People are telling me that I shouldn't use OBMM because it is a heavily outdated mod with a lot of bugs, so I converted to Wrye Bash. While I like it, I don't want to deal with the hassle of getting converted .omod's just to install in BAIN. Plus, I really like the simplicity and clean interface of installing OMODs via OBMM, especially the more complex ones.

Is it okay to use OBMM to install only OMODs? Is there some gigantic problem I'm not aware about regarding OBMM?

I first thought the same those many years ago. After messing up my entire game, I ended up moving to BAIN and thought to myself "why didn't I discover this earlier?" But consider this fact: BAIN has features that OBMM does not have or does not function properly i.e conflict checker. Unless your load order is light, you might want to stick with BAIN. I would only use OBMM only if there's no other alternative i.e Sensual Walks for Female NPCs. Remember you can convert the omod file into BAIN package simply by dropping the file into the bash installers folder. More info here: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Tes4Mod:Wrye_Bash/Bash_vs._OBMM

I've never encountered a problem with OBMM. I install about 99% of my mods manually, but there are a few - DarN UI and Enhanced Economy, for instance - that I install with OBMM. I've had no troubles with the program.

I'd say it's up to you. Do what feels most comfortable for you.

Yes, it is OK to use OBMM to install mods. Never had any problems with adding or removing mods using OBMM coupled with BOSS to sort the order. I ran one game for over four years using BOSS to add and remove mods from the game with no ill effects. Couple of years ago I started using BASH Installer for mods that download in BAIN format, so now I use a combination both OBMM and BAIN. I too have been lectured on how BAIN is so much better but from my practical experience the stated advantages just haven't been that pressing for me to switch completely and OBMM does the job quite well. I even used OBMM a few time to unpack mods that came in BSA formats just so I could inspect their contents.

Those people are wrong, at least about the bugs. I used OBMM for years and I never had any issues with it at all. While it might be getting a bit old by now, it still works as intended.

About the BUGS thing, could it be they're confusing using OBMM with using NMM? I've heard NMM doesn't work well with Oblivion.

Hey JabbaJabba, WryeBash user here

Although I chose WryeBash as my mod manager, I use OBMM to install mods that come with install scripts, like Map Marker Overhaul, etc. OBMM is outdated and it does have bugs, but it certainly won't break your game. Some people reported they had problems with installing "large" mods like Better Cities, Qarls Texture Pack, etc, where OBMM simply failed to install them properly so they had to do it all over again and that's all, no reports of issues in game...hardly to say "lot of bugs".

Also, there's an updated version of OBMM on Skyrim Nexus - it's called http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/5010/? or TESMM in short, so you can use that if you're worried about OBMM being outdated.

When I started to play a modded Oblivion I thought OBMM was great, but after a while I realize that OBMM wasn't that great sure it was easy to use and at the same also limited especially for large mods e.g Cobl, UL. Also, don't forget that OBMM these days had lost its major feature, install script, since the introduction of BAIN wizards in Wrye Bash, which is similar to what install script is for OBMM.

Now days I only use OBMM to install a few mods e.g http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/11280, HGEC Body, but remember OBMM do have at least one neat feature left that's useful and that's about http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1181935-how-to-improve-the-oblivion-faq-thread-1/#entry17520175.

The main drawback of installing some mods with OBMM is Wrye Bash won't be able to adjust install order or anneal those mods since the installer tab won't recognize them.

I used to do exactly that: use BAIN for all my BAIN packages or regular archives and OBMM for stuff like DarN UI. The downside with doing things that way is that BAIN can't manage all your files. If you install everything with BAIN, then it can replace the original files if you uninstall a mod that overwrote some files from another mod.

In terms of bugs, as long as you don't rely on OBMM to tell you about conflicts, then there aren't really any bugs to worry about. Now the main problem with OBMM is that it doesn't replace the original files when you uninstall a mod, so things might break when you do that and if you don't know what's going on, you could consider that a bug. It's not a bug - it's the lack of a feature.

Some mods are a pain to convert to BAIN. However I've found that many people have done that already. Wrye himself created a bunch of BAIN packages for many popular mods, including DarNifed UI. You can find them on Nexus by search for BAIN. I'm not at my game machine right now, so I can't post links very easily.

Thanks for all the replies.

Yeah, I don't particularly like how I won't be able to adjust the load order of the mods either. Not sure if this is possible (I know it was possible with Mod Organizer), but is there a way to take the files installed by OBMM, repackage it into a .rar file, uninstall the .omod and install it with Wrye Bash?

By the way, I switched to TES Mod Manager. A lot better for a mere update of OBMM.

What?

I've been using OBMM for years. I've installed (easily and sucessfully) the full set of Qarl's textures, at least 7 UL mods (unstalling three easily when they conflicted with mods I liked better), the latest Vilja, and many more in simple OMOD form. Installing was as simple as copying to my game files and hitting the "activate" button. Uninstalling - completely - was as simple as hitting the "unactivate" button. If I wanted it completely removed, I simply deleted the OMOD after it was unactivated.

Changing load order is as simple as going to the mod I wanted to move and moving it with arrow keys. No mess with figuring out the correct dates to change it to or whether the mod in question has been added to LOOT or BOSS yet.

No, it won't merge lists, objects, or give you an adjunct BOSS or LOOT or whatever tool built in, but most of those can easily be used by themselves. And, it doesn't have new bells or whistles, but it works fine - still. Of course, I install many of the mods manually, but I find it's better to learn how to do this than waiting for patches or updates to the automatic installers when a new mod or update that I want comes out.

I won't recommend it to everyone, but it works fine for people who know how to check for conflicts, read the readme's regularly and set load orders themselves. In other words, it's not broken. It's just older.

Nexus Mod manager is fine for Oblivion. The issue is that quite a few mods are not designed to work with it since they were designed either for manual install or to use OBMM. Those mods you just need to create an archive that NMM can use. But at that point you can use WyreBash

I have had no issues with OBMM and usually use it for a couple of mods.

If you have omod installer, you could turn it into an omod, drop it into the bash installers directory and it will unpack it into a BAIN friendly package. Since you are going to use TES Mod Manager... if you ever going to uninstall a mod, be sure to re-install the original files that were replaced or you will see missing textures or meshes icons when you start the game; you'll be lucky if the game starts at all actually. That's how I ended up messing up my character many years ago and I never recovered.

Are you guys talking about Nexus Mod Manager? Because I'm talking about http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/5010/?.

Nexus Mod Manager IIRC, is a branch off of OBMM and so is TES Mod Manager or updated version of OBMM if you want to call that. Basically those are very similar. Sadly many mods that exist today were created way before NMM was created. Therefore, they don't work very well and many of us don't recommend it for Oblivion. I just took a look at TES Mod Manager and my impression did not change. It does well what it is supposed to do but if you ever uninstall a mod that depends on other mods, good luck.

Note: I do recommend OBMM for a light load order i.e vanilla files, unofficial patches and few tweaks. That would not be a problem for OBMM. However, if the load order ever get to 200 mods, eh I don't want to think about it.

True but you can avoid that by checking, which files is going to be overwritten and uncheck those files if you needed to.

http://static-3.nexusmods.com/15/mods/101/images/32277-1-1278068292.png

That's exactly what I thought when I started to use OBMM almost 5 years ago, but after a few messed up modded games and listen to what other people said I switched to Wrye Bash.

Although, I agree that some mods can be installed with OBMM and http://www.theassimilationlab.com/forums/topic/4996-qarls-textures/ is one mod and those mods I mention earlier is what I need OBMM to handle, because for me it's convenient and simple.

If you really want to learn of how to install mods in Oblivion properly then learn how to use Wrye Bash and this http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/35230 is excellent perhaps a little outdated, but it covers the most important features nicely.

Well, I just found out I could extract the files installed by TES Mod Manager to a folder. So basically, I installed HGEC (not for the reasons you're thinking) with TMM, extracted the files to my desktop, made an archive of it, uninstalled the mod from TMM and deleted it, then installed the new archive in BAIN.

Thanks for the help guys.

Quick question. Is it possible to disable files such as texture folders or .bsa files before installing a mod using Wrye Bash? Say I didn't want the .bsa file of Kvatch Rebuilt (which is stupid, I know, but I'm just making a point). Is there a way to prevent it from being installed? So far all I can disable are .esm/.esp files.

You could set-up the BAIN archive with multiple subpackages:

Main | +- 10 Plugin | +- 20 BSA | +- 30 Meshes | +- 40 Textures | +- 50 PyFFI'd meshes | +- 60 TES4Edit-cleaned plugin 

Then just select the sub-packages you want.

You mean the only way to do it is to extract the archive, rearrange them so that it fits the BAIN format, repackage it into a .rar file, extract it to Bash Installers, then install? There's no other way?

Another way you could do is to extract the file somewhere other than the data directory and then remove whatever you don't want to install i.e textures, bsa then re-zip it using 7-zip to create another archive and drop it into the bash installer directory (I'm assuming you are using bash so it would be in the same drive as your game directory i.e C:\oblivion would be C:\oblivion mods\bash installers. May I ask why you are doing this though... I might have better idea to help if I can.

Edit: What dragon is recommending is called BAIN complex package (I think... correct me I'm wrong). My method could be called simple package. All of this can be looked from the Wrye Bash Pictorial Guide for Beginners: http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/35230/?

Because I keep seeing mods, like the BAIN version of DarNified UI, that have irrelevant files that overlap files I actually want. For example, the fonts in DarNified UI. I just want one font. Not all of them. It doesn't help that all of the fonts are in one folder (01 Fonts)

Unless you are running out of disk space (which I highly doubt), I would suggest leave that alone. Unless of course you know what you are doing that is. One option you could do is find out which one is the one you want to keep and copy that into a new folder with all the file structure intact. Then turn it into an archive. But like I said, I would leave it alone because it's quite a complex mod.

No, don't extract the archive just copy the archive into the Bash Installers folder and you're done.