Install order for base Oblivion content?

[Riddleofsteel]

I had tried to install Oblivion again to finally finish it a few weeks ago. I installed Oblivion, all the Knights of The Nine modules, then the official / unofficial patches and then the mod patch. Then when I went to install Shivering Isles, it wouldn't install.

 

Can someone help me with the best recommended order to install the official stuff as well as the unofficial patches? Thanks very much.

[BossDweebe]

Basically you start with Oblivion then SI

Then patch to 1.2.

Probably then Knights, but I don't have it so don't kill me.

Then UOP

 

Details - Top of this page (tech support). The problems with reinstalling guide will give you heaps of

information. Not all just about re installation.

Also read the UOP read me. It has lots of good info.

[dezdimona]

General Load-Order Guidelines

Here are the guidelines that I adhere to, personally.

 

~ Unofficial Oblivon Patch should always be first on the list. The fixes are great, but most aren't essential, so if a mod overwrites them its not a big deal, and the fixes have the potential for screwing up other mods if loaded later.

 

~ Offical Content (DLC's) should be loaded last, until you complete all quests associated with them (that includes buying all furniture for the houses and whatnot). Once they're complete, they can be safely moved up in the list. This is especially important for Knights of the Nine, which will have some fairly major problems unless loaded last (unless you get the UOP for KotN)

 

~ Major overhaul mods (OOO, Frans, MMM) should be loaded near the end. That gives you the most complete experience with any of those particular mods. It also lets you carefully choose which other mods to load afterwards... only move mods that you know will conflict and that you want the changes from. For example, I have Improved Soul Gems below OOO because I know that OOO changes the icons of some of the SG's, and ISG needs to be below to show through.

 

Some people will recommend putting larger mods first, but personally I disagree. There are a number of mods out there that make minor tweaks, and loading after a large mod will end up completely overwriting a chunk from one of the bigger mods because of the way conflicts work in Oblivion (even one minor change will take precedence over the entire record... for example, simply tweaking the speed of a weapon can cause every stat of that weapon to be retained to vanilla levels if loaded later).

 

So basically, it stacks up like this...

 

Oblivion.esm

Unofficial Oblivion Patch

<Minor Mods / DLC's (Post-Completion)>

<Major Overhaul Mod/Mods>

<Mods that specifically conflict with overhauls and need to take precedence>

<DLC's (Pre-Completion)>

 

 

 

Expanded Load-Order Guidelines

by dev_akm

 

I would extend this to include:

 

Oblivion.esm

Unofficial Oblivion Patch

<Weather/Environment/Sound Mods>

<Minor Mods/New Items/Houses/DLC's (Post-Completion)>

<Major Overhaul Mods>

<Mods that specifically conflict with overhauls and need to take precedence>

<DLC's (Pre-Completion)>

<Quests>

<Compatibility Patches/UOMP/Merged Leveled Lists>

 

And a special-case warning for Knights.esp (Knights of the Nine) -- you may not be able to move it earlier than some other mods (some people have had problems after moving it before OOO, for example).

 

That's basically the structure I use and I have 140+ mods working well together.

 

Another way of describing this (posted by DMan77):

....

Oblivion

unoffical patch

Deeper realism mods that add sights and sounds

added content like weapons/items

gameplay changes, like 'must eat and sleep'

The OOO type

the 'new begining' type mod..

................................................................................

.................

[bben46]

You want to load SI before you install the official Bethesda patch. Then use only the latest SI patch and not any of the Oblivion patches. KOTN and the other DLC mods can be loaded at any time as they are really just mods.

 

So, Load Oblivion, It's best to go ahead and start the game before going any further as this creates the ini files. Then load SI. again start the game as this makes some changes to the ini file. Then be sure you use the right language patch for SI only. and patch it.

 

Then, load the KOTN and other DLCs, the unofficial patches and there is a mod that delays the start of KOTN, SI, and the DLCs so they all don't start as soon as you start the game.

 

SM Plugin Refurbish http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=11474

[Riddleofsteel]

Great advice, thanks!