I just started playing from the Steam dl this weekend and found loads of places to read, dl mods, etc.

I went ahead and followed the http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1306005 on installing mods listed there for enhanced visuals, sound, and gameplay. I also found other things to install like T.I.E (which no one has answered my question on how to get it to work with OOO or BC, one of those, since if I enable it I get over 200 pts over in weight on my updated saved game).
I am installing the MMM mod but don't understand what it means by the option of More Wilderness Life No Gates:



gates? what gates?

Umm... are you saying you don't know what an oblivion gate is? The game does kinda center around them though if you never played the game before I could understand why.

Is it asking if I want wildlife to spawn around those gates I have yet to see?
I really don't know either way.

It will add more normal wilderness creatures such as wolves, deer, lions and the like to the wilderness in general but removes extra spawns of scary badass daedra around these gates which you will soon be well aquainted with. Really it depends on personal preference more normal creatures everywhere or more daedra just around the gates, it's up to you.

Check the http://pages.suddenlink.net/corepc/#Plugins part of the MMM readme for what the optional plugins do.

It still doesn't make it clear to someone that doesn't know anything:



It basically says the same thing, but brings up another question:

Well since this is the first time playing the game, I guess I don't fit into a category of someone having a problem with some kind of reduced version of the plugin that I have no idea what they are talking about.

Basically, with More Wilderness Life and lots of Daedra spawns outside an Oblivion Gate, you can get very intense battles as the MMM faction AI leads to interfighting. So use More Wilderness Life No Gates if you don't want that, as it removes the MWL spawn points around gates.

But you can't expect the MMM readme to give info on vanilla stuff like Oblivion Gates. In short, it can't be made for "someone that doesn't know anything."

EDIT: Also, I edited the MMM opening posts last week and changed some descriptions, so there it reads:



EDIT 2: Another "where" that should be changed... Gah...

I really wouldn't recommend using overhaul mods on your first playthrough. If you don't even know how the game plays as bethesda made it, how are you supposed to know if the changes you installed are a good or a bad thing? My advice is save the overhauls for when you have played the game through once, or at least played a good way through it.

I played with just audio/visual mods til level 3, getting my ass handed to me by the rats in the jail tunnel (rough leather picked up as a thief which is what I predetermined my character to be), getting beat down by the two bandits in ruins across the water outside the sewer exit (was killed to near no life in a second, then dead), then made my way to IC, eventually finding the undercavern kill rats quest, and those things beat me to a pulp. I found the courier quest for easy gold, decided to sleep on the Bloated Belly, wound up being beat to death multiple times by the Blackguard after the game kidnapped me...I gave up and restarted at an earlier save after that.

I can't see how it can get any harder installing these mods. I read what they do and like what they say: Living econ, guard AI fixes, etc.
I played most of the Thief PC series so am looking at installing TIE Integration Revised (wish I could get a 1.35 version that worked).

Which question? I only find this thread by you. I wouldn't recommend using T.I.E. and OOO together as they are both overhauls and thus incompatible. There are old projects making them work together, but that's for older versions of both. Also, T.I.E. makes weapons much heavier etc., so that's a feature rather than a bug.

Well when i talk about overhaul mods i mean, OOO, TIE, Frans, Fcom, and to a lesser degree MMM: If those two mods you mentioned are all you use then i don't see a problem. Do as you wish though.

I agree with your post before that. If new to the game, play vanilla first so you know what you'd like to change in the first place. Perhaps the vanilla leveling isn't bothering you - well, then, you wouldn't want a leveling overhaul etc. Also, the OP seems to aiming for OOO, MMM, TIE at this point.

The point is I am not much into replaying a game over again once the thing is done. I know this game can take many hours to do.
I said I was following that step by step Steam post to improve the game.
I didn't dislike or like the leveling system as I never paid much attention to it. I do wonder how in the hell to raise my stats. I only know to run/swim for athletics, security = picking/stealth, but I don't know how to raise light armor unless it is passive by fighting.
I do dislike how hard it is to fight in the game with block, hit, etc. Not the best implementation unless I am missing how to play the combat still.

I figure if I want to change something I can just disable/uninstall in the loaders.

The combat is rather nicely implemented IMO, at least compared to Morrowind. There are mods dealing with this, though, such as Deadly Reflex and Unnecessary Violence (lots of others as well).

Yes, you basically use your skills to advance them - you can also pay for training.

And many hours is an understatement - you can play for 100's of hours.

I'd still recommend starting with vanilla. You can add mods to an ongoing game instead.

If you're looking for info on how the skills level and/or other info about the game check out the UESP wiki http://www.uesp.net/wiki/ beware though if you have no restraint there are spoilers to be found here which could ruin the whole experience of playing the game for the first time so I don't recommend looking into quest parts.

It is a bit late to tell me to start with vanilla as I already have played to level 3 with said audio/video/BC installed, then stopped and installed all the way down that Steam thread list to MMM. I was going to finish it off with FCOM and TIE revised, etc, since I have gone that far.

I want all that variety and challenge I read in these mods.

OK, it's your game. But read the instructions when it comes to FCOM. We're less then enthusiastic for hand holding the installation. Also, skip TIE revised - it shouldn't be used with the latest OOO/UFCOM. And why on earth must people start out with everything and more at once? It's basically to ask for trouble/issues, esp. if new to mods. :shrug: