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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition (2009)

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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition (2009) > Guides > The Payload's Guides

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[KEYBOARD FIX] Oblivion Unresponsive Keyboard and Mouse Controls Solution

By The Payload

A fix to the common issue of non-working controls for TES IV: Oblivion

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Created by

The Payload
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Category: Gameplay Basics, Modding or Configuration

Languages: English

Posted

Updated

27 May, 2017 @ 8:19am

22 Nov, 2024 @ 7:42pm

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Guide Index

Overview

Quick Info (Read the Edit)

The Problem

The Solution

Extra Mouse Fix

Enjoy!

Comments

Quick Info (Read the Edit)

I've found various forums online run into this issue recently, and have spent the last night searching for a solution, in doing so I decided to tear apart the Oblivion.ini file to see where this issue could be resolved.

~--- Edit: Before doing anything listed in this thread to try and fix this issue, Make sure you're running Oblivion in "Compatibility Mode" set to Windows XP(sp2), and if possible enable "Run As Administrator".
Both are enabled by right-clicking Oblivions EXE file and going to "Compatibility Settings".
Most issues with any early Bethesda titles are due lack of updates from Windows 7 and going forward, so as time goes on it becomes increasingly required to make sure Compatibility mode is enabled.
Those using Proton Compatibility on Linux: All .ini edits should function the same. ---~

The Problem

Recent versions of Windows have keyboard issues where the keyboard gives no input to the game, primarily at the menu screen, resulting in either not being able to get passed the character creation screen, or getting stuck on the controls page when changing a hotkey..

The Solution

► Go into C:/User/Documents/My Games/Oblivion, and open Oblivion.ini in Notepad
► hit Ctrl+F and find this:

bBackground Mouse=0
bBackground Keyboard=0
bUse Joystick=1

► Change to this:

bBackground Mouse=0
bBackground Keyboard=1
bUse Joystick=0

This will set the game to read all Keyboard input, and will disable all Joystick controls that may interfere with them.

Extra Mouse Fix

► If your mouse has no input in the game either,
change this

bBackground Mouse=0

to this

bBackground Mouse=1

Enjoy!

Hope this has helped with anyone struggling to play this classic. :)

26 Comments

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ceremony 13 Aug @ 10:37am

thank u :)

HomeStuckIndiaOfficial 22 Jan @ 3:28am

This hasn't fixed it for me

Lunch 18 Jan @ 2:12pm

Appreciate you making this, i don't play on the Steam version anymore but I do look here on guides for any weird windows shenanigans just in case. Cheers!

prot777 24 Nov, 2024 @ 7:43am

Hi, bro! I tried your method of replacing parameters in the ini file and turning on compatibility mode, but the problem persisted. Can you tell me what else I can try?

XsilverwaterX 21 Oct, 2024 @ 4:32pm

This isn't always a bug, but at times a really dumb ai that follows todd's commands to be a troll.

ShadowynPC 5 Dec, 2023 @ 11:06pm

I will try this when I wake up. Omg, like, how hard is it to play a game that is controller friendly...

warrat106 7 Aug, 2023 @ 4:09am

yet another reason to avoid windows 11 :D

Bonus! 3 Jul, 2022 @ 1:54am

I gave you every single award.

Bonus! 3 Jul, 2022 @ 1:48am

So I found out the reason as to why this doesn't work for some people, you have to set all of the 'joystick' controls that should be right above the main three controls you are meant to be messing with. On top of that, sometimes some mods will mess up the controls so much that (as far as I know) no matter the amount of tinkering you do, you just can't do anything about that, so after trying the new joystick strat I found out, I definitely recommend going thru your mod list to make sure that it isn't a mod causing it. If someone does know a way to overpower a mod messing with the files THAT much please let me know, I would appreciate it, otherwise Imma keep tinkering with the files for that.

But still a lot of love and thanks to the person who wrote this guide, definitely a huge help and can't thank ya enough, Imma be awarding you 20,000 steam points worth of awards. :) <3

Tiny Tina :3 5 Jun, 2022 @ 4:20am

doesnt work

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