New to Modding. Please Help

[favaromf12]

I purchased the Bioshock/Oblivion combo and I'm not sure what version I have. It says 1.1.425 on the Readme. Do I have the two expansions?

 

 

I LOVE the look and feel of the game. I haven't even passed level one as I've been too busy with another mmo. The graphics are absolutley stunning.

 

Here's where I need help.

 

 

1) Should I play the game without mods before I choose to mod?

( I find the character selection very dry even though it has a lot of customizations)

 

2) These are things I'd like to be able to do...

 

The absolute BEST graphics on everything possible. My GPU should be able to support it.

 

Better Character/Race Customization

 

Skip Tutorial

 

More Animals/Mobs

 

Anything else that will make the main questline more enjoyable for the first time around. After I finish that, then I'll add more.

 

Any HELP would be great...on anything.

 

Oh and I have Oblivion Mod Manager and 7ZIP installed...no Idea what to do with them

[madman132]

Well, the Character Generation in Oblivion is rather complex and not really intuitiv. I'd say one should play the game first in order to grasp what she/he likes to be modified since that is not really apparent from the start.

There are some Things which are pretty glaring, like the magic system. You don't like the looks of the starting attack magic? Well, they all look the same. Frost magic is a snowball and ligthning magic is a lightning Bolt, but they all look pretty much the same, regardless the level of magic you're casting.

In my opinion, you shouldn't mod that anyways from the start, since most magic system overhaul mods make the newbies wonder why anyone would play anything other then a magical Class.

[bben46]

If I remember correctly, the combo with Bioshock is not the latest version and does not include any of the DLCs. Unless you have a copy of the Shivering Isles Expansion DO NOT use the Shivering Isles Patch. ONLY use the Oblivion patch - And in the right language version - there are TWO English versions of the Oblivion only patch, UK & US and they are different be sure to get the right one. Get your patch from the official Bethesda site here: http://www.elderscro...tes_patches.htm

 

You will have to scroll down to find the Oblivion only patches.

 

I recommend playing the game, at least through several levels, before starting on mods. That way you will have an idea of what kind of things you want to change about the game. Some helpful hints on playing the vanilla game:

 

Get a house as soon as possible so you will have a safe place to store loot. Most containers not in a house owned by you will respawn in a few days and you will lose everything you stored in them.

 

Save often, don't rely on the autosaves as they will be overwritten by the next autosave, while your 'new saves' will be kept in the order you make them until you erase them. I have had over 2000 saves in my saves folder with no slow down. I tend to make a new save any time I do anything that starts a new game segment - such as just before I enter a cave, ruin or old fort. Then make another save just inside. Then overwrite that save after a major fight, when I find some good loot or when it's been a while since I saved.

 

At first level, an encounter with even a single bandit will result in a major fight. be prepared to run when you start losing. Heal yourself, then go back to finish them off.

 

You can run faster if you put your weapon away and not sneak. If sneaking, toggle sneak off, then press F to put your weapon away, toggle caps lock if you are not already in run mode. Then you should be able to outrun just about anything in the game.

 

If they chase you, run to the nearest town where the guards will help you. If you can sucker them into the town, the guards will kill them and you can then loot the body. If they manage to kill a guard (not likely at low levels) then you can loot the body of the guard also. The dead bodies will stay for several game days so you can scurry off to sell some loot, then go back to finish looting. The cells reset after 3 game days, but only if you have not visited that cell. Each visit resets the clock. When the cell resets, bodies and any loot laying around vanish. Any dead city guards will respawn.

 

Bows are weak as a primary weapon, it will take a dozen hits to down a bandit. And they won't wait. they will close in fast and force you into a melee type fight. Use a bow to do some long range early damage, then draw a sword or run. However, If the enemy does not have a bow, Find a high place such as a rock or ledge where they cannot reach you and keep shooting till they are either down or you run out of arrows.

 

One mod you may want to consider early is the unofficial patch - it fixes quite a few minor glitches in the game, things like floating rocks, minor scenery tears, that message about entering a new cell, some of the quest breaking activity of certain NPCs. It does not change anything about the game itself or add any new items. Just fixes annoying bugs. http://www.tesnexus....ile.php?id=9969

[favaromf12]

Thanks so much for the information! It has been quite helpful.

 

I tried using OBMM and putting .esp files in oblivion data folder and it seemed to work for the two mods I've tried thus far (Tutorial Skip Mode and Enhanced Water)

 

I just purchased a brand spanking new GPU, and I'd like to MAX out this game.

 

Can you link any mods or mod packs that will increase texture or just generally make the game prettier?

 

I'm thinking I'm going to play the game as-is...just want to modify the way the world looks.

 

Also, I've heard of a UI mod that greatly improves gameplay...Any Ideas?

 

 

Thanks again!!