K, so....I figured I would try and run Oblivion on it's highest graphic setting just to see exactly how badly my computer did on it the first time I tried it. So I set it to Ultra high and load up a game. I get nothing but what I can only assume is light blue standard texture free background and my HUD display, which, incidentally, has no problem displaying at all. So I figure, alright, clearly I can't even run the highest setting and so I bump it down to just high. Get the same thing which isn't exactly surprising since I remember running Oblivion on either medium or a lower setting so I didn't get 10 FPS when things got crazy. Only problem is I bumped down to medium and it just looks like crap. I just started a new game and so my character is chilling in front of the sewers and the mountain side is pretty much just the ground with no details whatsoever. This feels like quite a few steps down from what I was playing with and it's not just fade as I not only didn't mess with that but then proceeded to put it all on the maximum distance. I figured maybe it was just the switch was messing this spot up and it needed to be reloaded so I go back into the sewers. Come back out and nothings changed. So I then proceed to fast travel to the Imperial prison where I've got what seem like Morrowind textures on Oblivion models. Am I missing something simple here given that I never mess with the graphic settings on Oblivion or is this something that isn't so easily addressed? Thanks for taking the time to read this and thanks in advance to anyone who gives me a reply. Regardless of whether you solve the problem or not.

Please run a DXDiag and post your system specs.

Highly doubt that's the problem since I was running it on a higher quality just fine before with my current specs. The problem being that all of a sudden either the quality I had it on has turned to crap for some unknown reason or I did, or didn't, do something Either way, I'll throw em up.

There's your problem. You have insufficient video hardware for this game.

You'll need to get a decent graphics card, or if you're on a laptop, get a new laptop.

Intel chipsets were designed solely for use in office computers, not for gaming.

Then how in god's name have I been playing this game with much higher graphic settings up until now? Like I'm aware of the fact this laptop is pretty standard. Hell, I bought it as a temp until I had enough to replace my 2k gaming monster. Just ended up never replacing it due to money constraints for lack of a better word. More or less meaning spending money on booze and other things that are equally unimportant. Point is...I was totally playing this game just yesterday on a graphic setting that was much higher than what it's piddling with now. I was honestly surprised I could pull off Oblivion to begin with but what's essentially happened is that either my video card has somehow downgraded itself or Oblivion has somehow upgraded itself. Either one is pretty much a nonpossibility.

DId you play with the TEXTURE size setting in the options ?? large is the better quality not small so make sure it is set properly.

Yeah, I bumped the texture size to medium small and large and it didn't make any difference to start with. Alla sudden I adjust the tree fade setting and it actually works. So far as I can tell I didn't do anything different yet now the graphics are pretty much back to where they were. At the very least I have decent looking trees covering up the less than high resolution ground in the distance. Plan on messing with it some more today to see if I can figure out exactly why it didn't work before.

Have you tried adjusting the screen resolution of the game under options?

When you do this,check and make sure HDR Lighting isn't on.I play on a Dell Inspiron 1440 Laptop,300 GB HDD,4GB RAM,Mobile Intel 4 Series Express Chipset Family.I had that issue before as well,everything was grey except my HUD which worked fine,come to find out I had HDR on,and this computer can't handle it.