HELP. I want to play Oblivion!

[POCKET SAND]

So I just bought Oblivion for the FIRST TIME..... I waited one hour for it to download, and then whenever it was downloaded, I opened it up, so excited to play it, and I hit play.... It goes windowed into the top left part of my screen, then the little windowed box closes, disappears, and nothing happens. Then I get a little thing that flies up and tells me that Oblivion crashed.

I don't understand, because I can play Skyrim perfectly fine, even with mods! .... WHY.... WHY BETHESDA WHYYYYY.............

Does ANYONE have a fix for this?
I JUST installed this game, I don't think reinstalling would work.... but... idk. I'm not a professional

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

You should try updating DirectX and find out what other programs might be needed for Oblivion. Things like Windows .net or a specific version of visual c++ if nessesary.

If you are using Windows 10 you may need to set admin rights and mess with compatibility settings.

[POCKET SAND]

Originally posted by Omgwtfbbqkitten:

You should try updating DirectX and find out what other programs might be needed for Oblivion. Things like Windows .net or a specific version of visual c++ if nessesary.

If you are using Windows 10 you may need to set admin rights and mess with compatibility settings.

Okay so here's what I've tried so far;

- Valadating the files
- Running as an administrator

Then I seen this comment on a youtube video while looking things up;

"go to install folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\oblivion

open Oblivion_default.ini

edit the following lines....

bUse Joystick=0
bDSoundHWAcceleration=0
bMusicEnabled=0
bSoundEnabled=0

......

delete oblivion.ini from "C:\Users\username\Documents\My Games\oblivion"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nothing has worked.
I need to change all the stuff I just messed with back to normal, so I uninstalled the game, and re-installed it.... I needed to try that anyways, soooo.... killing two birds with one stone

[valt123]

try going to \SteamApps\common\Oblivion\directx and click DXSETUP.exe

[Oakrose]

Same issue here, I have already reinstalled the game, restarted my computer, restarted steam, reinstalled DirectX from the DXSETUP.exe, tried running in compatibility mode with vista and xp and as an administrator... Nothing has helped

I have recently bought the game as the GOTY Deluxe edition in the winter sale

Also, my game and Steam are installed on a folder other than program files(x86). I have created C:\Games\Steam following modders' tips (because i play heavily modded Skyrim)

Finally, none of my other games experience this. It's unique to Oblivion

[Oakrose]

--Fix for me--

If you're having the same problem (launcher window blimps and disappears), try ending all online transaction security program processes. In my case, it was Gas Core.exe that was blocking me.

To do this, open Task Manager, go to Details, look for any applications that your bank uses and end that process. The launcher will work normally

PS: I'm brazillian and some other brazillian guy was having the same problem, and he fixed it this way. Maybe it's the way these kinds of programs need to operate here.
Anyway, his program was different, the only similarity was that they were both security programs

Also, the service restarts automatically like 5seconds after you close it, but is has no impact on the game, only the launcher

Hope this helps future players

[reverendsholiday]

Strange, so many are having problems with Oblivion launch. I play the game for days with no problem then get "failure to lauch error code 80" after multiple trys, I give up and 24hrs later it launches fine for hours of play and then a few days later it will give me same error code. I am an advid player but know nothing of deleting files without losing all my game progress. Hope someone can guide me.

[Goblin]

I HAD YOUR PROBLEM and I 'fixed' it by playing the game windowed insteead of full screen, now it is so smooth.
But before that I had tried everything

[POCKET SAND]

Originally posted by valt123:

try going to \SteamApps\common\Oblivion\directx and click DXSETUP.exe

I'm going to try this.

Originally posted by JoeMorais:

--Fix for me--

If you're having the same problem (launcher window blimps and disappears), try ending all online transaction security program processes. In my case, it was Gas Core.exe that was blocking me.

To do this, open Task Manager, go to Details, look for any applications that your bank uses and end that process. The launcher will work normally

PS: I'm brazillian and some other brazillian guy was having the same problem, and he fixed it this way. Maybe it's the way these kinds of programs need to operate here.
Anyway, his program was different, the only similarity was that they were both security programs

Also, the service restarts automatically like 5seconds after you close it, but is has no impact on the game, only the launcher

Hope this helps future players

I'm also going to try this!

I unfortunately uninstalled Oblivion this morning because of some very bad issues with my computer and internet, which never seems to happen, but for some reason was happening today. So I uninstalled it since I apparently wasn't going to be playing it. Now I'm reinstalling it, and I hope that I am able to play it.

P.S. I have tried it in windowed mode, and nothing works.

[SnickerToodles]

Ehh, I don't wanna be a jerk... But have you closed and reopened Steam? I know a lot of people leave their computers on and Steam open 100% of the time, so it may not occur to you.

Oblivion will often crash when I launch it throwing off a weird error or simply not launching. Close and reopen Steam... and I'm golden.

[POCKET SAND]

Originally posted by SnickerToodles:

Ehh, I don't wanna be a jerk... But have you closed and reopened Steam? I know a lot of people leave their computers on and Steam open 100% of the time, so it may not occur to you.

Oblivion will often crash when I launch it throwing off a weird error or simply not launching. Close and reopen Steam... and I'm golden.

Do you know how many times I've closed steam, restarted my PC, and validated the files?
...a lot.

.......a hell of a lot.

[Met A Demon Once]

I have played Oblivion on GOG and Steam without problem though the Steam version I haven't played much. I use a 1.5 year old Windows 10 computer that was designed for Windows 10 at the get go.

[Met A Demon Once]

Something to keep in mind.

Restart (Hot Restart) is not the same as Shut Down and Power Up (Cold Restart). You can get different results depending on which you do. A Cold Restart ensures that you are really bringing up any changes. That does not happen all the time when you do a Hot Restart.

[POCKET SAND]

Originally posted by Met A Demon Once:

Something to keep in mind.

Restart (Hot Restart) is not the same as Shut Down and Power Up (Cold Restart). You can get different results depending on which you do. A Cold Restart ensures that you are really bringing up any changes. That does not happen all the time when you do a Hot Restart.

I got Oblivion to work! All I did was uninstall it, and wait a day, then reinstalled it, and it worked somehow!!
The only thing is; I just don't have any sound. Zero. At all. I actually get sound while I'm on the game launcher screen, but I don't have any when I actually start the game.

[SnickerToodles]

Originally posted by CJ:

Do you know how many times I've closed steam, restarted my PC, and validated the files?
...a lot.

.......a hell of a lot.

Sorry, I only skimmed your other posts and it looked like you didn't mention it. This is how I always fix my similar issue every time, so I figured it was worth a shot.


The lack of sound could be due to bad audio codecs. I can confirm that DivX conflicts with Oblivion, though in my case it just caused a notable lag when the music switched. Still, uninstall any DivX applications you have.

http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Technical_Support#Sound_Problems

Some other fixes:
-...Make sure your computer isn't muted, and the sound sliders aren't all the way left. (Sorry, it's gotta be said.)
-Try switching from speakers to headphones/earbuds and vice versa
-Check the .ini for bSoundEnabled=1 (and bMusicEnabled)
-Set bDSoundHWAcceleration to 0
-Delete the entire ini file so it will be regenerated on launch
-Extract the .bsa containing voice, sound, and music to the data folder.
-Kinda silly and obvious, but don't plug your headphones in after the game launches. There won't be sound.
-Update your sound card or buy a new one
-Update your audio drivers

"You could try letting Oblivion re-detect your hardware. Rename your Oblivion.ini file to Oblivionini.old (Oblivion.ini is found in Users\[username]\Documents\My Games\Oblivion for Win 7 and Vista or Documents and Settings\[username]\My Documents\My Games\Oblivion for Win XP NOT the file Oblivion_default.ini found in your game's install directory). Start the game as far as the menu and then exit to the desktop. You may need to reset some of your video settings afterwards."

That's about all I can find. Do you have another computer to test on?

[ᵉʳᵍᵒ]

OP's problem was already solved. He should delete this thread.