Oblivion graphics modding without the grief

[Surilindur]

Have you tried without the 4 GB patch? For a start? The game works just fine without it, too. I did not list it because I do not know if it would be relevant. Maybe later, but you could try without it first?

[Bongobasher]

I think I will stop here, it's already pissing me right off. The info that comes with patches, mods and stuff is so sketchy and assumes a level of knowledge I don't have. Thanks anyway

[Surilindur]

Oh. No problem. If you have questions, feel free to ask. No one is an expert at the beginning. Any missing knowledge can be... umm... acquired somehow. Asking is a good way, reading tutorials another. Sorry if the list was a bit extensive. It was not my intention to ovewhelm you. Maybe the unofficial patches would be something to start with. They are probably as basic as it gets.

 

The first thing would probably be to note that the game stores its data in the "Data" folder in your game folder. In "...\Oblivion\Data\". For example mine is (yes, typing this all from memory, I like to know and remember things):

• F:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Oblivion\Data\

The game will look in that directory for data to load. All mods should generally be installed in the Data folder.

 

What is a mod? A mod can be one of these, or any combination of them (these are the things I remember at least):

• ESM file (Elder Scrolls Masterfile probably) - not too common, the base (Oblivion.esm) is an ESM file. All ESM files are loaded first in the load order.
• ESP file (Elder Scrolls Plugin probably) - the most common ones, usually have an ESM as a master (and modifies records that come from that master ESM)
• NIF file (Netimmerse File Format file) - a 3D model the game uses
• KF file (an animation file, probably a keyframe animation file?)
• DDS file (texture files the game uses)
• MP3 or WAV (sound files, both NPC voices and music)
• LIP file (lipsync for NPC voices)
• XML file (used for describing menus to the game)
• INI file (either a normal ini like Oblivion.ini or then just a "batch file" with "set x.y to z" commands in it)

 

ESP and ESM files are the ones in your load order. They are the ones that add things to the gameworld and modify things in there. ESP and ESM files have a specific structure inside them for storing all the data, and third party tools like TES4Edit provide means to meaningfully represent and edit that data. The order in which ESM and ESP files are loaded by the game affects what ends up in the game. ESM files are always loaded first before any ESP files. ESM and ESP files seem to be loaded in the order of their file dates. Load order management tools seem change the file dates to change load order. If two ESP/ESM files change the same records (the records seem use some sort of hexadecimal ID system so multiple plugins can contain "copies" of the same record but with different attributes to it - like an NPC base record for the same NPC, but with different heights, different amount of health, different inventory items and the like), the last one loaded will win. An ESP or ESM file can have another ESP or ESM file (or many others) as its "master" files - as in, it requires them to be loaded before it, and usually modifies something in those "masters". When an ESP or ESM file cannot find one of its masters, the game will probably crash on launch.

 

The rest of the files (excluding INI files) are assets that are needed for things in the game. 3D models, textures, sound files, lipsync files, menu files, animation files and all that are what the game needs to be the game, to show the things to player.

 

An INI file can be either a normal one (like Oblivion.ini for reference) with key-value pairs, or a sort of batchfile with "set X.Y to Z" lines in it. The "set X.Y to Z" ones are for mods that read them. It is one way to get values from an external configuration file into the game. As for normal ini files, OBSE plugins usually have those, but they are a special case, I will cover it later.

 

And then there is the BSA archive (probably Bethesda Softworks Archive or something) - an archive format for storing loose assets. Meshes, textures, sounds, lipsync files, animations and XML files and such can be packed in a BSA archive. INI files probably cannot be packed in an INI file, since mods cannot read them as batchfiles if they are stored. The base game assets come packed in BSA archives, and mods can also have their assets packed in BSA archives. It is just an archive, for keeping all files in a nice and tidy package. There are tools to pack and extract BSA archives to gain access to the actual assets inside them. Imagining it as a ZIP or RAR archive helps understand it, just for illustrative purposes. The archive "root" is the Data folder, as in, the archive "is" the Data folder and the paths inside it are the ones from Data folder onwards to the actual file, starting with the one after Data folder (like "meshes\something\file.nif" when the complete path is "...Oblivion\Data\meshes\something\file.nif").

 

Assets can be both loose and in a BSA archive. In fact, there can be two or more versions of the same file in the game's Data directory: one as a loose file, and any number of others packed in BSA archives.

 

When installing mods with assets such as meshes, textures and the like, a thing called "Archive Invalidation" should be done. When that is done, the game should favour loose files over files packed in a BSA archive. Also, the looose files' dates apparently need to be newer than that of any BSA archives. The game loads BSA archives with their corresponding ESP/ESM files - the connection is that the BSA archive name needs to contain the name of the ESP/ESM file completely. For example "Oblivion.esm" has archives by the names "Oblivion - Meshes.bsa" and "Oblivion - Textures - Compressed.bsa" or such. If there is no corresponding ESP/ESM file, the BSA is not loaded. That is part of why most texture replacer mods come as loose files, in addition to overwriting any other versions of the same files that are packed in BSA archives.

 

Hopefully that explains something. As for OBSE: OBSE is a program for extending the scripting capabilities of the Oblivion engine. The Oblivion engine is written in a real programming language, obviously, but Oblivion features, inside it, a scripting language that can be used to create simple scripts that drive simple in-game things like quests. OBSE extends the capabitlities that the in-game scripting language offers to mod makers, and mod makers use OBSE because it makes scripting things for their mods more useful. OBSE itself somehow hooks into the game, so it needs to be loaded with it. If using a Steam version of Oblivion with a properly installed OBSE, then it should be loaded automatically when starting the game from Steam. If using a disc version, then the obse_loader.exe should be used to launch the game.

 

OBSE plugins are plugins written for OBSE using real programming languages like C++. They are placed in "...Data\OBSE\Plugins\" and are loaded by OBSE automatically if present. They come as a DLL file, and also other files, like INI files. Sometimes an OBSE plugin automatically generates an INI file if it is not present already the first time it is loaded. The INI files contain customisable options. With DLL files, however, you could probably keep in mind that they can a lot more power than "normal" mods. They probably do not do anything fishy, though, but it is something to keep in mind when using a DLL file from the Internet. :tongue:

 

I think that was it. Or not. Feel free to ask. Also, if someone spots anything odd in that, feel free to correct, it is getting late and I am typing this in a somewhat tired state out of memory. It could contain all sorts of mistakes. :blush:

 

I think there should be tutorials somewhere for Oblivion, too. Once you have the basic concepts of modding, there is not necessarily that much more to it if you just want to use mods. Apart from "which files go where", "which files should I install" and "which options to put in this mod's INI", there is only really load order and ESP/ESM files - to which there is quite a bit more.

 

I know your time is limited, but if you will somehow magically manage to find time, and lots of patience, the initial feeling of being overwhelmed can be overcome little by little. It took me quite some time to figure out how things work and I do not think I have it all cracked yet, either. It is not a one night thing to learn it all, but it does not need to be learned within a set timeframe, either. It is one of those things that can be done little by little whenever one finds the time.

 

Hopefully that helps. Sorry for potentially throwing all sorts of mod lists at you. My bad. :wallbash:

 

Edit: Added .kf to the list, those ones are animations. Probably keyframe animations judging by the name? Or maybe not?

Edited October 30, 2016 by Contrathetix

[Bongobasher]

 

Hopefully that helps. Sorry for potentially throwing all sorts of mod lists at you. My bad. :wallbash:

 

Edit: Added .kf to the list, those ones are animations. Probably keyframe animations judging by the name? Or maybe not?

You are by far and away the kindest person I have encountered on a forum. I don't want to seem ungrateful when I say this but this is definitely not for me. I have 0 passion for modding, it's just oblivion I have a passion for so I think I will just put up with the ancient graphics rather than spend what time I have doing something I cannot bear the thought of doing. Have a fantastic Halloween and hit me up on steam! cheers

[Surilindur]

All right. If you change your mind later, I am sure the forums will still be here. Also, I might not necessarily be the nicest person around, there are lots of other just as nice, or even nicer people here, from what I have noticed. At least they seem to be. Then again, I only really use the Nexus forums, I do not use other forums things because I have no need to. :tongue:

 

Happy Halloween!

 

Edit: Well, as happy as a Halloween can be, anyway.

Edited October 31, 2016 by Contrathetix