Modding TES 4 Oblivion beautifully

[anemus]

Good evening :smile:

 

I had installed Oblivion 2 years ago and had delved deep into the whole modding magical world but only played a little and left the game for, well, 1.5 years. Not too many things have changed since, I believe, however I find myself having forgotten most of my findings. I tried to reinstall clean and re-add mods but found myself overwhelmed by aaaaaall the great choices listed on the site.

 

My point is simple: I plead any player that is familiar with playing this game modded to help me "get out of the swamp" and install quickly all I need:

o I try to achieve maximum compatibility and

o I try to change as few as possible from the original gameplay except some few but excellent choices such the adding to magic system and the birthsigns revamped mods

o I am all about enhancing the visual and audio quality of the game and the immersion factor: Better (or open ?) cities (+ Let the people drink - I LOVE it), new music and sounds, new and improved flora and fauna, new and revamped dungeons, Qarl's TPs etc.

o I try to figure out about the new body models and appropriate clothing correction etc.

o maximizing my computer's efficiency as it is not a multithreading friendly game (4 cores and it STILL bottlenecked me :huh: )

so, I try to stay away from total conversion mods. I am truly overwhelmed :confused: .

 

I would appreciate it if you can tell me or redirect me to already made lists of such mods and if you can help me with the order of installation using BOSS, Wrye Bash and OBMM - i am no stranger to these tools, I just kinda forgot how to use them all three in synch :P As I said, I know how to use them, so just a quick reference of what and in what order is enough :happy:

 

I understand that what I am asking is not easy kiddos but I would really like your expertise

[anemus]

Ummm... no one cares to answer my plea ? :sweat:

[TheTeeMan]

Ummm... no one cares to answer my plea ? :sweat:

Wow, no one have answered you!

As soon as I get home from work I will add a few goodies for you when it comes to enchanting the visuals, and I'll see what I remember and have listed when it comes to the other stuff, I used to mod my game to the extreme before, but have been dorment for a year or so now, so I'll see what I still have :smile:

Edited August 2, 2013 by TheTeeMan

[TheTeeMan]

Okay, first for the enchanting visuals, you should take a look at this playlist, 5 videos explaining very easily how to install them all, will upgrade the visuals very much. (Not npc's though)

 

By watching the videos you will get a nifty little tool that will help you make sure your game will actually run and what mod is f*#@ing up, and you should install one mod at a time, makes it easier if one of the mod is f*#@ing and then you don't have to check so many of them :)

 

Just a little something, you can ask if there is anything more.

(You might even already have figured it all out and have tons of mod installed and all pro :p )

[MasterAub]

Ok here is my reco

 

1) Get the right tools and I strongly advise you to get Wrye Bashed. It's not that difficult to manage and believe me you'll thank me.

 

Tools

Wrye Bashed: install mods and manage conflict between them and much more...

Oblivion Mods Manager: well same as Wrye Bashed, less complicated but much less complete.

BOSS: to sort your mods automatically in the right order

Oblivion Script Extender: a must if you plan to get the nicest mods ou there

 

2) Get the patches all of them...

 

Patched

Unofficial Oblivion Patch

Unoffical Knight of the Nine Patch

Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch

 

now on to the mods

3) Enhancing Visual: below the list I used

 

Graphic Mods

Qarl Texture Pack redimized: a must!!!

Oblivion Character Overall: for better looking characters (especially if you're coming from Skyrim this one is a must)

Natural Environment

Animated Windows Lighting System & Chimney

Oblivion Graphic Extender

Alluring Potion Bottles v3

Really AEVWD if you have the PC that can handle it as the impact on your Frame Rate can be pretty drastic.

Enhanced Water v20

I also use Argonian beautification as my character is an Argonian.

 

Gameplay Mods

OOO v133: make your game harder and tweak the levelling + much more

Deadly Reflex:

Midas Magic: I play a Mage so this one is imperative for me

Sounds of Cyrodiil: great improvement overall

 

Ok obviously there are plenty mods out there but I think those will set you up good.

Edited August 5, 2013 by MasterAub

[anemus]

Wow, thanks for the feedback! :woot: The tools, I am familliar with and I tend to use Wrye Bash because I'd rather have 1 tool for everything or as few as possible.

 

I will get to watch the vids and follow the instructions pronto. MasterAub, I had also installed all these graphics mods in my previous playtest and then some :tongue: I remember something about revamping the vanilla dungeons and another specially for the weather, I think outside the Natural Environments. Also, Oblivion Graphic Extender is indeed a must as it does nothing more than simply allowing so many more specialized graphics mods with full compatibility! :thumbsup: There is also another great sound overhaul, OSSO - Oblivion Stereo Sound Overhaul that i has excellent pieces of music.

 

I am using LowLowPolyGrass (for smooth FPSing), Idle Dialogue for avoiding possible problems and I really need your help and opinion regarding 2 sections:

 

I had previously installed and used the Better Cities mod and was *enchanted* by it - i want to use it again but I feel overwhelmed. I do not wish to use Open Cities or Open Better Cities - it's an excellent and well-cared work but I dont feel I need it. What mods of the same spirit and flavor would you recomend that are compatible with Better Cities (such as Clocks of Cyrodiil and LetThePeopleDrink!)?

 

What mod should I use about the races and character model creation, you know, models, features and builds? Again, I do not -for the moment- care about adding too many races more than the vanilla ones, just for things like all the races are selectable and an overhaul of the textures and/or physical builds. I am trying to use Robert's Male Body with The Girl Next Door but again, I think they stumble on each other or the UOP's choice of having all the races usable or something. They are both excellent work! If you know of something similar or better, possibly even uniting the overhaul of both male and female bodies please tell me! :-D

 

Also, regarding Character Creation, I strongly recomend Birthsign Revamped.

 

Again, I am more interested in compatibility than dazzling results :wink: I would really appreciate your opinion!

 

*And no, I have yet to play Skyrim - I am waiting to juice the heck out of Oblivion first :tongue: