General Mod Help

usprivateer · October 30, 2008

Below is a copy of my load order in the Wrye Bash format. I'm interested in peep's thoughts and comments. I'm using FCOMhelper for load order, but still have some odd problems. Any thoughts on order, updating, or mods you think I ought to be running are appreciated.

Game is fairly stable. I can play for several hours at a time sometimes without crash or prob. Other times for no apparent reason the game crashes TD, black screens, or I get a really strange graphics glitch. No amount of tweaking has solved it. However, usually, it's pretty solid. I also run across all sorts of dead NPCs in game. Don't know what the conflict is there. Quite a few dead Barbarian Shamans.

System Specs:

AMD Athlon 64 FX-60 Dual Core Processor 2.6 GHz

2GB RAM

nVidia GeForce Go 7900 GTX

Mod Load:

Active Mod Files:
00  Oblivion.esm
01  CM Partners.esm
02  Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esm  [Version 1.33]
03  Mart's Monster Mod.esm  [Version 3.5.5b4]
04  Mart's Monster Mod for OOO.esm  [Version 0.9.8b5]
05  Beautiful_Women_NiceOnly.esp
06  Beautiful_Women_DB_Addon.esp
07  HrmnsOblivionScriptOptimizationv1.0.esp
08  Unofficial Oblivion Patch.esp  [Version 3.2.0]
09  Natural_Weather_with_darker_Nights_by_Max_Tael.esp
0A  Natural_Habitat_by_Max_Tael.esp
0B  Natural_Water_by_Max_Tael.esp
0C  ANBPantherFigurine.esp
0D  ChaseCameraMod.esp
0E  Purge Cell Buffers - Loading.esp  [Version 1.0.0]
0F  Xia_Nhary_TwilightAssassin.HGEC1.1Normal.esp
10  Living Economy.esp
11  Living Economy - Items.esp
12  Cutthroat Merchants.esp
13  moDem's City Life - BP Compat.esp
14  FastShortcuts.esp
15  BlackLuster.esp
++  CSR - Fine Iron.esp
16  JG Elven.esp
17  tkRapiers.esp
++  VA_UniqueKatana1Replace.esp
18  ExnemEyeCandy.esp
++  MaleBodyReplacerV4.esp
19  StockClothingArmor-forExnems.esp
1A  ExnemEC_Warrior01.esp
1B  EC_BlackDeathWarrRetex.esp
1C  JB Catsuit Variants.esp  [Version 1.5.]
1D  JB Catsuit Weapons.esp  [Version 1.5.]
1E  Exnem Leather Iron Warrior.esp
1F  Zira My Horses Compilation.esp
20  Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esp  [Version 1.33]
21  OOO-Water_Weeds.esp  [Version 1.33]
22  OOO-No_Guild_Ownership.esp  [Version 1.33]
23  Mart's Monster Mod for OOO.esp  [Version 0.9.8b5]
++  Mart's Monster Mod - Safer Roads.esp  [Version 3.5.5b4]
24  Mart's Monster Mod - Extra Wounding.esp  [Version 3.5.5b4]
++  Mart's Monster Mod - Looting NPCs & Creatures.esp  [Version 3.5.5b4]
++  Mart's Monster Mod - Spawn Rates - Reduced Reduced.esp  [Version 3.5.5b4]
++  Mart's Monster Mod - No Undead Rise.esp  [Version 3.5.5b4]
25  Mart's Monster Mod - Zombies for Body Meshes.esp  [Version 3.5.5b4]
26  Mart's Monster Mod - Vindasel.esp  [Version 3.5.5b4]
27  Mart's Monster Mod - Foxes.esp  [Version 3.5.5b4]
28  Mart's Monster Mod - Gems & Gem Dust.esp  [Version 3.5.5b4]
29  Mart's Monster Mod - Hunting & Crafting.esp  [Version 3.5.5b3]
++  Mart's Monster Mod - Friendlier Factions OOO+FCOM.esp  [Version 3.5.5b4]
++  OOO-Armor.esp
2A  Nightshade_Armor.esp
2B  GP_Safe Water.esp
2C  Apachii_Goddess_Store.esp
2D  GP_Moretta.esp
2E  PrincessImperialCityApartment.esp
2F  StopDarkBrotherhood.esp
30  VaultsofCyrodiil.esp
31  za_bankmod.esp
32  Mart's Monster Mod - City Defences.esp  [Version 3.5.5b4]
33  Natural_Vegetation_by_Max_Tael.esp
34  Harvest [Flora].esp  [Version 3.0.0]
35  CallSteed3.0a.esp  [Version 3.0]
36  RealHungerv1.4.esp
37  RealSleep.esp
38  Kobu's Character Advancement System.esp
39  MidasSpells.esp
3A  Midas OscuroGems.esp
3B  SeductiveIdles.esp
3C  77_Umpa_Animation.esp
3D  CM Partners.esp
3E  CM Partners NPC NE.esp
3F  CM Partners More NPCs NE.esp
40  CM Partners Marker NPCs.esp
41  Saerileth.esp
42  Viconia.esp
43  GG_Valeria_Revived.esp
44  Beautiful People.esp
45  Elven_Gardens_Apartment.esp
46  tona_simple_dress-armor_ver3.esp
47  Frostleaf Leather Armor.esp
48  RhiannaII.esp
49  Journeyman_armor.esp
4A  Bashed Patch, 0.esp

dezdimona · October 30, 2008

Here are the guidelines that I adhere to, personally.

~ Unofficial Oblivon Patch should always be first on the list. The fixes are great, but most aren't essential, so if a mod overwrites them its not a big deal, and the fixes have the potential for screwing up other mods if loaded later.

~ Offical Content (DLC's) should be loaded last, until you complete all quests associated with them (that includes buying all furniture for the houses and whatnot). Once they're complete, they can be safely moved up in the list. This is especially important for Knights of the Nine, which will have some fairly major problems unless loaded last (unless you get the UOP for KotN)

~ Major overhaul mods (OOO, Frans, MMM) should be loaded near the end. That gives you the most complete experience with any of those particular mods. It also lets you carefully choose which other mods to load afterwards... only move mods that you know will conflict and that you want the changes from. For example, I have Improved Soul Gems below OOO because I know that OOO changes the icons of some of the SG's, and ISG needs to be below to show through.

Some people will recommend putting larger mods first, but personally I disagree. There are a number of mods out there that make minor tweaks, and loading after a large mod will end up completely overwriting a chunk from one of the bigger mods because of the way conflicts work in Oblivion (even one minor change will take precedence over the entire record... for example, simply tweaking the speed of a weapon can cause every stat of that weapon to be retained to vanilla levels if loaded later).

So basically, it stacks up like this...

Oblivion.esm

Unofficial Oblivion Patch

<DLC's (Pre-Completion)>

Expanded Load-Order Guidelines

by dev_akm

I would extend this to include:

Oblivion.esm

Unofficial Oblivion Patch

<DLC's (Pre-Completion)>

And a special-case warning for Knights.esp (Knights of the Nine) -- you may not be able to move it earlier than some other mods (some people have had problems after moving it before OOO, for example).

That's basically the structure I use and I have 140+ mods working well together.

Another way of describing this (posted by DMan77):

....

Oblivion

unoffical patch

Deeper realism mods that add sights and sounds

added content like weapons/items

gameplay changes, like 'must eat and sleep'

The OOO type

the 'new begining' type mod..

Shadowcran · October 30, 2008

To enhance performance I designed this guide:

Enhancing your Oblivion Performance.

What this attempts to do:

1- Limit CTD's(crashes to desktop) as much as possible.

2- Limit corrupted Saves as much as possible.

3- Limit in game freezes as much as possible.

4- Limit the "black screen" as much as possible.

You are an Oblivion player seeking to make a great game even greater through mods. However, problems in Vanilla Oblivion will follow into the mods if not addressed. CTD's, corrupted saves, game freezes, These and more are almost standard in any PC game and are completely unpreventable from ever happening. This means they will happen no matter what. The goal of this information contained herein is to cut down on them as much as possible and keep Oblivion a great playing experience, if not a perfect one.

The following additions take into account low end machines as well. The advice I'm going to give is designed to help ALL the different computers and their Oblivion playing.

Step 1: DL and Install The Latest Oblivion patches. If you are playing with Shivering Isles(SI) then download the patches for this as well.You get these OFFICIAL patches off of the Bethesda site.

Step 2: DL and Install the Latest Unofficial patches. If you use Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine, get the unofficial patches for these as well.

Unofficial Oblivion Patch v3.2

http://www.strategyinformer.com/pc/theelde.../mod/27022.html

Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10739

Unofficial Knights of The Nine Patch

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=12146

Step 3: For load order, Dl and install FCOM helper with the LATEST database for it. This is a small mod that fixes your load order in mere seconds.

FCOM Helper. Download the 1st and 4th file on the link.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/download.php?id=31497

Step 4: DL and install Wrye Bash. Seriously, I can't stress using this utility enough. Learn to use it slowly if it seems too complex. Before long, you'll master the use of it and realize all it's benefits.Wrye Bash contains some utilities to "clean up" your saves. It contains ways to look at your mods in detail. It has a NVIDIA fog fix that you can use on all your mods and thus prevent that. It has a ton of useful utilities.

Wrye Bash requires the DL of 3 small mods. Don't forget to get Python and wxPython so that Wrye bash will work.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/User:Wrye

http://www.python.org/download/releases/2.5/

http://sourceforge.net/project/downloading...se_mirror=voxel

Step 5: Dl and install the latest OBSE(Oblivion Script Extender)

http://obse.silverlock.org

Step 6: DL and install the latest OBMM(Oblivion Mod Manager) when you first start playing with mods, you may mistakenly think that only this is needed to add mods. I cannot stress getting out of dependance of this mod as soon as you can and get used to Wrye Bash. Wrye Bash does a ton of things that help out in fixing later on that OBMM doesn't. Plus Obmm reads conflicts where there are none.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2097

Step 7: DL and install Streamline 3.0. Do not get the 3.1 version as it has too many problems that will NOT be addressed or fixed in the future. Streamline also has an alternative to Quick and auto saves. Quick and auto eventually lead into CORRUPTED SAVES, so I stress not using them and instead use manual or streamlined saves instead.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10400

Step 8: Learn to make BSA files for the textures, sounds, and mesh folders that come with most mods. I've been doing this for the past few weeks and not only do I have almost no "missing textures or meshes" I also seem to have better performance. It's actually simpler than it looks. The Oblivion Mod Manager has utilities that do this better than the BSA commander.

Step 9: The following mods will help performance by usually getting rid of a component you truly don't need in the game or one that is a resource hog like the high polyed grass that Vanilla Oblivion contains.

Low Poly Trees:

http://oblivionmodgods.de/rpg-blackdragons...trees-t245.html

Low Poly Grass:

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=12280

No lights flicker:

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=6150

No Wind:

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2578

Quiet Feet:

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=13016

Oblivion Poly Overhaul:

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=6981

Optimized Illumination:

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=6331

Operation Optimization:

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=6331

Hrmns Oblivion Script Optimization:

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=13092

Duke Patricks Script Effect Silencer:

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=15677

OAF (Oblivion Animation Fixer)

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5127

Step 10: Avoid the major texture mods if you have a low end machine. You may have "the best looking Oblivion ever" but that's small comfort if you can only see it for 5 seconds before it crashes.

There is a few mods that are all great mods, but you should never have both of them running at the same time due to occupying the same or too near the world space. I recommend getting both mods I list of these, but of course not running them together.

Save one for another game.

Cybiades and Abacean Pirates. Cybiades is an awesome quest mod, Pirates a good faction mod. However, the boat to Cybiades is too close to the Pirates base of operations.

Haunted House(The dungeon mod, not the quest one) and Tumbderdon. These mods are almost right on top of each other. Use only one at a time.

Mithril Island and The Dragon Citadel. Believe it or not, you can actually run these 2 at the same time, but it'll look and act goofy. They occupy basically the same world space but since the Citadel is accessible by magic ring, this is negated. The citadel will appear OVER the mithril Island mod. You'll notice odd occurances because of this like fish spawning on land, but except for a few minor things, they both work....wierd, I know.

If you know of any more PERFORMANCE enhancing mods, please feel free to list them. I can't have possibly covered them all. Your help will be appreciated by me and probably by anyone who reads this and wants to boost their game.

Oblivion

General Mod Help

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