Mod Installation

[tehcalipwnt]

I just have a few questions here...

I get how to get a on Oblivion. I unzip it to my Oblivion\data\ and all that good stuff. I put on a mod for warlock clothing and tried have just the root folder that I unzipped. When I started the ob launcher I couldn't select that mod. So I moved everything out of that root folder into the Oblivion\data\. So now there is the .esp file, a mesh folder, and a textures folder. Awesome that's great it works. Then I tried to get two others on, but once again I had to take out the contents of that mods root folders. Here's the problem. That root folder also contains a mesh folder, and a few others. So when I move it to the Oblivion\data\, it asks me if I want to replace those folders. I can't do that, cause then other mesh folder for other mod is gone. So what do I do? Am I even installing mods right? Am I supposed to combine folders? Help?

Edited March 4, 2011 by tehcalipwnt

[Hickory]

If you install mods manually, always examine the archive and extract it to a temporary folder before you install. The reason for this is that not everybody packages mods in the same manner. Now the thing you must know is that all mods must go into the \Oblivion\Data\ folder. This means that if you have an archive with a folder structure like so:

\mymodname\data\*.*

you must only copy the *.* from the data folder, and NOT the data folder itself.

 

If you have copied a meshes folder into your \Oblivion\ folder, move it (and only it) to the \data\ folder.

[tehcalipwnt]

If you install mods manually, always examine the archive and extract it to a temporary folder before you install. The reason for this is that not everybody packages mods in the same manner. Now the thing you must know is that all mods must go into the \Oblivion\Data\ folder. This means that if you have an archive with a folder structure like so:

\mymodname\data\*.*

you must only copy the *.* from the data folder, and NOT the data folder itself.

 

If you have copied a meshes folder into your \Oblivion\ folder, move it (and only it) to the \data\ folder.

Alright, I'll see if I can get that to work.

And sorry about other thread, I just thought this was the proper board. I won't do it again o.O

 

*Edit

So I'm doing WarlockGearV13-13105.

When I extract to temp folder, it only gives me a folder named Data. I just copy what is inside the folder to my Oblivion\data\ folder right?

Edited March 4, 2011 by tehcalipwnt

[Striker879]

When it's asking you to overwrite it gives you the impression that you will lose the current contents of your Data folder. Windows does that because they are both the same name at that level of the directory structure. If you look inside Data you may see other directories (folders) that are named the same (e.g. meshes and Textures). If you expand all the folders of the zip, rar or 7z archive you'll see folders and or files that have names that are unique to that particular mod. Oblivion requires certain locations for different types of files (.nif files need to be in meshes for example, while .dds files belong in Textures). To get the files into the correct directories the mod author needs to adhere to that directory structure. So that it's easy to install into the correct locations, most authors package their compressed mod using the complete required directory structure, starting from Data. When you say 'Yes to All' when installing a mod and copying the mod's Data folder to your Oblivion directory Windows doesn't erase the current contents of Oblivion\Data, it appends the mod's Data\meshes and or Data\Textures to what is already there. Nothing lost from your original, just the new content added as long as there are no files named the same. This is where you need to check your new mod beforehand.

 

You can check the contents of the new mod inside the WinZip, WinRAR or 7-Zip window before unzipping to your Oblivion directory, and then look at your Oblivion\Data and subdirectory contents using Windows Explorer. Alternatively you can unpack the archive to a separate folder and then use Windows Explorer to make your comparison. I like to download mods to a separate directory within the OblivionDownloads directory I have created for downloads, and then unpack the mod into that subdirectory. I can look for files that may be overwritten by the new mod, and it gives me a backup of the unzipped mod contents after I've completed the install. Obviously I have no restrictions on hard drive space available. After checking things out, installing is as simple as right click the Data folder of the new mod and selecting 'Copy', and then right clicking my Oblivion directory and selecting 'Paste' from the right click menu. 'Yes to All' at the prompt and then activate the mod using the Oblivion game launcher 'Data Files'. If you have OBSE installed you will need to use the original shortcut or Start Menu link to start Oblivion and bring up the game launcher menu to select 'Data Files', then exit and launch Oblivion using the OBSE shortcut you'd normally use.

[Herculine]

When I extract to temp folder, it only gives me a folder named Data. I just copy what is inside the folder to my Oblivion\data\ folder right?

 

The contents of the extracted Data folder go into your Oblivion/Data folder. Putting tha Data folder into the Data folder will still not work.

 

edit:

 

Was typing while Striker was posting.http://www.thenexusforums.com/public/style_emoticons/dark/tongue.gif

[tehcalipwnt]

Thanks guys, after some confusion and slowness, I got it :D

[Striker879]

And I was doing the same while you posted. :biggrin: The key thing to remember when pasting is to make sure you're pasting at one directory level higher. If you copied the Data folder from your download you paste into the Oblivion folder of your game. If you copied your meshes folder from your download, you'd paste into your Data folder in your game. I've had my share of Data inside Data screw-ups. 'One higher' is my mod install mantra.