GameBanshee Forums

Hi,

Have tried searching this site and elsewhere but no-one seems to have had this problem - apologies if I just haven't searched correctly. Also apologies for the very long post, but thought it best to describe in full. Would be very grateful if someone could advise re issue experienced.

Basic System details - Pentium Core 2 duo 3.16 x 2, 3.5Gb Ram, Nvidia Geforce 9500 GT 512MB; using Windows XP with SP3.

Installed mods/patches - all DLC, plus the key 'Unofficial' patches for all content, plus Quest Award Leveller (covering all DLC) and Max_Abilities_Modifier. The last two mods were added after leaving the tutorial section, but I don't think they should have affected anything re display. Was running game on modest settings (1024x768 res, minimal AA, Bloom - NB Oblivion advised lowest settings but I think that was because it didn't properly recognise the card).

I experienced no problems during the tutorial section, and had loaded a save from the previous (1st!) day of playing. Was wandering down a hill fairly close to where you come out from the end of the tutorial, and suddenly the display became squashed, with large black borders appearing on both left and right, and the game display in the middle (about a third of the total screen, and was so elongated that scenery at the top and bottom was no longer on screen.

This remained the same after exiting, with the bottom buttons ('Start' / system tray etc) no longer visible, although I could click on them by moving the cursor 'below' the bottom and using a bit of guesswork.

Tried amending the resolution but this didn't make any difference. Tried rebooting (hard reboot I think) but still same. Tried system restore, but still same. Then after another restart or two, it fixed itself - for a short while. However I started the Oblivion launcher to look at the data files, and not long after it suddenly did the same thing again (note I was NOT in the main game this time - I think I was in the launcher, but can't rememeber now).

Eventually, again after various attempts at system restores/rebooting, it fixed itself again (seems that a number of reboots were required for display correct itself - while it was rebooting, when it was wrong I could see that the display was different, eg a much more obviously grey instead of black screen, and some clipping at top or side as it went through the startup process).

It has remained okay since, but when I tried to relaunch Oblivion it came up with the 'Microsoft has encountered a problem ...' message. I eventually discovered, through trying another game which failed and then running a dxdiag, that the Direct3D had become corrupted (failed all 3 tests). I downloaded the latest driver (I know, should have done this before) and Direct 3D is now working okay. Note - don't think the original problem was due to Direct3D corruption as I managed to launch Oblivion after it happened - probably caused by system restores/reboots etc - was in a bit of a panic ...).

Have now uninstalled and deleted everything to do with Oblivion (including files in 'My Games/Oblivion' folder). Am now afraid to reinstall/play Oblivion and all the DLC etc in case it screws up my display again - might not fix itself next time. Can anyone advise on whether they have come across this, what might have caused it (was it Oblivion or a coincidence), and/or how I might be able to avoid the same happening again.

Thanks very much - I was really excited about playing this game (loved Morrowind too), have invested time and money in it, and don't want to have to give it up ...

Simon

I would reinstall vanilla oblivion and give that a try. Go ahead and install the mods, but uncheck them and turn them on one at a time.

Update

Thanks for the response Picardo.

Since my last post, but before seeing your response, I have reloaded Oblivion and DLC etc but not actually played it yet (just got as far as the launcher). The same thing has still been happening intermittently, while doing completely unrelated things.

I'm therefore wondering whether either Oblivion has caused a permanent problem with some aspect of the computer, or it was pure coincidence and just happened to start while playing Oblivion.

I have uninstalled graphics card driver and reinstalled with latest Nvidia driver, but problem still occurs. The monitor driver is just a plug and play / generic one, but have uninstalled via device manager and rebooted to 'reload' it just in case.

Will see how that goes and update in due course.

If no change, I will uninstall / delete all traces of Oblivion, try reinstalling drivers again and see what happens, but think I may be looking at new monitor or graphics card ...

Update

Still getting problem - seems to occur between daily and once every couple of days. Program usually open when it happens is internet explorer but I don't think this is particularly relevant.

If it is caused by some sort of update issue, would doing a system restore back to say a month ago stop it from happening? If I did this and it still continued then presumably it would be monitor or graphics card malfunction?

Thanks