CTD in specific places in exterior cells

[ctrl94]

I've been banging my head against this for a couple weeks now, I've read I don't know how many threads, tutorials, and guides here and other places about similar issues, and I'm at a loss at this point. It's been years since I've been able to do a playthrough of Oblivion because it is so prone to crashing, I've tried this twice before and quit out of frustration over this issue.

 

For the most part everything is perfect. In interior cells I have absolutely no problems, everything runs smoothly. When I go outside the performance is still decent, but when I walk through certain areas the game will freeze for a second or two before crashing to the desktop. Specifically, the stone circle with the pillar in the center just outside the Vilverin entrance has been pretty consistent about it, if I go near the pillar it will crash, but there are also several places where it happens less consistently along the Talos bridge and the trail leading up to it from the south on the Imperial Isle side. That's as far as I made it before I stopped trying to play and started testing.

 

I have found that if I disable archive invalidation (i.e. most mod textures/meshes/etc. don't load) it doesn't crash, but I have tried disabling and enabling (in Mod Organizer, so the textures/meshes/other files aren't present at all) just about every combination of mods in my list and nothing seems to fix it except disabling archive invalidation completely. Even with just the unofficial patches it will crash (and even with them disabled, but others enabled). I have also tried tweaking the graphics settings, as low as 1080p, no distant land, no AA, with the original settings being 4k, distant land, max settings for everything. I have a Ryzen 7 3700X, 32GB DDR4, and a GTX 1080Ti, and all storage is on SSDs so I can't possibly imagine that the hardware isn't up to the task. I have also watched the resource usage in Task Manager and as far as I can tell there is no noticeable spike or pattern in RAM, CPU, GPU, or disk usage that precedes the crash.

 

I have tweaked settings in OSR and I also have MoreHeap (because enabling heap replacement in OSR causes the game to fail to start entirely) with heap size set to 1000. I've also used the 4GB patcher, first on just the executable and OBSE and then on every exe and dll I could find that was being loaded by the game. I am using Mod Organizer 2 for everything except MoreHeap, ENB, OBSE, and another OBSE plugin I grabbed to log engine messages. I have also tried deleting and recreating INIs with no success.

 

Mod List (order inverted for some reason):

 

+Universal Skeleton Nif
+Seamless - Robert Male
+Seamless - OCOv2
+Seamless - HGEC Female
+EVE HGEC Eyecandy Variants Expansion
+Oblivion Stutter Remover
+Wrye Bash
+TES4Edit
+Compatibility Patches for nuska's Oblivion Character Overhaul (v2)
+Unique Landscapes Compatibility Patches
+Reclaiming Sancre Tor
+Horse Armor Revamped
+Qarl and Timeslips Depth of Field omod
+Arboretum Bathhouse
+OBSE -Elys- Universal Silent Voice
+Estrus female voice replacer
+Oblivion Pose Pack and Erotic Oblivion Pose Pack
+Sexlivion - FULL ENGLISH Version plus hitchikers guide
+Improved Amulets and Rings
+NudeSpiderDaedraSmaller
+Estrus
+More Female Servants
+Idle Dialogues
+Adult Adventure Sword and Scabbard
+Skin-toned Mannequins
+Insanitys Umbra Sword Replacer
+Arrows Weight Nothing
+Oblivion Unlimited Training
+Attribute Modifiers on Levelup to 5
+Sneak Attack Multiplier Mod
+Small Talk Speechcraft
+SMYB - Show Me Your Body
+Oblivion Marriage
+Realistic Player Dialogue Overhaul
+EngineBugFixes
+Loot Arena Unique's
+Uncapped Skeleton Key
+House Map Markers v 14
+Better Saves
+Psychobabbles Disrobing spell
+Enchantment Enhanced
+The Resurrect Spell
+All Spells Avalible for Enchanting and Spell Making
+Spellmaking Limits x10
+Weather - All Natural
+RuneSkulls
+Oblivion -Elys- Uncapper
+Unbreakable Skeleton Hammer
+Universal Horse Armor
+Get Wet Update
+DOWNPOUR - rain retexture
+Capes and Cloaks
+Unlimited Weapon Recharge
+Whispered Warning
+Encumbrance 100
+Noticeable Skill Books
+Nightmarish Oblivion Gate Sounds
+Faster Horses by Lord Dagobert
+Sexy Dark Seducer and Golden Saint Armor
+Ridable Flying Pegasus
+Command Mounts and Horses
+Zira Horse Compilation Modpack
+Improved Flame Atronachs
+Improved Storm Atronachs
+A Female Xivilai
+Mature Spriggan
+Female Lich
+Realistic HD Night Sky
+Oblivion Grass Overhaul
+Improved Moons
+BladesMod
+Sigil Stones Expanded
+The Emperors Tomb
+Anvil Chapel Restored
+Secrets
+Rooftop Rewards - A Treasure Hunting Mod for Acrobats
+Hidden Treasure Chests UL edition
+Paintings Variation
+Better Chapel Altars -Now with richer Normal Map-
+1_4 Mr_Siikas farm animals
+better ropes
+Better Silverware and Goldware
+Autumn Trees
+Vampire Hunting - Order of the Virtuous Blood
+Enhanced Water v20
+Sigil Stones Unlevelled
+Better Daedric Shrines by scot
+New Gems
+Auriels Retreat
+Alluring Wine Bottles
+Alluring Potion Bottles v3
+Improved Signs
+Weapon Improvement Project
+Elven Map For Shivering Isles
+Elven Map Redux
+Aves House of Earthly Delights
+A Brotherhood Renewed
+Knights of the Nine Revelation
+Mannimarco Revisited
+Open Cities Patches
+Oblivion Uncut Compatibility Patches
+Creature Diversity
+Aranmathi Ayleid Home
+DarkUId DarN
+Hackdirt- Abyss of the Deep Ones
+Hackdirt Alive
+Ayleid Improvement Project
+The Sundered Keep
+Sounds of Cyrodiil
+Lore-Friendly Replacer for Default Hair for OCO v2
+Ancient Towers
+Better Benirus Manor
+Glenvar Castle
+Temple District Repaired
+Animated Window Lighting System and Chimneys - AWLS
+Better dungeons
+HiRes Oblivion Textures
+Better Cities
+Vaults of Cyrodiil
+Improved Trees and Flora 2
+Improved Trees and Flora
+Improved Doors and Flora
+Immersive Interiors Landscape AddOn
+Immersive Interiors - Imperial City
+Immersive Interiors - Bravil and Leyawiin
+Immersive Interiors
+Bruma Mages Guild Restored
+Trails of Cyrodiil - Merged
+Unique Landscapes Compilation
+Oblivion Uncut
+Oblivion Character Overhaul v2 - Unofficial Patch
+Really AEVWD
+Oblivion Character Overhaul version 2
+Blockhead
+NoMaaM BBB Animation Replacer
+Kvatch Rebuilt
+Open Cities Reborn
+Mesh Improvement Project
+Qarls Texture Pack III - QTP3
+Talos Bridge Gatehouse
+Cobl
+Castle Seaview
+Unofficial Oblivion DLC Patches
+Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch
+Unofficial Oblivion Patch
+HentaiLovelyHouse2
*DLC: DLCBattlehornCastle
*DLC: DLCFrostcrag
*DLC: DLCHorseArmor
*DLC: DLCMehrunesRazor
*DLC: DLCOrrery
*DLC: DLCShiveringIsles
*DLC: DLCSpellTomes
*DLC: DLCThievesDen
*DLC: DLCVileLair
*DLC: Knights

 

 

Load Order:

 

Oblivion.esm
All Natural Base.esm
Better Cities Resources.esm
Cobl Main.esm
Knights - Revelation.esm
Marriage.esm
Open Cities Resources.esm
Cobl Glue.esp
***Cobl Tweaks.esp
Unofficial Oblivion Patch.esp
Oblivion Citadel Door Fix.esp
DLCShiveringIsles.esp
Cobl Si.esp
Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch.esp
DLCHorseArmor.esp
DLCHorseArmor - Unofficial Patch.esp
DLCOrrery.esp
DLCOrrery - Unofficial Patch.esp
DLCVileLair.esp
DLCVileLair - Unofficial Patch.esp
DLCMehrunesRazor.esp
DLCMehrunesRazor - Unofficial Patch.esp
DLCSpellTomes.esp
***DLCSpellTomes - Unofficial Patch.esp
DLCThievesDen.esp
DLCThievesDen - Unofficial Patch.esp
DLCThievesDen - Unofficial Patch - SSSB.esp
DLCBattlehornCastle.esp
DLCBattlehornCastle - Unofficial Patch.esp
DLCFrostcrag.esp
DLCFrostcrag - Unofficial Patch.esp
Knights.esp
Knights - Unofficial Patch.esp
Unique Landscapes.esp
All Natural - Real Lights.esp
Sounds of Cyrodiil.esp
Better Imperial City.esp
Open Cities Reborn.esp
Better Dungeons.esp
Trails Of Cyrodiil Merged UL Colovian Highlands.esp
ReclaimSancreTor.esp
Oblivion Uncut.esp
Better Cities - Open Cities Reborn.esp
xulChorrolHinterland-BC6.esp
Castle_Seaview.esp
Oblivion_Character_Overhaul.esp
FlexAip.esp
FlexWhiteReach.esp
All Natural.esp
ULM BetterCities-UniqueLandscapes merged patch.esp
Kvatch Rebuilt.esp
GlenvarCastle.esp
PTAutumnTrees.esp
Better Cities - IC Imperial Isle.esp
ULM ReclaimingSancreTor-UniqueLandscapes patch.esp
Knights - Revelation.esp
Vampire Hunting - Order of the Virtuous Blood.esp
Better Benirus Manor.esp
***Grass Overhaul.esp
Open Cities New Sheoth.esp
***OCO_UOP_USIP_Patch.esp
MannimarcoRevisited.esp
Secrets-UL edition.esp
00 Realistic Player Speech.esp
All Natural - SI.esp
Marriage Patch.esp
Arboretum Bathhouse.esp
ULM OpenCitiesReborn-UniqueLandscapes patch.esp
Rooftop Rewards cleaned.esp
VaultsofCyrodiil.esp
Better daedric shrines full.esp
Kvatch Rebuilt Weather Patch.esp
OblivionUncut-BetterCitiesArena Patch.esp
OCR + Kvatch Rebuilt Patch.esp
Open Cities Outer Districts.esp
All Natural Real Lights - Better Cities IC Patch.esp
BrotherhoodRenewed.esp
Sounds of Cyrodiil - OC Reborn Patch.esp
HentaiLovelyHouse.esp
Immersive Interiors.esp
ULE KvatchRebuilt-CheydinhalFalls patch.esp
TalosBridgeGateHouse.esp
ULM TalosGatehouse-ImperialIsle patch.esp
ULM OblivionUncut-AncientYews patch.esp
ULM BetterDaedricShrinesFull-UniqueLandscapes patch.esp
HackdirtAlive.esp
AncientTowers.esp
Immersive Interiors - Bravil.esp
Immersive Interiors - Imperial City.esp
More Female Servants.esp
Immersive Interiors - Landscape Addon.esp
SigilStonesExpanded1.5.esp
ULM AncientTowers-EasternPeaks patch.esp
SunderedKeep.esp
AAQv1.esp
Pegasus.esp
RST+OCR Patch.esp
ULM OblivionUncut-EntiusGorge patch.esp
OCC-KOTN-Patch.esp
Better Cities - VWD of the IC.esp
AranMathi.esp
Enhanced Water v2.0 HD.esp
moregems.esp
HouseMapMarkers.esp
HouseMapMarkersOnlyBought.esp
SMYB Female Only.esp
SMYB Full.esp
SMYB Love Female Only.esp
SMYB Love Full.esp
Sexlivion_0.4a_Full_English_v1.esp
personality_idles2.esp
77_Umpa_Animation.esp
actors_in_charge.esp
All Spells Avalible for Enchanting and Spell Making.esp
Alluring Potion Bottles v3.esp
Alluring Wine Bottles.esp
DLCBattlehorn-OblivionUncut Patch.esp
FarmAnimalsofCyrodiil.esp
ULM HentaiLovelyHouse2-AncientYews patch.esp
Zira's Horse Modpack - Armored Legion Horses.esp
Zira's Horse Modpack - Extra Horses.esp
ULE OblivionUncut-ChorrolHinterland BC6 patch.esp
Zira's Horse Modpack - More Horses.esp
Zira's Horse Modpack - My Horses.esp
AveED.esp
BrumaMGRestored.esp
OCBruma+BrumaMGRestored Patch.esp
BrumaMGRestored-Frostcrag.esp
MigHorseArmor.esp
Zira's Horse Modpack - Friesian Horses.esp
Zira's Horse Modpack - Shadowmere.esp
AltPegasus.esp
***ArrowsWeightNothingSE.esp
AttributesEasy.esp
Auriel's_Retreat.esp
SkinMannequinVan-nosleep.esp
Whispered Warning.esp
BasicInstinct.esp
Better Benirus Manor - AN Patch.esp
Better Cities - Sexlivion_0.4a_Full_English_v1.esp
Better Cities .esp
Better Cities Market District - Oblivion Uncut.esp
BetterSaves.esp
EVE_StockEquipmentReplacer.esp
bladesfactionmod.esp
bondage_sex.esp
CapesandCloaks.esp
Command Mount.esp
Creature Diversity.esp
CTAddPose_ bondage_sex.esp
CTAddPose_v_1.esp
StandingJOJO.esp
EFGAddPose.esp
Enchantment Enhanced.esp
***Encumbrance100.esp
Eroblivion.esp
***EVE_KhajiitFix.esp
EVE_KnightsoftheNine.esp
RAEVWD New Sheoth.esp
EVE_ShiveringIslesEasterEggs.esp
ExnemRuneskulls.esp
Faster Horses.esp
Female Lich.esp
***Female Xivali.esp
Get Wet.esp
hackdirtabyss.esp
ImprovedSigns.esp
Hidden Treasure Chests-UL edition.esp
Idle Dialogue.esp
JTP_SkeletonHammer.esp
***Kart Hair Replace v01.esp
***Loot Arena Uniques.esp
MannimarcoWardrobeChest.esp
Mature Spriggan.esp
mrSiikas_TheEmperorsTomb.esp
mrSiikas_TheEmperorsTomb_ImperialPalace.esp
***Noticeable Skill Books.esp
***OCO_DLCHorseArmor_Patch.esp
***OCO_DLCMehrunesRazor_Patch.esp
***OCO_DLCOrrery_Patch.esp
***OCO_DLCThievesDen_Patch.esp
***OCO_KnightsOTN_Patch.esp
***OCO_KvatchRebuilt_Patch.esp
OWAnvilChapelRestored.esp
PsychosDisrobeSpell.esp
QTdof.esp
***Sexy Dark Seducer & Golden Saint Armour.esp
shinyEmotions.esp
***SigilStonesUnlevelled - Adjusted.esp
***SigilStonesUnlevelled.esp
Slof's Sexy Anims.esp
Small_Talk.esp
SneakMultiplier.esp
Sounds of Cyrodiil - KOTN Add-on.esp
Sounds of Cyrodiil - Mehrune's Razor Add-On.esp
Sounds of Cyrodiil - Thieves' Den Add-On.esp
Temple District Repaired.esp
The Resurrect Spell v1.2.esp
Uncapped Skeleton Key OBSE.esp
Unlimited Training.esp
Unlimited Weapon Recharge.esp
***Weapon Improvement Project.esp
WindowLightingSystem.esp
zzEstrus.esp
***Cobl Filter Late MERGE ONLY.esp
Bashed Patch, 0.esp

 

 

LOOT is used for load order. Any plugins preceded by asterisks are not actually activated, but are included in the bashed patch. Also, I have used TES4Edit in QuickAutoClean mode to clean all plugins as much as possible, except for the unofficial patch which says to leave ITMs in LOOT.

 

As I mentioned earlier I also have a plugin to get engine message logs but there's nothing in there that obviously indicates a problem. The end of the log is usually filled with things like:

 

"Trait defined outside of any tile."

"Attempting to play 2 channel sound <WAV_FILE> in 3D (must be mono)" (WAV_FILE is usually a sound file from Sounds of Cyrodil)

"AddItem in script 'salWallaceVeyInventory' failed to generate an item."

"Disabling collision on ref '<Arrow1Iron>' (<some_ref_id>)"

 

All warnings, not errors. The only one that's been consistently present regardless of which mods are loaded is the first one, but it's present throughout the logs start to finish so I don't think it's related to the crashing. For reference, before I used the 4GB patcher I would get an out of memory error at the end of the log which clearly indicated what the problem was.

 

Just earlier today I thought I might have it all fixed (after uninstalling/reinstalling, redoing the bashed patch, clearing INIs, reading through forums and readmes and making a few tweaks, and adding OSR and MoreHeap) so I started a new character, and everything was going perfectly until I reached that spot outside of Vilverin where it crashed again, exactly where it had with the previous character. I'm completely at a loss at this point, any help would be much appreciated.

[ctrl94]

After playing around some more it seems like this is primarily caused by running into a hard limit on the amount of memory the engine can handle, even when it's patched for 64 bit memory addressing. The specific spots it was crashing in are spots that were changed by Unique Landscapes, so removing those mods alleviated the crashing significantly (although it still happens sometimes) but I also noticed that those areas also line up with LOD changes, where you'll get higher resolution/detail LOD pop-in in the background, so maybe the combination of that and the UL stuff was just too much. It's really upsetting that this great game is so limited by the engine, it would be really amazing if they were able to release a version that wouldn't just CTD once you hit 2-3GB memory usage.

 

Now I just need to figure out how to get it to stop crashing on cell changes (which wasn't even happening before lol) and we'll be golden.

[NCRSoleSurvivor]

I was just about to come here to post something regarding crashes myself. I had just started up a new Oblivion playthrough and installed a few dozen mods. Merged some of 'em to reduce the amount of esps that have to be lodged into my load order (preferably the smaller ones) and cleaned them all with TES4Edit, and are still facing CTD. I have up to 88 esps in total in my load order and I still crash. Only in my case it happens after spending some time in one cell and then going to another. Whenever I enter a city from the outside, it's a guaranteed crash. Whenever I fast travel after having spent some time in the worldspace, it's a guaranteed crash.

 

And the unfortunate truth to this is due to the large amount of files being used. There is no specific esp causing the issue as I've literally spent hours unchecking every individual esp after another and loading up the game and walking around to see if the problem persists, while it does fix with a dozen unchecked, there is no specific esp causing the problem, the problem is caused by the amount of data from the esps that are activated. I've looked up countless solutions to my situation, and none of them have fixed it, the only help they've provided is reducing stutter and increasing framerate, which isn't an issue for me due to having up-to-date specs.

 

The unfortunate truth to all of this is like you said due to the engine. People push the game to it's limits and we as modders have gotta be careful how much data we lodge in to make the game as diverse as possible. I use both Better Cities and Unique Landscapes, they're both fantastic but I have to endure constant crashes with no solution.

 

Unless people are able to modify the engine and make it better, that'd be great. But the only people who can really fix it Bethesda. I honestly wish they'd just come back and make a "special edition" version of it that is far more stable than what we have now. But that's never gonna happen.

[NCRSoleSurvivor]

So far the only guide that became helpful is this: https://www.reddit.com/r/oblivionmods/comments/cwg7kg/mod_fix_for_persistent_crashes_on_heavily_modded/

However it doesn't completely fix all crashes that I still encounter.

[ctrl94]

An update:

 

After swearing off Oblivion yet again for several months, I decided to try again a couple weeks ago. I started with a clean slate; I removed everything related to Oblivion from my computer, created a clean profile in Mod Organizer, and redownloaded the game from Steam. I spent a few days sifting through mods, downloading most of the ones I had used last time, with some minor differences, but nothing that I believe would have any effect regarding this issue. I went through the normal process of installing all the mods, patching the executable to be large address aware (4GB+ patch), sorting with LOOT, cleaning the mods with TES4Edit and creating a bashed patch. I started a new character and went through the starting sequence yet again, and just like last time it was flawless until I made it to the Vilverin exterior, where it crashed in exactly the same place. This time I followed the guide you posted and disabled background cell loading. It didn't fix the issue, but it did allow me to confirm that the spot it is crashing in is at the border between two cells. I went to a few other places it had crashed fairly consistently last time and the same was true for them. So on a hunch I disabled RAEVWD in MO, which is also where TESLODGen had dumped its output. I have no idea how or why it's different this time, because I know I tried disabling that mod last time as well, but after disabling that one mod it's about as smooth outside as it is in interior cells, no more crashing randomly in the wilderness. I have had one or two crashes on cell loads (exterior -> interior) but no more crashes at cell borders or in seemingly random places in exterior cells. My next step is to go read the page for that mod more closely and see if there is anything I can do to get it to work. If not it's OK, honestly it looked alright with it turned off.

[xrayy]

have you ever tried enboost ? it is exactly for this purpose.

use enb 0.181 and download enb 0259 (enboost) to expand your memory usage for oblivion.exe without early crash due to 3GB limit. you still need the 4GB awareness patch.