Oblivion mod help

[Kyosho]

The day I want to install Oblivion, OO is still down. Along with that very nice thread we have going there. So, assuming most of you post here anyways (or are at least here for the duration), I could use some assistance.

We talked of install sizes. I assume the largest mods are graphics replacers. Assuming I don't want any major overhauls at the moment, are there any graphics replacers that you guys feel are necessary? Like, I recall one that made horse eyes look better, and things like that. Are there any really horrible textures in the game that you feel really do need replacing, etc.? Also, I haven't played much Oblivion, but I've heard people say that the majority of the NPCs in the game are ugly. Is there an Oblivion equivalent to the "better heads" mod for Morrowind or something?

I'm going to get Francesco's, etc. But I forget the others I wanted to get. What's the interface mod everyone's using these days? Hopefully one that removes a lot of the annoying pop-up messages put in for the console gamers?

[Belhazamar]

Wow, this is timely, I just thought about throwing Oblivion back on my machine.  So far, I have the Mod changer thingie, Francesco's, and QTP3R (Qarl's Redimized - from http://devnull.devakm.googlepages.com/obliviontextureoverhaul).  I was thinking of using Mikal33's improved textures also.  Do you have any that you recommend? 

Oh, probably improved water, sky and faces too.

[Blackhawk]

Sorry, I hadn't noticed the thread here.

Interface mod:  You want either DarNified UI or DarkUI'd DarN.  They work exactly the same way - the only difference is whether you want the bright white background or the dark brown background.

As to graphics replacers without complete overhauls - that's a huge question.  Off the top of my head, I'd suggest Slof's Oblivion Horses for the horses, Improved Facial Textures (so your facials will look good) and Elaborate Eyes for characters. 

I'd recommend TNR for NPCs.  It doesn't improve textures.  Rather, it improves the shapes of the faces of every NPC in the game, and it is generally a significant improvement.  Check the photos, as you can download either the whole thing, or each race separately if you like some and not the others (I hated the way he set the orcs up.)

Those are a handful of basics without the huge texture overhauls.  For more (and for reference once you decide to do a full overhaul), I'd suggest reading this.   It is the best guide out there to the various graphics replacer options out there.  In any case, whether you're using a full texture pack or not, I'd highly recommend considering a distant landscape texture mod of some sort.

[Mattc0m]

I've used that devnull site for their Big Quest mod list as well. http://devnull.devakm.googlepages.com/bigquests
Very useful, lots of good, big quests you can download. I've got about a third of them... but they all sound so cool. I'm tempted to download them all, lol.

Also, they've got a listing of "small quests", which are usually a lot shorter. http://devnull.devakm.googlepages.com/smallquests
Good stuff there! Lot of reading, though.

The new TES Source is TES Nexus. My suggestion is to look at the Mods of the Months, then look through the various categories & sort by Downloads as well. I spent 2 days going through that site and downloading a ton of different stuff.
http://www.tesnexus.com/

[Destructor]

It's posts like these that make me want to run through Oblivion yet again. Then I realize I spent over 100 hours the first time I beat the game, and I quickly lose interest.

Still - it's amazing what people have done with this game.

[Creepy_Smell]

I've used that devnull site for their Big Quest mod list as well. http://devnull.devakm.googlepages.com/bigquests
Very useful, lots of good, big quests you can download. I've got about a third of them... but they all sound so cool. I'm tempted to download them all, lol.

Also, they've got a listing of "small quests", which are usually a lot shorter. http://devnull.devakm.googlepages.com/smallquests
Good stuff there! Lot of reading, though.

The new TES Source is TES Nexus. My suggestion is to look at the Mods of the Months, then look through the various categories & sort by Downloads as well. I spent 2 days going through that site and downloading a ton of different stuff.
http://www.tesnexus.com/

Ohhh...I'm always one for mission mods as opposed to just more items/units.

<Looks over at OFP/ArmA and its lack of missions for neat units and feels the urge to mod some post apoc missions rise>

[Kyosho]

[Good stuff.]

Much appreciated sir! One more thing, would you mind posting your recommended mod load order that you'd posted in the OO thread? If you don't remember/don't feel like typing out the detailed descriptions, just the list itself would be very helpful. Thanks! 

[Blackhawk]

I'll give the whole shebang, as not everyone here has access to that one. 

The philosophy behind mod order is that what comes after modifies what comes before.  When Oblivion launches, it first loads the default world.  It then loads the very first .esp on the list, which, for the most part, just describes a few changes to the world - a new building there, weapons heavier than before, this NPC's stats changed (effectively creating a new, altered world - the original plus the changes in the first mod.)  Once it has finished with the first .esp, it repeats the process with the second, then the third, and so on, always in order, resulting in a final world that that is a combination of all of the changes.

The problems occur when two or more mods change the same thing.  The first mod to load will have its changes overwritten by the second mod to load.  This can cause a couple of different problems.  First, it can remove changes made by other mods.  Let's say you have a mod like the Unofficial Oblivion Patch that tweaks thousands of things in the game, including, say, the sneak skill.  You also have a special thief mod that changes the sneak skill in a different way.  If you loaded the unofficial patch after the thief sneak mod, it would effectively remove some or all of the changes the thief mod made. 

In the second type of problem, mod #1 changes the weight of all of the armors in the game (it says "these are the new stats for this armor").  Mod #26 changes the durability of the armor.  It also replaces the stats for the armor - this time with the higher durability, but not with the higher weight.  Another example would be a chest in a room.  The vanilla game has some random junk in that chest.  Mod #3 says "This chest now has a key in it."  Mod #7 says, "This chest now has a book in it."  Mod #7, loading last, would overwrite mod #3, meaning that the chest would contain a book, but not a key, likely breaking the quest from mod #3 (you'd never be able to get the key.)  There are two main ways of getting around these problems, both of which should be used together.

The first is to ensure proper load order.  You make sure that broad, sweeping mods (like the unofficial patch) are overridden by your specific, focused mods - like the thief mod.  You also ensure that things that can be crippled by a small change (like quests) load after mods that make small changes.

The second is a utility like Wrye Bash, which looks at all of the changes to each thing in the game, and then combines all of those changes into a separate mod.  Wrye Bash would looks at every one of your mods, see what changes they make, and then make a brand new mod that incorporates those changes together.    In our example above, it would make a new mod that says, "these are the new stats for this armor", including both changes, plus it would say, "This chest now contains a book and a key."  By loading this new mod, comprising all of the conflicting changes of all the previous mods combined, you effectively create a finished product that is a combination of all of your mods, not just a combination of the last mods to make changes.

So, with that in mind, the (rough) load order would be:

1 - Unofficial Oblivion patch, unofficial SI patch
2 - Overhauls (this is where Fran's, OOO, Martigen's, FCOM and so on go)
3 - Other mods that change a large number of things across the world
4 - Landscape replacers, item replacer (it is better for a landscape redesign to have a small area overridden by a quest than to have a quest overridden by a nice rock)
5 - Official mods, followed by unofficial official mod patches
6 - More focused rules changes (armor tweaks, item additions, stealth changes, etc.)
7 - Misc, including quests
8 - Bashed Patch.esp (this is the combined mod that Wrye Bash makes.  It always needs to be last on the list, as it needs to change everything above it in order to combine everything together.)
9 - Deadly Reflexes, if you use it (this is an exception to #8, as bashing it can cause problems.  There may be other mods that need to loaded after Bashed Patch, but I haven't come across them.)

Those are the basics.  Some people might change an item here or there, but the general concept is the same.  It has let me run a 150+ mod, 16 GB install with very, very few crashes (I get one every ten or fifteen hours, probably.)

[Destructor]

Those are the basics.  Some people might change an item here or there, but the general concept is the same.  It has let me run a 150+ mod, 16 GB install with very, very few crashes (I get one every ten or fifteen hours, probably.)

Holy crap. I wish my playtime was as successful when it comes to crashes as yours was.

[Tampa_Gamer]

Continuing with a question I had posted (but not seen any replies to when OO went down) - I am about 90+ hours into my current game of Oblivion (heavily modded) and trying to see how bad of an effect the OOO mod option of (1 yr respawn) is having on my save game size.  Right now they range between 6.5 and 7.5 MBs.  What are others seeing in their save directories?

[rrmorton]

I've been playing for only about 6-8 hours and my save games are about 3MB each.

Blackhawk, could you once again explain the console command for saving system settings? The crash on exit keeps wiping away some of the settings I want to keep. Thanks!

[ANZAC]

With regards to mods:

People use body reolacer mods to improve the looks of Bethesda characters in Oblivion.

Exnem was recommended as a good one.

Any clothing or armor mods for this?

I could only find three, but there seem to be of others around.

[Blackhawk]

Continuing with a question I had posted (but not seen any replies to when OO went down) - I am about 90+ hours into my current game of Oblivion (heavily modded) and trying to see how bad of an effect the OOO mod option of (1 yr respawn) is having on my save game size.  Right now they range between 6.5 and 7.5 MBs.  What are others seeing in their save directories?

5mb on the most recent, but I'm nowhere near your number of hours (25-30, maybe.)

[Blackhawk]

I've been playing for only about 6-8 hours and my save games are about 3MB each.

Blackhawk, could you once again explain the console command for saving system settings? The crash on exit keeps wiping away some of the settings I want to keep. Thanks!

saveini

[Blackhawk]

I'm not really up on body mods (I use one - I'm not sure which, and it is the first time I've done so), but I'd suggest hitting TESNexus and just searching for 'Exnem', then sorting by downloads (or rating) to sort the good from the crap.

[rrmorton]

I've been playing for only about 6-8 hours and my save games are about 3MB each.

Blackhawk, could you once again explain the console command for saving system settings? The crash on exit keeps wiping away some of the settings I want to keep. Thanks!

saveini

Thanks! I tried "save ini" but the space key was my tragic downfall.

OO come home! I miss my Oblivion thread!

[Blackhawk]

Thanks! I tried "save ini" but the space key was my tragic downfall.

OO come home! I miss my Oblivion thread!

I needed the break.   (I am kidding - I have fun with those threads.)

[Belhazamar]

So what about Shivering Isles?  I never bought this when it came out so I missed the good/bad/indifferent buzz.  Is it worth it, and if so how will it screw up the mods I have?  A couple readmes made note of "extra" steps you might have to take in order for the mod to work.

I guess what I am asking is Shivering Isles worth the (perceived) hassle to reinstall the mods or download different ones? (though I am not sure that is even necessary)?  Help me OO...er GT you are my only hope...

Belhazamar aka JoeMoustache

[Skylark]

So since this is the new official mod thread now that OO is down (and no telling when it'll be back) I'll just post what I had copy-pasted from that thread here, for the benefit of the whole OO-GT Oblivion community :-) Sorry for the really long post, I only do this because I think it might be useful to someone...

First off, Backhawk's advice on creating OMODs and using Wyre Bash (not the whole post, but most of it)

When it comes right down to it, it isn't hard if you've installed Morrowind/Oblivion mods before. The OOO guide linked above is good, but note that it's method will only work with archived files that have been prepared (intentionally or accidentally) for OBMM. Most aren't.

If not, you just create a temporary folder somewhere that contains what you'd put in Data were you installing the mod manually. Example:

Qarl's Redimed probably contains a Textures folder and a Meshes folder. Normally, you'd put those in /Oblivion/Data to install the mod. Instead, create a folder on your desktop and put them in there. Pretend the temp folder is /Data/. That means that any subfolders, .esp files, .bsa files, whatever you'd normally put in /Data/ go in there, just as if you'd installed it.

Now, start OBMM. Go to Create, then Add Folder, point it to the folder on your desktop, and tell it to do its thing. It will create the OMOD all by itself at that point. Once it has made it, you can delete the original files (the OMOD is something like a .zip - it contains a compressed version of all the files.)

I've found it handy myself to create OMODs of groups of mods. For instance, I created a desktop folder called 'Houses', and all put all of the house-related mods I wanted into it, the created a single OMOD out of all of them. Of course, I'd recommend against that if you aren't comfortable with troubleshooting mod installs, as it can make it harder to remove a single problem mod later.

----------------------------------------

Wrye Bash does about a hundred different things. The most important for the average user is to combine data from multiple mods together, allowing them to be used at the same time - the same thing that TESTool and Leveled List Resequencer did for Morrowind.

Here's the idea: You have a mod that adds an item to the list loot is picked from. You then have a second mod that adds a different item to that same list. The second mod will effectively erase the change that the first one made. A different example: You have a mod that makes swords do more damage. You have a second mod that makes swords more valuable. The second mod will overwrite the changes the first mod made.

What Wrye Bash does is go through every change made by every mod and combine them all into a single mod. In the examples above, it would create a mod (called Bashed Patch), loaded last, that adds both items to the list and changes both statistics on the sword.

Here's the process:

1. Install your mods.

2. Open Wrye Bash, go to the 'Mods' tab, and manually select all of them (click the first, shift-click the last.) Right click them, and choose 'Mark Levelers'.*

3. Right-click on the Bashed Patch.esp that should have been added automatically (if not, there's a copy of it in /Oblivion/Mopy/Extras - it is an empty mod.)

4. Select 'Rebuild Patch'. This tells Wrye Bash to get all the relevant data from your active mods (those with checkmarks) and add it to the Bashed Patch.)

5. I'd highly recommend you click on the help icon at the bottom of Wrye Bash and read what each of the options you can change does as you go down the list. There are a lot of handy tweaks you can make here. At the very least, you'll want to make sure Leveled Lists is checked. 'Automatic' should be all you need. Depending on which mods you have, you may also need to have some of the 'Import' items checked.

6. Click 'OK'.

7. Wait.

8. Wait.

9. It will give you a summary, at which point the Bashed Patch has been populated. Exit Wrye, open OBMM back up, and ensure that Bashed Patch.esp loads absolutely last on the list. The only mod that should come after Bashed Patch.esp is Deadly Reflex if you're using that.

That SHOULD be all you need to do. The help file for Wrye is very well done if you have any problems. You'll want to re-do this (it only takes a few minutes once you have done it the first time) if you add or remove mods.

*Wrye uses tags added into the mod descriptions to tell it what to add or remove from the patch. Many well-known current mods already know to have this info in place. Some don't, and older mods (from before Wrye was released) didn't have it. Wrye has a list of many, many mods and what tags they should have. Selecting them and choosing 'Mark Levelers' adds this information to them.

-------------------------------------------------------
Here are a couple of handy tricks with Wrye that aren't necessary, but can be very useful:

Wrye can be used to switch between sets of saves. For instance, I have two active games - one a 'noble Knight' playing the Fighters' Guild, Mages' Guild, KotN and main quest, the other a stealthy smuggler/thief doing the Dark Brotherhood, Thieves' Guild, Daedric, and Shivering Isles quests.

Go to the 'Saves' tab. Right click on the bar at the top. Go to 'Profile/Edit Profiles'. Add a profile for each set of saves you want. Now go to /My Documents/My Games/Oblivion/Saves and move your saves into the appropriate folders. Now when you want to switch between sets of saves, just go right click on the bar again, go to 'Profile' and select the profile you want to play. For instance, I just finished playing my knight. If I wanted to play my thief next, I'd right click, Profile, Smuggler, and when I loaded Oblivion, all I'd see would be my thief's saves.

It is capable of having a different set of mods for each profile, but I haven't fiddled with that yet.

--------------------------------------------------

The other trick is the Import Face. Basically, you can click a save, choose 'Import Face', and choose any mod file or alternate save. It will then copy the face details from that mod/save and replace the details in the save you selected with them.

One of the problems with Oblivion is that you make your face initially under very different lighting conditions than you actually play the game in. You might get out of the sewers to find that you have bluish skin and purple hair. Alternately, you might get a ways along and find that you hate your character's mouth. Fixing it with the console is a pain in the ass, and it can have some ugly side-effects (like screwing up your skills.)

With this, you can make a hard save of your game (Save A), then use the console to fix your face, make a second hard save (Save B), then use Wrye to import the face from B into A. Load A back up and keep playing with the new face and no side-effects. Of course, you can also use it to duplicate any NPC face from the core game or any mod - say, if you saw an NPC that had the perfect face, or wanted to play the Emperor's twin. Just choose the appropriate .esp/.esm instead of a save.

-----------------------------------------

Wrye can do a lot more, but that's all I've fiddled with, personally, and so far it has been enough to ensure that at a week and a half with a 130+ mod game, I've only had one crash. I'll get to playing with the rest later, but this should get you started.

Now, to get my carpals back in their tunnels. Razz

Then, robslifka's list of nice mods, with links (some added by me too)

=========================
MOD ENABLEMENT / PATCHING
=========================

- Oblivion Mod Manager
http://timeslip.chorrol.com/current/obmm.zip

- Oblivion Script Extender
http://obse.silverlock.org/download/obse_0012.zip

- Wrye Bash
(Manage Oblivion mods and save games)
http://wrye.ufrealms.net/#WryeBash

- Unofficial Oblivion Patch
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5296.

- Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10739


=============
CORE GAMEPLAY
=============

- Francesco's Leveled Creatures / Items
- Francesco's New Creatures / Items
http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=OblivionMods.Detail&id=268

- Reneer's Guard Overhaul
(Changes the way guards react to player crimes)
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5977

- Quest Award Leveler
(Scales quest rewards to your level)
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=13536

- Deadly Reflex
(More realistic combat)
http://tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=8273


=========
INTERFACE
=========

- Color Map
(World map in color)
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1950

- Harvest Containers
(See which containers you've already searched)
http://tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=3979

- Harvest Flora
(See which plants you've already harvested)
http://tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2037
http://tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10330 (SI)

- DarnUI
(Many UI improvements)
http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=813932


===================
BEAUTIFICATION / FX
===================

 - Unique Landscapes
(Metric ton of landscape enhancements)
(SKIP SKIP SKIP - Fallenleaf, Beaches, Imperial Island)
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=8688

- Qarl's Texture Pack 3 Reduced (best for 256MB cards)
(Incredible updates to world textures)
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=14057

- Realistic Ragdoll Force
(No more slumpy dolls)
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5011

- Natural Environments
(Seasonal weather, improves night time and water)
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2536

- Natural Environments Colour Override
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5433

- VA's Better Gold
(Improves appearance of gold)
http://tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1826

- VABG Icon Removal
(If you don't like the Better Gold icon)
http://tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5122

 - TNR
(Make NPCs far more believable and unique)
(BH: Get it modular, pick and choose races to replace)
http://www.stephanewuttunee.net/tnresps/tnrallracesfinal.zip
http://www.stephanewuttunee.net/tnresps/tnrsi.zip - SI


=======
UTILITY
=======

- Cyrodiil Transportation Network
(Adds back Morrowind style travel to Oblivion)
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=4520

- Skip Tutorial
(Allows you to skip the tutorial and not break the main quest)
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10663

- Nearly Perfect Frame Rate Optimizer
(Automatically adjusts detail levels while playing)
http://tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=7706

Note that there are a few of these I would replace, such as using QTP3 Redimized and further reduced OMOD, using the Redimized option (I have a 512MB card) and using Blackhawk's own DarkUI'd DarN for the interface (with loading screens too). Also note that on TesNexus you can find some OMODs for a lot of those if you look hard enough (it's not always in obvious places, such as this collection which was originally made to have all the mods required by a particular ahem adult ahem mod in OMOD format, but still, just pick off the OMODs you need and use them :-)

Finally some load orders you can use as examples for your own load order. First Blackhawk's:

Active Mod Files:
00  Oblivion.esm
01  Francesco's Optional New Items Add-On.esm
02  Francesco's Leveled Creatures-Items Mod.esm
03  Francesco's Optional New Creatures Add-On.esm
04  OblivionMountProject.esm
05  Kvatch Rebuilt.esm
06  HorseCombatMaster.esm
07  HrmnsOblivionScriptOptimizationv1.0.esp
08  MIS Low Wind.esp
09  MIS New Sounds Optional Part.esp
0A  Symphony of Violence.esp
0B  Unofficial Oblivion Patch.esp
0C  Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch.esp  [Version 1.2.0]
0D  Oblivion Citadel Door Fix.esp
0E  LightsOut.esp
0F  HarderRepairs_2.esp
10  DurableEquipment_5.esp
11  Francesco's 7 days respawn time - 1-16 day lenght rescale.esp
12  Francesco's level up mini mod - Slower skills x1.5.esp
13  Francesco's Optional Dungeon Chest Loot.esp
14  Francesco's Optional Leveled Guards.esp
15  Francesco's Optional House Chest Loot.esp
16  Francesco's Optional New Adventurers.esp
17  Francesco's Optional Chance of More Enemies.esp
18  Francesco's Optional Leveled Quests.esp
19  Francesco's Optional Leveled Arena.esp
1A  Fransfemale.esp
1B  Real Lava 1.3.esp
1C  Unique Companion.esp
1D  Cheydinhal_Pines.esp
1E  Slof's Dogs.esp
1F  Slof's Horses Base.esp
20  Book Jackets Oblivion.esp
21  LetThePeopleDrink.esp
22  Less Creepy Guild Porters.esp
23  Cliff_BetterLetters.esp  [Version 1.1]
24  FineWeapons.esp
25  Leviathan Soulgems.esp
26  RustyItems.esp
27  VA_BetterGold.esp
28  ALE_greenglass.esp
29  Visually Enchanted Drains 1.esp
2A  Visually Enchanted Fire 3.esp
2B  Visually Enchanted Frost 2.esp
2C  Visually Enchanted Shock 1.esp
2D  Visually Enchanted SoulTrap 1.esp
2E  IWR-Lights.esp
2F  IWR-Shutters.esp
30  IWR-Windows.esp
31  DLCOrrery.esp
32  DLCThievesDen.esp
33  DLCMehrunesRazor.esp
34  DLCVileLair.esp
35  DLCSpellTomes.esp
36  DLCFrostcrag.esp
37  DLCHorseArmor.esp
38  DLCBattlehornCastle.esp
39  DLCShiveringIsles.esp
3A  Knights.esp
3B  DLCHorseArmor - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.2]
3C  DLCSpellTomes - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.1]
3D  DLCOrrery - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.2]
3E  DLCFrostcrag - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.1]
3F  DLCVileLair - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.2]
40  DLCThievesDen - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.3]
41  DLCThievesDen - Unofficial Patch - SSSB.esp  [Version 1.0.2]
42  DLCMehrunesRazor - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.2]
43  Knights - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.6]
44  DLCBattlehornCastle - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.1]
45  ArcaneVelocityDMG200.esp
46  Deadlier Traps.esp
47  EnchantmentRestore.esp
48  EnchantmentRestore_Wells.esp
49  HorsesTurnFaster.esp
4A  Landmarks, w Wells.esp  [Version 1.10]
4B  No_Load_Screen_on_Death-5824.esp
4C  Quest Award Leveller.esp  [Version 2.0.1]
4D  Quest Award Leveller - Knights of the Nine.esp  [Version 2.1.0]
4E  Quest Award Leveller - Mehrunes Razor.esp  [Version 2.1.0]
4F  Quest Award Leveller - Vile Lair.esp  [Version 2.1.0]
50  RenGuardOverhaul.esp
51  RenGuardOverhaulShiveringIsles.esp
52  ScriptIcon_Replacer.esp
53  Wrye Shivering.esp  [Version 08]
54  dyseso_Light_Ingred_Appar.esp
55  Morrowind Ingredients_Fran.esp  [Version 1.5]
56  Syc_AtHomeAlchemy.esp
57  RealisticForceHigh.esp
58  RealisticMagicForceHigh.esp
59  Enhanced Water v2.0 HD.esp
5A  Natural_Weather_HDR_by_Max_Tael.esp
5B  Natural_Weather_HDR_2.1.2_coloroverride.esp
5C  Harvest[Containers].esp
5D  Harvest [Flora].esp  [Version 3.0.0]
5E  Harvest [Flora] - DLCFrostcrag.esp  [Version 3.0.0]
5F  Harvest [Flora] - DLCVileLair.esp  [Version 3.0.0]
60  Harvest [Flora] - Shivering Isles.esp  [Version 3.0.0]
61  za_bankmod.esp
62  ActorsInMadness.esp
63  actors_in_charge.esp
64  Seph's new animations.esp
65  CT-Backpacks.esp
66  Rideable Wolf.esp
67  XSPipeMod.esp  [Version 1.2]
68  bnmDLTIC-1-6fix.esp  [Version 1.7]
69  Cheydinhal Petshop.esp
6A  Cliff_RankDependantArenaSpectators.esp  [Version 1.0]
6B  Dark Legion.esp
6C  Dude Wheres My Horse.esp
6D  MaxArrowIncrease.esp
6E  FewerOBGatesNOCLOSE.esp
6F  ImperialPlate.esp
70  MRP - Loading area.esp
71  MRP - Not enough charge.esp
72  MRP - Quickloading.esp
73  MRP - Quicksaving.esp
74  noglo-.esp
75  Potable Pastiche.esp
76  Reznod_Mannequin.esp
77  Shady Sam Enhanced.esp
78  Slof's & Orc's Armours.esp
79  The Butcher.esp
7A  WarriorBandages_V2.0.esp
7B  talkwithyourhands2.esp
7C  Slof's Oblivion Pillow Book.esp
7D  fwDropGold.esp
7E  TNR - THE ALTMER.esp
7F  Slof's Oblivion Better Beasts.esp
80  BulkyNord.esp
81  BulkyOrcs.esp
82  Better Redguard v2.esp
83  tkHairPack01.esp
84  ElaborateEyes.esp
85  TNR - THE BOSMER.esp
86  TNR - THE ARGONIANS.esp
87  TNR - THE BRETONS.esp
88  TNR - THE DUNMER.esp
89  TNR - THE IMPERIALS.esp
8A  TNR - THE NORDS.esp
8B  TNR - THE REDGUARDS.esp
8C  TNR - ShiveringIsles.esp
8D  DarkAltars.esp
8E  HRMHorseArmor.esp
8F  HRMHorseArmorSlofsHorsesPatch.esp
90  Update My Statue.esp  [Version 1.30]
91  allinonebasement.esp
92  ArmoryLab.esp
93  Ingredient Storage Shelves.esp
94  Shining Flame Atronachs.esp
95  DarNified Books_BJ.esp
96  bartholm.esp
97  TOTF.esp
98  AyleidArrows.esp  [Version 1.7]
99  BrewHouse.esp
9A  Castle Ravenpride.esp  [Version 1.01]
9B  DexwoodsHideout.esp
9C  TheStorytellersBrotherQuest.esp
9D  Enhanced Quest Roleplaying.esp
9E  NakedNord.esp
9F  OldCrowInn.esp
A0  Ruin.esp  [Version 2.50]
A1  Zealotsofthenine.esp
A2  The Lost Spires.esp
A3  Lost Paladins of the Divines.esp
A4  CDM-Wanted Criminals.esp
A5  BattlehornCastleEnhanced.esp
A6  cyrodiil transportation network wz.esp
A7  Kvatch Rebuilt.esp
A8  Bashed Patch, 0.esp
A9  DeadlyReflex - Combat Moves.esp

And Moggy's

Load Order   Mod Name
101   Unofficial patch 2.2
201   Qarl TP 3.0
202   BTQ Landscape LODs 1.0
203   Almost Everything Large 2.6
210   UL - remainder 1.0
220   Natural environments 2.1.3
230   Enhanced water 2.0
231   Far and Away 3D Moons 1.0
232   Improved Trees and Flora 1.0
233   Low-Poly Grass for SI 1.5
234   Visually realistic Lava 1.0
235   Coloured Enemy Health 1.0
238   Hit shader replacement 1.0
239   Slof's Horses 1.0
241   Younger NPCs 1.0
242   Better Looking Tools
243   Grape textures
244   shiny gold
245   Armored Circlets better rings
246   LBM Weathered Direction Signs
247   cities Alive at Night
248   Illumination within
249   sound Overhaul
250   weather Inside [Seasons]
251   Book Jackets
252   Encyclopedia Cyrodiilica
253   Slof's pillow book
254   Book mod compilation
255   MJY paintings
256   Paintings and Tapestries
301   AF Level
302   Elven Map
303   Living Economy
304   Pursusation Overhaul
305   dark UI
307   Streamline
308   TF Timemod
309   Stealth Overhaul
310   Harvest [Flora]
311   Female eyecandy
312   Life
314   pestilent afflictions
316   eleven weaponry
317   Shadow armor
318   Advanced Alchemy Apparatus
319   ingredient sorter shelves
320   rusty items
321   visually enchanted
322   at home alchemy
323   attack and hide
324   bank of cyrodiil
325   beast tongue evolved
326   bounty reduction over time
327   Dude, where's my horse 100
328   expanded hot keys
329   Guild Skill requirements
330   Improved Ancestor Guardian
331   keychain
332   Khakit night eye toggle
333   Magic Foci
334   multitude of magecraft
335   no more annoying messages
336   no psychic guards
337   open very hard lock
338   Perception spell
339   Phinix master summon
340   PJs spell compendium
343   alchemists reference
344   better letters
345   more books teach
400   OOO 1.3
453   Px New vampires
501   Knights of the Nine
502   Shivering Isles
503   Unofficial SS patch
504   Unofficial KoN patch
601   UL - Ancient redwoods
602   Quest award leveller

On the subject of load order, I always suggest this page as a general guideline: dev_akm's load order page

Once again, sorry for the long post. Using this info, I have a seemingly very stable Oblivion running with about 100 mods and counting. I will have questions for Blackhawk and other experts soon. :-)

[whiteboyskim]

Does anyone have an opinion on the OOO mods? I'm interested in playing this but without the stupid "world levels with you" feature. What I want is to strip that out completely and add in a bunch of other mods enhancing the world. Thoughts?

[Skylark]

Does anyone have an opinion on the OOO mods? I'm interested in playing this but without the stupid "world levels with you" feature. What I want is to strip that out completely and add in a bunch of other mods enhancing the world. Thoughts?

Do you know that on the Octopus Overlords board, saying "OOO" and "opinion" in the same sentence is like casting a "summon Blackhawk" spell?

Unfortunately, I didn't copy-paste that part of the OO thread, but I'm sure he'll be happy to give you his opinion here.

In a nutshell, you can use Francesco's Leveled Creatures and Items mod, which will give you a more challenging game that doesn't really level with you, but won't change the spirit of the game Bethesda created, whereas using OOO will make a totally different game. If that's what you want, that's ok, but if you want to play Oblivion, just without the world auto-leveling with you, then you probably want Francesco's.

The other issue is that OOO is a really big mod and isn't modular, so if you like some of what it does but not all you're essentially screwed. You must use it all, and stick to it, and you can't really install other big mods as they'll conflict. Francesco's is very focused, and even then you can activate/deactivate or customize most of it, so you can make the game and leveling behave the way you want and then add other mods that will affect other parts of the game without conflicting.

I hope I got that right Blackhawk?

[morlac]

I have been having a hell of a time getting francescoe's to run for me.  It crashes every time I try and leave the newbie sewers.  I'm stumped.

[Skylark]

I have been having a hell of a time getting francescoe's to run for me.  It crashes every time I try and leave the newbie sewers.  I'm stumped.

I had that problem too. In my case, it was caused by the BSAs for Francesco's not being loaded in Oblivion.ini.

(if you want the long story, I had made changes to my Oblivion.ini, and knew that if I deleted it, the defaults would be restored, so I did that, but I didn't know remember that Francesco's installer modified Oblivion.ini and that those changes would not be in the default version)

So in your My Documents\My Games\Oblivion\Oblivion.ini, find "sArchiveList=" and make sure it has these entries: FraNewItems.bsa, FraNewCrea.bsa

If that's not your problem, then I don't know, but my symptoms were exactly the same as yours (crashing immediately when exiting the sewers), so it might be that.

HTH

[morlac]

First pitch swinging....outta the park!

No more crashing. 

[Skylark]

No more crashing. 

Great to hear!

[Blackhawk]

I hope I got that right Blackhawk?

That's pretty much my view.  OOO is fine if you want to play Oscuro's ideal version of Oblivion (which isn't a negative, I just don't share his taste.)  Fran's is better if you like to customize the game to suit yourself, as everything is customizable.  You can turn a dozen different things on or off, and adjust how much they affect the game if they're on.

Anyway, it should be pointed out that neither of them stop the world from leveling with you.  They make it smoother and less severe, and may add in specific things to improve the balance.  For example (and this is just an example, I'm inventing numbers completely here), vanilla Oblivion might be like:

Level - Available Heavy Armor
1 - Iron only
5 - Steel only
10 - Dwarven only
15 - Orcish only

You walk into a cave at level 9 and fight bandits. Every one is in steel.  You hit level 10 and walk into a different zone in that cave.  Now every one is in Dwarven.

Fran's would be more like:
1 - Iron with a few steel items
3 - Iron and steel
5 - More steel, maybe an odd Dwarven item, lots of iron
8 - More Dwarven, mostly steel, still some iron
.
.
.
15 - Orcish, some Dwarven, steel, and iron, more of the lower class stuff on bandits.

You'll see a more gradual change from one to the other, and lower items don't get removed from the tables, so when you hit level 25, you don't walk through a wilderness with every bandit decked out in full Daedric.

It does the same things with creatures, smoothing out the transitions.  At level 1 you'll still be facing rats and goblins.  At level 14 you'll still be facing minotaurs.  The difference is that (depending on your install options) you may randomly get a higher level creature thrown into the mix here and there, or a larger group of them, or the 'boss' creatures of a dungeon may be more powerful and so on.  You will also continue to find lower level creatures after you've passed their original level 'zone'.  The net effect is that at level 1 there will still be areas that aren't safe to go, but with suitable rewards if you manage to pull off a tough fight, and at level 14 you'll still be running into those lower level goblins that gave you trouble and bashing them across the room.  In other words, they don't remove the leveling, they rebalance it to put the challenge back in.

[Skylark]

Thanks for the examples, Blackhawk. It certainly makes it clearer for me (and in relation to the other thread I started).

I just read this post on the Official forums, which seems to debunk the arguments I gave above (Francesco's vs OOO - modularity and compatibility). I'm not quite sure if I believe it, because it just seems to be defending OOO too much to be true, but it's certainly food for thought.

- Fran's versus OOO part I - modularity: There's a lot of accusations thrown at OOO for all the wrong reasons. Number one is that Fran's is said to be modular, while OOO can't be configurated. This is simply untrue. Both have full versions and light versions that can be customized to your liking. The only difference is that Fran's has an automatic installation programm listing potential choices for you, while OOO gave you folders to actually pick and choose those .esp you like to use manually. Even this has changed with 1.33, which also comes with an installing program that let you configurate OOO.
- Fran's versus OOO part II - compatibility: Number two is that Fran's is said to be more compatible to other mods. This is just one big hoax. Let me rephrase something from compatibility and you: The rule of one states that one entry can only be changed by one mod. All scaling overhaul mods change similar entries, which means that essentially all scaling mods have the same compatibility status. An example: Fran's may simply change a simple Bandit to flee when wounded, while OOO caps also his level. Both will conflict with TNR changing this Bandit's face due to the rule of one - it doesn't matter how much you change on one entry (where OOO does change more than Fran's), only if you change an entry at all. More about potential issues can be found here. They apply to all scaling overhauls.

Sure, they say you can customize OOO, but to what level? I know for a fact that Francesco's has lots of options for each thing it changes. (geez, I sound like a Francesco fanboy... The devil you know, I guess...)

But the one major argument - how much of the game you want changed and how much you want it to be Bethesda's original - still stands. It's the thing that will help you decide between the two, I think.

[whiteboyskim]

All I wanted regarding the auto-leveling was essentially balance, of which there was none in the plain version. If Fran's version performs as you say, BH, then that's what I'm looking for. It struck me as unbelievably stupid to have a feeling of no advancement whatsoever in the game when you first started. At least that's how it played to me and why I stopped. After a certain point I realized I'd be swimming against the tide the entire game and I wasn't having fun. Hello, Uninstall. Though I will give you points for your stellar interface. DarkUI is hands down beautiful and you should take a bow, if you haven't already.

I'm thinking when I reinstall I'll go for the more customizable options listed here, versus OOO3 or whatever number it's on now.

[Blackhawk]

Sure, they say you can customize OOO, but to what level? I know for a fact that Francesco's has lots of options for each thing it changes. (geez, I sound like a Francesco fanboy... The devil you know, I guess...)

As I recall, OOO has two versions - full and light.  Fran's has (effectively) dozens of versions, as you can turn many features on, off, or adjust their magnitude (default bosses/harder bosses/much harder bosses, etc.)  I do want to make one thing clear:  I'm not an expert on OOO.  I've read the readme a couple of times, but I've never played OOO.  It has plenty of good points of its own.  If I come across as a Franboy (I made a word!), then it is mainly because that is the one that suits me better and with which I have the most experience.  It isn't a knock on OOO.

[jersoc]

yay, i finally got fran to stop crashing my oblivion. no clue what i changed, but it's working. now i can start rebuilding the mod list. ugh, what a frustration, but i'm really anxious to give this game a solid go. plus it runs way better with my new laptop than my previous desktop.

[morlac]

Soo, now that I (finally)got Francescoes, Qarls, and natural landscape coexisting I think I'm ready to add more

Tell me about this deadly reflexive combat thingie.  It sounds neat on paper but I need some first hand opinions please.   Is it too much?  How hard is combat now?  Buggy? etc.

Once I decide on the above I should be ready for my first run through.  Unless of course someone throws in more suggestions...

[Skylark]

Tell me about this deadly reflexive combat thingie.  It sounds neat on paper but I need some first hand opinions please.   Is it too much?  How hard is combat now?  Buggy? etc.

I wasn't quite sure about Deadly Reflexes either, but even though I haven't done that much with it as of yet (no horse combat, for instance) I think it adds a lot. Enemies are less predictable (they will jump, dodge, bash at you, etc.) and you have some more options in combat too. I found that if I'm facing a tough enemy, I'll try to land a good bash. If it works, they're down for a few seconds, and I can hit them easily in that time. But if I fail I opened myself up to an attack. It's a risk/reward thing and I think it works really well.

The only thing I hate about it is that when you install it, the first time you start a game or load a save with it activated it will ask you to press 3 keys for the new moves. You can't go to the keyboard mapping screen to see which keys are currently unused, so I ended up using a key that was already mapped to something... Not that bad, because the mod gives you a ring that restarts the process, but it's still annoying. (I ended up using Q, G and X I think, if you want to know)

[morlac]

So the new animations look good?  The beheadings and stuff?

[Skylark]

So the new animations look good?  The beheadings and stuff?

Sorry, haven't seen any beheading myself. I thought some of the dodging enemies looked a bit silly (moving out of the path of an arrow just a bit too quickly, looked like a Matrix move but less fluid), but I don't really mind.

[Daehawk]

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Recommended_Mods

[morlac]

Just wanted to say thanks to all who have left tips.  I am having an absolute blast playing this.

[Alefroth]

What are the mods that require a fresh start? My wife is about to start, and I want to make sure we get any of those installed first. Also, I installed Fran's at about level 23, and I haven't really noticed any difference. Is there anyway to check that it is working properly?

I've noticed something that really makes the world seem unrealistic. When I've travelled through woods and up mountains, and feel like I'm really far out, I'll turn around and see the Imperial City and it looks so big and so close that it seems I haven't gone anywhere at all. Does that bother anyone else, and has anyone heard of a way to change it?

Ale

[Jeff Lackey]

[quote author=Alefroth link=topic=25793.msg394551#msg394551 date=1209155051

I've noticed something that really makes the world seem unrealistic. When I've travelled through woods and up mountains, and feel like I'm really far out, I'll turn around and see the Imperial City and it looks so big and so close that it seems I haven't gone anywhere at all. Does that bother anyone else, and has anyone heard of a way to change it?

Ale
[/quote]

I've noticed that Imperial City can look like it's right there also, after walking for a LONG time. Two things to help with the "immersion" on that, though. One - how far can you really travel in a few days on foot or even horse? Secondly - Imperial City is pretty large, so just think of seeing, say, New York City from a hill after having walked 3 days away.

[Skylark]

Secondly - Imperial City is pretty large

Is that an understatement or what? :-)

(especially that central tower)

[Corvus Corax]

I haven't got a mod question, but rather a console-related question.  After a 2-year hiatus, I've gotten back to Oblivion.  Back in '06 with an unmodded v. 1.1, I finished the main quest and then quit.  Today I installed KotN and Shivering Isles and decided to put some more time into Oblivion, as I haven't even done many of the side-quests in the original game let alone the expansion or the KotN stuff.

Here's the problem:  When I finished the main quest at level 36 both Baurus and Jauffre were dead.  I thought it would be kind of nice to have them around again.  This is no problem for Baurus, I can just use "Resurrect 1" on his corpse to bring him back (used "player.moveto" to find their corpses, which were both in the same location in Imperial City).  Jauffre, however, is a problem.  Jauffre was originally killed at the defense of Bruma.  At that time, two years ago, I apparently used "Resurrect" to bring him back.....but with default monk's robe instead of Blade armor.  He was killed again during the final main-quest battle....so if I use "Resurrect 1," I just get him back equipped with the monk's robe.

So I gathered up a set of Blade armor, put it in his corpse's inventory and took his robe and shoes.  Problem:  How do I get him to equip it?  I can't find any console command for this.  Thanks for any help.

EDIT:  Problem solved.  Jauffre automatically equipped the new stuff, but it took some game-time.  After I equipped and resurrected him, I player.movedto'ed back to Cloud Temple, rested for 10 hours, and when I awoke Jauffre was wandering around in full armor. 

I'll leave this up in case someone has a similar problem.