Balakirev

RAR and ZIP are simply archival methods. They open to the user the same way, and can be easily handled identically for manual installation. I personally use RAR as a dearchiver, since it opens so many other archiving formats. OMODs are great for mods that require a series of user choices, as these can be automated through the OMOD process. That said, they can be installed manually, and just require reading the manual to do so. As everybody should read manuals that come with mods anyway, when OMOD and manual versions of mods are available, you can safely bypass the first for the second. Take comfort in the fact that those of us who are heavily into mods are used to spending days doing an initial setup when we first reinstall. I've got 230+ mods running in Oblivion. Doesn't get done in half an hour, but I love the result. :)

When you're playing the game, what things make you think to yourself, "I wish there was a mod for that?" That'll help narrow down the 20,000+ potential mods a bit. ;)

For E: Thieves Guild HQ: Unhealthy Competition. Per the long description: For F: The Oblivion Quest List, with roughly 40 short/medium/long quests, along with links. Maintainer has been gone over a year, after having developed an infant companion mod in reallife with his wife, but it's still a wonderful list. Best of luck. :)

I don't see any Wrye Bash-generated modlist. Try copying it, rather than attaching, using the spoiler tags before and after so it doesn't take up a mile.

My own setup utilizes Wrye Bash for everything except installation. I know that WB's sophisticated BAIN system does de/installations, but I've never been able to get it to work properly. Some users swear by it, others swear at it. For more sophisticated installations that require a lot of choices, I'll often use OBMM and its OMODs; otherwise, I'll do things manually.

Agreed. Nothing touches Wrye Mash, in that respect. It also has plenty of nice extra features as well, such as a Repair All function that repairs mismatched object IDs, syncing saved games with a mod list after mods have been added/removed, and remove debris left in cells after "dirty" mods are uninstalled.

This is stated as though it's the simple truth. When someone contradicts you, you write: With respect, if you're new to mods, perhaps your advice on the subject should be stated a trifle less authoritatively, and as a fact of life. There are a lot of active members here on Nexus who run 200+ mods and have for years, without problems, and without slowdowns. So when slowdowns do occur, there are any number of factors that could be involved. My guess (and it's just that--though I've got 232 mods going at the moment, I'm certainly no expert) is FCOM may be involved. It's script-heavy, especially Oscuro's. (Make sure you have the latest version, but don't expect a new one anytime soon. The author's gone pro, and is now working for a game development company.) The_Black_Ninja, I'd advise explaining your FPS issues on the official forums, where the FCOM veterans hang on. They have a lot of tips and tricks to suggest. Another possibility: OBGE. A number of users have reported slowdowns associated with this. Try removing it, and seeing if that helps. You might also want to look at adding the Oblivion Stutter Remover., in lieu of removing anything. It does require some study to configure, but really gave me a boost when I started adding on some graphics-intensive texture replacements. Best of luck, regardless. :)

Check out Oblivion Achievements CORE.

Any mod: that is...odd. Logically, if you've tested this with a range of mods that do not add or change existing textures, this shouldn't happen. One possible solution: put the Beautiful People ESPs towards the end of your mod lineup. Since you state other mods are affecting BP, if the latter load afterwards, you shouldn't see any changes.

I'm a bit confused, here. What specific mods have you added that cause the Beautiful People changes to vanish? If we can isolate the mods, we can isolate the cause.

But if you're running Beautiful People, you're running a texture replacement mod that does overwrite files. No way around that. Like Shinobi2008 notes, you can certainly make a backup of your vanilla Oblivion/Data folder and then make changes--but reasonably texture replacement mods are intended to do what you want: make things look better. You can install the mod and deny it the ability to do what it wants, but that seems counterproductive. I'd also add a second to BOSS. It will often spot out of date or conflicting files, and it does a generally good job of reordering. I would recommend installing Wrye Bash first, though, so you can use it to make sure your new mod loading order and your saved game are fully synced.

Yeah, they never said early January. They said "in January," which led a lot of people who wanted it to be early January to assume as much. I suspect it's a low priority for them, though obviously not for us--and the fact that it was out within 3 days of Oblivion's release says something.

If you want attractive female armor and clothing, check out Apachii's Goddess Store.

The best tool for moving mods around in your loading order (as well as saving a character's face) is Wrye Bash. It also has a ton of additional functionality. It allows you to see at a glance if a master is missing or out of order according to its dependencies, adjust a saved game to conform with your current mod list, create easy mod installation/deinstallations, look for (and repair) excessive saved game bloat, etc. It also allows you to build a patch with dozens of tweaks you can make to the game--such as whether to show jewelry on characters, to the fines for a specific crime, to the number of NPCs whose AI will be active in a fairly large combat zone.

On your first point: If you're installing a mod that changes textures, and it asks to allow an overwrite, you should allow this. Otherwise, why bother installing the mod? Changing the textures (to hair and eyes, in this case) is what you wanted in the first place. You didn't identify the other mods that are changing things back, so I can't comment on them. Nor did you provide a modlist, in loading order. If you're using Wrye Bash, this should be very easy to generate.

If Bethsoft runs according to form as it did in Oblivion and Morrowind, they will fix a ton of bugs between now and the first expansion set. Then the modders will issue unofficial patches that fix anywhere from hundreds to thousands of others, most quite small, but things that Bethsoft should have caught. Expect the CK and other tools to be used for the latter. And expect the process to continue for at least a couple of years.

Though in this case, some people believe that Steam hold the software ownership, which isn't the case.

Thanks!

I just gave a person who put up some attractive screens for my mod a +1 to rep for announcing them--he/she did a good job. But the reputation went from 0 to 99. Not that comment rep is important, but this is rather strange.

And have some smelling salts ready when you do that... Indeed. :D Still, if one wants to discuss Steam, a development house, and a game purchaser, it helps to know what the contract states.

Where does David say that his PC is old, and not a relatively recent one? We can speculate, because I have a relatively new one, and it runs Skyrim smoothly with texture and lighting mods. Only Vindekarr's "joke" wasn't based on speculation--it was an assumption. And if you check in the technical assistance section for Skyrim on the official forums, you'll find that a lack of consistency: some people with new systems running Skyrim easily, others having lots of problems. Mind, Bethsoft isn't alone in facing these issues, and I have some sympathy for them. The PC side of life has always prided itself upon open architecture, so there are a lot of configurations possible with CPU, RAM, video cards, OS, etc. My only point was that David's system wasn't automatically old(er) just because he's having trouble running Skyrim. A number of people boasting of new systems are in fact having difficulty. :)

Nor apparently is backing up a statement such as "A is vague and incorrect" by showing that A was in fact vague (it wasn't) and incorrect (it wasn't). ;) Simply put: What are those executables you mention that allow you to load Skyrim without having any connection to the Web? There are two executables: TES4.exe, and SkyrimLauncher.exe. Disabling the Web (as I did just a minute ago) means that neither can launch, since each tries to launch Steam first, and fails. In other words, if Steam itself fails, for the reasons I've specifically outlined above or others, Skyrim will not launch. This isn't vague, nor is it incorrect. It is clear, and accurate. If I'm wrong, please state how, rather than just stating, "You're wrong." :) Under what legal condition would that be? If you've already purchased the game, is there anything in that contract that requires you to run it through Steam, and states penalities that will occur if you do otherwise? If you haven't checked, you don't know, and a leading question isn't a matter of fact in itself. ;) Consider this question while you're reading your Steam agreement, and really look for an answer, because you might for it interesting: do you actually own the software you buy on Steam?

I think you're writing about something else. We're discussing that the game must load through Steam. You're discussing offline mode. Yes, you can play Skyrim in offline mode, but it must load Steam first before lauching its executables. This means that if Steam goes down, you can't play any games you've purchased through it, whether in online or offline mode. I've tried loading Skyrim's pair of executables, TESV and SkyrimLauncher, by themselves, but these always load Steam and then piggyback themselves on it. If you know a way to avoid loading Steam, I'm sure it would be interesting to everyone, including myself. :)

And consider the joys of knowing that, if for any reason, Steam goes offline--whether from hackers, or power outages, or simply going belly up--there goes your game. :confused:

68. M'aiq the Liar is not a liar in Oblivion. He got that reputation for good reason in Morrowind, but in Oblivion he offers a mix of useful hints and in-jokes.