons of stuttering... But 1280x960 all maxed nonetheless! Sure, some dips

Mar 26, 2006, 08:08 PM	#188
dipstick HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: USA Posts: 3,609 Rep Power: 70 System Specs	Changing these settings have made the game into butter for me while also making it look better. Maybe worth a shot, especially dual core users For performance: bUse Joystick=0 iNumHavokThreads=2(default 1) bUseHardDriveCache=1 iPreloadSizeLimit=52428800(just doubled the default) iThreads=10(default 3) bUseThreadedBlood=1 bUseThreadedMorpher=1 bUseThreadedTempEffects=1 bUseThreadedParticleSystem=1 bUseMultiThreadedTrees=1 bUseMultiThreadedFaceGen=1 For IQ: uGridDistantCount=50(default 25) uGridDistantTreeRange=30(default 15) bUseWaterReflectionsMisc=1 bUseWaterReflectionsStatics=1 bUseWaterReflectionsTrees=1 bUseWaterReflectionsActors=1 bForceFullLOD=1

Mar 26, 2006, 09:37 PM	#196
cleanfil DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 65 Rep Power: 0	@Riles. Well I have reinstalled the drivers once already and nothing helped. This only happened to ES IV. I am finishing up reformmatting right now and I want to see what will ahpped.

Mar 26, 2006, 10:36 PM	#200
cleanfil DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 65 Rep Power: 0	I am going to marry my computer. Well not really. I just reformatted and I am runnning the game at 35-60 frames at times. I am in love. I had to wait a whole week before I bought the game and I am so happy. Hope this continues.

Mar 26, 2006, 10:40 PM	#201
Randomletters ))<>(( Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 2,418 Rep Power: 52	Dyre the drie i bought new with the rest of the system its a Samsung 40gb 8mb cache http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152023 Im going to edit the ini now and adjust the settings in the CCC __________________ <----------- Sexy Budget Rig stats to the left.

Mar 26, 2006, 10:43 PM	#202
cleanfil DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 65 Rep Power: 0	Will configuring my ini as shown by dipstick do anything to my gameplay?

Mar 26, 2006, 10:50 PM	#203
Sandok DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 9,472 Rep Power: 66	Well I tried the stuff he wrote down and it did smoothen the game up and I don't got dual core...

Mar 26, 2006, 10:51 PM	#204
riles9262 Driverheaven brewmaster Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: British Columbia, Canada Posts: 4,842 Rep Power: 70 System Specs	He says so, at least for him, but results will vary depending on your system. Best thing to do is to make a backup of your present ini files that you're going to mod, and then make changes and test them. __________________ A beer a day keeps the doctor away.

Mar 26, 2006, 11:05 PM	#206
Pluvious Elisha = hottie Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: USA CA. SF Bay Area Posts: 1,318 Rep Power: 56	I 'heard' that if you turn off Catalyst A.I. you might see a little boost. __________________

Mar 26, 2006, 11:26 PM	#208
Randomletters ))<>(( Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 2,418 Rep Power: 52	all the tweaks seemed to increase fps but my system still hard locks, last time i played for about 15 minutes I have about 29gb free __________________ <----------- Sexy Budget Rig stats to the left. Last edited by Randomletters; Mar 26, 2006 at 11:31 PM.

Mar 27, 2006, 12:17 AM	#209
cleanfil DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 65 Rep Power: 0	Well I turned my Catalyst A.I off and boosted my rez to 1280 by 1024 and I am running 30-55 FPS sometimes. Mostly though Its 29-37/39. I have a questions. How do you throw away items? I am sort of overencumbered and dont know how to discard items.

Mar 27, 2006, 12:19 AM	#210
jblade Spamming God Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Maryland Posts: 3,895 Rep Power: 0	For those running on "max" settings, and still want more eye candy. Use this http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=66785 Personally Im using the increased draw distance, and better water, I have a X850XT and everything else is max. P.S. besides fraps, any way to get a in game FPS counter? __________________ DH IS THE BEST! System: AMD Athlon XP-M 2500+ at 2.4Ghz Mobo: Abit NF7-S v2.0 Memory: 2x 512MB OCZ EL Platinum Videocard: Geforce 4 TI 4200 8x AGP 128MB Sound Card: Audigy 2 ZS