The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Beta Patch Released

As promised, Bethesda Softworks has released a v1.1.425 beta patch for the PC version of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. The full patch notes:

Bethesda Softworks is happy to announce the release of our Beta Patch. Please understand that this is not the final version of the patch, this is a Beta Patch. If you are not experiencing any problems while running Oblivion, it is not recommended that you install this Beta Patch. If you do choose to install it, we strongly recommend you backup your save games and understand it may be necessary to re-install the game when the final patch is released. When installing the Beta Patch, please allow the installation to complete naturally. This installation may take up to twenty minutes in some cases.

Additionally, you may experience issues with this patch. Please report any issues you experience with this patch at www.elderscrolls.com/forums under Hardware and Software Issues — specify you are running with the BETA patch. We are working diligently to incorporate as many updates as possible into the final version of the patch. The purpose of this patch is simply to get potential fixes to the Oblivion fan base as soon as possible. The Beta patch includes fixes for a number of issues posted on our forums as well as issues noticed through our own internal game-play. An official patch will be released when we have received enough feedback on the beta patch, incorporated any other fixes, and are satisfied that it meets our quality standards.

1. Known Issues and Troubleshooting

Installation Issue

If you repeatedly uninstall and re-install Oblivion, certain systems will display an error message if you try to uninstall Oblivion again. To fix this, put your Oblivion disk in and run setup.exe. This will clear up the error and you can uninstall and reinstall the game.

Saved Games

Your saved games are located in your My DocumentsMy GamesOblivion directory.

Prior to Installing the Game

Before attempting to install Oblivion, please verify that your computer meets system requirements.

We also recommend that you prepare your hard drive for installation by running ScanDisk and Disk Defragmenter prior to installation. These utilities are part of Windows® and can identify and resolve problems with your disk drive which could hinder installation and/or playing of the game.

To launch these programs and optimize your hard disk drive:

1. Open “My Computer”.
2. Right-click the disk drive you wish to install the game onto (usually C:).
3. Click on “Properties”.
4. Select the “Tools” tab.
5. Click “Check Now” to launch Scandisk.
6. When Scandisk has completed, follow steps 1-3 and click “Defragment Now” to launch Disk Defragmenter.

Note that defragmenting your disk drive can take a long time. It’s a good idea to start disk defragmenter and let it run overnight.

ATI Crossfire

Performance on systems using ATI Crossfire will be reduced until ATI releases an updated driver with Oblivion listed as a Crossfire Compatible game.

Error messages when launching Oblivion

This will appear as a missing dll error similar to “d3dx9_27.dll not found.”

This can be corrected by Exploring the Oblivion DVD. On the disk there is a folder named DXREDIST. Open the folder and run the DXSETUP.exe. This will install the version of DirectX required to run Oblivion.

Unable to make new saves

If the Tab key is pressed while entering a name during character creation, a problem may occur when the game goes to write a save to the save location. This is because the name of the character is included in the name of the save file used in Windows. This is most commonly a result of attempting to Alt-Tab out of the application during name entry. If this occurs, autosaves and quicksaves will continue to function correctly, but saves made through the menu will not. The issue will be fixed if the Tab is deleted when renaming the character before exiting the sewer at the end of the character generation.

The following may also be of assistance if the character has progressed beyond character generation:

The player name can be changed through the console by pressing the ` (tilde) key, and entering thefollowing: player.SetActorFullName “Player Name” (where Player Name = the name of the character). Press RETURN, and then exit the console by pressing the tilde again.

Also, saves can be made through the console by pressing the ` (tilde) key, and entering the following: save filename (where filename = the name of the save that you would like to make). Press RETURN, and then exit the console by pressing the tilde again.

Input Problems

Keyboard input problems could be the result of a control peripheral. Editting the Oblivion.ini may correct this issue. The Oblivion.ini file is located in the My DocumentsMy GamesOblivion directory. In the [Controls]section, change the “bUse Joystick=1” setting to “bUse Joystick=0” or simply disconnect the peripheral. Make sure the settings are saved. Note, changes to the Oblivion.ini file will not be saved if Oblivion in running when the changes are made.

Frequent Crashing possibly due to old system file

Some users may experience frequent crashing due to an older system file. These crashes may be attributed tothe ‘mpeg2dmx.ax’ file. Simply renaming the file to “mpeg2dmx.ax.old” may correct this issue.

Frequent Crashing possibly due to connected HP printer

A program related to HP printers may cause Oblivion to crash. Before running Oblivion: Press Ctr-Alt-Del to bring up the task manager. Go to the Processes Tab. Right click on any process starting with the letters HP and select End. Running Oblivion at this point may have this issue corrected. Note: The PC will need to be restarted to reinitialize printing or imaging.

“FF” icons in the system tray

Some users have reported having numerous “FF” icons in their taskbar during or after playing Oblivion. Theseicons are from a seperate video/audio decoder you may have installed in the past called “FFDShow.” This program is processing the sound files for Oblivion, which some users have reported slows down the game, and can leave the icons in their system tray. Simply moving the mouse over those icons will get rid of them after you stop playing Oblivion. Uninstalling FFDShow can fix this, but it is NOT necessary. You can follow the steps below to tell FFDShow not to handle sound for Oblivion.

Instructions for disabling the FFDShow for Oblivion without fully removing it:

1. Click Start
2. Click “All Programs” (or just Programs, depending on the version of Windows, whether they’re using”classic,” etc.)
3. Go to the ffdshow folder.
4. Click “Audio decoder configuration.”
5. In the left hand pane, click “Info & debug.” This is the second entry in the list.
6. In the right hand pane, near the bottom, find a check box labelled “Don’t use ffdshow in:”
7. Check that box, and in the text box underneath (it lights up when you check the check box), add”oblivion.exe” (don’t include the quotes). If there is already something in that box, put a semi-colon ( ; ) after what’s already there, and oblivion.exe after that. Do NOT use spaces, since ffdshow will think that’s part of the filename. A valid entry would be “explorer.exe;oblivion.exe” (without quotes).
8. Finally, click “Ok” and start Oblivion.

Game Pad Functionality
Although the PC version of Oblivion handles best when played with a keyboard and mouse, it is possible to play the game with an assortment of game pads as well. Due to the variance in these game pads, it may be necessary to make a few changes to the Oblivion.ini file located in My DocumentsMy GamesOblivion. Below is a list of the settings that can be changed to make a Xbox 360 controller attached to a PC, function better with Oblivion. It should be noted however, that because the PC version of the game was optimized to play with a keyboard and mouse, the experience will NOT be the same, as using a 360 controller on the Xbox 360 version of the game. Additionally, these settings can be applied to other game pads, but the values represented may need to be tweaked further. Finally, the mapping of the buttons will need to be determined when entering the game, and can be changed in Options – Controls, from the Main Menu – Do NOT map the directional controls (Forward, Backward, Left, Right), as this will overwrite certain changes made in the Oblivion.ini file.

These are the default settings in the Oblivion.ini:
;X = 1, Y = 2, Z = 3, XRot = 4, YRot = 5, ZRot = 6

iJoystickMoveFrontBack=2
iJoystickMoveLeftRight=1
fJoystickMoveFBMult=1.0000
fJoystickMoveLRMult=1.0000
iJoystickLookUpDown=6
iJoystickLookLeftRight=3
fJoystickLookUDMult=0.0020
fJoystickLookLRMult=0.0020

Change to these values to get better functionality from a 360 game pad connected to a PC.
;X = 1, Y = 2, Z = 3, XRot = 4, YRot = 5, ZRot = 6

iJoystickMoveFrontBack=2
iJoystickMoveLeftRight=1
fJoystickMoveFBMult=2.0000
fJoystickMoveLRMult=2.0000
iJoystickLookUpDown=5
iJoystickLookLeftRight=4
fJoystickLookUDMult=0.7500
fJoystickLookLRMult=0.7500

Make sure the settings are saved. Note, changes to the Oblivion.ini file will not be saved if Oblivion is running when the changes are made.

Updated Oblivion Launcher

The updated launcher now includes options for changing your auto detect settings for Video Quality. The presents are Ultra Low Quality, Very Low, Low, Medium, High and Ultra High. If you select Reset to Defaults, it will restart the auto detect and offer the best settings for your system.

2. Manual Errata and Addendum

New Quick Keys

Press F1 – F4 to access your Journal and Stats menu

F1 – Stats
F2 – Inventory Menu
F3 – Magic Menu
F4 – Maps and Quests

Page 20

states the Governing Attribute for Block is Agility. It should be Endurance.

3. Performance Tuning

There are several things you can do to increase game performance.

• Make sure you have no other programs running in the background.
• Lower the game resolution. The game runs faster at 640×480 and 800×600.
• Go to your Options menu and select Video. ry the following options to improve performance:
  • Set View Distance as low as possible. Your framerate and load times will improve but you will not be able to view as far.
  • Set Tree, Actor, Item and Object Fade as low as possible. This will cause certain objects in the world to fade away sooner. This will increase your framerate but degrade visual quality.
  • Set Texture Size to Medium or Small. Textures on objects will not appear as sharp when this setting is reduced. This will increase your framerate but degrade visual quality.
  • Set Grass slider as low as possible. This will cause less grass to be displayed around your character. This will increase your framerate but you will see less grass displayed.
  • Set Distant LOD to OFF. This will reduce your view distance, but your framerate and load times will improve.
  • Set Distant Buildings to OFF. You will not see cities or the Imperial City in the distant landscape but your framerate and load times will improve.
  • Set Distant Trees to OFF. You will not see trees in the distant landscape but your framerate and load times will improve.
  • Set Interior Shadows as low as possible. This will decrease the number of characters that cast shadows while you are in interiors, improving your framerate.
  • Set Exterior Shadows as low as possible. This will decrease the number of characters that cast shadows while you are in exteriors, improving your framerate.
  • Set Self Shadows to OFF. The Player and other characters will no longer cast shadows on themselves, but will still cast shadows on the environment. This will improve your framerate.
  • Set Grass Shadows to OFF. Shadows will no longer display on grass. This will improve your framerate.
  • Set Tree Canopy Shadows to OFF. The forests will no longer cast shadows on the landscape, improving your framerate.
  • Set Shadow Filtering as low as possible or off. This will reduce the amount of softening the shadows receive, but increase framerate.
  • Set Specular Light as low as possible. This will cause objects to lose their shininess at lower distances, improving your framerate.
  • Set HDR Lighting to OFF. This will increase your framerate but degrade visual quality.
  • Use Bloom lighting instead of HDR, or turn Bloom off. Bloom is a less intensive version of HDR. Turning it off will improve framerate but degrade visual quality.
  • Make sure Water Detail is set to Normal. High detail water will decrease your framerate.
  • Set Water Reflections and Ripples to OFF. This will increase your framerate while you are near water, but the water will not show reflections or react to objects interacting with it.
  • Set Window Reflections to Off. This will remove the subtle reflections from windows but improve framerate.
  • Set Blood Decals to Medium or Low. At Medium, decals do not get applied to characters, only landscape. At Low, no decals get applied at all. These will increase your framerate in combat situations.
  • Turn anti-aliasing down or off. This will degrade overall visual quality but improve your framerate.
  • Turn off music. The music is mp3 format and can slow the game down.

4. System Requirements

Minimum System Requirements:

• Windows XP
• 512MB System RAM
• 2 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
• 8x DVD-ROM Drive
• 4.6 GB free hard disk space
• DirectX 9.0c (included)
• 128MB Direct3D Compatible Video card and DirectX 9.0 compatible driver
• DirectX 8.1 Compatible Sound Card
• Keyboard, Mouse

Recommended System Requirements:

• 3.0 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
• 1 GB System RAM
• ATI X800 series, Nvidia GeForce 6800 series, or higher video card

Supported Video Card Chipsets:

• ATI X1900 series
• ATI X1800 series
• ATI X1600 series
• ATI X1300 series
• ATI X850 series
• ATI x800 series
• ATI x700 series
• ATI x600 series
• ATI Radeon 9800 series
• ATI Radeon 9700 series
• ATI Radeon 9600 series
• ATI Radeon 9500 series
• NVIDIA Geforce 7800 series
• NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series
• NVIDIA GeForce 6600 series
• NVIDIA GeForce 6200 series
• NVIDIA GeForce FX series

VIDEO

Regardless of your video card, make sure to download the latest drivers from your manufacturer.

INPUT

ALT+TAB may cause some game instability with some hardware configurations and is not advised.

5. Update 1.1 Notes

Bug Fixes

Fixed an issue with falling through collision in Fort Wooden Hand.

Fixed issue with remapping controls in French, German, Italian and Spanish versions.

Fixed issue with crashes on exit.

Fixed issue with some shadows not lining up.

Going to jail while equipped with bound armor or weapons no longer crashes the game.

Fixed issue with bound weapons not dispelling properly after dismounting a horse.

Fixed issue with player shadow being delayed after fast travel.

Fixed infinite gold issue on some dead NPCs.

Fixed issue with disease resistences that made it impossible to contract vampirism under certain circumstances.

Fixed an issue where occasionally skills would not increase properly after you received an increase in a way other than skill uses like as a quest reward.

Fixed issue where spells, powers and lesser powers were being improperly resisted when the player cast them on themselves.

Fixed an issue where creatures and NPCs would not go into combat properly after being hit by a projectile.

Fixed an issue with duplicating items and unequiping the bow.

Fixed an exploit that allowed you to sell equipped items to a vendor more than once while on a horse.

Fixed an issue with items reappearing in dead bodies after saving and reloading.

Fixed crash when NPC with active light spell on them unloaded from memory.

New Ultra Low Quality graphic setting available under Launcher options with improved support for low end FX cards (5700 and lower). To use this setting, go to the Launcher, select Options and click Reset to Defaults to allow the auto detect to check your system.

Implemented SLI-mode optimizations on Nvidia cards, and Crossfire optimizations for ATI cards.

Quest Fixes

If you are permanently expelled from Mages Guild, you can now go back into the Mages Guild buildings.

In The Siren’s Deception, the player can no longer get locked outside Gweden farmhouse if they exit too quickly.

In the Light the Dragonfires quest, fixed an issue where player controls get locked if player accidentally hits Ocato during the final battle in the Imperial Palace.

In the Confront the King quest, fixed an issue where Mannimarco would occasionally stop fighting the player while the player’s controls are locked.

In Corruption and Conscience, fixed an issue if player got to Llevana’s house earlier than expected and she would initiate trespass behavior rather than move the quest forward.

In Theranis’ Mistake, it is no longer possible to get multiple copies of Ahdarji’s ring. Also, fixed an issue with player receiving Blood Price topic too early in the quest.

In the Leyawiin Recommendation quest, it is no longer possible to bypass Kalthar in Fort Blueblood.

In Revenge Served Cold, Corrick will now recognize when player had the jade amulet in their inventory if No Stone Unturned quest had been previously completed.

In Infiltration, player can no longer kill Blackwood Company members and stop progress in Fighter’s Guild.

In Dark Brotherhood, if you kill fellow members and get kicked out of the guild, you can no longer continue to progress in the questline until you redeem yourself and get back in.

In The Master’s Son, the player now properly receives their reward when completing the quest.

In Caught in the Hunt, fixed an issue where NPCs would not go into combat properly.

In the Cheydinhal Recommendation quest, fixed an issue where Vidkun’s body would disappear if you left the well.

Getting disqualified from the first Arena match no longer blocks you from further matches.

In Till Death Do They Part, the Count no longer rewards player with gold more than once. Fixed an issue with not receiving the Vampire Ashes topic if the player picked up vampire ashes before getting the quest. Fixed issue where Bloodgrass topic was not added if player finished the Main Quest before starting quest. Hal-Liurz will now follow player properly when asked about the cure.

In Mystery and Harlun’s Watch, the dead body you are supposed to find will no longer disappear from Swampy Cave if you cleared out the dungeon before starting the quest.

In Blood of the Daedra, Martin will now recognize Spellbreaker as a Daedric artifact.

In When the Vow Breaks, fixed an issue where a second instance of Rockshatter would reappear back on Bjalfi’s dead corpse after saving and reloading.

In Paranoia, game no longer crashes when Bernadette Peneles exits the city while you are following her.

Plugin Fixes

Fixed issue with saving your game while an actor is in a new interior cell created in a plugin, and re-loading the save game without the plugin.

Fixed issue with loading previous saves with plugin that contains new base objects that are containers, NPCs and creatures.

Fixed issue with linked pathpoints scripted to switch on/off that are modified by a plugin.

NPC’s companions no longer disappear when they fast travel with player to an exterior cell that is modified by a plugin.

New scripted spell effects created in a plugin now work properly.