View source for Oblivion:Main Menu Escaping

{{GlitchBox
|title         
|category      = Misc
|aka           
|image         
|videoLink     = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBHMSU4Wbiw
|caption       
|v1            = ?
|v115          = ?
|v12           = ?
|v121          = ✔
|foundby       = AleronLoche
|datefound     = 07/05/2023
|archaeologist = N/A
|archdate      = N/A
|source        = https://discord.com/channels/330252789374779393/892473620989898805/1126200927100076042
}}
'''Main Menu Escaping''' is a glitch where you interrupt the starting of a new game from the main menu by immediately selecting either the Options/Credits buttons. This will cause you to be put in a playable (albeit very limited) state even though you are still in the main menu. Additionally, when you load a save while in this state, the race editing menu normally shown when starting a new game will pop up on the save you just loaded, provided that you have already started a new game during the current play session.

==Instructions==

# Navigate to the Options/Credits button in the main menu using your arrow keys.
# Click the "New" option using your mouse.
# Select the "Yes" option on that popup using your arrow keys and confirm it by using the enter key.
# Rapidly press enter again. Since the option you navigated to before will be highlighted once the popup is closed, this will cause it to be pressed.
# If done correctly, the glitch should now be activated.

==Additional Notes==

* Utilising the way that menus behave when combining mouse and keyboard input may not be technically required, but makes the glitch much easier to perform.
* All actions that have to do with loading a save while in this state will cause the game to crash unless you have already started a new game before in the current play session.
* If you load a save while in this state, the intro cutscene will play. However, after the cutscene, rather than being placed in the sewers as a new character, the save you loaded will be loaded as normal with one exception: the race editing menu will appear and allow you to change your race/gender.
** This menu is prone to crashing when changing your race/gender. However, there is an easy fix to this: simply make sure to have your camera in third-person mode on the save you load.
** Loading a save that is on a horse crashes the game, while loading one sitting on a chair works as normal.
** This is one possible way to perform the [[Oblivion:Class Reset|Class Reset]] glitch. However, since it only allows you to change your race and not your class, it is unlikely to be useful in the speedrun since the sewer will have to be visited anyway to reset our class.
* If you simply stay in the main menu with no other menus open, after a seemingly random amount of time a new game will start as normal.

==Mechanics==
{{GlitchResearchBox}}
Pressing "New" and then "Options"/"Credits" is so far the only combination to give interesting results, but there may very well be other combinations that haven't been tried yet. However, all buttons that open a yes/no-popup are unable to be combined since confirmation popups seem to cancel eachother out. Some combinations simply cause the game to crash, for example selecting "New" and then "Load" instantly crashes the game. Additionally, some buttons (or the menus they open) don't have a delay after being opened/closed. For example, loading a game via the "Load" button of the main menu gives you no time for input and therefore can not be used as the first button in a combination. The same is true for pressing credits: the credits show instantly with no time to press a second button in the main menu afterwards.

The fact that you are put in a playable state while still in the main menu is apparent from several things: the gameplay HUD showing, the ability to press escape and attempt to save (not possible during <code>MenuMode</code>), and the fact that console commands work while in this state. For example you can use <code>player.kill</code> command to die while in this state. The debug text from <code>tdt</code> command shows that you are playing as [https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Bendu_Olo Bendu Olo], the default player character, though that can be seen without the use of this glitch by simply entering the main menu with the debug text overlay open. 

Despite the fact that you are in <code>GameMode</code>, most actions related to gameplay are either not possible or crash the game. For example, you are not able to walk or look around, which is shown by the coordinates and the "Heading" information in the debug text overlay being unaffected by keyboard input and mouse movement. If you attempt to open any of the stats/inventory/spellbook/map menus, the sound of the menu opening can be heard, and then the game crashes. This may be caused by the placeholder player character Bendu Olo not having any stats, inventory, spellbook or cell set. Attempting to save also crashes the game, and unlike for example saving during a [[Oblivion:Load Warping|Load Warp]], no corrupted save is created. If you attempt to overwrite an existing save rather than creating a new one, that save is simply deleted. Quicksaving and quickloading are also unavailable during this glitch.

The race editing menu seems to function the same as if you had simply used the <code>showracemenu</code> console command, with some minor differences: if the save you loaded is not in third-person mode, the camera will be inside your body, your arms extended backwards and the menu will be highly unstable, crashing when switching between certain races. Your name will be cleared, forcing you to input it again. Also, the menu will at first show you as being a male Imperial, but this is due to the menu not being properly updated and does not reflect your character's actual race and gender.

Changing your race with this method dispels all spell and potion effects on you, at least ones that are also able to be dispelled by normal means.

Though not caused by this glitch, it may be of interest that despite the fact that you are another character altogether in this state, aspects of your location in the main menu carry over from the last played save. For example, the compass reflects the position of the last played character, and if you have not played as any character during the current session, a blank compass facing north will be displayed. Also, if pressing the escape key, for a moment the text that appears above your compass when entering a new region will be visible. This displays the location of your last played character, or if you haven't played before during the session, the placeholder string "Region name text" will be displayed instead. This can be confirmed via the console: the coordinates of the player character while in the main menu are inherited from the last played character, or if no last played character is available, the coordinates <code>(2048, 2048, 128)</code> are chosen instead. However, the debug text overlay shows the player character as being in no cell at all.

==Related Glitches==

* The race reset aspect of the [[Oblivion:Class Reset|Class Reset]] glitch can be activated with the use of this glitch.