Update request on Beautifying Oblivion the Complete Guide on Steam

[VGI]

Is there anyone willing to update this guide:

 

Beautifying Oblivion the Complete Guide

 

It is a guide that is/has been quite popular in the Oblivion Steam Forum. But someone here has suggested that this guide is outdated.

 

It would be nice to have such a guide updated. Its got several sections of modding: VISUAL, AUDIO, and the GAMEPLAY sections are in my opinion the most important ones.

 

From the time I got TES4 a few weeks ago from Steam (got it at a huge discount on Steam last Christmas season) to today I haven't really done any playing, only installing mods and testing them. An updated guide would be of real help, because I am already regretting ever getting TES4 because I can't seem to stop with the modding.

[MarkInMKUK]

Beautifying Oblivion can be addictive - and can also make it unplayable if you go too far. If you are unlucky you get to the point of a wonderful, near-photo-quality still frame that sits there for three minutes and crashes to desktop. I suggest you start by actually playing the main quest all the way through on unmodded-but-fully-patched Oblivion, and make a list as you go of what "looks" wrong. By the time you have done that, you'll know more thoroughly what you want to change - you may decide that the real bugbear is the water, or the sky at night, or the grass. Or you may want to apply every patch you can find,- but remember there's a finite number of active ESP files you can have, and once you hit that you're into merging files and other complex stuff. At that point you're in danger of never playing the game again.

 

Personally I added the Better cities packs, the Unique Landscape packs, improved the night sky and weather, and updated the textures with QTP3 reduced and redimized. I then had to uninstall some of it because I got the "static photo / crash" problem. Don't be too greedy, and you can get it looking pretty good, but be careful.

[VGI]

Beautifying Oblivion can be addictive - and can also make it unplayable if you go too far. If you are unlucky you get to the point of a wonderful, near-photo-quality still frame that sits there for three minutes and crashes to desktop. I suggest you start by actually playing the main quest all the way through on unmodded-but-fully-patched Oblivion, and make a list as you go of what "looks" wrong. By the time you have done that, you'll know more thoroughly what you want to change - you may decide that the real bugbear is the water, or the sky at night, or the grass. Or you may want to apply every patch you can find,- but remember there's a finite number of active ESP files you can have, and once you hit that you're into merging files and other complex stuff. At that point you're in danger of never playing the game again.

 

Personally I added the Better cities packs, the Unique Landscape packs, improved the night sky and weather, and updated the textures with QTP3 reduced and redimized. I then had to uninstall some of it because I got the "static photo / crash" problem. Don't be too greedy, and you can get it looking pretty good, but be careful.

 

You are obviously a more experienced TES4 player. Could you link me the mods you are using? It would be a big help.

 

Which mod are you using to improve the environment and weather? I am going to try out Weather - All Natural. Which is why I am trying to get Wrye Bash to work.

 

Yes, beautifying Oblivion is quite addicting. I am already ranting like a drug-addict who wants to quit but can't on some of my threads. Check out the Oblivion forum in Steam and you'll find my tons of threads which peeps seem to have grown tired of answering. And my O.C. isn't making things any easier too. I don't think I will get a static photo / crash problem, as I have a GTX 295 card, getting old but still very good.

[MarkInMKUK]

You may save yourself a little bit of aggravation if you track down a proper disc install of Oblivion. I know there are a few limitations on the Steam version, although not as many as on the Direct2Drive one as that's an encrypted executable.

 

I'm running a 3GHz AMD-based dual core system, 2MB RAM, GeForce FX1700 workstation graphics card, similar performance to a GTX295 from memory, and I certainly hit the "static" point ages back. More memory helps, especially if you have over 3GB and use the 3GB patch, but fundamentally you're pushing your graphics processor into meltdown territory with the demands you put on it with some areas. The fastest crash point on my system used to be Anvil Docks - with Better Cities, Unique Landscapes, and fairly low graphics settings my system STILL chokes in under two minutes. Add in a water mod and turn the viewing distance up, and it's closer to 30 seconds unless my character walks around looking at her feet the whole time. Heaven help you if you wanted to try 3D - the software supports it, but you'll need slaved graphics cards and lots of patience to even try.

 

For the mods - I'd have to go check my current load order at home - I may post again tonight.

[VGI]

You may save yourself a little bit of aggravation if you track down a proper disc install of Oblivion. I know there are a few limitations on the Steam version, although not as many as on the Direct2Drive one as that's an encrypted executable.

 

I'm running a 3GHz AMD-based dual core system, 2MB RAM, GeForce FX1700 workstation graphics card, similar performance to a GTX295 from memory, and I certainly hit the "static" point ages back. More memory helps, especially if you have over 3GB and use the 3GB patch, but fundamentally you're pushing your graphics processor into meltdown territory with the demands you put on it with some areas. The fastest crash point on my system used to be Anvil Docks - with Better Cities, Unique Landscapes, and fairly low graphics settings my system STILL chokes in under two minutes. Add in a water mod and turn the viewing distance up, and it's closer to 30 seconds unless my character walks around looking at her feet the whole time. Heaven help you if you wanted to try 3D - the software supports it, but you'll need slaved graphics cards and lots of patience to even try.

 

For the mods - I'd have to go check my current load order at home - I may post again tonight.

 

Much appreciated. This is why I like Metro 2033 and similar games, no need to mod. Actually, better if un-modded. You go straight to the game.

[Smooth613]

You may save yourself a little bit of aggravation if you track down a proper disc install of Oblivion. I know there are a few limitations on the Steam version, although not as many as on the Direct2Drive one as that's an encrypted executable.

[...]

Incorrect. The STEAM version of Oblivion has no limitations at all when concerning Oblivion and modding, or using any modding utilities. The only difference is OBSE requires you to use one additional .dll file which is, and has been, included in the OBSE archive forever. OBSE and STEAM actually worked together to some extent to ensure 100% compatibility. This is why you don't have to take any special steps to launch Oblivion via OBSE, just run the game from your STEAM Library and OBSE automatically hooks in. Again, 100% compatibility across all mods and modding utilities. One version has a disc, the other doesn't, that's about it.

 

As far as any other digital version, non-STEAM, you may run into problems, specifically with OBSE. Since it would require an EXE patch (hack) to be compatible, and the OBSE team is not willing, and rightfully so, to illegally modify a games EXE. Direct2Drive would have to cooperate in order to achieve compatibility, and it's a bit late in Oblivion's lifespan to realistically request an EXE patch.

 

My best advice, avoid any non-STEAM digital download of any game. VALVe is very mod-friendly and I've never had a problem modding any game I've got from STEAM over the years, and it's been many. Probably the reason that VALVe is so mod friendly is some of their flagship games, CounterStrike (and CS:Source) and Team Fortress Classic (which has evolved into TF2) for example, were founded and created by smaller mod communities back in the day, and are the very definition of a Total Conversion Mod.

Edited February 16, 2011 by Smooth613

[Ferryt]

VGI, don't count on not getting the still-picture-CTD situation just because you've got a video card that kicks butt. It's not always about just the video card. If you go hog-wild on beautification you will experience instability and likely even crashes. It's not a matter of "if" but of "when". I went that route with a laptop that was having a hard time just running Oblivion. You can imagine how long my beautification project lasted. Now I have a very capable gaming machine, but you know what? I'm in a modding mood right now that has very little to do with beautification and almost everything to do with immersion and realism in game-play. I've grown away from the eye-candy stage. It's still nice to just walk around and admire the scenery, but I'm more interested in having fun playing the game than I am in making it look good, now.

 

I'm not trying to argue you away from your project. Quite the contrary. There are many things, from the UI on outward to the sky and water, that need to be tweaked to make Oblivion really shine, and a lot of those can be done without wholesale beauty overhauls. First things, first, though. I recommend you go to the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Tweak Guide. Do the whole thing. Don't skip any of it at all. It's a lot of reading and it's a lot of tweaking, and you're going to be delving into your Oblivion.ini file and doing other geeky things, but this will pay off, both in the short run and on the long haul, especially as you begin adding mods that push the game engine's ability to function smoothly. Again ... not necessarily hardware-related. A lot of these mods strain the game, itself, because they place tremendous demands on an underlying game engine that simply wasn't designed to take advantage of newer computers.

 

Like someone else said, though, beat the vanilla game, first, and by "vanilla" I mean the game right out of the box, plus whatever of the official DLCs you want to install, plus all relevant official and unofficial patches. By the time you've beaten the Main Quest, all the Guild quests, the Daedric shrine quests, Shivering Isles, and Knights of the Nine, you'll have a pretty good idea where you want to go with Oblivion on your second playthrough.

[VGI]

Like someone else said, though, beat the vanilla game, first, and by "vanilla" I mean the game right out of the box, plus whatever of the official DLCs you want to install, plus all relevant official and unofficial patches. By the time you've beaten the Main Quest, all the Guild quests, the Daedric shrine quests, Shivering Isles, and Knights of the Nine, you'll have a pretty good idea where you want to go with Oblivion on your second playthrough.

 

But then I won't have any reason to keep Oblivion anymore when I'm done with it. Am low on hard disk space (seriously wanting a 1TB hardrive, and Windows 7). I still have a lot of games to play (and finish). Heck, I haven't even finished the expansion set of StarCraft 1! Haven't finished Neverwinter Nights 1 Platinum edition, haven't finished Dawn of War Soul Storm (just the Dark Eldar race), haven't finished SW: Knights of the Old Republic 1(even though I am so so close). And haven't seen all the endings yet of Vampires Masquerade: Blood Lines.

 

Even then, I still have lots of games in Steam yet to be downloaded (though I bought them already) and installed, thanks to Steam's Holiday Discounts. They seriously went ballistic with all those awesome games for the price of 1-2 Happy Meals or something like that.

 

I actually asked whether to play the game vanilla first then mod, or mod right away, in the Steam forums...and well, I went with the advice of mod right away. :whistling:

 

In anycase, I haven't had a crash yet. Its just that I am seriously getting tired of modding...hope I am near done.

[Ferryt]

If your problem is HD space I think you'll find that 1TB external hard drives are pretty cheap, now. I have a Freeagent 1 TB drive (usb 2.0) and they're very good. You can pick one up for less than a hundred bucks, now. I'm not certain about this, but I think you can install Oblivion on an external drive. I've never tried it, though. The only issue I can think of is that initial loading might be a bit slow over a usb cable.

[Smooth613]

[...]

 

In anycase, I haven't had a crash yet. Its just that I am seriously getting tired of modding...hope I am near done.

You'll never be done modding Oblivion, it's addictive and the amount of mods are near endless. Oblivion is so much more than just the main quest, trust me you're not missing anything by beating the main quest first without ever modding Oblivion. Out of the hundreds, hell thousands, of hours of gameplay Oblivion offers the main quest is only a very small piece of the pie. You can beat the main quest in around 15 hours if you go straight through it, but that does not in anyway mean Oblivion is back on the shelf in 15 hours. I've been playing it for years and there is still new content I haven't touched, thanks to this wonderful modding community.

 

Oh, and yes you're right the STEAM sell was ridiculously awesome, like most all of their sales. I gained around 30 games for less than one Ben Franklin.