Aidan
Not A Stranger Anymore
Posts: 49
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Post by Aidan on Mar 5, 2019 10:40:57 GMT
Hi everyone, excuse me while I beat the dust off... And the cobwebs, I think, it's been so very long since I was last here!
I've show up again after long absence because my sister has gotten the interest in starting a game of Oblivion (she's never played before) and I'm rather interested in trying it out again myself.
I have a huge raft of mods from the last time I played - some eight years past - but I'm sure things have moved on since then. I don't want to make it all too complicated, so I was wondering if people might be able to advise me of a few mods to get the most out of gameplay? I'll share them with my sister so we're both running the same game and can compare our progress.
* I'll obviously start the list with Vilja, who I spent many, many enjoyable hours exploring Cyrodiil with back in her earliest incarnation. * I'll take Emma's Children of Cyrodiil too, since I always found Children of Morrowind essential to adding life and cheer to that world!
Beyond these, I'm most interested in mods that will enhance the graphical and gameplay experiences. And where is the best place to get mods now? I understand Planet Elder Scrolls is long gone now...
Looking forward to your advice!
-Aidan (still Archmaster of Redoran)
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Post by dogonporch on Mar 5, 2019 15:13:43 GMT
Hi everyone, excuse me while I beat the dust off... And the cobwebs, I think, it's been so very long since I was last here! I've show up again after long absence because my sister has gotten the interest in starting a game of Oblivion (she's never played before) and I'm rather interested in trying it out again myself. I have a huge raft of mods from the last time I played - some eight years past - but I'm sure things have moved on since then. I don't want to make it all too complicated, so I was wondering if people might be able to advise me of a few mods to get the most out of gameplay? I'll share them with my sister so we're both running the same game and can compare our progress. * I'll obviously start the list with Vilja, who I spent many, many enjoyable hours exploring Cyrodiil with back in her earliest incarnation. * I'll take Emma's Children of Cyrodiil too, since I always found Children of Morrowind essential to adding life and cheer to that world! Beyond these, I'm most interested in mods that will enhance the graphical and gameplay experiences. And where is the best place to get mods now? I understand Planet Elder Scrolls is long gone now... Looking forward to your advice! -Aidan ( still Archmaster of Redoran) Nexus and Lovers Lab are the two main depositories for mods at the moment. Getting the basics is your main first goal: OBSE, Pluggy and numerous other plug-ins that are the basis for many advanced mods. Fejeena at LL wrote a good basic tutorial to get you going. You can ignore the bit about installing the Lovers system if that's not what you're after. www.loverslab.com/topic/36443-oblivion-install-gametoolsbodiesbbb-load-order-sorting-espesm-cleaning-cs-cse-body-stretching/?tab=comments#comment-915257
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Aidan
Not A Stranger Anymore
Posts: 49
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Post by Aidan on Mar 6, 2019 9:55:36 GMT
Ah ok, thanks!
I'll check out TES Nexus though I'll have to register again, I'm sure I've forgotten my old account. The link you sent me unfortunately seemed to go somewhere with dubious ads or something, my computer started getting angry at it. TBH anything called the "lovers" system is probs not something I'm after though. I'm fine with a romance plot but I'd rather not have any grubby stuff. ^_^"
OBSE and Pluggy sound like they might be a bit too complicated though, depends what needs them. All I really want is graphics improvements and a mod to fix the game balance since, IIRC, everything scaled really badly in "vanilla" Oblivion.
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Post by dogonporch on Mar 6, 2019 15:26:05 GMT
Ah ok, thanks! I'll check out TES Nexus though I'll have to register again, I'm sure I've forgotten my old account. The link you sent me unfortunately seemed to go somewhere with dubious ads or something, my computer started getting angry at it. TBH anything called the "lovers" system is probs not something I'm after though. I'm fine with a romance plot but I'd rather not have any grubby stuff. ^_^" OBSE and Pluggy sound like they might be a bit too complicated though, depends what needs them. All I really want is graphics improvements and a mod to fix the game balance since, IIRC, everything scaled really badly in "vanilla" Oblivion. LL was under DOS attack for the last few days. Should be improving now. If ads are the issue, perhaps a good spyware blocker is needed? Two good free ones are Spybot Search & Destroy and Spyware Blaster. That'll whack 99% of the baddies. The guide at LL has helped thousands and has allowed fejeena stay sane...re: install help. Lovers Lab is a fine website with many helpful people (one of them me ). Lovers is more than grubby stuff (lol)...it's a relationship system that is fully customizable. That is: don't want grubby stuff? You don't need to add it. Vilja works perfectly inside the system...who also comes with a built-in romance option of her own that dovetails into Lovers. Not sure if it was Emma's intention...but it all works great. However, as you allude, it isn't for everybody. But if you like more Sims in your Oblivion...there you go. OBSE and Pluggy are fairly essential...though you can try without. Many mods will be off-limits. OBSE is the Oblivion Script Extender and allows Oblivion to execute scripts that weren't part of the original install. This allows many things beyond what was in the original Oblivion to be possible. Pluggy assists OBSE and adds more functionality. None of which you need to worry about once installed properly. Both are available through Nexus...though OBSE has its own website. obse.silverlock.org/ Back when Oblivion was released, it faced getting branded with a Mature rating (nobody under 18 etc), so they jigged the executable and removed some scripting to prevent certain things from being possible....plus numerous in-game things (skooma and such). OBSE pretty much rectifies that.
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Post by dogonporch on Mar 6, 2019 15:32:09 GMT
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Post by jgf on Mar 7, 2019 6:21:11 GMT
In addition to those mentioned, among my "must have" mods are:
COBL (adds many objects to the game, required by numerous other mods) Kobu's Character Development System (reworks the leveling, offers numerous options for how to level) Unofficial Oblivion Patch (corrects numerous bugs and errors) SpicyFox Vanilla Armor Add-On and replacer (feminine versions of default armors without being skimpy or "sexy") Realistic Force (corrects the idiocy of hitting someone with a ranged weapon or spell and having it blow them them 100 yards away) BFG's Open All Gates (if you hate the redundancy and repetitiveness of those incessant Oblivion gates, this mod gives you control - anything from just the minimum required for the main quest, and no respawning, to 100 open at once, and they all respawn)
Not essential, but enjoyable: GW71 Life Detect (changes that amorphous purple cloud from the life detect spell to a dull red glow, you can actually tell what creature you're detecting now) Personality Idles (adds more idle animations for NPCs; there are some sexy poses for females that can also be added to Vilja ...if you don't mind feeling she's flirting with you) Clocks of Cyrodiil (adds calendar clocks to all towns and inside most large inns; doesn't sound like much but you'll be surprised how often you use them) Unlimited Training (increases training costs 5x, but you can train as much as you can afford) Kart Passive Beasts (like the PHW mod for Morrowind, this makes all 'normal' animals - rats, dogs, wolves, lions, bears, etc. - non-aggressive, they won't attack on sight but will defend themselves; downside is this negates creature dungeons - you just waltz past all the animals, grab the loot and leave)
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Post by ghastley on Mar 7, 2019 14:24:44 GMT
Obviously anything of mine you find at the Nexus, but the one I used were mainly extra content:
The Ayleid Steps - extra quests - I got it to test compatibility with mine, and kept it. One of my mods now has a step of its own. Shezrie's Towns and Villages - various packages of these, and some are "beyond borders", which leads to Valenwood Improved and Elsweyr Anequina - more land Open Cities Reborn - eliminate load screens going in/out. DarN UI with variants, and the coloured maps to improve the UI. I may have made my own maps for VI/EA expansion.
Plus a bunch of outfits, hairstyles etc.
If you are the DIY type, then also get the Construction Set Extender to make building mods a lot easier. When you hit mod incompatibilities, you can fix them, too.
I also run on a triple monitor set-up giving an effective 6000x1080 screen, so there were a few needed to get there.
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Post by graykin on Mar 7, 2019 19:03:41 GMT
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Post by Sniffles on Mar 9, 2019 10:32:04 GMT
There is one inherent problem with all Oblivion mods: they plug into Oblivion. Mod makers have put 1000:1 more hours into it than the developers did, have done a much better job in many cases, and essentially chrome plated, blew, fuel injected, magnesium alloy wheeled race tired fuzzy diced a turd.
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Post by jgf on Mar 9, 2019 14:30:45 GMT
Well, I think Oblivion pales mainly in comparison to Morrowind. Most of us spent literally hundreds of hours in the latter, and probably about as many more in the CS; there was just so much to do, so many guilds and factions, so many quests, so many NPCs, and we expected Oblivion to be everything Morrowind was and more ...and it turned out to be so much less. Only four guilds, and pitifully few quests for each, and a heinously repetitive main quest. Vastly improved graphics, more animations, and more voice acting does not make up for lack of gameplay; the novelty of horseback riding is negated by not being able to do anything on horseback (were the developers completely unaware of centuries of people using swords, axes, maces, spears, lances, bows, rifles, etc., from horseback? in Oblivion you cannot even cast a spell while sitting on your horse).
As for the CS ...Morrowind gave you hundreds of individual architectural elements to build with; Oblivion gives you prefab houses. I deem that a quite telling comment on both games.
I say it pales in comparison because almost unanimously people who played Morrowind first were disappointed with Oblivion, while those who played Oblivion first preferred it and when later trying Morrowind considered it ugly, dated, and slow.
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Post by dogonporch on Mar 9, 2019 15:53:33 GMT
The Main Quest sucks eggs without some heavy modding to get rid of the rather predictable stock Oblivion world. Rending Halls, eh? I bet there's some real mayhem in there...what? Nothing??
Luckily, there are dozens if not hundreds of mods that are huge in scope that replace that disaster. Like the one Graykin linked to...
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Post by blockhead on Mar 9, 2019 20:57:15 GMT
essentially chrome plated, blew, fuel injected, magnesium alloy wheeled race tired fuzzy diced a turd. Exactly! jgfExactly. jgfThe main quest was lame. You know that feels more like a main quest (if you'd never tried it)? The thieves guild quest-line! That one gets interesting as it progresses.
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Post by Sniffles on Mar 10, 2019 3:28:24 GMT
The... THE problem with Oblivion, first and foremost. IRL time.
Oblivious.Come out of the sewer, buck nekkid, mince your way up to north side above Bruma, quite do-able by a level 1 character, and make a dash to the 'You can't go that way' south of Leyawin. Takes 5-6 minutes and you can easily dodge all problems. Make the dash from Anvil up into the mountains east of Cheydinhole in around 12 minutes.
Skyrim. Barring/dodging dragons, Solitude Lighthouse to Bloodlet Throne, 8-9 minutes. Map's edge East of Forgotten Vale to Stendarr's Beacon, less than 15 minutes.
Morrowind. Seyda Neen to Dagon Fel, without reloading the game, ... has anyone ever been able to do that with a butt nekkid level 1 character? Then if you count DLCs, Azura to Mortrag Glacier... without using god mode that just isn't going to happen. In fact, the chances of a level 1 character surviving for a half hour are about kerzip unless you hide behind the local constabulary. You can die just trying to get on a silt strider! Or how about death by herbivore?
Scope. Forget everything else. Morrowind had scope. A vast untamed wilderness just waiting to chew you to shreds. Compare. In serious explore mode, a level 1 character can visit all the major areas of Oblivion in an hour or less. Skyrim an hour and a half. Morrowind, chances are it's going to be 2 or 3 days of game play to find your way to Azura's coast. With luck, a week to discover the Sheogorad archipelago. This is why the beyond the borders mod expansions of both Oblivion and to a lesser extent Skyrim are so popular.
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Post by jgf on Mar 10, 2019 4:56:48 GMT
What you describe is essentially the lack of suspense in many newer games. In Morrowind you quickly learned, by getting your butt kicked frequently, not to stray too far from town, not to go sticking your nose into every cave or shrine; you never knew what you might encounter so you approached every new dungeon with trepidation, ready to quietly back out if its inhabitants were too powerful for you. Remember the first time your low level character wandered into a daedric shrine and came face to face with a Dremora Lord, who mopped up the floor with you then tossed you over to his buddy, the Ascended Sleeper?
But in Oblivion there is no such suspense; go anywhere you like, explore any areas, knowing that any opponents you encounter will be scaled to your player level. This also makes for a monotonous game - what's the difference being level five and fighting a level five rat and being level fifty and fighting a level fifty rat? It is much more interesting to encounter different creatures as you level up and explore farther.
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Post by Sniffles on Mar 10, 2019 11:19:53 GMT
What you describe is essentially the lack of suspense in many newer games. In Morrowind you quickly learned, by getting your butt kicked frequently, not to stray too far from town, not to go sticking your nose into every cave or shrine; you never knew what you might encounter so you approached every new dungeon with trepidation, ready to quietly back out if its inhabitants were too powerful for you. Remember the first time your low level character wandered into a daedric shrine and came face to face with a Dremora Lord, who mopped up the floor with you then tossed you over to his buddy, the Ascended Sleeper? But in Oblivion there is no such suspense; go anywhere you like, explore any areas, knowing that any opponents you encounter will be scaled to your player level. This also makes for a monotonous game - what's the difference being level five and fighting a level five rat and being level fifty and fighting a level fifty rat? It is much more interesting to encounter different creatures as you level up and explore farther. My first encounter of Morrowind was probably typical. Wander the town. Go check out the local cave WHOMP!! Wander the town. Not going over there. Check out that island. BAD FISHYS! OUCH OUCH OUCH. Wander the town. Check out the thing making noise. Still getting the controls figured out. Fell off the ramp. Wander the town, fork thees sheet. Head on out to the north west. Rats. Wander the town trying to figure out how to get rid of the disease. Wander off north west up the road. Stuck for a half hour half way up a cliff as a crab and rat tag team down below. Day 2. RUN! Oh crap! Where did that come from? NO! Not in the water! BAD FISHYS! RUN! And keep running! Ignore everything. At last! A town. WHAT IS WITH YOU PEOPLE? Thanks for the sour persimmons, I'm dying every 15 minutes out there and could use a little charity! Arsehole on a bridge chases me right through town and nobody notices. Not going to get past that arsehole, I'll go around. Interesting architecture. Weird place. Oh look, a local and s/he is all bright orange. NO NO NO NO! LEMME LONE! NOT THE FISHYS AGAIN! Day 3. Pant pant. What is this place? A fort? A city? A WTF? GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! What is with you people? Aha. More of that black architecture. And a door? What's a Dremora? I'll restart back at Hla Oad tomorrow where the people are downright friendly in comparison. One solid week of game play, avoiding every location that appears on the map until road signs: Gnisis? A city! A city where everybody isn't out to crap on or kill me! And mostly makes Hla Oad look friendly. Sell my stolen eggs for bus/bug fare to Balmora.
The Pemenie endeavor. Thanks for the sour grapes, persimmons and necatarines, bitch! Okay, wait a minute. Time Warp Plot. Reload game. (Got a bow and arrows by then). Hey chick! Twang! RUN! Twang. RUN! Twang. She's got to die sooner or later. Twang. Twang. Okay, safety tip. Don't use weak fireball in a public house. Reload. Twang. Through Caldera. Twang. Dodge rats. Twang. Around and around in Balmora. Twang. Fort Moonmoth. Anyone here care to help? Twang. Fall into an ash canyon. Twang. Fields of Kummu. GOTCHA, bitch! Gimme those boots. New plan! See monster, line up a straight run, put on boots and hope. Remove boots, get bearings, realign, put boots back on. Hit and run my way to level 6 and Suran. The scourge of rats and crabs and Nix hounds and guar and the occasional cliff racer of the Acadian Isles! Somewhere along the line it dumps on me that maybe the main quest was there for a reason?
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