new to mods >.>

[kozichan]

So my friend who is a big time TES player finally convinced me to play oblivion and recommended that before playing it that i visit this site and get some great mods, but since im new to this(i have read a bit about them on how to install and what not) and there's a lot of

mods and so many choices on what to add. Do you guys have like a mod pack sort of for starters? or any recommendations on which mods are a must grab? any suggestions would be great! I will keep checking the big mod list in the meantime :D

 

p.s if i have put this on the wrong forums or there is a forums like this then my apologies in advance >.<

[Telyn]

Hello, welcome to the site, and it's good that you are asking before just downloading random things. It's a good idea to first prepare your game for mods to prevent problems later on.

 

The first question is, are you using Windows 7 or Vista? If you are, you will be doing yourself a big favor if you install the game somewhere other than Progam Files. A good place would be C:\Games\Oblivion. This is because those two operating systems use some security features (User Account Controls) that can cause many problems with mods.

 

After that, the first thing to do is patch your game if you have not done that already. The Game of the Year Edition should already have the official patches applied to it if you bought it recently. Do you have just Oblivion, or did it come with DLCs? The Unofficial Oblivion Patch gets rid of thousands of bugs. http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5296 The Game of the Year Edition comes with some extra content such as Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine which also will need to be patched to get rid of bugs. http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10739 and http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=9969 but only use those IF you have Shivering Isles and the DLC expansion content installed. Then once you have patched those, it is recommended to also install the Unofficial Patch Supplementals: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=27710 but again, only install the ones for the products you have. Many mods require you to have installed the Unofficial Oblivion Patches, so do this right away before downloading more mods.

 

Once you have patched the game and it is not in Program Files if you have Vista or Windows 7, you are ready for mods.

 

There are some overhauls which make many changes to the game. There are some packages which make the game look better. I am going to give you some advice here. After patching the game, you might want to play it a bit, make sure everything is working, and see what you want to change before you start making lots of changes. Otherwise you will never know what the game you bought was like before you changed everything. For example, many people don't like the way Oblivion handles levelling but some people do. You might want to see if you like the way the game plays before you change things like that.

[kozichan]

Hello, welcome to the site, and it's good that you are asking before just downloading random things. It's a good idea to first prepare your game for mods to prevent problems later on.

 

The first question is, are you using Windows 7 or Vista? If you are, you will be doing yourself a big favor if you install the game somewhere other than Progam Files. A good place would be C:\Games\Oblivion. This is because those two operating systems use some security features (User Account Controls) that can cause many problems with mods.

 

After that, the first thing to do is patch your game if you have not done that already. The Game of the Year Edition should already have the official patches applied to it if you bought it recently. Do you have just Oblivion, or did it come with DLCs? The Unofficial Oblivion Patch gets rid of thousands of bugs. http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5296 The Game of the Year Edition comes with some extra content such as Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine which also will need to be patched to get rid of bugs. http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10739 and http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=9969 but only use those IF you have Shivering Isles and the DLC expansion content installed. Then once you have patched those, it is recommended to also install the Unofficial Patch Supplementals: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=27710 but again, only install the ones for the products you have. Many mods require you to have installed the Unofficial Oblivion Patches, so do this right away before downloading more mods.

 

Once you have patched the game and it is not in Program Files if you have Vista or Windows 7, you are ready for mods.

 

There are some overhauls which make many changes to the game. There are some packages which make the game look better. I am going to give you some advice here. After patching the game, you might want to play it a bit, make sure everything is working, and see what you want to change before you start making lots of changes. Otherwise you will never know what the game you bought was like before you changed everything. For example, many people don't like the way Oblivion handles levelling but some people do. You might want to see if you like the way the game plays before you change things like that.

 

 

Thank you for the advice! and yes i have windows 7 installed oblivion with shivering isles to the latest patch. Gonna go for it and give it a play :)

[Telyn]

You will want the unofficial patches also, because the game company stopped making patches and left many bugs. I was not sure if you used those patches I linked to, but those are the ones you will need. Have fun in the game! Oblivion is very good. If you decide you want better graphics or to change pretty much anything you don't like, there are mods here that will do that for you once you have an idea what you want to make better. :)

[LHammonds]

Yes, install Oblivion to a non-default location, apply the official and unofficial patches, add the add-ons and DLCs. Once you have the base system ready to go, play it.

 

How to install Oblivion with patches

 

Don't start your Oblivion experience with a bunch of mods. Play it as it was designed. Once you get the feel for the game and start to have your own ideas of what you wished it had, then start to add mods. But only do so one at a time. Add too many and you may have problems that are very difficult to troubleshoot.

 

Also, make sure you save your game to multiple savegame files so you can easily go back if something messed up your savegame. I tended to save my game, exit Oblivion, find the savegame file, rename it and add a text file explaining what mods I am about to add so I can later find the savegame BEFORE a particular mod was added in case the mod latches on tightly to a savegame and won't allow you to run the game without it.

 

Before modding, be sure to save yourself much headache and read the holy grail of modding info that is known as the Oblivion Mods FAQ.

 

LHammonds

[chakaru11]

There is something I have been wanting to say about the installation routine if you dot have SI for a long time but never saw a thread that fit.

 

Install this way if you have Shivering Isles

 

1. Install Oblivion 1.0

2. Install Official 1.1.511 Patch (only if you want the launcher to be fully functional)

3. Install Shivering Isles (which brings Oblivion to 1.2.201)

4. Install Official 1.2.416 Patch

5. Install all Official Add-ons

6. Install the Unofficial Oblivion Patch (user-made mod)

7. Install the Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch (user-made mod)

8. Install the Unofficial Official Mods Patch (user-made mod)

9. Install the Official Construction Set 1.2.404

 

Installing Patch 1.1.511 has lead to severve problems after the installation process was finished - tested on two different computers with different settings and without any other mods installed. The base game ignored the entire SI content, although all files, BSAs etc etc where there and the esp was activated. And I don't just mean the quest did not start, I mean the entire island was not there, not even as yellow exclamation marks.

Installing again without step 2 removed the problem and the launcher was fully functional without it.

[kozichan]

Yup got all the patches and unofficial patches, so far so good, and yup as some of you have suggested i'm playing it without mods. Why in the 9 hells did i not play this before?! I mean...how did i miss this?! Maybe i was too into MMOs then and probably went "meh"(damn you WoW!).

[Telyn]

Yup got all the patches and unofficial patches, so far so good, and yup as some of you have suggested i'm playing it without mods. Why in the 9 hells did i not play this before?! I mean...how did i miss this?! Maybe i was too into MMOs then and probably went "meh"(damn you WoW!).

 

Funny you should say that. I was playing a couple MMOs and a MUD, believe it or not, when I got Oblivion GOTY on sale. Hardly been back since. I used to play more than one MMO at the same time, but I really don't miss them much now. Never thought I would say that.

[HeyYou]

1. Install Oblivion 1.0
  2. Install Official 1.1.511 Patch (only if you want the launcher to be fully functional)
  3. Install Shivering Isles (which brings Oblivion to 1.2.201)
  4. Install Official 1.2.416 Patch
  5. Install all Official Add-ons
  6. Install the Unofficial Oblivion Patch (user-made mod)
  7. Install the Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch (user-made mod)
  8. Install the Unofficial Official Mods Patch (user-made mod)
  9. Install the Official Construction Set 1.2.404

 

I have no idea why step 2 is even in there. If you do NOT have GOTY, install the base game, SI, and then the latest patch. If you have GOTY edition, just install the base game, then SI, and KotN, and you are set.

[LHammonds]

I put the reason clearly typed in parenthesis. I included that step based on research way back before GOTY even existed.