Skyrim player trying Oblivion

[Boutte1]

I've been playing Skyrim for about 8 months and decided to give it a rest. I figured Oblivion was the logical choice for my next game as I've heard a lot of good things about the game play.

 

I'm a mod maniac and currently have about 150 mods running on my Skyrim game so naturally I'm going to want to do the same with Oblivion. Currently the only mod I've installed is OBSE. The next one I'm looking at is Blockhead but I'm not sure exactly what it does. After playing for just a short time I have an idea as to what I'd like to try to accomplish from a mod standpoint.

 

For starters I'd like to improve the appearance of the overall game especially the PC and NPCs. I realize I'm never going to get it to look like Skyrim but I'm sure there are a lot of ways that I can improve on the vanilla look.

 

A couple of other things I'd like to improve is the world map, inventory and journal. Also is there anything similar to the Race Menu mod in Skyrim?

 

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[Boutte1]

So, next question. I installed the Oblivion Mod Manager because I read that NMM doesn't really work with Oblivion mods. However when I click on a button to download with manager option it opens in NMM.

 

Is OMM the way to go and if so how do I get it to open there instead of NMM?

 

I was hoping to use NMM because it's easy. Starting realize I have a pretty good learning curve if I want to do what I'm trying to do. If this is the wrong forum or if I'm just too much of a noob for this venue maybe someone could point to a more appropriate site.

 

Again any help is appreciated.

[IkeCoast]

Hey, Boutte!

 

Welcome to the Oblivion community, great things and lots of joy and good time are here for you.

 

First thing I want to leave clear, Oblivion Mod Manager cannot download mods for you. You need to download them manually. It's true, Nexus Mod Manager doesn't play well with such and old game as Oblivion.

 

That does not mean you "cannot" use NMM for Oblivion. There are a few (very few) mods that are NMM-compatible. Always read the Description Page for a mod and if it explicitly states that it is compatible with NMM-Nexus Mod Manager, use the Big Green Button. But if it does not make any mention at all to NMM, do not use the Big Green Button, download manually and follow the installation instructions.

 

Usually, Oblivion mods state in the Description if they are intended for a particular Mod Manager, or only manual installation compatible. Follow always the mod author recommendations and when in doubt, first read some pages of the Comments Page for that mod, and don't hesitate to ask what you find unclear. DO NOT IMPROVISE. If you don't know what you're about to do, don't do it.

 

I will use capital letters for the following sentence not because I am a pedantic (indeed I am, but that's another story) but because it's a matter of "capital" importance:

 

MODDING OBLIVION IS NOT LIKE MODDING SKYRIM.

 

You can be an accomplished Skyrim player, used to mod it and with a vast knowledge of the secrets of Skyrim modding, but if you have never modded Oblivion, you know nothing, Jon Snow. They are two completely separate worlds.

 

Before we start to give you a list of mods to install, it's advisable you know the basics of modding Oblivion. There are two ways to install a mod:

 

Manual Install.

Manager Install.

 

Manager Install comprises the Mod Managers. You have discovered already that Nexus Mod Manager is not at all as convenient as with Skyrim. Mod Organizer is even less advisable, since Oblivion does not like the different "profiles" MO spreads the mods into. If you want to have different Player Profiles for your game, you need a dedicate Profile Manager like mTES4 Manager or MO Manager.

 

The only two advisable, and in fact imprescindible, Mod Managers for Oblivion are Oblivion Mod Manager and Wrye Bash. OBMM is the basic tool for installation, management and uninstallation of mods. It only can install, by itself, mods packaged in omod format, but it can create omods from mods not packaged as them. It also handles flawlessly the imprescindible Archive Invalidation.

 

Wrye Bash is THE Mod Manager. It's a real Swiss Army Knife for Oblivion Modding. Not only it does the same as OBMM, it has lots of extra features you could need. Like the Bashed Patch. My recommendation is: install both and use OBMM for omod installation and basic management, and WB for advanced management. Wrye Bash can install some omod-packed files, but not all. And is required to install mods packed as a BAIN installer.

 

None of them can download the mods for you. You need to download manually.

 

Blockhead is an OBSE plugin that overrides the game engine limitation of having one only Head mesh for both genders, and only one set of Body meshes for all the races. With it, you can use separate Head meshes por men and women, and different Body meshes for each race. You even can use different Head and Body meshes for each NPC independently of their race and gender.

 

I think this is the proper thread to talk about your migration from Skyrim to Oblivion, no need to move it to Troubleshooting unless you feel it would be right.

 

Don't hesitate to ask anything, we will do our best to assist you.

 

Yep, the learning curve for Oblivion Modding is higher than you expected. But once you catch the basics, it slows down greatly.

 

Cheers!

[IkeCoast]

Oh, I forgot to mention...

 

Which version of the game do you got? Retail disc or Steam?

 

It's of

 

*finger quotes*

 

"capital" importance, too.

 

Cheers!

[Boutte1]

Thanks IkeCoast! I'll take some time to digest that and proceed from there.

 

I'm using the Retail disc.

[shinobi2008]

I think Ike covered everything (more than I ever could) but if you want an article that gives you in-depth information this is for you: Please note that some information there are a bit outdated but still relevant to modding Oblivion. The modding community is in middle of updating it as well.