BossDweebe

I haven't kept up on Windom Earle, and the versions I have of his system did not address the closeing game black screen "crash". I have found - Fast Exit - to be faultless. Fast Exit requires OBSE.

If it's an OMOD it does not usually have an esp in the left column. When you active make sure the little square turns blue.

I'm unclear as to what you are doing. You are using vanilla textures to re texture ? In what way. Are you using textures from say one set of armor on another armor ? Are you extracting the textures to a folder ? If so what is the file path in NifSkope. It must start with Textures, not Oblivion or something else. If you are extracting the textures and not altering them then you will not need them on the other computer if the texture path is correct as it should be made to point to the same original location it came from. Or are your altering the UV maps ? If so then once you have used the texture to see what you are doing in the alteration and saved the Nif they will no longer be required as long as the file path stays with the games original location. What does your esp do? Whatever it is the esp should work on the other computer as well as long as the games are both patched the same. If not no mod would work off the original machine.

Yes - When the game first came out we were all amazed, but after a short while many became jaded due to the large number of mods that have lifted the games eye candy to new and wonderful heights. The original "vanilla" (plain) game is easier to run on a low spec machine. You still want at very minimum something like this - This is my older machine - AMD Athlon 2700, 2 Gig RAM (You can squeak by on 1GIG) and an Nvidia 7600GT 256 RAM or equivalent in Intel or ATI, but you may not be happy for long. My other machine is still pretty minimum with a modded game. AMD Opteron 180 dual core, 2 Gig RAM, Nvidia 8800GT 512RAM. I get by pretty well with this. Not silky smooth, but it still produces a lot of wow factor.

Yes - I've seen that too. Just guessing, but I think it is a transparency. It seems to be used mostly in conjunction with doors, although one of the three cells I just looked at shows it under the floor. EDIT: I didn't look real close. Maybe there is a trap door in the floor. I haven't looked at the cells in game. That may provide some insight. EDIT: If you right click on it and click on use info you will find the cells it is used in.

You don't (shouldn't) have to uninstall the game. Deactivate the mods first. Then activate them one at a time. When things go south you will know it is the mod you just installed (activated) causing the problem. Read the read me's. Don't install a bunch of mods in one go. You have just found out why. Play test every mod after you install it before moving on to another. The game is huge so there is no rush. While some mods have bugs and conflicts (not all conflicts are actually problematic), the vast majority of problems are from an incorrect install or bad load order. When things start getting on your nerves is when simple things get overlooked. "I don't need to check that - I'm sure it's right." EDIT: There may be Vista issues. Vista users may want to help with that.

I have made a small grotto with waterfalls, but can't work out how to manipulate the water plane. I have moved a large section up and down, but don't really understand what I did. I also need to know how to select a small section so I don't flood the whole area. Can anyone help a confused old man ?

OBMM will make the BSA files accessible. Click on utilities/BSA browser to do this. (also called unpacking). When that is finished double click on the relevant BSA file to open. Click on sort for alphabetical listing. Find the file you want then double click on the file to extract it. The file you extract is only a copy so you don't have to worry about messing it up. No need to extract the lot. Just what you want to use.

The guide is looking good, and it has made me realise the error of my ways as well. My earlier comments would show my own confusion on the mechanics of installing a mod. Many read me's say things like "copy to your Oblivion Data folder". It's been a long time since I have done that, so I forgot what happens. This has led me to say the same thing in my read me's, but I don't install that way. So your guide had helped clear some of the mush from my ancient brain as well. After reading this thread I looked at the procedure again and was reminded that if you copy a Data folder to the Oblivion\Data folder you will have a new Data folder in the original - Oblivion\Data\Data. This then is the reason many read me's correctly say "copy to the Oblivion Directory". (I can see clearly now the mush has gone) I had this double folder name problem when I first started installing mods, but had forgotten about it over the years. The multiple folders issue, along with my paranoia about overwriting files without knowing what is being overwritten, has led me to being a die hard manual installer. I still install every mod the slow way. Click through the mods folders/subfolders one by one and compare with the folders/sub folders in the games Data folder. When I find a folder in the mod with a new name I copy it over to the game. So the game folder I am in, eg - Data\Textures - will get this new folder (as, TK, custom, etc). -Data\Textures\TK. If the mod has no new folder then I keep going until I find a new file - Data\Textures\Weapons - if the mod has a dds file with a new name that is not in the weapons folder. I know I can safely copy this to the games - Data\Textures\Weapons\ - folder. - Data\Textures\Weapons\BigHugeMonsterMasherHammer.dds If there is a dds file with the same name I may, or may not, back up the original before replacing it with the new one. With big mods like the Unique Landscapes with all those lod's I make a backup of the lod folder before copying the new mods lods to it as it saves time locating the lod's by number if I decide not to use the mod. Anyway - I'm off to re-write my read me's.

Ooops - I was on the wrong page with that one....

Go back one more to Robert's Male Body v2 for a Beer Belly. While still a bit muscular the texture could be softened using the Gimp. He will look a bit fatter. He will still only be fat while not wearing a shirt or armour. With the exception of a few vests.

If you have SI then you are supposed to use only the SI patch. Nasty Little trick, I reckon, catches everybody (most). I don't know what the repercussions of installing the Oblivion patch first are. If there are any, I think they will be restricted to SI.

EDIT: It's been a while, but I think the auto saves are default. You can turn them off in the game play option. Keep lots of saves. The load order thing is not set in concrete. There are variables from set up to set up. There are a lot of threads dealing with problems with all of the great, and complex, mods being used together. OOO, MMM, Frans, FCOM, Deadly Reflexes. I gather they are great when they are right, but taxing to get right. They also need to be play tested longer than a small mod to cover all they do, and only one at a time. With mods like that I reckon you need a week of play between installs. Anyway - There is always something new in the game then as well. I don't have any of them. Dial Up you see... :down: I don't know if things are as flexible with the Steam version, but even complex mods can be safely removed and reinstalled with attention to detail with no problems. Just open a copy of the mod and use it as reference to what is in the game folders/subfolders/files. Most of those big mods probably have their own unique folders so it should be pretty easy. Disabling is a common trouble shooting device and should not cause any problems.

Another option is to find some architectural mods with some of their own meshes\textures. Use them as a resource. Just add the materials into CS with your own rename.

It must be a dummy all right as I don't even bother with the SI esp and still get the resources from SI. I get everything (I think) just via the Oblivion esm. In fact I forgot the SI esp was even there. Would the SI UOP have anything to do with this ?

Good idea. A pictorial tutorial is needed, but when it gets pinned will anyone read it ? From what I've seen - doubtful. Just ask bben. We all live in hope though, and with that in mind I might put my two bob in... You said some mods don't have a data file. This may be confusing as esp's still need to be in the Data folder. (yes people are that thick). While you say Oblivion\Data folder your ss has everything going in the unopened Oblivion folder, so there is a good chance that, for some (thick), the mod will not end up with the esp in Data, and the animation file in Meshes folder, but instead in the Oblivion folder. Oblivion\esp + Meshes I think it would also be good to have an in depth explanation of folder structure. People really need to know this for trouble shooting the mod they just mis-installed. Screens of two windows side by side. One with the game folder tree open and the other with the mod. A mod with several folder types would be most instructive. You tell people they may have error markers or pink textures because the mesh or textures may be in the wrong place, but they have only been acquainted with the Oblivion folder, and when confronted with an opened Data folder their eyes glaze over and their brain turns to mush. I have an idea that misplaced folders often happen when people drag and drop files in the folder tree (XP) instead of into an open window from one window to another. I've often had files wind up in an adjacent folder when I d&d in the folder tree. While many mods are only an esp. some people do not realise that replacer mods do not require an esp. Also, they should be instructed not to put read me's and ss's in the game. It would also be best if people were instructed to use OBMM so they can set the load order and run archive invalidation. Installing mods - easy when you know how - hard to explain succinctly.

You may be on the right track with the creature spawn idea, but it's hard to imagine how there could be a problem with only the one if the mods creatures if things are OK with the others. It may be something went wrong with the MMM install though. You should try the wait concept again. Turn your difficulty down to 0 so you don't get killed. If it is a creature the CTD should still happen. Maybe a change in load order. Possibly Frans Leveled creatures after MMM ? What does your bashed patch do ? It is possible that there is a corruption in the games save at the time you meet this creature. Have you tried doing the tombs with an older save ? While on the topic of corrupt saves. Do not use auto saves as they cause corruptions. After none of the above helps try disabling the most suspect mods and work from there.

Have you tried to bribe him ? Or - go back to a previous save. Or - deactivate the mod make a new save without it and reactivate the mod.

Everything prefaced with SE, Dementia, Mania is from SI. If you have SE installed it should all be there. Also I believe you need CS v1.2 for this.

I may add to the above - READ THE READ ME. This will clarify whether the mod requires any mesh or textures. I will also add that not all mods use esp's. Some mods are replacers which replace all of a given object in the game instead of adding new versions. These may be meshes or textures. It is best to do an archive invalidation to be sure the game recognises a replacer mod. Archive invalidation can be done automatically with OBMM.

Try - Unnecessary Violence.

I just thought there must be a vanilla water mesh in CS, but the water I have found does not seem to do anything. ie - I can't drag and drop in into the render window as is done with the FX waterfalls. EDIT: OK! I found the pink water planes under the landscape, but how do I manipulate them ?

You may have too many eye mods which may cause a conflict. Deactivating any esp associated with an eye mod and deleting the files will revert you to vanilla eyes. If you don't know which files to delete you can open a copy of the mod and use it to reference the folders/files. Load order and archive invalidation can also affect this sort of issue.

The WoodElfHeightFix_ForBodyReplacers mod. What does it do ? If it is "for body replacers" then it may require Robert's male body to work correctly. Having said that I would think that you would have all the texture on the feet as his mod uses footmale for the path name. What happens when nude or shirtless? All good but the feet ? Body textures are in - Data\Textures\Characters\Imperial\male.

Yes it does matter what mod as there are different issues with different mods. If you don't know if your game is patched, and you installed the game yourself, then it is a safe bet it isn't. If you are using the GOTY version than it is patched if not - Get patch 1.2.0416. Get the correct one for your region (U.S. - U.K.). Also, if you have Shivering Isles then you use the SI version of the patch. You don't use both. Have you activated the mod ? You can activate from the load screen, but OBMM is best. Does the mod require OBSE ? If so get OBSE and follow instructions. If none of the above helps then you need to look into how you are installing the mods, but one thing not to do is just extract to your Oblivion Data folder. Always extract to a folder outside the game. Then you can copy/paste or move the files to the data folder. If nothing else this will keep your game clean of a lot of unnecessary Read Me's and screen shots.