the directory for the key may be different for your distro, so keep that in mind. if you're unsure just look at Oblivion on steam, select properties > Installed Files > Browse. and remember that the slashes are weird because windows.

Oh hey dude, I was able to fix it, but I've got another unrelated issue now:
execute this in the terminal
`WINEPREFIX=/home/USERNAME/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/22330/pfx/ wine regedit`
after you execute the above command in the terminal, go through the window that is opened, to get to `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Wow6432Node/Bethesda Softworks/Oblivion`
then right click the "Oblivion" folder select New > Key, then name the key "Installed Path" and input:
`Z:\home\USERNAME\.local\share\Steam\steamapps\common\Oblivion\` the forward slashes matter, and don't put any spaces on the ends like I did lol.

Close the window, then verify integrity of game files through steam

the new issue is probably my computer's specs (2nd gen i5, no GPU)

Hi there I found your protonDB report that you have tried using proton with oblivion, and you had the same issue I had (greyed out buttons on the launcher).
Were you able to fix the issue?