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TESIV: Oblivion - So you want to start using mods, eh?

Murkas said:
Turning off Better Cities has solved both problems, gonna have to play without it :(

Oh well.
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"Missing mesh" means those meshes can't be found where they're supposed to be. They could've been installed to the wrong folder, or there's a conflict somewhere. Check the compatibility list for Better Cities in this threadif you really want to use it. You can also ask and post your pictures there and you will get help from the mod makers or other modders. It's quite an advanced mod though, with lots of things that can go wrong, so you might want to skip it for now.
 
Ledsen said:
"Missing mesh" means those meshes can't be found where they're supposed to be. They could've been installed to the wrong folder, or there's a conflict somewhere. Check the compatibility list for Better Cities in this threadif you really want to use it. You can also ask and post your pictures there and you will get help from the mod makers or other modders. It's quite an advanced mod though, with lots of things that can go wrong, so you might want to skip it for now.
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Yeah I'm having alot of fun without it so I have no problem with leaving it switched off. Thanks.

Although I could do with a mod that replaces the Human/Elf faces to something thats easier on the eyes to look at, I checked the top 100 mods on TESnexus for mods but it's usually involves adding in pretty races, I would rather replace the ugly human faces I got.

Oblivion XP, Deadly Reflex and OOO makes the game so much harder, all my money making exploits have been fixed!

Having a blast though.
 
I'd like to echo the previous poster as well. Fantastic stuff from the OP and other helpful contributors in the thread. Following the instructions, I installed most of the mods in the first post with no trouble at all- I left the eye candy bodies one out as I'm not bothered about it. Now I'm thoroughly enjoying the game. It not only looks much better, but is also much more interesting to play thanks to the OOO and XP mods. I even enjoyed getting torn to shreds by an unexpected spectral wolf in Vilverin. Compared to my first playthrough when I got the game a few years back, and ended up bored after a dozen hours or so, this is a revelation for me, and I've even put down Divinity 2 to get back into Oblivion.

One small tip to those using weaker graphics cards (I have an 8800GT myself) and having fps problems- using the stutter remover mod really helped for me.
 
Thanks a lot guys! I'm glad people are using this guide, after all, that's why I made it :)

Sportbilly said:
I'd like to echo the previous poster as well. Fantastic stuff from the OP and other helpful contributors in the thread. Following the instructions, I installed most of the mods in the first post with no trouble at all- I left the eye candy bodies one out as I'm not bothered about it. Now I'm thoroughly enjoying the game. It not only looks much better, but is also much more interesting to play thanks to the OOO and XP mods. I even enjoyed getting torn to shreds by an unexpected spectral wolf in Vilverin. Compared to my first playthrough when I got the game a few years back, and ended up bored after a dozen hours or so, this is a revelation for me, and I've even put down Divinity 2 to get back into Oblivion.

One small tip to those using weaker graphics cards (I have an 8800GT myself) and having fps problems- using the stutter remover mod really helped for me.
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Great to hear that you're enjoying it. Just make sure you're using Oblivion XP Update and not simply Oblivion XP, since the latter isn't being updated. I edited this into the OP.
 
I just started modding oblivion again and wanted to bring this mod to everyone's attention. It increases the size of most trees and shrubs and gives them high res textures.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=23783

If you haven't modified your timescale just choose the timescale 30 option and then pick the 50% bigger option. Makes it feel like Tamriel is a living giant forest instead of a barren countryside. Really simple but amazing change. If you want to go further get the unique landscapes compilation too.

Also get the patch to fix faraway tree textures: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=36411
 
The enhanced vegetation does cause some minor clipping when there are plants in houses, because it also increases the size of those. So sometimes you'll see plants sticking into pathways or through walls.

There's also one dungeon (could have been from another mod actually) I remember having a problem with because the increased size of vegetation blocked off a door.

Other than those minor problems, that mod is amazing.


There's also one that does the same thing, except for water. It adds sunken treasure, and ships and lots of fish, plus new vegetation and a far better looking underwater filter.
 
I finally ordered Shivering Isles today so this is a good excuse to replay Oblivion from scratch with all the mods suggested here as well. Can't wait! I already had an old version OOO/fcom and some other gameplay mods before, and loved them. Can't wait to see what the unique landscape mod is like.
 
So what mods should I download that improve the way the game looks but doesn't effect performance too much? I'm rocking a laptop with a core i7 processor, HD Radeon 5650 1gb and 4gb of ram and the game still seems to chug.
 
ACE 1991 said:
So what mods should I download that improve the way the game looks but doesn't effect performance too much? I'm rocking a laptop with a core i7 processor, HD Radeon 5650 1gb and 4gb of ram and the game still seems to chug.
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I'm on the same graphics card but a worse processor, and I'm running all the mods in the OP except MGE which is a huge graphics hog. Works fine, but yeah, it does go down to 27-30 in the most graphic intensive cities.
 
Ledsen said:
I'm on the same graphics card but a worse processor, and I'm running all the mods in the OP except MGE which is a huge graphics hog. Works fine, but yeah, it does go down to 27-30 in the most graphic intensive cities.
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Good to know, thanks.


God damn though installing these mods seems pretty complicated.
 
ACE 1991 said:
Good to know, thanks.


God damn though installing these mods seems pretty complicated.
Click to expand...

Some of the stuff in the OP is to help make uninstallation easier. All in all it's not too complicated if you stay clear of the more advanced mods.
 
Ledsen said:
Some of the stuff in the OP is to help make uninstallation easier. All in all it's not too complicated if you stay clear of the more advanced mods.
Click to expand...

I think those are the mods I'm interested in... I'm having a rough time installing this, even after reading guides. I'm basically interested in installing Unique Landscapes, OOO 1.33, and OMODS. If you could shed any light on how to do this I would be most appreciative!
 
I only started modding Oblivion a month or so ago after getting my new PC and it took me a fair while to get the hang of OMODs/install order etc. After I got all the mods I wanted(including OSR and Streamline) my system would crash every 5-10 minutes, or in certain places it would just instantly crash which was pretty frustrating especially having an i7 2600k, HD6970 and 8 gig RAM(running Windows 7 x64) which I thought should easily be able to handle Oblivion heavily modded.

Then I came across a thread on the Steam forums about the 4GB patch for Oblivion, which I couldn't get to work for some reason(maybe Steam related?). This post however explained a way to enable Oblivion.exe to use >2GB memory using a free program called CFF Explorer. So I tried it and on my current save i've played for 24 hours and i've had only one CTD, so it was a massive help for me and hopefully it can help other people.

Thanks for this thread and the contributors, it was very helpful in setting up modded Oblivion and the difference is amazing. It looks and plays like a new game now :)
Also, first post hi everyone!
 
ACE 1991 said:
So I got the mods I want running, but now I'm getting "WTF? Missing Mesh!" errors and disembodied NPCs errors.
Click to expand...

Do you mind posting exactly which mods you're using and how you installed them?

Grassy said:
I only started modding Oblivion a month or so ago after getting my new PC and it took me a fair while to get the hang of OMODs/install order etc. After I got all the mods I wanted(including OSR and Streamline) my system would crash every 5-10 minutes, or in certain places it would just instantly crash which was pretty frustrating especially having an i7 2600k, HD6970 and 8 gig RAM(running Windows 7 x64) which I thought should easily be able to handle Oblivion heavily modded.

Then I came across a thread on the Steam forums about the 4GB patch for Oblivion, which I couldn't get to work for some reason(maybe Steam related?). This post however explained a way to enable Oblivion.exe to use >2GB memory using a free program called CFF Explorer. So I tried it and on my current save i've played for 24 hours and i've had only one CTD, so it was a massive help for me and hopefully it can help other people.

Thanks for this thread and the contributors, it was very helpful in setting up modded Oblivion and the difference is amazing. It looks and plays like a new game now :)
Also, first post hi everyone!
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Glad it's working out for you, thanks for the tip, and you're welcome!
 
I suppose a bump is relevant now since it's $7 on Steam. Is the OP fairly accurate on the top mods or have they been dethroned by others?
 
Forkball said:
I suppose a bump is relevant now since it's $7 on Steam. Is the OP fairly accurate on the top mods or have they been dethroned by others?
Click to expand...

Still accurate. I could add a few though and I probably will!
 
okay so I updated the guide and GODDAMN I feel awesome. I'd consider the guide pretty much feature complete at this point.

---Update July 1 2011: Hello Steam Summer sale buyers :) Added links to all mods in the mod list and added Mythic Animals and Mythic Creatures to the list. CREATED A BASHED PATCH GUIDE! Yes, this is awesome. I finally had the willpower to do it :P
 
Already have Oblivion on my 360 with none of the expansion packs. Thinking of going ahead and getting the Deluxe edition. Should I?
 
Jobacca said:
Already have Oblivion on my 360 with none of the expansion packs. Thinking of going ahead and getting the Deluxe edition. Should I?
Click to expand...

I did. Even unmodded it looks and plays tons better than the 360 version. I'm gonna start modding it tonight tho :P
 
Just got Oblivion for PC. Previously played it for 360 at launch. I'm downloading the obvious Mods now (high res textures, patches, etc.) but I'm hesitating with OOO. I mean, I'm sure base Oblivion can be improved significantly, but I didn't have a problem with it, either.

So I'm not sure if I should just roll Vanilla with enhancements like high-res textures and unique landscapes, or if I should go ahead and give OOO a whirl...
 
I'm installing several mods through OBMM but it's not adding anything to the left window and when I run BOSS the number of plugins do not change (currently 16) no matter how many mods I install. is that normal?

Edit: Hmm. The game won't load if I have the bashed patch activated, even if no mod is installed. Would appreciate if someone can help me on this.
 
Can anyone here recommend an add on that makes it easier to compare armor with what you're currently wearing, without having to flip back and forth between the shop/loot and your inventory? (Or a hotkey I'm unaware of, like holding down Shift in WoW)

Thank you so much for this guide, Ledsen! After reading your guide I had mods running in no time.
 
GDJustin said:
Just got Oblivion for PC. Previously played it for 360 at launch. I'm downloading the obvious Mods now (high res textures, patches, etc.) but I'm hesitating with OOO. I mean, I'm sure base Oblivion can be improved significantly, but I didn't have a problem with it, either.

So I'm not sure if I should just roll Vanilla with enhancements like high-res textures and unique landscapes, or if I should go ahead and give OOO a whirl...
Click to expand...

If you've already played vanilla, definitely give OOO a go. It's a huge improvement imo and adds an insane amount of content.

Ashour said:
I'm installing several mods through OBMM but it's not adding anything to the left window and when I run BOSS the number of plugins do not change (currently 16) no matter how many mods I install. is that normal?

Edit: Hmm. The game won't load if I have the bashed patch activated, even if no mod is installed. Would appreciate if someone can help me on this.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you've done something fundamentally wrong here. Could you be a little more specific? Did you download ready-made omods that you put in the OBMM omod directory, and then double click them in the program? How did you create your bashed patch?

sykoex said:
Can anyone here recommend an add on that makes it easier to compare armor with what you're currently wearing, without having to flip back and forth between the shop/loot and your inventory? (Or a hotkey I'm unaware of, like holding down Shift in WoW)

Thank you so much for this guide, Ledsen! After reading your guide I had mods running in no time.
Click to expand...

Awesome, that's what the guide is here for :) Sadly I don't have any advice for you about the armor thing.
 
zazrx said:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=25175732&postcount=182
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=30054

I'm following the guide and I'm trying to find the shaders package but I can't find it anywhere.
Click to expand...

The readme for OBGEv3 seems to have some mistakes. It references a OBGEv3.dll when it's actually named v2 (for backwards compatibility purposes, I think?), and installing it using Wrye Bash doesn't seem to actually install the plugin. So what you actually have to do, I think, is this:

1. Install OBSE
2. Download both OBGE Core and OBGE Standalone Effects (found under Optional files)
3. Put them into the Oblivion Mods\Bash Installers\ folder
4. In Wrye Bash Installers, install OBGE Core
5. Select OBGE Standalone Effects, select both the Sub-Packages, then and install
6. Manually extract the OBSE folder from the OBGE Core archive to oblivion\Data\

That should work - run Oblivion, start new game, let it autosave and then exit and look at the OBSE log file and you should see it loading the OBGE plugin.
 
Alright I installed the patches up until supplementals which was different than the previous ones. I made an omod of it and installed it. Now Oblivion won't start at all. ;s

I guess it was because the patch thing was doing things for dlc I don't have. I unchecked everything except SI and Knights and now it runs. This is what my OBMM looks like.

vJNOD.jpg
 
I think Super Mario Galaxy was somewhat inspired by Namco's Klonoa games, where you have this character that blasts and flies from location to location.

And of course Galaxy is the better game.
 
Ledsen said:
If you've already played vanilla, definitely give OOO a go. It's a huge improvement imo and adds an insane amount of content.
Click to expand...

I did end up giving OOO a whirl. Spent about ~3 hours with it so far, so I've only gotten to see a handful of the remixed dungeons.

So far, I'm on the fence about the entire mode. It partially just feels like "Oblivion - Hard Mode." It feels like it just gave enemies more HP (or higher resistances), and made the player take more damage. I did the early quest where you follow around and confront the grave robber, and it fucked me up several times before I was able to clear it. I had to run around in a circle spamming heal just to make it through. "Balance" like that is off-putting. I'm all for a non auto-leveling game. But that SHOULDN'T mean everything needs to be tough. Some easier stuff, especially at the beginning, would have been welcome.

But that being said, it did feel super-cool to clear out a goblin dungeon I ran into on my way to the Abbey, and to get a bunch of uber-loot I felt like I shouldn't be getting (life-detecting ring, & badass charged staff).

It also felt super-cool (albeit a bit random) when I wandered into a cave and got completely owned (one-shotted) by some crazy demon thing.

Leveling is also suuuuper slow (I'm still level one despite lots and los of combat. Although I think I read there is a way to revert it back to the normal leveling speed? (how?)

Anyway, to sum up - all the custom dungeons and custom-leveled content is fantastic, and puts Bethesda to shame (it's what they SHOULD have done with their game). But some of the other "balance" feels overly hardcore.

I'm sticking with it, for now.
 
So after grabbing this from daily deal ( i had 360 version originally) and looking at the mods... totally creeped out by all the nude mods and weird fantasy moe elves and super nonsensical boner mods... yeah. But i must say some of the mods do very nice things to the game once you figure out how to get it all working.
 
Thanks for updating. I gave up on modding Oblivion a long time ago as it was just too complicated for me. But I may just need to re-install it and try the mods again using this guide. I never got that far in the game so it will be worth playing again either way.
 
Zoolader said:
Thanks for updating. I gave up on modding Oblivion a long time ago as it was just too complicated for me. But I may just need to re-install it and try the mods again using this guide. I never got that far in the game so it will be worth playing again either way.
Click to expand...

I was once like you, friend. This thread showed me the way. I honestly can't play vanilla Oblivion, because level-scaling sucks and I don't really like the way that the skill advancement works. Level-what-you-use is great in theory since it should be more intuitive, but it pisses me off that it has such a major impact on your primary stats. Mechanics which require you to pick unused skills as your primary skills in order to level effectively just don't sit right with me.

So in comes Oblivion XP and I finally finished the game. It still amazes me that a mod could take a game which was practically unplayable to me and make it fun.
 
GDJustin said:
I did end up giving OOO a whirl. Spent about ~3 hours with it so far, so I've only gotten to see a handful of the remixed dungeons.

So far, I'm on the fence about the entire mode. It partially just feels like "Oblivion - Hard Mode." It feels like it just gave enemies more HP (or higher resistances), and made the player take more damage. I did the early quest where you follow around and confront the grave robber, and it fucked me up several times before I was able to clear it. I had to run around in a circle spamming heal just to make it through. "Balance" like that is off-putting. I'm all for a non auto-leveling game. But that SHOULDN'T mean everything needs to be tough. Some easier stuff, especially at the beginning, would have been welcome.

But that being said, it did feel super-cool to clear out a goblin dungeon I ran into on my way to the Abbey, and to get a bunch of uber-loot I felt like I shouldn't be getting (life-detecting ring, & badass charged staff).

It also felt super-cool (albeit a bit random) when I wandered into a cave and got completely owned (one-shotted) by some crazy demon thing.

Leveling is also suuuuper slow (I'm still level one despite lots and los of combat. Although I think I read there is a way to revert it back to the normal leveling speed? (how?)

Anyway, to sum up - all the custom dungeons and custom-leveled content is fantastic, and puts Bethesda to shame (it's what they SHOULD have done with their game). But some of the other "balance" feels overly hardcore.

I'm sticking with it, for now.
Click to expand...

You're both right and wrong. The game does get a lot harder on earlier levels, but as you progress, you'll be able to stand easily against much of the opposition, since they don't level with you. The difficulty of the dungeons is structured so that those closer to cities are generally easier, and then get progressively more difficult the further into the wilderness you get.

The slow leveling (I believe the default is 5 times slower than vanilla, lol) can be changed during the omod installation, maybe you missed that question? They ask "Do you want to change the default OOO 1.33 skill level rates?" and you can pick how fast you want it to be. I think half vanilla speed is pretty good. You can probably do it manually after the fact, you'll need an optional .esp, check the readme.

jim-jam bongs said:
I was once like you, friend. This thread showed me the way. I honestly can't play vanilla Oblivion, because level-scaling sucks and I don't really like the way that the skill advancement works. Level-what-you-use is great in theory since it should be more intuitive, but it pisses me off that it has such a major impact on your primary stats. Mechanics which require you to pick unused skills as your primary skills in order to level effectively just don't sit right with me.

So in comes Oblivion XP and I finally finished the game. It still amazes me that a mod could take a game which was practically unplayable to me and make it fun.
Click to expand...

Yeah, Ob XP is aswesome because it sidesteps the broken leveling system completely.
 
Ledsen said:
The slow leveling (I believe the default is 5 times slower than vanilla, lol) can be changed during the omod installation, maybe you missed that question? They ask "Do you want to change the default OOO 1.33 skill level rates?" and you can pick how fast you want it to be. I think half vanilla speed is pretty good. You can probably do it manually after the fact, you'll need an optional .esp, check the readme.
Click to expand...

I recently remade my mod list and went with OOO and the Vanilla Oblivion Leveling rates, i'ts just perfect for the beginning, because I was a bit burned out by the slow start with OOO.

I can see it becoming a bit too fast at higher level, but i'll just save my load order, de-install / re-install OOO with a different leveling rate and play again :o

I downloaded a High level char from nexus just to have a taste of how OOO was at Higher level, and I was able to fight effectively about everything I encountered without it being too easy, it's way better and varied than vanilla.
 
I couldn't figure out the "right" way to modify OOO's leveling pace, so I ended up uninstalling and reinstalling the mod, picking 2x Oblivion leveling pace this time. Seems to have worked just fine. Dinged level 2 in one dungeon, got most of the way to level 3 in another.

My character still seems weak - I don't think I should have to hack at an early game cloth-wearing magic user over and over to get them to go down. But eh - the issue will resolve itself over time.
 
Ledsen said:
Sounds like you've done something fundamentally wrong here. Could you be a little more specific? Did you download ready-made omods that you put in the OBMM omod directory, and then double click them in the program? How did you create your bashed patch?
Click to expand...
Some of them ready made and some I created using OBMM. I only tried using the mods in the OP.

Here's what I did exactly:
1- install external programs except for OBGE.
2- Made a bashed patch exactly like your guide
3-ARCHIVE INVALIDATION
4- changed .BSA dates like the guide.
5- install the .exe unofficial patches in order as per the Read me file then Install the supplemental patch manually as per the read me (copy paste the file into the data folder and override the existing files), I think here's the issue.

I tried again step 4 using OBMM and it installed it but the game won't load, also when I try to do the bash file after installing the patches Wrye Bash give me an error that all the DLC bases are not available or something like that.

also after installing the supplemental patch and use BOSS, BOSS still tell me that I should install the supplemental patch.

Should every mod add options to tick in OBMM?

I re-installed the game today and will try again from the start.
 
What a terrible idea to start the modding process, put a pause on it to play other games and do other stuff to come back a few days and already forgot how to do this stuff or where I left off lol. Oh well, gonna get back into this, need some modded Oblivion goodness.
 
Ashour said:
Some of them ready made and some I created using OBMM. I only tried using the mods in the OP.

Here's what I did exactly:
1- install external programs except for OBGE.
2- Made a bashed patch exactly like your guide
3-ARCHIVE INVALIDATION
4- changed .BSA dates like the guide.
5- install the .exe unofficial patches in order as per the Read me file then Install the supplemental patch manually as per the read me (copy paste the file into the data folder and override the existing files), I think here's the issue.

I tried again step 4 using OBMM and it installed it but the game won't load, also when I try to do the bash file after installing the patches Wrye Bash give me an error that all the DLC bases are not available or something like that.

also after installing the supplemental patch and use BOSS, BOSS still tell me that I should install the supplemental patch.

Should every mod add options to tick in OBMM?

I re-installed the game today and will try again from the start.
Click to expand...

Do you have the GOTY edition with all the DLC? The guide assumes that you do, but if not, you should not install the Unofficial Official Mods Patch v15 since it is a patch for all the DLC. You should uninstall and re-install all unofficial patches but leave out that one. Also, I recommend using OMODs and not .exe:s to install the patches. I believe most of them have ready-made omods already, or archives that are ready to be made into omods. Lastly, creating a Bashed Patch is the absolute last thing you should do, after installing all other mods. Hope this helps.

also after installing the supplemental patch and use BOSS, BOSS still tell me that I should install the supplemental patch.
Click to expand...

Don't worry about what BOSS says about the Supplemental patch, it can't really tell whether you've installed it or not so it tells you to anyway.

Should every mod add options to tick in OBMM?
Click to expand...

Nope, not all of them. Also, creating a bashed patch may UN-tick some of your mods. This is fine, do not re-tick them.
 
Thanks for the reply. I do have GOTY edition (bought it from steam during the sale) but I noticed that the game loads if I uncheck all the DLC patches except Shivering Isle, it doesn't have an issue with it.

I will download the OMODs patches and try again. Really appreciate your help.

One question. When I install the Supplemental patch it asks me to overwrite a lot of files including the previous unofficial patches. Should I let it overwrite?
 
I've got the GOTY edition on Steam and a one-time install of FCOM taken from online.

Can someone give me the quick step-by-step order to installing it? I'm talking right after installing the game on Steam, and what order I would have to install FCOm, Wyrebash, OMM, the best texture pack and script optimization to make the game run as best as possible.
 
Ashour said:
Thanks for the reply. I do have GOTY edition (bought it from steam during the sale) but I noticed that the game loads if I uncheck all the DLC patches except Shivering Isle, it doesn't have an issue with it.

I will download the OMODs patches and try again. Really appreciate your help.

One question. When I install the Supplemental patch it asks me to overwrite a lot of files including the previous unofficial patches. Should I let it overwrite?
Click to expand...

Ok, that's weird. Have you run BOSS so they're all in the right order? And yes, overwrite everything, that's the whole point of the supplemental.
 
Ledsen said:
Ok, that's weird. Have you run BOSS so they're all in the right order? And yes, overwrite everything, that's the whole point of the supplemental.
Click to expand...
Yep. I run BOSS. I don't really care for any DLC other than SI so I'll skip the v15 patch and see how it goes.
 
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