Game Won't Launch from Launcher

[Chupacaden]

I've uninstalled and redownloaded the game a few times since I've been trying to install to a new location (I've given up on that and now it's just installed to my Programs Files (x86) folder), but now it won't give me the option to launch the game any more even though I previously could. I can boot up the OblivionLauncher and it will give me the option to launch the game, but when I do that, it just takes me back to the original launcher. I've looked up solutions, and the main one that I've seen is to delete the Oblivion.ini file and relaunch Oblivion.exe application. But for whatever reason, I don't have that specific file installed. Are there any other solutions to this problem?

[Wai]

Try the following:-

Verified your game files? Right click on your game title in the library then select Properties, Installed Files, Verify. (Verifying can take a several minutes).

If verifying the files does not work, try this (it takes only a few minutes:-
Turn off Cloud storage if used.
Locate the Oblivion Documents folder.
Delete: BlendSettings, Oblivion and RendererInfo files from the Documents folder.
Start the game and save.
Exit.

(Note: The three files, BlendSettings, Oblivion and RendererInfo, auto regenerate if they are not found on start up, so deleting them can do no harm.)

You can now turn the cloud back on if you wish.
You will need to reset your screen resolution using the Option on the Launcher window.

This usually works for start up problems. No guarantee but is takes only minutes and it can do no harm.

[Chupacaden]

Originally posted by Wai:

Try the following:-

Verified your game files? Right click on your game title in the library then select Properties, Installed Files, Verify. (Verifying can take a several minutes).

If verifying the files does not work, try this (it takes only a few minutes:-
Turn off Cloud storage if used.
Locate the Oblivion Documents folder.
Delete: BlendSettings, Oblivion and RendererInfo files from the Documents folder.
Start the game and save.
Exit.

(Note: The three files, BlendSettings, Oblivion and RendererInfo, auto regenerate if they are not found on start up, so deleting them can do no harm.)

You can now turn the cloud back on if you wish.
You will need to reset your screen resolution using the Option on the Launcher window.

This usually works for start up problems. No guarantee but is takes only minutes and it can do no harm.

I tried both, but neither of them worked for me unfortunately. For the second solution, I deleted the 3 files, but I still wasn't giving the option to launch the game. I tried using the OblivionLauncher application to boot up, but it just took me back to the first launcher and all it regenerated was the "Oblivion" file.

When I looked in the Oblivion folder under Documents, there are 2 files named Oblivion.ini.baked and Oblivion.ini.base. Could I do something to those? Idk if that's useful info or not...

[cheshirm]

so everything worked until you tried to move the game.
did you use the builtin steam move?
or did you manually move it?

game is not that big. maybe start over.

uninstall the game via steam uninstall.

go to folder ...\steam\steamapps\common and delete the Oblivion folder

go to folder c:\users\yourWindowsLogin\appdata\local and delete the Oblivion folder

go to folder Documents\My Games\Oblivion and delete files BlendSettings.ini Oblivion.ini RendererInfo.txt

now all traces of Oblivion are gone except for your save files in folder
Documents\My Games\Oblivion\Saves

steam install the game. try game again.

if you right click on the game in your library then properties then manage files, there is a move install folder option.

[Chupacaden]

Originally posted by cheshirm:

so everything worked until you tried to move the game.
did you use the builtin steam move?
or did you manually move it?

game is not that big. maybe start over.

uninstall the game via steam uninstall.

go to folder ...\steam\steamapps\common and delete the Oblivion folder

go to folder c:\users\yourWindowsLogin\appdata\local and delete the Oblivion folder

go to folder Documents\My Games\Oblivion and delete files BlendSettings.ini Oblivion.ini RendererInfo.txt

now all traces of Oblivion are gone except for your save files in folder
Documents\My Games\Oblivion\Saves

steam install the game. try game again.

if you right click on the game in your library then properties then manage files, there is a move install folder option.

Actually, since I originally posted this, I've moved the installation location. So now it installs to C:\Games\Steam and not to the Programs Files (x86) folder. I did what you suggested and deleted everything relating to Oblivion, uninstalled and reinstalled, but no luck...

[lonetrav]

Please confirm that Steam cloud saving and cloud services like OneDrive are disabled, that you didn't change any settings and didn't edit a configuration file, and that you don't have any mods installed.

What exactly do you mean by "I can boot up the OblivionLauncher and it will give me the option to launch the game, but when I do that, it just takes me back to the original launcher"?
Do you double click OblivionLauncher.exe and get to a menu which gives you the options "Play", Data Files", ...? Do you click "Play"? And then? To which "original launcher" are you taken back? Precise descriptions of what you do and what you see are essential for understanding (or at least trying to understand) a problem for people who can't do and don't see anything on your PC.
If my interpretation is correct, you could try the oblivion.exe, too. It will likely lead to the same result, but why not give it a try?
And what happens when you click Data Files or one of the other options of this menu?

You might install the Unofficial Oblivion Patch and try again (at least it won't do any harm).
And verify your Oblivion installation in Steam occasionally. It will replace missing or corrupted files (there shouldn't be any, but you never now, and it doesn't take long).

[Chupacaden]

Originally posted by lonetrav:

Please confirm that Steam cloud saving and cloud services like OneDrive are disabled, that you didn't change any settings and didn't edit a configuration file, and that you don't have any mods installed.

What exactly do you mean by "I can boot up the OblivionLauncher and it will give me the option to launch the game, but when I do that, it just takes me back to the original launcher"?
Do you double click OblivionLauncher.exe and get to a menu which gives you the options "Play", Data Files", ...? Do you click "Play"? And then? To which "original launcher" are you taken back? Precise descriptions of what you do and what you see are essential for understanding (or at least trying to understand) a problem for people who can't do and don't see anything on your PC.
If my interpretation is correct, you could try the oblivion.exe, too. It will likely lead to the same result, but why not give it a try?
And what happens when you click Data Files or one of the other options of this menu?

You might install the Unofficial Oblivion Patch and try again (at least it won't do any harm).
And verify your Oblivion installation in Steam occasionally. It will replace missing or corrupted files (there shouldn't be any, but you never now, and it doesn't take long).

Just to clear up some some confusion: the applications that are in the main Oblivion folder is the Oblivion.exe application and the OblivionLauncher.exe application. When I double click OblivionLauncher.exe, it gives me the all the options of the normal launcher: Play, Data Files, Options, etc. But when I press Play, it takes me to the Oblivion.exe application with all the grayed out option and I'm not able to select any of the options other then exit and the link to the official website. I know this is the actual launcher since Steam says that the game is running.

I've tried launching the game directly through the Oblivion.exe, and yeah that hasn't worked for me either. Same with verifying the Oblivion installation, hasn't worked...

[cheshirm]

entries from ...\steam\logs\content_log.txt

I moved the game from C: to D: then ran the launcher then the game:

[2024-05-01 04:30:00] AppID 22330 moving from "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Oblivion" to "D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Oblivion"
[2024-05-01 04:32:24] AppID 22330 adding PID 8348 as a tracked process "D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Oblivion\OblivionLauncher.exe"
[2024-05-01 04:32:27] AppID 22330 adding PID 13140 as a tracked process "D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Oblivion\Oblivion.exe"

I moved the game from D: to C: then ran the launcher then the game:

[2024-05-01 04:33:42] AppID 22330 moving from "D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Oblivion" to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Oblivion"
[2024-05-01 04:35:33] AppID 22330 adding PID 24640 as a tracked process ""C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Oblivion\OblivionLauncher.exe""
[2024-05-01 04:35:35] AppID 22330 adding PID 11420 as a tracked process ""C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Oblivion\Oblivion.exe""

steam move install folder seems to work on my desktop/win11. perhaps it is not the move that is the problem.
check that file ...\steam\logs\content_log.txt - might be an error msg.
also check windows event viewer and windows reliability history.
check antivirus log.

[lonetrav]

Originally posted by Chupacaden:

Just to clear up some some confusion ...

Thanks. It's clearer now (although you didn't confirm any of the points I listed in my last post - any one of these points has the potential to cause problems).

When I run OblivionLauncher.exe, I see the "Play, Data Files, ..." menu, and I can select every option. When I run Oblivion.exe, exactly the same happens.
I don't know what "takes me to the Oblivion.exe application" means, but I suppose it's the menu where you can choose "New Load ...". Is this correct? If yes, there are at least 4 intro steps in between: A little black box, then the Bethesda screen, then a loading screen, and finally an Oblivion screen (which looks like an IV initially, and morphs into OBLIVION). Is this what you see, too?
I may be wrong though, because for me the link to Elderscrolls.com is on the "Play, Data Files, ..." menu, not on the "New Load ..." screen.
Please clarify.