Oblivion: GOTY edition character creation screen is black. - Technical Support Oblivion (2023)

LenaLain54652

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Edited by LenaLain54652 Jan 14, 2014 - 1:02 am.

Atacante879

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(Video) OBLIVION: How to Fix Blank Screen
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Vanilla game with absolutely no mods or plugins run?

LenaLain54652

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Edited by LenaLain54652 Jan 14, 2014 - 2:16 am.

Atacante879

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Rule #1 is to always make the base game work. Go through the tutorial dungeon and save before exiting the sewers, before the character finish menu (when you see the sewer exit in the distance). This save will be used in the future if you want to start a new character but don't want to redo the tutorial. Exit the tutorial sewer and make another save (never overwriting any previous saves... not a good habit). This save will be your mod test save. Then head to the Imperial City Market District during the day and check out how the game works. This will be your baseline for the game's performance on your hardware. Then start adding mods one at a time and use the external sewer save to test each one. When you add a mod that causes problems, it will be child's play to figure out where to start troubleshooting. When you add 20 or 30 mods at once you will eventually break the game, and good luck figuring out where to start to keep it intact.

Rule #2 is never install the game to the default location C:\Program Files or C:\Program Files (x86) if you are using Vista, Win 7 or Win 8. You will spend more time trying to figure out if you have installed something wrong or if it isUACinterfere with what you will play when you start adding mods.

It seems to me that you have already started a rather complicated installation situation. If you want to start from scratch you can use Bben46'sOblivion reinstallation procedureto make things right. Don't miss the link at the top of the page on how to move your Steam install location if you use the Steam version of the game, and don't skip the registry cleaning step... especially in your situation, it's important.

LenaLain54652

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okay, sounds like a good way to do this. i'm just going to turn off all the plugins and then i'm going to delete the other folder for my mods i'm going to redirect NMM to load from the forget folder in the other folder because i reinstalled the game but not in C: program files or C: program files (x86 ) and it's not a Steam game, I have it in physical CD format. I'll let you know if everything goes well.

Atacante879

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The other piece of advice I can give is that the Nexus Mod Manager (NMM) is not the most reliable tool for installing Oblivion mods. Will work fine for most simple to install mods as long as they are packaged in "default" file and folder format, but most older mods that have different options to choose from will rarely work properly (the mod's description will usually recommend Oblivion Mod Manager (OBMM).) or manual install on older mods). I guess you could say, rule #3 is to read the mod install instructions and if you're set on trying NMM, be prepared for some failures ( unless those instructions say "Using NMM, install this mod...").

Edited by Striker879 Jan 14, 2014 - 2:37am.

LenaLain54652

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ok so i uninstalled the game and cleaned my registry and everything. I think I missed a few steps. I'm too tired, it took me almost all night just to do this. I think I'll make a copy of the game files folder and paste it somewhere else. and then delete the old mods so the game can run smoothly.

Atacante879

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You can't just copy and paste game folders and expect it to run. Yes, you can backup your data folder and use that backup as a guide and reinstall your mods, or if there aren't too many conflicting mods in your backup data folder, you can replace your new install's data folder with your own. backup . In order for the game to run, it needs registry entries that the game creates when you install it using setup.exe from disk (autorun launches setup.exe). This is also why you need to properly uninstall the game before trying to reinstall it (all steps in the bben46 guide are required).

LenaLain54652

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oooooooooooooh! bem, eu fiz isso

i use setup.exe and it worked fine normally with no mods attached

I should clear the mods data and pick just a few to start with and redownload the ones I need later.@_____@

Atacante879

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By vanilla game with no mods installed, I mean no mods in the Game Data folder. The reason is that even if a mod is not marked active, the game still reads everything in its Data folder when it starts. Of course it will not load an inactive mod into memory, but all meshes and textures that may have been included in that inactive modto doget loaded. Troubleshooting is starting from a known position and figuring out a way out.

If the vanilla game runs, go through the tutorial dungeon. In the last part (where you can see the sewer exit in the distance for the first time), save. This save will occur right before you get the character finisher menus and is useful if you want to create a new character and don't want to redo the tutorial. So, after going through the character ending, exit the sewer. Make another save in a new save slot (overwriting saves is never a good idea). This save will be the one you will use for testing mods, but before adding any mods you need to make sure the game will run perfectly. After exiting the sewer, the game's engine begins to strain your machine much more than it did in the tutorial. All trees, grass and distant scenery will show you if you need to adjust any graphics settings. Then head to the Imperial City Market District during the day when it's bustling. All NPCs and their AI packs will tax your CPU and show any issues there. Now you can exit the game (no need to save) and start adding mods.

Start with mods that are relatively simple to install, preferably ones that have clear mod installation instructions in the mod description and/or readme. Get into the habit of reading at least part of the mod's comments for the types of issues other users have reported. Eventually you will understand more and have a good idea if a mod author has created a quality product and understands how it works.

Until you're a grizzled, experienced modder, add a single mod at a time and test thoroughly between them. For the first group, you'll probably use this outside of the sewer exit "mod test" save, but eventually you'll want to venture farther out and start completing quests. There's no reason to always go back to mod testing save every time to test a mod. You can add a mod and continue where you left off. If you run into a mod that's causing you trouble, you can try loading the mod's test save, but chances are that this will still cause you pain (the longer your mod list is, the more likely you'll find yourself run into a mod conflict, and even then first save will be affected by your current loadlist).

I use a utility calledMultiple Forget Manager (MOM)to manage multiple characters, as well as some test profiles. If you installed MOM before adding any mods (first thing after exiting the sewer and saving it out of the sewer), in the future if you have trouble running a mod you can switch profiles to that save profile from clean load order out of the sewers and test the problematic mod on your clean install. You can have as many profiles as you have space on your hard disk and switching between them is extremely simple.