Wow -- mods for Oblivion can be such a chore! Here's my list that I've compiled over what seems like two weeks of reading, download, reading, and more reading. My goals are fairly simple: I'd like to use all the best graphics mods (to take advantage of my i7 920 and Radeon HD 5800), fix all the broken pieces of Oblivion, and then -- maybe -- add a few major mods like Francesco's and MMM. Really, though, I'm just trying to get all the basics down.

I picked up Oblivion a couple years ago on the PS3, ignored the main quest while playing through a lot of the side quests, then quit after I grew increasingly aggravated with jumping around for hours trying to get my agility up for "optimal leveling". Hence, this foray into the PC version and mods.

Here are my two questions:
1) Given my goals, are there any mods I'm missing or you'd recommend?
2) Are there any I currently have that are prone to conflicts?
3) Any recommendations on install order?

I plan on letting BOSS do my load order, but since many of my mods are visual in nature, the install order might matter more. I've currently added everything via OBMM, so I can remove / reinstall without hassle (correct?)

Need Bain to Install (I'm waiting on these...)
All Natural 0.9.95
All Natural Fix 1.0
RAEVWD QTP3 Texture Pack by Brumbek
RAEVWD SI Edition
RAEVWD v1.8

Major Mods (These scare me -- particularly since Francesco's is an exe)
*Francesco's Mod*
*MMM*

Patches
Unofficial Oblivion Patch
Unofficial Mods Patch
Unofficial Shivering Isles
UOP Supplemental v3210

Interface
DarNified UI
Map Marker Overhaul
FastExit

Environment
Enhanced Water
Unique Landscapes Compilation
Enhanced Vegetation (Normal Res)
Alive Waters

Gameplay
Alternative Start v1.2
Realistic Leveling
Midas Magic Spells of Aurum + Patch

World
QTP3Redimized
QTP3-Patch
SI Texture Pack by Bomret
Better Cities
Landscape LOD Replacement (2048x2048) by Shaja
Landscape LOD Replacement Border (2048x2048) by Shaja
Amp's Cave Retexture
Animated Window Lighting System (AWLS)

Character
HGEC Body
EVE HGEC BodyStock and Clothing
F-IN evOblivion Skinset for HGEC
Improved Facial Textures by Shady Tradesman

Objects
Book Jackets
Improved Doors and Flora (1 and 2)
Improved Signs
Improved Fruits, Vegetables, and Meats
Improved Signs
Alluring Potion Bottles (+Wine Bottles)

Sound
More Immersive Sound Edited
Oblivion Stereo Sound Overhaul
Oblivion Symphonic Variations Complete
1st - 4th Music Packs from

Small / Misc
Coloured Enemy Health
Cyrodil Terrain Map v25
Quest Award Leveller
Toggleable Quantity Prompt
Keychain

Thanks -- Appreciate the help! I'm thinking that an install order of: a) UOPs, B) QTP3, c) Frans, d) MMM, e) everything else might work. Thoughts?

I kind of want to try OOO, but it also concerns me... I play games for the story + sense of exploration. It seems like OOO might kill the sense of exploration if I find myself slaughtered by randomly entering an area beyond my level. Is that accurate? Is Fran's less prone to that sort of behavior? I prefer games where I don't get killed and have re-load every few minutes. I'd certainly like to feel like my character is progressing and getting stronger, but it's not an FPS...

(I'm also not a fan of mods which just add lots of complexity for the truly hardcoe... I don't want to have to use a spreadsheet or anything else to keep track of what's going on. Ideally, I don't want to spend hours sorting through inventory and preparing things for battle, either. Does MMMs or Frans force you to do that?)

This is a nice, well researched list. congratulations if you've compiled this list from scratch as a new mod user.

I don't know every mod on the list, but here's a few comments:-

-All Natural can be installed via OBMM, i think it has an omod script attached. I believe the latest patch is Patch 2.

-BAIN installation is easy if the mods come BAIN ready, eg RAEVWD.

-You should use Fastexit 2, rather than Fastexit.

-You might want to think about adding SM Plugin refurbish to your list. This prevents all the additional content (including Shivering Isles) being thrust into your face when you start a new character, instead you learn about them gradually as you play and fulfill certain criteria.

You should also think about Enhanceed Economy by TheNiceOne.

-Your rough installation plan looks reasonable.

-I don't think OOO destroys a spontaneous sense of exploration. If you keep the following rules in mind you shouldn't end up dead too often
1. Generally, dungeons have nastier inhabitants the further you are from civilisation.
2. The further down into the dungeon you go the stronger the enemies will be. So stick to the top levels and come back later for the lower levels.
3. If in doubt, run away.

There's lots to like about OOO in addition to the obvious stat and level scaling changes. From an exploration and story point of view there are a number of OOO quests to find. There's much more variety to NPC and creature enemies, so even non quest dungeons tend to have something interesting and unique about them. There's lots of other additional content, a tiny example, as well as silver vases, jugs etc there's nor rarer and more valuable gold versions. lots of other tiny things like that.

I've never used Frans so can't comment, however it's nothing like as popular as OOO, and is used primarily as part of FCOM. I experimented with MMM but didn't get on with it (for various reasons) so don't feel qualified to comment on that either.

hope this helps.

S'lider -- Thanks for the feedback!

All Natural was a little confusing to me... I was able to make and load the OMOD without a problem, but then it would CTD on startup. In the readme, it says the "Wrye Bash is required", so I'm guessing that -- even though it's OMOD ready -- it breaks unless you use a Bashed Patch?

SM Plugin Refurbished sounds perfect! Thanks for the tip -- I'll add that one to my list immediately.

I'll have to consider OOO some more... I think I was turned off by reading reviews about people either a) stumbling into dungeons and getting slaughtered or B) having to hang out in the Imperial City for days just to level up enough to survive heading elsewhere. The concept of it seems fine to me... maybe it's something to try after I complete the main quest and have a better feel for where things are?

Yes, you need a Bashed Patch for All Natural. Making Omods, or even BAIN archives, are a completely different thing to creating a Bashed Patch. The first two are installation methods, the bashed patch is about forcing otherwise conflicting mods to work nicely together. You will need Wrye Bash and its Bashed Patch feature with any extensive load order- so bite the bullet and grab it. There's masses of seriously intimidating documentation in Wrye Bash, but actually, with the help of BOSS, making a bashed patch is easy