GetOutOfBox

PROTIP: Delete the Data folder after uninstalling, the Oblivion uninstall does not clear the data folder of non-Bethseda files (aka mods). It also does not delete the Oblivion ini. When installing the game, make sure you install the patch appropriate to the games region. If it's a British bought game (do you live in Britain/bought it used?) install the UK patch, if it's a North American game, install the North American Patch, etc. Usually the patching utility won't install into games if they do not match it's localization files, but I've had it sometimes install anyways. If you install a UK patch into an American game (and vice-versa), you will get glitches/crashes.

In addition to what HeyYou said, set "iShadowFilter" (without quotes) in the Oblivion ini file, to 10. This will probably have a sizeable impact on performance if you have an old PC, but it's the only way to fix jagged self-shadows.

I assume you installed those mods before starting the game (both you and your brother), as installing a bunch of mods and attempting to use a vanilla save file is just asking for crashes.

Did you install the game to the same folder as Oblivion? Shivering Isles is not actually a separate game, but a large DLC. Hence it needs to be installed into Oblivion's Data folder (though if the installer asks for the Oblivion directory, select Oblivion's directory rather than the Data directory).

What do you mean by "squares"? Do you mean the sky's textures are divided into squares (furthermore, do you mean the skies texture is tiling, or is it cut into square shapes?), or is the sky's geometry is divided into squares?

Actually, Oblivion does have Crossfire/SLI support, the question is whether it was done efficiently. As we're all are painfully aware of, Oblivion is one of the worst optimized games there is. Computers that easily run Crysis struggle with Oblivion, despite the fact it's a 5 year old game. Also, games do not necessarily need to be explicitly designed to utilize Crossfire, the driver can force multi-GPU processing in Alternate-Frame-Rendering Mode (One GPU renders even frames, the other GPU renders odd frames), though unfortunately that is not as efficient as "Scissors" or "Checkerboard" rendering methods (Scissors splits each frame in half, one GPU renders one half, the other renders the other half. The resulting output is then recombined and outputted to the monitor. Checkerboard is similar, except the scene is split into chunks rather than simply being divided in half). It should also be noted that for those of you that use the "Flip Queue" tweak in ATI Tray Tools described in the Tweakguides article for Oblivion, do not reduce the flip queue below the default when rendering Oblivion in Crossfire mode. Since AFR depends on the Flip Queue to work, if you disable it, you will not see any benefit from crossfire in games that use AFR/driver forced.

I'm considering a video card update, but I'm torn between replacing my current video card with one that has 2GB of VRAM (other than that, they're pretty much the same. Still 2GB of VRAM will allow for much greater room for high-res texture mods). Now, theoretically Crossfire will give a much greater increase in performance here (since I already have 1GB of VRAM, which is sufficient for modded Oblivion). Still, we all remember how terrible Crossfire support was back when the game first came out, due to poor drivers and the lack of a Crossfire profile for Oblivion. Now that was years ago, the Catalyst drivers have gotten much, much better since then, and Oblivion's had a Crossfire profile for a few years now. Still, due to Oblivion's notoriety for poor optimization video card reviewers have long since stopped using it in benchmarks. So before I decide on my purchase, I'd be really grateful to hear the experiences of anyone who has 2 or more ATI video cards Crossfired. In comparison to single card performance, how much of an improvement was there? Please only post if you have a card from the Radeon 4000 series or above, preferably the 5000/6000 series, since I'm deciding between adding another Radeon 6870 or selling my current one and purchasing a Radeon 6950. If you experienced and still experience issues with Oblivion on a Crossfire rig, please post them as well. Detailed reviews containing an approximate average FPS difference and stuttering (or the lack of it) would be highly appreciated.

To me, the comparison is hardly clearcut. Tell me how exactly this is not clear cut: As you can see I covered about every aspect there is too cover. All of your questions were answered in the above post, except for the extremely obvious question "How do you determine artistic intelligence" which doesn't even deserve an answer. How many chimps have you seen produce something like a Van Gogh or Tom Thomson painting? How many have designed architecture such as that of Saint Peter's Basilica or the Taj Mahal?

Calm down, I was just saying how it sounded, and I don't know how I can get any clearer than what I wrote in my last post, I answered your first question, in detail too.

The link in my 1st reply say's it all :) Basically, human's are more intelligent in every aspect except photographic memory. And no, by "child geniuses" I don't mean just children with Savant Syndrome, which refers to people with developmental disorders(s) who have one or several abilities in which they greatly excel in, which contrasts with the other limitations caused by the disorder(s) (i.e some autistic people have certain areas in which they excel greatly in, though their social abilities are greatly limited). A person can be brilliant at an early age without nesssarily having contrasting mental disorders. I don't know if this was really what you were trying to do, but it kind of sounds like you were trying to sound smart by using a more technical and (incorrect) alternative for the phrase "child genius". No offense if I'm wrong, but it just was a strange thing to say, kind of like if someone was talking about light and I said "by light do you mean photons?". Just saying, in case you didn't realize how that sounded :).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimpanzee#Intelligence They are certainly intelligent, but for example, toddler's are capable of using complex human languages (though mastering their language takes a few years), are able to create and utilize complex tools (chimpanzee's do show a remarkable use of tools compared to the rest of the animal kingdom, but the average human toddler can create and use much more complex tools, some "child geniuses" have been known to demonstrate amazing inventive abilities), even toddlers are capable of extensive abstract thought (for those that aren't aware, abstract thought is basically creating/comprehending concepts that are not rooted in simple observation, i.e systems of government, physics (yes, you can observe many of the laws of physics, for example, a dog is likely aware that objects fall when there is nothing to support them in the air (gravity), but Dog's do not likely consider the reason for this.), religion, etc. The one thing that chimpanzee's appear to have much more developed than us is photographic memory, they appear to be capable of remembering images that are only shown to them for an extremely brief period of time, in fact, a chimpanzee named Ayumu was capable of remembering an image displayed on a computer screen that was only visible for a quarter of a second, which the worlds memory grand champion (I did not give him that title, lol, wikipedia) was unable to do most of the attempts.

"No smarter than" means they are either as smart or less smart. It does not just mean "just as smart", it could, but you assumed that's what I meant, which I clearly explained later I didn't. What you're failing to grasp is that the evolution involved in a race eventually forming, say, a civilization, is not a species just getting stronger and smarter, its a species branching off to form new species. If, for example, wolves eventually formed a civilization (or more appropriately the descendants of wolves) the resulting species would be much different than the wolves we know of today. The other issue is that you are making the assumption that evolution has an ultimate goal (i.e sentience) that all species are heading towards, some faster than others. This is not true, as evolution is simply the process in which a race adapts to its environment (alternatively sometimes various random genetic mutations over time can produce a new species). If an equilibrium already exists in that environment, its unlikely that a member of that ecozone will evolve to possess a higher degree of intelligence or strength. Humans amazingly sophisticated intelligence is likely a result of both natural evolution and variou genetic mutations over time. So, it's not only incorrect to say that millions of years from now wolves will form a civilization, as whatever descendants of wolves that do form that civilization would be a different species. It's also very rare for a species as highly intelligent as humans to form (as demonstrated by the fact that there are only a few species possessing both sophisticated intelligence and sentience, with humans very much farther ahead than the others), so its unlikely that a race that show's no sign of evolving in the way you're proposing would ever become intelligent enough to create a civilization later. TL;DR: You're seeing order where there is only chaos.

Performance depends on the monitor resolution and whether or not you plan on using tons of CPU intensive mods. No offense, but those specs most definitely do not belong to a new computer, most of the components are several years old, in fact, that CPU was already old(ish) when Oblivion came out. Based on your specs, I would not expect great performance, 2GB of RAM running at 133 mhz (the DDR2 533 clock rate), a low end motherboard, and an old CPU. And unless you're getting a really good deal on that 9800GT, I don't know why you wouldn't bother buying a new graphics card with better performance at the same price, maybe even less. Basically, your entire computer is around 5 years old, so I don't know how you got it "new". When it comes to Oblivion, a newer CPU won't make much of a difference (it will with many applications and other games that have better support for multithreading), but you should have at least 4GB of RAM, rated at at least DDR2 800. I suggest a newer video card than the 9800GT, as you can purchase newer and better cards for the same price you'd end up paying for the 9800GT, unless you found someone willing to practically give it away.

I think you experienced a logic fail, as the meaning of the phrase "chimpanzee's are less intelligent than human toddlers" does not equal "chimpanzee's are as smart as human toddler's" which is what you seem to be saying. A human toddler is practically a genius compared to a chimpanzee, and even if chimps were as smart as a toddler, there intelligence still won't improve through evolution for a very long time, as in thousands and thousands of years, perhaps a few hundred thousand. And claiming that there one of the known species of animals will just spontaneously (don't bother saying "I know it won't be instantly", we're talking at least a few hundred thousand years before any current species other than humans reaches an intelligence sophisticated enough to form a civilization) form a civilization is pseudo-science. You're basing your theories off of assumptions that have no credible evidence to support them, hence they're pseudo-science.

In my opinion, free speech should mean the ability to intelligently and discreetly discus any opinion whether it is moral or not. I don't believe that it should extend to allowing crazy wackjobs like this guy (apparently he's put up Aryan nations flags over his house, handed out bullet shells to kids claiming he ran out of candy, etc) to mindlessly disparage and threaten another group of people who did nothing to incite such hatred. Racism is a dated, illogical hatred fueled by people to weak to accept responsibility for issues that they blame solely on another "race" (i.e muslims, black people, etc). There is no room for it in today's world, if humans are to continue bettering ourselves, we must leave behind such pathetic and cruel beliefs.

Ok Mister, you get kudos for that extremely brilliant answer ... after all, who am I to tell a man that he is wrong ? However, having said that ... A man bought his wife a mood ring ... It goes green when I'm in a good mood ... she said, but it leaves a red mark on his forehead when he bothers me ... just some silly humor there ... I think this could be part of it. It would certainly explain part of the reason--beyond catering to the 16-34 male demographic--that badas women are put into skimpy outfits with overinflated boobs. It makes them appear less threatening. It might also account for the number of game mods featuring big boobed bimbos. Even though she's the Nerevarine/helps defeat Mehrunes Dagon/saves the world, she's far less threatening--therefore more appealing to some--in stelettos and sporting H-cups. I just knew this topic would start filling up with the ultra feminist girls and apologetic guys ironically making claims of woman's superiority over man. I agree that women are equally as capable as males, if not in different ways (lets not dispute the fact that male anatomy in humans is designed to be stronger than females, there isn't anything sexist about that, it's simply a fact), but to say that women are superior to men is just hypocritical after women have been fighting for equality with men for the last century. To go ahead and start claiming that they are superior completely undermines the male/female equality cause.

It's not so much that the sight of a woman in a bikini bothers me (maybe in a different way if you get my drift ;) ), it's just that all of the attention seems to go to those mods, when much better mods are ignored. Think of it like this, type tesnexus into google search and wait to see the suggested keywords. The second one is always "tesnexus sexlivion". That's pathetic. Even if the only way for you to get off is to watch an argonian boning a male orc, there are much better mods than Sexlivion out there. The fact that the most searched mod in connection with tesnexus is a mod that adds a mini game where the main goal is to basically bang women and collect the semen produced from the couplings so you can get "special products" in exchange for them, really shows what a great modding community there is for games like tesnexus.

Video games don't sway my beliefs in anything. For example, I enjoy playing GTA or having evil characters in oblivion, but I would never even consider killing prostitutes or slaying people in their beds in real life, its a game. It allows you to explore different parts of your personality without harming or bothering anyone(i.e the dark side, everyone has that carnal human buried under the sophisticated modern human personalities), but if a video game changes your perception or beliefs in reality (assuming that the video game did not bring credible 3rd party references for concepts in the video game, i.e the plot in the video game involved Quantum Physics, which you were previously unaware of, so you read some articles about quantum physics and that changed your perspective of things is exempted from what I'm about to say), than you probably have a psychological disorder, such as schizophrenia. The same goes for video games portrayal of women, I base my opinions and beliefs about women on IRL experiences, not fictional characters. I love how its popular to hate on your own race, so many people seem to feel some sort of gratification when they condemn humans for their shortcomings. Just keep in mind that we are a race more powerful than any seen before on this planet, clearly demonstrated by our technology and lifestyles. Even the most dumb (dumb as in low IQ, but not mentally handicapped) people are still much more intelligent than Chimpanzee's, who are the second most intelligent species currently known.

I agree with you on that, this thread would make more sense if we were simply talking which races would likely survive a cataclysm/creatures with the largest population (which would arguably be bacteria)

I don't mind mods that don't exactly follow game lore, but I think it's pathetic when all of the "Hot Files" on tesnexus are repeatably just HGEC clothes, hentai cosmetics, etc, since I personally find bondage costumes extremely immersion breaking. I'm sure a lot of people will rage when I say that the existence of those mods just supports the "PC gamers are nerds who can't get girlfriends" stereotype.

I don't see wolves invading the Gobi Dessert if humans living in that area left. That's just overcomplicating things. Ummm...ok, I don't see how it doesn't make sense. It's a perfectly logical question to see what animal would most likely replace us in terms of a new civilization. I don't understand what's so confusing about that. No one ever said it had to happen right away, and yes our civilization would have to disappear first in order for a new species to rise to power since it is us who is hendering that progress. That is absoultely false. There are animals that are capable of evolving into the ability to rule the world, they just didn't have enough time to do so because we beat them to the punch (Or so the theory go's). Humans and primates are not the only creatures to produce abstract thought either; some of the animals mentioned here are well capable of doing it. No animal has ever been known to show even the most remote interest in world domination, its unlikely any animals currently known can even conceive the idea of there being a world beyond their ecozone (aka territory; the area the remain in). Even Chimpanzee's, the 2nd most intelligent species, are less intelligent than Human toddlers. Most animals can even be recognised as conscious, a majority of organisms on the planet exhibit autonomous behavior, some don't even have a central nervous system, or a highly underdeveloped brain (i.e insects, crustaceans, etc). Basically what you and a majority of people in this thread seem to believe, is that many animals are right on the verge of intelligence equal to or more than ours, and that only our current position as the superior race is preventing them from assuming their roles as rulers of the planet. This is fundamentally incorrect, as even primates such as chimpanzees, well refuted for their high intelligence and social cognition, are much less sophisticated than humans. People tend to misinterpret high social cognitive abilities as sophisticated intelligence. For example, Dogs are well known for their strong social connection to humans, generally being able to understand various basic human behaviors and gestures. This does not mean they are an intelligent species, it simply means that a certain aspect of their intelligence is (relatively) sophisticated, they still have vastly inferior development in areas such as abstract reasoning, planning, temporal cognition, and communication (when dogs bark/whine, etc, they are not "speaking" to each other in the sense of a language, they are simply conveying basic emotions, i.e anger, fear, dominance, subservience, pleasure, etc). The fact remains that few species are even evolving in the direction that humans did (high intelligence), and those few are still hundreds of thousands of years (at least around 150 000 years)away from possibly reaching the development we're at. None of the races would just spontaneously become intelligent and start ruling the world, they would likely continue on as they have for the last few hundred thousand years, eating, s***ing, mating, dieing. (arguably humans do that as well, but we do other things too ;) ) P.S Don't use "that's just complicating things" as a counter-argument, then proceed to write a long TL;DR post based on pseudo-science. Kind of hypocritical. Just saying.

That makes no sense, you're saying that it's proven that every time humans leave an area, wolves are guaranteed to replace humans in the area? I don't see wolves invading the Gobi Dessert if humans living in that area left. Wolves possess a good deal of social intelligence, though I would not say they are phenomenally intelligent. In fact, dogs have more developed social cognition than wolves, when it comes to inter-species communication. This whole topic really doesn't make sense, since like I said, there are no known races that will just suddenly take over the world if we were to be destroyed, there's no reason why animal behavior would suddenly so drastically change just because of the eradication of humans, and no currently known species are intelligent enough to even conceive the concept of ruling the world, let alone doing it. Humans and some primates are the only known races to demonstrate abstract thought, a critical element in our success as a species.

And yet CO2 concentrations are well above the natural maxima. Nothing natural would cause a sudden spike like that. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3162/2787258705_9aa0c3b717.jpg hence the "I agree that humans have had a negative impact on the climate in recent years" part at the very beginning of the quote from me in your post.

http://mechanicalforex.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/time_paradox.jpg hint: IV = 4

Well I believe in past lives and that single celled organism thingy really sucked and I don't wanna go back and have to start over. :sad: don't really believe in past lives ;D lol you had me going there for a second xD.