Streamline v1.0
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Mod Description
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Streamline enhances the performance of Oblivion by reducing stuttering and lag, and smoothing out gameplay. It does this by maintaining much cleaner cell buffer and video ram caches while the game is running and the player is moving from place to place.
As a result, average FPS performance over a gaming session should be higher, and the lag generally experienced as gameplay progresses should be significantly reduced (or eliminated entirely). Further, due to the manner and frequency in which memory is cleared, people that were unable to use higher resolution texture packs in the past, may be capable of doing so now.
The extremely intelligent algorithms that run ensure that memory is cleared on a regular basis, only when it is safe to do so, and so that nearby conversations by NPCs pose little risk of being interrupted, unlike in the past.
Streamline will enable itself with the default mode (performance) which should be adequate for most people, but can be configured to run in three additional modes (both faster and slower) to suit different needs. The faster the script runs, the more often cell buffers will be cleared. The scripts used should have virtually no impact on real FPS performance, despite whichever mode is selected.
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Gameplay Details
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Upon entering the game, a Streamline Signet ring will be added to the player's inventory, and Streamline will initialize (activate) itself in the "performance" operating mode. No further input from the player is needed unless you want to change how Streamline runs.
When worn, the ring enables the player to adjust the frequency of Streamline's operation, or to disable it entirely. It is not necessary for Streamline to work, and can be stored or disposed of if the player wishes (it is not a quest item). If you believe the script has ever stopped working properly, simply wear the ring and choose an operating mode. All of Streamline's variables will be reset, and the script re-initialized.
The four speeds streamline runs at are:
- Extreme: For low-end computers / video cards, or players who want the absolute fastest cache clearing time possible.
- Performance: For medium speed computers and graphics cards, or a nice balance of stability and cache clearing. (default)
- Standard: For faster computers and graphics cards. Will attempt to clear cell data, but at a slower rate than performance mode so that content stays in the buffers longer
- Lite: For people wanting the benefit of cached cell data, and the occasional (infrequent) flushing of that data. Best for a high-end PC due to a higher level of game resources being used.
Streamline will attempt to empty cell caches, and may (very rarely) interrupt NPC voices. This occurs less the slower the script runs, so don't use the extreme mode if you don't actually need it. The frequency at which caches are cleared determines how many system resources Oblivion takes up: faster cache cleaning means more resources are freed, but that those resources need to be reloaded when needed again.
There may be times when the player has changed cells and Streamline would like to clear the cache, and cannot. Generally this happens when the player is near other NPCs, such as in a town. Fortunately, Streamline is patient and will keep trying until the player has left the vicinity of other NPCs and monsters. If it senses an abnormally long time has passed and it still cannot do this, it will wait for the player to change cells once more, and immediately force a flush of the cache. This is a redundancy and safety mechanism to ensure the cache will be flushed, even in high-traffic areas over prolonged periods of time.
Streamline was developed with the "set it and forget it" mindset. Pick how you want it to run when you install it (or use the default mode), and you'll never have to touch it again.
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Requirements
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OBSE v09b or higher (
http://obse.silverlock.org/)
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Installation
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- Extract the included esp file to your \Oblivion\Data folder
- Launch the game, select data files and enable Streamline.esp
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Compatability
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- Streamline has no known conflicts with any other mods
- You should not attempt to run this at the same time as "HTFpcb Extended v1.4" or "HTFpcb Extended new", as they will slow gameplay.
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Recommendations
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Testing with Oblivion 1.2 has shown that a default number for "iPreloadSizeLimit" in your Oblivion.ini works best with this mod, in all cases. If you have changed it by hand, reverting it back to it's default number is highly recommended for the smoothest gameplay possible.
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More Detail
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Feedback messages on what Streamline is up to can be enabled. Open up the console and enter "set STRMdebug to 1" to have them displayed. Setting that variable to 0 will disable them.
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Credits
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- Mod Programming & Design:
Jaga Telesin (JCB)
- Coding assistance and feedback:
Martigen
- Original concept and inspiration:
HTF
And a big thanks goes out to the OBSE people for making these mods possible!
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Version History
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- v1.0 (4/14/07) First release
