Do deactivated mods interfere with performance/gameplay?

[OnyxNightBlack]

Hello,

 

I am quite new to Oblivion modding in general, but I spent some long hours this past week on this website. All in all I downloaded, installed, activated, tested and deactivated around a 100 mods already (searching for interesting mods seems to be almost as much fun as playing the game itself).

 

Here is my little problems:

 

As I said I had dozens of mods activated, tested and then discarded again, but I never actually uninstalled them, only deactivated them with OBMM. Right now there are not many of them running at all, just a few companions, UI improvements and "essentials". The problem is, that my loading times are horrible and I get frequent stuttering, even crashes to desktop sometimes.

 

So my question is: Is it importent for performance/stability to hunt down every single mod's files and delete them or is it enough to simply deactivate them with OBMM?

 

My system:

 

1 GB RAM

MSI Geforce 9600 1GB

Dual Core Pentium

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

P.S.: I am not a native speaker, so please be lenient on my language skills. :biggrin:

P.P.S.: Quick off-topic question so I don't have to create a different thread for this: What are the best mods to improve the quality of NPC/Companion textures? I already use natural faces and another texture replacement pack and play on the highest settings, but they still don't look like the screenshots.

[DarkWarrior45]

Hello,

 

I am quite new to Oblivion modding in general, but I spent some long hours this past week on this website. All in all I downloaded, installed, activated, tested and deactivated around a 100 mods already (searching for interesting mods seems to be almost as much fun as playing the game itself).

 

Here is my little problems:

 

As I said I had dozens of mods activated, tested and then discarded again, but I never actually uninstalled them, only deactivated them with OBMM. Right now there are not many of them running at all, just a few companions, UI improvements and "essentials". The problem is, that my loading times are horrible and I get frequent stuttering, even crashes to desktop sometimes.

 

So my question is: Is it importent for performance/stability to hunt down every single mod's files and delete them or is it enough to simply deactivate them with OBMM?

 

My system:

 

1 GB RAM

MSI Geforce 9600 1GB

Dual Core Pentium

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

P.S.: I am not a native speaker, so please be lenient on my language skills. :biggrin:

P.P.S.: Quick off-topic question so I don't have to create a different thread for this: What are the best mods to improve the quality of NPC/Companion textures? I already use natural faces and another texture replacement pack and play on the highest settings, but they still don't look like the screenshots.

 

 

Deactivated mods are not loaded, and are skipped by the game engine when you load them.

 

Plus, the only downside to mods with any game, not just Oblivion, is that you sacrifice stability and sometimes loading times for the content. It's just the nature of mixing mods togethor from several different sources. Take Windows for example. By itself it's fairly fast (XP that is), and fairly stable. Now add a anti-virus. Your speed goes down because the anti-virus is running in the background. Now add an internet browser, and an email program. Now add all 500 somewhat mp3's and all those games you play. Then delete a couple of files and unistall a couple of programs. What happen? You get a fragmented hardrive, sometimes lower stability, and a cluttered registery.

 

It's the same situation with mods for a particuliar game. That's why we have mod managers such as OBMM. I'm not discouraging mods in any way, as I'm all for them, I'm just telling you the flipside.

 

In OBlivion's case, it's sufficient to just deactivate them in OBMM, unless it's a texture replacer such as Qarl's texture pack III.

 

PSS: Screenshots are sometimes photoshoped. And plus if the user is using Oblivion Graphics Extender, then they can do what I call ingame photoshopping. I have one mod loaded now that allows me to edit the saturation, contrast, and brightness all within the game using Oblivion Graphics Extender. Unfortunetly I forgot where I got it from.

 

EDIT: Do you have OBSE? OBSE injects functions into the game engine when you start Oblivion up, thus increasing that initial load time. Qarl's texutre pack III can also cause slow loading times, along with any mod that adds a lot of crap into a cell such as Better Cities.

 

On the flipside, there are mods that are designed to increase performance, such as Operation Optimization and Streamline.

 

EDIT2: Found that mod I was telling you about; the one that uses OBGE.

[OnyxNightBlack]

Thank you for your quick and detailed reply, DarkWarrior45.

 

Concerning my loading time/performance problems, I managed to solve that. One of the mods I still had activated added dozens of NPCs to each major city, combine that with the rather big custom textures I use and the game was stuttering along. I noticed it while exploring outside towns and that my performance is very good while dungeon-crawling. :wallbash:

 

I am using Operation Optimization already, but I will be sure to download Streamline aswell if it helps that much.

 

Thanks again.

[DarkWarrior45]

Thank you for your quick and detailed reply, DarkWarrior45.

 

Concerning my loading time/performance problems, I managed to solve that. One of the mods I still had activated added dozens of NPCs to each major city, combine that with the rather big custom textures I use and the game was stuttering along. I noticed it while exploring outside towns and that my performance is very good while dungeon-crawling. :wallbash:

 

I am using Operation Optimization already, but I will be sure to download Streamline aswell if it helps that much.

 

Thanks again.

 

My pleasure to be of help.

 

Streamline should give you more of a performance boost.

[OnyxNightBlack]

Just downloaded and tried Streamline. I have to say: "Wow!" I thought my performance was great before installing this, but now it just rocks.

 

Kudos! :biggrin: