Why aren't there pre-packaged, ready-made modpacks for Oblivion like there are for Stalker?

[LordPariah]

I was just thinking about installing Oblivion and modding it to somewhere closer to contemporary standards, thinking there was something like Morrowind Graphics Overhaul - a program that lets you automatically get things up and running. Or something like Anomaly for Stalker, which comes pre-packaged and offers a tailored experience.

As much as I'm nostalgic for the days of OBMM and manually dragging files, I can't say that my nostalgia completely blinds me to the convenience that things like Vortex offers. Even the most popular guides don't really bother with just packaging all of it themselves and allowing us to unpack it or otherwise having a program do it.

 

Is Oblivion just a strange middle child?

Just imagine a "quick start" mod pack that upgraded the graphics and added QoL stuff like zoomed out dialogue, DarnUI and Blockhead / Unofficial patch, that primed you for adding gameplay mods yourself!

 

Maybe this does exist somewhere? Perhaps I'm missing it?

[M48A5]

Mod packs are not allowed under the Terms and Policies of the site.

All uploaded files must be original content or have the permission of the original author/s.

 

If you are aware of any uploaded files that do not adhere to the Terms and Policies of the site, you should report them to the staff.

[Striker879]

If you read through the Bevilex mod comments you'll see that even when installed correctly not everyone is able to run the same mods as others can run without issues.

 

I suppose if we all ran exactly the same hardware (so every single component exactly the same one every single machine ... without even a single exception) what you are asking for could be possible from the standpoint of everyone running exactly the same load list. But then you ask for that "one more thing" that would blow the whole thing up ... "that primed you for adding gameplay mods yourself".

 

Never going to work.

 

First, that utopian world of identical people will never exist ... at least not until we master the ability to genetically engineer every person on the planet to be identical at the genetic scale (good luck in implementing that ... would probably make a good movie/documentary chronicling the attempt).

 

My own personal theory is that the base Oblivion game runs closer to the "edge" than most games. I think a lot of that isn't because it tries to do so much more as opposed to it is so poorly optimised and has so many bugs at it's core. It doesn't take any significant advantage of modern hardware, in fact in my opinion I believe modern hardware hobbles the game by expecting it to do things it has no ability to do.

 

Second, most of the top mods for Oblivion are close to a decade old. They don't adhere to any modern "standards" for installation or the way their downloads are structured. They embody "what you see is what you get".

 

A large number of those "must have" mods are also what many would call "abandoned" ... their mod authors have not been active for years. Even if you could come up with a tool to figure out how to succeed in installing the many and various install methods used over the years by mod authors you are still stuck with the permissions problem. How do you contact someone who has been out of contact for years (possibly dead) to get their permission to use their mod.

 

Bottom line, in my opinion, is that even when/if Nexus implements mod packs or some form of automated installation it will have a rather low success rate in Oblivion.

[beldaran1224]

Not to mention any issue with mod packs, even in other games. When a mod is still being actively supported (which some Oblivion mods are, strange as it may seem), mod packs will always be out of date. This is even more true with more recent games than Oblivion, but even with Oblivion, you'll run into problems.

[LordPalpatine2020]

I could list the mods I play, which I consider like a mod pack, but then again 2 different PCs/players could have 2 very different results with the same number of mods!!!! So I'd rather not!!!! In other words, it's best to come up with your own unique pack of Oblivion mods to play like I and most others did!!!

Edited April 8, 2020 by LordPalpatine2020

[LordPariah]

Interesting. It seems like demand for this concept was found in more people than myself.

Looking forward to Mod Packs for Oblivion.

[KatsAwful]

Mod packs for Bethesda games are a compatibility nightmare. There's a reason why no one recommends them. Even mod installers like Wabbajack are temperamental, and can still lead to chaos if end users want mods on top of it