I've played Oblivion on and off now since it's release so I am fortunate enough, at least, to be mildly experienced with the history of Oblivion modding.

Still, I'm re-installing after what has to be nearly a year and I'm finding this to be both a pain-staking, confusing and horribly annoying process to get my favorite mods (and by all accounts most people's favorite "must-haves").

In total, along with installing Oblivion from its DVD (which thankfully is a very simple process), I have to download and install:

Oblivion_v1.2.0416English.exe
DLC Frostcrag, HorseArmor, MehrunesRazor, Orrery, ThievesDen, VileLair and KnightsoftheNine
ArmamentariumComplete_ver_1_35-18417.7z
FrancescosLeveledCreaturesItemsMod.exe
FrancescosOptionalNewItemsCreatures.exe
obmm_1_1_12_full_installer-2097.zip
OOO_133_Complete_Setup.exe
OOO_134_Beta_5_Patch-15256.7z
UnofficialOblivionPatchv3.2.0Installer.exe
MMM373BSA.7z
MartsMonsterMod37b3.7z
FCOM
etc, etc, etc...

Not only do I have to download and install these, I have to install them in a specific order and each has its own dizzying instructions on how to do this. And the installation process itself covers dozens upon dozens of different "modular" possibilities.

This is a bit much. And like I said, I've been conscious of Oblivion modding for years now, so I've been "eased" into it -- I can only imagine the horror people who look into Oblivion modding for the first time experience.

What would be awesome is a single package "Supermod" that contains what are pretty much the stable of Oblivion -- MMM, OOO and Frans, and of course their tertiary and required mods/tools. Then I could take this single file and burn it onto a CD and keep it in my Oblivion sleeve forever. I'd even be satisfied if all of the "modular" aspects of each of the mods were removed -- call me simple but I think the only questions I should be asked trying to install this behemoth is "Install now?" and then zoom, everything's done.

Hell, gamesas should even package this on CDs with the game itself, since it's pretty accepted that FOOOMMM is absolutely necessary for Oblivion.

So yeah, tl;dr -- I installed Oblivion about an hour ago and if all goes well in another 5 minutes the last of the shopping list of mod files I need will be downloaded and I can start the lengthy process of installing a half dozen different mods and tools with a dozen different files, and if I'm lucky, I'll actually be playing Oblivion two hours after installing it. Fix plz.

No.

Search the forum for the dozens of different reasons why this won't be done.

Really its not that hard to just look at the FCOM thread, where they give you exact instructions and OMOD installers to do so.

People need to start taking 15 min out of their day to learn this on their own and stop asking for these rediculous all in one mod packs that can't be made anyway.

Boss - http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1096264-boss-better-oblivion-sorting-software/
FCOM thread - http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1094510-relz-fcom-convergence-and-ufcom-relz/

OBMM
Wyrebash
Obse

thats all you need.

I spent hours and hours installing my 100+ mods and it didnt bother me.

Dont know why you're crying about installing 6 mods or so and telling people to 'fix plz' for you.

Get off your lazy [censored] and do it yourself.

Just make it yourself. Burn your "Data" folder after installation into a DVD and you're set.


How can you fix something that is not broken?


And FCOM is not absolutely necessary for Oblivion. How do you think XBOX 360 people can be so loyal to Oblivion? Without FCOM, that, at least, is certain. Also, FCOM is not Bethesda's property, it's not possible for them to claim it either


It's a bit horrid if you have to download them each time you re-install Oblivion. You must have lots of cash to burn...

Step 1: Copy/paste folders and .esp file into your Oblivion/Data folder.
Step 2: Double click on the Oblivion desktop shortcut and pick and choose which mods to play with using the "Data Files" option when the game loading screen pops up.

Sorry, but I don't see what's so complicated.

The complicated bit would be that the instructions you gave are a really good way to completely screw up your game, unless you are using very simple mods.

Please go to the Fcom thread and read the directions, read properly and in all seriousness after getting all the mods it should take you less than 15 mins to get everything up and running, the only time consuming part is downloading everying for FCOM specifically.. modding is not horribly complicated...installing mods is even less so....essentially FCOM is

Download resources -

Put them in data folder the files your TOLD to put there-

make sure their order is set with boss or OBMM as detailed-

Patch -

Play...... not that simple but mostly so.


You want your oblivion modded it falls on you to make it so everyone else simply provides the mods nothing more.

Seriously you've been a member of these boards since 2005, none of this really should be an issue for you. you've seen the modding stage budge from its small budding script effects,faces and game saves onto a blossoming beast unparralleled to date....

If Bethesda Packaged FCOM.

A couple of problems with that idea.

The Modders Themselves Created Fcom.So they would be Pretty Cheesed off. :flamethrower:

Also If it was Released Bethesda would be Charging an Extra ￡49.99.

When I first came here I had Not A clue how to install Mods.But After doing a lot of reading,and ask these folks Nicely if I got stuck,I'm much improved.

If you do the same, you'll find Modding is a lot More easier.

Just beware you don't end up being a Mod addict,and end up More time adding than Playing. lol :whistling:

to directly answer why a big compilation is a bad idea:

mods get updated every time. each time a mod comes out with an update the mega pack would have to be updated and reconfigured (and likely retested for compatibility). this is hard enough with simple mods, complex setups like FCOM only make it more difficult.

not everyone agrees what the best mods are. I, for instance, get by perfectly fine without OOO, other's can't play without it. People have differing tastes and there is no way a pack would please everyone. the beauty of modding is that you get to choose what parts of your game you want to tweak.

Not really. There are only a handful of mods that require more than a simple "download, unzip and 4-5 clicks." Like... all of my mods are of the "download, unzip and 4-5 clicks" variety. And RGO, if anything, is not "simple."

While I agree that the OP is being somewhat unreasonable, I'd also like to point out that FCOM is not that simple to install the first time. Ensuring that you have all the resources, the right esp's, the right ones eneabled and the right ones built into the patch, is a time consuming process the first time.

I spent a couple of hours trying to work it out, gave up and went back to OOO. I think in my case the issue was with Fran's.

*shrug*

Oblivion is only so big as a world, you don't have to clutter it with everything.

Er. Not sure if that's entirely serious, and if it is, whether it's just sour graqes (like, for example, when PS3/XBox 360 Oblivion players rant about how useless/crap Oblivion mods are - no really, I have seen this happen time and time again), or what else...

But anyway. Taking it at face value, FCOM does not "clutter" Cyrodiil. Not at all.

Further, maybe I am in a minority but I dont consider MMM/OOO/FCOM as essential, to me and the family multi-user setup on a less capable machine the complicated updates are more of a pain than they are worth so I dont use them. TIE is about the most multi-purpose mod I use, the rest are immersion enhancers which are dedicated to that one or a few purposes. Recently, I am actually considering dumping TIE because of issues found with Duke Patricks Combat Archery and a timing issue with All Natural Weather (Game time slowed down by TIE so weather changes in All Natural are un-realistic), if I cant change in the CS TIE to de-conflict these issues in the next version of TIE it will be removed, I love the idea of bringing Thief to Oblivion, and the Oblivion equivalent of Morrowind Comes Alive, I also love the fact that TIE uses vanilla resources for less conflicts, but the game mechanic changes not being reverseable by the user and presenting problems for dedicated immersion mods is a show stopper.

Sorry to plug BAIN again, but a complete re-install of everything we have (Currently about 65 mods, two mods via OBMM first) takes approximately 35 mins, BOSS the load order and rebuild bashed patch, start playing. Pretty much a fire and forget procedure once you have established a collection of BAINs and a good de-conflicted install order, BOSS then sorts out the load order, Wrye bash brings it all together and tracks all the changes for future adjustments. Especially where Texture/mesh/sound conflicts occur OBMM is clueless in that regard (hence why you see a lot of people with pink/purple/missing bits with regards bodies and clothing - Myself included, at one stage I was using BSA alteration in OBMM instead of BSA redirection, one small update is all it took to create a problem with doors very hard to track down and required a complete re-install and new game start (the save game was affected too))

Edit: I remember a couple of teams trying to do this on other sites, the arguments, conflicts, permutations and staying on top of updates for every eventuality burnt out the team RL. No matter how dedicated an individual is with this idea, I think it is doomed to failure in the long term, short term they may achieve it once or twice. But never 100% successfully. One tiny update from any of the big three can have a devastating dominoe effect to the rest of your setup. In fact a small update from something seemingly un-related can bring the house down.

Not simple in function, but simple in file structure, I believe. Also has the benefit of being fairly load order independent, I think.

The problem with the instructions given was that there was no allowance for oddly or complexly packaged mods, and no allowance for changing the load order of the mods. Which is very problematic if you have mods where either of those are important.

Regarding FCOM, the complaints about it better stop when the next set of releases are out. Resources stored in BSAs, OMOD scripts and BCFs, and all the work Corepc is doing to try to eliminate as many incompatibilities as possible in the various FCOM and MMM optional files will make FCOM easier to install than a lot of much less ambitious mods.

Bah, shouldn't be complaints at all. It is already easy as hell to install with niceguys omod installers.

I mean damn, I remember way back when BOSS didn't exist and you had to manually sort your load order etc, but even that wasnt too bad. And now you got people complaining out of the wazoo, when all you need to do is get the OMOD's 1 click BOSS easy set load order, bash with wyre and you're set.

:confused: there are Consol Owners that say Oblivion mods are useless and crap?




:violin: Oh lawd..... :ahhh:

I think that the problem is that many players coming to oblivion on PC see all the 'awesome' mods and want them all:. Now.

If people took a bit of time and built their mod list slowly they wouldn't encounter so many problems.

Mind you, I do think that the OP has one valid point. The 'installing mods' threads and guides that are knocking around these days are so incredibly in depth that they can appear intimidating. They appear to be designed to give the optimal playing experience at the cost of much reading and careful following of instructions, and include stuff like BAIN, Bashed Patches and PPFYI (or whatever the initials are).

I'm a 'just good enough' kind of guy. If it works, and it's simple, I'm your man. Here's my quick guide to getting started with mods

1. Make sure you are patched up to date with the official patches. Which you probably will be unless you bought a very old copy of the game.
2. Get OBMM
3. Get BOSS
4, Get and install the UOP
5. Get and install OOO 1.33 full, the OMOD version.
6. Run BOSS
7. Play

Later you can worry about other stuff (including the latest beta for OOO)

Fine if you are only running OOO but anyone who thinks the first time through a full FCOM installation with OBMM, BOSS, Wrye etc;then add COBL, UL, BC or OBC, the big quest mods (Spires, Stranded Light, etc), a bunch of other mods; OMG and other Giskard mods (requiring their own, not very compatible, resource pack), GoC and other mods by Giskards heirs, also requiring a separate resource pack, etc etc, is easy, well come on over and do mine. The OP request may not have been reasonable for reasons given above), but nor were some of the responses. Between finding, downloading, omoding, reading and rereading the FCOM instructions plus getting somewhat competent with Wrye, etc and then massaging with the tools to make functional, I would guess that I have 100+ hours in my current installation. That may be trivial to people like Reneer and Lady N, but so is hitting a 350 yd drive for Tiger, a little harder for the ordinary mortals here. Yes the tools become pretty simple with use, but they are pretty intimidating to start with. It would also help if the instructions were not a couple of versions behind and didn't refer to non-existant functionality.

Then you find the OBSE does not work with a downloaded version of the game and everything needs to be reworked (or buy another copy of the game and reinstall from scratch). Which is what I am doing, but the mods are already downloaded, converted and ready for installation and massaging. This time will be relatively easy - but claiming one is only a few clicks away from a highly modded, smooth running version of Oblivion, doesn't gain my admiration for your undoubted brilliance, it merely costs you any credibility you might have had. Sorry, this is a nontrivial task - but I am grateful to the modders/tool creators who make it both possible and so worthwhile. Now back to looking for the most up-to-date BOSS List.

Sorry S'lider; didn't actually mean to quote you as I agree with much of what you say. Been awhile since I visited/posted here and like Wrye, takes some retraining after a lay off.

As Wrye himself said, a word processor put words on a screen, and that in itself is complicated. Oblivion is a worldprocessor, so imagine how complicated that is.

Ouch... bought the D2D version, I gather?

Maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that you can back up your Data folder, install the DVD version (plus OBMM, Wrye Bash and OBSE) and then copy your Data folder back in place and preserve all your mods.

Yup. Works great. Now, I just need a storage medium that I can burn my 20gig plus data folder to.... and no, don't even mention blue-ray, that is still WAY to expensive. (though getting cheaper.) Only trouble with this method is: Mods that make changes to the oblivion.ini, or, files located OUTSIDE the install folder. Sure, you could add those to your archive, without too much trouble...... Just something else to keep track of.

Also, this method will only work if you have a working install, and back IT up. If you bork your install, reinstalling the game, and then trying to re-copy the borked data folder to it is going to leave you with the same problems. So, if you have a REALLY long and involved install process (I am looking at YOU FCOM. ) get your base install, get it working and stable, and then back it up before you add anything else to it. Trouble is, you still run into the issue of..... updated mods. New versions come out, and you are out of date.... Such fun. I am not really anol about updates though. Unless they fix some really glaring bugs.... I don't even know what versions I am running at the moment, they are 'relatively recent' in any event. I am happy with the way my game plays with my 150+ mods.

Thank you showler; I was just going to ask about that work around. I do have a functional install (full FCOM with associates and am very close to the 255 esm/esp limit) so I would prefer not to do a reinstall. Going to ask about it in a new thread as it is pretty hidden in here.