Modding Oblivion correctly

[wg108]

Hello everyone,

 

since I was presented with an Elder Scrolls Anthology last Christmas, I wanted to create one proper Oblivion setup.

After having come to the conclusion, that I alone am to dumb to do this, I seek help from you.

 

I´m a complete beginner so please treat me as one and try to formulate your instructions in a way I can comprehend.

 

The Anthology contains the GOTY version, I have the Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine i believe but not the offial Mods, correct?

 

What is a clean Install?

 

Can I replace the Oblivion.exe with a patched no-cd version?

Does this conflict with some of my desired mods? (List below)

 

I will try to use Wrye Bash and BOSS.

 

Mods:

 

Optimization:

- 4gb Patch

- Unofficial Oblivion Patch

- Unofficial SI Patch

 

Cosmetic:

- All Natural

- Animated Windws Lightning System & Chimneys

- Better Cities

- Blockhead

- DarNified UI

- Detail Terrain

- Dynamic Map

- EVE HGEC Eyecandy Variants Expansion

- Higher Quality Fire

- Illuminations Within Revived

- Improved Trees and Flora 2

- Isathars Normalmapped Cobwebs

- Kvatch Rebuild

- Natural Environments

- OBGE

- OBGE Liquid Water

- Oblivion Character Overhaul 2

- Qarl´s Texture Pack III

- Really AEVWD

- Robert´s Male Body

- Sounds of Cyrodil

- Unique Landscapes

 

Gameplay:

- Alternate Start Arrive By Ship

- CM Partners

- Commpanion Vilja

- Cyrodille Transportation System

- Deadly Reflex 6

- Enhanced Hotkeys

- FCOM

- Keyring

- No Psychic Guards

- Reneer´s Guard Overhaul

- SM Combat Hide

 

How and in which order should I install these mods to make sure everything will run smoothly.

Are there any conflicts or do I need special Patches (which if any)?

Would it be a problem if afterwards I still wanted to install a few Quest Mods or are there also things I have to look out for?

 

I know I ask much of you, so to anyone who cares enough to actually help me even if it´s just a bit.

Thank you very much.

[beldaran1224]

Some great links to answer many of your questions: info on clean installs, install order, intro to modding, complete installation guide.

 

Conflict info: Drop Keychain, as it causes lag with DarNified UI and isn't needed with that mod anyways. Illumination Within is said to have unresolved issues and AWLS has the same purpose (and then some). Read the All Natural readme thoroughly for info on which parts of Natural Environments are and are not compatible with it and why. You'll need to pick up the compilation of patches for Unique Landscapes - it conflicts with Better Cities. If you add any quest or house mods, you'll need to check into conflicts there as well.

 

FCOM: Have you played Oblivion before? If not, I would definitely go without any major overhauls for a bit. Even if you have, FCOM is very, very tricky to install properly. You may want to consider using a simpler (to install) overhaul mod like OOO or Maskar's (my favorite).

 

OBGE: You should consider dropping this in favor of Oblivion Reloaded by Alenet. I noticed a significant performane increase when I switched and OR is still being supported and updated - and has some truly outstanding unique features.

 

Deadly Reflex 6: Seems a bit complicated to install, so be careful. If you haven't played Oblivion before, save this for later. Especially make sure you pay attention to the requirements, like NifSE (an OBSE plugin) and the like.

 

OBSE: You didn't mention it - it is ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED for many of your mods. In addition, you should pick up some plugins for it like Elys' Universal Silent Voice, Oblivion Stutter Remover, Oblivion Crash Prevention System and Fast Exit. While you're at it, pick up Streamline. It isn't an OBSE plugin, but very useful for optimizing Oblivion.

 

Other Mods: Map Marker Overhaul will complete your UI mods for now. Call Mount or khettienna's Horse Management are both good options to a rather annoying problem. Bomret's Shivering Isles texture pack is Qarl's counterpart for SI. And Slof's Horses are just outstanding. You should consider some sort of leveling mod. There are a number of excellent mods out there - I use a combination of Fundament and Realistic Leveling, but those are just two of many. Some are very simple, others very configurable. That one is really up to you.

 

You should be able to add quest mods later on without much of a problem. Just be sure to read any readmes thoroughly - if they need to be added to a new game, they should let you know. You'll likely need to pick up patches for Unique Landscapes for any you add. The same for house mods.

 

Hope this was helpful!!! If you have any more questions, I'll try my best to help you!

[wg108]

Thank you beldaran, that was quite informative. For now i will try to implement your advices.

Do you know a good magic overhaul or a mod which adds new spells besides midas?

[beldaran1224]

The two most popular (aside from Midas) are L.A.M.E. (Less Annoying Magic Experience) by bg2408 and Supreme Magicka. Both have their strong points, and this is a good little intro to magic overhauls. I would suggest downloading both mods and reading their readmes - both have a wealth of information about what they do and why that can help you decide.