Questions I have to ask before I start!

[PurpleOblivion]

I gotcha. Me, I'm in the US :]

 

So basically I need to figure out what kind of motherboard I have, and buy a new CPU that is compatible with it. Is there an 'at least this much for speed' one you can recommend as far as one that'll make Oblivion run smoothly with mods and no load times? Like am I gonna need a major improvement, or would just a slightly better CPU do? Hope I'm making sense, but I'd appreciate being taught more about this stuff if I'm misunderstanding :{3

 

And I think I'll start with the Oblivion Mod Manager since that's the one you got your feet wet in? I mean WyreBash sounds good, even manual installing sounds good. But, I'd be completely clueless. Perhaps with OMM I'd be slightly less clueless...

Edited June 28, 2016 by PurpleOblivion

[Striker879]

The reason I linked OBMM but not Wrye Bash is that in my opinion it will make a good starting point for you.

 

Before you start adding mods take a look at your vanilla game's Data folder. You'll be surprized at how little there is in there with the vanilla game. That's because most of the game's resources like meshes, textures etc. are all hidden from view inside those BSA files you'll see (e.g. Oblivion - Meshes.bsa and Oblivion - Textures - Compressed.bsa).

 

Inside the BSA files (which are just compressed archives ... think ZIP files with a bit different compression and file extension)) the game has specific folder structure for it's vanilla assets. For example the iron cuirass will be found in meshes\armor\iron\m\cuirass.nif (for males) and meshes\armor\iron\f\cuirass.nif for females. Textures will follow a similar folder structure in the BSA, except that often male and female versions will use the same texture file (so textures\armor\iron\ironcuirass.dds for both male and female). Note that inside the compressed BSA files the file path omits the Data folder as all vanilla assets will be located in the Data folder.

 

Mods for the most part use that same folder structure, except of course they are usually (though not always) installed as loose files and folders. Some mods will be distributed with a folder structure beginning at Data (e.g. Data\meshes\armor\JoesCoolArmor\cuirass.nif) and others will be distributed with a folder structure similar to the vanilla BSAs (meshes\armor\JoesCoolArmor\cuirass.nif).

 

After you have installed a mod or two look at your Data folder and see the folder structure that OBMM has established. The key point is that to work the files and folders must be exactly right or the game will not find the new assets.

 

There are two types of mods (in broad terms) ... replacer mods that simply replace vanilla assets (e.g. change the vanilla green glass armor to red) and those that add new content to the game. The second type requires an ESP file to instruct the game what assets to use and where they will be found in the game world (so in the above example the ESP may be named JoesCoolArmor.esp and the mod description tells you it will be found in a chest at the feet of some statue in the Market District). ESPs will always be installed in the Data folder.

 

The replacers generally don't require an ESP ... all they will do is put the asset in the exact same folder path as the vanilla asset they are to replace (so Data\textures\armor\glass\cuirass.dds). To get the game to use the replacement asset instead of what it has in the BSA files requires something called "archive invalidation".

 

OBMM has a simple way to implement archive invalidation ... just click on the Utilities button, make sure BSA Redirection is selected (the other methods are older and all have problems ... never follow any advice or mod install instructions that say to use BSA Alteration, the most common of the outmoded methods). Considering that you will be using the Steam version of the game click on Reset BSA Timestamps (Steam changed the dates on the vanilla game BSA files to recent and broke BSA Redirection ... changing the dates back to 2006 fixes it) and finally click on Update Now. BSA Redirection is a do once and forget about it solution (unless of course Steam does an update and changes your BSA dates again).

 

On the subject of your CPU ... info like motherboard specs can be somewhat difficult to find out with machines coming from builders like HP or Dell. In general they don't want you upgrading ... much more profitable for them to sell you an entire new machine. They usually don't specify which components they use unless some marketing guy thinks he can use the info to push more sales. You will likely need to open your case and try to find the motherboard manufactures model stamp (often along one of the edges of the motherboard).

 

Note that doing so will probably invalidate any warranty you have on the machine.

 

Another alternative is try finding out using Google to search for your exact HP model ... even if a review site doesn't specify the motherboard they may make mention of what CPUs it will support. I like to find more than one site all saying the same thing before I'll take it as probable fact.

 

Your machine may have even included a manual that either specifies the CPU compatibility specs or perhaps gives maufacturer info about the motherboard. Way way back when I bought my last prebuilt machine they did ... but dinosaurs had only been extinct for a few weeks back then I think.

 

If it was me I'd see what your current machine does with the vanilla game and then some of the mods you'd like to try before committing too much to an upgrade. Run the game at the native resolution of your computer monitor and adjust the in-game video settings to achieve acceptable performance. See how you like that ... at the very least it will give you a personal baseline.

 

- Edit - As far as I can recollect the game originally specified a 2GHz CPU or better, but that was back before CPUs were as "sophisticated" as today's CPUs. Today's CPUs have all kinds of tricks like multiple execution pipelines and prediction that try to make a slower CPU seem faster than it really is. Works well with software that was designed with those features in mind. Oblivion comes from an era where speed was King, and to make a truly fast CPU you make it as simple as you can and crank up the clock.

 

That was the basis I used to say your CPU is marginal for the game ... a bit slow on clock speed and modern in terms of CPU architecture.

Edited June 28, 2016 by Striker879

[PurpleOblivion]

The reason I linked OBMM but not Wrye Bash is that in my opinion it will make a good starting point for you.

 

Before you start adding mods take a look at your vanilla game's Data folder. You'll be surprized at how little there is in there with the vanilla game. That's because most of the game's resources like meshes, textures etc. are all hidden from view inside those BSA files you'll see (e.g. Oblivion - Meshes.bsa and Oblivion - Textures - Compressed.bsa).

 

Inside the BSA files (which are just compressed archives ... think ZIP files with a bit different compression and file extension)) the game has specific folder structure for it's vanilla assets. For example the iron cuirass will be found in meshes\armor\iron\m\cuirass.nif (for males) and meshes\armor\iron\f\cuirass.nif for females. Textures will follow a similar folder structure in the BSA, except that often male and female versions will use the same texture file (so textures\armor\iron\ironcuirass.dds for both male and female). Note that inside the compressed BSA files the file path omits the Data folder as all vanilla assets will be located in the Data folder.

 

Mods for the most part use that same folder structure, except of course they are usually (though not always) installed as loose files and folders. Some mods will be distributed with a folder structure beginning at Data (e.g. Data\meshes\armor\JoesCoolArmor\cuirass.nif) and others will be distributed with a folder structure similar to the vanilla BSAs (meshes\armor\JoesCoolArmor\cuirass.nif).

 

After you have installed a mod or two look at your Data folder and see the folder structure that OBMM has established. The key point is that to work the files and folders must be exactly right or the game will not find the new assets.

 

There are two types of mods (in broad terms) ... replacer mods that simply replace vanilla assets (e.g. change the vanilla green glass armor to red) and those that add new content to the game. The second type requires an ESP file to instruct the game what assets to use and where they will be found in the game world (so in the above example the ESP may be named JoesCoolArmor.esp and the mod description tells you it will be found in a chest at the feet of some statue in the Market District). ESPs will always be installed in the Data folder.

 

The replacers generally don't require an ESP ... all they will do is put the asset in the exact same folder path as the vanilla asset they are to replace (so Data\textures\armor\glass\cuirass.dds). To get the game to use the replacement asset instead of what it has in the BSA files requires something called "archive invalidation".

 

OBMM has a simple way to implement archive invalidation ... just click on the Utilities button, make sure BSA Redirection is selected (the other methods are older and all have problems ... never follow any advice or mod install instructions that say to use BSA Alteration, the most common of the outmoded methods). Considering that you will be using the Steam version of the game click on Reset BSA Timestamps (Steam changed the dates on the vanilla game BSA files to recent and broke BSA Redirection ... changing the dates back to 2006 fixes it) and finally click on Update Now. BSA Redirection is a do once and forget about it solution (unless of course Steam does an update and changes your BSA dates again).

 

On the subject of your CPU ... info like motherboard specs can be somewhat difficult to find out with machines coming from builders like HP or Dell. In general they don't want you upgrading ... much more profitable for them to sell you an entire new machine. They usually don't specify which components they use unless some marketing guy thinks he can use the info to push more sales. You will likely need to open your case and try to find the motherboard manufactures model stamp (often along one of the edges of the motherboard).

 

Note that doing so will probably invalidate any warranty you have on the machine.

 

Another alternative is try finding out using Google to search for your exact HP model ... even if a review site doesn't specify the motherboard they may make mention of what CPUs it will support. I like to find more than one site all saying the same thing before I'll take it as probable fact.

 

Your machine may have even included a manual that either specifies the CPU compatibility specs or perhaps gives maufacturer info about the motherboard. Way way back when I bought my last prebuilt machine they did ... but dinosaurs had only been extinct for a few weeks back then I think.

 

If it was me I'd see what your current machine does with the vanilla game and then some of the mods you'd like to try before committing too much to an upgrade. Run the game at the native resolution of your computer monitor and adjust the in-game video settings to achieve acceptable performance. See how you like that ... at the very least it will give you a personal baseline.

 

- Edit - As far as I can recollect the game originally specified a 2GHz CPU or better, but that was back before CPUs were as "sophisticated" as today's CPUs. Today's CPUs have all kinds of tricks like multiple execution pipelines and prediction that try to make a slower CPU seem faster than it really is. Works well with software that was designed with those features in mind. Oblivion comes from an era where speed was King, and to make a truly fast CPU you make it as simple as you can and crank up the clock.

 

That was the basis I used to say your CPU is marginal for the game ... a bit slow on clock speed and modern in terms of CPU architecture.

Well I appreciate you for being so thorough and informative on this for me; you've helped me here and in that other thread I made :]

 

This will be a journey for me alright. I plan on starting in the way you suggested as soon as I find one last mod I'm after. Can't find a darn black Khajiit mod, lol.

 

There's something I could ask you: Is my computer at least good enough to run whatever program is used to make mods like that? Hopefully it's as simple as changing a file's color from tan fur to black fur, but I'm probably being naive again, lol :{D

 

Pfft, watch me make a mod that looks bad AND crashes the game instantly

Edited June 29, 2016 by PurpleOblivion

[Striker879]

I'm not much of a texture guy myself. What little I have tried to do in the past was using PaintDotNET (a free program that is a few steps up from Microsoft Paint for what it can do). I think most texture artists tend to use either proffesional quality programs like Photoshop or the free equivalent GIMP. There is a whole section of these forums devoted to that: 2D Imaging.

 

Like with anything else, if you run into a problem you can always post the details here and hope that somebody knows something to get you pointed in the right direction.

 

I think it would be pretty difficult to permanently damage anything in the game with what you are wanting to do. I run the Construction Set (CS) on my own 2GB RAM machine without issues. Biggest thing will be if you want all Khajiits in the game to be black or just your character. The former could be done as a simple texture replacer (like my glass armor example) whereas for just your character you'd be getting into a custom race, which would require some CS work as well as texture development.

[bben46]

I started playing Oblivion on WinXP and a fairly weak computer with 2G of RAM and a video card that wasn't up to date even by the standards then. I was doing good to see 20 fps and 10 fps was common. I later upgraded my box, and when Win7 first came out, upgraded to Win7. I have never had a problem running Oblivion on Win7. I think a lot of the people whinging about it not running on 7 had pirated versions of either Windows or the game. I still use Win7 as I didn't care for Win8 and now don't like Win10 either.

 

Steam insists that all steam games be installed into the Steam directory. So in order to put your game on a different drive, you need to move the steam directory. Unlike some companies Steam actually makes this easy, but you need to follow their instructions to do it properly. https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?p_faqid=231