yeahchris

Which mod I'm going to download is often a balancing act between effect and simplicity. In other words, I pick which mod looks like it's going to add the most to the game by making the fewest changes (particularly in the scripting department). A heavily scripted mod is probably going to have a few errors, compatibility issues, etc. I'm always going to go towards the mod which gets what I want to get done and is the least likely to add unnecessary weight to the game. Example: Sealth Overhaul vs Stealth Overhaul Redux. Both mods make changes which should absolutely have been in vanilla. One adds other bells and whistles which don't have anything in particular to do with stealth (like the ability to equip gear "kits" with a single hotkey, and several other features I never once used when I was running it). Stealth Redux made the core changes and then stopped. What it did and what it would be compatible with was clearly defined.

Well, hell... I just managed to edit normal dodging behavior out of the game... or so it would seem. It's not even particularly hard. I simply opened up CombatMoves.esp in the CS, opened the script editor, opened up SkycaptainsNPCNormalDodgeQuestScript (Or something along those lines) and then deleted the whole thing, except for the first line, which I made scriptname SkycaptainsNPCNormalDodgeQuestScript (or whatever it is by default) so that it would save. I saved it, and hooray, all features seem to be intact -- including PC dodging. The NPCs are simply firing a blank script when they would normally dodge. Feel free to do this. I make no guarantees that it will work as intended, nor do I guarantee that it wont be harming DeadlyReflex, your saved game, your installation of Oblivion, your computer, or your sanity in some insidious way. Have fun. They still do the much more rare acrobatic dodging which came with DR, which, frankly, I've never had a problem with. I would imagine that you could get rid of it in the same way. The magic hostility bug would be much more technically challenging to fix, and is way out of my league. You'd think that enough people use this mod that there would be one or two scripters out there that'd want to try and fix it. I don't suppose that anyone on this forum would fall into that category?

Well, SkyCaptain stated in his licensing/legal section of the readme that he needed to be contacted before any part of the mod were repackaged for release. Now, I've only ever made a few areas for oblivion and morrowind, and a few NPCs for morrowind for my own personal use, and thus am not overly familiar with modder etiquette. I imagine if all that was put here were sections of raw code, and instructions telling others how to edit the mod themselves, then we wouldn't technically be violating that agreement -- though it would be nice to ask anyway. Mind you that would all be contingent on finding a bunch of people with the knowledge and the will do figure out how to change those things. (Provided they *can* be changed.) I, for one, would certainly think it would be worth doing. I'm astonished it hasn't been done already. I would imagine that it would require changing whatever script calls up NPCs' dodging behavior, rather than getting rid of the animation.

Anyone happen to know what was the most stable version of deadly reflex was before the bugs of V5 and the introduction of dodging? The dodging has rendered Oblivion virtually unplayable. I'll survive without my awesome front stab decapitation move, if need be. I just want to be able to hit a guy with an arrow from time to time. I'm really flabbergasted that v5 has been the working release of DR for so long. It's broken.

Is there a mod with a spell or somesuch to remove ownership of items? I'm having a few glitch problems with a house mod I've been using, where one of my companions keeps picking up the books I've placed on the shelves. When she does so the items get marked stolen and remain stolen when I make her give them back to me. Also, at one point one of the NPC guards tried to get on my horse, I believe, and got promptly cut down by the other guards and my companions. I'm planning to build a stables (far away from the guards) in the CS to deal with the latter problem, but if there's a mod with a spell out there which could either remark the books as belonging to me after I get them back or prevent them from getting marked stolen in the first place, that would be nifty.

You have the hotfix for Deadly Reflex 5? Lots of people don't download the hotfix, even though it solves -a lot- of crashing issues. Also, CombatMoves should be as near to the end of your load order as you can make it.

What?! A whole page on the Mod Detectives thread without a single post from me?! I must change that. I highly recommend Aranmathi, it was my favorite house mod for a while. Comes with a bunch of NPC's, so it's definitely companion friendly though. Plus it's huge, though kinda empty. But like I said, was my favorite house mod. I now like Vaernlor Manor best of all, may even be my favorite mod in general, not just homes. I don't use many companions, though, so I couldn't tell you whether or not it's companion friendly. Also, check out Oblivion's Real Estate. It's a fairly complete, and more importantly, still-updated list of many house mods out there, organized by type. Thank you sir. And yes, Vaernlor manor is *very* impressive. Unfortunatley it's also very NPC unfriendly, which is why I had to give up on it. I gotta have a crew to hang with, personally. What else am I gonna do with the 8 bedrooms? I'll check out the other one.

I'd be happy to try that suit on. Do need someone to do anything particularly special other than, you know, install the mod and put on the armor?

Also, go with a faster leveling option than the one they suggest. It's too slow for a fighter, as you get less practice, as you can't rightly swordfight when you're on the run.

Melee with OOO is very possible. Trick is to pick your battles and run away should you encounter anything too powerful. It can be kinda hard if you choose to go the heavy armor route, however, as that limits your ability to run away from a lot of things.

I would start by getting a good overhaul mod. I tend to prefer Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul. On top of that, I would install Martigen's Monster Mod and the unique landscapes collection. Those three mods alone are enough to make for a vastly different play experience. I would also recommend mods that add new landmasses. What I've seen of Elsewyr is very impressive. After those base mods it's really a matter of taste and what you're looking to put into the game; whether you like new quests, companions, etc. I generally configure my mod list depending on the type of character I want to play. If I'm making an assassin I install mods which expand upon the Dark Brotherhood, and add sneaky abilities for me to learn, and neat sneaky quests. It's generally not a good idea to install a bazillion mods to add a bazillion things to every aspect of the game even if your character isn't going to use them. It just adds excess weight to the game, which will impact performance. So, here are a few lists: I would go ahead and download all of the newest official patches before installing any of these. Also, please note that several of the mods I'm going on to recommend involve the Oblivion Script Extender. Most mods that involve anything interesting happening via scripting require the script extender. Really, all the best mods require the script extender. ---------------- "Base" mods Unofficial Oblivion Patch Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul (If you go with OOO, don't go with the suggested leveling rate. It is TOO SLOW. I would go with something still a bit reduced, but not OOO default. There are other mods that can be installed on top of OOO to retweak the leveling rate, or even to reset it back to normal oblivion rates.) Martigen's Monster Mod Unique Landscapes Collection Note: Many of the links I've given you are to mods which are in OMOD format, which you need utilities to install, which brings me to ---------------- Utilities The Oblivion Mod Manager Very user friendly, and can install omods. Wrye Bash Extremely user unfriendly. By which I mean you gotta be a goddamn computer programmer to understand how to use 1/20th of its functions, or even read the instructions, but it has some nice features; like the ability to make patches to help some mods which might normally be incompatible play together more nicely. BOSS - Better Oblivion Sorting Software A very easy to use utility which will help you manage your load order, and is right *most* of the time. These are all also very good utilities. ---------------- From here out I'll point you in the direction of what I consider to be the best of each category of mod: Companions: Companion Vilja Ruined Tail's Tale Companion Neeshka Quests: The Lost Spires Blade Song* *Requires Screen Effects v1.0 New Lands: Elsweyr the Deserts of Anequina Equipment Armamentarium Complete 1-35 (Adds more armor than you would ever expect a mod to add. Many retextures of vanilla armor added into the level lists, so some bandits will be wearing black iron armor sometimes, and you can choose between brown and black leather gloves for your character. In other words, not all suits of armor are identical now.) Custom Magic: Midas Magic (The most endorsed mod for oblivion, ever. More new spells than you can shake a stick at, although they are of varying quality) Combat Mods: Deadly Reflex (Absolutely fantastic mod. Adds decapitation. What more needs to be said? Although the current version includes bugs and unbalanced features that are almost a deal breaker for me. I might almost recommend an older version of DR over the current one, before the implementation of NPC dodging, and the bug which makes NPCs consider all kinds of spells, including detect life and charm, hostile actions.) Stealth Overhaul Redux (A must-have for anyone who sneaks, ever.)

Hey, I'm also looking for a castle mod, or player home mod, which adds a player home large enough to house a large number of companions. There are a number of mods that add large homes but many are not companion friendly (the NPCs just sorta stand around and talk to each other; never sit down, etc). Are there any particularly good castles or large manors that have enough room for 5 or 6 companions and are known to be AI friendly?

That's the one! Thanks dude.

A few years ago there was a modder who was trying to make randomized assassination quests that could be done once the dark brotherhood storyline was completed. I can't seem to find it now, which means it may have never come to fruition. Are there any mods out there now that add randomized, repeatable assassination quests?

There's already a mod which had ringwraith armor modeled up at the nexus. http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=4311 If the person who made that mod would allow their armor to be used, all that would be required for the mod idea here would be the AI the wraiths would be running.

Yeah. I'm a little dubious about the progress of DR 6, as it was supposed to go into beta months ago, and I'm having trouble finding an active thread on it. One can hope, however. Furthermore, even if there is a new release, it's likely to have even more bugs than DR 5 before the hotfix given all the new features. That aside, are there any scripting smarties out there who might know how difficult it might be to: a) fix the magic hostility problem and b) tone down or turn off npc dodging behavior

Nothing then? Between this and the recockulous amount of dodging I'm considering going back to an old version of DR. Maybe v4.

If you're constantly getting redirected to ads regardless of browser my guess would be spyware. Lots of malware will redirect you when you click links and such. Does it happen when you enter the url manually?

As per the title. I'm using DR 5, which supposedly contains some improper check which makes NPCs interpret all spells cast at them to be hostile, including healing and charm spells, which sort of defeats the purpose of healing and charm spells. I'm to understand that the issue is fixable. I'm a little tired of having to disable DR every time I want to charm a shopkeep, and don't necessarily want to wait for all of the new features of DR 6 to be sorted out before I can use my spells again. In truth, DR 5 has all the features that I really want from a combat mod. I would rather have DR 5 with this bug fixed, and perhaps NPC dodging toned down than another beta. So, basically, is there any fix floating around internet land? I can't seem to find one, and unfortunately I'm not smart enough to make one.

I really wish that there were some kind of personal annoyance remover out there that spared magic. As it is, it seems like your options are to have vanilla visual effects on everything, or pick one of the mods that removes visual effects from -everything-. I'm certainly of the opinion that having floating red blobs hovering around my fighter because he's using threaten is annoying, and would love to get rid of it, but I think my mage who has all of his spells activated -should- glow in the dark -- he's a mage -- that's what they do. So basically what I think there needs to be is a mod which strips fighter and rogue sustainable abilities of their visual effect, or limits the duration of their visual effect, while still allowing spellcasters to glow with magic. I'd make it myself, if only I knew how.

Thanks. I'll give it a shot then.

Sure. My source is page three or so of this thread here. Clickity A bioware dev chimes in around page 3 and says, Though I have to assume he meant 1.01 or earlier. Edit: And damn, did it take me a while to track down the thread I read that in this morning - lost amidst all the noise of people complaining because of the cone of cold nerf.

I heard on the Bioware forums that mods with overrides made for earlier versions of DA are likely to cause major problems with the new version of DA. I'm currently using only one mod which uses overrides: MachDelta's Forced Deathblows mod. I messaged the mod's author asking whether or not he thought it was likely to cause problems but haven't gotten a response yet. Normally I would just hold off on patching until I got a response, but Steam auto-applied the patch. So I thought I'd come here and ask people who actually understand what sorts of changes might have been made in his mod whether or not it would be likely to cause problems for the new version. Anyone happen to know? Should I test it out and see, or should I go ahead and yank out the override until I'm sure it's safe? I don't want to cause any serious problems with my game that can't be undone by reloading, and I don't know whether or not that's a possibility when using an override which isn't designed for the current version.