Recommended Mods for an Oblivion Newbie? [2011]

[NocturneNight]

I have been playing Oblivion now for 300 hours on this iteration (first I spent ~140 hours on...) of my first character - but I still consider myself an Oblivion newbie, atleast when it comes to mods.

 

Currently I run with Franscesco's, but it's still not quire cutting it for me so for my next character I would like to try out OOO instead, however there are some things that worries me about OOO. First of all, I'm only about halfway through the main quest because the character I'm playing is evil and has no intention of helping to restore the order (I actually regret starting it altogher...but then again, you have to if you want to have access to Oblivion Gates). I'm wondering if you would recommend actually playing through the main quest before bothering with OOO? I'm afraid of what impact the mod will have that quest, similarily with Shivering Isles, Knights of the Nine, etc, who I haven't even touched yet. Other than that, I feel like I have a good grasp of the game mechanics, monsters, etc.

 

For me, it's not so much the leveling system per se that bothers me, it's the leveled loot. The fact that that bandit cave right at the starting zone will contain roughly the same loot as some far-away hidden ruin, makes exploration completely redundant. I especially hate how they treated artifacts in this game... And also the money. I just cleared out a necromancer den and made ~10k gold by selling the potions and scrolls they dropped. I want aquiring money to be challenging.

 

So yeah if someone could explain alittle on how exacly OOO goes about changing the world, that would be very much appreciated. Will the Arena also have static opponents, for example? I haven't touched that, either. Should I play through the Arena quests with my current character to get a feel for how/what changes in OOO etc? So, my dilemma is that on one hand I would like to try something new, but on the other, I'm afraid that OOO could possibly ruin my experience of certain quests etc..

 

EDIT

Oh and also, I've found playing an evil character isn't that fun in Oblivion because most of the quests are completely linear. Heck, my fame is greater than my infamy... Now, I could always go and slaughter a bunch of innocent civilians, but that's not really fun is it? :/ So feel free to add some recommendations on mods that would enhance the experience for someone roleplaying an evil character. :) Sorry bout the long post, meh.

Edited July 18, 2011 by NocturneNight

[Stamm12]

I noticed that a lot of the sugestion here are gameplay altering, but not fun and cool things.

-Lost paladins of the Divines

-Akatosh mount

-official DLCs are great

-the lost spires

-Ruined tails tale

-tears of the fiend

-malevolent

-oblivion XP

And the best for last,

-the pirate isles.

Some of these mods require oblivion script externder (OBSE)

I reccomend oblivion mod manager (OBMM) it helps wiith sorting mods

 

And those are some of the best mods I use. Have fun

[chriswingng]

This thread was started for noobs so I hope this noob question isn't out of line. I recently bought Oblivion on Steam & after suffering through stuttering and chugging for 10 hours I came here & got info pointing me towards Oblivion Stutter Remover & Streamline. Thanks! The stuttering is almost completely gone as is the chugging while moving from area to area. I also installed the Unofficial Oblivion Patch & the Shivering Isles Patch as well as OBSE & BOSS..

 

My question is, I've noticed my graphics settings seem to keep changing on their own. The fade distance of trees, grass, objects, actors etc as well as shadow filtering & more are always different when I check them. I'm guessing this is a result of Streamline changing things up on the fly to keep the game running smoothly, am I correct & is this normal?

 

I made no changes to any configuration files or special options while installing. Please forgive my noodness.

 

EDIT: Hey, I was right! From the SL Tome of knowledge

"Streamsmooth

============

Streamsmooth gives real-time FPS Smoothing via detail adjustments, to ensure your game’s visual performance needs are continually being met. It adjusts many different variables in Oblivion, from Visual Options sliders to entries in the Oblivion.ini file. It uses a "Virtual Level Of Detail" number termed "vLOD", that scales from 0 to 100 to set those values in real-time, dynamically (think of a gearshift with 101 gears). It uses a proprietary mathematical formula designed specifically for this mod (which took three days alone to create and fine tune), and numbers from the sl.ini file that users can reconfigure to their needs. Streamsmooth uses "Min desired FPS" and "Max desired FPS" numbers that you give it to try and achieve this enhanced level of FPS smoothing."

Edited November 20, 2011 by chriswingng

[hankkieser]

I have gotten by with just OBMM, but wyre bash and BOSS both sound like great ideas, I will get both as soon as I get my computer back. As for recommendations, If you type, "ten essential oblivion mods pc gamer" on youtube, you will find a treasure trove. Just remember that not all on that list are compatible. As for personal recommendations, Deadly Reflex 6 is amazing and it adds insane amounts of combat changes, OBSE is a must for most script changing mods including DR, so get that asap. Castle highrock is one of my favorite house mods, and paladins of the lost divines is a great armor and weapon mod. I could go on for days talking about mods but these are my favorites. Enjoy!

 

Cheers

[Mason69]

Don't know if anyone recommended it already but deadly reflex is a must.

[dbwolfy]

Ohh man, I had no idea there was already a thread for newbie to modding oblivion.

Im looking for mods that make my immersion in Oblivion better. So far I got these installed;

 

\Gorier Blood 1.0.omod

\HGEC Body 1.21.omod

\High Rez Skin Textures for HGEC - Lattamer 1.0.omod

\Immersive Health 1.0.omod

\Improved facil textures 1.0.omod

\Life Detect 1.0.omod

\Lights out 1.0.omod

\Loading Screen - SI 1.0.omod

\Loading Screen Addon 1.0.omod

\Loading Screens 1.0.omod

\LoadingScreens-OOO 1.1.omod

\Lowploy Grass 1.0.omod

\Low-Poly Grass for SI 1.5.omod

\Map Marker Overhaul 3.9.3.omod

\Qarl's Texture Pack 3 Redimized 1.0.omod

\Qarls Texture PATCH 1.0.omod

\QTP3 UOP21 Patch 1.0.omod

\Realist Force and Magic force 1.0.omod

\stereo sound 1.0.omod

\Unofficial_Official_Mods_Patch_v16_1_OMOD_Version.omod

\Unofficial_Shivering_Isles_Patch_v1_5_0_OMOD_Version.omod

\UnofficialOblivionPatchv3.2.0.omod

\1st person 3rd-animations 1.0.omod

\All Natural 1.31.omod

\Animated Window Lighting System 5.5.3.omod

\Bomret's Texture Pack Shivering Isles 1.0.omod

\Color Map Mod(1.1).omod

\Darker Trunks 1.0.omod

\DarNified UI 1.3.2.omod

\Enhanced Vegetation - High Res Textures 1.1.omod

\First person stting 1.0.omod

\Robert_Male_V52_BAIN

No psych guards

Realist fatique

Realistic leveling

OOO

Capes and Cloaks

And later OBGE for the liquid water. I wanted to use godrays as well, but I cant get it looking good =\

 

theres a slight freeze after I load my game, but so far its running and looking great. Though Im not sure if I got the immersive interiors from all natural to load correctly.

 

 

Now im wondering what else can I add to add even more to the game? I was thinking on:

> Better Cities (or Open Cities)

> Unique Landscapes

Any other suggestions? to make the game look even better or the gameplay.

 

Unique Landscapes seems to be hard on newbies. and I would need a patch for the better cities or open cities to work correctly without crash right? Im also not really sure on how faithfull to the lore it is with the houses and farms, etc.

Edited November 30, 2011 by timoteoandre

[shaifou]

Hey guys,

 

Bumping this for more discussion (Oblivion newbie here, been meaning to play it for past 6 years and never got around to it).

 

Anyway, I originally bought the Direct2Drive version. It has now changed over to GameFly. How can I tell whether I am or am not able to use OBSE? If not, how do I fix? EDIT - worked out that I can get an unencrypted .EXE; tabling discussion on this as it is borderline piracy (although I have already paid for the game) and I don't want to break any forum rules.

 

Finally, is there anything that should be added to the very nice suggested mod lists provided by the first few posters? Like the OP, I do not want to drastically change the game; I am more interested in tweaks and changes that get it to a "perfect score" review in your minds (atrocious bugs fixed, etc).

 

By the way, I play and beat everything on insane / impossible difficulties, so I have absolutely no problem with a hard game, nor do I want to make it easier.

 

PS - is there a very good / bug-free "survival" mod (have to eat/drink, more dangerous injuries, etc)?

 

 

EDIT with another question - I have done a LOT of research on modding, Wrye Bash, etc; one thing that I cannot figure out is the meaning of yellow [+] on the installer page. Is the "Wrye Bash pictorial guide" still available somewhere (author seems to have taken it down from Nexus...). Finally, how do I have full confidence that there are no conflicts?

 

Also, is there any reason I should NOT use Midas Magic Spells on a first playthrough? Can I trust the author's statement that it is "fair and balanced" ?

Edited July 23, 2012 by shaifou

[shaifou]

Bumped with some edits, also put in a request for input on chat. Thanks for your help!

[Maskar]

Concerning the survival mod, I suggest using my Basic Primary Needs mod. It's probably the most compatible, fully featured needs mod out there for Oblivion. You might also be interested in Basic Physical Activities, I created recently.

[steve70]

I'm so glad I finally stumbled onto this thread. There is so much information out there that it's easy for a "virgin" TES player to get lost in it all. With the usefulness of this thread, I would suggest updating the title to [2013] to let people like me know we should read it.

 

My situation: I currently own the complete versions of Morrowind and Oblivion on Steam, and hope to get my hands on Skyrim when I can afford it. (I also have Fallout 3 and Fallout NV.) All of these games are on my Steam account. I've heard a lot about these games, but I haven't played any of them, yet. From what I've heard bandied about, Oblivion is a good "starting point" if I want to get into Bethesda's open-world style. I've been playing AD&D RPG's and computer games since 1977, but Bethesda is supposed to have a different style.

 

Here is what I have in mind:

 

-- I'll play Oblivion, first, to get my feet wet, and then I'll follow up with the other games.

-- While there are countless mods available, I should probably start by playing the game as the designers intended.

-- Graphic overhauls and bug-fixes are desired as they only add to my (possible) enjoyment of the game(s).

-- I really enjoy playing Paladin. It's basically my "default" class. For this reason, I should use a custom class and follow one of the Oblivion-Paladin-building guides.

 

Now, getting back to the topic of this thread, I'm looking for feedback from August, 2013. Following this thread, it looks like a new player will want the following installation:

 

Wrye Bash
BOSS
Oblivon Mod Manager (OBMM)

Official Patch
Unofficial Patch
Unofficial Official Mods Patch
Unofficial Patch Supplementals (superceded by UP, see this post)
Unofficial SI Patch

[Abigail offers help for installing these patches, here.]

Oblivion Script Extender (OBSE)
Oblivion Graphics Extender (OBGE)
Oblivion Stutter Remover
Streamline
Fast Exit 2
DarNified UI

Darnified UI Config AddOn

Improved Facial Textures
Corean Hair - Elaborate Eyes (merged)
Facial Textures by Enayla
All Natural [weather/environment mod]

 

Lost paladins of the Divines? (for paly gear)

 

 

This seems to be a good list because it keeps things "simple." There may now be other, better mods to replace something on this list (e.g. All Natural?), so I'd like the latest feedback from those who are "in the know." Is this list still the "go-to" list for those new to Bethesda games?

 

[bumped on forum and linked in chat to hopefully generate a response.]

Edited December 4, 2013 by steve70