Running Oblivion


Last Step:  Finishing the Installation


    A Random Collection of things you may want to do after starting.
  • Safety Tips for Playing:
    • Saving:  Use multiple saves so that you have backups.  Do not continually save on top of the same file because that increases the chances of a corrupt saves.  Turn off Oblivion's autosaves in the Oblivion.ini, and do not use its quicksave feature either.  If you want safe quicksaves and autosaves, use Streamline instead.
    • Startup:  Scripts take a few seconds to initialize, so wait a few seconds after a save loads for the initialization scripts to startup.  The more script-centric mods you have installed, the more initialization scripts there are to be started.

  • Adding mods:  In many cases you can just go ahead an add a mod and be all right; however, many mods (i.e., quests, overhauls) require that you take certain extra steps after adding them or updating them (short of starting a new game.)  Some of those steps are listed below:
    • Update NPC levels:  Right-click on a save in Bash's Saves tab, and choose update Npc levels.
      >> notes:  This is often required after adding overhauls, mods that rebalance races and some leveling mods.
    • Reload cells:  After adding the content, go at least two cells away from your current location and wait 3 in-game days.
      >> notes:  The number of days you have to wait for everything to respawn depends on your global settings.  If you changed this number to something else with the bashed patch or the console, wait that number of days.  The default is 3 days.
    • Clean save (after an update):  Remove the mod from your game.  Load Oblivion, and save (preferably to a new save, just in case).  Add the updated version of the mod and continue playing.

  • Taking ScreenShots:
    • The best resource stuff related to screen shots is the "Pictures of Oblivion Characters" BethSoft thread.  There are many versions of the thread, so search that string.  A bookmark would quickly become outdated.  The first post contains guidelines for posting in the thread as well as links to many resources for help with taking screen shots.
       >> notes:  you can post scenic pics there too
    • ScreenShooter's Guides - linked in the "Pictures of Oblivion Characters" BethSoft thread
    • A few useful console commands:
      >> notes:  see the "Console Commands" link in the sidebar for more commands and info
      • toggle menus (tm):  toggles menus off so that the HUD is not in the way of your beautiful snapshots
      • toggle fly camera (tfc):  lets you get out of your character's head or leave the PC entirely
        >> notes: if you are in 1st person when you use this command, the result will not be pretty, so hit the key to switch views
      • toggle collisions (tcl):  if you cannot quite get the positioning your PC needs for the pose, try this...but remember to turn it back on when you finish
    • Make sure "bAllowScreenShots" is set to 1 in the Oblivion.ini if you want to use Oblivion's screenshot feature in game
      >> notes:  when you regenerate your Oblivion.ini, you may want to take care to change the ScreenShotIndex back to what it was (the number for the next screenshot.)  Otherwise, you may overwrite your previous pics.  Alternatively, you can move your pics outside of the Oblivion folder periodically and after regenerating the INI or use a third-party tool for screenshots, which could save screenshots to a different location all together.
    • Use the PrintScreen key to use Oblivion's screenshot feature
      >> notes:  1) Most users are able to do more than enough with this built-in feature alone.  2) Oblivion's screen shot feature only saves images as JPEGs.  If you want to take screenshots with higher quality format (i.e., BMP, PNG) download a third-party tool.  See Programs & Utilities for a few links.

  • Testing:
    • FCOM:  There are a number of ways to go about testing, but two of the most recommended methods are using 300_Test.esp, the testing resources found in the FCOM Convergence mod archive, and the other is to run through Vilverin with god mod toggled on.
      >> notes:  1) for more information about the 300_Test module, see the "Testing" section of the FCOM Convergence homepage  2) toggle god mode by typing "tgm" into the console  3) see the the "Console Commands" link in the sidebar for more information about console commands
      A lot of mods cannot be tested until there quests start or you run into their content, but then it is easy to identify the culprit, so I would worry more about general testing. Try to test every mod in your setup would take too long. I think it is impractical to venture after each one. If you install a city-revamping mod like BC or AWLS, run around the IC and maybe Bravil. For FCOM, run through Vilverin or some other well used (by your overhauls) dungeon. If you can run through Skingrad to Anvil without crashing, your setup is doing very well. Use COC testinghall to check mods' contents if they add things there. (Many mods do not. Most of the rooms that are used by the vanilla game for testing are left alone by mods.)


  • Troubleshooting:
    • Crashes and Problems Library
    • Determine what cell you are in:  Use the console command "sdt 0"
    • Use the console command "tdt" to display debug information while running around in game.  Use the "sdt <number>" command to change the debug page (information) shown on screen.
      >> notes:  see the SetDebutText (sdt) pages for information on the different debug pages that can be viewed
    • Purple or violet indicates missing textures.
    • Yellow "I'm a missing mesh" or "WTF" icons indicate missing meshes.
    • Figure out what mod owns that (missing) mesh (with missing texture):
      • download: FormID Finder - get info about a mesh
        >> notes:  1) requires OBSE  2) has an INI  3) see the readme for usage instructions
    • Find out everything about an NPC:
      • download: Actor Details - get mod ownership, inventory ownership, etc.
        >> notes:  1) requires OBSE  2) see the readme for usage instructions
    • Testing:
      • A general test for a lot of situations is to open the console, and type "COC testinghall"
      • This puts you in the testing hall where you can go into different types of rooms and examine various objects (i.e., all of the vanilla items and objects) or test AI packages (i.e., creatures attacking or guards attacking enemies)
      • The COC command transports the PC to the target
      • You could use a command like "COC Weye" to get back to Tamriel
        >> notes:  You can find the console location code for a vanilla Oblivion place on UESPWiki - Oblivion:Places (in the info box in the upper-right corner of a place's page.)
      • You probably do not want to save a visit to the testing hall, so quite the game after checking things out

    • Useful Console Commands:
      • Use the console command "tdt" (toggle debug text) followed by "sdt 13" (SetDebugText to page 13) to view the graphic usage info.  If the displayed texture memory is near to or greater than your dedicated VRAM, you should start cutting down on the visual enhancers.

Next Step:  Browse the site

Related Pages:
Related Resources: