I'm at my wits' end... can't get dark dungeons

[maaaaaaaaap]

First, load order:

Active Mod Files:

00  Oblivion.esm
01  All Natural Base.esm  [Version 1.36]
02  CustomSpellIcons.esm
**  emperorface.esp
03  Unofficial Oblivion Patch.esp  [Version 3.5.5]
04  UOP Vampire Aging & Face Fix.esp  [Version 1.0.0]
05  Oblivion Citadel Door Fix.esp
06  DLCShiveringIsles.esp
07  Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch.esp  [Version 1.5.9]
08  All Natural.esp  [Version 1.36]
09  All Natural - SI.esp  [Version 1.36]
0A  Immersive Interiors.esp  [Version 0.8.1]
0B  Immersive Interiors - Bravil.esp
0C  Immersive Interiors - Imperial City.esp  [Version 1.5]
0D  Immersive Interiors - Landscape Addon.esp
0E  All Natural - Real Lights.esp  [Version 1.36]
0F  WindowLightingSystem.esp
10  BrumasNorthernLights.esp
11  AliveWaters.esp
12  AliveWaters - Koi Addon.esp
13  AliveWaters - Slaughterfish Addon.esp
14  Book Jackets Oblivion.esp
15  ImprovedSigns.esp
16  No weapon litter.esp
17  personality_idles3b.esp
18  PTFallingStars.esp
19  QQuix - Rock, rock, rock your ship - V3.esp
1A  Crowded Cities 15.esp
1B  Crowded Roads Advanced.esp  [Version 1.3]
1C  kuerteeCleanUp.esp
1D  OblivionReloaded.esp
1E  Dynamic Map.esp  [Version 2.1.1]
1F  Map Marker Overhaul.esp  [Version 3.9.3]
20  Map Marker Overhaul - SI additions.esp  [Version 3.9.3]
21  Enhanced Hotkeys.esp  [Version 2.3.1]
22  DLCHorseArmor.esp
23  DLCHorseArmor - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.9]
24  DLCOrrery.esp
25  DLCOrrery - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.7]
26  DLCVileLair.esp
27  DLCVileLair - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.11]
28  DLCMehrunesRazor.esp
29  DLCMehrunesRazor - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.7]
2A  DLCSpellTomes.esp
++  DLCSpellTomes - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.1]
**  Book Jackets DLC.esp
**  GrimbotsSpellTomes.esp
++  MaleBodyReplacerV4.esp
**  RTFemaleReplacerV12.esp
++  Weapon Improvement Project.esp  [Version 1.9]
2B  DLCThievesDen.esp
2C  DLCThievesDen - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.15]
2D  DLCThievesDen - Unofficial Patch - SSSB.esp  [Version 1.0.14]
2E  Alluring Potion Bottles v3.esp
2F  Alluring Wine Bottles.esp
30  Zombie Diversity.esp
31  RoadLights.esp
32  DLCBattlehornCastle.esp
33  DLCBattlehornCastle - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.12]
34  DLCFrostcrag.esp
35  DLCFrostcrag - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.10]
36  Emporium.esp
37  Knights.esp
38  Knights - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.1.8]
++  Trees Overhaul.esp
39  Harvest [Flora].esp  [Version 3.0.0]
++  Harvest [Flora] - Shivering Isles.esp  [Version 3.0.0]
++  Harvest [Flora] - DLCVileLair.esp  [Version 3.0.0]
3A  Harvest [Flora] - DLCFrostcrag.esp  [Version 3.0.0]
++  Real Lava 1.3.esp
++  Ace_TorchlightRadiusIncrease.esp
**  Better Dungeons.esp
3B  HUD Status Bars.esp  [Version 5.3.2]
**  Grass Overhaul.esp
++  Improved Fires and Flames - Increased Sound.esp
++  ShinySeptims_Septimus.esp
3C  SupremeMagicka.esp  [Version 0.90b]
3D  SM_ShiveringIsles.esp  [Version 0.90]
3E  SM_EnchantStaff.esp  [Version 0.90]
++  SM_VanillaSpells.esp  [Version 0.90]
++  SM_Scrolls.esp  [Version 0.90]
++  SM_SigilStone.esp  [Version 0.90]
3F  Proper Male and Female Sitting.esp
**  Cava Obscura - Cyrodiil.esp
**  Cava Obscura - SI.esp
**  Cava Obscura - Filter Patch For Mods.esp
++  EyelashesForVanillaRaces.esp  [Version 2.0]
40  Falling Leaves.esp  [Version 1.0]
**  All Natural - Indoor Weather Filter For Mods.esp  [Version 1.36]
++  Feminized_Animations_Vanilla_UOP.esp
++  fk_edits.esp
41  Bashed Patch, 0.esp
42  Maskar's Oblivion Overhaul.esp  [Version 4.8.1]

Where fk_edits.esp is a local file by myself, where I only have edited birthsign abilities and made it so that all magic schools have the same rate of progression (Restoration in particular is generally lagging a bit behind the others, as most Oblivion players know, I guess... :-))

Load order is managed using BOSS.

Problem:

Neither with Cava Obscura, Let There Be Darkness nor MOO's light settings do dungeons become dark. I import cells and rebuild the bashed patch as usual (this did use to work, it's the last few days I've gotten this problem). When I start a new character however the dungeon becomes more grey than dark; I can see perfectly well without torches. It's like WB doesn't manage to import edited cells, or some other setting overrides the graphics in some way.
But worst of all I have no idea what causes this, as it sometimes starts behaving like expected! I suspected the UOP which was updated recently to be the culprit, but installing an older one didn't help. Then I tried reverting from OR 6.50 t0 6.20 (using Bevilex's guide, but not using ENB this time). That didn't help either.
At last I wondered if All Natural v. 1.37 was causing this; and correct enough, the problem vanished when I reverted to 1.36. FOR A FEW MINUTES. :-O
Everything seemed to work as expected again (I had a dark dungeon where I needed to use a torch to be able to see anything) in my test game, so I went back to the main menu and started a new, "proper" game.
ALL OF A SUDDEN THE PROBLEM RETURNED. And it's been there ever since, no matter what I do.

I am at my wits' end. If anyone has a remotely reasonable idea what might cause this I plead for help.

I have an Nvidia GeForce 780M 4 MB graphics card.

I've had a working installation with an ENB (followed Bevilex' guide to the letter last time) recently, but it stopped working last Thursday evening in the sense that severe graphical glitches started appearing (Jensine's shop interior vanishing, door from Gogan's house back into Anvil not working, flickering and "solarized" objects near Mouth of the Panther to mention some of the problems I had).
I've been trying to reinstall using only OR and not an ENB since Friday...

What might be worth mentioning is that I do have and have always had certain problems with All Natural - Real lights. A few seconds after character creation is finished, approximately when I get the message that the UOP items have been gained the light in the prison window turns black and seems like a night sky... Which is an indication that something has gone wrong in the import to WB. However, I've never experienced that this actually has affected lighting negatively like it does now.

Edited June 25, 2018 by maaaaaaaaap

[maaaaaaaaap]

...and it seems confirmed that this is related to my problem with All Natural Real Lights. As I said, I've had problems with that before, but only in the first dungeon - and that is what happened when I exited the first area and entered the second (you know, the door that the dead goblin by the door has the key to) area: total darkness, as hoped for. :-)
I've never had this problem before though: that lighting in the first dungeon as a whole goes askew because of some error in AN RL (an error I stress does NOT occur elsewhere in the game as far as I've seen - in fact, AN and its RL component is one of the best mods for this game IMO).

 

Still, if anyone has an idea what might go wrong when updating the bashed patch with data from AN RL, fire at will! There are no error messages, and as I've said the only indication I get that something has gone wrong is that the window in my cell turns from daylight to darkness approx 5 seconds after starting a new game.
This error does not occur wherever else I've been in the game.

[Oblivionaddicted]

Why don't you use LOOT to sort your load order instead?

 

Did you check for the conflicts using Oblivion mod manager?

Edited June 26, 2018 by Oblivionaddicted

[maaaaaaaaap]

Mainly because from what i gather BOSS is better than LOOT for Oblivion. I'm not an oracle, but BOSS has given me stable games before, so I stick with that. :-)
There are no real conflicts I think, everything works perfectly once I'm out of the first dungeon in the tutorial, as far as I can see.
However, I still think I have found the culprit, and it's strange that the readme for that mod doesn't explicitly state that the lights in the prison cell in the beginning have NOT been changed.

[beldaran1224]

Do you have a mod that may impact dungeon lighting loading after your darker dungeon mods? Its the only thing I can think of.

[lubronbrons]

I have suggestion

use mod AoG for darkness dungeon or darker dungeon (the link it's in my signature)

but

I hope you could tolerate its other functions, since AoG is considered as overhaul too

[beldaran1224]

That won't solve the problem though. The problem isn't that those other mods aren't working - they're very popular mods that many people have successfully used. The problem is likely that some other mod is overwriting those changes. Adding your mod (nice way to shill!) would have the same result.