Was thinking I'd replay Oblivion but would like a more heavily modded version, since I know the Elder Scrolls modders have probably done some awesome stuff.

Basically just after a solid list of mods don't change the atmosphere/lore of the game too much but improve game play and won't interfere with eachother. Don't want difficulty to be nightmarish, but would like combat to be well balanced, IIRC vanilla was very poorly balanced due to level scaling making your character weak if you level before getting high stat modifiers.

A simple and quite satisfying way to start would be with OOO and only OOO (Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul). It changes level-scaling, adds some interesting quests, makes the gameworld more challenging. It would also be quite simple to install if it were all you were using.

For more recommendations, search the forums for topics that include words like "list," "essential," "recommend," ... There's many such topics even on the first two or three pages.

good hunting!

gothemasticator

Here's a nice one stop shopping for lists:
http://www.gamesas.com/?showtopic=1010109

I'm kind of partial to my list which is a list of topics where your questions have already been asked and answered.

You should check out a few of mine, link in the signature.

But just in general, in addition to browsing some of those lists, I'd start by browsing the first five or ten pages of the forums for mod threads and reading up on anything that sounds remotely interesting. There's a lot of stuff, often multiple options for fiddling with the same stuff, and you'll frequently find awesome things you'd have never thought to ask about.

Thanks for the replies and links!

So far my planned list -

Unofficial patches
OMM
OBSE
OOO
DarNified UI
Bananasplit Better Cities
Weather - All Natural
Qarl's Texture Pack III
Oblivion Stereo Sound Overhaul
nGCD

Anything else important I'm missing out on?

Don't use both. DarnUI can do everything II can (and much, much more, but is more complicated to set up as you want it, but it's worth it).


Use the redemized version.

If you don't mind becoming overpowered soon...

Realistic Leveling or nGCD are the two good natural leveling choices. RL is simpler, and thus a bit easier to start using (provided you install with OBMM), but is less tweakable.


Lots, you're certainly missing out on most of my must-have mods (mostly gameplay tweaks), but I don't know what kind of mods you want (in addition to those you have).

DarNified UI and Immersive Interface are incompatible and DarN can be set to mimic II so skip the latter.

Personally, I'd recommend nGCD or Oblivion XP (very different approaches) over a Always +5 Multiplier mod.

@ TheNiceOne - Anything that improves the game without making it feel too much like a different game is what I'm looking for really.
I want to feel like I'm playing oblivion enhanced, not oblivion with guns and lazers or whatever.

OK:

Here are my really must-have mods (I don't have time to explain or link now, so you must look them up yourself). Note that most gameplay tewaks require OBSE. Also note that I'm writing from memory so I'm probably forgetting quite a few.

Gameplay tweaks
Darnified UI
Realistic Leveling / nGCD
Progress
Realistic Fatigue
Togglable Quantity Prompt
*Enhanced Economy
*Map Marker Overhaul
*Lightweight Potions
*Real Sleep Extended
Keychain
* means shameless self-promotion.

More beautiful/immersive/interesting world:
Really Almost Everything Visible When Distant (don't even consider using any of the other AEVWD mods) + TES4LODGen
Animated Windows Lightning System
Enhanced Weater or All Natural (including darker nights)
Let There Be Darkness
Better Cities
Unique Landscapes
Crowded Roads Revisited
Tamriel Travelers

More/Better Enemies
OOO
MMM
Combat Archery

Quest mods
Lots

Update on my progress -

Unofficial patches - Done
OMM - Done
OBSE - Done
OOO - Need to create an OMOD, not sure how, can't find "OMOD‐ready archive"
DarNified UI - Says it may conflict with already active mod
Bananasplit Better Cities - Need to create an OMOD, not sure how
Weather - All Natural - Need to create an OMOD, not sure how
Qarl's Texture Pack III - Done
Oblivion Stereo Sound Overhaul - Done
nGCD - Done
Let There be Darkness - Done

Always best to check the relevant mod thread. Like http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1089759-relz-oscuros-oblivion-overhaul-133/ , in this instance.

edit: Sorry, that was regarding OOO, to make things a little more clear.

edit2: And for Better Cities - http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16513 (link has latest BAIN- and OMOD-ready archive). And from memory, All Natural is also BAIN- and OMOD-ready. If you want to create an omod, just open up OBMM, and select "Create", then "Add Archive", then "Create OMOD". And done!

Here's my copy/paste list of must haves from my list topic:



Comments about mods that might not fit what you want are in red.

Alright I figured out how to create and use OMODs, only thing left is DarNified UI, which when I try to activate I get a message saying it may conflict with active mods.
If I put DarNified in the front of the load order would that allow whatever other mods need to overwrite parts of it to do so?

I'll probably install a few more mods but before I do I'll need to see just how much OOO changes things.

DarNified's conflicts will be with menu resources, which aren't contained within a .esm file. In this case, it's not load order that matters, but the order in which you activate the mods using OBMM. Most likely the conflict is with nGCD, which replaces the level-up menu with a blank.

OBMM has an option to report any conflicts, and lets you selectively skip files. Try doing that with DarNified and if the only conflict that comes up is levelup_menu.xml, just skip it and all should be well.

I haven't seen anyone mention COBL yet, and I consider that essential personally, and definitely RP friendly.
Also Item Interchange helps with that (sorry no links right now, I'm in a rush ). I see you're planning to add Better Cities; good call!
I feel I should note that it doesn't touch the smaller settlements across cyrodiil, so you may want to get mods that improve them (I use AFK_Weye for example, and I believe somebody's currently working on a new Hackdirt or something like that).
Tamriel Travellers and/or a Crowded Roads mod make great additions to wandering the wilderness imho, and I wouldn't discourage using Crowded Cities or MoDem's City Life to spruce up your cities in the NPC department (note: MoDem's might conflict with Better Cities; I forget).
LAME and RBP were already mentioned, but I feel I should myself mention that I would have a very hard time playing without them.
The Ayleid Steps is a good install-it-and-forget-about-it mod.
If you want quest mods, I recommend The Lost Spires; it's one of a very, very few quest mods I always have installed.
I would also second Conduit Magic, although it can be overpowered at times (in that you can apply normal cast on touch spells to, say, a bow, and spam powerful ranged magic at half the cost or the like)
I enjoy Midas Magic - Spells of Aurum personally, although it also gives the player character an advantage over NPCs (I've never seen any of them summon a flying carpet, for example).
I would encourage you to grab all the Unique Landscape mods personally, as I feel they nicely improve the fun of wandering the wilderness of Oblivion.
Elys Uncapper and Legendary Abilities get rid of level/skill caps, which is nice, especially if you really want to make a specialized character who might pump some of his stats up past 100.
The Cyrodiil NPC Remodeling Project (CNRP) mods are great, and don't conflict with really anything.
Companion Share and Recruit is cool, although somewhat script heavy if I recall (I run it, but I don't utilize it often).
Grey Tide (or was it "Gray" Tide?) is my favorite PC home; a boat you can buy on the Waterfront Docks (doesn't conflict with BC)
Arena Alive is nice (more spectators in the arena, among other gameplay tweaks)
Streamline is great if your PC is struggling to run modded Oblivion.
Oblivion Crash Prevention System actually works, just so you know
Alternative Start Arrive By Ship is great in my opinion, in that you don't have to run through the sewers every time you make a new character.
Exnem's Runeskulls is another fun install-and-forget-about mod.
FormID Finder is pretty much essential for troubleshooting stuff, and nice to have in general.
Ambient Town Noises is great in my opinion.

~Visual Mods I Love~
A book cover mod, either Medieval Book Textures or Book Jackets + Book Jackets SI would be good.
Beaming Sunglare Replacer is SUCH an improvement; it's probably my favorite replacer mod. Every day-time screenie will look 13.76 times more awesome (scientific fact) with this
Rainbows in Tamriel is a nice touch (and doesn't conflict with other weather mods)
Finger Snap Animation Replacer is a nice touch for mages.
Better Silverware makes you actually want to collect silver urns and that crap because they're just so darned pretty :drool:
Glittering Prizes adds a sparkle effect to all gems and coins (looks really good with HDR imho)
Snow Texture Replacer is great.
...so is Visually Realistic Lava
Cathedral Improved Stained Glass is nice, although very vibrant, so it's up to your preference if you want overly-dull vanilla windows or overly-bright modded ones
Elven Map Redux is a nice looking map replacer.

oh, and if we're still discussing leveling mods, I use nGCD, but I haven't tested around a whole lot, so whatever

~Self-Plug Warning~ My mod Shivering Armour Variety makes me very happy inside, and I plan to keep dropping it's name until I realize nobody else is going to use it ~End of Warning~

Wow, that was a lot longer than I expected... hmm, I have spent way to much of my life doing this... and here's to many more years of it :foodndrink:

CC

That was changed. Magicka cost now changes appropriately. touch spell on a bow/staff= 50% more magicka, target spell on a sword/blunt= 50% less magicka. That is the default value from the vanilla game, but I think you might be able to customize it too.

All mods so far successfully installed.
Now I'm @ face generation...and I forgot what a PITA it was. The skin textures just look terrible. I'm sure there are mods for this, any thoughts on which is best? I don't want new races or anything just a face with skin that that doesn't look like melted plastic.

I'm hesitant to try and of the magic mods for fear of balance issues but I'll check them out still.

Personally, I like LAME, and don't find it unbalancing (but then, I do use FCOM, etc. ... so, it might be under "normal" circumstances.)

As for faces, Natural Faces and Enayla's Face Textures (I think that's the right name!) work well, IMO. Along with Improved Argonian Face Textures, and a number of other things I can't quite remember at the moment.

There's also New Face Textures (v2 of Enayla's, IIRC.)

I prefer her New Face Textures pack. The makeup effect is much reduced, and the Orc 1 texture is cool too.


Edit: SM and LAME are both medium power level. If you use anything at least as strong as OOO, you will not find them unbalancing at all.

There's also http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=7930.

I don't use LAME myself, mainly because I'm the competition. Definitely the way to go if you want to expand the selection of races while staying within TES lore, though.

I've been missing a face texture replacer all this time! That just won't do...


Thanks for pointing that out Tejon!
- Tomlong75210

:unsure2:

Hm, did you mean RBP, by any chance?

Actually yes, but also both. :spotted owl:

I love Bg2408's Race Balancing Project. I have not switched or used another race or cosmetic mod since adding it. There is no reason to. It includes most of the big cosmetic mods (hair and eyes), Mystic (Hidden) Elves. You may want to install a separate new race mod for your PC or something, but, outside of that, RBP pretty much has the Racial Rebalancing (and integration of new races) covered.

OK either natural faces, new face textures, or generic faces affects NPCs and I have people with dark faces and light skin and so on.

:|

Tested and it was generic faces.