The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Developers
	Bethesda Game Studios
Publishers
	2K Games
	Bethesda Softworks
Engines
	Gamebryo
Release dates
Windows	March 20, 2006

General information

Steam Community Discussions

Steam Users' Forums

Oblivion Nexus - a large modding community

UESP wiki

Tweak Guide

Availability

Version differences

The GameStop PC Downloads/Impulse version is not compatible with some mods. This version is no longer sold.

The Game of the Year Edition Deluxe is only playable in English.

The Elder Scrolls Anthology includes both a retail version and a single Steam key that unlocks Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim.

Essential improvements

Patches

• The current official patch is patch 1.2.0416. This can be downloaded from the Bethesda download page. To check what version you have, run the Oblivion launcher, and choose "Technical Support" (as opposed to "Play")
  • You only need to download one patch. There are two Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion patches, one is for the normal game, and the other is for the Shivering Isles Expansion. If you have the Shivering Isles expansion, you only need to download that patch, since it already contains the Oblivion patch. If you don't have the Shivering Isles expansion, then just download the regular patch.
• The unofficial oblivion patch is a fan made patch that corrects thousands of errors in the game, as well as providing slight tweaks to improve the game play experience:
  • Unofficial Oblivion Patch (Made by Quarn and Kivan)
  • Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch (Made by Quarn and Kivan)
  • Unofficial Official Mods Patch (Made by Quarn and Kivan)

Mods

Bethesda Game Studios is known for its extensive mod support, and Oblivion is no different. Oblivion mods can be found at Oblivion Nexus or Planet Elder Scrolls.

Recommended mods

• Book Jackets Adds unique covers to every book in Oblivion. Also see DLC Book Jackets for the official DLC addons, and Book Jackets KOTN for Knights of the Nine.

• DarNified UI Tweaks the user interface to fit PC, rather than the enlarged Xbox optimized user interface. HUD is smaller, fonts are smaller, and more items can be fitted per "page" in the inventory.

• Midas Magic Spells Of Aurum Adds over 300 new spells including summoning meteors, shooting laser beams, and even turning bodies into gold. Also adds new and exciting quests to other realms, with completely new creatures to fight, people to talk to, and new weapons to find.

Utilities

Wrye Bash and Oblivion Mod Manager

Wrye bash and Oblivion Mod Manager are two utilities used for managing mods, Wrye Bash supports mods packed as .7z, while Oblivion Mod Manager offers a more easy to use format called .omod. Both utilities are used to install and uninstall mods, and ensure that mods are installed correctly.

Better Oblivion Sorting Software (BOSS)

Better Oblivion Sorting Software is a utility that sorts mods load order automatically, to ensure no mods conflict with each other when the game is played. Every time after you install a mod it is recommended that you run BOSS. After the software is done working, an .html file will open in your standard browser that will show important information about some .ESP's.

Oblivion Script Extender (OBSE)

Oblivion Script Extender is a utility that extends the script capabilities of vanilla Oblivion, allowing modders to better take advantage of the engine. Most mods require this utility, and installation instructions are included in a README, when you download it.

Nexus Mod Manager (NMM)

Nexus Mod Manager can manage mod downloads from Oblivion Nexus and automatically install them.

TES4Edit

TES4Edit can clean .ESP files from "dirty edits" which are essentially errors made by original mod authors that can cause incompatibilities and prevent other .ESP's features from working.

Fast Exit

Fast Exit prevents the game from crashing upon quitting and saves the .INI file before exiting the game so settings do not reset to their initial values upon exiting and restarting the game.

Console Commands

A complete list of console commands can be found here.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

Template:Game data/row

System	Location
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/22330/pfx/

Save game data location

Template:Game data/row

System	Location
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/22330/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud

Video settings

Video settings.

Field of view (FOV)

Instructions

This table works with the assumption that the default 75 degrees is optimal for screens with the 5:4 aspect ratio.

Aspect Ratio	FOV Value
4:3	79.9000
16:9	105.3000
15:9	99.0000
16:10	95.2000

High frame rate

Instructions

Input settings

Input settings.

Audio settings

Audio settings.

Localizations

The Game of the Year Edition Deluxe is only playable in English.

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
German
Italian
Polish				Polish retail only; not available digitally.
Russian				Russian retail only; not available digitally.
Spanish

Issues fixed

TweakGuides has created a comprehensive guide for fixing issues in this game. It can be found here.

The game crashes upon exiting to desktop

Instructions

The settings reset every time the game is restarted

Instructions

Actors/NPCs appear as yellow triangles

Instructions

Incorrect Mod Installation

Instructions

Error in load order

Instructions

Missing BSA redirection

Instructions

Missing meshes

Instructions

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP, Vista, 7
Processor (CPU)	2 GHz Intel Pentium 4 AMD Athlon XP 2000+	3 GHz Intel Pentium 4 AMD Athlon XP 3000+
System memory (RAM)
Hard disk drive (HDD)	4.6 GB
Video card (GPU)	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 ATi Radeon 9500 128 MB of VRAM	NVIDIA GeForce 6800 ATi Radeon X800