Oblivion refuses to load replacer mods

[mortalmoss]

Ok I am having some serious problems with getting replacer mods to work. I hae been doing exhausting research but I can't find anything. I am trying to install the eyecandy mod, and any help as to what i am doing wrong would be greatly appreciated.

 

First, some info about my game installation. I am using a fresh install of the Steam version of Oblivion: Game of the Year Edition which comes with Shivering Isles, Knights of the Nine, and all DLC packs. My game version is the latest v1.2.0146. I have also downloaded and installed all of the unofficial patches (main game, shivering isles, and DLC). My install directory is C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\oblivion\

 

My first attempt at installing the mod was through OBMM. I extracted the .omod file to my "mods" directory in the obmm folder. I ran obmm and double clicked the mod in the right pane. A window popped up saying the mod was decompressing, then it showed it was activated. I ran the game, started a new game, and only had the original models.

 

So, I used obmm to remove the mod, and found the manual install version of the mod. I extracted the mesh and texture files to their respective places within the Data folder. I checked and double checked the file structure. The .nif files went to Oblivion\Data\Meshes\Characters\_male. The textures went to Oblivion\Data\Textures\Characters\*Respective Race Folders*.

 

Once again, I launched Oblivion (This time after turning off ALL DLC except for the main esp file and the unofficial patch file). I started a new game and, again, only the old models were loaded.

 

Through some research I found the archive invalidation issue. From what I read, this is a problem with content replacer mods where the game considers the files within its own .bsa file to be newer than the files in the Data directory so it loads the .bsa instead of the mod files. This sounded exactly like the problem i was facing. So, I found this guide (http://devnull.sweetdanger.net/archiveinvalidation.html) and followed the steps inside to try and work around the archive invalidation. I followed the directions for BSA-redirection using OBMM... no change. I tried BSA-alteration using OBMM.... still no change. So I read up on the ArchiveInvalidation.txt file. From what I read this file can force the game to load the files in the Data folder rather than the .bsa equivalents. So i added entries to this file corresponding to the mod files... still nothing. I still only have the old models and textures.

 

I am lost to what is going on here. If anyone can offer any insight, please do. I will try to provide any more information that I can to help someone solve this problem for me.

 

Thank you guys in advance. :thanks:

 

Also i am running Windows XP. I forgot to include that above =)

[bben46]

My guess is the mod is working and doing exactly what it is supposed to. But that is not what you thought it did.

What exactly were you expecting to see? The body replacer does not make anybody nude. They still wear clothes.

 

There is NO esp file, it will not show up in the esp listing that most mods use. It only replaces the textures and meshes.

As it is a body replacer, it replaces the original vanilla body mesh and texture files. You will only see a difference when a female character is nude - either your char (if female) or an NPC. That is the only time you actually see those particular mesh and textures.

 

It does not change the face at all.

 

This is not real life. when a piece of clothing is placed on a game character, it does not actually go over what is underneath and take on the shape of the body underneath. It replaces what is underneath. That includes any under clothing and the actual body itself. So the body takes on the shape of the particular piece of clothing - NOT the shape of the body underneath as there is NO body underneath. If an NPC has a DD bust and you dress them in an outfit for a A bust body, the NPC will usually show with the A bust and NOT the DD. If you remove the clothing, the DD will be back.

[slygothmog]

If you want to check if a body replacer Mod is working on the NPC's get this.

 

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=17497

 

It will allow you to remove items from their inventory ( they dont get mad at you ).

I found this very usefull when i was new to mods and was having alot of trouble with body Mods myself, but that was simply down to lack of experience and not because of anything wrong with the Mods.

[mortalmoss]

Ok I actually figured it out and got it working somehow. And you were right about one thing, I wasn't removing the clothes to check to see if the new model was being used (the nudity wasn't the reason i got the mod so I guess I just didn't think to check that way lol). My mistake was coming from a preconception about how the armor worked. I was expecting the stock clothes to not "fit" the new body anymore, not realizing the body model was included with whatever piece of clothing you equip. I was also expecting the hair to be different, as it was in the screenshots, not realizing new hair wasn't actually included with the mod.

 

Anyway, after coming to this realization, the mod still wasn't working correctly and after a lot of fiddling I figured out how to get it to work. I noticed with a manual install (manually dropping the files into their respective directories in the Data folder) nothing new was being used. The game always loaded the original content from the bsa files.

 

However, I did get the mod to work with a OBMM installation (after finally realizing I needed to strip the model to see if it was working lol). When i began installing various armor and clothing mods that utilize the better looking models is when i noticed anything installed manually was being loaded. So I restored the Data folder, and decided to use OBMM to install everything. If a mod wasn't packed in an omod file, I used OBMM to pack it into an omod then installed it. So far every mod I have installed using OBMM has worked perfectly.

 

I'm not positive, but I am assuming that this all boils down to an archive invalidation problem. I read somewhere while researching that OBMM updates the archive invalidation automatically and, if this is the case, then it would make sense that all of the mods worked when I install them with omod files.

 

Perhaps the GoTY version that is acquired through Steam has bsa files that are stamped newer than many of the mods? Or the archive invalidation is just screwed up so that manually installing mods that replace content doesn't work. I dunno, just speculating. But if anyone else is having this problem, just use OBMM... for everything. Lol

 

Anyway, thanks for pointing out my mistake in judging whether the models were working or not. Who knows how long it would have taken for that to hit me on its own lol. :thanks:

[Yamcakes]

You need this. http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10724

What this does, is render the updating of the archive invalidation pointless, so you can install mods with ease, and without any effort on your, or the modder's behalf.

What it does, is make oblivion check your own mod directories (Where files from mods you download will end up) after the original directories, maing sure yours (added files) are used in game.