Difference between revisions of "Crash Prevention"

This started as a [http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=992466 discussion thread] intending to provide a one-stop-place to find collected wisdom about preventing crashes and bugs. Note that the person who started the thread has stated that the information in that thread has been copied to an external website: [http://preventcrashesinoblivion.page.tl/ Prevent crashes in Oblivion] due to it being "...easier to update information on one website compared to a number of posts...". The information on the website will probably be more updated than either the topic or this wiki page.

=== Windows Vista ===

If nothing else works, visit [http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=561101&st=0&p=8103705&#entry8103705 Bethsoft's Unofficial Technical FAQ] - This thread provides a greater list of tweaks and fixes for the game than this one. "Why don't I just go straight there?" you might ask. Firstly, I believe this thread provides the information in an easier-to-read way. Second, the Bethsoft thread is a more general Oblivion issues thread while this one is specifically for crashes and bugs. And lastly, the information in Bethsoft's thread that isn't here is small pieces and the thread tends to repeat itself.

The Unofficial Oblivion Patch v3.2.0 by QuarnAndKivan - If you only ever download one mod for Oblivion, let it be this one. This mod fixes a HUGE number of bugs which Bethesda never fixed. The full list of fixes can be found here (note that it is about 550KB of text). They report that they have fixed over 1800 bugs. If you have Shivering Isle or any of Bethesda's official plugins, you might also want their Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch and their Unofficial Official Mods Patch. The bug fixes are listed here (shivering) and here (other mods). Reported fixes are over 200 in Shivering Isles and around 220 in all the other plugins.

Streamline v3.0 and 3.1 by Jagatelesin - This mod does three things.

First, it clears your memory of unneeded files, hence improving performance and reducing or eliminating the overfilled memory crash I mentioned above.

Secondly, it dynamically changes various graphics options based on your framerate. If your PC is struggling, Streamline will lower your graphics settings and raise them when your PC can handle it. I personally don't use this feature because I don't like the way my graphics and visuals fluctuate but this is your choice.

Lastly, it provides an overhauled autosave feature for if your game does crash. This system of saving has the same effect as using the save game function in the pause menu so it bypasses the quick and autosave function. This is the best autosave system I have seen so far.

There are 5 downloads provided on the Streamline link but you should only worry about versions 3 and 3.1. I regard higher version numbers as being better but there are some people in this community who think that v3.1 actually causes more crashes than v3 does. I recommend you download and try both to see which performs better on your system. If you want more information on this mod, you will have to download it and read the readme. This mod requires OBSE (Oblivion Script Extender) v0012 or later.

Windom Earle's Oblivion Crash Prevention System by Windom Earle (you may slap your forehead) - This OBSE plugin tries to stop the game from crashing when something goes wrong with the code (Windom calls it a "crash offset"). I have not tried out this mod yet but it has received very good remarks so I must assume that this mod does what it is supposed to do. It makes Elys' Crashshield mod obsolete so if you use that mod, you might want to get weOCPS instead. Also, Elys' Crashshield and weOCPS can't be used at the same time. This mod requires OBSE (Oblivion Script Extender) v0012 or later (duh) though higher is recommended.

Fast Quit by Scanti and Skyranger-1 - this OBSE plugin lets you quit the game without the game crashing, giving the game a chance to save it's ini file and it makes the quitting process much faster. I have personally used this mod and I can vouch that this mod does what it is advertised to do. Before using this mod, my game would crash on exit nearly all the time. The Oblivion ini file was also usually not saved which meant any changes made ingame were lost. Now that this mod is installed in my game, I have not had a single crash on exit.

If you use Deathless Aphrodite's Clean Quit mod, I recommend that you switch to this mod instead. The reasons being that Fast Exit doesn't require Pluggy (which is rumoured to cause crashes) and it is also more reliable than Clean Quit. DA also mentions in Fast Quit's comments that it makes her mod obsolete. Since I spotted that comment, I have not been able to find Clean Quit on this site, leading me to the conclusion that it has been deleted by her. This OBSE plugin requires OBSE (Oblivion Script Extender) v0016 or later (duh again).

Oblivion Stutter Remover by SkyRanger-1 - This OBSE plugin tries to even out your framerate. It is slightly more difficult to install than most mods but the effort is worth it.

This plugin requires OBSE to work.

Oldblivion by Asp, Atomizer, Excors, CrazyDog and Tommionu - This allows older graphics cards to run Oblivion and allows you to use lower quality settings. This can help make the game more stable. Note that, as far as I have read, Oldblivion only runs on versions 1.0 and 1.1 of Oblivion.

 

* Pluggy v122 by Elys - Pluggy v122 has been tested and shown to increase the chances of a crash on an Interior/ Exterior switch. This has been linked to the HUD component added after v91. If you are experiencing these kind of crashes, try downgrading to v91 or upgrading to v125b and see if the crashes stop (available on the same page as v122 above).