I'm finally going to play Oblivion! What should I download first?

Pheezer

It's been sitting in its case for like six months and I've got some time on my hands so I figure why not.

Which mods do I want and how does modding Oblivion work and how can I not fuck everything up and also please keep in mind that I'll be doing all of this on the 15" 2.66 GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro under Windows 7. So if some graphics mod requires four video cards and 1 kW PSU, it's probably just going to end up pissing me off.

Also I didn't see an Oblivion thread in the first three pages of search results, but if I'm retarded and just missed it, give me a damned link.

jothki

Consider a mod that changes how levelling and stat gain works. I used a mod that made it so that gaining levels in skills would instantly nudge your stats up, instead of having to wait for a level up and making sure that before that point you sufficiently level up non-primary skills. From what I hear the normal levelling system sucked, and I'm glad that I never had to care about it.

Xtarath

I'd hate to say you were retarded, so I won't, but here is the thread.

Edit:This post may be particularly beneficial.

Monger wrote: »

Zilla360 wrote: »

BahamutZERO wrote: »

What are the essential mods for Oblivion? It's been a while since I last installed it. Particularly stuff like UI and graphics improvements.

I use this mod, it makes the whole UI so much better. Qarl's texture pack is also essential if your graphics card can handle it.

The essential mods are:
Unofficial Oblivion Patch
Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch
Unofficial Official Mods Patch
Oblivion Script Optimization
Oblivion Script Extender
Oblivion Mod Manager
Better Oblivion Sorting Software (especially if you're trying FCOM)
Wrye Bash (avoid if you can, but, much like the herpes, eventually it's gon' getcha)
Harvest Flora and Harvest Containers (maybe not essential, but why the fuck would you pass on them?)

From there,

Monger wrote: »

Seriously though, what you want is both a character leveling mod (SPAM, KCAS, AF, Realistic Leveling) and a world overhaul mod (OOO, MMM, Francesco's, FCOM, TIE) as a base. Then add balance/feature mods (Race Balance Project, LAME/Supreme Magicka, Deadly Reflex, whatever else) to iron out whatever you still have problems with.

Not essential, but I'd highly recommend:
Streamline (fiddle with the settings to suit your needs)
Tamriel NPCs Revamped (included in TIE)
Book Jackets Oblivion
All Natural (kind of the difinitive weather/atmosphere overhaul)
Enhanced Water
Symphony of Violence

Unique Landscapes is pretty cool compared to how agonizingly bland vanilla Tamriel is, but as a warning, the NPCs it adds are at quality par of vanilla Oblivion (triply vomit worthy if you're using TNR) and the indoor lighting on the buildings it adds is quite shitty. Like, fullbright shitty. I haven't gone into one with All Natural's Real Lights activated, so I don't know if that will fix it or not. Somehow I doubt it.

As far as interfaces go, I prefer the DarkUI version of DarNified UI. DarN UI books also have to be activated with Wrye Bash, so be aware of that if you actually care about that particular feature (it's not important). And be aware that the in-game config tab doesn't save settings, so you have to manually edit the config file if you don't like the defaults (instructions in the readme). Also, you should know that Qarl's Texture Pack eats a lot of VRAM. A lot. If you're using any other visual mods that are going to need some extra VRAM (like RAEVWD) and you don't have around a gig of it, the reduced version would be a good idea. You still need the original QTP3, though, and the patch for UOP 3.2 compatibility. As a final note, for the love of God use OMOD installs wherever you can if you do not you will lose your mind and you need it for smart making!



Whew.

Pheezer

Yeah I'm not going to feel too bad about myself as a person for failing to locate a thread that hasn't been posted in for a month.

Thanks for that quote and the link!

Fig-D

It also has the added bonus of not having "Oblivion" in the thread title, the first thing I would search. I've been considering another play through for awhile now. Haven't gotten around to it yet, but that mod list in the quote should prove useful when I do. My last (only?) run was mod-free, and Fallout 3 has shown me that mods can go a long way towards making a game more playable/enjoyable.

Kris_xK

When I recently reinstalled Oblivion, I found the Something Awful page useful. Its got a fairly idiot proof guide to what the hell is going on and what you need to do.

Dartboy

I'd agree with that list of essentials there. But really, I think the best approach is to install those then just try the game out. Find out what you like and what you don't. From there, you have a better idea what to search for, since pretty much whatever issue you may have, someone's addressed it in a mod.