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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition (2009) > Guides > Aqvilinus's Guides
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Oblivion For Modern PCs in 2025 [UPDATED]
By Aqvilinus
This simple guide will allow you to achieve what you've long dreamed of: making Oblivion smooth, stable, and capable of handling hundreds of your favorite mods.
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Created by
Aqvilinus
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Category: Modding or Configuration
Languages: English
Posted
Updated
27 Jun, 2024 @ 10:26am
17 Apr @ 9:18am
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Guide Index
Overview
Introduction 
About Mod Management 
Installing Oblivion Script Extender (OBSE) 
Tips for Mod Organizer 2 
Installing OBSE plugins 
Configuring EngineBugFixes 
Configuring AveSithis Engine Fixes 
Configuring SkyBSA 
Configuring Oblivion Reloaded Combined 
Installing DXVK 
Applying LAA Patch 
Adding Controller Support (Optional) 
Adding 3D Positional Audio Support (Optional) 
Using ENBSeries (Optional) 
Using DXWrapper (Optional) 
BSA Decompressing (Optional) 
Plugin Decompressing (Optional) 
Tweaking Oblivion.ini (Optional) 
Mods You DON'T Need When Using This Guide 
Afterword 
Comments
Introduction
Hi everyone. I know there're a lot of guides online about making Oblivion playable on modern systems, but many are incomplete or outdated suggesting to use things like Oblivion Stutter Remover. In this guide, I won't cover installing mods since that's already well explained in many other guides (such as Through the Valleys - PushTheWinButton's Vanilla Plus Modding Guide[www.nexusmods.com]). I recommend checking them out first before, as my guide assumes you already know the basics.

Oblivion came out in 2006 and has become quite dated technically. Naturally, you might want to improve it with graphical mods like Oblivion Upscaled Textures[www.nexusmods.com] (if you're interested, I recommend the BSA version from here[www.nexusmods.com]). However, once you start modding Oblivion, you quickly encounter its biggest issue – the outdated 32-bit game engine. No matter how powerful your system is, you'll run into the engine's limitations, which can't handle the number of mods needed to update the game for 2024. You'll experience constant crashes and stuttering, especially if you want to play in 4K with high FPS. It might seem almost hopeless, and you might be tempted to give up, but that's not our way! Follow this guide to make Oblivion smoother and more stable than ever before.
About Mod Management
I recommend using Mod Organizer 2[www.nexusmods.com] to manage your mods and make any changes to the original game files. It helps keep your game installation folder clean and make it easy to install, configure, and reinstall mods while experimenting with your mod list.

I also suggest installing the Root Builder plugin[kezyma.github.io] for Mod Organizer 2. Root Builder lets you manage not just files in the Data folder (like MO2 normally does), but also files in the root game directory- right next to the game’s .exe. This is especially useful for handling DLL libraries and other files we’ll use in this guide.

But if you prefer, you can still install everything directly into the game folder. It’s entirely up to you.
Installing Oblivion Script Extender (OBSE)
The Oblivion Script Extender, or OBSE for short, is a tool used by many Oblivion mods that expands scripting capabilities and adds additional functionality to the game.

You can download it here[www.nexusmods.com]. Installation process is quite straitforward.
  • Manual installation:
    • Copy obse_1_2_416.dll, obse_editor_1_2.dll, obse_steam_loader.dll and the Data folder to your Oblivion directory.⠀

  • MO2 w/ Root Builder:
    • Download and install the mod through MO2.
    • Ensure the folder structure matches the image below:
Additionally, ensure the Steam Overlay is enabled for OBSE to function correctly:
  • Global setting: Go to Steam → Settings → In-Game, and check "Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game."
  • Oblivion-specific setting: Right-click Oblivion in your Steam Library → select Properties → under the General tab, check "Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game."
To confirm OBSE is installed correctly and functioning in-game, use the OBSE Tester[www.nexusmods.com].
Tips for Mod Organizer 2
  • Using Steam overlay
    Normally, the Steam Overlay won’t function when you launch Oblivion through Mod Organizer 2. This short guide shows you how to enable it.
    https://cs2bus.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2582968060
  • Launching the game through Steam library
    Normally, to enable mods managed by Mod Organizer 2 (MO2), you need to launch your game directly through MO2. However, you can also configure Steam to launch your game with mods automatically enabled, directly from your Steam library.

    Follow these simple steps:
    • In MO2, find the game executable in the dropdown next to the "Run" button.
    • Click on the "Shortcut" button below the "Run" button and choose "Desktop". A new shortcut will appear on your desktop.
    • Locate the newly created desktop shortcut, right-click it, and select "Properties".
    • Copy the entire content of the "Target" field.
    • Open your Steam library, right-click your game, and select "Properties".
    • In the "General" tab, paste the copied target line into the "Launch Options" box, then add "%command%" at the end (without quotation marks).
      Example of a completed Launch Option:
      "D:\Modding\MO2\ModOrganizer.exe" "moshortcut://Oblivion:Oblivion" %command%
    • That's it! Now when you press "Play" in Steam, your game will automatically launch with mods enabled through MO2.
Installing OBSE plugins
Now that we have installed OBSE, we can harness its full power through numerous plugins developed by the modding community over the years. These plugins can introduce new gameplay features, fix technical issues, and unlock advanced capabilities. For now, we’ll focus on the latter two: fixing and enhancing Oblivion’s engine. You can install everything else later on your own (If you want suggestions, check out Dispensation’s guide linked below).

Here are the plugins you need right now. You can install them manually or through MO2. In the next step, we’ll configure each one. The most important plugin is Oblivion Reloaded Combined (ORC), and this guide is based on ORC version 2.1.6. Using a different version hasn’t been tested, and may lead to different problems.
  • EngineBugFixes[www.nexusmods.com]
    Fixes numerous Oblivion engine bugs, crashes, and memory leaks; features can be individually toggled.
  • Oblivion Reloaded Combined[www.nexusmods.com]
    Overhauls the game’s rendering pipeline, adds advanced features and shaders, and improves performance - effectively upgrading Oblivion into a more modern version with extensive customization options and bug fixes.
  • SkyBSA[www.nexusmods.com]
    Updates Oblivion’s file handling to match Skyrim’s, simplifying mod file overrides.
  • OBL Mod Limit Fix[www.nexusmods.com]
    Raises Oblivion’s file handle limit from 512 to 2048, allowing more mods to be active simultaneously.
  • Blue's Engine Fixes[www.nexusmods.com]
    Resolves memory corruption and crashes caused by Oblivion’s 4GB/LAA patch; recommended alongside EngineBugFixes.
  • AveSithis Engine Fixes[www.nexusmods.com]
    Fixes engine issues like XML crashes, bow equip crashes, water rendering problems, and improves MSAA compatibility; includes optional faster loading via zlib update.
  • Two-handed weapon swing fix (Tick Fix)[www.nexusmods.com]
    Prevents first-person camera glitches when attacking with two-handed weapons.

Other recommended OBSE plugins:
  • No Inventory On Alt-Tab[www.nexusmods.com]
    Prevents inventory from opening if Tab is pressed while holding Alt.
  • List Missing Mods On Load[www.nexusmods.com]
    Lists missing mods when loading a save, useful for debugging.
  • Crash Logger Improved[www.nexusmods.com]
    Generates detailed crash logs including game objects, classes, and forms active during crashes.
  • MessageLogger[www.nexusmods.com]
    Logs game engine errors and warnings to a text file.
  • Quick Item Transfer[www.nexusmods.com]
    Allows skipping the quantity prompt: shift-click for full stack, ctrl-click for single item. Not needed when using Extended UI[www.nexusmods.com].
  • Map Menu Doesn't Click While Dragging[www.nexusmods.com]
    Prevents accidental clicks on map markers when dragging the mouse.
  • Instant Continue Button[www.nexusmods.com]
    Removes the confirmation prompt when clicking "Continue Game" at the main menu.
  • Diverse Effect Icons OBSE[www.nexusmods.com]
    Introduces unique icons for most of the magic effects which doesn't already have a unique icon. Requires the textures folder from the original mod[www.nexusmods.com] (non-OBSE).
  • Faster Sleep Wait[www.nexusmods.com]
    Reduces delay between hours in the sleep/wait menu (configurable, default 100ms).
  • Mark Or Unmark As Quest Item[www.nexusmods.com]
    Allows marking/unmarking items as quest items directly from inventory.
  • Better Autowalk[www.nexusmods.com]
    Enables diagonal strafing while auto-walking without interrupting movement.
  • Scrolling Doesn't Switch POV[www.nexusmods.com]
    Stops automatic switching between first- and third-person views when scrolling.
  • ConScribe[www.nexusmods.com]
    Automatically logs console output and provides advanced logging tools for modders.
  • Console Ignores Player[www.nexusmods.com]
    Prevents selecting the player character in console clicks.
  • Console Paste Support[www.nexusmods.com]
    Adds clipboard pasting and advanced cursor controls to the console.
  • Jump While Blocking[www.nexusmods.com]
    Allows jumping while blocking.
Configuring EngineBugFixes
Open OBSE\Plugins\EngineBugFixes.ini in a text editor and adjust the following values:
bInstallBloodDecalMemLeakFix=0 bInstallInitRendererFix=0 bInstallShadowCameraFix=0 bInstallShutdownCTDFix=0
These are some settings that might interfere with fixes from other plugins, so I disable them.
Configuring AveSithis Engine Fixes
Open OBSE\Plugins\AveSithisEngineFixes.ini in a text editor and change the following line:
[Main] UpdateZlib=1
It replaces Oblivion’s built-in ZLIB library with a modern version, potentially improving loading times.
Configuring SkyBSA
SkyBSA doesn’t require any extra setup, but if you use a mod manager like Mod Organizer 2, be sure to disable its built-in archive invalidation feature, as it’s redundant with SkyBSA. In MO2, go to Tools -> Settings and uncheck "Automatic Archive Invalidation".
Configuring Oblivion Reloaded Combined
Open OBSE\Plugins\ORC2_1.ini in a text editor and adjust the following values:
[Main] Welcome = 0 ; Disables the pop-up welcome message that appears after loading a save (you can still press F10 to access the mod’s menu) ScreenshotKeyHUD = 0; Disables the default screenshot key (originally F12) to avoid conflicts with Steam’s screenshot key which does the same [Patches] MainMenuRandomizer = 0 ; Removes ORC’s changes to the main menu RandomDifficulty = 0 ; Disables ORC’s changes to game difficulty Sleepingmode = 0 ; Disables gameplay changes related to sleeping and leveling DXVKPatch = 1 ; Required for later use with DXVK DiagonalMovement = 1 ; Enables diagonal movement Antialiasing = 1 ; Lets you use in-game antialiasing alongside HDR Tweaks = 0 ; Disables certain undocumented tweaks that may affect gameplay [FPSCAP] FPSMaxGame = 60 ; Maximum FPS during normal gameplay (I use 120) FPSMaxLoading = 200 ; Maximum FPS during loading screens (I use 120) FPSMaxMenu = 120 ; Maximum FPS in menus (I use 120) [Memory] HeapSize = 1024 [Develop] TraceShaders = 0 ; Disables binding for the 'P' key (opening Pipeline Detector), which can interfere with hotkeys or trigger unintentionally - especially when naming characters or spells. It has no use for regular players.

These are the main configuration settings. You can also enable or disable various shaders and effects here, but some of them have a noticeable impact on visuals and performance. It’s best to test these in-game by pressing F10 to open the ORC settings menu. Use your arrow keys to navigate to the Effects and Shaders sections, then toggle different effects with the [ and ] keys and see how it affects your game. To save the settings, use the left Alt key.
Below are a few of my preferred tweaks:
[Main] AnisotropicFilter = 16 [Shaders] TerrainLOD = 0 ; Causes issues for me Shadows = 0 ; Too dark and buggy, in my opinion Terrain = 0 ; I prefer the original effect [Effects] Bloom = 1 Cinema = 0 Precipitations = 0 Fog = 1 Specular = 0 DistantBlur = 0 ; Enabling just volumetric fog (Fog = 1) looks better to me
Most of these settings are self-explanatory, so I haven’t included detailed descriptions. Experiment until you find what works best for you.

That's it; the rest of the OBSE plugins don't require any additional configuration.
Installing DXVK
DXVK allows to translate DirectX 9 API calls used by older games like Oblivion into modern Vulkan API calls, optimizing performance by leveraging multi-core CPUs for better GPU utilization. This can lead to significant performance boosts in old games.

You can download DXVK from here[www.nexusmods.com]. After downloading, simply place the d3d9.dll and dxvk.conf files in your game’s folder (the same folder as the game’s .exe).

Alternatively, you can install files through MO2 the same way as before (through the 'Root' subfolder).
Applying LAA Patch
By default, Oblivion is limited to about 1.8GB of RAM address space, and once it reaches that limit, you can expect a crash to desktop (CTD). However, there's now a way to increase this limit to 3.5GB using the LAA Patch, also known as the 4GB Patch (LAA stands for Large Address Aware).

Download it here[ntcore.com].

After downloading, extract the archive and run the included executable. Select the game's executable path and click "Open". A prompt confirming successful patching will appear; click "OK". The patch automatically creates a backup of the patched Oblivion.exe inside the game folder. If you're using MO2 with the Root Builder plugin, this backup may cause issues. Move it to another location or add an exclusion rule "*.Backup" in the Root Builder settings.
Adding Controller Support (Optional)
NorthernUI[www.nexusmods.com] is a mod that modernizes Oblivion’s interface with a look inspired by Skyrim and SkyUI, featuring an optional SkyUI-style Alchemy menu and robust controller support. It also provides engine fixes - such as improved menu art and better save-file handling - and can work alongside other mods for a smoother experience.

If you only want controller support and prefer the original UI, download "NorthernUIAway (Vanilla Style)" from the Files section, then install it with Mod Organizer 2 or copy the files directly into your Oblivion folder. Then open OBSE\Plugins\NorthernUI.ini and further adjust the settings - such as disabling any features you don’t need.
Adding 3D Positional Audio Support (Optional)
True 3D Sound for Headphones (HRTF mod)[www.nexusmods.com] is a mod that adds immersive 3D positional audio to Oblivion, enabling accurate directional sound in a full 360-degree space, letting you distinguish sounds coming from front, behind, above, or below. It also optionally provides support for up to 7.0 speaker setups or enables EAX 4.0 effects in compatible games. Install either manually or with Mod Organizer 2 using a 'root' subfolder.
Using ENBSeries (Optional)
ENBSeries is a post-processing injector that enhances graphics with effects like ambient occlusion, depth of field, bloom, and improved lighting. It works by wrapping the game's DirectX 9 layer. If you want to use it (I personally don't), some setup is required to make it compatible with DXVK.

By default, ENBSeries and DXVK conflict since both rely on d3d9.dll. However, there’s a simple workaround:
  • Rename the d3d9.dll file from DXVK (from the previous step) to d3d9_dxvk.dll.
    If you're using MO2 with Root Builder, the folder structure for DXVK will look like this:
  • Next, download ENBSeries for Oblivion[enbdev.com]. Extract it and copy all files from the WrapperVersion subfolder into your game’s root folder.
    Alternatively, you can install it in MO2 the same way as before, using the Root subfolder.
  • Then open enbseries.ini and edit the following section:
    [PROXY] EnableProxyLibrary=true ProxyLibrary=d3d9_dxvk.dll

That’s it! Just keep in mind that ENBSeries effects may conflict with Oblivion Reloaded’s shaders. Since I don’t personally use ENB, I can't offer specific advice - feel free to experiment and see what works for you.
Using DXWrapper (Optional)
DxWrapper is a .dll file designed to wrap DirectX files and resolve compatibility issues in older games. We'll use it to enable improved error handling, similar to how NVAC - New Vegas Anti-Crash[www.nexusmods.com] works for Fallout: New Vegas. If you experiencing frequent crashes, it might help with some of them. If you don't, I'd recommend you to skip this section, as some believe it may corrupt your saves.

Download the latest version of DXWrapper[github.com] (dxwrapper.zip). Unpack the archive and copy the winmm.dll from the 'Stub' subfolder, as well as dxwrapper.dll and dxwrapper.ini, to your game folder (next to the game exe file).

If you're using MO2 with Root Builder, you can alternatively install it there instead of copying directly to the game folder. This is done by creating an empty mod (right-click in the mod list -> All mods -> Create empty mod above -> Name it -> A new mod will appear in the list; right-click on it and select 'Ignore missing data,' then right-click again and choose 'Open in Explorer'). Copy the mentioned DXWrapper files into the 'Root' subfolder of this mod like this:


Open dxwrapper.ini with a text editor and set the following values:
DisableGameUX = 1 HandleExceptions = 1
You can read here[github.com] what they do.
BSA Decompressing (Optional)
Download Oblivion BSA Decompressor[www.nexusmods.com].

From the description: "BSA files are archives used to store game assets, they can be both compressed and uncompressed. Back when Oblivion was released in 2006 for old generation consoles the overall size occupied by the game mattered so vanilla BSA archives use zlib compression to reduce overall assets size on the disk. However, assets need to be decompressed by the game on the go which takes extra time leading to longer loading times and additional stutter when moving in exterior worldspaces while cells being loaded in background.

BSA Decompressor recreates BSA archives without zlib compression, so the game is limited only by your hardware disk system performance. All vanilla assets remain in uncompressed BSA archives."

Run the decompressor and point it to the Oblivion installation folder.
Plugin Decompressing (Optional)
There's the same thing as above but for game plugins (esp, esm). You can read about it here[www.nexusmods.com].
Tweaking Oblivion.ini (Optional)
Oblivion.ini is the main configuration file for Oblivion, controlling graphics, audio, and gameplay settings including those you can change in-game - such as draw distance, shadow quality, and memory usage - so you can fine-tune how the game runs behind the hood.

If you’re using Mod Organizer 2 (MO2), your Oblivion.ini is stored in the game instance folder (not in Documents) and can be accessed here:

Many values in this file are undocumented or non-functional, but you can find details on some of them here[en.uesp.net].

Check BethINI[www.nexusmods.com].

Feel free to experiment, and I may add more recommended settings later.
Mods You DON'T Need When Using This Guide
These mods are superseded and redundant when using the setup from this guide:
  • Oblivion Display Tweaks[www.nexusmods.com]
    Fixes stuttering, high-FPS issues, FOV, and alt-tab crashes. Redundant with Oblivion Reloaded Combined.
  • Menu Alt-Tab Crash Fix[www.nexusmods.com]
    Prevents crashes when alt-tabbing from menus. Redundant with Oblivion Reloaded Combined.
  • Oblivion Stutter Remover[www.nexusmods.com]
    Reduces stuttering and stabilizes performance. Redundant with Oblivion Reloaded Combined.
  • Oblivion Stutter Remover Optimized[www.nexusmods.com]
    Updated stutter remover optimized for modern multi-core PCs. Redundant with Oblivion Reloaded Combined.
  • MoreHeap[www.nexusmods.com]
    Increases Oblivion's memory allocation to improve stability. Redundant with Oblivion Reloaded Combined.
  • Oblivion - Enhanced Camera[www.nexusmods.com]
    Shows player’s body in first-person; prevents forced third-person views. Redundant with Oblivion Reloaded Combined.
  • Custom Enhanced Camera[www.nexusmods.com]
    Same as above.
  • WalkBlessed OBSE Plugin (diagonal move)[www.nexusmods.com]
    Enables diagonal movement, introduces a Skyrim-style vanity camera, improves bow aiming animations, and lets you customize camera positioning. It’s mostly redundant with Oblivion Reloaded Combined (ORC), which offers similar features - except for the improved aiming animation and free camera rotation outside of combat. If you choose to use this mod instead of ORC’s built-in patch, remember to set DiagonalMovement=0 in the ORC2_1.ini file. However, doing so will prevent you from seeing your character’s body in first-person view when you enable EnhancedCamera in ORC (ExtCamera=1).
  • Fast Exit[www.nexusmods.com]
    Ensures quick, crash-free game exits. Redundant with Oblivion Reloaded Combined.
  • OneTweak[www.nexusmods.com]
    Adds borderless window mode, fixes cursor issues, manages process priority. Mostly redundant with Oblivion Reloaded Combined; for priority management use CPU Affinity[www.nexusmods.com].
  • Disappearing Grass Fix for Oblivion and Nehrim[www.nexusmods.com]
    Fixes grass disappearance issues. Redundant with Oblivion Reloaded Combined.
  • FOV Modifier[www.nexusmods.com]
    Adjusts Field of View permanently. Redundant with Oblivion Reloaded Combined.
Afterword
When you have installed everything listed above and finished configuring it, you should install all the unofficial patches. This is really a mandatory prerequisite whether you're going to play the vanilla game or install other mods, as they fix thousands of bugs.

After that you can proceed to installing mods that add new content and improve visual aspects if you want. I won't delve into this topic here as it is quite subjective. There are many good guides available for this, for example:

That's it. If you found this guide helpful, I'd really appreciate it if you rate it or leave some feedback in the comments section.

P.S. Sorry for possible mistakes. English is not my native language.
87 Comments
< >
Bermudas 31 May @ 5:05pm 
Answering my previous comment, I followed you Ini Tweaks or ORC and got bat to 75 fps super smooth. I also like the game better with this options as it looks like the original. Thanks, I missed those tweaks the first time.
archer 31 May @ 7:44am 
@Aqvilinus Yes, Oblivion runs & looks great after following your plan. If I might make two suggestions, though:

1. Add a Before You Begin section that just says "If you just installed Oblivion, run the game once to make sure you can get to the Main Menu. Otherwise, if you have an issue, it'll be hard to tell if the problem occurred when installing the mods or if there was a problem in the base install of Oblivion."

2. Add a Troubleshooting section for common problems that people report. For instance, multiple people have reported experiencing the problem I had (Oblivion crashing almost immediately because SArchiveList is not populated), but I didn't see any responses to them. Also useful: where to find the log files when crashes occur.

And as for English not being your native language: I wouldn't have known without reading your P.S, so don't worry on that part.
archer 30 May @ 6:25pm 
Found it: SArchiveList in Oblivion.ini only had the Oblivion - Invalidation.bsa file. Not sure how that happened, as I didn't edit that file...
archer 30 May @ 3:25pm 
Ok, it looks like Oblivion.exe is trying to load the Oblivion.ini file in Documents\My Games\Oblivion, which disagrees with the section above about Tweaking Oblivion.ini.
archer 30 May @ 7:01am 
Update on my post from ~9 hours ago. It looks like Oblivion.exe is trying to use Data\Menus\strings.xml. My Data directory doesn't even have a Menus directory though. Validating files didn't help.
Bermudas 30 May @ 12:19am 
I was getting stable fps, now I am getting 30fps. I think its Oblivion Reloaded Combined. I dont know which settings to change.

Specs:
Ryen 5600x
RTX 3050
16gb ram
Installed on SSD
archer 29 May @ 9:13pm 
Maybe I bit off more than I can handle, but I tried following these instructions. However, when I run Oblivion, I end up with a crash. Posting a few things from CrashLogger.log:

Exception: EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION (C0000005)
Last Error: The system cannot find the path specified. (00000003)
Thread: MainThrd

================================
Calltrace:
ebp | Function Address | Function Name | Source
0x00000000 | Oblivion (0x0058DC7C) | sub_58DBD0+0xAC |

================================

Registry:
edi | 0x00A691D8 | 0x61746144 ==> String: "Data\Menus\strings.xml"
The other registers are blank.

Anyone have a suggestion?
Ichmal 27 May @ 3:59am 
thanks for the 4gb patch guide! was finding some working ones
EOX95 11 May @ 2:31pm 
Understood, thank you so much for the guide :steamthumbsup:
Aqvilinus  [author] 11 May @ 2:22pm 
It’s greyed out because the game is running in borderless-window mode, and the in-game brightness slider only works in exclusive fullscreen mode. You can disable borderless-window mode in the ORC settings, but I don’t recommend it - adjust brightness through your graphics driver’s control panel or your monitor instead.