Specifically, it will run the game, show the opening, then do noting when you click the "new game" button.
So here is an explanation on what to do next, don't worry, its not complicated and there are pictures.
0. Install the game as per instructions in the exe. I highly recommend that you install it into <drive letter>:\Games\Nehrim
This is because newer versions of windows place severe restrictions on file manipulation within the program files directory, which is easily avoided by installing into C:\Games\Nehrim instead of C:\Program Files\Nehrim
You should not chose the same directory as oblivion when it asks you where to install. It will automatically locate it and copy the needed files from it to your selected install directory.
In this guide I will assume you installed into C:\Games\Nehrim if you installed it somewhere else, simply adjust the path as needed.
1. The installer created a shortcut to C:\Games\Nehrim\oblivion.exe
This is not what you want to use. Modify it to point at C:\Games\Nehrim\NehrimLauncher.exe
2. Update Nehrim (the full installer does not contain the latest patch, so use this!):
You need to press the upwards pointing arrow circled in red here.
Which will give you this:
Check the box circled in red here, note that it would come unchecked by default (for some odd reason). This will cause it to immediately start download and install of latest patch.
You will have to exit the launcher to finish this. When done launch it again and proceed with this guide.
3. Enable data files, Nehrim stripped out the core content of oblivion and replaced it with its own, but it must be enabled (as a mod) first.
Press the "Data Files" button.
Check each of the boxes as shown.
Then hit the accept button above them
At this point the game will run.
4. Configure settings. You want the game to look good, my computer is core i7 875K with 4GB of ram and a GTX260 GPU. My CPU is modern and beefy, my GPU is actually fairly old. With that setup I have no problems running on max settings. First, go into settings:
Now, set the resolution, press the arrow shown here
it will give you the following list:
If your monitor's max resolution is on the list, select it.
However, some resolutions (ex: 1920x1200) are missing. If this is your resolution, then you need to configure a custom resolution. To do that, select the <Own resolution> option.
Type your chosen resolution, no spaces, separated by a small x. Such as "1920x1200" without the quotation marks. Then press the disk picture to save it as a custom resolution.
It will ask which slot to use (there are three), just choose any.
Now, you need to configure the rest, which basically means moving sliders and checking boxes and radio buttons. For max settings match what I have in the picture here:
And then press accept.
The engine has an issue where it can NOT use both HDR (advanced, high quality light effects) and anti-aliasing (processes that remove jaggedness from diagonal lines in the game) at the same time. Even forcing AA in the driver when HDR is on seems to not have an effect (at least, SG-SSAA using the nvidia SG-SSAA tool). From my testing it seems that jaggedness is rare in this game, so I recommend the better light effects for this game (its not a universal recommendation, just based on this one game). But if your personal taste is that jaggedness removal is more important than quality light effects, then you can switch your settings from the previously suggested setup to this one:
You are now done and simply need to press Start Nehrim to begin play. Keep using the launcher though. It will be checking for patches every time it runs and ensures you get updates as they are released.
A final note, Nehrim shares its save folder with oblivion. This means that you see nehrim saves in oblivion and vice versa. However, they simply fail to open with the "wrong" game version. This is no cause for alarm, just an unavoidable aspect of the project.
