Oblivion:Xbox 360

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The purpose of this page is to document some aspects of Oblivion that are specific to the Xbox 360 version of the game. The vast majority of gameplay is identical on all platforms (PC, Xbox 360, or PS3): the quests are the same, the glitches are the same, etc. One difference during gameplay is that reaching certain milestones will unlock achievements; these are listed at Xbox 360 Achievements. Achievements added by the Shivering Isles expansion are located at Xbox 360 Shivering Isles Achievements

Contents 1 Missing PC Features 2 Interface Differences 2.1 Controller Settings 2.2 Xbox 360 Fixes 3 Video Output 4 Patches 5 Official Mods 6 Unofficial Mods 7 Transferring Game Saves

[edit] Missing PC Features

Some of the PC features that are not available on Xbox 360 (or PS3) are:

• The console. This means that in many cases bug fixes that are used by PC players are not available to Xbox 360 players. It also means that a lot of cheats and exploits are not available.
• The construction set. The construction set does not actually affect game play; rather it allows the game files to be viewed and edited. A lot of the information on the Wiki is derived from the construction set, because it allows the factors controlling game play to be easily identified.
• Mods other than the Official Mods cannot be installed due to security features that prevent modification of the Xbox 360.

[edit] Interface Differences

Although the keyboard and Xbox controller clearly provide very different methods of interacting with the game, most of the controls work the same way. Some differences, however, include:

• On the Xbox 360 there is no way to toggle "always run", despite suggestions otherwise in the game guide.
  • Walking vs running is controlled by how far forward you push the left thumbstick. Slight motions of the thumbstick will cause your character to walk; pushing the thumbstick as far as it will go will cause your character to run. (This is most obvious if you use third-person view)

[edit] Controller Settings

A complete list of controls is provided at Controls. Some game controls that are not obvious or are not covered in the game guide are:

• When at the "How many items?" dialog (e.g., when selling multiple items), Left Bumper or Right Bumper moves the slider all the way left (one) or right (all), respectively.
• When an item is selected in your inventory, Left Bumper will drop the item in "grab" mode.

[edit] Xbox 360 Fixes

One problem specific to the Xbox 360 is that the cached game data can become fragmented, leading to a gradual deterioration of game performance. To fix this problem, you need to press and hold the A key on the controller while the game is first loading (up until the "Bethesda Softworks" logo appears). For more information, see Oblivion-Fragmented-Cache-Data-Fix.

[edit] Video Output

• A video output of 1080i is supported in the Xbox360 version of the game.
• In the Game of The Year Edition a video output of 1080p is also supported.

[edit] Patches

If you are connected to Xbox live, your Xbox 360 will automatically prompt you to install the patch by telling you that "an update is available for this game". You do not need to pay for Xbox live membership; the free silver membership is sufficient to obtain the patch.

If you are insistent on being able to continue to play without the patch (e.g., to retain your ability to clone and use other exploits), it may be possible to simply decline the patch. But if you decide to go patchless you will remain vulnerable to many unfixable bugs in the game, and you will not be able to play any of the newer official mods (Vile Lair or later).

It is also possible to remove the patch if you ever feel the need to. To do this, first open the "System" blade in the Xbox 360 dashboard, then go to memory, and press Y on the hard drive to open the "Device Options" menu. Then press the following sequence of buttons: X, X, Left Bumper (LB), Right Bumper (RB), X, X. You will be asked if you want to perform maintenance on your hard drive and delete all patches. Choose yes. To later reinstall the patch, just get on Xbox live again. However, if you had downloaded additional content that relied on the patch, like Mehrunes Razor, it will be reset as if you'd not done the quest, causing you to lose any equipment you may have obtained during the quest.

[edit] Official Mods

For the moment, you need to be connected to Xbox live to obtain the Official Mods. The mods are available from the Xbox Live Marketplace; you will need to pay for any mods using Microsoft Points. If there are multiple users on your Xbox 360, the mods will be available to all accounts (user profiles) on that console.

From October 2007, Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine have been available to buy in retail stores. See the Bethblog for more details.

If you wish to delete an official mod, you just need to delete the associated file. Under the "System" blade, select "Memory", "Hard Drive", "Games", then "Oblivion". The directory that is now open lists all your save files, and also lists any downloaded content. Select the file for the mod you want to get rid of, and choose delete. If you delete the mod file, you can subsequently download a new copy without having to pay for it again.

[edit] Unofficial Mods

Unofficial mods cannot be played on the Xbox 360. While it is possible to access the Xbox 360 with some programs, it is not possible to add mods since doing so would require creating an Xbox 360 container file, which is only possible if you know the encryption method and private key used to generate the hashed security certificates.

[edit] Transferring Game Saves

Xbox 360 game saves can be transferred to a PC (running Windows 98 or later), but it is not an easy process. It requires additional hardware and several shareware programs. This section describes one procedure that has been used successfully to transfer files, that does not require making any modifications to the Xbox unit. Although the process has been tested, use it at your own risk.

It should be noted that Microsoft has begun a process of banning save files shared on the internet by blacklisting specific console IDs that have been seen uploading their save game files.

Before starting, you will need to purchase:

• An Xbox 360 memory unit (MU), for example a 64MB unit.
• A Datel Xbox 360 transfer kit (and the included Xchange360 software).

Both are commercially available at stores that sell Xbox 360 accessories.

1. Transfer your save files to the memory unit. (Only necessary if target save file is not already on a memory unit)
   1. Under the "System" blade, select "Memory", you should then see both your hard drive and the MU.
   2. Select "Hard Drive", "Games", "Oblivion"... you should then see a list of all your save files, and any downloaded content.
   3. Select the files you want to transfer, and copy them to the MU.
2. Transfer the data from the memory unit to your PC.
   1. Plug the MU into the USB cable that comes with the transfer kit.
   2. Open the Xchange 360 software that comes with the transfer kit.
   3. Click on the 360 memory card blade, and "backup your memory card".
   4. A single ".z36" file containing an image of the entire contents of the memory units is created on your hard drive (by default to the folder "My Documents\X360 Memcard Images"; this can be changed under options)
3. Convert the image file from a ".z36" file to a ".bin" file
   1. For the Xplorer360 software (used in the next step) to recognize the image file, it needs to be converted to a different format.
   2. Download and install XIC from 360gamesaves.com (currently available as "XIC V1.0.exe")
   3. Using XIC is straightforward, just double click on the .exe and you will be prompted to provide the names of the .z36 and .bin files
4. Extract individual Xbox360 save files from the image
   1. Download and install Xplorer360 from 360gamesaves.com (currently available as Xplorer360beta5)
   2. Open the software, and from the "Drive" menu select "Open... Image", and open the ".bin" file
   3. You will then be able to explore through the image's directory structure; the save files are typically in a directory buried several layers down under "Content" on "Partition 1"
   4. The oblivion files will be listed as files with names like "Save 2451 - 01C6DDD6B53A3B30"; the save number will match the save number visible in-game.
   5. Highlight your save files, then under the "Edit" menu select "Extract..." You will be prompted for where to extract the files to
5. Extract the oblivion save file from the Xbox 360 container file
   1. The files you have at this point still have an extra layer of Xbox RSA-type security included in them. If you try to load these files as-is into a PC version of the game, the load menu will recognize the files, but the game will freeze up if you actually try to open them.
   2. Download and install wxPirs.exe [1], available in version 1.1; for release information see xbox-scene.com. Note that this software also requires installation of Microsoft .NET framework.
   3. Under the "File" menu, open one of the files extracted in the previous step
   4. In the bottom panel, you should recognize the title of the save file, e.g., "Save 2451 - Nenya, Level 20, Play Time: 255:43:30"; the real data that you've gone to all this trouble to get is in the right hand panel, always identified as "gamedata.dat".
   5. Right click on "gamedata.dat" and choose extract; pick a name for your save file, e.g. "Save 2451.ess".
   6. Transfer this .ess file to your PC Oblivion save files directory, and you're done Start up Oblivion, and load the game!

If you are able to connect your Xbox hard drive to your PC, it is instead possible to directly access the save files from your hard drive using the XPort 360 File Browser (or other software). Copy the save files directly to your PC; this replaces steps 1 through 4 above. You will still need to use step 5 to remove the security layer. This method saves time and hard disk space, and also does not require the purchase of a memory unit.

Transferring PC game saves to the Xbox 360 has not been attempted, but probably is not possible: it would require creating an Xbox 360 container file, which is only possible if you know the the encryption method and private key used to generate the hashed security certificates.