Looking for guidance

[maugremagic]

Hi everyone,

 

I've been sifting through the Oblivion mod community the last few days after stumbling across a series of links about projects that have released since Shivering Isles. I gave Oblivion a shot when it came out, but for a number of reasons could never really get into it.

 

Well, after looking through a lot of the more recent efforts by the modding community, I just ordered the GOTY edition with plans to heavily modify the game to fit my style, having recently upgraded my PC to an upper-mid-line rig.

 

Since I chose the cheapest shipping option, I have a week or two before I'll actually get to start experimenting with things. Thus, there's plenty of time for me to download everything that looks promising and to prioritize which pieces are more important. Still, I'm finding it to be a fairly daunting process cherry-picking what look to be the best updated mods around, so I figure posting a topic like this couldn't hurt.

 

Basically, I'm wondering if members more experienced with the Oblivion mod scene might be able to point me in the right direction to find everything I'm hoping I can work into my game.

 

Some of the mods I've already come across that I'd like to apply include: Bananasplit's Better Cities pack & Open Better Cities (understanding they complement each other), Heart of the Dead, "REALLY Almost Everything Visible When Distant," Oscuros Oblivion Overhall, HGEC Body Replacer, Apachii Goddess Store, and Colourwheel's Sexy Dance Club.

 

I'm hoping this list is painting a picture for the experienced modders of the kind of package I'm trying to put together . . . which I suppose is the most expanded version of Oblivion I can put together. That's probably not helpful as far as figuring out if there are any missing pieces I should hunt down, so I'll elaborate a little on a couple features I'm not sure I've found yet--

 

One of the things that really bothered me when playing Oblivion shortly after release was the leveling system. Frankly, I didn't like that my skill progression would taper off, how leveling certain 'minor' skills influenced all 'major' statistic upgrades, and how enemies leveled with me. As far as I can tell, OOO should provide something of a solution for these points, though I'm afraid it sounds like it might not be the best fit for what I'm looking for as far as gameplay mods, although the extensions OOO claims to add in the way of extra creatures, expanded NPC variation, and other 'world features' sound great.

 

One of my favorite game series is FROM Software's King's Field. In fact, I was hoping Oblivion could have offered a King's Field-type experience when it first came out, as both exist, on the surface at least, as first-person fantasy RPGs, but I felt the base-game lacked the straightforward experience system of the series, and also made combat feel a lot more 'floaty' . . . if anyone is familiar with any of the KF games, could you suggest some gameplay mods that capture the feel of KF?

 

I'm also hoping to carve out a section of my Oblivion build for light-hearted fun, hence mentioning the cosmetic and 'shop' mods.

 

For the 'tl;dr' crowd--

 

I wonder if anyone could point me towards mods that offer one or more of the following:

A) Upgrading the topography and architecture of the world (a'la 'Better Cities)

B) Enhancing the visual details of the world for an upper-mid-range PC (a'la REALLY Almost Everything Visible When Distant)

C) Adding feature-rich quests to extend the gameplay experience (a'la Heart of the Dead)

D) Fitting the gameplay closer to that of FROM Software's King's Field: The Ancient City and/or Shadow Tower Abyss (closest I've found is Oscuros Oblivion Overhall)

E) Adding non-intrusive 'eye-candy' features to screw around with on the side (a'la HGEC + Colourwheel's Sexy Dance Club)

 

Apologies for the long-windedness of the post, especially seeing as it's my first on the board . . . for the record I'm an English major, so long-winded is second nature :)

[BossDweebe]

Tools: Nifscope, Oblivion Mod Manager, Construction Set.

If you think you will become involved in the mods you will want

these tools, and some wiki tutorials to go with them.

 

Landscape: The UL Landscape series has some beauties.

My favorites - Colovian Highlands, Arrius Ck., Entius Gorge.

Chorrol Hinterland, and Everglades. Some of the UL series overlap

and need patches to accommodate this.

Akiviri Kojima adds a nice touch of Japan to the waters off Anvil,

a lot of great helmets, kimonos etc.

Natural Environments is good, but I modified the too yellow for my taste

HDR version of natural weather. It can be tweaked in CS. I also tweaked the water

as I found it a bit too clear.

Bayview Villa is one of many good houses.

Sky cycling has many good night skies. I just switch the stars and moons manually

instead of using the esp. Add the Earth moon to this.

Then there is Unique Castles, not sure about conflicts with better cities, but I think not.

I also use Koldorns Cave Textures, and Landscape LOD replacer, and the normal map replacer.

These may have been superceeded by now.

And don't leave out the Clocks of Cyrodill or illumination Within for great window light at night.

I don't think it conflicts with better cities, or it may be part of better cities.

 

From there go to the top 100, where most or all of these live, and from there it goes on, and on, and ....

 

I have no problem with the leveling. If I get lazy I just turn the difficulty down a few notches.

But there are several leveling mods available. I do like Acidons cost fix (I think that's the correct name)

and Quick Store is very helpful.

 

Ultimately it's on you. Everyone plays the game different, but still you should let Oblivion be Oblivion.

and not your previous favorite.

[jonesjoshuar]

Shameless self promotion:

 

Glimmering Castle. A home mod.

 

Midas magic adds a TON of new spells and effects and is a must for any mage characters. There is a quest award lever which is awesome. (ie: if complete a quest at a low level you get a low level reward...this makes the reward level with you.) There are several leveling overhalls, I personally love TES leveling system, so i do not use them. I always hated point based leveling. Reznods mannquins for display armor.

 

Armory lab for a smaller home mod. Have fun!

[maugremagic]

Thanks for the suggestions jonesjoshuar & BossDweebe,

 

I've spent most of the day scouting files that look interesting, and fell upon FCOM half-way through the process.

 

I think I'm about out of steam as far as preparing everything in advance for now, but if anyone else has further suggestions please don't hesitate as I'll surely give everything another look once I actually have the game installed ;)