How To Install Plugins/mods

[Namei Lynre]

At a guess, it's an archive type that you don't have an extractor for. See this thread.

alright .. i downloaded the WinRAR free trial thing, but um .. its got alot of buttons >.< tried poking around but not sure what im supposed to do with it. found the Ren's Beauty pack folder, it works now as far as being able to click it but it doesnt show up in the Data Files option yet. ill try poking at it some more for now

 

ah! i think i got it, it shows up in Data Files now ... new problem is that when i choose mystic elf.. well, theres nothing there T_T think i can figure it out from here though, checked bak at the ren's beauty pack page and realize theres a File Requirements box <.<

anyway, thanks for the help :happy: wish me luck =x

 

EDIT: Merged your posts. Please use the edit button rather than double posting. Thanks!

 

- Switch

[Zaq]

The mod I'm trying to activate [i think I have it downloaded and unzipped correctly] isn't an 'omod'.

 

It consists of several .nif files.

 

I can't drag them into the mod manager [i don't have any other mods]or the 'data files' menu of the Oblivon launcher. When I get them to the destination, I get a 'circle slash' stopper.

 

I have them copied to C:\Program Files\Bethesda Softworks\Oblivion\Data but I never got any 'do you wish to overwrite' messages or anything like that. They don't show up in the data files inside the launcher, either: only thing there is the master file.

 

Within the data file, there's a 'meshes' marked with the 'O' symbol [i know its supposed to be a 'gate', but looks like a squished jelly doughnut to me]. It says its a 'Bethesda Softworks archive', contains hundreds of files, some .nifs. But it says they are all 'compressed', so I'm guessing this isn't the actual location from which the game draws images. I can't get an active cursor in there, so I can't paste to it

 

Could any of this be 'Vista' related?

 

Any insights would be appreciated.

[spshamrocks3]

Ok...i really need some help...im good with the downloading and stuff of the files...but once it comes to installing them in the right folders i get all screwed up. I installed a couple of mods, but on one of them i see people walking with big exclamation points taking up their whole body, and i know i put the meshes into the meshes folder. Another one im supposed to see a map in a book but it doesnt show up, and when i drop the book, the book disappears into thin air. If someone could help me i would really appreciate it...like walk me through step-by-step on AIM or something like that....my AIM is shamrockfazi1124

[Jawamaster]

Im new to this mod stuff , and i think i downloaded OBSE right. But every single mod that i get does not even show up at all. I got that 7zip thing but still nothing. For hours i kept on trying but nothing. I dont know what im doing wrong. I started fresh and restored my computer back to before i put any mods or plugins on it, and now all i need are directions.

[HawkFest]

Though it amazes me that this is still a very popular question, I know a lot of people are having their first elder scrolls experience with Oblivion.

What amazes me is that it amazes you that many other people have discovered Oblivion after yourself, recently; it is that you seem to assume, via your "amazement" in regards to the contrary, that people have the same gaming and moding experience as do with Oblivion. What, are we stupid if we are newbies with Oblivion, should we feel guilt if we don't know how it works and thus looking for answers? Well I don't, all I feel is the need to LEARN about it from somewhere as in this forum... So too bad if that "amazes you", that's your problem man, not ours.

 

Now with my question, and having a clear answer -which I did not find on this site, and if it is present it's not accessible in an easy manner-, having a clear answer as I said would permit me to stop your amazement : what is an omod file, and how can I install one? I've found many mods with the alternate omod, and every time I fumbled upon these, the only info I get is « the omod is recommended and takes less place and blablabla », and that's about it : no info and clear step-by-step about how to handle these files accompanying most omod versions, not even a link! Heck, for me a zip or 7z file is much more straightforward than an omod file and I don't even need any install instruction in regards to them, since they are used in many other context than gaming (if not all computing contexts) and they exist since many many years... But the only clear install descriptions I can find all relate to handling zip files, not omod files! THAT'S what amazes me...

 

Thanks in advance... Or continue to be amazed! lol jk. ;-P

[Abramul]

What amazes me is that you didn't try a titles-only search in General Mod Talk.

[leonidas221]

how do install .7z files

[Povuholo]

how do install .7z files

.7z files are like .zip and .rar files. You have to open them and the mod can be found within. This can be done with several programs. I'm using WinRAR.

 

Stampede, maybe if you'd add some things to your original post? While the .7z extension is mentioned in other posts, it isn't mentioned in the first. And then there's also the .omod files. In the rare occassion people read pinned threads (:rolleyes:) they probably don't read anything else than the first post. My suggestions:

 

Is this plugin in a .zip, .rar or .7z archive? ......Right, double click the .zip,.rar or .7z file and examine the contents. If you are unable to open the archive you'll have to download something that can do so, like WinRAR.

Most archived plugins are self extracting and generall extract to your Oblivion/Data/ folder. There are exceptions such as OBSE (Oblivion Script Extender). This is not a mod like all the others. It's an external program that runs with Oblivion. For installation instructions read the obse_readme.txt file.

Step 6: Meshes, textures and sounds go into their relevant /meshes and /textures folders. (blah blah blah) In that case, either drag the folders from the zip/rar file, or create them yourself before adding the mesh/texture files.

Does one of the files have an .omod extension? Then you'll need to download and install the Oblivion Mod Manager (OBMM). After you've done that, you can double click on the .omod file and it will show up in the Mod Manager. From there you can activate it.

I see Stampede hasn't been on the forums for a month now... Maybe Switch can add this? You can edit it in whatever way you want.

[HawkFest]

What amazes me is that you didn't try a titles-only search in General Mod Talk.

And what's even more amazing is that I get an answer... Which is not an answer (I've made a search by title btw, but isn't his thread entitled "How To Install Plugins/mods, The official thread"?)! ROTFL!... Raël must be behind all this... Heck we live in a world of amazements my friend! ;-)

 

Anyways. I found how to do it myself, by playing the guessing/trial and error game (but I doubt that most gamers like to play this game, they'd prefer to play Oblivion instead of loosing their leisure time)... So i'll share into the following what I've found, for those who have the same amazing ignorance as I did ;-P...

 

Using .omod files - Just download the Oblivion Mod Manager here, install and launch (thanks to Povuholo for the tip); at the bottom of the right panel, click the "Load" button and select the omod file you've downloaded. It will then appear in the right panel list. A more straightforward way is to do as mentioned by Povuholo : after installing OBMM, just double click on the .omod file so that OBMM launches by itself and automatically opens and activates the .omod file. The omod can be disabled later on by clicking the button "Deactivate". Voilà...

 

Preventing conflicts from a newly installed mod before trying it in a game - More about OBMM. It could happen that a newly installed mod will make your game crash or make other mods behave differently than usual. As a simple example, it is the case when a mod uses the same map location as another mod, like when one mod tries to put a house where another mod assumes a camp, a forest, another house (...). The OBMM (Oblivion Mod Manager) application helps you to assert and respond to such a situation before actually trying the newly installed mod in a game. The left panel of OBMM shows esms and esps so that you can manage all the different installed modules, like reorganizing their loading sequence, activating/disabling those that are conflicting, etc... Btw, you can tell OBMM to show you all those modules that are conflicting, a great and easy way to verify what modules are "problematic", like causing game crashes or making other modules that were working well behave differently than normal : click the button "utilities" on the right side of OBMM's window, then select "New Conflict Detector" from the popup menu. The "Conflict Detector" dialog appears and gives you three choices you can select, the first one labelled "read EDIDS" is sufficient; then click "Test Active Mod" from that dialog. You can also put a check mark near "include main esm in result", but be patient as it will take more time to generate the report. When the report displays its list of Oblivion's activated modules (only those having a check mark in the main OBMM left panel), you'll see all those conflicting modules in red. You can then know with what other modules one mod is conflicting by clicking on it, or on the "+" sign until you get to a kind of code (usually what they call a "FormID") : clicking on that code will display the name(s) of the conflicting module(s) on the right panel of the report. All you need to do then after is to disable one or the other conflicting module within the main Oblivion Mod Manager window's left panel (activating or deactivating the check mark), and then "test active mod" again to verify that everything is ok.

 

A list of more thorough tutorials about OBMM is available here

 

For those wondering about .7z files... 7z is yet another file compression format, as ZIP and RAR can be : one file containing many files, like a box. As for .zip and .rar files, all you need is a tool for decompressing such a file (for opening the box), which will not only extract the many files included in that one 7z or zip or rar file, but will also automatically reproduce the correct file structure on your hard drive during the extraction process (folders/directories - but you should verify before hand, as it may be possible that you must extract the files manually - read on...).

 

If you don't have any application on your computer which recognizes the 7z file format (WinRAR and Winzip do recognize that format), you can download and install the tool for extracting 7z files here.

 

Usually, for Oblivion you should target the extraction to take place under the folder C:\Program Files\Bethesda Softworks\Oblivion\Data (here the drive C is considered, but it will be the drive under which you've installed Oblivion), unless specified otherwise by the author, or unless you notice that the folder structure within the compressed file does not assume the (...)Oblivion\Data folder as the root point for extraction (you should always verify before hand, and a simple way to positively do so is to note that the .esp and/or .esm files don't have any folder reference within the compressed 7z/zip/rar file). If this happens, you'll need to do the extraction manually via your 7z/zip/rar tool. For more detailed explanations about manual extraction techniques in regards to the distinct folders involved, follow the previous posts from the current thread.

 

Important note about automatic extraction, when using the big Extract toolbar button from your decompression tool (found in 7z, Winrar, Winzip, etc.) - Make sure that within the dialog that pops-up after pushing that button (usually labelled "Extract"), an option permits you to use or keep the folder structure from the compressed file. It is then possible that during the extraction process, you'll get a warning message when a folder specified from the 7z/rar/zip file already exists on your hard drive, for example the music folder or the meshes folder, even if the files that are being extracted don't already exist within that folder on your hard drive. It is the case with the tool WinRAR, but not with WinZip (the later only tells you when a file you are trying to extract already exists on your drive and would thus get overwritten). In the case of WinRAR, just confirm the message about overwriting the folder - which is usually a false warning. If you use WinZip, no warning will pop-up unless the files already exist, so be advised and thoroughly follow the author's install procedure in this regards : if no mention is made about any file replacement, but files would actually get replaced if you confirm the warning message during extraction, then there must be a conflict with another module, so in that case, be prudent: cancel the process and do a manual extraction as mentioned in the previous paragraph...

[Abramul]

Didn't realize that the search terms and settings weren't preserved by the link. I'll be sure to remember that in the future.