The last time I played Oblivion was around the time SI was released... quite some time, wouldn't you say?

Now I decided to give the game another go, but after such a long pause, I'm at a loss as to what mods are and aren't updated and if there are any new ones worth checking out. Can someone give me any tips?

What I'm looking for is:
1. Overhaul/gameplay
- I used to use Francesco, but this time I'd like to give FCOM a try. Is the installation still as troublesome as it was a couple of years ago, or has someone made an OMOD or a user-friendly installer?
- I'd like to use TIE and Oblivion XP Levelling, how do these work with FCOM?
- what magic overhaul mod would you recommend?
- are there any other interesting mods?

2. Visuals
- I assume QTP3 Redimized and Bomret's textures for SI are still the texture replacement mods?
- for NPCs, I assume TIE takes care of that problem?
- for the player character, is Race Balancing Project the mod to use? I know it changes more than appearance and I'm fine with the changes it makes
- What is the current status of Unique Landscapes? Is it still being developed?
- weather: here I'm at a complete loss. I used Natural Weather, IIRC, but even then there were other options available... what would you recommend? I prefer compatibility over effect, a stable and trouble-free game is more important to than some extra eye-candy
- again, is there anything else, you'd recommend? My setup is Core2Duo E8400, 4GB RAM, 8800GT 512MB (soon to be changed to a GTX260), Win7 64-bit

3. Quests
- Lost Spires, Dungeons of Ivellon - these I know. What other adventuers would you recommend?

4. Others:
- any good dynamic music mod?
- is there a housing mod you'd recommend?
- and finally: have I missed any mods worth checking out? I'm not interested in playing as a vampire.
- I assume the latest UOP, USIP, Oblivion Mod Manager, OBSE and Wrye Bash are a must?


Sorry for such a long post and lots of questions, but as I said in the beginning, I haven't played in a very long time and I have a lot of catching up to
Thanks in advance for any help.

1.

- Have a look (and maybe post) at the FCOM thread for more info about that mod.

- TIE can work to some extent with those mods, in one of two ways that I'm aware of (TIE In, or TIE4Mods) but what I've heard is that a fully functional version of one (maybe both?) is coming soon, so you might want to wait a bit.

- I personally like LAME, and have just started mixing it with Supreme Magicka, which doesn't seem to do any harm either. There are quite a few now though, so... depends on the kind of things you like (and /or dislike).

- Plenty!


2.

- Arguably, yes. In terms of near *total* overhauls, quite possibly. But you can mix it up a fair bit, with good results, IMO. Matter of taste, again.

- TNR, you mean? Not needed if you have the next thing on your list.

- It's pretty good. I use it, anyway.

- Yes!

- Enhanced Weather, perhaps? I use All Natural, but it's a very large mod, that does a bunch of stuff.

- Not sure really... *


3.

- I think there's a thread just for these, somewhere...



4.

- Better Music System.

- Try Oblivion Real Estate, and maybe the Nexus in general, as well.

- Probably... more specific please?

- Yes.


edit: * Except, do install to somewhere other than the default location (e.g., C:\Games\Bethesda Softworks\Oblivion instead), do try Streamline (selectively) and Oblivion Stutter Remover, as well as the LAA patch... hm, that's all I can think of right now, for necessities.

Hello there.

Unofficial Patches, Mod Manager, Wrye Bash, OBSE definitely.

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/995334-mmm-and-fcom-omod-installers - FCOM really isn't all that difficult to install even when done strictly manually, but the OMOD installers ease the process. MMM is the "difficult" part these days because of having to rename the BSA and some other fun stuff. There's a pretty good step-by-step in the FCOM thread as well.

TIE works with FCOM provided you use the correct version. The two mods overlap in a lot of places, however, and generally using both of them is discouraged because you're going to miss out on a lot of content from one or the other. Oblivion XP works fine with FCOM, I use it with my current setup with some minor tweaks.

Personally for magic I use http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=20371, but I consider these overhauls to be sort of "try before you buy." There are probably three or four major magic overhauls that have been made, it's really up to your personal preference. Check out the http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/814477-magic-overhaul-comparison/ for more info.

In terms of visuals http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=20371 is easily the most useful guide out there. It covers just about every topic including NPC's. (There is also a companion page covering http://knol.google.com/k/toql-the-oblivion-quest-list#.)Unique Landscapes is still going strong with many releases since you last played. Current thread http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1088137-the-unique-landscapes-project/page__hl__unique%20landscapes. Highly recommended addition to any Oblivion install.

In terms of weather I'm currently using http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=18305 which seems to be fairly stable and adds a good bit of variety with a bunch of bells & whistles. http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16544 is another popular way to go, especially if you want some added atmosphere.

As for quests, music and other "interesting" mods, there are just too many list which is why we have a list of lists: http://www.gamesas.com/?showtopic=1010109. A few minutes of browsing and you should be able to find just about anything you're looking for. Personally a lot of my favorite little tweaks come from http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1053088-deltes-thread-of-immersion-mods/page__hl__delte%27s, but depending on your preferred level of immersion your mileage may vary. And, when in doubt, the http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/top/alltime.phpis always a good place to check.

In terms of hardware & what you can handle, I'm running a similar system, different model processor, with a GTX280 and I'm constantly shaving off eye candy to get my framerates acceptable. Personally I prefer to see distant objects over texture overhauls like QTP3, so I use http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=24701 along with http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=OblivionMods.Detail&id=2701 for a balance of the two. If you decide to use a viewable-when-distant mod then you'll need to tweak the uGridDistantCount setting in your .ini to find a good balance of performance. Find any FPS-related topic on the forums for a more in-depth explanation.

Other Personal Suggestions: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10763; http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=8273; http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=26389; http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=11495; http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10400

That's about all I can rattle off for right now. Good luck in your efforts.

-G

http://sites.google.com/site/oblivionpoinfo/downloadmods <-- guides/specialized lists with each section

I just came back recently too. There are some new mods that I love:

House mods: Any of Korana's - Millstone Farm, Shadowcrest Vineyard, etc. - all crafty house mods
Khettiena's Stars Rest - really nice house mod. Also her Automagic Bags.
Setsunas Training Dummies - allows you to use the training dummies to train and level up.

1: LAME is good,and depending on your definition of "overhaul" you might also like to look at some other magic mods to like: fearsome magicka, audacious magery, fizzle, conduit magic, and uhhh Midas magic? but you probably already know about that one.

2: TNR could also independently handle changing NPC faces.
RBP is good, but there's also a recent mod; Xenius race compilation(or something like that) which seems meant entirely as a collection of beautiful races if that's what you want.

3: check thehttp://knol.google.com/k/toql-big-quest-mods#, as well as the http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1072579 category here.

4:
Better music system
Oblivion real estate site

A list of my "must haves"


Also the aforementioned http://www.gamesas.com/?showtopic=1010109

Some great quest mods:

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=21176
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5022
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=26219

Thanks for all the replies, I'll check them out

One more question: is the BSA file for MMM available somewhere else other than Megaupload? I have trouble downloading from there.

EDIT: nevermind, found it on PES.

the above mods should get you back into Oblivion, and seeing as you are coming back to the game... i thought id let you know about some WIP mods.

for NPC's, as well as tie, there is also the http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1088895-relzwipz-oblivifall-vengeance-of-the-classic/page__p__15876267__fromsearch__1&#entry15876267 mods by Cliffworms, one called better inns+oblivion comes alive, these will add more npc's to towns and inns! and the rest of the oblivifall series looks great too!

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1086456-wipz-unnecessary-violence-ii/ version 2 looks very nice also.

And an interesting vampire overhaul is http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1091319-unholy-darkness-complete-vampire-overhaul/page__p__15923599__fromsearch__1&#entry15923599

Like i said these arnt out yet but each is fairly close to completion, and they are good to keep an eye on if you continue with getting back with oblivion :wink_smile: