[Lovingly]

REBUILDING OBLIVION



I've created much of my character's history (I'll write it all out later), and I'm creating a new class for him: the Highlander.

I used his history and official Lore to guide my decisions. For example, as a player, I really dig the bow. But, I will not choose Marksmanship as one of his seven Major Skills because of who he is and where he comes from. He's a Nord. He comes from the north, where the terrain is uneven, rocky, and frosty. With the trees and rocks, distance weapons would not be a favored weapon among the Nord. One only has to look at the race's favored skills to support that thought.

No, Ryce (the name I chose--I'll tell you about that, later, too), is a strong, face-to-face brawler. He's going to be a heavy armor + axe + shield type of guy.



Highlander

Specialization: Combat
Attributes: Endurance, Strength

Combat Skills: Block, Armorer, Heavy Armor, Blunt.
Magic Skills: Destruction, Alteration, Restoration.



The combat skills are understandable. We're talking about a mean, snarling, highland warrior, here. But Nords are also somewhat magical. They have "The Art" flowing through their veins like almost all of Tamriel's inhabitants.

Nords, as a race, are favored with Restoration. That's why I picked that one for the class. Then, looking at the Nord Specials, those of the race get a protection spell, Woad. And, this led me to Alteration. Another Special they get is Nordic Frost, a touch spell that delivers frost damage. Thus, Destruction came into play.

These guys are like the mythic Vikings (not the real ones) of literature. They're the Aesir and Vanir from Conan's universe. They're not quite barbarians, and, at the same time, they're not as advanced as the Imperials.

The Highlanders are trained for combat in their frozen, forested, rocky clime. Strong muscles support layers of cold weather furs in addition to heavy armor. They are experts with all forms of martial weapons, swords and axes and maces alike, both single and two handed. And, the Nords of Skyrim are expert smiths, masters of techniques unknown in other parts of Tamriel.

Of the Magika arts, the Highlanders learn of protections (Alteration) and healing magics (Restoration). And adding to their fierce ability with weapons both bladed and blunted, the Highlanders know how to use the Arts to destroy and kill (Destruction).

In a face-to-face confrontation, there is not much more terrifying than a quick paced, screaming Nord, swinging his weapon, with death in his eyes.

My character, Ryce, will favor the Shield and Axe. And with his Destruction magic, he will focus on touch spells, often weakening his opponent through shear martial combat, then delivering the killing blow with a touch of his hand.

Then, he will walk away. A reaver. A slayer. A dealer in death.

[ANaIs GRelot]

I'm going to add a section (or include in a section) some information about a base mod load out. Most people, when they get the game, want to load it and roll. And, you might not want to start over, or learn how to use Wrye Bash, to add OOO.

Plus, many people (I know I've done this as well) load a crap pot full of mods and then just rock-n-roll...without ever really getting to know the mods they're playing with. They may be missing out on some functionality.

For these reasons, and a few more, I think a section detailing a base mod set-up might be appreciated on the list. Right now, here's what I'm thinking (It's what I'm going with as a base load-out).

While all of this is sound, I hope you don't take this very far. There are many base mod lists and threads dealing with that, but this one thread, and http://amito.freehostia.com/Oblivion/OB-mods.htm are the two only (that I'm aware of) good sources for people that want an immersive gaming experience. And if this thread loses the immersion focus, that would be a loss. This is all IMHO of course, and this will surely be one of the threads I continue to follow anyway

The idea is to start gaming, and then add mods that you like as you go. That way, you're not spending a week downloading and installing mods. You can get up and running somewhat quickly, and then take your time "getting to know" the mods that you add.

I suggest adding new mods to the base load out one at a time, unless the mods are extremely simple (like the No Sneak Eye mod).

A sound advice, though I often end up installing several at a time.

Here's my suggestion for a base load-out. Comments and suggestions are welcome (as in, Did I forget anything? ... Or, should I use something different than what I've got?).

It's generally very good and sound. Here's what I would have done different though:

Install OBMM after step 4, and create OMODs of every single mod you install, including the unofficial patches. Having all those OMODs make it so much simpler to uninstall a mod, or to reinstall Oblivion.
Install and use BOSS from the go. It really makes the ordering of OOO and MMM simpler, but its worth increases with each additional mod.
Consider using Darnified UI instead of Immersive Interface and No Sneak Eye, as Darn can do what those two can, and much more. Darn is quite easy to install if you use OBMM (and no, Wrye's BAIN feature does NOT make OBMM obsolete - there are many mods, like Darn, that are so very much easier to install with OBMM).

Finally, for an Immersive experience, you should really, really use a leveling mod from the start. My preference is Realistic Leveling, but nGCD is the other obvious choice.

...and one more. Wrye Bash is a must-have sooner or later.


P.S. I really enjoy your reading about character choices. I tend to always end up with a middle-of-the-road character (with a preference for Blade combat), even though I intend to do something different.

[sarah simon-rogaume]

While all of this is sound, I hope you don't take this very far.

I think you mis-read me. I don't intend to lose immersion focus, and I don't intend to list duplicate mods. My thought was to provide a base load out--of those on Delte's List--to get people going, playing the game.

And, I do think there is something to taking the time to learn mods as you go.

I think the enemy health bar needs to be removed, too, in he base load out. Must add that one.

Install OBMM after step 4, and create OMODs of every single mod you install, including the unofficial patches. Having all those OMODs make it so much simpler to uninstall a mod, or to reinstall Oblivion.

I've never been an OMOD type of guy. I prolly should be. It's just no problem for me to clean out a mod. The only time I did have a problem was when I tested a Bravil mod (Blood and Dirt? Something like that.) That mod was crazy--very hard to get out. Should have used OMODs for it.

But, other than that...I guess I'm just used to doing things manually. I'll try to learn OMODs sometime in the near future.

Same goes for Wrye Bash. Never used it. Probably should.

...and one more. Wrye Bash is a must-have sooner or later.

Never used it or needed it before....



As for Darn. The last time I tried it, it wasn't very intuitive. One had to edit spreadsheets and stuff. I went with Immersive Interface because it was so dang easy to use--just double tap the .exe and answer questions.

How easy is DarnUI to use today?

P.S. I really enjoy your reading about character choices. I tend to always end up with a middle-of-the-road character (with a preference for Blade combat), even though I intend to do something different.

Thanks. It's all about having fun. I happen to be blessed because I can "dig" many types of characters. I liked stealthy old Pugg. I haven't played a full mage, wearing robes and such, but I can understand the appeal. I'm liking the Highlander, Ryse. (Yes, when I created him not too long ago, I liked the spelling "Ryse" better than "Ryce" as I originally stated.

As I said before, I wanted Ryse to be the opposite of Pugg. So far, he is. Pugg did nothing with Alchemy. I think Ryse will get interested in it, even though it's not "typical" of a Highlander. Pugg was a short sword dude. Ryse likes hand axes.

For many people, creating characters is about finding the "best", toughest combination of choices paired with the player's likes. I happen to be an extreme immersionist--I want to actually walk in that character's shoes. Want to create an individual, not just an avatar in a game.

So, that's why I spend so much time and creativity on the character and his background. People don't just pop into worlds like a newborn. They've got histories, pasts that color their judgements.

It's like an actor playing a role--it's about what the character would do, not what the actor would do.

I get the most out of the game playing that way.

I've got a buddy at work, though, who plays Oblivion. He's a total min/maxer. He'll take a weight, place it on his "W" key on this keyboard, and let his character run into the wall all night just to up is Athletics skill. We're two totally different types of players. He must get something else out of the game.

Me...? I want to actually transport myself to Tamriel mentally. I want to be there.

I want to "feel" it.

[Alada Vaginah]

I think you mis-read me. I don't intend to lose immersion focus, and I don't intend to list duplicate mods. My thought was to provide a base load out--of those on Delte's List--to get people going, playing the game.

And, I do think there is something to taking the time to learn mods as you go.

OK. That sounds good

I think the enemy health bar needs to be removed, too, in he base load out. Must add that one.

I think that's another thing DarnUI can do...

I've never been an OMOD type of guy. I prolly should be. It's just no problem for me to clean out a mod. The only time I did have a problem was when I tested a Bravil mod (Blood and Dirt? Something like that.) That mod was crazy--very hard to get out. Should have used OMODs for it.

But, other than that...I guess I'm just used to doing things manually. I'll try to learn OMODs sometime in the near future.

I have every single mod installed as OMODs, but there are really only two types of mods that need it IMHO:
1) Mods that containg resources spread around in the texture, meshes etc. folders. Once in a while I try out such a mod without knowing if I want to keep it. By having made an OMOD out of it, uninstalling it is only a double-click away. BAIN can also be used for this, and even have some advantages when uninstalling resources used by many mods.
2) Most importantly: Mods that have different choices under installation. For example, installing Better Cities using OBMM is as easy as answering a few questions (ex: Do you want all cities?), and then the OMOD script pulls out the correct esp files. The script also silently checks for conflicting mods and installs patches for them. Another example is my Gold Adjustment mod. The mod only consists of an esp and an ini file, but during installation, the OMOD script asks a number of questions (ex: Do you want merchant sell range to be 0-40, 10-50, 30-90 or always 100), and then puts the correct values in the ini file after copying it. BAIN has no scripting language, which is why I stick to OBMM.

As for Darn. The last time I tried it, it wasn't very intuitive. One had to edit spreadsheets and stuff. I went with Immersive Interface because it was so dang easy to use--just double tap the .exe and answer questions.

How easy is DarnUI to use today?

When installing it through OBMM, you get a lot of questions that fix the main install for you, close to how you installed II, but just a tad more complex. However, if you want to alter details of the HUD, like disabling the sneak eye, you need to edit one html file. It has a very good interface for doing it in-game, but that is not saved to the file - but it tells you which value you need to change in the file, and exactly what you need it changed to.

[^~LIL B0NE5~^]

Listen to TheNiceOne his words are wise. DarnUI can remove sneak eye, enemy health bar, all hud options, compass, annoying messages, change distances at which you find new locations, third person crosshair, the list goes on, and using OBMM to isntall it is a breeze. You can even Darn all books in the game now even modded ones using the power of Wrye Bash. Oh and thanks to Darn's toggleable inventory lists keychain mod is no longer needed. It truly is a wonder to behold.

[Tammie Flint]

How about:

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=18065

and:

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16150

I always wondered why it was that a crossbow bolt bouncing off the wall next to someones head, wouldn't clue them in that someone was around.... that, and seeing one his/her buddies lying in a pool of blood wouldn't raise an alarm...... I am sure he sprouted those arrows spontaneously.......

[Ray]

Listen to TheNiceOne his words are wise. DarnUI can remove sneak eye, enemy health bar, all hud options, compass, annoying messages, change distances at which you find new locations, third person crosshair, the list goes on, and using OBMM to isntall it is a breeze. You can even Darn all books in the game now even modded ones using the power of Wrye Bash. Oh and thanks to Darn's toggleable inventory lists keychain mod is no longer needed. It truly is a wonder to behold.

You guys are going to think I'm trying to be difficult about this (I'm really not), but the last time I tied Darn's, it made my inventory very, very small. I actually like the bigger icons in the inventory.

Is there any way, with today's version, to keep my inventory the same size as vanilla Oblivion?

[Mimi BC]

You guys are going to think I'm trying to be difficult about this (I'm really not), but the last time I tied Darn's, it made my inventory very, very small. I actually like the bigger icons in the inventory.

Is there any way, with today's version, to keep my inventory the same size as vanilla Oblivion?

You can resize the inventory via the xml, I like a size in between vanilla and the standard DarNified UI size. Unfortunately this doesn't carry across to the Container or Merchant inventory screens. The have there own separate xml' and at current they can't be changed the same way, I believe its on the to do list for a future version to be able to.

http://darnified.net/forums/index.php/topic,46.0.html

Here's the arctiles board with articles on how to configure different aspects of DarNified UI

http://darnified.net/forums/index.php/board,10.0.html

[Umpyre Records]

DarN's, correctly configured, is great. It does do the no enemy healthbars, as well as not showing an NPCs essential state, more... fade-y hide/showing of the HUD bars, so on. It's certainly better than II, but more complex.

[Chenae Butler]

DarN's, correctly configured, is great. It does do the no enemy healthbars, as well as not showing an NPCs essential state, more... fade-y hide/showing of the HUD bars, so on. It's certainly better than II, but more complex.

I looked at it. It does, indeed, look to be a very nice mod. Maybe one day I'll delve into it. But, I think you hit the nail on the head. It's too complex. I don't want to edit XML files. I want simple. That's why I like and promote II. Just double click II, answer the questions it poses, and you're all done. If you want to change your interface, just run II again.

As for the Sneak Eye and the Enemy Health Bar, two simple esps can be used. Just click them on or off with OBMM.

Simple.

Looking at DarN's interface, there's almost nothing you can tinker with. To some, that's great. To me, it's too much.

I'm going to stick with II for now. I may play with DarN again at some later date, but I've got too many other mods to consider first.

Thanks to all for the recommendation, though. I've often thought of having a few "Exception" mods featured on Delte's List. These would be mods that I don't necessarily recommend but are recognized as damn good mods. Clocks of Cyrodiil would be a mod like that. I don't recommend it because I think it breaks Elderscrolls Lore. But, I do recognize the great piece of modding work that it is. Tamriel Travellers would be another one--great mod that I think makes the game non-immersive (too easy to have roving merchants....merchants, realistically, should be anchored to towns). DarN's UI could be another of these--something I don't recommend but a good piece of work that some would consider impossible to live without.

I'll think on that. I may set up some "Honorable Entries" such as these.

[Queen]

Delte, Wrye Bash is a must, and it's not really hard to use. Check out my website, I've got click by click instructions for the only things you'll really need to do. BASH is complex, but you don't need to use the vast majority of it's features, you can just ignore them.

[Pete Schmitzer]

Delte, Wrye Bash is a must, and it's not really hard to use. Check out my website, I've got click by click instructions for the only things you'll really need to do. BASH is complex, but you don't need to use the vast majority of it's features, you can just ignore them.

Ben, why is Wrye Bash a "must"? If a person doesn't use advanced modding features, he can easily change load order simply by dragging the mod up and down the list shown in OBMM. Why switch to Wrye Bash?

[lauraa]

Ben, why is Wrye Bash a "must"? If a person doesn't use advanced modding features, he can easily change load order simply by dragging the mod up and down the list shown in OBMM. Why switch to Wrye Bash?

The reasons I use Wrye Bash are: 1) It lets you change between different sets of mods with the click of the mouse. Let's say you play with a character who uses 126 mods, and another character who uses 58 mods. Instead of manualy activating/deactivating the mods, everytime you want to play the other character, you can do it in 1 second with Wrye Bash. 2) The bashed patch. It often makes incompatible mods compatible. http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=966640 makes adding bach tags a breeze.

[hannah sillery]

Forget Multiple sets of mods. Mainly, you want it just for the Bashed Patch.

I hate to tell you this, but read the "Compatibility and You" page that's stickied at the top of the forum. It'll clear a lot up.

[sara OMAR]

Forget Multiple sets of mods. Mainly, you want it just for the Bashed Patch.

I'm not super interested in making Bash Patches, but, who knows, I may change my mind in the future.

I hate to tell you this, but read the "Compatibility and You" page that's stickied at the top of the forum. It'll clear a lot up.

I've known about that info, generally, since before I started the Thread. It's the last change that takes precedence. That's why load order is important.

I'm of the mind that only necessary mods are to be used, with the less number of mods used, the better. I want to find the least number of mods that makes for a perfect, immersive game. With OOO doing so much, it just needs a tweak or two here or there. I'm even going to remove some of the mods that are on Delte's List right now (there some duplication, and some are outdated). And, I plan on adding some new stuff.





@TheNiceOne

I downloaded your Real Sleep Extended, with the updated bedroll. That looks to be a hell of an improvement over the original Real Sleep. Let me play with it a bit (all mods on Delte's List are fully tested), but I think your mod will replace the original Real Sleep. I've already put a link on Post #2.







REBUILDING OBLIVION

OK, I've added a couple of more mods. The updated Bedroll and Real Sleep Extended. OBGE and OBSE. Realistic Fatigue and Realistic Health. All as mentioned earlier.

Plus, I went ahead an loaded Operation Optimization (it really does add more frame rate).

I've got an old Imperial Guard Horse Armor mod, by NV, that I found a long time ago. I love this thing. Ya see, it doesn't give horse armor to all the guards--just some of them (maybe it gives them to OOO guards but not MMM guards, or something like that). Either way, this is a "problem" that has become a real boon. It's immersive! Not all guards can afford armor for their horses.

I was on one of the roads just a minute ago when I was playing, and I ran into four mounted Imperial guards. Only one had horse armor. The other three were riding horses without it.

I like that. Can't find where I got it from, though. I did a quick search at TESNexus, but it's not there (other Horse Armor mods are). Maybe it's over at Planet Elderscrolls. God knows where I got it.

Two other mods I'm adding are http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10223, and http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=6403.

[Mizz.Jayy]

ABO,

Still out there? Here's some feedback on Realistic Health.

I just started my new character. 1st level, although he's quite in shape (very high STR and END), giving me, like, 200 Fatigue at first level. I contracted a disease, and I think I'm losing way too much health (unless these diseases are considered that deadly). I contracted wort-something-or-other, from a wild dog.

I'm going to go in and look the mod's ini, try to adjust effects. But, I was wondering if you don't need to re-set the default setting.

Shouldn't a disease come on slowly, and then, in a day or several hours, start to hit the character? Is there any way to start the health burn slow, then increase it? Or, delay the health burn for a period of time after the disease is contracted.

Also: How about including a text remover so that there is no warning immediately when the character contracts the disease. People don't know exactly when they get a disease--they just know when they start to feel bad.

So, even for vampirism, it'd be interesting to have a message pop up sometime after the character is infected, saying: You feel bad. Or: You head is starting to ache, and your stomach is queasy. Your joints ache.

If you really wanted to get cool, you could have two-to-three of these messages pop up after infection, each specifically tailored to a certain type of disease. Different diseases would have different text messages.

And, I really like the delayed message idea. When a person gets vampirism, he knows he's got three whole days to take care of it. But, if there is no message at the time he gets the disease, he really wouldn't know how much time he's got by the time the first message pops up telling him that he's feeling sub-par.

[Genevieve]

REBUILDING OBLIVION



I've created much of my character's history (I'll write it all out later), and I'm creating a new class for him: the Highlander.

I used his history and official Lore to guide my decisions. For example, as a player, I really dig the bow. But, I will not choose Marksmanship as one of his seven Major Skills because of who he is and where he comes from. He's a Nord. He comes from the north, where the terrain is uneven, rocky, and frosty. With the trees and rocks, distance weapons would not be a favored weapon among the Nord. One only has to look at the race's favored skills to support that thought.

No, Ryce (the name I chose--I'll tell you about that, later, too), is a strong, face-to-face brawler. He's going to be a heavy armor + axe + shield type of guy.



Highlander

Specialization: Combat
Attributes: Endurance, Strength

Combat Skills: Block, Armorer, Heavy Armor, Blunt.
Magic Skills: Destruction, Alteration, Restoration.



The combat skills are understandable. We're talking about a mean, snarling, highland warrior, here. But Nords are also somewhat magical. They have "The Art" flowing through their veins like almost all of Tamriel's inhabitants.

Nords, as a race, are favored with Restoration. That's why I picked that one for the class. Then, looking at the Nord Specials, those of the race get a protection spell, Woad. And, this led me to Alteration. Another Special they get is Nordic Frost, a touch spell that delivers frost damage. Thus, Destruction came into play.

Just an advice for your character, if you're still considering: only bother with Resoration spells if you intend to use at least a good magic overhaul. Vanilla Restoration gets pretty much limited to healing oneself in combat (may ruin a bit of the fun for some "realistic" melee character, and makes the skill progress fast anyway even as minor skill), and being able to ignore most attribute damages from diseases (kind of ruins the fun for an "immersive" player, too). The school can become more interesting if you're using magic overhauls, though, which give some interest in other spell types (healing cloud, durable buffs...)

[Joanne]

Just an advice for your character, if you're still considering: only bother with Resoration spells if you intend to use at least a good magic overhaul.

Thanks for the input. :thumbsup: I'm actually one of those fellows who likes the vanilla magic system. I may look at magic mods again somewhere down the road, but from my previous experience with some of them, I would always find something exploitable and uber-powerful. In one of the magic mods I tried in the past, a simple, low level, low magika cost spell became a game breaker (it allowed you to walk on air, and if you had enough magika, as my character did, you could walk clear accross Cyrodiil by throwing the spell over and over. If you ever got into trouble, you just threw that spell and walked out it.)

Vanilla Restoration gets pretty much limited to healing oneself in combat (may ruin a bit of the fun for some "realistic" melee character, and makes the skill progress fast anyway even as minor skill), and being able to ignore most attribute damages from diseases (kind of ruins the fun for an "immersive" player, too). The school can become more interesting if you're using magic overhauls, though, which give some interest in other spell types (healing cloud, durable buffs...)

My choices are more about role playing the character, too--about making an effective character, stat-wise, second. Story and background always come first. It's more about playing a character, flaws and all, rather than playing a game.

[CRuzIta LUVz grlz]

awesome post! thanks!

[Chris Jones]

Did you try LAME?

It's more powerful than vanilla, certainly, but only by virtue being more expanded, and less, well, annoying (hence the name).
Buffs last longer, for example. I won't play without it, or Supreme Magicka, but that's a tad powerful for a non-spellcaster to master.

Also, have you seen Sorcery's Toll? It adds a whole new element to spellcasting, wheras before, if you had the level and magicka, you could cast a spell perfectly every time, here you can cast any spell if you have the magicka, but if you go outside your mastery level (Determined by the spell school's attribute point), you'll feel major, or minor, backlashes, which can be inhibited with enchanted gear and weapons, and everything you'd expect. It's a fantastic mod for immersion, IMO (No more, get one more point and I can cast a new spell! stuff)

[e.Double]

The only problem with Sorcery's toll is that once you have it, if you decide to uninstall it, it has bad side effects.

It changes all spells you get to novice spells, and they will stay novice spells even after you've uninstalled the mod.

Delte: It is a very cool sounding mod, I just don't want to try it because of this. If you want to make a test character to try it out for awhile, maybe you'd like it.

Since you last tried Supreme Magicka, the .ini allows you to put penalties on the levitation spell. I think it's options are to have it cause either temporary stunted magicka, silence, or both. I personally use neither, and simply ignore the spell.

Supreme Magicka IMO does a good job of removing exploits from the vanilla game, and doesn't really introduce too many.

Midas... Well, The Force Push spell is invaluable to me. Perhaps a little overpowered.

I can knock people over, then hit 'em while their down, or if they're to strong, just use it to give me a head start in my run for it.


Delte: I just saw this, and it may be scary to you if you use OMODS.
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=984673

[candice keenan]

Just FYI, folks: If you've got a newer computer, dual or quad core, you really should look at the link I have in Post #2 to the Oblivion Tweak Guide. There, you'll find a section that covers many aspects of the game. I've got a pretty mean machine, but I was still getting a little lag and stutter here and there. So, I optimized my Oblivion.ini using the suggestions in the Oblivion Tweak Guide (pay attention to the dual core/hyperthreading section), and now my game runs like a newborn baby goblin's [censored].

Use Operation Optimization first. Then, hit the .ini tweaks in the Oblivion Tweak Guide.

I've got every setting in Oblivion maxed out, and things like decals (blood) lasting 3 minutes instead of 10 seconds.

If you need a performance bump, then check it out.

[Dan Endacott]

Delte: I just saw this, and it may be scary to you if you use OMODS.
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=984673

Hmm, I just loaded my very first OMODs last night. As I said before, I'm usually a manual type of guy.

That problem, though, could be two things: Breaking the games original mod limit (of, what is it, 211) to the 400 or so he was trying to do. And/Or, the bash patching of several mods to create one may have effected it.

That'd be my guess.

I don't plan on breaking the original limit (and OMODs are quite easy to work with). Plus, there seems to be a lot of OMOD users--you'd think others would report the same.

I think OMODs are safe. I just think that guy is pushing the modding thing too far.



BTW, the known issue with Oblivion taking a long time to shut down is definitley related to OBSE. Someone had figured that out before, but it was a guess. I remembered it, and watched. And, as soon as I installed OBSE, my game starting taking forever to quit (and I don't have near the mods I used to have).

[DAVId Bryant]

Delte, if you're talking about the problem I'm thinking you are, instead of going Exit > Exit Game, got to Exit > Main Menu.

The game will crash, and you can then click the "don't send" error report button, and it'll go away. Or, do ctrl+alt+del, processes and end the Oblivion process. For me, just ending the program doesn't work.

[Emily Jeffs]

The mod limit (as in active mods) is 255. 254 if you have Shivering Isles. The 400 limit is something different entirely; it refers to the total number of mod files (.esps .esms and .bsas for sure, possibly other file-types) in your Data folder. It doesn't matter if they are being used or not. Oblivion will read every file in its directory even if it has no real reason to do so. http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=941296 has quite a bit of information on it.

I didn't have 254 active mods, but I did have over 400 mod files in the Data files folder. It's very easy to do even with a relatively unmodded game (as I had just finished installing my FCOM-based base game) if you aren't careful as every little "option" file you never use counts toward this limit. Generally I manually install my files/make customised omods from the archives. Large, complicated scripted install omods though, have a tendency to extract all "option" files. I was intending to get my base-game set up and THEN merge files that should be merged. Had I merged as I went along and kept my CS-based mods out of there I wouldn't have broken that 400 mod files limit. Breaking that limit causes all sorts of wonky behaviour in-game (activators not working, textures that existed showing as "missing", objects disappearing...the linked thread above goes into more detail). It was in attempting to rectify this problem where the OBMM issue started up. I moved OBMM's omod directory (via its setting feature) to a folder outside the Oblivion tree. Everything seemed to be fine at the time. Unfortunately later on (when I went to rebuild the bashed patch) all the .esps were deleted because OBMM didn't find the omods where it expected them to be (I don't know why as I changed it via the settings folder, perhaps the changes didn't stick or something). .esps that weren't associated with an omod were spared.

My install wasn't anything spectacular. I just had FOM (FCOM minus WarCry), RBP, LAME + SM, HGEC, Robert's Male, UL and Better Cities. This is basically my "core game" without any other tweaks or quests added on, even the tweaks I consider to be essential (mostly immersion-related).