I would like to say that everything you will read there is subjective: this is how I think the game should be modded, after countless hours spent searching for the best result achievable. Sometimes I will offer a couple of choices and I will say you when I choose something over something else. I’m actually quite paranoid for some stuff – you’ll see what if I’m able to complete the guide.

What’s the best result? Thinking that something was there from the start, and being unable to recognize if you added it via mod or not. I’ve said that I’m paranoid for some stuff: for example, lack of voice over cringes me, but I will gladly accept it, if the quality of the mod is outstanding

Sort of. I was actually undecided on how to divide the guide, given the fact that, as you say, I will touch basically everything (I admit, though, that I never tried realism mods that add the need for sleeping, eating, etc. I may have a suggestion or two but those will be lacking in my guide).

It could, yes. If you are searching for lore-friendly stuff, an (almost ctd experience), with a little bit of trust in my judgement, you’ll achieve it.

Mmmm. Bugger. What kind of question is that? I guess that my thanks in this guide will be the reference to the mods. Also, when I’m going to suggest something, if someone else suggested the behaviour implied in the post, I will thank him\her.

Yes, install shivering isles, install the patch 1.2.0416, install the dlcs, clean those, then install all the unofficial patches by Arthmoor. Huge thanks to PrinceShroob that seem to be around fixing stuff and modding (I’m looking forward to the mod of yours related to Vampires. I hope you’ll get it out complete, someday).

The unofficial patches can be find here: http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/5296/?tab=1&navtag=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nexusmods.com%2Foblivion%2Fajax%2Fmoddescription%2F%3Fid%3D5296%26preview%3D&pUp=1

Then it’s time for some cute tweaking of the HDR. Open the Oblivion.ini inside my documents. This tweak is kindly offered by Supierce. I hate the HDR being too strong, to the point that I’m look at rocks, given the fact that they reflect such a bright light [will link an image or two if I find one]. So this tweak is very much needed.

[BlurShaderHDRInterior]
fTargetLUM=1.0000
fUpperLUMClamp=1.0000
fEmissiveHDRMult=1.0000
fEyeAdaptSpeed=0.5000
fBrightScale=1.0000
fBrightClamp=0.2250
fBlurRadius=7.0000
iNumBlurpasses=1
iBlendType=2
bDoHighDynamicRange=1

[BlurShaderHDR]
fTargetLUM=1.2000
fUpperLUMClamp=1.0000
fGrassDimmer=1.5000
fTreeDimmer=1.0000
fEmissiveHDRMult=1.0000
fEyeAdaptSpeed=0.5000
fSunlightDimmer=1.5000
fSIEmmisiveMult=1.0000
fSISpecularMult=1.0000
fSkyBrightness=0.5000
fSunBrightness=0.0000
fBrightScale=1.2000
fBrightClamp=0.2250
fBlurRadius=7.0000
iNumBlurpasses=2
iBlendType=2
bDoHighDynamicRange=1

If I were you, I would avoid touching the other .ini settings related to Ipreloadsizelimit, ugrid, etc etc. Why are you trying to improve what is impossible performance, given the fact that it is impossible to improve fps via meddling the .ini? You are just asking for trouble and instability. And that’s why I avoid touching the .ini.

Damn, you may have gone a little bit too far with graphic mods, young padawan. But there are some suggestions, this time kindly offered by Walkerinshadows:

* Kill unnecessary programs running in the background.

* Use the LAA patch.

* Get rid of Polygon Overhaul - it's largely useless; PyFFI does a better job.

* Get the updated version of Alive Waters.

* Use TES4LODGen and TES4LL - they make the game look really good without a huge performance hit.

* Use the No Flicker option in the Bash Patch, and turn off shadows and water reflections (honestly, they don't add a whole lot, and removing them gives a large FPS boost).

Just one post? And you think I’m satisfied with this?

Well, I may post some other stuff around, but still, it could be ‘unrelated’ to the way I’m suggesting you to mod Oblivion. Anyway, given the fact that I’m not exactly too sure if you followed it step by step, I will share a post by Stromgarde, related to FCOM+ UL:

I don't think it's an issue of "UL crashes FCOM" - with the exception of some conflicting landscape edits between OOO and some of the ULs, for which there are patches, they don't conflict.

The issue is that the Oblivion engine isn't particularly efficient and isn't very good at memory handling. FCOM tends to push systems, as does UL. So, depending on your system and what you're running as far as things like graphics replacers, your CTDs may be a function of your system just being pushed harder than it can handle.

I run FCOM and the ULs fine together, but I've also spent a lot of time optimizing Oblivion. This includes PyFFI'ing just about every single mesh, both vanilla and modded, that isn't already optimized, tweaking my INI file, and running external utilities like Streamline and Oblivion Stutter Remover together. Things you can try in the INI are lowering your uGridDistantTreeRange and uGridDistantCount values so less stuff in the distance gets loaded into memory until you get closer. I use 14 for both (down from 15, and 25, respectively), but also use RAEVWD so my LOD looks fine to me personally. Streamline has an accompanying set of configs you should select based on your uGrid settings. As for Oblivion Stutter Remover, using it for memory management is particularly important to help minimize modded CTDs in my experience. I personally use the following settings in the OSR ini:

Set bReplaceHeap = 1.

Set MaximumFPS = 35.

Set MinimumFPS = 18.

Set iHeapAlgorithm = 6.

Set iHeapSize = 1024.

Mmmm. Maybe one by MadWizard25, posted on 11 Dec 2013 - 9:02 PM, in tes nexus forums:

You need to make sure that heap managment is turned on in the OSR ini with;

bReplaceHeap = 1

which is under the Master section.

Heap management depends on iHeapAlgorithm and iHeapSize, these are my settings (6 and 1024 respectively)

Spoiler

Heap = {

_comment = Heap replacement can produce MAJOR improvements in performance on Oblivion at a significant cost in stability

_comment = It crashes instantly on Fallout3, and would only produce a small performance improvement there anyway

_comment = It is not supported at all on Fallout: New Vegas at this time

_comment = Algorithms: 1=FastMM4, 2=Microsoft (slow on XP), 3=SimpleHeap1, 4=TBBMalloc, 5=ThreadHeap2, 6=ThreadHeap3, 8=tcmalloc

_comment = Algorithms numbers 1, 4, and 8 require external DLL files in the Data/OBSE/Plugins/ComponentDLLs folder

iHeapAlgorithm = 6

bEnableProfiling = 0

iHeapSize = 1024

bEnableMessages = 0

iGenericFreeDelay = 0

bZeroAllocations = 0

}

In my experience, only iHeapAlgorithm 5 and 6 are stable. And yeah, anything over 1024 iHeapSize is very CTD prone, ive never seen anything higher than that. Also you can play around with this value. Some people report better stabilty with settings somewhere between 512 and 1024. 768 is a good one to try.

Yes, shadeMe. Let’s give the word to Supierce, though:

Copy shadeMe.dll into your OBSE\Plugins folder, along with this file:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/66uz62efk8grtdx/shadeMe.ini?dl=0

...and this one:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0og3tsrcnlgsitv/ShadowRenderConstants.ini?dl=0

In your oblivion.ini, try setting iShadowFilter=2

...and set your shadow counts to at least this:

iActorShadowIntMax=20
iActorShadowIntMin=0
iActorShadowExtMax=20
iActorShadowExtMin=0

Enable all shadow options in your oblivion.ini except:

bShadowsOnGrass=0

General advice:
When I build my load orders, I take a conceptual approach, and install things in groups with some rounds of playtime in between each install. I use Wrye Bash's BAIN system (there's no other good way to do it):
- First I install all of the DLCs that I am planning on using.
- Any OBSE plugins I am likely to use.
- Unofficial patches
- Anything that alters the GUI, menu system, hot keys, etc.
- Game mechanics (stealth, combat, magic, economics, level advancement, etc.)
- Large scale gameworld overhauls (TIE, Francescos, OOO, FCOM, Open Cities Reborn, Better Cities, Unique Landscapes)
- Race and body mods
- Quests, expansions and modifications to cities and villages
- Items
- Graphics and Textures
- LODs (like RAEVWD)
- Companions
- Miscellaneous bells and whistles (like AWLS)
- Any and all patches