Steam version of Oblivion will not run on win 8.1?

[Fistandilius]

Did you try verifying the cache in steam to make sure there isn't any faulty files? (btw, if you made any changes to your .ini file it will overwrite them.)

[venusian]

UPDATE:

 

Thanks to 'Shadowlasher's helpful pointers, I've managed to isolate and 'standardize' key aspects of my Steam/Oblivion installation, and correct erroneous folder locations, etc...my saves with my latest character can load with no problems now, however, my Darnified UI fonts now appear waay too large and in thick Bold font...my screen also looks waaay too bright/whitewashed...aaarggh, now I will have to fix that via the Oblivion ini file I think... :ninja: :ninja:

Edited January 10, 2014 by venusian

[Striker879]

Depending on the mods you had installed with your old saves they may or may not work with a vanilla unmodded Oblivion (for example you may just get the missing content warning with an armor or house mod, but will get a missing master crash with a mod that includes an ESM as well as an ESP).

 

If you are determined to use your old saves you first need to start a new game on the completely unmodded vanilla Steam Oblivion and go through the tutorial dungeon as far as the point where you see the sewer exit in the distance (just before you get the character finalization menus). Make a save there ... this will be the save you will use in the future if you ever want to start a new character but don't want to go through the whole tutorial again. Exit the sewer and make another save, not overwriting your first save (overwriting saves is not recommended anyway). This will be your mod testing save. Next go to the Imperial City Market District during the daytime and make sure the game is running smoothly. This will give you a baseline to compare against once you start adding mods. You need to exit the sewer before testing because the game isn't using all of it's resources until you enter the wide world outside the tutorial.

 

Now start adding mods, one at a time and testing using your just outside the sewer exit save. If you add a mod that taxes your system (something like Better Cities) because you have a baseline to compare against you will be able to make informed decisions about what mods to keep and which are not going to work. If you add one mod to a growing list and now the game starts crashing you have a simple task figuring out where to start troubleshooting (add thirty mods at once and then try figuring out where to start ... I see it all the time on here ... good luck).

 

I use a utility called Multiple Oblivion Manager (MOM) to keep separate profiles for different characters (each with his own individual mods). I have a profile dedicated to testing mods, so I never need to risk one of my main characters profiles to an unknown mod. You could load up a profile with the mods required for your old saves and never risk your main game's stability. All it takes is a bit of hard drive space.

[venusian]

Depending on the mods you had installed with your old saves they may or may not work with a vanilla unmodded Oblivion (for example you may just get the missing content warning with an armor or house mod, but will get a missing master crash with a mod that includes an ESM as well as an ESP).

 

If you are determined to use your old saves you first need to start a new game on the completely unmodded vanilla Steam Oblivion and go through the tutorial dungeon as far as the point where you see the sewer exit in the distance (just before you get the character finalization menus). Make a save there ... this will be the save you will use in the future if you ever want to start a new character but don't want to go through the whole tutorial again. Exit the sewer and make another save, not overwriting your first save (overwriting saves is not recommended anyway). This will be your mod testing save. Next go to the Imperial City Market District during the daytime and make sure the game is running smoothly. This will give you a baseline to compare against once you start adding mods. You need to exit the sewer before testing because the game isn't using all of it's resources until you enter the wide world outside the tutorial.

 

Now start adding mods, one at a time and testing using your just outside the sewer exit save. If you add a mod that taxes your system (something like Better Cities) because you have a baseline to compare against you will be able to make informed decisions about what mods to keep and which are not going to work. If you add one mod to a growing list and now the game starts crashing you have a simple task figuring out where to start troubleshooting (add thirty mods at once and then try figuring out where to start ... I see it all the time on here ... good luck).

 

I use a utility called Multiple Oblivion Manager (MOM) to keep separate profiles for different characters (each with his own individual mods). I have a profile dedicated to testing mods, so I never need to risk one of my main characters profiles to an unknown mod. You could load up a profile with the mods required for your old saves and never risk your main game's stability. All it takes is a bit of hard drive space.

 

Thank you Striker! :thumbsup: