Bevilex's Modlist & issues (unexperienced gamer in need of helping-hand)

[Graciousgirl96]

Dear members,

First of all, thanks for the possibility to open a topic here and ask for help. It concerns the following situation:

Recently I decided to play Oblivion again after finishing the game a few years ago. I chose to purchase the game through Steam. However, I wanted to gain new experiences and make the entire game look nicer by using mods that mainly improve the look of the game. For this I used the following "guide" and files:

https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/47591

Now it seems that installing the mods through "Wrye Bash" seems to have been successful, and I recently started completing the Oblivion tutorial where I noticed that there is a distinct difference between the original game and the modded game, which is simply awesome. During the tutorial almost everything looked fine, except for one or two non-working textures. Unfortunately, after completing the tutorial and exiting the sewers, the game started crashing. This doesn't seem to happen that often anymore, but it strikes me that the outside world contains considerable errors in textures in particular, and I am very disappointed about that.

Now I am a no-brainer when it comes to modding games and prefer to stay away from the technical side because I usually make things worse. However I have read that it is important that all mods are installed in the correct order (?), after looking up more information about that I still don't understand how this works. I did install the program "BOSS" (?), which I understand puts the mods in the correct order, but after reading more information it turns out that this is not completely reliable? I also tried the whole TES4EDIT Quick-cleaning thing, but also read that it's important to know what you're doing when using this program and, I don't.

In short, there clearly (and understandable) is a lot that goes around in the whole modding world and I don't have the brains for it. Now I'm wondering if anyone has the time and wants to help me with looking at the mods that are installed, their order and other things that might bring errors to the game. This could be done via anydesk/teamviewer or any other way..

I hope there is someone who wants to help me solve the problems so I can finally enjoy this awesome game.

Thanks in advance!

~ Graciousgirl96

[Pellape]

I never used that list as I try to make as few changes as possible to the world and that list has many changes to the world and Oblivion is unstable as it is. My experiance to get my game to work as smooth as possible and also look nice is to use Qarls Textures 3 and that it and also take a peek at mods that tries to make the game more stable might be to also use ENBoost and ENB 0.259 which also fix the 4Gb issue so then you shouldn't need the 4Gb patcher but they work together though. The Stutter Remover is mentioned in that list and we have debated it before and its backsides but it does work well with this ini file.

 

Just be careful. Wen you install something think twice: Do I really need it? I saw so many changes to so many things in that list...

Edited June 18, 2021 by Pellape

[Striker879]

One of the problems with following a mod list is the differences in hardware between your machine and the machine of the person who set up the list. That is why testing is so important (and you'll notice the Bevilex points that out). Where you are doing your testing is a detail often overlooked.

 

The tutorial dungeon is not a particularly stressing area of the game as far as making your computer earn it's keep, so if you are doing all of your install/test sessions while in the prison cell or in the sewers you will be getting a false sense of how well your machine is handling the strain.

 

All that changes once you step out into the world of Cyrodiil.

 

I suggest a tutorial dungeon run with not much more that OBSE installed (if you are going the Oblivion Character Overhaul v2 route then make that OBSE + Blockhead + OCO v2).

 

Before you get the character finalization menus and exit the sewers make a save. This will be useful for future characters, saving you from going through the tutorial again. Exit the sewers and then immediately make another save (not overwrting the first ... having lots and lots of saves is your friend). This second save will be the one you will use to play the character after you create that character's load order.

 

Do a little vanilla (or close to vanilla) exploring and get a feel for how your machine is handling the vanilla game. Tweak game settings and see how they affect game performance (and if you are on a laptop perhaps even stability). The more time you spend getting a baseline the better results you will have when piling on mods (testing after you have installed some mods has no value without a frame of reference).

 

Now start installing Bevi's list ... and any skimping you do on testing you will pay for in increased troubleshooting time when you run into a kerflewy. Experienced mod installer types will be able to get away with installing a handful or more mods at a time and then test because they will understand what each of those mods affects, so when things go south they'll have a good idea of where to start unravelling the knot.

 

Many years and many installs to become one of those, I'd suggest install one mod and test thoroughly (but then again I'm biased as that is still my mod install mantra).

[DrakeTheDragon]

When I installed that list myself some years back, I went about it group by group. As long as you keep the order and the dependencies to your choices, you can skip all you want from Bevilex' list.

But as the important thing in installing whole lists of mods is to never ever install them as a list but individually one by one, I did thorough testing of the results and their impact on performance at least after each of the groups.

And like I said I also skipped a whole bunch of the options when it was something I didn't really need or want in my game.

The best part of Bevilex' list is that you don't even need to install them all.

[Graciousgirl96]

Thank you guys so much for the time, replies and information. I decided to uninstall Oblivion & all its components and reinstall it so I can first test the vanilla game. I'll finish the starter dungeon, test Cyrodiil in vanilla, then only download the mods I really need/want and test the game after each installed mod.

 

One question still remains though, how should I know in which order the mods need to be installed?

[Striker879]

The Bevilex guide will give you a good overall idea. That guide is well organised for not only what to install (if you want of course) but also the order to install. If you find a mod that is not included on the Bevi guide then look for where in the install order similar type mods are included in the Bevi guide.

 

Often figuring out install order is a case of detective work ... looking at what the mod adds to the game vs other mods you either intent to install or have already installed. Install order is largely a concern for replacer type mods (mods that change vanilla game assets but don't rely on an ESP to do so). The 'rule of one' applies and so the last installed wins.

 

- Edit - Here's a copy/paste of a text file that is a copy/paste of a post by Arthmoor concerning install order (note that specifics mentioned may or may not apply for you):

 

Install order by Arthmoor

1. Install the Unofficial Oblivion Patch.

2. Install QTP3 Redimized.

3. Install the UOP320+QTP3 Patch.

4. Install the UOP Supplementals.

5. Install your favorite UI mod. Darn, Immersive Interface, BTMod, or your custom package for this if you have one.

6. Install Enhanced Economy if you're going to use it. It has UI components so should go in early.

7. Install Dynamic Map if you're going to use it, for the same reason. It also has UI components.

8. Install RAEVWD if you're going to use it.

9. Install AWLS if you're going to use it. This has options to override some components of RAEVWD.

[Graciousgirl96]

T

 

 

The Bevilex guide will give you a good overall idea. That guide is well organised for not only what to install (if you want of course) but also the order to install. If you find a mod that is not included on the Bevi guide then look for where in the install order similar type mods are included in the Bevi guide.

 

Often figuring out install order is a case of detective work ... looking at what the mod adds to the game vs other mods you either intent to install or have already installed. Install order is largely a concern for replacer type mods (mods that change vanilla game assets but don't rely on an ESP to do so). The 'rule of one' applies and so the last installed wins.

 

- Edit - Here's a copy/paste of a text file that is a copy/paste of a post by Arthmoor concerning install order (note that specifics mentioned may or may not apply for you):

 

Install order by Arthmoor

1. Install the Unofficial Oblivion Patch.

2. Install QTP3 Redimized.

3. Install the UOP320+QTP3 Patch.

4. Install the UOP Supplementals.

5. Install your favorite UI mod. Darn, Immersive Interface, BTMod, or your custom package for this if you have one.

6. Install Enhanced Economy if you're going to use it. It has UI components so should go in early.

7. Install Dynamic Map if you're going to use it, for the same reason. It also has UI components.

8. Install RAEVWD if you're going to use it.

9. Install AWLS if you're going to use it. This has options to override some components of RAEVWD.

 

That's fantastic! Thank you so much for this install-order, this way I can just pick the mods that I like the most and install them in the correct order. Thanks!

[Pellape]

There is 2 programs that will help you fix the load order and that is BOSS and LOOT and the later is the latest updated. The load order matters less if you use Wrye Bash and make a Wrye Patch with it and what the patch will do is take stuff from each mod that might conflict or overwrite each others and put them in a separate esp that you load in the end, like Levelists and loads of other settings + you can tweak a lot of settings in it, like carry weight and other nice tweaks and number of allowed companions and so on. If more than one modder edit the same levelist, well then the last edit will be the one that will be used but if you patch those 2 with this program, all changes will occur in game.

 

I do think Wrye was the first one making a separate mod organizer and the first came 17 years ago for Morrowind, Wrye Mash and he still updates it and supports it for all Bethesda's games.

[leonardo2]

I knew it. Belivex's guide doesn't mention one important thing and that's the user need to use the TES4LODGen every time one is changing the loadorder.

 

To summarize, each time you add a new mod, you have to:
* Install it in the Installers tab
* Check the .esp in the Mods tab
* Run BOSS to sort your load order
* Rebuild your Bashed patch (do not reactivate the .esp which have been deactivated by the Bashed Patch)

I copy this from the mod page.

 

 

 

There is also TESCosi to follow.

 

FYI, TESCosi is now hosted on UESP due to TAL as a defunct site.

[Pellape]

I never need new LOD files unless I do install a mod that changes the landscape and that is rare though... Changing the load order shouldn't effect the LOD files at all really. Are you sure you are running SkyBSA as it should take care of this in case your game load the LODs from the original BSA's?