*NEWB* Help with official and unofficial patchs.

[Indigobug1987]

I have game of the year should I install the third patch 1.2.0416 or the shivering isles patch?

 

When I installed the new one and then the shivering isles it would say it already exists, then ask to overwrite, then it would say unable to do 'something' because file content did not match.

 

Also I want to install the latest unofficial patch as well but the last time I did I would play for a bit then fast travel to imperial city and my game would always crash. When I deactivated the mod however my game wouldn't crash. Could some one please direct me to the latest version of the unofficial patch? Maybe my problem was that the version i installed was omod instead of manual?

 

I do not have any DLC content or expansions. I just have GotY vanilla right now.

[Pronam]

If you have the GOTY, you might not need to patch at all.

Check your readme, you can do that easily by using the launcher and clicking on Technical Support.

[dezdimona]

the GotY is prepatched.The unofficial patch should not cause problems.what if any mods do you have installed?

[Indigobug1987]

I have no mods right now. I'm starting from scratch. I didn't want to install any mods until i had my game all patched up. Should I start with the unofficial patch? Whih file should I start with?

 

Anyway I am definately getting my shadowcrest vineyard, slofs horses, HGEC male/female, hgec stock armor and clothes back.

 

I want to try Quarls Texture Pack 3 and or Natural environments, adrenaline fueled combat, dude wheres my horse+saddlebags+callsteed, quarls harvest flora, enchantment restore over time and quest award leveling. Probably various armors/clothing for hgec. I have never tried any quest mods. I mostly just change how my game looks rather than adding stuff. Except my house. :)

 

Can I use omod and obse mods at the same time/same game?

[Indigobug1987]

Ok I installed the omod version of the unofficial patch and it says that i require 1.2.416 or higher. For somereason I have shivering isles newest patch. When I try to install it it says "Old file not found. However, a file of the same name was found. No update done since file content does not match."

 

Now since GotY comes prepatched..and the patch i'm trying to use says uninstall if beta patches were uses...should I uninstall oblivion then try the patch? I'm gonna try that.

[bben46]

GOTY comes with the latest patch 1.2.0416 ONLY if you install the included Shivering Isles also. So, Install Oblivion, DO NOT PATCH YET! start the game and make a save - this installs the required Oblivion entries into the Windows Registry, sets up the Oblivion.ini, save game folder and data folder in the expected places.

 

After saving, exit the game and install SI. Then again start the game and make a save. This version of SI includes the v1.2.0416 patch for SI and Oblivion, which adds some entries int the Windows Registry, makes some changes to the .ini file and makes your game fully patched.

 

The unofficial patches are not really patches but mods. A true patch will make changes to the Bethsoft programs Oblivion.exe, Oblivion.esm or one of the included .bsa files. ONLY Bethsoft should change those files. A mod does not change those files, but overwrites portions of the data in them each time you start the game with that mod active. The actual Bethsoft files are not changed by a mod and will still be the same when that mod is removed.

 

So, the official Bethsoft patches will not show up in your data list, but the unofficial patches will.

 

Some online versions, such as the D2D Will not recognize OBSE due to the copy protection on them.

 

The reason for not patching the Oblivion before installing SI is the Oblivion only patch makes a change in the Windows Registry that the SI install cannot change back. If you have done this, you may have to completely remove and reinstall the game for the proper patch to work. This is a bug. Yes, Beth should have fixed this. However they did not, and now will not, so we have to live with it.

 

I recommend making a copy of the data folder with only the vanilla stuff, no unofficial patches or mods at all. put it in a safe place - when you find you need to reinstall again - that should be all you need. Just rename the existing data and copy (do not move) your backup into the same place.

[Indigobug1987]

Ok I did download some mods already, will uninstall then install again mess with them? I can always reinstall them. The mods i have are pretty much memorized on how to install them.

 

I have some more newb questions and concerns.

 

I'm using rens beauty pack with mystic elf race is there a skin retexture that works on the newest hgec body replacer for that race? (does high rez skin textures for hgec work on mystic elf race and/ or how do i make it work)

 

Also i'm trying to upgrade to HGECBody_v1dot21 (newest I think) my original was omod but this one only comes with omod conversion data. Can someone tell me how to either install it through omod or to manually install? Its a bit more complicated than i'm used to messing with.

 

When I install Roberts Male body replacer 4 it always conflicts with other mods, in game males have purple feet. Exnems stock armor and clothes replacer also conflicts with the unofficial oblivion patch. (unofficial patch loads first due to its file date right? Won't any conflicts with other mods be overwritten by the newer mods? Are there any true conflicts?)

 

One more lol. I know this one is simple but it does NOT work for me. I followed the readme instructions to the letter but Elven Map redux will not work. I put its archive installation file and its data file into oblivion data and that all the readme says to do, it still doesn't work. I believe it also has omod conversion but I for the life of me can't figure out how to do that.

[Indigobug1987]

These are my current mods.

Book jackets

callsteed+saddlebags

dude wheres my horse

parasitex new vampires

quest award leveling

slofs horse base+extrahorses

shadocrest vineyard

rens beauty packs

enhanced weather(not activated)

and i want to install adrenaline fueled combat

[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)>

Note: If using Mayu's Overhaul Mod. I recommend loading it after OOO or MMM

 

 

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..

maigrets...You should also follow Dezi's load order guide if you're new to mods. BOSS is good, but not foolproof. There are a lot of mods it doesn't have in it's database and they have to be ordered manually.

[Indigobug1987]

ok i installed then made a save without patching. but when I try to patch it with shivering isles it says old file not found, a file of the same name was found. no update was made because file content does not match. now what? maybe i'm not using the right patch?