Good batch of mods to get started

[kid606]

I acquired Oblivion last autumn and was very excited to get started. After stumbling across comments about the leveling system and various graphical improvement mods, I tentatively installed Unofficial Oblivion patch 3.2.0 and beautiful people. I then started to play as a weird custom class and very quickly realised that I was definitely going to mess up the leveling as I really do not understand the system. So I stopped playing around February, after barely scraping the surface of what I am 99.9% sure will be an amazing game experience.

 

Sooo, after reading a little today, notably pc gamers top 10 essential mods and a couple of peoples own lists on this site I decided its time to really give this game the attention it deserves. I've just installed Oblivion Mod Manager and was about to install OOO when I read in that mods own info that it makes the game "insanely difficult"...

 

Basically what I would like is for someone to list or point me in the direction of a good set of "core mods" which will work together so that I can be sure I can create a nice looking, functional character who will level up in a sensible way and provide a nice, immersive experience. I have read this recently posted thread which answers some of my questions - http://www.thenexusforums.com/index.php?/topic/401856-mods-i-want-a-little-help-please/ and to be honest the OP's list of requirements is more or less what I'm after:

 

Lighting

Textures

Better levelling (so i can level up good and high)

Armour

Race mods

Anything extra to add to the gameplay and extend gameplay

 

I know there's no such thing as a definitive set of mods but if somebody could suggest perhaps the most popular mods that will achieve the above result and work together, or just point me to a thread/forum, I would be extremely grateful.

 

I'm sorry if this just seems lazy, and I guess it is, but I have really limited time to spend on gaming due to family etc and I tend to get bogged down in the forums and details sometimes - I'd just like to experience this awesome game!! :wub:

 

Thanks in advance

[NellSpeed]

How do you like to play? Do you prefer a specific class? Do you like roleplaying, hack-and-slash, or a mix? Does dungeon crawling seem more fun than running around outside? Do you prefer to interact with NPCs or do you play loners?

 

IMO, playing style can dictate what mods you'll like best. :)

 

Personally:

 

Armor & race: I use the TGND body with Xenius' race compilation.

 

For textures, I'm currently running Lush & Gaudy, for that ultra-bright-and-shiny look; and Natural Environment, because it adds in dragonflies and birds (nothing quite like looking up and suddenly seeing a hawk circling).

 

When I want strictly hack-and-slash, it's time for 28 Days and a Bit.

 

Just played through and loved Well of Minlorada, which is an Ayleid ruin adventure.

[kid606]

How do you like to play? Do you prefer a specific class? Do you like roleplaying, hack-and-slash, or a mix? Does dungeon crawling seem more fun than running around outside? Do you prefer to interact with NPCs or do you play loners?

 

Hmmmm, well my (vastly limited) experience of rpgs is basically a few single player games (eg Baldurs Gate and Champions of Norrath on the PS2) and WoW. I absolutely loved WoW but had to give it up for various reasons. What I learned from them is that in multiplayer games, its fine to do just about any role, be it dps healer or tank, as working together as a team in instance makes each of these roles fun and demanding, but when playing solo, being a melee character was a bit dull, just slashing my way through one group of baddies and on to the next... So I guess I'd go for exploration, dungeon crawling for experience and loot, lots of NPC interaction and seeking out weird and fun side quests. I usually find the main storyline oddly enough the last thing I want to do as I prefer exploring each area to death first, finding all the secrets and areas in a bit more of a sandbox manner, although I would obviously want to progress the main quest in my own time.

 

Does this help?? o_O

 

I think my biggest problem is that I love to see my character progress, acquire new skills, both cb and non-cb, new spells, but also I love to get better and better equipment, armour and weapons, and see my character's looks change as their armour/weap get better and better. I suppose in a way I'm trying to bring some of the good things from WOW in without significantly altering the spirit of vanilla oblivion.

[NellSpeed]

I like the main quest okay, but I do love some dungeon crawling. Even the vanilla dungeons feel new if you use mods.

 

In fact, there's a WoW dungeon crawl-- the Scarlet Monastery-- that's a lot of fun, and it's really nicely put together, with some gorgeous layouts. I died a lot going through it.

 

The Ayleid Steps is, IMO, the ultimate free-form / dungeon crawl / exploration mod. There's a plot, but you can ignore it entirely and just go looking for the hidden steps that transport you to various locations (safe and otherwise) around Cyrodiil. I'll admit to being really, really biased, since I really like the Ayleid ruins in general.

 

I love the Oblivion Collectible Cards mod. It adds a new guild and quests, but if you really want to, you can just run around collecting cards, just for the fun of it.

 

Hoarfrost Castle gives you a series of quests that leads to you owning your very own castle. Plenty of content, lots of running around.

 

The Well of Minlorada has not only a dungeon crawl, but some awesome, awesome custom loot. I died a lot playing through it, but I'm not much of a strategist.

 

If Oblivion's leveled loot / enemies drives you nuts, you may want to also look at a level changing mod-- it doesn't bother me, but I know plenty of players find it frustration.

 

EDIT: Oh, my god. How did I forget Gates to Aesgaard? Not without bugs (ALL mods have bugs), but the atmosphere is amazing. Deeply, deeply creepy. I died a lot playing through it. Yeah, that's kind of a theme with me.

 

 

 

Bit of self-promotion: I did 2 re-models of the Damsels in Distress mod-- random captives will appear in some dungeons; you get to escort them out for a reward. And the Bear Hunt mod is a collector's mod (So is Sugar High, but that's for shops, homes, etc), with absolutely no purpose except to collect toy bears.

[kid606]

Thanks NellSpeed, some brilliant sounding mods there! I'm going to give some of them a try, especially the Scarlet Monastery one (loved that in WoW) and Ayleid Steps...

 

Sooo, I'm going to follow the instructions that MarkInMKUK posted in the thread I mentioned above, apart from the Shivering Isles bit, and try some race texture lighting level etc, I really want to get exploring!

 

Update: I've installed (correctly I hope) OBMM BOSS UOP and supplementals, OBSE OBGE, Fast Exit 2 and weOCPS, Natural Environments Qarls texture pack and Unique Landscapes, beautiful people, wrye bash... and now low poly grass.

 

All I really need now is something that will handle the leveling aspects for me, maybe can anyone suggest either a good level mod, something like OOO or even just having a go at leveling vanilla style; i just don't want to sink hours into this only to have to go right back to the start if things start to get horribly difficult...

Edited July 3, 2011 by kid606