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Crashing

Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 9:59 pm
by gramps001
Hello,

Just bought Oblivion a day or so ago. I installed it, no problems, nothing. Started the game up, same thing, perfect start up no errors or anything. I create my character and start going through the game. When I get to the last section, where the Emperor dies, and I'm told to take the amulet to Jauffre, I try to enter the sewer system and it crashes. Just kicks me back out into windows. Upon clicking the sewer doors I get past the load screen and the screen goes black. Stays like that for a little and the DVDrom is tagging the disk like crazy then it just boots me back into windows. Repeating problem. Tried re-starting the game, reinstalling it. Any help?

My computer meets the min. requirements and then some. Runing Windows XP, same thing happened under 2K.

Anyone know how I can fix it? Kinda annoying to drop 50 bucks on it, when it doesn't work.

Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 10:08 pm
by Belthan
Bethesda has a number of bug fixes available - you might check out their site and download the most recent patch.

Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 10:14 pm
by gramps001
thanks, but

Thankyou, I will check it out. I just want to know if other ppl who installed it without the patches ran into the same problem.

Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 10:30 pm
by gramps001
nope

went to Bethesda Softworks .com and checked out the oblivion patches. Downloaded the v1.1 oblivion patch. Loaded the auto saved gamed and tried to enter the sewers and was still booted from the game.

Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 10:38 pm
by gramps001
interesting

I downloaded a savegame file off planetelderscrolls. Placed a character at the end of the sewers. Upon the load of the game file, same symptom. I was booted back into windows. :(

Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 4:36 am
by Fljotsdale
It seems to me you have something on your comp that is incompatible with the game. No good asking me what, because I'm not a techi.

Have you anything running at the same time? It is a good idea to turn off everything you can, even your anti-virus system (but remember to turn it on again before you go on-line!).

I have no patches or anything, because I play it on a computer that has no internet connection, so it is not a need for a patch in your case, I think.

It is a BIG game, and requires a LOT of memory. When you move from one area to another it sometimes takes a lot of time to load the new area. Having grass on makes the game really treacly sometimes, but you haven't got there yet!

It might be an idea to go into the Options screen and look at the Video options. Reduce the Blood Decals, adjust the Resolution, the View Distance, the Grass Distance, shadow, water, and light settings... (See page 47 in your Manual. Page 50 also has Customer Support contact details).

Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 6:20 am
by fable
gramps001 wrote:I downloaded a savegame file off planetelderscrolls. Placed a character at the end of the sewers. Upon the load of the game file, same symptom. I was booted back into windows. :(
Gramps001, please press the EDIT button instead of posting two or three posts in a row. Makes things much easier to read. Thanks.

Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 7:19 am
by gramps001
I don't know if its somthing not compatable with the game. After I downloaded that saved game that put a character in the sewers I downloaded one that placed the character randomly in the game (out of the sewers). It worked fine, despite that I don't have it configured perfectly so it was a little flaky. So is it still a compatability issue or is somthing wrong with the game files.

Posted: Sat Aug 26, 2006 9:29 pm
by fable
It does sound like a memory problem. Consider as Fljotsdale suggested, checking to see if anything running in the background can be removed. How much RAM have you got? The game soaks up memory like a sponge. Try turning down the video "enhancements" in WinXP, so the platform uses less memory and has more to share.

I don't think it's an install issue. If it were, the install itself probably would have crashed. It might be a video card driver issue, but that's unlikely.

Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2006 10:21 am
by gramps001
Fable in your opinion, what is more graphics demanding...

- the sewer system at the begining of the game
- a city of a larger size
- various wooded areas in oblivion

The official forums say that the sewers there are the most demanding and that is my problem. They tell me that my graphics card can't handle it. Yet going through cities and woods I'm ok...

Would you not agree that when a creator of a game posts the minimum requirements that those requirments are the minimum to play the game with out much serious (such as my problem) problems

Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2006 5:18 pm
by Fljotsdale
Imo, fairly static areas, like sewers, dungeons, inside houses, inside cities/towns, etc, are easier to move around in than external wilderness areas, where there is moving 'grass', moving trees, moving water, which makes your graphics card work it's little cotton socks off!

It's generally only in wilderness areas with a lot of grass - or close to Oblivion gates - that I have much trouble with treacling, stuttering and crashing.
Ok, I know my system is not top notch, but it's a lot better than minimum, and shouldn't have those problems. It works better if I have the grass OFF, and don't do the Main Quest.

The first sewer isn't very demanding, but the main city sewers have a lot more life in 'em, so probably are pretty demanding - but not that much more so, imo, than Imperial City, which DOES sometimes go stuttery and treacly.

It seems to help if you stop playing and close the computer down from time to time. The computer doesn't like playing the game for several hours on the trot. I wonder if it gets bored... ? ;)

Sometimes the damn game crashes totally, not just to desktop, but to computer restart, due to serious failure, or error. Bleh.

Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2006 5:32 pm
by fable
gramps001 wrote:Fable in your opinion, what is more graphics demanding...

- the sewer system at the begining of the game
- a city of a larger size
- various wooded areas in oblivion

The official forums say that the sewers there are the most demanding and that is my problem. They tell me that my graphics card can't handle it. Yet going through cities and woods I'm ok...
My personal opinion, the wooded areas are. They can really slow to a crawl, but that's a matter of one's graphics card. I can see where the sewers might have the greatest load on memory. Might: key word. I really don't know. I'm guessing, here, because I know that when an area loads, the hit occurs to RAM. A great deal is being swapped out, especially in Oblivion.
Would you not agree that when a creator of a game posts the minimum requirements that those requirments are the minimum to play the game with out much serious (such as my problem) problems
It should, without question. In reality, the minimum requirements these days seem to me to be defined, not by the developers of games, but by the PR folk, who want to sell more copies. So we get the minimum requirements that allow you to actually get a game running at a dead crawl, with possible crashes. -I know that sounds cynical, but it really isn't. It's just my admittedly biased observations, based upon personal experience.

Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 4:06 am
by Yeltsu
I had a similar problem with Oblivion laptop, where it would suddenly freeze up and crash for no obvious reason. After reading the official forums, i found this:Unofficial Technical FAQ v3 - The Elder Scrolls Forums

i found my symptoms (gfx drivers on laptops) and fixed it with the advice offered there, maybe you can find your problem there?

Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2006 3:32 pm
by MornerLaughs518
I have the exact same problem, have you tried emailing Support bethesda?