A simple guide to optimizing Oblivion


Recommended Posts

A SIMPLE GUIDE TO OPTIMIZING PERFORMANCE FOR THE ELDER SCROLLS IV: OBLIVION

Last update: September 20, 2007

The following advice are presented in order of relevance. So, 1 is more important than 2, etc.

1. WINDOWS OPTIMIZATION

First thing you should do is to follow this guide to Optimizing XP. I have seen dozens of guide to pseudo-optimizations and most of them are inefficient. This guide only presents meaningful, efficient little things you can do that can drastically optimize the performance of your PC. This will have a major effect on basically everything you do with your computer.

2. VIDEO CARD OVERCLOCKING

Secondly, you should consider overclocking your video card. Depending on the video card you use, this can reap good benefits or not. Some cards are notably good overclockers, like the 7900GS, or X850Pro, while some can't achieve much, like my actual X800XL.

For ATI cards, a nice overclocking utility is ATI Tray Tools. It'll make your life so much easier. ATI Tray Tools.

For NVidia cards, Rivatuner has the best reputation, although I don't currently own an nVidia card and didn't get the occasion to test it.

Both are easy and intuitive to use, but you should always be very careful about overclocking, and take the time to read a comprehensive guide such as this one.

3. OBLIVION TWEAKS

Then, there is some tweaking we can do in Oblivion.

a) Oblivion launcher options and in-game video options:

I'll leave some up to your experimenting, since all pcs are different. However, in order to optimize your framerate, try changing your options according to the list provided here, one at a time, until you find a comfortable setting.

1. VSync OFF. VSync reduces image tearing, but this is generally a secondary concern. It can have drastic consequences on framerate.

2. Water quality on NORMAL. It is hard to see any difference between normal and high water rendering, except in the framerate.

3. Resolution: between 1280x1024 and 800x600. Middle-range cards and lower have a really hard time with high resolutions. This can absolutely kill your performance. With a little antialiasing, a lower resolution can be just as good and with a major boost in framerate.

4. Textures on MEDIUM. This is advised on all video cards 256 MB or less. It was often pointed out that playing Oblivion for a long time with high textures is overkill for 256MB video cards. Medium textures look just as good as long as you're not looking up too close.

5. Anti-aliasing 4X, 2X or OFF. Above 4X, Antialiasing does nothing except slowing down your computer. At 2X, it's already a major improvement over none, and most video cards can do this almost "for free" (with no framerate hit). Of course, if you really have low-end hardware, then turning it off altogether will improve performance even more, although at a significant quality hit.

6. Very little or no grass. Even on high-end video cards like the X1950XT, Oblivion's default grass is an fps killer. However, there are ways to optimize its rendering, as we will discuss below. So before you reduce your grass, try the other options at the end of this guide.

7. Shadows on self/Shadows on grass/Tree canopy shadows/Ext Shadows/Int shadows OFF. Shadows are easy to ignore and are often a major fps killer.

8. Specular distance at 40% or lower. I did some testing and specular lightning doesn't seem to change much, except making shiny surfaces somehow even more shiny. For the fps cost, it's not necessarly worth it.

9. Blood decals on LOW or OFF. Minor detail that can slow you down even more in combat.

10. Window reflections OFF. All kinds of reflections involve rendering stuff twice, which is always taxing on the video card.

b) Oblivion.ini

This file is NOT located in your Program Files/Oblivion directory but rather in My Documents/My Games/oblivion.ini. Double-click on it and then find and edit the following lines. As the oblivion.ini is a long text file, CTRL-F is your friend.

bUse Joystick=0 (leave to 1 if you are actually using a joystick)

bUseRefractionShader=0 (especially true on low-end ATI cards. This will lead to strange artifacts for spell effects, be warned.)

bPreemptivelyUnloadCells=1 (leave at 0 if you have 1GB of RAM or more)

bSelectivePurgeUnusedOnFastTravel=1 (leave at 0 if you have 1GB of RAM or more)

bBackgroundLoadLipFiles=1

bLoadBackgroundFaceGen=1

bBackgroundCellLoads=1

bLoadHelmetsInBackground=1

iBackgroundLoadLoading=1

bBackgroundPathing=1

If your processor is a dual-core or supports hyperthreading, edit the following lines as such:

bUseThreadedBlood=1

bUseThreadedMorpher=1

bUseThreadedTempEffects=1

bUseThreadedParticleSystem=1

bUseMultiThreadedTrees=1

bUseMultiThreadedFaceGen=1

iNumHavokThreads=5

iThreads=9

iOpenMPLevel=10

If enabling grass doesn't kill your framerate, or if you can't live without grass (that sounds very wrong), optimize it:

iMinGrassSize=130 (you can try a higher value: 150, 180, 200)

Blanking the following will prevent all the startup movies from loading into the memory, thus reducing memory usage and speeding up Oblivion on the startup:

SMainMenuMovieIntro=

SIntroSequence=

Disabling the animated map in the main menu can increase mouse responsiveness:

SMainMenuMovie=

Finally, disabling music frees up the CPU somewhat, and some people really prefer playing the game without music, so they can enjoy all the ambient sounds.

bmusicenabled=0

4. MODS

Again, in order of relevance.

Streamline: Oblivion is reputated for bad memoy management. This awesome program will clean the memory intelligently, resulting in significantly reduced stutter for everyone!

Low Poly Grass: This mod replaces the 20-poly grass mesh with an 8 poly one, effectively reducing the graphical load presented by grass by more than 50%! This works wonders on most systems. A lot of people actually prefer the simpler mesh for aesthetical reasons too. If you're looking for maximum performance at all costs, search for a 4-polygon version, called Low-Low poly grass. It looks extremely simplistic though.

Quiet feet: Having a sound playing for each of the four paws of each animal around you (including your own horse!), especially if they're all running at the same time, can totally bog down the CPU. This mod simply removes this sound.

Operation Optimization: Similar to low-poly grass, this mods replaces many meshes with low-poly ones, that look just as good. I haven't have the occasion to test it personaly, but it has been said to improve the framerate in some areas.

De-Parallaxer: This removes parallax mapping on most textures, thus making them appear more flat. I've not been able to see much improvement in framerate with this, but that's maybe because I was more bottlenecked by fill rate than anything else. Depending on the video card you use, it could help.

Edited by Dr_Asik
  • 1 year later...

This guide was in serious need of an update so here goes. It's not really for low-end systems, anyone should read this, so I removed the "This is for low-end systems" explanations. Tweaked recommandations, added descriptions, and now there are a few good mods for optimizing performance also.

  • 2 months later...
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • i'm just commenting because of this madness. you simply asked "what crowd" which i too am genuinely curious about, only to receive a response in the form of a link that directs to an analysis of the audited financial statements with the accompanying notes. then you say that the guy who wrote it is stupid, which whatever, that's not an argument being discussed atm, only to receive a response from Arceles saying "i don't deal with people whose first response is an ad homenim". jesus. this is like making a claim, and then saying "i don't deal with people who speak in a certain way or swear so i'm not gonna answer you hah!" (said in a nasaly voice, not trying to depict you Arceles). then focus on the argument instead of the explanation begins... "so what don't you like about the guy (lunduke)" followed by "he just likes to insult people" and the explanation for the "crowd" being referred to was never even established. so a request for an explanation about the crowd turned into an argument about "why do you think lunduke is an idiot". wowza.
    • Sony lays off 30% of staff from Days Gone developer Bend Studio by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe Another wave of layoffs has hit the game developer space, and this time, it's a first-party Sony studio that's been affected. Following a report by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, Bend Studio has confirmed that it is letting go of "incredibly talented teammates" as it begins work on a new game project. "Today, we said goodbye to some incredibly talented teammates as we transition to our next project," said Bend Studio in a social media post today. "We're deeply thankful for their contributions as they've shaped who we are, and their impact will always be part of our story." Bend Studio is most well-known for its 2019-released open-world zombie adventure Days Gone, which even received a remaster just a few months ago. Prior to that, the studio had been responsible for the classic Syphon Filter series while also developing several PlayStation Portable and Vita games like Resistance: Retribution and Uncharted: Golden Abyss, respectively. "This is a difficult moment for our team, but we hold immense respect for everyone who got us here," the company added. "As we move forward, we remain committed to building the future of Bend Studio with creativity, passion, and innovation in the titles we craft." While Sony did not detail just how many staff have been affected by this latest decision, Jason Schreier revealed that 30% of the studio is being laid off. This amounts to around 40 people, according to the reporter. Earlier this year, Sony canceled two live service games that were in development at Bend Studio and Bluepoint Games. It was never revealed what this mystery game was supposed to be. "Bend and Bluepoint are highly accomplished teams who are valued members of the PlayStation Studios family," Sony said at the time. It's unclear if Bluepoint, which had been developing a God of War live service experience, will soon be hit by its own wave of layoffs too.
    • KataLib 4.5.3.0 by Razvan Serea KataLib is more than just a music player — it's a complete audio suite designed for music lovers and creators alike. It combines a powerful audio player, a flexible metadata editor, a capable audio converter, and a music library manager into one streamlined application. Core Features: Audio Player Enjoy seamless playback of virtually any audio format or even streaming video files. DJ Mode lets you mix tracks with manual or automatic crossfades. You can also load and save WinAmp-style playlists for quick access to your favorite sets. Audio Converter Convert between a wide range of audio formats effortlessly. Trim or normalize your output automatically, and even extract audio from streaming video sources. Ideal for preparing files for different devices or platforms. Metadata Editor View and edit ID3v2 tags and other metadata. Batch edit multiple files at once, and fetch missing information directly from the MusicBrainz database. You can also apply or update album art with ease. Music Library Manager Organize your entire audio collection, search across tracks instantly, and download cover images from the internet — or use your own custom artwork. KataLib makes it easy to keep your library tidy and enriched with useful info. Supported Formats: KataLib supports a wide range of both lossy and lossless audio formats: Input: OPUS, AAC, FLAC, M4A, MP3, MP4, MPC, APE, AIF, MKV, AVI, MOV, FLV, WEBM, Ogg Vorbis, WAV, WAVPack, WMA Output: OPUS, FLAC, M4A, MP3, Ogg Vorbis, WAV Under the hood, KataLib uses the trusted FFmpeg engine for audio conversion and media playback, ensuring compatibility with virtually all mainstream media formats. Download: KataLib 4.5.3.0 | 64.5 MB (Open Source) Links: KataLib Home Page | Github | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • I had this issue and it is a nova android conflict issue. Initially the only way to fix it was clicking the screen off and then back on. Figured out it was because of a task I set up in tasker to load certain apps when I connect to my car, so fixed it by adding a 'go home' task after the app loaded and rarely have the issue now
    • I wish one of the windows updates hadn't broken glass. Is there a workaround for that I'm not aware of?
  • Recent Achievements

    • Reacting Well
      rshit earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • Reacting Well
      Alan- earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • Week One Done
      IAMFLUXX earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Æhund earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Month Later
      CoolRaoul earned a badge
      One Month Later
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      542
    2. 2
      ATLien_0
      269
    3. 3
      +FloatingFatMan
      210
    4. 4
      +Edouard
      203
    5. 5
      snowy owl
      140
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!