ponyboy10

Lol. That's a colorful way to put it. Unfortunately, the UI of a lot of mod tools isn't the greatest, but this is most people's hobby. Glad you got it to work.

I'm pretty sure you can "copy" faces, but I'm not sure on the specifics. Did you happen to make a save for the character before leaving the sewers? If so, you could just re-load it and continue on. If you want, you should be able to change all of the stats/class/etc from the command line. ps. check this mod out... http://tes.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=7808

I guess first thing is to just review the installation instructions (they appear to vary if you are using the Steam version or not)... http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=OblivionUtilities.Detail&id=55 I can't give expert advice, but it kind of just worked for me [with the Steam version] after pasting the files into the correct directory. I still use the regular Steam launcher rather than the obse one.

I was thinking about inking up my character with some tattoos, but was only able to find "tribal" tattoo packs. No offense to anyone, but they're not necessarily the style I was hoping for. Are there any mods that offer more variety? I'm thinking something along the lines of like Celtic or more earthy/flourishy styles, maybe something along the lines of the details of the Dryad race mod even (http://tes.nexusmods.com/downloads/images/40867-4-1320137887.jpg).

I almost never stay on pathways... So what actually screws up?

Just to follow up, I would recommend using OBMM to install mods. Once you have more than a couple mods, I would also recommend you use BOSS to keep your load order sane.

There are a lot of suggested mods threads you might want to look through here, and the sticky thread on the steam forum: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=615 I would recommend possibly just the Unofficial patch to start, and just play for a while. I personally did all the graphical mods from that steam thread before i even played once. That's a fine approach, but it does lessen the effect a little and makes it harder to know when/if something isn't right. I wouldn't do any gameplay or leveling mods right off the bat. You might see a lot of complaints about Oblivion's default leveling system, but you won't experience the big downsides to it until you're much further along anyway. The best advice I've seen is to just play for a while, and if there's anything you feel could use improvement, or is otherwise annoying, search for a mod for it (it will likely exist).

ha, I didn't notice that either. Thanks anyway though, I'm going to check this out.

It's not quite the same, but have you seen Kvatch Rebuilt? http://tes.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=15412 Sorry, I can't really answer your original question.

I would suggest using BOSS to sort out your load order. That said, Oblivion can be pretty demanding as well as poorly optimized. I have a lot of mods, but mine will even stutter in cities especially. I have an i7 and Nvidia GT555m.

Lol. I'm starting to do this too. I was so excited when I got my first horse, a Armored Old Nag. She took many an arrow for me. However, she drowned herself while trying to follow me while swimming around the IC waters. 'Twas a sad day indeed. Now, I randomly grab horses to ride around on, but they always saunter away and make things clunky anyway. Not to mention having to dismount every time I need to put an arrow in a bandit.

Maybe I missed something, but did you actually disable the autosaving feature too? Or did you just stop playing from them? I just started using Streamline too, and there's an option in there to clear the cell buffers before saving, which in theory, should help keep saves cleaner. I'm not really sure about the Vilvern issue specifically..

Is NMM stable for Oblivion? The last time I checked on it, it sounded like there were a lot of problems with using it for Oblivion for some reason, and everyone recommended using OBMM.

Well, I waited until this past fall to get Oblivion, so yeah :)

As a follow-up, I can appreciate your frustration with poorly made, documented, or abandoned mods. I know I've had my share of time wasted on stuff that just won't work or non-"standard" (in as much as there is a standard) installation methods. Like I said, a mod manager that streamlined it all and could detect incompatibility would be helpful, as well as a creation kit that could [magically] do some of the validation, etc, but that's probably just a pipe-dream at this point considering again that everything here is free and it's a relatively old game already. Maybe for TES VI or VIII ;)

I think a mod manager and/or creation kit with more features could help a lot, but really it comes down to the fact that this is peoples' hobby, and as far as I know, nobody's getting paid here. Also, every modder has to start somewhere. If only A+ mods got published or listed, then the barrier to entry would be too high to bother for a lot of people. It's not all that well-structured, but this is kind of how community-based development goes. Sure, some easy-to-follow guidelines on how to make mods would help, but I'm sure there are lots of tutorials out there already too. At the end of the day, this is still just a game, and these are all just fan-made unofficial modifications.

I used to do that until I burned through a ton of lockpicks on a quest and keep having to buy some from Vilja (haven't gotten around to getting lockpicks through other means yet). I had to look up the trick to lockpicking on youtube, but now I can usually get into any difficulty lock within a few tries.

Thanks. Lol, yeah, that's what made me give up on it last time. Plus, every old hag I met was standing around looking like a lady of the night.... I tried both an omod and a manual install but they seemed to affect all characters. It seemed like a common problem in the mod thread after some update, so I was curious if there was a working way to do it. The idle is a lot more noticeable now that I have a better 3rd person camera working.

Out of curiousity, do you know of a mod that changes *only* the player's pose/idle stance? Specifically for bows? I've tried this: http://tes.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=27344, and maybe I'm doing it wrong, but it seemed to still change every NPC's idle too. It's not a big deal, but the default stance for bows makes your archer character always looked hunched over, and w/o a weapon equipped you're hunched over with your fists up.

Lol, these are good. I think I might go punch a d-bag Guild member later :)

I can't personally compare Oblivion to Skyrim (haven't played), but if you liked it, you should feel at home in Oblivion as well. The default graphics won't be as good, and you will find things that aren't as "smooth" as Skyrim, but there are also a lot more options/variety/freedom as well. One thing that Oblivion does have over Skyrim still is the vast amount and variety of mods. I'd say go for it if you're interested, but really only if you can take another Bethesda, open-world time-consuming game. FYI, Steam has been putting Oblivion on discount somewhat often lately, usually for $5 for the regular GOTY and $6.24 for the Deluxe (hard to beat the price for the content).

Not really a bug per se, but I have the Companion Vilja mod, and while we were clearing out our first Oblivion gate, she kept commenting on how nice of a place it is.... "uh, sure, Vilja.....". Many lols were had.

There might be other threads about this too, but maybe also check out: http://www.thenexusforums.com/index.php?/topic/531852-oblivion-crash-when-loading-saves/

Do you use a load order sorter? I'd recommend BOSS, if you don't. Also, have you made any changes recently, mainly with adding/removing mods?

This guy's video series is basically what convinced me to get Oblivion: http://www.youtube.com/user/culveyhouse#p/c/10/3aRGxfOB8MA This is another set of several videos that nicely shows a bunch of mods with their name, etc: You should be able to find a lot on Youtube by searching for "Oblivion mod" or "Oblivion graphics", etc. edit: whoa, that video just embedded itself!