Oblivion talk:Ini Settings

bAllowHavokGrabTheLivingEdit

Any idea what bAllowHavokGrabTheLiving does? I toggled it to a 1 and nothing appeared to happen.

       bAllowHavokGrabTheLiving allows manipulation of unconscious bodies, 

as if they were dead bodies, you know, moving arms or dragging the entire corpse. Best leave it off, as it's pointless and might cause instability. 174.112.7.16 23:58, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

The "living" may mean it allows you to drag living NPCs around (normally you can only grab dead people). Garrett 06:13, 2 April 2006 (EDT)

Well, that's what I thought, but I tried "grabbing" both NPCs and sheep, but no effect. FMan 07:44, 5 April 2006 (EDT)

Hm. It could be that NPCs are just too heavy. Maybe if you use the Movable Bodies mod together with this setting you can throw living people around? Now THAT would be cool. :) Garrett 08:42, 5 April 2006 (EDT)

Speed TreesEdit

When I turned the speed trees off, all the trees vanished rather than were replaced by 2D trees!

I can confirm this happens for me also, on two completely different systems. Makes it nice and fast though! Endareth 20:58, 5 April 2006 (EDT)

Yeah, all my trees disappeared too... So I turned them back on and disabled grass all together. Seems to speed up the game about equally, yet without grass the world does not look as dumb --MaxamusCrasious 16:13, 23 April 2006 (EDT)

This should be further tested by other players. --FMan 06:07, 2 April 2006 (EDT)

Invisibility EffectEdit

Does anybody know how I turn off that invisiblity effect on my char? It is confusing when I fight.

Specular PassEdit

Seems Specular Pass is needed in areas with secret exits :) Looking at the exits (upper floor, right in Weynon Priory, right from the castle entrance Skingrad) crashes the game.--Vook 15:04, 25 April 2006 (EDT)

fHorseRunGravityEdit

Wonder if fHorseRunGravity also affects falling damage taken by the horse... 203.171.85.67 06:03, 8 February 2007 (EST)

SettingsEdit

Link: Document at GameFaqs describing a lot of settings. I found this one pretty interesting.
PS: disabling the bDo***Pass set of settings (kills light calculations) reminds me of Daggerfall :) theultramage 13:23 23 June 2007 (CET)

Screenshot ResolutionEdit

How could you change the size and the resolution of the screenshot? — Unsigned comment by 84.53.73.164 (talk)

The only way to change the resolution of the screenshots is to change the resolution at which you play the game. There's no way to make one independent of the other. —Rpeh^{•T•C•E•} 06:31, 29 December 2007 (EST)

Screenshots under VistaEdit

I have managed to get my Vista laptop to take screen shots on Oblivion but when I load the BMP file its is black and white and looks corrupt? the image has lines all across it too. Anyone have any ideas on what i am doing wrong? Scott 23/6/2010

Anyone else having trouble getting screenshots under Vista? I've done the same changes to the user .ini file that worked under XP, and in the game it seems work perfectly; however, when I go to view the screenshots, they don't seem to exist anywhere on my hard drive. The index changes quite happily whenever I press Print Screen, but the .bmp files aren't in the game folder, the saved game folder, or anywhere else. Perhaps because the folder is no longer "My Documents" but simply "Documents"? Wordmama 15:07, 26 October 2008 (EDT)

I have that problem too, on my Windows 7. The picture's black and white, stretched and tilted ridiculously, and nothing but GIMP will open it.

Oblivion stores your screenshots in the Oblivion installation dir, not in My Documents. At least, it does that on my end. --Timenn < talk > 18:49, 27 October 2008 (EDT)

Nope, not there or anywhere on the computer -- did a search for the name displayed at the time I took the screenshot (ScreenShot5.bmp). Disappointing; I'd love to save some of the glorious scenery. Wordmama 15:08, 23 November 2008 (EST)

If you got the message that a screenshot was saved, then it was definitely saved. Vista's search is, frankly, rubbish so don't trust it. I run Vista 64-bit and all my screenshots get saved to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Bethesda Softwords\Oblivion". Look there, or its 32-bit equivalent. –Rpeh^{•T•C•E•} 15:17, 23 November 2008 (EST)

Darn, still not there. Well, I'll keep looking and post if I ever find the silly things (sigh).--Wordmama 23:22, 24 November 2008 (EST)

Where is that bAllowScreenShot? I can't find it!--Neekerisanni123 14:36, 27 October 2008 (EDT)

It's in your Oblivion.ini, under the [Display] header. If not's there (that's weird), you can add it in yourself. --Timenn < talk > 18:49, 27 October 2008 (EDT)

Apollyna here. Please read my whole explanation so you don't waste your time with repeated answers. I've tried EVERYTHING there is to try with the screenshots. I'm on vista (64, 32, I have no idea.) and nothing works. I changed the ini, pressed printscreen, tried pasting it into paint, tried searching and looking manually, tried EVERYTHING. Please, someone, help. I think I'm about to cry. Yes, my anti-aliasing is off. It was never on. No, I'm not the administrator. My dad messed up the computer, so now HE isn't even the admin. Is that the problem? Is there a workaround? I've searched the internet for answers and nothing works. Dx

Apollyna here WITH THE FIX. This fix worked for me when nothing else did. Go to your CONTROL PANEL, look into USER ACCOUNTS, and turn off USER ACCOUNT CONTROL. You'll have to restart your compie. It works! I reccommend turning it back on when your done, because it says it protects your computer. Bye! — Unsigned comment by 99.170.254.213 (talk) on December 24, 2008

This does indeed work, and thanks, Apollyna. It makes me a little nervous, though. Can someone more versed in Vista tell me if it's really as dangerous as Windows seems to think to turn User Account Control off for the sake of a few screenshots? Wordmama 11:42, 25 April 2009 (EDT)

You really shouldn't disable UAC. All you need to do is tweak the permissions on the Oblivion directory. Right-click on the Oblivion folder and select "Properties" then go to the "Security" tab. Click "Edit" then "Add" and then type "Everyone" in the text box and click "Check Names" then Okay. Tick the "Full Control" checkbox in the bottom list and then Okay your way out of the dialog boxes, confirming anything that needs confirmation as you go. You should then be able to save screenshots without compromising your PC's security. –Rpeh^{•T•C•E•} 06:37, 30 April 2009 (EDT)

Oh, AWESOME. Thanks so much! It's not life or death, clearly, but it adds a lot to my enjoyment of the game to be able to grab some of the gorgeous scenery in this game. Huzzah! - Wordmama 16:12, 2 May 2009 (EDT)

I tried that, and the screenshot message shows up, but I cant find the screenshots anywhere. I've tried searching my compter to no avail. --DevotedInsanity 21:01, 23 March 2010 (UTC)

I tried Rpeh's method but I still can't find them. Please help!--Repeater 13:55, 12 May 2009 (EDT)

Wow, thanks! I've Spent around 40 minutes looking for the screenshot solution. I also was needing a solution to using the hotkeys for music. Thank you

This is the only one that worked for me, thank you so much. I can now make my series... 77.101.84.152 13:38, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

I have tried everything nothing works using windows 7 76.30.39.199 21:11, 28 November 2010 (UTC)

Try setting the permissions again. These tips definitely work. rpeh •T•C•E• 11:26, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

Imi here - I'm really stuck on trying to find my screenshots I've taken, it def said that they're saved, and I've done all the editing needed with the bAllowScreenShot etc, but I still can't find them anywhere! I tried changing the permissions, but there wasn't a problem with my taking the screenshots, so I'm not sure if that was even a problem in the first place. I have vista and am beginning to hate it! please someone help this damsel in distress! 00:18, 01 June 2011

Im still having this problem. Im using Windows, I am the owner, Permision for everything is for everyone, I changed the ini file and I get a mesage in game that it was saved, but i still cant find it anywhere and I cant just paste it to paint. I've changed my .ini file and in game hit CTRL/PRT SCRN and get the message that "screenprint0.bmp has been saved". But I cant find it anywhere — Unsigned comment by 166.102.244.41 (talk) at 16:15 on 28 January 2012

Try looking under C:\Users\<Username>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Bethesda Softworks\Oblivion. If you find your files there, it means you didn't do the permissions correctly. Note that you may have to turn on the ability to view hidden folders to see the AppData folder (or jump straight there by typing it into the address bar manually). – Robin Hood↝talk 20:29, 30 January 2012 (UTC)

Experiencing the same problem, under Windows 7, having recently gotten back into Oblivion. I've never played it on PC before. But I can assure you, these people are not crazy, and their files are definitely not showing up where they're supposed to be when capturing a screen shot. Its definitely a Windows problem. Specifically Windows Explorer. I don't use Windows Explorer. I use Cubic Explorer. The screen shots ARE kept in the installation folder. But Windows can't display them for some reason. Cubic Explorer shows them just fine. But if you view the folder in an Explorer window, they just don't exist. Same if you try to upload them anywhere and it opens up an explorer dialog box. Effectively they just don't exist. I can see how changing permissions and user controls might fix it. But I don't quite understand how it is caused in the first place. All other files in the installation directory show up fine. But just thought I'd shed some light on one issue. Also, those people who had issues with their screen shots getting corrupt and distorted: there's two possible things. Its either the anti-aliasing. Turn that off and it might work. Or it might be the resolution. I have a 1366x768 screen, and running at that resolution corrupts the screen shots. Running at something like 1280x720 takes perfect screen shots. Unless I have anti-aliasing on. So play with those two things. Hope this all helps — Unsigned comment by 69.58.115.10 (talk) at 07:21 on 26 June 2013

What's causing the file relocation in the first place is Windows' virtual storage. Programs aren't allowed to store data into the Program Files folder after they've been installed, so it virtualizes them and puts them elsewhere (as noted above). I'm not sure what's going on with Cubic Explorer, though. It's possible that it's "unvirtualizing" them silently or something like that, but under a normal Windows install, unless you've disabled the virtual store, they'll be stored in the VirtualStore folder instead of Program Files. – Robin Hood  ^(talk) 17:39, 26 June 2013 (GMT)

Media KeysEdit

I hope i'm putting this in the right spot... i just wanted to point out a helpful adjustment i've found. -when using oblivion the media buttons don't work (Play/Pause hotkey on the top of the keyboard) I looked around this website and others looking for a solution before i guessed one myself. The setting bBackground Keyboard=0 when changed to bBackground Keyboard=1 fixes this problem. I just thought it might help others looking for a solution to this problem if it was added to this page. Sorry if i've gone about it the wrong way. thankyou — Unsigned comment by 59.100.91.15 (talk) at 03:22 on 18 May 2009

Blood DetailsEdit

bDecalsOnSkinnedGeometry is Blood Details. 0 is Low, 1 is High.

I was looking for this setting earlier, as I was unable to save my .ini settings. I was able to set all the other settings I wanted to the right values by reading this guide and others, but I never found the Blood Detail variable until I learned about saveini from the Console. Karplusan 06:29, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

Multi-core CPU tweaksEdit

In Multi-core CPU tweaks, I can't find bBackgroundPathing in my default Oblivion.ini file, is it in yours ? Should I still add the entry as prescribed (bBackgroundPathing=1) ? --DynV 21:22, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

If you're still reading this, or playing oblivion, try patching it. I think that's a setting that is adder in a patch. Also, Should there be a link to TweakGuides about the multi-core tweaks? What the Firing Squad article doesn't mention is where in the game they did these tests, the gamebyro engine is funky about multi-threading. If you have a multi-core cpu run oblivion in a window and keep an eye on how much cpu oblivion is using.

Using these options, I have not noticed any changes neither in performance nor in CPU number usage. However, since introducing them I've experience much less crashes, which were quite common especially when venturing in wilderness.

These tweaks may cause some PC's to crash99.224.94.158 04:34, 20 February 2011 (UTC)

Border RemoverEdit

On my ini file instead of bBorderRegionsEnabled I have bEnableBorderRegion. It is found under its own heading (main) two thirds of the way down the list, rather than the 'general' heading at the top. Though for a while I could remove the border using by changing it from 1 to 0, recently it appears to have stopped functioning and no matter what I do the borders are always present. I also have recollections of the variable being much further up the list when I set it to 0 originally, though I could be wrong here. I've spent quite a long time deactivating mods to see if they are responsible, but none of my mods appear to be causing this problem (also, I am not using a border remover). I'm completely confused about what is going on here, can anyone help. — Unsigned comment by 124.179.32.92 (talk) on 28 November 2009

The correct setting is bBorderRegionsEnabled and it should be put in the General section. There's no setting in the normal version of the game called bEnableBorderRegion. So give the first one a try and see what happens. —Robin Hood (Talk • E-mail • Contribs) 05:12, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Actually, I've also noticed that quite a few of my other settings seem to have different names

for example, fLODFadeOutObjectMultCity, fLODFadeOutItemMultCity and fLODFadeOutActorMultCity are not present however, I have instead fLODMultActors, fLODMultItems and fLODMultObjects or fLODFadeOutMultActors,fLODFadeOutMultItems and fLODFadeOutMultObjects ( I'm unsure which set of three those three replace, however I think it is fLODMultActors, fLODMultItems and fLODMultObjects as they have default values of 1, which the three missing settings have). These also appear to be non-functional. For sure, most of my setting are the way they are supposed to be, but unfortunately, the most useful ones appear to be so.

Also, I've already tried the trick for bBorderRegionsEnabled that you've reccomended above, but I figure one more try couldn't hurt. I'll post the results here...maybe this time it will work out after all. 121.213.169.43 23:03, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Acutally, ten seconds later, I believe I have found to source of the problem. I was altering my default ini rahter than the one in 'my games'. I think this might be the source of the whole issue. 121.213.169.43 23:07, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Ah! That would indeed be the problem. And sure enough, when I looked at mine, I quickly found some of the same not-quite-right setting names. Thanks for posting what the problem was...if it comes up again in the future, hopefully it'll be easier to figure out. —Robin Hood (Talk • E-mail • Contribs) 00:25, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

(←) I'm having the same problem discussed by the unmarked poster. Oddly, I know I'm altering the correct file, but it's still not working. Anyone able to help? I can provide a copy of my .ini file if need be. I'm gonna check my default file, just to see if they got messed up or something. Hopefully one of you can help me resolve this :) Thanks — Unsigned comment by 75.135.74.50 (talk) at 21:51 on 20 July 2011 (GMT)

Keyboard CodesEdit

Where can you find a list of the codes used to remap the keyboard controls? 71.236.189.17 00:00, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

You can remap the keyboard controls in-game. The path to it is tricky, and it's explained here. Vesna 01:06, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

uExterior/Interior Cell Buffer How much is a stable increase?Edit

When it says uExterior/Interior Cell Buffer "The Cell Buffer related settings control the maximum amount of "cells" that can be stored in RAM/Video RAM at once. Increasing this will allow Oblivion to cache more textures/objects into RAM, so increasing these values will yield a performance increase for computers with enough RAM (1.5GB and up)" what is a "stable" value to increase it by? For example I have 3gb of RAM, and so have increased it from Interior being 3 to 6 and Exterior being 36 to 41, however, would that be a rather large increase, or a small one? I think we should have something in there about the size of the increase, even if its just "If you have 3gb you should have this....." (I say 3gb as its the max RAM one can have with a 32bit system) G-Rath 19:11, 26 January 2012 (UTC)

The simplest answer to this question is: try it out and see. You'll definitely notice the interior increase, especially if you're going back and forth across a number of rooms (prime example: every large house in Leyawiin). The exterior increase won't have nearly as much of an impact, though.

As far as a general "set it to store x interior cells and y exterior cells for z GB of RAM", I'm not sure. I've never delved into the game files, but certain chunks are larger than others. I also don't know how the game handles running out of RAM to save cells (does it just delete old cells and add new ones?) and in which order (exterior before interior?). Also, as you said, these are saved in RAM and Video RAM (VRAM?), so someone with 32GB of RAM and a crappy graphics card won't have the same configuration as someone with 4GB of RAM and a top-notch video card. For you, I just recommend fiddling around with the settings until you get what you want. ?• JA^Talk 19:22, 26 January 2012 (UTC)

Firing Squad Link BrokenEdit

Link is Broken. However from other sites the main points are quoted as: Oblivion is definitely capable of taking advantage of the latest dual-core processors from AMD. At low resolution/detail settings, we saw performance improvements of over 15% in some cases... Oblivion also plays nice with processors that run at higher clock speeds as long as you keep the screen resolution and graphics settings low: again once you’re running at high-res with HDR and all the graphics settings are turned up, it doesn’t make one bit of a difference what kind of processor you have inside your system.--Lmstearn (talk) 04:02, 20 January 2017 (UTC)

Comment on iPreloadSizeLimit EditEdit

The following statement replaced the original description of the setting:
iPreloadSizeLimit doesn't do anything, contrary to popular belief. Reverse engineering of game code shows it only affects intro movie loading
This should be discussed first, and sources provided to establish authenticity of said RE.--Lmstearn (talk) 07:13, 23 May 2019 (UTC)