Striker879

The number in the center of the mini-game wheel is they're current disposition towards your character. The majority of the time you'll be trying to get that number higher. With merchants that will allow you to push them to giving you better prices for loot you're selling and lower prices for goods they're selling using the Haggle mini-game (bring along lots of cheap stuff for that ... iron arrows or flax etc. and then sell one at a time and keep edging the slider up a notch at a time 'til they squeal). So for merchants it's always play the speechcraft mini-game first until you have their disposition maxed and then haggle the heck out of them. If you also pay attention to how an NPC reacts to the two less extreme reaction choices (the small smile and slight frown) and try to match an appropriate pie size for that click as well you can make faster progress at increasing their disposition. I find it hard to tell the less extreme reactions on their faces so mostly I just ignore those and only concentrate on getting the largest pie on their like (big smile) and smallest pie on their strong dislike. I don't tend to bribe, so I'm not sure how that one affects the overall goal of getting the center number higher. A quick look at the UESP Wiki for bribery doesn't lead me to anything worth linking (but it does provide some more info on disposition in general). When I say 'the majority of the time you'll be trying to get that number higher' I'm implying that it is possible to lower an NPC's disposition towards you using the mini-game. For most NPCs there's not much purpose in trying to do so (unless you like seeing them scowl whenever your character is nearby) as they have a low aggression assigned to them. If their disposition number is more than 5 points lower than their aggression number they'll initiate a fight. If you're in Leyawiin and feel like stirring the pot a little find Cingor (he's usually wandering around). Play the mini-game only in reverse, clicking the biggest pie piece on his strong dislike and smallest on his like. Get his disposition down to 9 or less. When you close the mini-game after that final round get ready to rumble (or stand back and see if maybe you'll get a chance to score some free Leyawiin city watch armor after Cingor kills one of the city watch ... I have all kinds of personal 'mini-games', e.g. bring along a convalescence spell and keep him buffed while he does your 'dirty work'). Don't fret over him dying ... he'll likely attack you later when you're doing the Main Quest anyway ... you're just getting him a bit ahead of schedule.

The order you click on the Admire, Joke, Coerce and Boast sections will be determined by which section has the appropriately sized pie piece in it currently. For example if my 'hover check' shows that an NPC likes (smiles) when I hover over Boast and dislikes (sneers) when I hover over Joke (with Admire and Coerce being one of the lesser reactions) but the pie pieces started out with one of the smaller ones at Boast and one of the larger ones at Joke I'd click on one of the other two (either Admire or Coerce whichever had a more appropriate sized piece at the time). When I click the pie slices rotate which may now put either the largest one on Boast or smallest one on Joke. When i see one of the best sized pie pieces on one of the highest or lowest reaction options I click it. Sometimes you'll use the rotate button to either avoid having to click a bad sized slice on your final click (e.g the larger sized slices on Joke in my example above) but using Rotate isn't required just an option. To complete a round in the mini-game you must click once on each of Admire, Joke, Coerce and Boast in any order. It's a strategy mini-game (as opposed to a dexterity mini-game like that @%^%!&* lockpick mini-game ... guess you can guess which one I prefer).

No problem ... thanks for reporting back with your solution. Having Win XP does have it's advantages (no worries with UAC gumming up the works on you, I'm an XP dinosaur myself). With the exception of your CPU being a bit quicker and video card a bit newer our systems are comparable. Enjoy the game and mods.

If you and Gnat are talking about how to 'play' the speechcraft mini-game I can help, but it may be easier for you at first if you breakdown and use the mouse until you get a handle on what I'm describing. When you start the persuasion mini-game by clicking the icon with a head from the dialogue menu you're presented with a pie chart with different size 'filled' quadrants. Click the Start button and then hover the mouse pointer over one of the four options (either Admire, Joke, Coerce or Boast). If you move your hover over each in turn without clicking and watch the NPC's face you'll see their individual reaction for each option. The trick is to click a full pie on something they like and an emptier pie on something they don't. When you click on one of the quadrants the filled/unfilled quadrants also rotate. All the while the timer is timing down, resulting in a smaller benefit to getting the 'right' selection (so quickness is somewhat of a benefit as well). What I do after starting the mini-game is make a quick hover check on the four quadrants to see what that NPC likes and dislikes strongly and mostly disregard the two less extreme reactions. Then I try to plan my selections so that when the full pie is on their like I can click it and the emptiest pie is on their dislike I can get that one. The 'Rotate' button gives you one chance to rotate the options one slot around the circle. When you've clicked on four quadrants the mini-game round ends and you'll be able to exit the menu or try again. Once you get the hang of it you won't need to use the 'Bribe' option ... getting their disposition maxed is just a matter of keeping at it until you succeed. There are some quests were the NPC's disposition must be over a certain threshold before you can proceed or get all that they'll tell you. Stemin no matter how this turns out for you I must commend you for your persistence. You don't have an awful lot of 'give up' in you.

I can help with that (actually the UESP Wiki to the rescue again). Shadowmere's BaseID is 00032BF4 (which is what you'll need for the 'placeatme' console command). Something you could try first is the 'moveto' command ... try 'player.moveto 32BF5' (without the quote marks of course). If Shadowmere is still somewhere in the game world that'll move you to her location.

In addition to what is available on the UESP Wiki link for Shadowmere here's what the UESP Wiki says on their Horse Armor Pack page: I use the Horse Armor Pack for the white horse that I use with my old guy. It makes it easy to tell my white horse from Vilja's white horse Bruse, but other than that it doesn't add much value to the game. The vanilla horses are just magnets for the beasts and bandits so I always dismount after getting them out of harms way. Shadowmere being marked essential gains even less by being armored, and in fact if you're determined to have her armored there's plenty of gotchas waiting to bite you. I'd go with Shadowmere au natural myself (hopefully you have a previous save from before you slapped armor on her).

I am by no stretch of the imagination a load order/mod conflict expert (more like a neophyte), but have you tried disabling the DLCHorseArmor - Unofficial Patch.esp to see if it makes any difference? I'm not sure of what all the changes OOO makes, and you would think that if it caused problems with the DLC Horse Armor it would be widely reported but I don't see anything else in your list that I could suggest as something to try. If nobody else can see anything to suggest you're down to the old tried and true 'disable half your mods' method. It's a pain, but will help narrow down the list. I'd suggest doing the overhauls and calling that 'one half'. If the problem persists then disable half the remaining mods. Rinse and repeat until you're down to the DLCs. Can't think of much else at the time. On taking another glance through the list, what does the CURP_Controller.esm do (don't see a corresponding esp file)?

The only thing that comes to mind for me that could be the problem is mod conflict, but perhaps someone else has another suggestion. I have one mod that I use that might have an effect like you describe ... you don't by any chance use NPCs Yield?

Shadowmere is marked essential so she can't be killed, just knocked unconscious. The UESP Wiki page for Shadowmere mentions a number of issues around Shadowmere and the Horse Armor DLC, but nothing resembling your problem. That would make me tend towards mod conflict being the problem.

Here's a quote from the UESP Wiki on Skills (emphasis added):

Could be a number of things. First we'll need more information. 1) Operating system (Windows 7, Vista or Windows XP) 2) Install location for the game (C:\Program Files or C:\Games) 3) Do you have Shivering Isles installed 4) Version of the game (shown on the bottom left corner of the menu screen when you start the game ... should be 1.2.0416) 5) Does the game work without any mods installed 6) Are you using any utilities (e.g. Oblivion Script Extender) The problem could be rooted in any of those, or a combination of those, or something else altogether but those are the things we'll need to find out first.

True enough Ghoulz ... that's one of the results of not doing it exactly right (which is also why I was sure to point out that there are pitfalls to watch for).

Not sure if you've seen the CS Wiki for Console Commands. Have a look at 'showclassmenu' (down in the third section near the bottom). It has similar warnings as 'showracemenu' (the one that most people are prone to tinker with ... and cause themselves problems). Both have very specific ways you need to save the changes or you'll bork your skill settings. I tried a custom class when I started my new guy. The old guy was cursed with 'double warrior' (birthsign and class) and I wanted to avoid his leveling pitfalls. Even with my 'careful planning' I have trouble getting what I want trained up for leveling. Like you I want +5 on Endurance and Strength, with alternating level-ups +5 on Intelligence and Willpower (health, carrying capacity and casting ability). I was trying to keep little used skills as major but wanted to have one skill from each attribute. That doesn't work (at least in vanilla leveling). My next guy will have a custom class with as few as possible major skills from the Endurance, Strength, Intelligence and Willpower attributes and I'll see if that helps. And then there's the Athletics/Acrobatics problem ... can't have either of them as a major, no way of avoiding training them up. Oh ya, what about Luck ... would be nice to give it some lovin' come level-up. Endless compromise. That's why the game has replayability.

If you look you'll notice that for each save with the .obse extension there's a corresponding save with the extension .ess (e.g. if you have a save named MySave.ess there will also be a save named MySave.obse). The reason for this is that Oblivion Script Extender (OBSE) stores information it needs in the smaller .obse save file. You shouldn't delete just the .obse file and then try to load the .ess file that goes with it. If you're deleting saves always do them in pairs (in other words delete both MySave.ess and MySave.obse). Like I said I doubted that the 'coc center' trick would help, but it was worth a try. There's not much else I can think to try.

It won't help your current situation but quicksave is a known corrupter of save files. Either use save from the Esc menu or named saves via the console. I doubt it will help your corrupted saves, but you could try the 'coc center' trick and see if it helps. Open the console (use the tilde (~) key right below the Esc key on standard keyboards) and type 'coc center' (without the quote marks) and then hit Enter. You'll be transported to an open plain with a few trees visible in the distance. Use the wait function to wait 72 hours plus a bit more (three full days and then a little longer). Open the console again and then 'coc weye' (or another location if you know the correct location code). Go back to your problem area and see if it's working (I tend to not use fast travel, especially when troubleshooting ... your mileage may differ).

I agree on the nice to have wireless (though my desktop keyboard is still wired I couldn't go back to a wired mouse). After reading through your Skyrim thread you may find Koroush Ghazi's explanation of the 'max pre-rendered frames' helpful: Oblivion Tweak Guide [Page 13] Neat Stuff & Conclusion. I wonder if a setting of 2 or 1 may be worth a try. Considering that you're having the same issue with a new controller makes my idea that your controller may be failing a no go. Looking through my own Oblivion.ini [Controls] section I see only one entry related to deadzone ... iXenonMenuStickDeadZone=15000. Have you tried any other values for that variable?

Do you have someone you could borrow the same make and model of controller from to test if their's shows the same characteristics? What I'm wondering is whether your controller is starting to show problems with it's potentiometers (I've had wheels in the past that started to show a similar symptom when they were ready to retire).

I know you confirmed a long time back that you do have SI installed ... just wondered do you have the 'Found a strange door' entry in your quest log?

To help alleviate the 'in your face' look in the dialogue screen edit your Oblivion.ini 'fDlgFocus' (found in the [interface] section) to a larger number (mine is fDlgFocus=5.9500 which is almost completely unzoomed). Be aware that if you use the HGEC body without also using a stock clothing/armor replacement mod that converts the vanilla stuff to HGEC compatible you'll notice some weird effects (e.g skin on arms not matching hands, neck seam even more obvious etc.). I wonder if the drifting you're experiencing is related to the way your character and NPCs slide when on uneven ground. The effect is most noticeable on steep slopes but you can get it some places you don't think are that steep (some cave floors for example). Everyone has trouble with the Kvatch gate first time around. It's natural to want to get that amulet delivered and rush right off to Kvatch. Taking a bit of a circuitous route and finding a couple of spots for a 'level-up nap' on your way gives you a chance to buff up a couple of attributes and find some better gear. After my aborted 'all defaults' first swing at the game my first Dunmer character (aka my old guy) delivered the amulet and waited until he was level 6 or seven before going to Kvatch. After closing the Kvatch gate and delivering Martin to Cloud Ruler I didn't touch the main quest again until I was head of the Fighter's and Mage's guilds. That's the beauty of the game ... complete freedom on what you do next. When you leave an NPC character's quest hanging for a long time and then go back to it they're completely oblivious to the passage of time. Sounds to me like the two of you should be poster guys for wireless keyboard and mouse setups ... lounging on the couch, controller in hand with keyboard and mouse next to you. "Honey, can you bring me a drink ... if I get up it will move the mouse!"

The trick to knowing which tower is the Sigil tower is looking for the one that shows a bright red vertical window near the top. Your next problem will usually be how to I get there from here ... sometimes tunnels, sometimes open gates from the top of other towers, never a short distance or easy path. And when you get your athletics and acrobatics buffed up, sometimes just jump across the lava (i.e. shortcut). Sounds like you're at least getting a bit of time in the game Stemin.

Are you looking for your save files (found in Users\[username]\Documents\My Games\Oblivion\Saves for Vista and Win 7 or Documents and Settings\[username]\My Documents\My Games\Oblivion\Saves for Win XP) or are you looking for esp files you've created in the Construction Set? If it's the later and you're running either Vista or Windows 7 you could be running afoul of UAC if you installed the game in C:\Program Files or C:\Program Files (x86). Esp files must always be in the Oblivion\Data folder for the game to find them.

I have a tendency to ask about UAC as soon as I see Win 7/Vista mentioned ... just one of those things I like to find out sooner rather than later. Here's a quote from a post DrakeTheDragon made recently: I'll try to find the thread and post a link. - Edit - That wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Mismatching Hand and Body Textures ... Drake's post is #3.

I wonder if you could be suffering from UAC (User Account Control) related problems. Installing the game and it's associated utilities in C:\Program Files or C:\Program Files (x86) is not recommended.

On your always run question, you will find that as your character's speed attribute increases your running speed will increase. When I'd switch between my old character and new character early in the new guy's 'life' I felt like I was crawling everywhere. Now that the new guy's buffed his speed a bit I don't notice much difference. In the vanilla game using mouse and keyboard you have only four directions you can go with the keyboard (forward, back left and right) but an infinite control of direction when combined with where you're looking with the mouse. Horseback took some getting used to as you only look around with the mouse and control direction using WASD. Were it not for the fact that in the vanilla game you need to get off the horse for all combat it makes a nice way to travel as you can go one way but look another (within limitations). I remember well my first attempt at the Kvatch gate ... I'd picked all the defaults when creating my character. A level one or two Imperial who does not have any prior experience playing the game is just scamp bait. Try a dark elf character when you're starting out ... their 75% resist fire comes in handy when in Oblivion.

By "both patches" are you referring to the official patches or the unofficial patches?