Can't play Oblivion, please help!

[michael_6156]

Could someone please help me!
Oblivion installs just fine for me, but when I click Play on the main menu, a little black window appears in the top left corner of my screen and stays completely blank. After a second, an error report appears that says:
"Oblivion has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience."
Under error signature, it says:
"AppName: oblivion.exe, AppVer: 0.1.0.228, ModName: oblivion.exe, ModVer: 0.1.0.228, Offset: 000912a6"

I don't know if this has anything to do with the problem, but I have an Nvidia GeForce2 MX/MX 400 graphics card.

So, basically, I can't even play oblivion; the furthest I get it the main menu. I would really appreciate it if someone could help me out; it's extremely frustrating.

 

[oenomel]

Geforce2?

That ain't gonna work.

 

[Snorkius]

I'm not going to berate you on how you think a card that wont work with Morrowind could possibly cope with Oblivion (even though I should)...

Oblivion requires a Shader Model 2.0 capable card (check out the Graphics card forum for an explanation of what that is). This means a card from FX 5*** and up or Radeon 9600 and higher.

CAUTION: Even though it's theoreticaly possible, no card lower than a 9800 Pro can really run Oblivion and especially not cards from the FX57** and lower series. The cheapest solution would be a 6600GT for any sort of decent graphics.

CAUTION: 2 The game is also pretty CPU intensive, forget about running it if you have a 850 Athlon with 256 Mb of SDRAM memory (about the equivalent of your GF2 MX in CPU terms). Anything lower than an AXP 2000+ will not do, and even then, it'll be sorely strained.

Next time: read the minimum requirements.

 

[michael_6156]

I wouldn't know if it worked or not for Morrowind, becuase I have Morrowind for Xbox.
Also, I did read the minimum requirements which state that you need an "Nvidia GeForce 6800 series, or higher video card". I am quite computer illiterate and figured that GeForce2, would be higher than GeForce.
But anyways, thank you for letting me know what I need to do to fix the problem.

 

[Snorkius]

First there was the Geforce, than the 2nd, 3thd, 4th, 5th and finaly the 6th series of which the 6800 is part.

For fufture reference, the first number denotes the generation of GPU while the second tells you about the market segment it generaly fits into(true from the 5th series on): 900, 800 for high-end, 600 for mainstream and 200 for non-gamer low-end. The first number is different for ATI (9, X and X1 instead of 5, 6 and 7) but the second is the same.

There is a lot of overlap because of the alphabet-soup the companies made out of different models, you should visit a graphics cards forum to clarify before making a purchase. (i.e. don't buy LE or SE parts...stuff like that)

 

[michael_6156]

Thank you for clarifying!

 

[sandmannight]

I think I have a better card integrated on my motherboard...

 

[Bradm]

I AM HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM!!!!

where can i find out what video/graphics card i have?

noob question i know =[

 

[Nil]

I AM HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM!!!!

where can i find out what video/graphics card i have?

noob question i know =[

Well, there are several ways, but probably the easiest way is to click your start menu, then click run, then in the little window that pops up, type "dxdiag". This will run a utility that will tell you many things about your computer, including the video card.


Also, someone up above said that you couldn't run OB on anything less than a 9800 pro. I was running a 9600XT and it ran fine, usually around 20 fps outdoors, and higher indoors. You can't use all of the bells and whistles, but it works just fine if that's what you've got.

 

[nottheking]

Could someone please help me!
Oblivion installs just fine for me, but when I click Play on the main menu, a little black window appears in the top left corner of my screen and stays completely blank. After a second, an error report appears that says:
"Oblivion has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience."
Under error signature, it says:
"AppName: oblivion.exe, AppVer: 0.1.0.228, ModName: oblivion.exe, ModVer: 0.1.0.228, Offset: 000912a6"

I don't know if this has anything to do with the problem, but I have an Nvidia GeForce2 MX/MX 400 graphics card.

So, basically, I can't even play oblivion; the furthest I get it the main menu. I would really appreciate it if someone could help me out; it's extremely frustrating.

Sorry, but there's no way on any plane, be it divine or profane, that you'll ever play Oblivion on that card. It lacks pixel shaders, and, I believe, vertex shaders as well. (as suggested, go over to the graphics card forum if you need to learn what those are)

Oblivion, being an outright next-gen game, absolutely requires those. You'll have to replace your video card if you ever want to run it. Sorry to have to say that.

 

[Al3X]

this is what my pc has....i'm thinkin it's the processor

windows xp professional
manufacturer: ASUSTek
Model: A7N8X-X
Bios: Pheonix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm), MMX, 3DNow, ~1.2GHz
Memory: 512MB RAM
Page File: 342 used 907MB available
Direct x 9.0
ATI RADEON 9600 Pro
200 Gb hard drive

 

[Gary_Busey]

this is what my pc has....i'm thinkin it's the processor

windows xp professional
manufacturer: ASUSTek
Model: A7N8X-X
Bios: Pheonix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm), MMX, 3DNow, ~1.2GHz
Memory: 512MB RAM
Page File: 342 used 907MB available
Direct x 9.0
ATI RADEON 9600 Pro
200 Gb hard drive

...and the ram, and the video card. That system is just not going to run Oblivion.

 

[Angelofdeath7089]

Well I must say after reading through this you all have proven unhelpfule and pretty much foolish. You say every thing the site says. Well I got a word for you. I hgave 448 MB RAM, 190 GB Harddrive, 1.99 GHz I'm quite below the Oblivion requirments. Guess what though. I GET TO PLAY IT! I can play it just fine. Listen everyone that has errors. This might or might not work. When you install Oblivion uncheck the add shortcut and readme. Wherever you have the Oblivion launcher and launch it. I am sorry to say that this will not work all the time. It worked for me but it didn't work for my friend who has the middle requirments between recommended and low and it wont run. It seems to majority problem is that Bethesda Softwork Oblivion.exe that comes with the game has more of a internal corruption. Possibly a typo unfixed unless you spend alot of money. Now my rambling has to end so here's the last part. You all need to think before you jump. Oblivion is not the most best out there in graphics. It's a awsome game but not the best graphics. There's alot better.

 

[lostandwandering]

^So that's why Oblivion is STILL one of the toughest games on any system?

Check this: http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=857&model2=853&chart=297

Neither an 8800 or 2900 can play that game well and that's using top of the line hardware. I'm not saying you are wrong about the other stuff, but Oblivion is a VERY demanding game.

 

[itotallybelieveyou]

you are lucky to get to main menu my old rig all it shows it a blackscreen

 

[rugger7]

There's an app called "Oldblivion" that can help run the game on older graphics cards. Just look for it in yahoo. I've used it to run the game on an Athlon XP 1800+ with a gig of RAM and a Geforce 5500....though I would only qualify this as "playable," not exactly "impressive." When I finally build my new rig at the end of the year, I'll get enough power to run Oblivion in much more of its glory.

 

[Dr_asik]

Well I must say after reading through this you all have proven unhelpfule and pretty much foolish. You say every thing the site says. Well I got a word for you. I hgave 448 MB RAM, 190 GB Harddrive, 1.99 GHz I'm quite below the Oblivion requirments. Guess what though. I GET TO PLAY IT!

What is your video card? Oblivion can simply not play on a Geforce 2, like you can't plug a PS/2 keyboard in your VGA port, it's physically impossible.

 

[spuddyt]

well, this thread is making me feel better about my 8600 than I have for a long time :lol: but its true that no matter how much time you spend programming oblivion mods, IT WILL NOT RUN ON A GEFORCE 2 NO MATTER WHAT, it will barely run on 6 series, those are 4 GENERATIONS ABOVE, 4! and its approximatly true that power DOUBLES in a new generation

 

[dap10]

I have a Radeon 9200 Pro, 2.8 GHz Intel Pentium 4, and 1.5Gb RAM. I have a few mods for performance including oldblivion, FPS balancers, and texture maps, but Oblivion will randomly crash in the middle of the game, usually when spectacular lighting is used on spells and NPC's. Also, even with the FPS mods, I only manage 5-10 FPS in combat.

 

[spuddyt]

I'm quite below the Oblivion requirments. Guess what though. I GET TO PLAY IT!

really, do you enjoy 2 fps indoors?

 

[rennervision]

^So that's why Oblivion is STILL one of the toughest games on any system?

Check this: http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=857&model2=853&chart=297

Neither an 8800 or 2900 can play that game well and that's using top of the line hardware. I'm not saying you are wrong about the other stuff, but Oblivion is a VERY demanding game.

Yeah, but that's at 1600x1200 with 8x AF. I use a 7800 GS AGP card at 1024x768 and the game plays fine.

 

[Morton]

Heh, I bought the game 17 months ago and still haven't even removed the plastic wrap on the box. I was going to try it on my Athlon XP 2400+/Radeon 9700 but then I decided to be patient and save Oblivion for the day I finally upgrade my computer and the game will run with high frames per second with maximum settings, 6xAA, 16xAF and HDR. I have too many other games for now anyway and not much time to play them. I cannot say I wasn't tempted a few times to unwrap the box and install the game. I even had a really cool and vivid dream once in which I experienced "The Elder Scrolls 5" or "The Elder Scrolls 6" which might be released during the next 10 years. If my dream was a prophecy, then one of the new cool features in the next "Elder Scrolls" games will be more realistic water (even better than in Crysis) and swimming/splashing in the water, character's clothes getting wet and water trickling down the armor and dripping from the character when he/she leaves water. I guess while I was sleeping my brains recalled nVIDIA's DirectX 10 "Waterfall" demo and video footage from Oblivion, then they somehow processed and combined all of it and the dream turned into a "visual" presentation that showed me how DirectX 10 might be used in games. It's actually priceless when this type of thing happens. You can get a glimpse of what computer games might be like in the near or distant future in a dream. 8)

 

[choirbass]

a GF2 gpu is able to run oblivion actually, in a sense... awhile ago when i had a triple monitor crt setup; 2 monitors connected to a 7800gt, and a single monitor connected to a GF2 MX200, all running in horizontal spanned desktop mode in xp, in a window... hdr ran as well across all 3 monitors, but that should be limited to only SM 3.0 capable gpus and up, i believe... the only reason it was actually able to even run on a GF2 series gpu, was because i had another card that was capable of rendering it, most likely (which means its not so much a physical incapability or design limitation, but sounds more like a flag of some kind that gets tripped preventing the game from even starting, even if it could run it, albeit very slowly)... ...the fps however was a different issue, even though a GF7 gpu has decent performance in oblivion, simultaneously running it alongside a GF2 gpu crippled its performance, probably a limitation with windows or the drivers more than the actual gpus themselves... it looked nice, but other than a nice looking slideshow, it wasnt what could really be considered playable... 10fps or so at even the lowest settings, though higher detail settings produced the same fps just about, so graphical demands didnt matter too much in that respect. this was the same situation when running BF2, rendering quality was nearly identical across all 3 monitors, but performance was only around 5fps even on the lowest settings.

the same setup didnt work for a game such as doom 3 though, due to its graphics engine probably, and came up with only a blank screen on the GF2 display while the GF7 gpu rendered fine on both its remaining displays.

just my 2 cents..

edit: just noticed this thread was originally started about a year and a half ago...

 

[Adnoctum]

@michael_6156
Oblivion is never going to work with a GForce 2. I'm sorry to say you are going to need an upgrade, and not just the graphics card. If you are still using an MX400, it is also likely you have 128/256Mb RAM and quite a lowly processor. You are going to have to invest in a newish system (maybe second-hand would do you if funds are tight). And this is not just to play Oblivion, your MX400 is not going to play any new games. Or even newer games. I can't even remember the last game that set the MX400 as minimum requirements.

@Angelofdeath7089
First: There is no trick, no hack, no fudge, no anything that is going to allow the original poster to play Oblivion on a MX400.
Second: Bethesda says the minimum requirements are: 2GHz CPU/512MB RAM/4.9GB free HDD.
At 1.99 GHz/448MB RAM/190GB HDD, you are not exactly far from those requirements are you? You are not even "quite below". I like how you don't state what graphics card you used for your "awesome" game experience!
The minimum requirements are set as a system on which the game is playable. Just because you have a system that runs Oblivion is a worthless statement. Do you enjoy playing games at 480x360? If so, welcome to 1998!
Third: Why are you judging Oblivion graphical quality on whatever substandard system you are running? I ran Oblivion on a OC'ed 7950GT at 1240x1024 on high settings, and even I found the occasional graphical issue. But it always ran smoothly at good frame-rates. More importantly, it looked great!
Fourth: Why are you resurrecting a long dead thread? What ever issue he had is long gone.

@ All
My brother played Oblivion through on NF2/Athlon XP2500/6600GT/1GbRAM and could only muster 640x480 on low and a few medium settings. This is a fairly decent set-up, it played well, and he was happy with the game.
I would suspect that playing it with a notoriously *crap* FX would be far worse experience.
Congratulations rugger7 on your extreme perseverance and fortitude in the face of hell!!

 

[siriusstone]

so is the graphics card definitely the problem here then? because i am having exactly the same issue...i really don't know what graphics card i have but it worked fine for the last few games i've played but none of them were all the new...so anyway, is the graphics card definitely the reason for this?