The Elder Scrolls IV - Oblivion

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1 Game Info

Game Info

Game version	1.2.0416 (latest version)
Installer	Works, no known problems (though a bit slow)
Game	Works with Cedega 6.0. Older Cedega requires "Oldblivion" (see below)
Patch	1.2.0416
Download patch	Official
Demo works	No known demo
Requires no-cd patch	No
Multiplayer works	No multiplayer
Works with Cedega version(s)	6.0 (best), 5.2.4 5.2.3, 5.2
Tested with Cedega version(s)	6.0.3, 5.2.9, 5.2.5, 5.2.4, 5.2.3, 5.2, 5.1.1
Supported by TransGaming	Yes
URLs	Official Website Oldblivion - adds supports for older video cards to Oblivion

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Officially Supported

This game is officially supported in Cedega 6.0. The sections below discuss making the game work with Cedega version < 6.0.

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Shivering Isles Expansion

For information on installing and running the Shivering Isles Expansion, see this thread on the official Cedega forums

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Oldblivion

Oldblivion is required due to Cedega version < 6.0 lack of Pixel Shaders 2.0. The good news is this seems to make many older cards work with Oblivion. You can get it from http://www.oldblivion.com/. The installer is the recommended way of installing Oldblivion, as it will make sure to install everything in the proper place.

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Step-by-step instructions

I got it to run on my system (AMD dual core 4800, SuSE 10.1/x86_64, 2Gb RAM, Nvidia AGP 6800 256Mb, Cedega 5.2.3) by doing the following:

Install the game. I accepted the default directory. Some have reported loooong install times. Running the installer in Win2K mode solved this for me. XP would probably work too.
Install the patch (Oblivion_v1.1FinalEnglish.exe for North American users)[1]. Again, run this in Win2K mode.
- Install Oblivion_v1.1UKEnglish.exe if you have a UK version of the game, for instance from play.com.
Get oldblivion_0.11t7 [2]. Uncompress it and copy the entire directory to your .cedega/oblivion/c_drive/Program Files/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/ directory. Note: Do not use the Oldblivion installer, as it is likely to corrupt your registry, rendering Oblivion unable to launch.
Optionally, get the no-DVD patch from Gamecopyworld[3]. Look for a file named tes4-dtn. Instructions for it are included with the file.
Go into the properties of the Oblivion object in the righthand pane of Point To Play and change the executable from Oblivion.exe to oldblivion.exe in the subdirectory it's located in (.cedega/oblivion/c_drive/Program Files/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/oldblivion_0.11t7/oldblivion.exe). Change the mode to Win2K or XP if it isn't that already.
Make sure X is set to 32-bit color depth. 24-bit would not work for me. Create a shortcut to .cedega/oblivion/c_drive/Program Files/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion/OblivionLauncher.exe. Run it and initially select "low" or "lowest" graphics settings. You will probably want to set the game resolution to the same as your desktop, but experiment with the settings until you find the best compromise between graphics and framerate. I get about 22 fps running at 1280 x 1024. Not great by any stretch, but playable.
Turning off grass effects will greatly improve framerates in outdoor settings. Backup and then edit .cedega/oblivion/c_drive/My Documents/My Games/Oblivion/Oblivion.ini. Look for a setting called bDoTallGrassEffect=1 and change the value to 0. During the game access the "video" settings; move the Grass Distance slider all the way to zero.
The intro movies when the game first starts can't be escaped from; look in the same file for a setting called SIntroSequence= and delete the *.bik entries after the equal sign.
The game seems to run fine for me in windowed mode. YMMV.

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Issues

For best performance you may with to reduce the detail settings by running the Oblivion launcher and selecting the lowest detail settings. Please visit the TransGaming Oblivion forum for other tweaking tips to get optimal performance under Cedega. The Elder Scrolls Wiki is a very good resource too. [4]
Fixed programs should be disabled to avoid crashes in certain areas.
ATI users should disable ARB_VBO to ensure the HUD appears correctly.
Due to driver issues some colours may appear incorrectly on ATI cards.
Recently, it seems alot of people are reporting Registry Problems after running oldblivion setup a few time, or even once. While it's not clear what exactly the problem is, you should backup your system.reg file in your ~/.cedega directory so you can later restore a working copy if you need to.
If the game doesn't work, you should try to use Cedega 5.2.4, newer versions of Cedega seem to have problems.
Unable to get working with direct2drive. Although, it does install.

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