EDIT: It appears from the title that I am finding spelling 'challeging' today...

Hi all, first post on these forums so please be gentle.

Need to clarify some things before I start:

1. This is definitely not a criticism of OOO. From what I have seen, it is mindblowing. It is the reason I came back to the game after more than three years away. I read about it and realised I could never play Vanilla again.

2. I do not think I'm better than the game, or anyone else. I have always only ever been a relatively casual Oblvion player and have never built up the repetoire of tricks and skills to expoit any variant of the game. I have simply played for fun, for several dozens of hours, until I have become either too bored or too powerful.

3. I am playing 1.34, with latest MMM and a couple of little mods like Nosneakeye and Denock Arrow. I don't have the load order to hand as I'm at work but have had my OBMM load order checked and verified by BOSS.

With this is mind, on entering the Oblivion world, I notice a difference. Purple glowing chests, 3x sneak damage bonus and '"I" rather than "you" cannot rest whilst are nearby' suggest that OOO is installed correctly, whilst white rabbits, water rats and countless other lovelies and nasties have spawned on my journey I have decided to make between Imperial City and Anvil tell me that MMM is up and running.

The problem I have is that I am now about half way through my journey to Anvil (sort of a test to see what OOO is like) and sure I've died and had to reload a couple of times, but I am not finding loads (or any really) of these super level enemies I was expecting that can swat me with one hit. I seem to be able to defeat 2-3 humanoid enemies without assistance using my character's trusty bow (sneak attack then loads of running and shooting), and at one point have been able to take out 4 bandit archers without dying. I seem to be having more of a problem with dire rats than anything else.

I know I'm not wading in and testing my endurance and armour, I'm keeping my distance mainly, but I would have thought that a higher level enemy would still be able to outpace me with ease and then smack me down. I was kind of counting on trying to use ingenuity and sneakiness to creep up on much stronger enemies and sneak them then hide or lure them into the path of guards etc., but I haven't really needed to. Turns out they seem to be not much stronger than me.

So, is my install faulty? Did I expect too much in terms of difficulty? Am I in some sort of early level honeymoon period and it's all going to start getting really challenging once I level up soon?

If it helps, I am a Dark Elf. Sign of the Thief, Majors in Destruction, Marksman, Blade, Heavy Armour, Sneak, maybe Conjuration? Any pointers or sharing of experiences would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Can you please post your load order when you get a chance and with Wrye Bash if possible so that we can what version of mods you are using.

Is this a brand new character ? Luck of the draw with Npc's

or and existing character ? If existing character , usually waiting out the respawn length of 4 days in a safe location (testinghall) that will get rid of vanilla and apply OOO and MMM stats to npc etc..

Else try updating npc levels with Wrye Bash once again..

Hey Corepc, thanks so much for the reply. I am using OBMM at the moment. Tried installing Wrye Bash and completely bounced off it, like even with the picture tutorials - not a clue! But I will work hard and work it out and then get it up for you to have a look at. In the meantime, perhaps OBMM load order will do? Can get that up in a few hours time.

It's a brand new character, new game, clean install. You concern me that you suggest updating the NPC levels with Wrye. Is this something that I should have been able/supposed to do post-install? I mean, I know OOO is working, but don't know how to tweak it. Do I need Wrye to do this?

Thanks again

Post your load order will be helpful when you get a chance

Try to get Wrye Bash installed for it features which will make OOO and MMM and Mods even better. You do not need bash for OOOandMMMforOOO configs, but, it does make things work a little better once again. And also help's when troublehsooting has well.

Updating npc levels is a bash feature and cannot be done outside of bash if I remember correctly. this will adjust the npc lvls and stats correctly once again to OOO/MMMforOOO settings..

Unless you are running into MMM varaints from AENV.esp which do not have OOO stats, but, use MMM stats instead, which are sometimes easier to kill once again. Without knowing the formid of the npc in question I cannot tell you if it OOO or MMM once again..use refskope to get formid and info on which mod is chaning/adding them etc..

While this might be OOO/MMM, it's possible that some of the game-breaker-ish aspects of vanilla are at work. First off, do you have some form of "No Backwards Running" to keep from constantly retreating while kicking enemies' butts? I thought it came packaged in with one or the other overhaul, but I've no recollection of it's status in OOO. Secondly, a realism mod for archery that adds reticule sway from breathing/running is the difference imo between overpowered archery and a realistic need to plan ahead. http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=15777. Also, try going into an oblivion gate and see if you still think things are not much harder than vanilla, and if so then I'd say something isn't right with OOO.

"No backwards running" is definitely not in OOO, and it's essential for game balance (actually, Phitt's http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1085118-relz-no-running-while-using-bows-or-spells/page__p__15815011__fromsearch__1&#entry15815011 is better).

OP: Try exploring around the Anvil area. There should be several ruins that have "dark rangers" or something added by OOO that will absolutely destroy low levels with archery and wolf summons.

OOO isn't always challenging, though. That's not the point of the mod, although the effect generally is to increase challenge.

correct me if i am wrong, but it sounds to me like you are just running straight to anvil without entering any caves, correct? i find the real challenges in OOO+MMM are found in the various caves/forts/ruins. for example, the amazons in that mine near the western gate of Skingard are very difficult early on. If you stick to the surface, especially if you stay on the roads, the worst you will normally find are some bandits- maybe some orc shamans or barbarians (any orcs are really hard for me because i use TRAP. damn regen!). I say, go off the roads. the first hill giant you bump into will ruin your day!

Are you using the safer roads plug in as well? It might be the reason why you are having not to many problems on the roads.

Thanks all. I am using safer roads and am mostly sticking to them, so I'm sure that's it. Ill def try a no running backwards mod as even I'm getting bored with resorting to it.

Kind of looking forward to getting smashed by something horrible asap just to see the game's mechanics in full flow I'll wait and see. I'm patient and I'm only been playing a couple of days.

Just in case here's my load order as requested (from OBMM). Will give Wrye a, er, bash, in the next couple of days:

Oblivion.esm
Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esm
Mart's Monster Mod.esm
Mart's Monster Mod for OOO.esm
Unofficial Oblivion Patch.esp
Natural_Weather_by_Max_Tael.esp
Natural_Weather_HDR_by_Max_Tael.esp
Natural_Habitat_by_Max_Tael.esp
Natural_Water_by_Max_Tael.esp
Distant Chapel Bells.esp
Living Economy.esp
Living Economy - Items.esp
Crowded Roads.esp
Immersive Travelers.esp
Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esp
Mart's Monster Mod for OOO.esp
Mart's Monster Mod - Additional Enemy NPC Vars.esp
Mart's Monster Mod - Hunting & Crafting.esp
Mart's Monster Mod - Looting NPCs & Creatures.esp
Mart's Monster Mod - Zombies for Body Meshes.esp
Mart's Monster Mod - Less Rats.esp
Mart's Monster Mod - Less Reavers.esp
Mart's Monster Mod - Safer Roads.esp
Mart's Monster Mod - No Undead Rise.esp
Mart's Monster Mod - No Spiders.esp
Mart's Monster Mod - No Slimes.esp
Mart's Monster Mod - Dungeons of MMM.esp
Mart's Monster Mod - More Wilderness Life.esp
Mart's Monster Mod - More Wilderness Life No Gates.esp
Mart's Monster Mod - City Defences.esp
Mart's Monster Mod - Extra Wounding.esp
Mart's Monster Mod - Friendlier Factions OOO.esp
Mart's Monster Mod - Farm Animals.esp
Mart's Monster Mod - Diverse WaterLife.esp
OOO-WaterFish.esp
JADImperialApartments03Temple.esp
Jagnot- Imperial City Library V1.3.esp
LetThePeopleDrink.esp
Denock Arrows.esp
Mart's Monster Mod - Resized Races.esp

...and superseded by the even better-er http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1101269-relz-phitts-phighting-phixes/. Note however that both of these mods require OBSE, and I don't believe we know whether Kander has that -- and more importantly, whether he can. If it's a Direct2Drive or (for now) Impulse copy of Oblivion, the answer is unfortunately no.

If it's a box or Steam, though, you're all good.

Use Enhanced Weather or All Natural instead of Natural Weather is buggy..

Think about using Enhanced Economy Instead of Living Economy which has a 65k Bug

Use MMMforOOO Less Reavers plugin
You can get rid of dungeons of MMM since it is only one location after all (more for testing)

Choose only one More Wilderness Life Plugins not them both

OOO waterfish and Diverse Waterlife are killer on fps..Think about using just MMM Version to save a few fps once again..

Else I really do not see anything else other than has I thought you are running AENV and it could be you are running into MMM Bandits ..You could try disabling that and wait for respawn to take effect and see if it was not that..

Also I suggest http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1094101-relz-deadlier-creatures

Nah.. I disagree with at least half those fixes! I'd rather pick and choose

Each feature can be turned on/off in the ini, so choice is not lost.

tbh I don't think I'd use any of those except the enforced-walking-speed.. which I already have!

More to the point, nearly all of them are off by default. Also, there are some improvements and additional options in the no-running system.