Striker879

It would make sense to me that you could find some Oblivion mods that aren't very "comfortable" with MO2's virtual install system. The testing "worse case scenario" of BPN+RF+BPA really was for the most part my fault ... I was determined to use the three to achieve a number of goals I had for gameplay. The INI editing wasn't time consuming, it was the setting up encounters with bandits etc that could serve as repeatable test sessions while I changed INI settings (individually with each of the three mods initially, and then in combination with the others once I understood how each mod affected different aspects/the same aspects of the game). I understand the "allure" of the clean Data folder, it's just a Siren's song that hasn't any effedt on me. When I want to start a new load order I have my base install backups to seed the new load order, and I have no trouble reverting my current Oblivion install back to vanilla state to begin the process. As always, to each his/her own. A little while ago I was helping someone with an install that included Better Dungeons. I don't use it myself so I did some research before we attempted to install it (something that was eventually abandoned). My research uncovered enough incompatibilities that put it beyond what we were willing to work through at the time. If memory serves it was primarily Better Cities/Better Dungeons issues, but I'd need to look back on that thread to be certain, plus you aren't indicating any Better Cities in your install list.

I'm of limited help when it comes to Steam (disk guy here) and ditto with extra "don't know" for Mod Organiser 2 issues. MO2 should help with backtracking and trying different install orders I would think. The key is not doing ten things and then test ... when things go south then you're left sorting through the lot trying to figure out which is the cause of the problem. Testing should take much more time than installing too. Don't just confirm the game starts and move on to the next, make certain that the mod's features are working and if it could possibly interfere/interact with another mod you need to confirm that both (or all if more than two) are happy working together. It probably took me the better part of a week to get Basic Primary Needs, Realistic Fatigue and Basic Physical Activities tuned to my liking. Now granted to an outside observer many of the test sessions would appear to be just playing, but nothing could be further from the truth. I have all of those testing saves backed up, but none of that time spent testing was on my guy's current save line.

Have you tried the vanilla game before adding mods? My own tried and true method for installing mods is to install one mod to a perfectly working game and then test thoroughly. If all is well then I will move on to install the next mod and then test thoroughly. When I add a mod to the game and now it stops working correctly it's a simple matter to figure out where to start troubleshooting. A recommendation I can make for your early install section (the OBSE plugins) is EngineBugFixes. I'm not suggesting it as asolution to your current problem, but have a look through the fixes it offers in the mod description and/or readme and you'll get an idea of it's scope.

To post your load order using Wrye Bash see the step by step I posted here.

The Steam version of the game comes with a special "feature" added by Steam ... they change the dates on all of the vanilla game BSA files to a modern date, and thus break BSA Redirection (the recommended method of archive invalidation). One way to fix it is using Oblivion Mod Manager (OBMM) ... it's just Utilities -> Archive Invalidation -> select BSA Redirection -> click on Reset BSA Timestamps -> click on Update Now -> done. You can still use Wrye Bash for mod management and installation ... OBMM just offers a quick and easy way to de-Steamify your BSA files. If you then backup all of the fixed vanilla game BSAs to a folder you can uninstall OBMM afterwards. The next time that Steam does some sort of update and breaks things again just restore the properly dated BSAs from backup.

I don't see anything that jumps out at me looking at your OBSE plugins (Enhanced Camera doesn't have any INI settings around this does it?). I'm not aware of any global type variable that would affect the light from just the player, but I've never looked for such myself before. Hopefully I haven't chased Kats away ... other eyes and other brains are always an asset to troubleshooting.

OK ... I can't recall whether I made the change to 1.0000 at the same time I did the radius tweak (I was cribbing settings from another mod for my MyTweaks.esp). I don't know what else to suggest.

But I decreased the light radius, not increased it. from 768 down to 256. But ok I will do as you said, what should I increase the CS Falloff too ? Decrease the Falloff Exponent to 0.0000 as a test ... that is what TES4Edit shows as the default value. That is curious that when you reduced the light radius you have a further drop in frame rate ... I thought you had increased it to the value I have set. When I did that it was to give a bit more visible range while travelling roads on rainy nights (and to some extent in dungeons, though that wasn't my primary goal). Going from 768 to 1152 didn't make any remarkable change to my frame rate from what I recall (but I don't use anything except my Mark I perception to determine frame rate ... i.e. no FPS counter, just how it feels). - Edit When making these tests always set the previous value back to what it was ... we're looking for root causes here not cumulative effect.

That is as expected as you are increasing the lit radius of the torch. My question was related to the setting in the CS Falloff Exponent (look in your posted CS pic beside FOV and you'll see the box I was referring to ... that value is set a 0.0000 in vanilla Oblivion according to what I see in TES4Edit).

So that isn't the root of the problem then. You didn't make any mention of the Falloff Exponent edit I made a while back ... did you try that test?

What happens with iActorShadowCountExt=1 (my own is set to that)?

I'm not familiar with whatever mod your wands.esp may come from but perhaps check it in TES4Edit and see if it touches torches in any way.

I guess torches are slightly different than candles then ... I've done plenty with candles, diddly with torches. - Edit - What happens if you drop the light radius down from 768? I would try a big drop as a test ... say 256 or even 128. - Edit 2 - Probably not at the root of your problem ... I have the radius upped to 1152 in my MyTweaks.esp and I'm not experiencing what you are. From what I can see in TES4Edit all the other settings are same as yours (with exception that I still have dynamic and flicker set). - Edit 3 - I see in TES4Edit that Oblivion.esm has the Falloff Exponent set at 0.0000 whereas you (and my MyTweaks.esp) have it set to 1.0000 ... maybe give that a test.

I believe "can cast shadows" is another tick box option.

Think of how many thousands (possibly hundreds of thousands) of bandits etc I have killed just in my current guy's 5135 hours (and then there is about 3000 hours or more to tack onto that from his two predecessors). More enemies doesn't make the game less the same old, it makes it more for me. Actually I rarely kill NPC enemies any more. I have other more interesting uses for them, that are best suited to them remaining alive.

After going to bed this occurred to me ... BSA stands for Bethesda Softworks Archive. Archives are either compressed or uncompressed collections of files, wrapped up within a single file. Right click on the "archive" that you say was created by File Date Changer and select Properties. At the top of the Properties dialogue box you will see the full file name and confirm that it still is Oblivion - Textures - Compressed.bsa and you will see that nothing has changed from before you ran File Date Changer except the file date stamp.

Doesn't the Steam version of the game have a way to restore files ... verify cache or something like that is what it's called I believe. Doing that will get the vanilla game files back, but you will probably need to use OBMM to correct the file dates again. Any time I have used File Date Changer it doesn't have the ability to archive files ... it just changes date stamps. I need to be up fairly early in the morning so I will be calling it a night shortly.

What has placed what file into an archive?

So you have installed the Roberts Male and Roberts Female texture compatibility addons from the Oblivion Character Overhaul download page?

The other thing that I notice is that you have not said whether or not you have installed the Roberts Male and Female body texture compatibility addons from Oblivion Character Overhaul (they are required).

I believe that it is the Modified date that matters but the disk version of the game has both Created and Modified dates as 01/01/2006. Oblivion Mod Manager has a utility that works to change the dates to the correct date ... it click on the Utilities button then select Archive Invalidation from the menu. In the Archive Invalidation dialogue you make sure that BSA Redirection is selected, click on Reset BSA Timestamps and then Update Now and you're done. An alternative is to use a uitlity called File Date Changer and change the Created date to 01/01/2006.

Both the Created and the Modified dates are that? I need both dates.

Follow the instructions I gave you at the start of this journey into the wilderness ... I need those file dates to proceed.

The folder you are looking for is NOT named compressed ... it is named Data. Inside the Data folder you will find a file named Oblivion - Textures - Compressed.bsa ... in fact, if you simply left click at the start of the letter O in Oblivion - Textures - Compressed.bsa in this forum post and drag your mouse to the right and highlight all of the letters in the file name up to and including the .bsa part and then press the Ctrl key plus the C key at the same time you can just click in the Search bar and then press the Ctrl key and the V key at the same time and the proper file name will be what you search for.

Folders have an icon that looks like a file folder you would use at an office. Oblivion - Textures - Compressed.bsa is a file, which will be inside the Data folder, which will be inside the Oblivion folder in your game install. If you only see the words Oblivion - Textures - Compressed and don't see the .bsa part it's OK ... that is just a setting in Windows that hides file extensions for known file types. As I use the disk version of the game I can't give you a complete folder path for the Steam version of the game, but the game's Oblivion folder is where you installed OBSE (a requirement for Blockhead, which is a requirement for Oblivion Character Overhaul v2). Once you locate the file with the name Oblivion - Textures - Compressed.bsa that is what you will right click on and follow my instructions.