Oblivion Tweaks/Mods/Etc.

**MechDeus** · 29 Mar 2006, 02:24 AM

Here we can collect all the game-altering bits for improved graphics, framerates, or whatever.

Few things off the bat:

Update your drivers ATi just released Catalyst 6.3, Directx released an update in February, so make sure everything's up to date.
If your game is crashing It has been identified that for whatever reason Creative Sound Blaster cards have a conflict and can lead to apparently random crashes. Update your drivers, etc. Also, codec packs can cause this same issue. If you're crashing and you have something like K-Lite Codec Pack installed, uninstall it and just grab the seperate AC3/Xvid/whatever you need from somewhere else. That was happening to me and removing K-Lite fixed it.
For those with nVidia cards Install Coolbits and turn Frames Rendered Ahead from 3 to 0.
For those with ATi cards Disable Catalyst AI.
To view your framerate in-game Press the ~ key and then type "tdt".

And now, ini tweaking:

For improved framerates
change uExterior Cell Buffer=36 to uExterior Cell Buffer=72.
change iPreloadSizeLimit=26214400 to iPreloadSizeLimit=500000000.
change bUseThreadedTempEffects=0 to bUseThreadedTempEffects=1.
change bUseThreadedParticleSystem=0 to bUseThreadedParticleSystem=1.
change iThreads=3 to iThreads=100.
change iOpenMPLevel=10 to iOpenMPLevel=25.

You can also try the attached Oblivion.ini file, specifically set up to help give improved framerates. The BlurShader is turned up, so if you don't like that look reference below.

To remove the intro Bethesda logo movie
Search for the following string SIntroSequence=SIntroSequence=bethesda softworks HD720p.bik,2k games.bik,game studios.bik,Oblivion Legal.bik and change it to SIntroSequence=

For those with Pixel Shader 3.0 video cards
Change bAllow30Shaders=0 to bAllow30Shaders=1
This will improve your framerate.

For those without Pixel Shader 3.0 and still want lighting effects similar to HDR
[BlurShader]
fSunlightDimmer=0.4000
fSIEmmisiveMult=1.0000
fSISpecularMult=1.0000
fSkyBrightness=0.2000
fSunBrightness=0.2000
fAlphaAddExterior=1.1000
fAlphaAddInterior=1.1000
iBlurTexSize=16
fBlurRadius=0.0150
iNumBlurpasses=1
iBlendType=4
bUseBlurShader=1
Feel free to tweak AlphaAddExterior and Interior to your own desire for the soft glow look, as having them that high makes the daylight sky get rather swallowed up in light.

Tree distance modifications
Change uGridDistantTreeRange=15 to uGridDistantTreeRange=30
Change uGridDistantCount=25 to uGridDistantCount=50
Change uGridsToLoad=5 to uGridsToLoad=9
From top to bottom in terms of smallest gain to largest, as well as smallest framerate hit to largest. The latter two will also help with texture appearances in the distance in general.

Change bForceFullLOD=0 to bForceFullLOD=1
Makes trees look nicer close up, no known performance hit.

Grass modifications
Change iMinGrassSize=80 to iMinGrassSize=120
Or up to 160, the larger the number the less of a performance hit.

Change fGrassEndDistance=8000.0000 to fGrassEndDistance=80000.0000 and fGrassStartFadeDistance=7000.0000 to fGrassStartFadeDistance=70000.0000
Increase distance of grass, avoid if looking to improve framerate.

iMaxGrassTypesPerTexure=
Tells how many textures to use for each type of grass. Set at 1 for an improved framerate with almost no discernable visual difference in the grass.

bGrassPointLighting=
Set to 1 for higher quality lighting effects on the grass.

Make torches cast shadows
Change bEquippedTorchesCastShadows=0 to bEquippedTorchesCastShadows=1
Looks pretty.

Make water look phenomonal
change bUseWaterReflectionsMisc=0 to 1
change bUseWaterReflectionsStatics=0 to 1
change bUseWaterReflectionsTrees=0 to 1
change bUseWaterReflectionsActors=0 to 1
change bUseWaterReflections=0 to 1

uDepthRange=
Determines transparency of water.

~Update 04.01
~Update 04.01

Altering water for better framerate
[Water]
fAlpha=0.5000
uSurfaceTextureSize=128
SSurfaceTexture=water
SNearWaterOutdoorID=NearWaterOutdoorLoop
SNearWaterIndoorID=NearWaterIndoorLoop
fNearWaterOutdoorTolerance=1024.0000
fNearWaterIndoorTolerance=512.0000
fNearWaterUnderwaterVolume=0.0000
fNearWaterUnderwaterFreq=0.0000
uNearWaterPoints=16
uNearWaterRadius=300
uSurfaceFrameCount=32
uSurfaceFPS=32
bUseWaterReflectionsMisc=0
bUseWaterReflectionsStatics=1
bUseWaterReflectionsTrees=1
bUseWaterReflectionsActors=0
bUseWaterReflections=1
bUseWaterHiRes=0
bUseWaterDisplacements=0
bUseWaterShader=1
uDepthRange=150
bUseWaterDepth=1
bUseWaterLOD=1
fTileTextureDivisor=4.7500
fSurfaceTileSize=2048.0000
uNumDepthGrids=3
bUseObliqueFrustumCulling=1

Locking the framerate
iFPSClamp=0
Change 0 to whatever you want your framerate locked at, if you're unable to attain such a framerate the game will slow itself down to accomodate. This is most useful if you're generally at a certain framerate and you want to avoid speed shifts or stuttering.

Yet more general framerate tweaks
Change bPreemptivelyUnloadCells=0 to 1

Yet more ATi tweaks
For a better and more stable framerate
http://www.drivercleaner.net/professional.html

1: Download Driver Cleaner Pro and install it.
2: Download your ATI Drivers if you haven't already. - (Driver List is at the Bottem of the Post)
3: Uninstall ATI Display Drivers and ATI CCC.
4: Reboot into Safemode. (Make sure your videocard is connected into the VGA Port on your Videocard)
5: Run Driver Cleaner pro
6: Click (Select Multiable Cleaning Filters)
7: Now choose the following:
-ATI
-ATI CCC
-ATI IGP
-ATI Uninstall Utility
-ATI WDM
8: Click (Start) and let it finish removing all previous settings on your drivers.
9: Now reboot into windows and install the drivers you chose.
10: You'll have to reboot once more.
11: Oblivion will redetect your videocard and reset all tweaked settings. (From the Oblivion_Default.INI)

http://www.driverheavendownloads.net/zeropoint.htm
Download Zer0point 0.63 CCC (Catalyst 6.3) for a more stable framerate.

http://www.tacticalcenter.net/downlo...a_38231_7z.exe
Omega drivers for better performance.

http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1302
Official ATi 6.3 Catalyst drivers.

Also, download ATi Tray Tools:
http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=733
And go to 3D->Flip Queue Size-> and set it to either 1 or 2.

~Minor Edit 04.02
Turn off Fast Write and Write Combining in your video card settings for a much longer initial load but slightly improved framerates.

MOD SECTION

Added choices when confronted by a guard about a crime
http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/i...owtopic=330014

Make some enemies actually fight as hard as they can
http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/i...owtopic=303754

Improved LOD distance maps
http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/i...owtopic=330112

And one that appears to look even better:
http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/i...owtopic=328524
Just tried this one out and it looks awesome. Definately recommended.

Pearl/Obsidian Armor
http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/i...owtopic=325614
Armor designed as a visual alternative to Daedric, especially nice for "good" characters.

Enhanced visuals for weapon enchants
http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/i...owtopic=337748
Makes Fire/Cold/Shock enchants actually look like such.

Natural Wildlife
http://www.tessource.net/files/file.php?id=2063
Makes it so that not every animal in a fifty foot radius considers you to be their most hated enemy.

Detect Life Changer
http://www.tessource.net/files/file.php?id=2291#gallery
I think the normal Detect Life effect looks stupid and here's one that I think is a step in the right direction.

No More Annoying Messages
http://www.tessource.net/files/file.php?id=1846
Removes all the little messages like "Loading Area".

Carry More Stuff
http://www.tessource.net/files/file.php?id=2227
More cheating than anything else, it vastly increases the amount of stuff you can carry.

~Edit 05.28

Elven Cartographers
http://www.tessource.net/files/cache/3002.html
Makes the map look a lot better.

Immersive Health Indication
http://www.tessource.net/files/cache/3910.html
Adds a blur factor whenever your health drops below whatever percentage you set. Nice for whenever I've come across enemies that are surprisingly strong and didn't realize how much damage I was taking.

Capes and Cloaks
http://www.tessource.net/files/cache/4539.html
Doesn't add any armor but they do look cool.

Immersive Interface
http://www.tessource.net/files/cache/4109.html
Makes the on-screen indicators not so bulky and all-over.

Ringwrathe Armor Set
http://www.tessource.net/files/cache/4311.html
LotR stuff. There's sets for each type of armor class.

**Diff-chan** · 29 Mar 2006, 08:03 AM

Do you (or anyone else) know how 2 gigs of RAM vs. 1 gig helps this game? I imagine its just for loading and some of the stutters while wandering out and about but any info?

**Burky** · 29 Mar 2006, 01:24 PM

If you like I'll try taking one of my stick out now and compared.

Results will be posted shortly.

**Burky** · 29 Mar 2006, 01:48 PM

AMD Opteron 2.61ghz
Gskill ram 3-4-3-6 at 237mhz
2x7800GT

Ultra-high quality, everything max, 1024x768.
No tweaks applied.

1gig
Fps inside: 58
Fps outside: 38
Fps outside with action: 24
Load time between an area: 9 seconds

2gig
Fps inside: 60
Fps outside: 40
Fps outside with action: 35
Load time between an area: 6 seconds ( I guess this varies)

***
So load times were faster, and the more stressful scene were better too.
Only thing is this might be different for you, as my ram is the bottleneck of my system.

-Your mom.

**Diff-chan** · 29 Mar 2006, 01:49 PM

Well.

I like the "Fps outside with action" results. Because that is what has been driving me nuts.

I bought 2 gigs of G.skill RAM and that shit is coming today.

Thanks burk.

**Burky** · 29 Mar 2006, 01:56 PM

Yeh, I just attacked a guard for that, so that included me running like crazy from 5 guards, so that should be about as intense as it gets I guess.

Good job on the purchase, but remember the rest of your system will make a difference too, as it seems when there was no action it was mostly gpu or cpu intensive.

Incidently, with just 1x7800GT the fps went from 40 to 30 outside, so it's not that big a deal having SLI for this game I don't think.

Thanks for the tweaks MechDeus.

**Diff-chan** · 29 Mar 2006, 01:58 PM

Yea I know, but it was a good price and I wanted 2 gigs from the start (but couldnt afford it - a faux pas, I know). But with my new monitor and that RAM my PC is just about where I want it to be. It seems that extra RAM helps keep the framerate more consistent, which is all I want really.

I read too the game has some issues with certain sound cards, so if anyone is having a problem with horrendous framerates or tons of crashes or whatever try turning off the sound to see if thats the case. There appears to be conflicts with Sound Blaster cards. Weird.