Hi all, this is my first post here though I have been lurking for quite some time.

After much deliberation and reading on all the different overhauls available out there, I'm set on playing OOO+MMM.

Using the guide on TESPositive I'm pretty set to get installing all of the various patches and files associated with these two overhauls. There's one area I'm still a little unsure of though: MMM's optional plugins such as Hunting+Crafting, Extra Wounding etc.

I've read through the MMM readme several times to get the gist of what all of these optional plugins do, and while they all sound fantastic, one of the things I am being especially wary of is loading up on extra plugins and resources which end up being a drain on my system as I wish to keep the game running fairly smooth. So do you have any recommendations as to which plugins you would consider essential and which ones are more situational or which can be given a miss based on what I've just said? I am finding the problem with Oblivion modding is that every mod sounds so fantastic and I just want to load up on everything which is more of a personal problem I admit than a problem with the Oblivion modding scene :tongue:

Thank you for any help/advice you can provide.

-Callum-

Mart's Monster Mod - More Wilderness Life.esp is pretty much essential IMO. Adds spawn points to otherwise empty areas in the world. A must for those who like to explore around in Cyrodiil anyway.
Mart's Monster Mod - Extra Wounding.esp is excellent as it adds MMM's Wounding system to creatures/NPCs from vanilla and other mods.
Mart's Monster Mod - Zombies for Body Meshes.esp is a must if using body replacers as they look weird otherwise.
Mart's Monster Mod - Safer Quest Locations.esp is also pretty much a must. Makes it so that vanilla quest locations retain their vanilla feel (Vindasel being more or less empty, for example).
Hunting & Crafting is excellent if you like its features but rather pointless if you're not using them.
The No X plugins are of course excellent if you find a certain creature addition annoying or out of place.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll definitely add those when I install it. Hunting and Crafting sounds great for the character I have in mind (a Ranger character who makes his home in the woods) so I'll be using that. One thing I'm a little concerned about with OOO+MMM is that I've read the combination can make the number of spawns in Oblivion Gates rise to a ridiculous number. Is this true, and am I best off using one of the reduced spawn plugins?

One man's ridiculous is another's awesome. Start out on default - you can always add a reduced spawn plugin later on if you find it's too much. If you get AI issues with enemy NPCs doing nothing you should also try a reduced spawn plugin as that indicates AI overload. I'd say the same about the "No x" plugins. Start out on default and add a particular "No x" plugin if you don't like a particular creature. It's fine to add plugins to an ongoing game but you must wait 4 days for a respawn after doing so for the changes to kick in.