jedimarine Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Ok...getting ready to leap into this wonderfully diverse world with 90% glee and 10% overwhelming anxiety. I'm trying to figure out where to begin, because every time I examine the notes on files, I run into stuff about files being outdated, or someone else has a "better" version, and so on. I've searched the highest endorsed files many times, but nothing ever sticks out as being the "starting" point. Additionally, I've seen a great deal of discussion on "load order"...and it would seem beneficial to know what's the best order to do things in from zero, then to have 10-12 mods conflicting from the get go. ------------- So...where does one start? The obvious immediate response will be "what do you want"...too which I will respond thus: The highest quality additions to the game with the least amount of stress to manage. I don't want stuff I'm going to have to fine tune before every game launch. Specific desires: I would really like a new UI...some new residences...and I want real opinion on Kvatch Rebuilt, because that's what got me started on finding community mods. I'm curious about the character mods and how they work, as I would enjoy not having such ugly character models...but fear incompatibility with in game clothing/armor/ etc...or is this not the case? I also have 10 characters level 25+...and I really don't want to have to deal with game "restarts" if possible. Anyway...if there is a tutorial out there I have missed because I'm the 30,000th beginner to ask this since launch (that's probably conservative). Hopefully in a couple weeks, I'll be asking another beginner question, should I leap into modding myself. But before that, I need to be humbled by greatness that's out there. So...what is essential? what is of highest quality? what are the rock solid mods? Thanks you all for responses! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dezdimona Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 General Load-Order GuidelinesHere 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.esmUnofficial 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 Guidelinesby dev_akm I would extend this to include: Oblivion.esmUnofficial 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):....Oblivionunoffical patchDeeper realism mods that add sights and soundsadded content like weapons/itemsgameplay changes, like 'must eat and sleep'The OOO typethe '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. also get OBSE and OBMM for install! :biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimarine Posted November 4, 2009 Author Share Posted November 4, 2009 Wow... I'm gonna need a glossary for your post...but thanks for the input. So for starters: Unofficial Oblivion Patch (Shivering Isles too? Knights of Nine?) I've got GOTY version. What's the difference between OMOD and OBMM? Is there one? Then stuff like OBSE, OOO...what is Fran, MMM? And after that, more of the content addition stuff? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retribution Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 OMOD(Oblivion mod) is a file format used for OBMM(Oblivion mod manager) that can easily be activated, or installed. OBSE is Oblivion Script Extender, which is required for many mods. OOO is Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul, Fran is Francesco's leveled creature/items mod, MMM is Mart's Monster Mod. http://devnull.sweetdanger.net/convergence.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dezdimona Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 OMOD(Oblivion mod) is a file format used for OBMM(Oblivion mod manager) that can easily be activated, or installed. OBSE is Oblivion Script Extender, which is required for many mods. OOO is Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul, Fran is Francesco's leveled creature/items mod, MMM is Mart's Monster Mod. http://devnull.sweetdanger.net/convergence.htmlthanks hon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimarine Posted November 4, 2009 Author Share Posted November 4, 2009 THANK YOU THANK YOU! Things start to make sense. So are OOO, Fran, MMM pretty essential? I know I've seen reqs for OOO. OBSE is an exe and won't appear in the mod lists, correct? ---- Also...backups...is it really necessary to back up 5 gigs in the data folder? What is important to backup? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimarine Posted November 4, 2009 Author Share Posted November 4, 2009 Is Wrye Bash something for mod installation...or is it a creation tool? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retribution Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 OBSE is a folder with some .dlls inside of it that you put in your data folder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Branimirzg Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 OBSE is a folder with some .dlls inside of it that you put in your data folder. No...extract Obse to "main" oblivion folder(where oblivion exe is) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimarine Posted November 4, 2009 Author Share Posted November 4, 2009 OBSE is a folder with some .dlls inside of it that you put in your data folder. Yes...but it comes with "obse_loader.exe", which becomes your default game .exe, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts