modding noob seeks guidance

[gavinator]

Let me start of by saying that I know full well that you guys probably answer these questions every day, and that I should probably just RTFM. However, if you just bear with me I'm just looking for some initial guidance, not answers.

 

Background: Started playing OB a few months ago, learned about modding and started to read up. My main game that I was playing was running about 8 mods. I was so happy to - on a couple of occasions - get pissed off at the game, come here and find a mod to fix exactly my issue. Notable mention here is My Bruma Fireplace, the creepy fighter's guild porter, and Menu Exit one. Other than that, I was just using some basic mods that I installed by copying over the Data folder, and then doing the archive thing in OMM.

 

So, there I am with my precious character, whom I've invested 130 or so hours into, at around level 16 or so. She's an herbalist/alchemist that makes a living gathering ingredients. I'm an old-fashioned role-player, so she has a backstory, and motivaton and such. not that any of that can really work in the vanilla game.

 

Anyway, so one day I'm out working the land, and I run into yet another $%!$% brown bear. So, do I fight it within an inch of my life, using up potions, only to meet another one just around the corner and do it all over again? The bottom fell out of the game for me, and I couldn't bring myself to play it anymore. It just wasn't fun for the role-playing I had in mind.

 

Then I started reading about OOO and Frans and such, and now I have hope again. This is where you can help me. I'm about to go down a road and spend lots of time reading, and I'm just hoping that someone can prevent me from reading something for 20 hours only to find it won't work, etc. Just a little noob guidance before I start on this.

 

This is specificly what I need help with: my funny hardware setup. I have a decent video card on a very mediocre, 3 year old machine. I have a zotac 9800GT that I just got, running on an Intel board (think mass production vanilla board) and a Pentium D (smithfield). 2 GB Ram, and a slightly tweaked winxp. Onboard sound

 

Now, the reason I'm posting right now is because on reading up about OOO, they say not to run it on crap gear. Am I headed down a dead-end road?

 

I'm trying to find out what I can get away with by having a decent card, but bottle-necked by an older CPU. probably not much, I'm guessing. I'm about to get into Streamline and Quiet Feet to help with my stuttering. I'm also doing all I can from the TweakGuides.com recommendations.

 

So, before I dive into all this reading, I'm hoping that someone who's been down this road before can lend some guidance. My end goal is to run OB with whatever visual increases I can get away with due to the decent graphics card, and some combination of overhauls that gets the game to how I want it. OOO, MMM and a char levelling mod/skill mod. not sure yet. I do know I don't want to keep running into brown bears every 50 yards.

 

I'm willing to compromise on a lot of visuals to make the game run smooth. I'm trying to be able to buy a 20 dollar sound card, I really don't want to give up the terror that comes with hearing footsteps before you get a visual. I love it, it's true fear and terror, esp how they get louder. Nice effect.

 

This is rambling and long, so I'll stop it here. Hopefully someone is willing to help point me in the right direction so I can started. After all, I do just want to get back to my game. Well, a new character anyway. I just want to play. Thanks for reading.

[bben46]

Quiet feet and a sound board will help. If you choose to use streamline, remember that the newest version is a beta that is not very stable and will probably never be completed as the maker has moved on. The older version is fairly stable though.

 

It's a trade off between game performance and visual enhancements.

 

If two bears can take you down at Level 16 now, then any of the overhaul mods will make it worse. They all have more and tougher random creatures.

 

To avoid the bears, and many other random creatures run, don't fight. load up on invisibility, calming and speed potions. If they keep following, run to the nearest city where the guards will fight them for you. Bears also do not climb very well, get up on a rock out of their reach and hit them with ranged spells. Or just outrun them.

 

Pick up a companion mod, let the companion fight while you run. The Neeshka companion and several others will help you gather ingredients too.

[gavinator]

thanks for your reply.

 

see, that's exactly what I meant: I wouldn't have known that about streamline, so thanks for that.

 

as far as the fighting goes, I can survive just about anything with the stock of 30 poisons, 30 health and 30 magicka potions I keep on me at all times. she's primarily supposed to be an academic, surveying the land and doing research for alchemy papers. she's high on magicka thanks to the high elf /atronach combo that I was used to in morrowind. she uses short blades, and is very fast; I like playing with the idea that the character would not take damage so lightly, and would try to avoid all hits. she would anyway.

 

anyway, so I have to land about 30 plus hits on this bear, and usually it's pretty fun, stabbing with poison and wailing magick at em. if he catches me with my back to a rock (yes, I love packpedalling and only recently noticed it's kindof unrealistic, lol) he will stagger me with the first attack, then drop me dead with the maul as I'm staggering. not very fun.

 

thing is, it's fun to be challenged that much, but not at every single encounter. it becomes boring, imo.

 

I have used the techniques you mentioned as of later in my game when I thought about them. I do like them, but I would rather not have to do them all the time.

 

It's just a question of balance. I would love to stumble on something that I have to instantly run from in terror. Or spot him far off, and creep around him getting my ingredients while being terrified. all of that is fun. I'm hoping with OOO I could have fun with the interplay of the various levels of power/scarcity of the ingredients with the creates that normally surround them.

 

I don't know, at this point. the visuals is not that important for me. I plan to get a new machine in 6-8 months, so I can do that then. for now I just want a game that's more fun and realistic. or oldschool as it says about OOO.

[justinas91]

try usin NPC Static Level mod it makes all vanilla oblivion npc at almost static level.

 

like guards are 20 lvl 25lvl permenantly the blades are 25lvl 30lvl permenantly bandits start from level 5 and folow your level until 17 lvl then they stop leveling creatures like bears range from 7lvl to 10 lvl and so on so that will make the game a little harder at the start but with each level up it will get a lot easy.

and i advise to use a leveling mod with the static level mod that reduces the leveling speed twice that you wont get stronger then other npc so fast.

 

 

also try Jarol_NPC_Equipment_Mod it makes the game character armed more relistic.

example you will mostly meet bandits or other enemys more armed with steel iron and silver weapons: fur leather chain and steel armor. Only some times you wil meet an enemy with glass deadric dwarven weapons and deadric ebony or other strong and rare armor and weapons...

 

and if you want that the weapons would be more realistic try MOBS_Medieval_Oblivion_Equipment_Balance_System

 

these mods do not conflict with each oteher nad does not reduce fps.

 

and also if do no not have download the UnofficialOblivionPatchv3.2.0 it fixes alot of bugs and may help in performance.

 

also advise Optimised_Landscape_LOD_MAX mod it will give you some performance in outdoors.

 

and if you want to make the game look better without performance drop use Better_grass_texture_without_tiling and Noise_Replacer.