Strange Crash on Save GAme load

[BillHoff]

I'm relatively new to Oblivion and have come across a very strange error. Following the main quest, I'm at the point where I have to take Martin to Cloud Ruler Temple. Every time I try to load save game after going there I get a crash about a third of the way through the load bar. Sometimes I can't see the Windows error window & sometimes I can. When I can it says something about Microsoft C++ runtime being shut down in an unnatural way, or something like that. I didn't know anything related to Oblivion even used C++. It seems to have something to do with my location in the game. I can load earlier saves and have. I've gone to the city near the Temple, even bought a house there, no problem. But going to the temple screws the re-load process. This will make it very difficult to pursue the main quest, since it seems I have to go there. Does anybody have any ideas? Like, for instance, what part of Oblivion uses C++ might be a start. OBMM, maybe? But then wouldn't it error all the time? Any suggestions appreciated.

[BillHoff]

I must be even more unique than I thought (just like everybody else), given the underwhelming number of replies to my first post. Still, on the off chance that what little I've learned over the last couple of weeks might help somebody else at some point, I'll post it.

It seems that the only thing related to Oblivion that uses C++ is OBSE. Therefore, if I am experiencing a C++ crash, it must somehow be OBSE related. Given that most of the mods I'm using require OBSE, playing without it isn't really an option. Almost all of them came off of the top 100 list here, however, so it's very odd that I seem to be the only one with this problem.

While I have been unable to determine which mod it is that causes the problem, or even, exactly what the problem is, I have found several things that tend to bring the problem on, and one work-around. Traveling to a large number of locations in a brief period of time will usually make the save after that unusable. So will making a number of changes in my quest log in a short time. For instance, completing the requirements for two or more quests, then traveling to the quest givers for the final resolutions to them will do it. Fighting my way through a fort with several different areas, then fast traveling somewhere to unload the loot will do it.In my earlier post I mentioned the main quest as a problem. Now I think it had more to do with the way I went about it. I fast traveled to the priory with Martin, resolved things there, which involved several different areas and a couple of quest log updates, then hit the road for Bruma. By the time I saved in the Bruma area the damage was done. The work around is to save often, and then get completely out of the game, all the way back to the desktop, after the save.

Obviously, the drawback to this is that I spend a substantial amount of my limited playing time looking at loading screens. What fun. But it beats having to re-do what took hours to accomplish because I didn't get out of the game often enough.

Oblivion really is a very pretty game, but I somehow doubt that I'll play it again after I finish this play-through.

[Striker879]

Obilivion and saving are necessary bedfellows, but two that have issues. Quicksave and autosave are known to cause problems. I used to crash a lot and often (especially after I started using CM Partners). By using manual saves (from the menu) and by leaving my CM Partners at various homes and hotels for decoration I have eventually got my game to as stable a state as one can expect from this game (I might crash once in two or three playing sessions, usually at a cell transition). I manual save whenever I think of it, normally after I've completed a task I wouldn't want to repeat right away and will only load from an autosave if I have no recent manual save and don't want to lose my progress. I have seen your advice to only load a save after exiting to the desktop. I don't go that far myself usually, but it is sound advice for getting your game stable. Delivering Martin to Cloud Ruler is like many (if not most) Oblivion quests ... bugs included at no extra charge. I got into the habit of reading through at least the Bugs section of the UESP Wiki Quests walkthrough for whatever quest I was on (which along with the Notes section can save a fair amount of grief and frustration). Edited July 5, 2011 by Striker879