Audio problem in Oblivion

[Feralex]

In an extremely inconsistent and irritating fashion the sound sometimes sounds different. I can only explain it as the audio sounds distant/behind a wall or under water and it only affects the sound created from my character. It happens in both first and third person view. The strangest thing of all is that when my brother took his save from his character from his computer and played it on my computer, there was no audio problem for him but its still there for me.

Also two other minor problems is that the entire body except for his face on my dunmer has a sickly green colour and in the character-maker i couldnt change that, except vaguely the light of it. The second is that rarely the grass suddenly creates a layer of grass upon itself, floating in the air and usually happens around outside of the imperial city.

I should note that these things started after ive moved and reinstalled the game. For two years it has been working fine.

I dont know what to show but heres all the info from a DX diagnosis

Spoiler

Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 8800 GT
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0611&SUBSYS_053C10DE&REV_A2
Display Memory: 512.0 MB
Current Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0011.9562 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 11/21/2009 15:34:54, 6282752 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
VDD: n/a
Mini VDD: nv4_mini.sys
Mini VDD Date: 11/21/2009 15:34:54, 10235968 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-4551-11CF-3456-372503C2CB35}
Vendor ID: 0x10DE
Device ID: 0x0611
SubSys ID: 0x053C10DE
Revision ID: 0x00A2
Revision ID: 0x00A2
Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_C ModeMPEG2_D




Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.090804-1435)
Language: English (Regional Setting: Swedish)
System Manufacturer: HP-Pavilion
System Model: GJ337AA-UUW a6127.sc
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) Dual CPU E2140 @ 1.60GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 2046MB RAM
Page File: 961MB used, 2976MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.5512 32bit Unicode




Description: Realtek HD Audio rear output
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0888&SUBSYS_103C2A5E&REV_1001
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Type: WDM
Driver Name: RtkHDAud.sys
Driver Version: 5.10.0000.5789 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
Date and Size: 2/11/2009 12:40:40, 5028352 bytes
Other Files:
Driver Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
HW Accel Level: Full
Cap Flags: 0xF5F
Min/Max Sample Rate: 8000, 192000
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 33, 23
Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 33, 23
HW Memory: 0
Voice Management: No
EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: Yes, Yes
I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: Yes, Yes
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No
Registry: OK
Sound Test Result: Not run

 

[Varine]

I don't understand your audio problem or why the DX Diag would really help. It sounds more like an issue either with the save file or with installation. Not sure how to fix it, but I would think it might have to do with the save not properly storing the data or something. Weird things happen when the saves are corrupted (in Morrowind I've gotten things like all of the terrain loading way off the axis to the rest of the geometry from shutting it off too early).

 

[AnthraxXx]

Oblivion is notoriously extremely buggy (You could say this for all Bethesda games, unfortunately), if this is on PC - download the Unofficial Oblivion Patch (It's a mod) which fixes almost all bugs in the game.

 

[Xorifelse]

Oblivion is notoriously extremely buggy (You could say this for all Bethesda games, unfortunately)

And where did you get this information from? If you just hate the games they make just say that instead lies.

Yes, Oblivion had it's bugs and glitches but to say every game they make has them? Fallout was a very decent game, I encountered 1 bug when I was playing it for 3 weeks.

I was playing Mass Effect 2 for 5 minutes and I was already stuck between a table and the ceiling.
Every game has bugs, glitches etc not just Oblivion.
You can't make a game compatible with every single piece of hardware, in this case the sound card because that would be quite impossible.
This game wasn't meant to be ported from console to PC, their engine was too young.

You have a bug in your head for making a statement like that.

 

[AnthraxXx]

And where did you get this information from? If you just hate the games they make just say that instead lies.

Yes, Oblivion had it's bugs and glitches but to say every game they make has them? Fallout was a very decent game, I encountered 1 bug when I was playing it for 3 weeks.

I was playing Mass Effect 2 for 5 minutes and I was already stuck between a table and the ceiling.
Every game has bugs, glitches etc not just Oblivion.
You can't make a game compatible with every single piece of hardware, in this case the sound card because that would be quite impossible.
This game wasn't meant to be ported from console to PC, their engine was too young.

You have a bug in your head for making a statement like that.

The hell? I never said Oblivion was bad, infact it is one of the best games I have ever played in my life, especially with hundreds of mods installed - it definitely deserved its 2006 GOTY. It's just that their games are less polished than others. But with a game with over 100+ Hours of gameplay, that's expected.

I'm just saying that the UOP mod fixes most of the stuff that the developers didn't, and is essential when playing the game on PC. Fallout 3 even has a UOP, you might want to check it out - but then again, if everything's working fine for you, then there's no need to ("If it ain't broke, there's no need to fix it").

If you got the impression I was bashing the game, then you were mistaken and I'm sorry if it sounded like I was.

 

[Jimpy]

In an extremely inconsistent and irritating fashion the sound sometimes sounds different. I can only explain it as the audio sounds distant/behind a wall or under water and it only affects the sound created from my character. It happens in both first and third person view.

There are some SFX in game that alter how things sound. Instead of an 'attack with sword under water sound' the engine applies some filters and whatnot on it. This occurs with water, with the reverb/echo pending on where you are, distance of something making a sound, casting alters the sounds around you to go mute a little, etc etc. Either your sound card doesn't support some effect you turned on, or things are just bugging out. I had an issue myself where I would get instances of gritty white noise. Oddly enough upgrading my graphics card fixed the problem. Big shrug.

Is it possible the file your brother moved came from a game copy with different mods, or perhaps a different version of the game? This may have caused some discrepancies.

The strangest thing of all is that when my brother took his save from his character from his computer and played it on my computer, there was no audio problem for him but its still there for me.

May want to double check the save characters folder that theres nothing else there that shouldn't be.

Also two other minor problems is that the entire body except for his face on my dunmer has a sickly green colour and in the character-maker i couldnt change that, except vaguely the light of it.

Dunmers are ugly, if you used the console to alter your character after first creation, things get buggy. Also do you have armor adding some sort of effect that makes you green?

The second is that rarely the grass suddenly creates a layer of grass upon itself, floating in the air and usually happens around outside of the imperial city.

The way the game saves on processsing speed is that terrain far far away instead of showing high poly and high textured ground, it shows a second copy of low poly/low texture. If you toggle on TCL you can run through the ground, and often will see a secondary layer. If theres a desync one layer pops above the other and you get 2 layers of grass. This shouldn't be showing the way you mentioned it, but it is part of a system intentionally in place in the game.

I should note that these things started after ive moved and reinstalled the game. For two years it has been working fine.

I'd suggest moving your save files to desktop or some backup, uninstall the game, do a manual search on all drives and make sure theres no refuse around. Something is causing issues obviously, and a clean start would likely be a good decision. Also if you are using mods, apply them one at a time, avoid getting multiple addons that deal with the same thing (so for example, if theres 2 eye color mods... get the one thats bigger, not both; they'll try and replace the same source files from Bethena's coding and whatnot, and instead just screw the game up).

 

[Xorifelse]

The strangest thing of all is that when my brother took his save from his character from his computer and played it on my computer, there was no audio problem for him but its still there for me.

I'm not sure of this one, but perhaps the save files store graphical and sound configurations, which is a high probability because you are able to configure your keyboard short keys per profile. Take a look in his configuration when his game is loaded.


@Varine

You like pressing the negative rep button too often I see.

Spoiler

No... Oblivion, Morrowind, Fallout, all are riddled with bugs and glitches. Oblivion wasn't even ported to the PC, it was ported to a console. Do you even know how game making or porting works? Compatibility isn't very hard, it's supported hardware

Do you even know how game making or porting works? Compatibility isn't very hard, it's supported hardware

Obviously you don't because most hardware compatibility are already build in the engines. Now we have 2 major graphic cards manufacturers (ATI/nVidia), but hundreds of of sound card manufactures. Consoles have most of the times the same hardware, or is at least 100% compatible with the previous hardware where PC's on the other hand have very different hardware all the time.

To make engines compatible with all sound cards and make full use out of them would be very, very difficult and is considered a waste of money and time. This is where "the guy's sound problem" occurred, not taking a look at the game's "technical requirements".

Is this a bug of the game, or his mistake? Really, you need to get a better grasp on the word "glitch" and "bug".

Spoiler

No... Oblivion, Morrowind, Fallout, all are riddled with bugs and glitches.

And as I said before, it's not just those game's it's every game. But if you are too ignorant to admit that and still continue to claim that they are found in great numbers in Bethesda's games (bashing Bethesda), you are too blind to see that you spend much more time in these RPG games than in most other games where you come and go in every corner only 1 time to "notice" the bugs.

Spoiler

Oblivion wasn't even ported to the PC, it was ported to a console.

Ohh god, do you even realize how silly that sounds?
Most of the time a game engine is platform independent, and just because it's build on the PC doesn't automatically mean that it wasn't ported for it. For example, perhaps this game was build with Linux and ported for Windows.

On another note, There are noticeable less glitches on console ports of games because the hardware is mostly the same. Back in 2004 "Gamebryo", one the engine which was used in Oblivion (which was a next gen engine at the time) was still young and provided a small range of hardware support, which is bad for PC versions of the game.

I myself had very little issue's with this game, shadow's through ceilings was a glitch I wasn't really found off but disabled the shadow's and fixed that part. But many games in that time had the same problem. However, I never encountered a real bug which made me unable to play the game.

Next time, have at least the decency to post your criticism.

 

[Narks]

And as I said before, it's not just those game's it's every game. But if you are too ignorant to admit that and still continue to claim that they are found in great numbers in Bethesda's games (bashing Bethesda), you are too blind to see that you spend much more time in these RPG games than in most other games where you come and go in every corner only 1 time to "notice" the bugs.

massive disagree

morrowind, oblivion, and fallout 3 are riddled with a huge amount of bugs - some of them that are due to the fact that they have created such large worlds and have not tested enough (like an infinite gold bug through conversation or something), but others which are just retarded and cannot be fixed by players easily (like the 3,3 cell bug)

 

[Ghan]

This is getting extremely off-topic here. If the original poster still has an issue, let me know.