Oblivion First-timer...did my 4 mods actually install?

[ericjmz]

5/24 AM
Hi folks,
As a newbie to Oblivion (never played it..yup, Never!...only 1st played & loved Fallout3/NewVegas/...and just finishing up Skyrim now) I have installed Oblivion via Steam and wish to "take it to an eleven!" with some mods as I play.
There are exactly 4 mods I have chosen, and I am not certain if they are installing correctly.
I'd like to tell you what I did,& you please tell me if I have it right,or wrong,for the four.
I thank you.here goes:-
1. My Steam Version of Oblvion is titled: 'The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition Deluxe'
...and its installed correctly. Fired it up once; its already patched (by Steam) to the latest 'official' version
2. Here are the 4 mods I choose to install:
Unofficial Oblivion Patch-5296-3-5-4b.7z
Unofficial Oblivion DLC Patches-9969-23.7z
Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch-10739-1-5-8.7z
(if I understand correctly I should be installing ALL 3 of the above if I want the latest fan unofficial patch...right?)
& lastly DarNified UI 132 OMOD-10763.zip
3. I MUCH prefer to do a manual install; even if folks want me to use the NMM, I find that interface confusing (I can download,but where /how to actually install my downloads are a mystery to me) & one of the mods above specfically says NOT to use the NMM
...so my questions on installing are for those who wish to manually install
4. and lastly,here are my exact questions...I did read the readmes carefully (though I'm a geezer, so there's that)
question # 1:
Installing the Unofficial patch (Unofficial Oblivion Patch-5296-3-5-4b.7z) into my Oblivion folder in Steam, in installs AS A Folder with sub-folders
...inside said folder are all the suibfolders (Meshes,Sound,textures,etc...)
Thats what the readme says to do...but it doesn't 'feel' right to me,because,specifically...
question # 2:
when I install the needed 'Unofficial Oblivion DLC Patches-9969-23.7z' & 'Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch-10739-1-5-8.7z' patches they install NOT in their own folder,but as all the SUBfolders
...is that correct for all the above? Or as I suspect,regardless of readme, the big unoffical patch should be installed as subfolders like the other two?
question # 3:
when I install the 'DarNified UI 132 OMOD-10763.zip' patch it creates a file called 'DarNified UI 1.3.2'
...that then installs itself in the NMM...but NOTHING else seems to happen
As I said above, I find the NMM a complete mystery interface,as I can download things,but don't understand how to actually install them after they are downloaded...thus me going 'manual'

Surely I have to do SOMETHING to make the 'DarNified UI 132 OMOD-10763.zip' actually INSTALL,rather than just download...right or wrong?
.....................................................
And lastly the 1st 3 patches tell one to make sure they are activated in the launcher...but the launcher has none of those patches as elements to check as activated!...it alooks exactly how it looked before I installed ANY patch...so I see nowhere to actually activate ANY of the 4 patches
.............................
Thats it I guess
if anyone can help me in this I would really appreciate it
And by the way,I was expecting that the 'about' sceen once I laucnhed Oblivion would change from the version of the Official patch to the new version of the updated patch; it did not; which makes me further fell nothing that Installed actually 'installed'
thank you
ericjmz

[Striker879]

Yes you can install the unofficial patches manually. The only downside is if/when you ever want to uninstall/update to a newer version ... there are a lot of files and folders to check to make sure you are only uninstalling the stuff added by the unofficial patches (the folder structure of the unofficial patches mirrors the folder structure the game uses inside it's compressed archives, those BSA files you see in the vanilla game Data folder).

 

There is only one mod manager for Oblivion that can properly handle the situation of uninstalling/updating mods that include files and folders that are intended to be overwritten by other mods (read the documentation that comes with the unofficial patches and you'll see they are meant to be overwritten by other mods, if that's what the other mod needs to do). That mod manager is Wrye Bash.

 

A distant second choice for Oblivion is Oblivion Mod Manager (OBMM). The only two main things that it lacks as opposed to Wrye Bash is properly restoring overwritten files when uninstalling/updating (Wrye Bash's anneal feature) and the bashed patch ... a Wrye Bash exclusive (only required once you get into more advanced mod installations).

 

Nexus Mod Manager (NMM) is not recommended for Oblivion. True there are many mods that will work when installed using NMM, but there are far more that won't.

 

Interface mods are one of the more difficult mods to install manually. They take careful study of the install instructions, and unfortunately often one slip and the game won't start. I don't personally use anything like DarNified or the like, but judging by the download's name you will be wanting OBMM to use for it. My guess is when you extract the download to a folder it will extract to a file named DarNied UI 132.omod (OMODs are exclusive to OBMM, and will often include a script to guide you through the installation, allowing you to pick which optional parts of a mod you wish to install).

 

The number one rule when installing mods is to do one thing at a time ... i.e. install one mod and then test thoroughly. Troubleshooting a problem is trivial if you've only installed a single mod to a working game and now it's broken.

 

To manually install the unofficial patches simply download them to their own individual folders (i.e. one folder for the Unofficial Oblivion Patch, another for the Unofficial Official Mods Patch etc) and then extract the download to that same folder (7-Zip is the preferred tool). Using the UOP as an example you will find a folder named Unofficial Oblivion Patch with seven subfolders and three files. The three files are the ESPs needed by the game to use some of the changes made by the UOP (a lot of the changes made by the UOP are simple "replacer" type changes that don't use an ESP to effect the change but DO need some help to work ... that "archive invalidation" you read about in the UOP readme, more on that later). The only one of those three ESP files that must be used is Unofficial Oblivion Patch.esp ... it will be copied to your game's Oblivion\Data folder (so the complete path will be Oblivion\Data\Unofficial Oblivion Patch.esp). All seven folders will be copied to the Oblivion\Data folder as well (so then Oblivion\Data\DistantLOD, Oblivion\Data\Meshes, etc). The Docs folder is the only one that is optional (i.e not required for the UOP to work correctly).

 

I use a simple trick to install mods manually, that gives me a chance to look over my work and check for problems/mistakes before any files/folders ever make it into my game install.

 

After you've extracted the UOP download create a new subfolder named "Installed" inside your folder you downloaded to (so if you download to a folder named Unofficial_Oblivion_Patch_Download you will create a folder Unofficial_Oblivion_Patch_Download\Installed). Next right mouse click on the extracted download's Unofficial Oblivion Patch folder and select Copy from the right click menu. Now right click on the Installed folder you created and select Paste (so the full path will now be Unofficial_Oblivion_Patch_Download\Installed\Unofficial Oblivion Patch and all of the seven folders and three files inside that). Right click of the Unofficial Oblivion Patch folder inside your Installed folder and select Rename from the right click menu and change the folder's name to Data (so now the complete path will be Unofficial_Oblivion_Patch_Download\Installed\Data with the seven folders and three files inside the Data folder).

 

If you want to install the Oblivion Citadel Door Fix.esp and UOP Vampire Aging & Face Fix.esp then leave them inside the Installed\Data folder, otherwise delete whichever one(s) you don't want to install. Now to install the Unofficial Oblivion Patch simply right click on the Data folder inside your Installed folder and select Copy, navigate to your game's Oblivion folder (i.e. Bethesda Softworks\Oblivion) and select Paste. You will get a Windows prompt about there is already a folder named Data ... click Yes To All (and if you don't get that prompt you are pasting into the wrong folder). Go into the vanilla game launcher and activate the Unofficial Oblivion Patch.esp and any of the other two you installed.

 

Now that last detail regarding archive invalidation.

 

When the game was first released there was no way to get the game to use simple replacements for vanilla game assets without using an ESP file. So if you wanted to turn the vanilla game green Glass armor to red you couldn't simply recolour the vanilla texture red and put it into Data\Textures\Armor\Glass\M and expect the game to use the replacement (inside the vanilla game BSA file Oblivion - Textures - Compressed.bsa the path to the Glass armor texture is Textures\Armor\Glass\M for male Glass armor). The game would always use the assets found in the BSA files and ignore replacements. Archive Invalidation is the method devised to overcome that limitation.

 

The original methods used for archive invalidation had problems that required careful upkeep to maintain effectiveness. Then along came BSA Redirection and archive invalidation became a "do it once and forget about it" situation. The only fly in the ointment came along after Steam got their hands on the game. They decided to change the dates on all of the vanilla game BSA files, which broke BSA Redirection for Steam users. The solution is simple ... change the dates back to 2006. The easiest way to do that is using Oblivion Mod Manager (which also offers a simple way to activate BSA Redirection while you're at it). In OBMM it's click on the Utilities button, select Archive Invalidation from the Utilities menu, select BSA Redirection, click on Update BSA Timestamps and then click on Update Now ... done.

 

If you want to use OBMM to install DarNified you will only need to double left click on the extracted OMOD file and OBMM will start and walk you through it.

 

Took about twenty times longer to describe all this than it will take to actually do it.

Edited May 24, 2016 by Striker879

[ericjmz]

5/25

 

A HHUUGGGEEEE thank you to Striker 879 fr his long answer.

 

When it was all said & done, I (successfully I might add! :-) did all the following:-

 

1. Uninstalled my Steam version Oblivion

2. reinstalled it

...had to do those steps...I was sure both before & after reading stiriker879's reply (above) the manual install did NOT create the correct folder structure...and I was right

3. downloaded OMM

4. used said manager to install the 3 Oblivion fan patches

5...and choose at this time NOT to install DarNified...nor anything else at this juncture

 

As you might guess the OMM worked like a charm; it was obvious the folder structures were correct in its install

 

For the record...and I went over what I did...I DID follow the exact instructions as to manually installing the 3 Oblivion patches...and those instructions are not correct for the main Unofficial patch...didn't even bother to review with the other 2 patches, as I just went the OMM route...which by the way I find easier in its interface than the NMM

 

I really appreciate the advice, truly I do; thank you again

 

For the record one last request...

 

I am staying open-minded to installing a single visual and/or character/weapon/faces overhaul...like I said before, even as a 1st time Oblivion player I want to take it to an 11!

When I re-read the DarNified preview précis, I saw more clearly its not the single visual overhaul I want

 

Would you or anyone have "if you're going to install ANY Oblivion visual overhaul this is the one!!" recommendation?

 

best wishes

 

ericjmz

[Striker879]

I don't have a very capable machine myself (an old Core2 Duo 3Ghz CPU is plenty good for the game, but 2GB RAM and only 896MB VRAM on my video card) so I tend to stay within the limitations that come with that. What that means is I stay away from the large scale "beautify all of Tamriel" type mods and stick with some that only improve certain aspects of the game.

 

For characters and NPCs I use Oblivion Character Overhaul v2 along with RobertMaleBodyReplacerV52 and EVE HGEC Eyecandy Variants Expansion for females, but neither of those are required for OCO v2 (it will work just fine with the vanilla bodies). Read through the mod comments and you'll avoid most of the common problems with installation.

 

If you do want to beautify all of the game the current state of the art is Oblivion Reloaded - OBGE v4. I'm told my machine could probably handle it (if you can use that as any sort of a gauge) but I'll wait until I get around to building a new computer (I'm retired so I have time, just not money). It is highly configurable, which also makes it more complicated to understand ... be prepared for plenty of reading readmes and manuals, and lots of trial and error while figuring out all of it's ins and outs.

 

The DarNied you were looking at earlier is for the game menus and stuff like that. I personally don't have any huge issues with the vanilla interface, but I haven't had any hands on with any of the interface replacers so perhaps I don't know what I don't know.

 

I do use HUD Status Bars but that's just to make it easier for me to keep track of some gameplay things added by some of the mods I use (hunger, thirst, diseases etc).

 

The key point to keep in mind when installing mods is to work slowly (i.e. one at a time) and test thoroughly in between. That way troubleshooting is easier and you'll get a good feel for how each mod affects how the game runs and plays.