Telyn Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 I am trying to help someone get started with Oblivion, but she has the Impulse version, which is encrypted. What this means is it does not work with OBSE or anything which depends on OBSE. So she is getting the crash on quit bug common to Win 7 64 bit, but she cannot use Fast Exit or any other crash prevention mod I could find. Her GOTY game currently has nothing installed except the unofficial patches for the game and DLC and the supplementals but she is crashing every time on quit so any advice how to stop that would be appreciated. I do have her set up with OBMM already and she understands OMODs now. Can she use Wrye Bash and Cobl with the Impulse version? I couldn't find any information on that, even on the Impulse boards. Hoping someone here with Impulse will know. In addition she is having the usual problems with UAC in general. We have decided since Impulse appears not to care if a game is moved, we should move her game to another location outside of program files but we're not sure what location would be free of UAC and she wanted to know if copy/paste of the game will work or she needs to do anything else (we were unable to find an option in Impulse to reinstall in a custom location). Unfortunately I have not had Windows 7 long and skipped Vista so as simple a question as this probably is, I can't answer it for her. I solved the issue by wrestling with UAC but she would rather not do that if it can be avoided by moving the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkInMKUK Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Re UAC - The usual recommended location is install on Windows 7 is c:\Games\Oblivion. However, moving an install is a horrible process, probably involving delving into the registry. With the Impulse version that may be further complicated, I have no idea. Generally, Impulse and Direct2Drive are almost impossible to stabilise because of the .exe encryption, and any recommendations to deal with that would be banned by the forum. My recommendation would be to buy a copy of the game on disk or get the Steam version, as they are both compatible with OBSE - sadly I see no way other than that of improving things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bben46 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Unfortunately, Impulse uses a proprietary anti copy method and it cannot use many mods or OBSE. Neither Impulse nor D2D support modding and expect you to just play the vanilla game. In my own opinion they are selling a defective product. But they will claim it is as the maker intended and will not refund. As for UAC, the usual advice - don't install in the protected 'Program Files' locations. Disabling UAC opens your computer to certan types of virus attacks. - MS did not leave us a way to easily discriminate between programs that actually need UAC, such as operating system and antivirus programs, and those like games that don't need the protection UAC gives - it's all or nothing with UAC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Telyn Posted March 9, 2011 Author Share Posted March 9, 2011 Thanks for the answers. I actually bought the Impulse version first myself and was shocked that I couldn't do any serious modding because of the encryptation which was NOT stated in the online description anywhere. I ended up buying it over from Steam because I can't buy it locally and Amazon is not a good option for me. If I could have bought a boxed version I would have done that. The Steam version IS now compatible with OBSE and I can confirm that I have not run into any issues with any specific mod that were due to Steam itself. I did have to leave the game in the dreaded Program Files but I used what is generally considered option 2. I didn't have to disable UAC entirely, just grant full permissions to certain folders related to my game. It does work. I don't recommend anyone do even this however unless they are pretty confident in their other security. I don't think she can buy a boxed version right now; the game was a gift. I am fairly comfortable with the registry, so if I had instructions for the gruelling process of moving the game cleanly, I am pretty certain I could do that for her. If it involved anything illegal though, naturally neither of us would touch it. I've never used any kind of crack and never will. Owning a game does not give the user the right to break the law. It's really a shame Impulse has done this unrevealed encryptation. Stardock is usually good about DRM notification and advocating gamers' rights and modding in general. I have seen a post on their boards indicating they did try to negotiate with Bethesda about it, but I guess it was encryption or nothing. I still fault them for not notifying customers before purchase that their modding will be limited. Do either of you know if she can use Cobl or Wrye Bash? We have confirmed she can use Tes4Edit, so all may not be hopeless. To my knowledge, neither of them should depend on OBSE but I could be wrong. Her game will be limited but I can confirm that she is able to use some test mods and the unofficial patches. The crashing is definitely just the Windows 7 64 bit exiting crash. I have to run a mod to prevent it myself. As a test we made a copy of the game in C:\Games\Oblivion and believe it or not, so far, no disasters, but she still has to run as admin. The only thing I have done is to redirect anything that was pointing to the original Oblivion.exe. The Impulse Reactor has not thrown a fit nor have I had to touch it. She wouldn't be able to update, but I have very little hope there will ever be an update which gets rid of the encryptation, and I doubt there will be any other kind of update. If she turns out to love the game enough to need OBSE, I think I can buy her some sort of Steam gift certificate. Will have to look. Maybe there is something similar to Fast Exit for Windows 7 64 bit in general that would also take care of the Oblivion crash. Will see if I can find anything like that. You never know. Oblivion isn't the only program that has that issue. The Microsoft boards are full of questions about programs crashing at quit, especially games. If I do find any method that works for Impulse users to prevent that crash, I will gladly post on the boards. Meanwhile if anyone is reading this who has not yet bought Oblivion through Impulse and is considering it...don't. Just don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bben46 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 How to Move your Steam to another location Without having to reinstall anything.https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?p_faqid=231 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Telyn Posted March 9, 2011 Author Share Posted March 9, 2011 Oh wow, thank you so much. My game is currently working fine but I never liked having to leave it there. Having any game in that folder is asking for some headaches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkInMKUK Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 bben - is it possible to pin a topic about Impulse and D2D versions to the top of the forum? The we could just redirect the poor blighted individuals to that in future? Or is there one already that I've missed seeing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Telyn Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 Mark, I am going to write to Stardock and try to get their official response to the question of changing the installation location of Oblivion. I did buy it from them before I repurchased it on Steam so I should be eligible for whatever tech support they can offer regarding Impulse and the installation of the game itself. I have written them a couple times in the past about different issues over the years, and did get responses. Will post their answer here if it adds anything new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdSurly Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 I know this thread is a couple months old, but I wanted to see if anyone could answer a question. The Steam version of Oblivion supports OBSE as stated, my question is if I add Oblivion to my steam games by going to "games"- "add a non-steam game to my library" would that make this Impulse game a "steam" game at that point? Or am I just changing the location of where I can launch the game from? I really really want OBSE so I can use the plethora of mods available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkInMKUK Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 The problem is not the SOURCE of the game, the problem is that the Impulse version of the game is "protected" and the points in the code which OBSE links to are different, so it cannot work. I'm afraid you'll just have to bit the (financial) bullet and download it fresh from Steam. If you do, get the deluxe version as that has the official DLC files included. And write a snotty letter to Impulse about how you have had to go to one of their competitors to get a version of the game which allows you to play as you wish - you may not get any money back, but if enough people write blunt letters they MAY review their policy someday and allow others to play with mods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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