Overwhelmed With all the mods

[jcBIOHAZARD]

Whats the extra functionality you speak of? and are there a lot of OBSE mods that are are so amazing that i should just buy a more compliant copy?

[Zaldir]

Well, OBSE enables a lot of nice scripts, which let's the modder do things that is not possible without OBSE.

[jcBIOHAZARD]

I see, well its ok, i love this game so much i will get it off steam lol. damn D2D! good thing i had a promo code there or i be pissed that i wasted my money!

[Randomactss]

I see, well its ok, i love this game so much i will get it off steam lol. damn D2D! good thing i had a promo code there or i be pissed that i wasted my money!

 

Just buy a hard copy steam can make it hard to mod sometimes.

 

Edit: I have seen fewer problems on steam then D2D

[Zaldir]

wasted? No money used on The Elder Scrolls is wasted money! :D

Well, at least I think that way..^^

 

But as Randomactss said, buy a hard copy instead. Oblivion GOTY at Amazon - Quite a good price. :)

[Randomactss]

wasted? No money used on The Elder Scrolls is wasted money! :D

Well, at least I think that way..^^

 

But as Randomactss said, buy a hard copy instead. Oblivion GOTY at Amazon - Quite a good price. :)

 

And plus as far as I am aware the only DRM on Oblivion is that you need the disc in the drive when you launch the game *it can be taken out after you launch and then put in another computer and have as many computers running the same copy of the game as you want within a small distance*

 

*WARNING: This game crashes alot for some people*

[SaintAnon]

I got my hard copy off Ebay in perfect condition with Shivering Isles, the DLC pack, the guide, the mod guide, and the Septim unopened for $20.00 with free shipping and handling... Little tip for when u got looking for a hard copy. :thumbsup:

 

The guide came with the price sticker for $30 from CompUSA still on the front... :laugh:

 

Here are a few mods that help heavily modded games better function.

 

Windom Earle's Oblivion Crash Prevention System

OBSE - Oblivion Script Extender

OSR - Oblivion Stutter Remover

Ely's Universal Silent Voice

TES4LODGen

Land Magic

Streamline

 

Once you have modded for awhile look into Wrye Bash, FCOM, PyFFi and PyFFi Automator

[SilvasRuin]

I recommend Wrye Bash sooner rather than later. Yes, it's advanced features can be overwhelming to people new to it, but even its most basic functions help a LOT. It merges patches together to lessen conflicts and combine features so you don't just get what the later mods wrote over the earlier ones. It also is an extremely handy way to arrange your load order.

 

Once you get to its more advanced uses, you can tweak the weight of rings, amulets, hoods, and potions, alter the speed of magic projectiles and arrows, alter the likelihood of arrows being recoverable, have it organize all of your inventory that doesn't have custom names with simple prefixes that indicate just what type of item it is (spells, books, notes, scrolls, potions, poisons, spells, armor, clothes, everything), change most if not all instances of Dwarf or Dwarven into Dwemer (it doesn't work on Dwemer items added by mods), change how far away guards will notice someone catching you at a crime, increase the distance the zoomed out camera can follow you at, increase the camera turning speed so there isn't a delay when turning in third-person, and lots of other goodies. Look around at the options long enough after you've gotten used to it and you'll find it's also possible to have multiple files using different sets of mods. I've never found a tutorial for this though, and it isn't perfect. I'm running into a few bugs while checking out Tamriel Immersive Experience after becoming disillusioned with OOO and FCOM. Since I haven't cleared out my data folder and started from scratch for it, I'm experiencing some lingering and now glitchy effects from MMM.

 

Speaking of which, you might want to look at TIE as an alternative to OOO or FCOM. I've only just started, but I've noticed a significant difference. It seems to do everything OOO promises with difficulty and scaling and then winds up being more intense about it. It is also extremely small and compact, changing Cyrodiil as thoroughly as OOO but being minuscule in size and setup compared to FCOM. The biggest reason to NOT choose TIE is that it is so danged hard. I died two or three times just in the tutorial dungeon, and that zombie near the start is nasty strong. (Don't let it notice you; sneak away until the rats are all dead so it is more weakened.) Personally, I'm enjoying how much harder it is than FCOM, and since it doesn't scale the quests, I can't screw my character over by overspecializing like I did with FCOM once. (Too squishy to survive some early quests that almost require direct confrontations.)

http://www.dreamingthepyramid.net/TNR-TIE.html

 

The mod I wouldn't do without, however, is Realistic Leveling. It's the simplest and greatest in compatibility leveling mod I've found that makes your stats and level rise with all your skill levels and removes the stat selection and munchkinism. I actually prefer KCAS, but Realistic Leveling is almost as good and has less compatibility issues. http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=13879

[yeahchris]

I would start by getting a good overhaul mod. I tend to prefer Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul. On top of that, I would install Martigen's Monster Mod and the unique landscapes collection. Those three mods alone are enough to make for a vastly different play experience. I would also recommend mods that add new landmasses. What I've seen of Elsewyr is very impressive. After those base mods it's really a matter of taste and what you're looking to put into the game; whether you like new quests, companions, etc.

 

I generally configure my mod list depending on the type of character I want to play. If I'm making an assassin I install mods which expand upon the Dark Brotherhood, and add sneaky abilities for me to learn, and neat sneaky quests. It's generally not a good idea to install a bazillion mods to add a bazillion things to every aspect of the game even if your character isn't going to use them. It just adds excess weight to the game, which will impact performance.

 

 

So, here are a few lists:

 

I would go ahead and download all of the newest official patches before installing any of these.

Also, please note that several of the mods I'm going on to recommend involve the Oblivion Script Extender. Most mods that involve anything interesting happening via scripting require the script extender. Really, all the best mods require the script extender.

 

----------------

 

"Base" mods

 

Unofficial Oblivion Patch

Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul

(If you go with OOO, don't go with the suggested leveling rate. It is TOO SLOW. I would go with something still a bit reduced, but not OOO default. There are other mods that can be installed on top of OOO to retweak the leveling rate, or even to reset it back to normal oblivion rates.)

Martigen's Monster Mod

Unique Landscapes Collection

 

Note: Many of the links I've given you are to mods which are in OMOD format, which you need utilities to install, which brings me to

 

----------------

 

Utilities

 

The Oblivion Mod Manager

Very user friendly, and can install omods.

Wrye Bash

Extremely user unfriendly. By which I mean you gotta be a goddamn computer programmer to understand how to use 1/20th of its functions, or even read the instructions, but it has some nice features; like the ability to make patches to help some mods which might normally be incompatible play together more nicely.

BOSS - Better Oblivion Sorting Software

A very easy to use utility which will help you manage your load order, and is right *most* of the time.

 

Windom Earle's Oblivion Crash Prevention System

OBSE - Oblivion Script Extender

OSR - Oblivion Stutter Remover

Ely's Universal Silent Voice

TES4LODGen

Land Magic

Streamline

These are all also very good utilities.

 

 

----------------

 

From here out I'll point you in the direction of what I consider to be the best of each category of mod:

 

Companions:

Companion Vilja

Ruined Tail's Tale

Companion Neeshka

 

Quests:

The Lost Spires

Blade Song*

*Requires Screen Effects v1.0

 

New Lands:

Elsweyr the Deserts of Anequina

 

Equipment

Armamentarium Complete 1-35

(Adds more armor than you would ever expect a mod to add. Many retextures of vanilla armor added into the level lists, so some bandits will be wearing black iron armor sometimes, and you can choose between brown and black leather gloves for your character. In other words, not all suits of armor are identical now.)

 

Custom Magic:

Midas Magic

(The most endorsed mod for oblivion, ever. More new spells than you can shake a stick at, although they are of varying quality)

 

Combat Mods:

Deadly Reflex

(Absolutely fantastic mod. Adds decapitation. What more needs to be said? Although the current version includes bugs and unbalanced features that are almost a deal breaker for me. I might almost recommend an older version of DR over the current one, before the implementation of NPC dodging, and the bug which makes NPCs consider all kinds of spells, including detect life and charm, hostile actions.)

Stealth Overhaul Redux

(A must-have for anyone who sneaks, ever.)

[SaintAnon]

One more thing, very important.

 

When your Oblivion has a heavy LO (Load Order) it will begin to want to crash out to a "Program Not Responding" every time you attempt to Exit the game. Fast Exit 2 prevents this in such a great manor its 100% success rate for most everyone who has used it.

 

I STRONGLY recommend this, its a obse plugin so it doesn't even add to your LO just drop it in the plugins folder and forget about Crash on Exits for good.