Title / I'm new to playing TES Mods which are the best for Oblivion? (Edit: Why can't i edit the title as well?)

I have Oblivion for PC but no mods for it yet. I was wondering if some of you TES Forum members can help me pick out some good mods to make Oblivion more fun than it already is.

Tips
Advice
Suggestions

are all welcomed

Could you maybe me a bit more specific? What did you find you didn't like about the game and want to change? Are you looking for quests, homes, vegitation, combat overhauls?

I guess I'm looking for all of that. What are the popular mods out there? Which one would you recommend or play yourself and why? In general which mods are the best?

Well okay, how about this.

Check these out ... http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/top/alltime.php

Those are the most downloaded, most endorsed, most popular mod files on the Nexus. You can start there, and then maybe get a feel for more of what you are looking for.

This recommendation list is from a while back, so there are likely newer / better versions to consider.

Nevertheless, it should give you an idea of the various mods available.

OBSE - Required for many of the mods listed here. Not actually a mod.
Unofficial Oblivion Patch - Fixes bugs
Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch (assuming you have SI as well) - Fixes bugs
Unofficial Official Mods Patch (assuming you have the DLCs) - Fixes bugs
Toggleable Quantity Prompt - Updated - Makes buying/selling/dropping items more convenient.
Cobl - Doesn't do too much on its own, but required by many mods.
Enhanced Economy - Makes buying/selling more realistic
Harvest [Flora] - There's a newer version than what is bundled with OOO. Allows you to see what's been harvested.
DarN UI - Makes the user interface less console-y.
The Ayleid Steps - More dungeons to explore
Super Hotkeys - Adds more customizable hotkeys. There are other hotkey mods that you may prefer to this one.
RAEVWD - Makes more objects visible from a distance. May not want to use it if your system can't handle it.
QTP3 Redimized - Makes the game look better. There are other texture mods that you may prefer.
Map Marker Overhaul - Allows you to manage the map markers.
Display Stats - Shows extended information about items in your inventory
Custom Spell Icons - Allows spells to have unique spell icons instead of sharing the same icon per school.
ALEX - Adds hidden chests / items to ayleid ruins. A treasure hunt of sorts.
Mountain Tower - A home. Plenty of other homes to choose from, but this is one of my favorites.
Better Book Collision - Makes books less likely to fly out of bookcases.
Book Jackets - Makes books look better and more unique.
TNR - Makes npc faces look more varied. Some don't like it, but many do.
Any body mod - Many to choose from, down to personal taste. Makes males / females look nicer.
Keychain - Keeps keys from cluttering your inventory.
Art of Speedy Depositing - Makes it easier to stash items in containers by automatically moving them based on your preferences.
Better Letters - Adds a little flavor to the game by adding text to blank notes.
Gather ye Rosebuds - Makes harvesting ingredients easier.
VAs Better Gold - Makes septims look better.
MiniMap - Adds a minimap to the game.
Glory of Cyrodiil - Replaces the startup background to something a little more interesting.

That should give you a good starting place. If you don't care for one of the mods listed, but like its concept, you can always look for a similar mod. Most of these mods have a number of possible alternatives.

Aragorns Royal Armour(from TESNexus) is a pretty good mod. Also continuing the LOTR theme go for Riley`s Lord of The Rings Music mod(from Strategy-Informer.com) which replaces the soundtrack with the Lord Of The Rings soundtrack. :mohawk:

GENERIC PART THAT ONE OTHER PERSON HAS GOTTEN:
Anyway, Integration: The stranded light is very long and very lore correct. In some ways more than even the actual game is.

GENERIC PART THAT EVERYONE GETS:

If you want the most help possible it helps to give as much information, and uniqueness as possible.

Here's my generic written thing for these topics. if you want something specific give more details. I ask some questions in the below text as a small guide line. You can answer them if you wish:

I have this strong - no, overwhelming! - sense that our definitions of "fun" (in this context) will differ greatly, Sabre404. Nonetheless, here is a response I posted to an almost identical request, a while ago. I doubt that very much has changed significantly in the modding world, since then...

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1211132-new-to-the-game-what-mods-do-you-find-necessary-for-oblivion/page__view__findpost__p__18130121

Okay, I need to get smart and make up a form like you guys, arafel & phoenix. Pseron Wyrd has one too complete with links.

This one is pretty pointless if using DarNified UI, which allows one to minimise sections such as that for keys.

Your others are in line enough for me that I will use it as my base below


Let's see. Might as well make up my own list anyway:

Utilities:
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=22368: The best mod installation and organisation program for Oblivion. A must for long load orders. Very powerful tool!
http://obse.silverlock.org/: Requirement for many mods, no negative effects, so might as well get it by default.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=27710 (incl for DLCs like Shivering Isles and Kinights...if using those.) Kivan is working on a new version, Arthmoor's supplemental are the current latest.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=11280: Improved user interface. You may prefer http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10763 instead. This one combines it with Dark UI (colour change) and very minor tweaks.
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=12859: Can automatically sell/buy single entire stacks of items or just one with the press of a key. May seem minor but it makes a real difference I think.
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=34735: more keys, ability to use various kinds of "combo" keys (armour sets, switching between weapons etc.)
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=34735: See more stats in menus
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=35969: Numerous map options.
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=26389: Change those markers, adds new kinds or markers, and you can even add and alter your own!
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=25078: Improves realism, highly configurable too, so adds/changes as much or little as you wish.
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=19847: Allows a bunch of stuff, but most importantly; you wont get arrested for grabbing and putting a bottle you knocked over back where it was! (in fact you may well be thanked.)

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2037: Improves the feel of harvesting plants
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=37825: Beautiful. (Requires http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=30054.)
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=20053 - Makes more objects visible from a distance.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=35099: Makes caves etc. darker.
You will probably want a torch mods because you will now need torches, for example:
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16282: Drop lit torches to use as light source when it is dark and your hands are full (of sword and shield etc.)
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=40098: Same deal, it's new, with a couple of neat additions (might need work still, but it is being actively worked on, which is nice.)
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=26524: Gives a lot of NPCs torches, which they use when dark.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=18305: Vastly improves and adds to the weather system, including inside weather sounds etc.
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=19628: Lighting windows etc.
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=34199: You can look out the windows! These last three compliment each other beautifully!

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=21999: Cool more realistic alternative to fast travel.

Some texture overhaul mod
http://www.fileplanet.com/184723/180000/fileinfo/Elder-Scrolls-IV:-Oblivion---Qarl-Texture-Pack-3-Redimized-and-Further-Reduced-OMOD is popular, but can cause a serious FPS hit. Linked is probably the most FPS friendly version.
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=18677: The one I am using right now. There are a number of others; personal taste. Some even prefer having none at all.

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1218260-the-unique-landscapes-project/: Land mass overhauls. Making the world far less repetitive. Link goes to the thread, as it is actually a project including many individual mods.

Body mods:
http://modsreloaded.com/roberts-male-body-5 is the standard for males. He is working on an updated version right now, after a lengthy hiatus. But there are versions available. Linked is one version, but look around, for they body plus armour/clothing for it.
Females have more options:
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=24078: One set with a number of options. Linked one includes armour and clothing as well, which you need to keep bodies looking as desired.
TGND Female Body and Clothing Replacer is another option.
Look for "male body" and "female body" or similar, as there are a fair few choices.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=21104 - Check it out to see what it adds etc. Includes optional files to change the looks of NPCs, which with the above body mods makes them look far better. There are a number of other options though.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=35560: Adds, rebalances and re-textures weapons.

http://tesalliance.org/forums/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=797: High resolution of armour and weapons. Note that the linked compilation is not fully up to date; http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1179485-relz-insanitys-retexture-releases/

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=26634: Increases diversity of critters, and the undead.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=30260: (Combination of Fish, AliveWaters and the Player Fishing mod - found in Optional files of linked page) Makes the underwater environment more interesting and realistic (seaweed, fish etc.)

Large Quest-like mods:
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16316: Novel gameworld spanning mod (stepping stone that teleport you all over the place) Plus more dungeons to explore etc.
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=12997: bunch of quests through a new guild.

New towns with quests:
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1178889-relz-arthmoors-villages-of-cyrodiil/: Well worth checking out ( I have them all.)
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=35908: Huge open town, plus more smaller ones, with quests within and between them. Includes a number of player homes and quite a decent quest line.

Main Towns (pick only one!):
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=33003: Nice re-imaging of the game's main towns: largely based off the original concept art, plus open (no more walled off different world spaces.)
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16360: Original cities opened to the world.
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16513: Another significant change of the cites (includes "open cities" options.)

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=35265: Overhaul on gameplay (more challenging to a point, but also more interesting with less levelling irritations)

Companions. If you want a companion:
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=28977: Is a nice quality option, But search for companions for all possibilities.

Does anyone know of a mod with which I can keep the targeting crosshair when in 3rd person view?

DarNified UI and DarkUId DarN have a setting for displaying it in 3rd person view. You can also use HUD Status Bars to set up any type of HUD icon/bar, including completely customzied crosshairs.

Thank you.

I second this as the best "mod newbie" overhaul to try simply because of it's complete and comprehensive nature, also it's very simple to install. Nothing wrong with using OOO and MMM (with the OOO patches) as well. Far simpler setup than FCOM and just as challenging (if not more).

OBSE

Unofficial patches

Oblivion Mod Manager

DarNified Dark UI

Is there anything that's like a head replacer? Oblivion has a lot of sliders, and it's hard to make faces look right . . . are there "preset" packages that can be installed for better faces?

Be careful with that terminology, because a head replacer in the modding world means something different from preset good-looking heads.

For a head replacer, there's Throttlekitty's Head06, which is basically a reshaped skull and facial structure. It was designed in part to produce better looking heads/faces, but I think there might be some compatibility issues; not sure.

OFF (Optimized Facegen Files) applies fixes to the game's facegen; many have reported good results.

Facial texture mods like Natural Faces can be helpful.

Some race mods seem to be made primarily for the purpose of having what the author considers to be great-looking default faces.

However, to directly address the idea of preset faces - that's one of the purposes behind people posting savegame files on TES Nexus. Wrye Bash can import a face from one savegame to another. For best results though, you would need to be the same race/gender, and have the same hair/textures/other resources as the creator.

Hope this helps .

I come from Morrowind modding, and preset good-looking heads is *exactly* what head replacer means there.

Thanks for the advice!

Check the top 100 over at Planet Elder Scrolls as well. I've found some great stuff there.

Almost the same question than Sabre404 here except that i tried a few mods, so my "needs" are a little more focused :

- I play a level 47 Breton Battlemage (max level reached), completed 99,99% of Vanilla game quests i think (including SI and official addons), and i feel somehow my character is unvulnerable in combat now, so i need challenges ! Figure out a 50% resisting Magic Breton equiped with a Mundane ring uh :/... Playing in hardest won't challenge me much either. I would like to keep my character and "story line" too...
- I'm using Companion Share & Recruit because after "saving the world alone", its a good and fun feeling having some companions by your side and actually my main fun and challenge is to go on some dungeons rides and try to find better objects to equip them, enchant them eventually, and keep them alive (!) (if these companions are essential when i recruit them i make them non essential, where would be the challenge else ^-^ ?)

SO : i guess i would need some "impossible" or super hard quests to match my game play, but some that would be playable with companions.

I searched a lot among MODS but not sure where to look, since i don't want to change to much the vanilla gameplay or leveling system, i fear that "non leveled" overhaul would bring me more weak monsters than stronger (is it ?)

About objects : unfortunatly what i ve found so far seems to bring the exact opposite of what i m looking for to : super powerfull spells, super artifacts-like objects with multiples enchantments on them that you can get for free or without a big fight, stuff that make you more invulnerable than you are etc

So basically, i m searching for CHALLENGES and quality : Quests (not the ones that would make you chase mudcrabs as a fighter guild mission lol), new places to explore, houses, eye candy stuff etc (within the limit of my "medium" computer...) and... super super hard fights (!)

Any more suggestions ?

Note for compatiblity : I'm using Kvatch Aftermath too, which provides a nice place to "store" my companions and a nice background, even tho the very few quests in that mod where not challenging either once you have completed the main vanilla quest...

I haven't gotten around to playing through it yet. But for a player who has completed most of the game, you might be interested in checking out:
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=36389

A quest mod set after the main quest-line; therefore specifically for the player that has made significant advancements through the game already.

You might also think about searching for mod descriptions that suggest higher levels to play them.

Thanks for pointing at it Vargr It looks like its already in this list that i used as a reference but i totally missed it !
http://www.listoid.com/list/145
Hoping the new version of Verona is bug free enough ...

I was wondering about installing The Lost Spires but "Verona" seems to add a lot of content too ! hmmm... Okay, i should just try

Btw, tried any in this list ? If so, which one you would recommend first and which one you would discard ? I guess i could try them all, one after one, just wondering about compatiblity issues between each others tho...