Installing GOG GOTY Oblivion with existing non-GOTY Oblivon

[TheMastersSon]

We looked for a FAQ and prior forum posts on these questions with no luck.

 

Recently we stumbled on and downloaded GOG's version of GOTY Oblivion, because our existing retail install (which we've owned and been playing for 10+ years) doesn't include a few minor DLC titles included with GOG's version. And because this version is apparently pre-patched for larger memory use. This is our first experience with GOG so apologies in advance if we should know this:

 

Can the original retail version of Oblivion and GOG's GOTY Oblivion be installed and run side by side, or is it one or the other? Our first priority is to avoid changing or corrupting our existing retail Oblivion install from 2006. Is GOG's installer smart enough to find and not mess with existing installs? By mess with I mean change or overwrite existing user files in \My Games\Oblivion, data files (\Oblivion\Data), default folder paths for data, plugins etc? Will it create its own separate set of user files or overwrite our existing ones?

 

Thanks in advance for any info or pointers on where to find it.

 

EDIT: Our GOG pricing and download questions were answered elsewhere so I deleted them from this post.

Edited April 12, 2018 by TheMastersSon

[originaljgf]

Oblivion creates two separate folders in My Documents along with the install folder, these must be swapped also. There is a nice util - Multiple Oblivion Manager (MOM) - which makes having numerous copies quite easy, even if they are totally different versions. Once set up you switch between any copy with just a couple of mouse clicks, there is no further file copying, just folder renaming so the change is almost instant.

 

Simply, install one copy of Oblivion, add no mods, set all options and exit. Run MOM, it will prompt you for a name for that install (it can be anything you like), it will then rename all three folders to that name, then have MOM copy that install, it will prompt for another name then copy the first install using the new folder names. Exit. You now have two identical copies ofOblivion which you can switch between using MOM. Install your other version of Oblivion, set it up and exit, delete the contents of the three folders from that second MOM copy and copy the contents of the other version into those folders; you can now delete that last install and have two completely different versions you can switch between.

 

Using MOM you can have as many installs as you have space for, each is entirely separate, can have different mods, etc. MOM displays a list of installations using the names you selected, with the active one at the top, select any other in the list and press the "swap" button and it becomes active. You can make a copy of any install by making it active and selecting "copy" (easy way to backup for trying a new mod with a particular game).

[TheMastersSon]

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately MOM's .NET requirement is a dealbreaker for us. In absence of third-party utils, do you know what happens when GOG's GOTY version is installed on top of an existing retail version of Oblivion?

[originaljgf]

In that case, if you want to have both versions of the game installed, rename all three of your current folders (oblivion_ori or whatever), then install the gog version, it will create its own three oblivion folders. You can then switch between the two by simply renaming the three folders (that's all MOM does once set up).

 

If you can work with .bat files there is an old utility that does the same renaming via .bat files, you set up the folders then edit the .bat files to work with those names/paths.

 

I would not try installing any version of Oblivion over another, there is too much chance of ending up with a mixture of files that is just asking for trouble (even the official DLC is version specific).

[TheMastersSon]

Thanks again. It's pretty much the answer I was expecting. We'd install the GOG version on a separate drive, so theoretically it shouldn't touch our original install. Our main concern is that later incarnations of Oblivion (Steam, GOG etc) appear to create and use config files in folders where the retail version of Oblivion does not. Even by installing on a separate drive, I don't want to find our config/data/plugins/etc folders have been redirected somewhere other than where the original installation of the game expects to find them.

[eric31415]

Easiest way to manage multiple installs is mTES4 Manager https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/35263

 

It will allow you to switch between multiple installs with a single click, and keeps all associated files separate.

Edited April 27, 2018 by eric31415

[originaljgf]

...We'd install the GOG version on a separate drive, so theoretically it shouldn't touch our original install. ...

 

But it would, unless you rename all three folders before installing the second copy, because no matter where the game is installed it creates the two folders in "My Documents" for .cfg files, savegames, etc. (blame the Micro$oft morons for this "all your eggs in one basket" aproach).

[TheMastersSon]

Thanks. I meant Oblivion's program folders (\oblivion and \oblivion\data), and this thread answered our question about user config folders. We plan to use a separate Windows account/login when installing the GOTY version, so the new install should have its own set of user config folders/files.