Please note: Delte's List is in the process of being updated. Bear with me....DELTE'S THREAD OF IMMERSION MODS...This thread is meant as a place for realism lovers to stop in from their journey, shake off the road dust, put their feet up, share an ale, and discuss their favorite realism mods. :thumbsup: Please, feel free to discuss any mod you enjoy as an immersionist. But, if you post about a suggested mod,
please provide a link! That little extra effort will go a long way to making this thread useful to others looking to make their game more immersive.
Among these pages, you will find
DELTE's LIST. This is a
growing collection of the specific realism mods I use in my own game. Each of these mods has been thoroughly play-tested, not only for bugs, but for compatibility with the other mods on the list. Unlike other mod recommendation lists, what you will find on Delte's List is my best recommendation for a mod of a particular type. You will not see recommendations for multiple mods that perform the same function. The mods that make it to Delte's List are the creme of the crop.
That said, I will also say that a man's mod list is personal. Ask ten different people about their top ten mods, and you'll get ten lists all describing different mods with a little overlap. You may agree or disagree with what I've picked as the "very best mod" of a particular type. Never lose sight of the fact that you are playing YOUR game. Customize YOUR game to YOUR tastes. But, also know that each mod on Delte's List is a mod that has been play-tested for its fullest potential.
Delte's List is still growing. It takes time to fully test mods. As I reach a decision on a mod, I will update the list. Check back from time to time. Not only will you see new additions to Delte's List, but you'll also find many excellent recommendations by this thread's readers.
...THE FOUR CORE IMMERSION MODS...http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=6430 is the absolute best bedroll mod I've seen. It's simple, easy to use, and it allows you to either steal a bedroll from a wilderness camp or sleep space in a dungeon or purchase one from a merchant. Excellent mod. And, it's very necessary when you need to grab a few hours of sleep after you're character has been stuck in a deep dark dungeon for two-plus days.
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=3816 Why do you need a bedroll? Not just to be able to level up quickly, right? It's because this mod will make you sleepy after several hours out there adventuring around. Unlike many other mods of this type, this one allows you to push yourself. You're not forced to sleep everyday. Your character just gets groggy and less effective the longer he goes without sleep. As in real life, you'll be weaker and less effective in combat if you're running on no sleep. The mod temporarily effects your stats. Once you get some sleep, your stats will improve. If you don't have time to sleep very long, then just grab a couple of hours. It will help. It'll get you through until you can capture some more ZZZ's later. This mod works perfectly with the other four mentioned here.
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=24649
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10798 This is an excellent, simple mod that allows you to eat most items from the Oblivion game world. It doesn't take a lot of time, either. There's no messing around with cooking procedures that take zero game-time. When your character gets hungry, simply click on a food item in your inventory. What I like so much about Thingamajig's update of Dominic's mod is that he took out the "Food Units Required" message that would pop up, telling the player exactly how many units of food to eat (although this information is still available, for those who want to know, via the character stat screen). What this mod does is simply tell the player that the character is hungry. The player selects what the character will eat. If it's not enough, a message will pop up telling the player that the character is still hungry. If it is enough, the message will state that the character is full. Also, calories count. So, the more you eat, the longer it will be until you're hungry again. If you eat a couple of carrots and an apple, you'll be hungry again faster than you will if you eat a steak, a potato, lettuce and tomato, with bread and a sweetroll for dessert. And, as a bonus, I've discovered that you can make potions from food that will serve as a meal replacement! That's right! Just fire up your alchemy bench. Select some food...poof! You've got a V8 drink you can take with you on your forays out into the world. Plus, with the fatigue mod, weight will always be an issue for you. Making these drinks will cut down on the weight of the food you carry, not unlike a ration bar! (Vanilla Oblivion sets potion weight at 0.5 pounds. If you're using OOO, you'll see that most of your potions--including these--will be 0.3 pounds, give or take. I've noticed the weight of the potion depends on what foods are used!) RH 1.4 is dependent on MMM (because it includes new foodstuffs from MMM). If you are not an MMM user, Doomguy has made a version of the mod that can be used without the MMM requirement: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=13479.
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10925 This is a brilliant mod. The more weight you carry, the less energy you'll have to run...the less energy you'll have to fight. It's scaled, too. So, unlike vanilla Oblivion, where your character is carrying 399 pounds of equipment against his 400 pound limit
and not suffering a penalty, but then
he can't move because he picked up a 2 pound dagger, this mod applies penalties gradually. It also snowballs. At first, your fatigue hits are un-noticable. But, as you pick up more and more weight, the penalties become bigger and bigger. At the lowest character levels, this fatigue mod is harsh. Players will really have to watch their weight and their exertion. But, just like everything else, as the character levels up, fatigue becomes less and less an issue. By the time the character is past 10th level, he'll be able to sprint for quite a distance, with a fairly heavy load, before he has to stop and catch his breath. This mod will make fatigue potions and fatigue replacing spells very important to you (when was the last time that happened in your game?). You'll find little tricks: like throwing a fatigue spell as you run, wearing a Ring of Feather to lighten your load, riding your horse instead of walking, only running when absolutely necessary, and when you do, you'll sprint for short distances. The best part of this mod? It's the blurred vision and gasping-for-air sounds you'll hear when your character's fatigue is low. If you push yourself too far, you just might collapse!
A note on Timescale...If you're going to start using these realism mods, I also suggest you adjust your game's timescale. What is "timescale"? It's the rate at which time passes in your game. The default timescale setting in Oblivion is 30. That means that one real minute passing equals 30 minutes in the game.
If you use these realism mods on the vanilla timescale setting, you're going to be eating and needing to sleep all the time. It will become "no fun" quickly. What you need to do is slow down the time in your game. Many Oblivion players do this anyway, without using realism mods. It just makes for a better, more enjoyable game. If you do business with two merchants, a whole gameday hasn't passed (as it will in vanilla Oblivion). Francesco's mod, even, comes with an optional plugin that allows you to adjust your game's timescale.
Most gamers who adjust the timescale in their games will adjust it to a timescale of 10 to 15. A timescale of 12 is not uncommon at all. A timescale of 10, for example, means the game will run two thirds slower than vanilla Oblivion. A timescale of 15 means that the game will run half as fast as vanilla.
How do you adjust timescale? It's a simple console command. Just open the console and type:
set timescale to 10. Change the value to any timescale setting you desire. If you want to play in real-time mode, then use the command:
set timescale to 1. Your game will then proceed at a pace equal to real time. One real minute will equal one minute in the game. (You could actually set your real clock by it.) If, for any reason, you wish to go back to vanilla timescale, then just type:
set timescale to 30. Voila. You're back at default time. As I mention above, many Oblivion players, whether they use realism mods or not, choose a timescale of 10, 12, or 15. I personally use a timescale of 12 in my game. That way, 12 hours in the game is 60 minutes of real time, so, there will be a game-playing hour of daylight and a game-playing hour of darkness. Every two real hours is a game day.
Timescale can also be used as a more immersive device when your character is waiting in the game. When you use the
wait button, the game is acutally paused, and time in the game is adjusted a number of hours (that you decide upon using the wait menu). What happens, mechanically, is that the character is just transported in time from one moment to the next. If, while playing, you wish to wait, but you want to wait
and still allow the game world around to you live, then just use the timescale console command. If you're waiting to follow an NPC, for example, who hasn't left his house one fine morning, get to your vantage point early, and then adjust timescale to speed up game time. You may want to set your timescale to 60 (double vanilla) or higher. If you want a good laugh, adjust timescale to a really high number and watch the day pass as if you were watching time-lapse photography. Encounters will still happen. NPCs will adjust their schedules to the new timescale (give them time for their AI to adjust). The sun will travel faster in the sky. Weather will change rapidly. Once you're done waiting (as when the NPC you were waiting for leaves his house), simply change your timescale back down to its normal level and continue the game. If you've forgotten where you last set timescale, then open the console and type:
show timescale.
...THE BIG IMMERSION MODS...http://devnull.sweetdanger.net/OOO/ This should be the starting point for any realism player. OOO does so much to tilt your game towards realism that I'd have to take pages and pages to explain it all. Besides, much of the fun of OOO is just discovering it by yourself. Once you load it, you won't see much of a change at first. But, then, you'll notice things...was that always like that...or is it part of OOO? "I don't know," you'll say to yourself, "but it's cool!" This mod won the http://goty.gamespy.com/2006/pc/index15.html award in 2006, and to quote that review: " Playing Oblivion before and after installing OOO is a night-and-day experience." I completely agree. I was so tired of advancing a couple of levels, then looking around at the bandits, and all of the bandits are magically wearing ebony and daedric armor. Where were these guys when I was 3rd level? Well, OOO changes all that. OOO makes for a more immersive, realistic world. This is a highly recommended mod, and I haven't provided a link because updates are coming out all the time (and, I'm sure, you already know where to get the latest version). Hot-fixes for OOO, until the new version is released, can be found http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=13053
http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=OblivionMods.Detail&id=4226 In my view, MMM is the necessary companion to OOO. Where OOO makes for a more realistic, immersive world, MMM makes that world even more real by adding variety. And, isn't variety the spice of life? I haven't provided a link to this one as well because CorePC is hard at work delivering updates all the time. (I'm sure you know where to get the latest version of this mod, too.) For those of you curious about optimal load order when using MMM, review CorePC's remarks in post #180 of http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=764109&st=160&gopid=11101145&#entry11101145 thread.
A note on MMM Options...MMM is completely customizable. Here are the customizations I recommend. (If you don't see an MMM plugin listed here, it's either a plugin that I don't recommend and have no comment about, or it's a newer plugin that has been released with a newer version of MMM...and I haven't had time to update this list.)
MMM Additional Enemy Vars. This will add variations in the enemies you face, tilting your game more towards reality and variety.
MMM Bats Addon. This will add bats to your game.
MMM City Defenses. Among other things, this addon will put archers on the battlements of the cities. When beasties get close, the bows start a-twangin'.
MMM Diverse Creature Skins. This plugin will provide variety in how creatures look. Not all imps will look the same way. Some will be black. Some will be red. Some will look as they do in the vanilla game. Etc.
MMM Diverse Imperial Armor. This plugin will change the armor worn by the Imperial Legion. Note that I
do not recommend this plugin if you are using OOO. The reason is that OOO already changes Imperial Armor. Since MMM is loaded after OOO, MMM's armor types will take precedence. I prefer the OOO changes. You might want to try both to see which you prefer.
MMM Durability & Damage. It is recommended that you
not use this plugin with OOO, as OOO already has durability and damage adjustments included in that mod. If you use this plugin, the MMM version will be used instead. I use the OOO version in my game.
MMM Friendlier Factions. I don't use this plugin in my game, but another realism player might want to use it. What it does is make factions (types of NPCs and creatures) less aggressive towards each other, so you're less likely to stumble upon fights among NPCs and creature combatants. I
don't recommend this plugin to realism players because I find it much more realistic to wander into a fight for which my character has no part. It adds to the illusion that your character is not the center of the universe. Other people get into disagreements whether you're around or not. Creatures attack NPCs whether you're there to watch it or not. It will raise the hair on the back of your neck, I'll tell you, when you stumble upon the
aftermath of such a battle. You'll find carcasses slumped everywhere, and you'll start wondering, "What the hell did this?"
MMM Gems & Gem Dust. This is highly recommended for the alchemy lovers out there. Gems have special properties. Crush one up with a mortar and pestle and find out!
MMM Hunting & Crafting. Kill a deer. Take its skin. Tan the hide. Use that leather to make armor. Throw in some bones or pieces of metal, and you have studded leather. Or... Find a bone. Make some arrow shafts. Find a feather. Make some flights. Kill an ogre. Pull out his teeth. Carve arrowheads from those teeth. Put your parts together, and be pleased with yourself as you have one bad-arsed arrow that does some heafty damage. I highly recommend this plugin.
MMM Less Bone Loot. I recommend this plugin for the realism player in that it limits the amount of useful bones you'll find on downed enemies. Without this plugin, the Hunting & Crafting plugin above becomes too easy (leading to the game becoming unbalanced). Using this Less Bone Loot plugin makes your discoveries of useful materials "just right", in my opinion.
MMM Looting NPCs & Creatures. Using this plugin, you'll see others loot bodies. If you get to the carcass after they do, there might not be anything of value left for you. It depends on what the looting NPC or creature wanted. If you find a creature or NPC has taken something you want, well, kill him! Then loot
his corpse. He'll have what he took on him!
MMM Resized Races. This nifty plugin will resize the races. You'll see bigger, more intimidating orcs. Altmer are tall and thin. Nords are bigger and stockier than Imperials. Wood elves are small and slightly bigger than halflings. Etc.
MMM Vindasel. Vindasel is an Ayleid ruin and location of a special quest. This plugin keeps MMM random beasties from spawning there. I recommend using this plugin.
MMM Creatures Addon. More, and more varied, creatures? Absolutely!
A note on MMM Travel Plugins...MMM Spawn Rates Reduced, Reduced and
MMM Safer Roads. These two are highly, highly recommended plugins for the realism player. I don't find it realistic at all to stumble into a battle every time I crest a hill. These two plugins go a long way towards making your journeys more realistic. Using the two, you'll sometimes be able to make a trek to another town, on foot, without having a single encounter (although you may see some beasties off the road that may not see you). Then again, sometimes you'll stumble into a goblin war party. It just depends...kinda like real life! If you want to battle miscellaneous creatures every time you hit the roads, then don't use these plugins. If you do want a more realistic world where the roads are still a bit dangerous but not to the point where civilians can't get from one town to the next, then follow my recommendation and use these two plugins.
MMM More Wilderness Life. Although the MMM readme highly recommends this plugin, I
do not. What this plugin does is simply add more spawn points to the wilderness. As I describe above, it's more of a realistic experience to be able to go out into the wood and not get automatically attacked. Not using this plugin, but using the two plugins above, will keep your wilderness journeys more immersive. Sometimes you'll get attacked, and sometimes you won't.
...THE IMMERSIVE WORLD AROUND YOU...http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=OblivionMods.Detail&id=36186&id=3443 This is an excellent mod by a very talented modder. This mod will add weight to vanilla Oblivion's "magically weightless" gold. The mod comes with an in-game menu that you can use to adjust weight of each Septim to your taste. For example, you might set each Septim to weigh 0.01 pounds. So, every 100 coins you carry will add another pound to your weight total. (I recommend using a weight of 0.01 pounds per coin, and I base this on a Google search of coins used in Medieval Europe.) If you're using the highly recommended http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10925 mod, weight will always be a concern (as it is in real life). So, you'll need to store your gold reserves in other places. This mod treats gold much the way arrows are treated in the vanilla game. You click on the coin in your inventory, and a slider menu pops up, asking you how many coins you would like to transfer. You can transfer gold to sacks or chests or crates (Make sure it's a non-respawning container if you do this! If you're using OOO, you'll have access to a few non-respawning containers that are not available in the vanilla game.). You can transfer gold to companion inventories (For example, you can have Ruined Tail carry some of your gold for you.) When you buy and sell with merchants, you'll see your gold weight change. If you want to drop Septims on the ground, you can do this, too. The slider will ask you how many coins you wish to drop. When you're done, you'll find coins on the ground at your feet. In the in-game menu, you can set what each gold coin you drop is worth. For example, if you want to drop a single gold coin of a value of 1 Septim, you can do that. Be careful, though. If you drop a lot of new items into the game world (like anything else), you may experience lag issues. A better idea might be to set each coin with a value of 100 Septims or so. This way, if you drop 437 coins, you'll see five Septims at your feet: There will be four coins with a value of 100 Septims and one with a value of 37. I highly, highly recommend this mod. It's perfect for realism players.
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5629 Is a neat little mod that will simply make gold coins look better in your game. Sometimes, you'll see them from a distance if the torch-light glints off of them just right.
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=3172 This mod will give you a place to store your gold. Since you're using the http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10925 and the http://forums.spellholdstudios.net/index.php?automodule=downloads&showfile=444, you can't go around carrying thousands and thousands of gold coins with you. I mean, you're a realism player, after all, right? If you store your gold coins in someone else's chest, well, someone else just might steal your loot (referring to the respawning containers in the game). What are you going to do with all those coins? You're going to put it into Cyrodiil's bank! The mod will put a new building in the Market District of the Imperial City. Here, you can rent chests (non-respawning, saftey-deposit-box-like, containers) in which to store not only your gold but any other items you wish to keep and not carry on your person. You can open an account with the bank. The bank will charge you a fee for this. Once your account is open, you can deposit and withdraw funds, but there will be a 2 percent fee for each transaction you do with the bank. While your money is in the bank, you will earn interest! If you wish to retrieve your money while you're away from the Imperial City, just visit the associated merchant in the nearest town. You can do all of your banking transactions there as well. If you're a thief, you just might consider a trip to Imperial City to see just want others are keeping inside all those tempting chests in the bank vault....
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=9357 Speaking of vaults...well, this mod will place vaults inside all the major castles in the game. This adds to the illusion that Cyrodill is a real place with a real economy. That's all I'm going to tell you about it. If you're a thief, well, get to thieving!
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=4805 This mod will lend to the illusion that Cyrodiil is a living, breathing place. It puts a few travelers and merchants on the roads, bringing the reality of messengers being sent to and fro; merchants bringing wares to fill up stock on other cities; bank records being transferred from one of the bank's locations to the next. This is the best version of CR that has yet been developed. Earlier versions placed too many travellers on the roads. It would lag a game down. And, too often, one would come across another dead merchant that some beastie or bandit had killed. This version is much improved over the others. You'll see
some travellers on the roads, but not all the time. Sometimes, you'll see one. Sometimes, you'll see a group. Sometimes, the travellers will run, but most of the time, they'll walk. Every once in a while, you'll see one on horseback. The best part about this mod is that it's not just the guards, the bandits, and you out on the roads anymore. Other people use the roads, too! When you play the Anvil Mages Guild quest that focuses on merchants traveling the roads, this mod will keep you from thinking, "What merchants are they talking about? I haven't seen any merchants."
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=4432 If you've got OOO, then you've also got this mod (as it comes as an option in the OOO download). Living Economy is a "must have" mod. Where some of the other mods I've mentioned here lend themselves to the illusion of Cyrodiil having a real economy, this mod takes the illusion one step further. I won't go into everything this mod does. Suffice it to say that every realism player should have it. The mod comes with some options as well. I highly recommend that the
Living Economy-Items and the
Cut Throat Merchants plugins be used to ensure the highest level of immersion in your game world is achieved.
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=12367 Isn't it crazy how, in vanilla Oblivion, it's not that hard at all to get NPCs disposition towards you to the 80's, 90's, or even at 100, in no time flat? Are you
that good of a guy?. Well, this mod changes all that. Gone is the silly mini-game. Instead, now you have to
roleplay what you say to the NPC. If it's a woman, and your character is male, well, admiring her might work for you. If you're in a bar sharing an ale with a tough orc mercenary, you might want to try a joke or maybe boast about your previous accomplishments. The type of character YOU are effects modifiers on your chance to change an NPC's disposition. Thus, if you're a thief, and the NPC can tell you're a thief (probably by the way you look), then you'll have negative modifiers on your disposition improvement chance when you are speaking to a church elder. On the other hand, your thief character will, most likely, get along very well with other thieves (as long as he hasn't done anything to make them
not like him). This is a "must have" mod for the immersionist, and Strategy Master has done a superb job in updating Parsons' orignal work. One of the biggest effects of this mod is that it actually makes your
Personality stat meaningful. You will no longer automatically sell Potions of Chrisma, charm spells, and magical items that boost your Personality stat. Those items will be important to you as you'll need them to influence others and get what you want (for the price you want).
A note on obtaining wealth...These mods, in conjuntion, will go a long way to making Cyrodiil a place in which to
live, not just
game. OOO, the fatigue mod, the Persuaion Overhaul, the bank, Living Economy, and gold weight will all work together to make your game a much more realistic experience. Gone is the huge, unrealistic influx of gold that you get in the vanilla game. With these mods, you'll have to pick and choose your treasure. As in real life, you'll be looking for light, easy-to-carry valuables. You'll think twice before you pick up that heavy silver two-handed hammer to drag back to the merchants in order to catch a few coins. Gone are the days that you'll be able to clean out every single item from a dungeon. You won't be able to carry it all. When you do business, you'll favor some merchants over others. Sometimes, when you sell something, you'll find it available through another merchant in another town. You'll have to pick and choose your large purchases, because you won't have enough gold to do it all. When you want to buy a house, you'll have to save (and this may take you an entire character level of saving to get what you want). And, you'll hardly ever get top dollar for whatever it is you're selling. Like real life, the better your skills in this area, the better salesman you'll become. These mods make your
Mercantile and
Speechcraft skills
IMPORTANT!. Now, with these mods, being an Imperial character is very, very attractive, because, more than likely, your Imperial will become wealthier quicker than a character of a different race.
...YOU AND YOUR IMMERSIVE FIGHTER...http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=9333 Like many mods listed in
Delte's List, this is one of those that you just want to ask yourself, "Why wasn't this included in the vanilla game?" As it stands in vanilla Oblivion, if you nock an arrow with your bow, you
have to fire the svcker. Well, Scruggs has made a simple yet brilliant (and in my opinion, necessary) mod that allows you to simply ease the string back on your bow and slip the arrow back into your quiver. No more firing straight into the ground when you decide not to let loose! All you have to do now is hit your "grab" key while an arrow is nocked. Touch the grab key, and your arrow will go back into your quiver. The mod even provides animation! You'll see your arms quickly move to replace the arrow when you denock!
...YOU AND YOUR IMMERSIVE MAGE...http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5478 Here is another mod that will make the game much more realistic. What this mod does is allow you to use alchemy apparatuses from the bench. No longer are you forced to use them from your inventory. Now, you can set up an alchemy work room in your house (or Weynon Priory or some other safe location). Once you get your equipment set up, simply activate the apparatuses (always activate the morar & pestel last). If you want to pick up the equipment for transport, then go into sneak mode, and you can pick the items up normally. I aways found it extremely immersion-breaking that brewing potions could be done, in an instant, right in the middle of a dungeon. Doesn't brewing a potion take fire? Doesn't it take some time? These aren't little vials in which you mix a few crushed up leaves with some water. The sound that plays when potions are made indicates a brewing action is taking place. What I do in my game is set up an alchemy station at a safe location, whether that be my home/castle/tower/etc. Get yourself a good mod that adds tents to the game and set yourself up a make-shift alchemy bench out in your wilderness camp, if you like. I make a number of potions (mostly Restore Hunger potions, using the Real Hunger mod above, that act as rations when I go dungeon exploring) that I think I'm going to need for my upcoming journey, and I go with that. If I run out, well, I just didn't plan well, did I? I don't take alchemy apparatuses with me. That wouldn't be realistic, now would it? Besides, weight is always an issue (using the Realstic Fatigue mod above). Sometimes, though, I'll find an alchemy bench set-up down in whatever old fort I'm exploring. Maybe the necromancers there are using it. Well, there's nothing stopping me from firing up that set and making a brew or two while out in the wild, now is there? At Home Alchemy makes this possible. This is a fantastic mod, and I highly recommend it.
...YOU AND YOUR IMMERSIVE THIEF...http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5156 When I first began to play this mod, I thought to myself, "It's nothing special. Just a new shop with a dude who will give you a couple of thieving quests. It may have been '
something' back when there were few mods for Oblivion, but now, I'm not super-impressed." Oh, how wrong I was. This quest mod is INCREDIBLE! It is so deserving of its place on the list of http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=oblivionmods.HOF. The mod meshes seemlessly with the vanilla game. You'll notice a new shop in the Market District of the Imperial City. After a time, you may get to know the proprietor of that shop, and if he likes you enough, he may tell you about a "job" or two. This mod does not hold you by the hand (as many of the vanilla quests do). The quest markers remain, but they will only point you to the general area of your goal. It's really up to you to
think as you play through the quests. Think like a thief. There is
hidden content in this mod, as well. You might find some of that content, but I doubt you will find it all (unless you cheat and read the walkthrough that comes with the mod). Do yourself a favor and don't cheat. Just slap this mod into your game and forget about it. Play through it organically, as you would any other vanilla quest. You don't have to do it all at once. In fact, the mod is designed to be played "in parts". You'll do a mission, then go do something else. Once you're back in the Imperial City, you'll visit Derrien (the shop's proprietor), and he may have something new for you. The brilliance of this mod came to me one day when Pugg (my character) was stopping by the Market District with some hot items to unload. It was a bright day. The sun was high in the sky. I went by Derrien's shop, but I found it closed. Closed? How can that be? Is this mod screwed up? Is Derrien's AI out of sync? Shouldn't he be open at noon? Well, Pugg was tired, so he dragged his butt to the Merchant's Inn to get a room (Real Sleep mod), and what did he find? Derrien was having lunch. Brilliant, I tell you. This mod is brilliant. Be sure to get the http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5391 if you are using an older version of this mod. Derrien will act as a fence for you, even if you don't follow the quests. He's not in the thieves guild. He's an outside operator. I find this quite balanced with the rest of the game
as long as you don't add additional fences to the game that are not members of the guild. Derrien should be the only fence in the entire game that is allowed to operate outside of the theives guild. Otherwise, you risk unbalancing your game and making the thieves guild moot. Immersion-wise, the theives guild would not tolerate too many independent fences. But, they tolerate Sneaky Sam, who provides some goodies "you can find at your local store, that's for damn sure." And, it's not a stretch to believe they will tolerate Derrien, if he's the only one. Derrien probably pays them off anyway. My only complaint with this mod is that the second part hasn't been created. At the close of the main quest in this mod (there are several quests included with this mod), a second part is alluded to. Hey, here's an idea. Let's all PM JOG to finish the second part! (Oh, yeah, right...I'm sure he would appreciate that!)
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10256 If you're going to use
Thievery in the Imperial City above, then MAKE SURE you use this mod too. It's the perfect expansion for JOG's mod--so much so that I'd like to see the two mods bundled together. Lynge's mod is simple. It adds access to the roofs of the Imperial City...the "theives highway". It also does a little more than that, but I don't want to spoil it. This mod has its own surprises too. Just trust me when I say, "If you're going to use TinIC, then absolutely use this mod along side it."
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=6359 OOO users know that many guard, security, chest, and stealth tweaks come bundled in that wonderful uber-mod. JOG's Stealth Overhaul takes those tweaks one step further. Various factors, such as weapon weight (speed) and length (reach) now determine a weapon's backstab multiplier. Character skill and natural ability now affect all aspects of stealth. Heavy armor (not just your boots, as in vanilla!), all clinking and clanking, is much harder to sneak around in, while light armor receives a lighter penalty too (unlike vanilla). And, wearing no armor at all provides a sneak bonus. Daggers can now be used to backstab with a x32 multiplier, simulating the cutting a victim's throat. And, all of these settings are customizable in the mod. Simply set them to your tastes. Now, quick keys are added (uses different keys than the standard quick keys) that will allow you to rapidly alter your character's set-up. For example, you could set one quick key to configure the character to wear particular armor, sword, and shield. Another quick key might provide a bow configuration. Yet a third quick key might arm the character with a staff. I find these quick keys non-immersive, and thus I don't use them. But, I do use the two penalty buttons that come with the mod. You can set two keys on your keyboard that, when selected, will show you your current backstab multiplier with a particular weapon. I figure a good thief would know how useful a long sword would be versus a dagger (and, as I've alluded to above, the dagger will most likely be the better choice--as it would be in real life). A second key will tell you your stealth penalties. Again, I figure a good thief will know that his shield sounds when the leather strap rubs across the shield's cymbal-like surface, hindering the thief as he's trying to sneak. This is a great mod. Perfect for thieves. You'll want to load it after OOO to allow this mod to take precedence.
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=9730 Tired of the sneak eye glowing bright when an NPC has spotted you? It's an immersion breaker, right? Always seemed like a cheat? Well, get rid of that svcker! There are no guarrantees in sneaking. You don't know if anybody is paying attention to you or not. The sneak eye in the game is just another of the hand-holding measures (like Fast Travel from any point and the GPS Quest Arrow) that Bethesda has included for impatient gamers. We realism players do not need crutches like that, do we? Heck no! We don't! That's where this simple little mod comes in. Just drop it into your game, and it will turn the textures on your sneak eye invisible. It's really still there. You just can't see it. Voila. No more sneak hand holding! This is a "must" for true immersionists.
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=3830 I can only recommend half of this mod. The download comes with two esp files. One will put ladders on some cities, allowing you to climb over the walls instead of go through the front gates. The other sticks alternate entrances into
some of the cities, usually via a secret cave. I don't recommend the ladders because it isn't immersive. Guards would see you climbing over the walls, wouldn't they? And, with MMM's City Defenses plugin that puts guards walking the city battlements, the ladders part of this mod is out of the question. If the guards are going to see you anyway, why not just walk in through the front gates? And, the guards would stumble upon the ladder sometime, wouldn't they? They'd eventually get rid of it. I mean, it's not secret--it's draqed across the wall out in the open. The other esp, though, is a nice little mod. Not all of the cities come with a special entrance. Some do. Some don't. My recommendation is to only use the
Stealth Entrances.esp, and I'll recommend you go one step further...
DON'T READ THE SECTION OF THE README THAT TELLS YOU WHICH CITIES ACTUALLY HAVE STEALTH ENTRANCES!!!! Just put the mod in your game, then forget about it. Discover the hidden entrances on your own. They're not extremely hard to find. In fact, you'll probably find them pretty quickly. But, respect your immersive play and use this mod as a neat "discovery" while you play the game. You'll enjoy what this mod has to offer so much more if you are disciplined that way.
A note on lockpicking...I highly recommend using a mod that will drastically change your game. Immersion players playing thieves will adore this mod. It's http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=3742, and it is a brilliant addition to the traps and locks and security upgrades implemented with OOO. What this mod will do is place a cover over the tumblers you normally see when picking a lock. It makes you
feel your way around a lock, the way a real thief would. Included is
ModMan's Lock Difficulty Text Remover which will remove the difficulty text you see when you place your mouse pointer over a chest. Using ModMan's esp, you'll only be able to tell if a chest or door is locked. You won't automatically see the difficulty of the lock. For that, you'll actually have to start picking the lock in order to learn that information. I'm telling you, pulling out a pick and counting the tumblers manually to find the difficulty really adds a lot of immersion to the game. It feels much more like picking a lock!
Using the Blind Lockpicking mod will increase the difficulty of your game without a doubt. But, don't fret. Without giving away any spoilers, there are more than one means already built into Oblivion to make lockpicking easier. So, using the mod will be an immersive hindrance to you
for a while. As you game, you'll find easier ways of bypassing locks (and I'm not just talking about increasing your Security skill or using Open Lock spells).
One thing the Blind Lockpicking mod does do, though, is unbalance the game with regard to lockpicks. You'll definitely break loads and loads more lockpicks (especially at lower Security skill levels) than you do in the normal game. Because lockpicks don't grow on trees in the Oblivion game world, you will need another method of obtaining them. I suggest using another brilliant mod called http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=9258. By using this mod, your character will be able to buy a metal file from some vendors. This file can be used to make lockpicks from items found in the game. If your character is not in the Thieves Guild, then any appropriate metal item found in the world can be fashioned into a lockpick (such as metal tongs or a rake). What I like about this process is that it is not automatic. Your character's Armorer and Security skills are used to determine the successful chance. Characters who are members of the Thieves Guild can buy lockpick blanks from fences, making for easy creation of lockpicks (rather than having to cut and fold pieces from a metal plate).
Also included with GP's Lockpicks mod is a nice
clear base texture that you can use to remove the wooden base on the lockpicking graphic when you are picking locks. This is simply an aesthetic, but I think the look of the lockpicking graphic, with the clear base, and the cover from the Blind Lockpicking mod, is terrific. You'll find the clear base texture in the Alternate Files folder included with the download (and you'll also find a new, better looking lockpick icon for your inventory, too).
NOTE: I do not recommend the Lockpicks mod if you are not also using the Blind Lockpicking mod. The Lockpicks mod is an immersive way to correct the lockpick imbalance caused by the Blind Lockpicking mod. With the vanilla game, the Lockpicks mod makes available
too many lockpicks, leading to munchkinism. Don't be a munchkin gamer. Be an immersionist!
...THE IMMERSIVE WAY IN WHICH YOU LIVE...http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=4666 This excellent mod will remove all those wooden doors you see providing entrances to the various caves and mines that dot the landscape of Cyrodiil. Now, you will see pitch black dark cave entrances--simple dark holes in the rock. There are two versions of the mod. One makes the door texture transparent, so that you can't see it. It's still there, though, and when you approach a cave, you activate it like you would if you could see the door. I don't use that version. What I like is the more immersive automatic version. As you approach the cave entrance (try to stay to your right), when you get close enough, you'll automatically enter the cave as if you had just walked in. No activation required. The same thing happens when you exit (try to stay to your left). Just approach the mouth of the cave and you will automatically exit. I give this mod my highest rating. It's superb.
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=8802 The immersive player wants his deep dark holes to be dark, dark, correct? This mod
does it. Some caves are brighter than others, depending on light sources. There will be times, though, that you'll be deep down in an ancient Ayleid ruin, where you can't see anything--not even the weapon you are holding. I'm talking pitch [censored] black! Be sure to adjust your monitor correctly. Don't lighten your screen using the brightness, contrast, or gamma controls. All you need to do is bring a torch! This mod comes with two esps, one of which applies the mod to the Shivering Isles!
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=13448 With the night-sky and dark dungeon mods, there are times that I cannot see my character's hands and weapons in front of him because my character happens to be in a place that is absolutely light-less. These times require a light source. I've used several different torch mods since I've been modding Oblivion, but I had never found one with the right amount of brilliance. This is where StarX jumped in. He took Frugal's original Drop Lit Torches mod, tweaked the light so that it is bright at its source but rapidly declines as the viewer retreats, then added weight to the item. Being a realism player, I wanted my torches to actually
weigh something. The result of StarX's tweaking is the best torch mod I've ever used. It's down right perfect. This mod provides a more brilliant torch, with a wider radius, incorporating weight to the item (and the results of a net search of torches used in Medieval Europe were used to determine the weight), retaining the "dropping" ability of the original mod. Now, OOO includes its own special version of DLT, so if you're using OOO (as I am), just load this mod
after OOO, and you shouldn't have any problems.
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=11474 This is a "must" for immersionists who own the official Bethesda plugins. And, kudos to Strategy Master for another masterful mod. What this mod does is make you chance upon the information about the official Bethesda plugins (all but the new Fighter's Stronghold...but I'll bet Strategy Master updates his mod to include that one) in an organic way. Gone are the jarring quests that automatically pop up telling you that you have an inheritance from a long lost relative (how lame is that?) when you load the plugins. Now, with this mod, you will find out about the different plugins in the course of your adventures. You'll find them like you do normal quests.
MY BEST ADVICE with mods like this is to
REFRAIN FROM READING THE SECTION IN THE README where you are told how to obtain the quests. I mean, if you're going to do that, then why are you using this mod in the first place? Why not just go with the lame-o Bethesda long-lost-relative routine and have access to the plugin right from the get-go? Immersionists want to game and find things like this
through the game. They want to delight in
discovery. So, do yourself a big favor, and just load the plugins before forgetting about them. Just forget they're in your game. When you happen upon something
in-the-game that will lead you to the plugin, you'll enjoy it ten times more. Now, this mod is best used with a new game, but a new game is not necessary to use the mod. Instructions are provided in the readme for loading this this mod during a current game. That's the way I did it (and I'm so glad I now have this mod). The mod is also modular. You only need to load the esps that are appropriate to the official plugins that you own.
...YOU AND YOUR IMMERSIVE MACHINE...http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=4109 II is an excellent, extremely easy to use, mod that will remove the clutter from your HUD, making your actual view of the game world that much more immersive. Take a look at this http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc84/KodaChrome_Me/ScreenShot15-2.jpg from my game. Where are all the HUD elements? Well, only the necessary ones remain. If you look hard, you'll see that the crosshair is still there, but subdued. Down at the bottom left of the screen, my current selected weapon is pictured. Below it is a ribbon that tells me, at a glance, the weapon's condition. Next to it is my current selected spell. And, that's it. That's all I need. The rest of the HUD has been stripped bare of anything that would interfere with my immersive play. I've got the compass disabled (You can choose not to disable the compass), but I can still view it if I open my inventory screen--which simulates the character having to pull a compass from his pocket in order to view it. The ribbons showing Health, Fatigue, and Magicka only appear if they drop significantly. Otherwise, you're not bothered with them for slight drops that are rapidly replenished. Once you've installed the Immersive Interface, you can re-adjust your setting simply by running the mod again (just double click on the .exe file in your Oblivion folder). The mod is highly customizable. Once you run the installer, you're asked a series of questions: Where do you want your screen elements to appear? Do you want to see your Health/Fatigue/Magicka ribbons all the time or only when they drop significantly? Do you want muted screen elements or bright text? You get the idea. What a brilliant mod! It's a "must" for every immersion player.
Oblivion.ini This is your game's initiation file. It's the file that Oblivion looks at in order to set itself when loading. Many games will store the ini in the game's main directory, but Oblivion stores it in a different location by default. There are many tweaks that can be made to your game by adjusting settings in the ini file. You can find out about several of them by perusing the http://www.tweakguides.com/Oblivion_1.html. I will be making reference to some tweaks you should consider making (as an immersionist) in this chapter of
Delte's List. By default, your ini file is located in the
My Documents/My Games/Oblivion folder.
CONSOLE I'm sure you already know how to do this, but in an effort to make
Delte's List complete, I'll take you through the quick step of opening your game's command console. While in-game, hit the tilde key. The tilde key is the "~" squiggly line to the left of the number 1 at the top left of your keyboard. Once you hit that, your game will pause and the console will open. Type your command, press "enter", then close the menu. You're done. There are several console commands discussed in the http://www.tweakguides.com/Oblivion_1.html. Many mods have menus and settings that can be controled via the console. It's a simple operation to get to know.
NOTE TO VISTA USERS: Some Vista users have reported trouble with opening the game's console. To this,
Skycaptain has responded with an aid. Download his http://www.elricm.com/nuke/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&file=index&req=viewdownloaddetails&lid=4087, and you, too, will be able effect Oblivion game console commands.
Disable Your MUSIC! You're bee-boppin' around Cyrodiil, listening to the fantastic (I love it) Oblivion soundtrack, when, abruptly, the music changes. It's battle music! Immediately, you start to look for the enemy. Where is he? Yeah...see, a real immersionist despises this. There should be no warning! You should have no heads-up-beacon that alerts you that danger is near and conflict is imminent. The immersionist will disable his music in his game's ini file. To do this, simply open your ini and look for this line:
bMusicEnabled=1. Simply change the value so that it reads like this:
bMusicEnabled=0. Voila, you no longer have music enabled in your game, but you WILL continue to hear atmospheric sounds. In fact, it will be a whole new game for you as you hear the sounds of nature and battle that you've never paid attention to before. It will be, guarranteed, much more immersive for you. As a bonus, your game will run a little smoother with the music disabled. System resources are no longer required to play music (not many people realize that a computer sometimes struggles more with playing sounds than it does displaying some graphics...both operations require large amounts of system resources). Just turning the music volume down to zero will not provide this benefit. The music is still playing, using system resources. You just can't hear it. In order to get the performance bump (which will be noticable or not noticable, depending on your specific machine), you'll have to disable music in the ini, and I recommend it (more for the immersion bump than the performance bump). For those of you quasi-immersionists out there who insist on keeping your music (and, as I said, I do dearly love the Oblivion soundtrack), there are options. Take a look at post #5 and post #7 in http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=764109 thread. You'll find some options there for defeating the battle music crutch.
Longer Lasting BLOOD! By default, blood appears in your game for 10 seconds before completely fading away. The next time you hit somebody (or something) in the game, stop and look at the blood. You can literally see it fading away before your eyes. What's it doing? Evaporating? The immersionist wants to change this, and he can do so, easily, by simply changing a value in the ini file. Open your ini and search for
fDecalLifetime=10. This setting controls how long blood will appear in your game. The "10" setting means that blood will remain for 10 seconds. In order to change the lifetime of blood appearing in your game, simply change the value. If you want blood to remain for 5 minutes (a good choice), then change the setting to read:
fDecalLifetime=300. The "300" value is 300 seconds, or 5 minutes. The http://www.tweakguides.com/Oblivion_1.html recommends a time value of 1200 (20 minutes). I think this is a bit long, which is why I recommend 5 minutes. Changing the time blood will appear in your game does not come without its cost. Blood decals are graphics, and multiple long lasting decals can, indeed, provide some lag for your game. You may want to find a value that suits your taste as an immersionist and fits within the capabilities of your rig. Now, Oblivion has this obnoxious little problem where, after you've changed the value of your decals, that value will remain
unless you open your in-game graphics menu. If you open your video menu, then Oblivion
automatically resets decal value to its default setting of 10. What you will want to do, after you've found the optimized blood setting
AND optimized graphical settings, is to open the console, while you're playing the game, and type:
saveini. This will save all of your settings in your ini file. If you open your video menu while in the game, Oblivion will still reset the decals to 10 seconds, but the next time you launch the game, you'll have your preferred settings restored. Without the console step, your decals will revert to the 10 setting.
Screenshot From time to time, you may want to take a screenshot of something cool in your game. In order to do this, you'll have to enable the feature in your game's ini file. Do a search for:
bAllowScreenShot=0. Then, once you've found it, simply change the value so that it reads:
bAllowScreenShot=1. Once that's accomplished, you're ready to take screenshots, and, in order to do so, simply press the
Prt Scr button that rests in the top row, right hand side of your keyboard. You will get a notification at the top of your screen once the shot is taken, and a picture file will be saved to your main Oblivion folder. Additional information about screenshots can be gleaned from reading Post #12 of http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?s=&showtopic=765304&view=findpost&p=11102460 thread.
LIGHTS! Visible Farther Away! This is a subtle tweak that will make your game more immersive, especially if you are running mods that make night time nights realisticly dark. Search your ini for:
fLightLOD2=. Try a value of
4000. This will greatly increase the range at which torches, campfires, lanterns and the like can be spotted. As in real life, light will travel a long, long distance. Be careful not to up this setting too much over 4000 (and you may even want to decrease it). If you start seeing strange colored blotches in the atmosphere or wierd colored reflections in the water, you're viewing indications that you've upped this setting too far. Knock it down by 200 or 500 notches, and see how that works for you.
NAME YOUR HORSE! When you get a horse, you'll want to name it, eh? Don't cha? Well, there's a console command that will allow you to change the names of things in the game. I use it personalize the names of my horses. For example, I'm still riding old Prior Maborel's nag. She's been a good mount. Old and slow, but Pugg (my character) has become attached to her. He calls her "Old Paint". It's not amazingly creative, but that's Pugg. Being an orphan, he doesn't know his real name (or even if he has one) either. Anyway, in order to change the name of your horse, simply open the console, use the mouse to select the horse (make sure it's name appears at the top of the screen to ensure you've selected it properly), then type:
SetActorFullName "Old Paint". Once you close the console, your horse will now read as "Old Paint" when you place your pointer on it. (You, of course, should name your horse whatever you want. You might want to be a little more creative than "Old Paint".) Make sure you save before going through this process in case you make a mistake.
BURY YOUR DEAD! Ever have an NPC die and his body lie in the city streets for days and days? Kind of immersion-breaking, isn't it? One reader of Delte's Thread called it "being crashed after a drunken beach party." I mean, why doesn't the city watch take these bodies away? Are they trying to attract plague? Well, you can help them out (and also keep your immersion in check). Go over to the body. Open the console. Use the mouse to click on the body (make sure the name of the body is shown at the top of your screen to ensure you've selected the right object), and then type:
Disable. Boom, the body disappears. Is this super immersive? No. But, it does lend itself to a more immersive experience the next time you happen this way and find the body is no longer littering the road.
http://www.7-zip.org/ 7-Zip is a fantastic way to unzip your mods after download. It supports multiple formats. Highly recommended.
PATCHES! Besides the official Oblivion Patch provided by Bethesda, uber-modders
Quarn and
Kivan bring you three extremely useful unofficial patches to update your game. All Oblivion players should use their http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5296. If you use any of the Official Bethesda Plug-Ins, then you'll also want to use their http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=9969. And, if you have the Shivering Isles expansion, you'll want to update it using the http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10739.
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2097
http://obse.silverlock.org/
...YOUR IMMERSIVE CHARACTER...http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/?p=modding_data/ngen This is a nifty tool to create a name for your character that is fitting for his race.
To add: Starting with Delte's Thread #22 (reference Dugge's archive), the process I use to create a character is documented.
To add: Recommended minimum mod set-up. Start with these. Play the game. Add other mods as you go. Give yourself time to learn the new mods--it's too easy to slap in a mod and not appreciate all that it does. Two step process. OOO does so much for the game.
STEP 1.
1. Install Oblivion.
2. Install all nine of the Official Plug-ins.
3. Install Shivering Isles.
4. Install The Official Patch.
5. Install the Unofficial Oblivion Patch.
6. Install the Unofficial Official Mods Patch.
7. Install the Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch.
STEP 2.
8. Install Oblivion Mod Manager.
9. Install Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul.
10. Install Martigen's Monster Mod.
11. Install Oblivion Script Extender.
12. Install No Sneak Eye.
13. Insall Plugin Refurbished.
14. Install Immersive Interface.
...DELTE'S LIST WILL CONTINUE TO GROW...
» Fri May 27, 2011 11:36 am 
Unless you have Cobl, I believe it's built into that. Also if you have SI, LE is up to version 3.70 and supports it, or if you are using Frans you can use its version which does as well.
bliviongate: 
... but then I'm the maker of GoldAdjustment, so I'm not exactly neutral... 
