Hello,

I'm new to Oblivion on the PC (played to death on PS3 years ago), and I'm looking for mods that completely change Oblivion. New locations, tweaks to gameplay, etc., could you recommend which mods to get, please?

Check some of the pinned threads at the top of this forum.

Also, http://tesivpositive.animolious.com/, as well as being absolutely full of incredibly useful information and advice, has a plethora of links, to just about everything you'd ever need. Including lists and so on.

Enjoy!

OOO
Natural Environments

...to start with. (OOO has a lot in it already)

make sure you also have the patch, OBSE, and OBMM.

http://knol.google.com/k/toql-the-oblivion-quest-list

And those are just the mods well known enough to get on the list, also it stopped being updated a couple months back and there have been new quest mods since then.



Also:
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/categories.php
look at all those categories!

More general stuff:
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List of lists:
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?showtopic=1010109
Top 100
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/top/alltime.php
Files of the months:
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/filesofthemonth.php
Hall of fame:
http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=oblivionmods.HOF

List of topics exactly like yours that have already been answered: (You can also find my favorites in post #4)
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1072579-the-any-mods-list-of-topics/
Read the AZERessential topics to get the basic "get wryebash, OBMM, OBSE, start slow" recommendations

If you want any further help I suggest you tell us about yourself; what you like and what you're looking for... Here's some questions to get you started:

Have you played Oblivion already?
What sort of things interest you?
What type of Character do you usually play? (good/evil, theif/mage, roleplayer/random-no-story-hack-and-slasher?)
Are there specific types of mods you think would interest you? (Quests, graphic mods, gameplay mods, overhauls, etc.)
When did you leave?
What did you not like about Oblivion? What did Oblivion not have or need more of?

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1150743-mod-recommendations/page__view__findpost__p__16850502

@phoenix
It alsways makes me seeing your prefabricated "auto-reply" to these questions. But it's actually really good. I had a auto-reply once too, but it got lost. You are obviously better organised than I am. :laugh:

Was it the http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1072579-the-any-mods-list-of-topics/page__view__findpost__p__15593416? :laugh:

I usually try to be nice and actually type something up if they give specifics as to what they want, and I try to keep it from being a canned response by editing, personalizing, and adding new "questions" every once in a while.

Truth is, if I was still updating my list I'd probably just say: . I actually have a folder in my favorites for these topics for if Iever feel like updating the list. :rofl:

You have embarrassed me... :rofl:

I will update that in any case now. :thumbsup:

Essential mods to be able to optimize and use mods
OBSE
OBMM
BOSS
Windom Earle's Oblivion Crash Prevention System (WeOCPS)
Fast Exit


Essential for smoother less annoying user interface
A Takes All (from containers)
Toggleable Quantity Prompt (included in some bigger mods like OOO I think; when transferring, shift moves all, control moves one)

Essential to improve some basic gameplay mechanics
Drop Lit Torches (activate your weapon with torch lit and you drop it, so the area remains lighted for the fight)
Enhanced Economy (makes the economy believable)
Harvest Flora (makes plants disappear when you harvest them)
Map Marker Overhaul (allows better markers on the world map)
MD Faster Horse Turning
MD Saddlebags (adds an inventory of about 500 Enc value to your purchased horse)
Key chain (all keys store under a single "keychain" inventory sub-item that you open by clicking)
Spell Delete and Item Remove (allows you to delete stuff that otherwise could not be deleted from your lists)
Reneer's Guard Overhaul (no psychic guards, allows MUCH more diverse and immersive guard experience)
Setsuna Dummy Training (can use those practice stations that NPCs are always beating on to train up skills)

One last one that I swear by; if you would like the added immersion of your character having basic needs (sleep, hunger, thirst) in a way that works well, and is not too obstrusive (I've tried other ones and kept coming back to this one
Tyler's Hungry,Thirsty, Sleepy, Tired

Overhauls that make it a New Game
Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul Mod
Martigen's Monster Mod


ADDIT: @Phoenix1213: Hey thanks for that TOQL link! Great stuff I think I'll start with Brew House!

An "A Takes All" functionality is also either integrated into Toggeable (TQP) or QZ Easy Menus, but in one of them for certain (I think QZEM). Just check the readmes. I would absolutely recommend to install QZEM besides QTP as well, because it adds a bunch of very convenient keyboard shortcuts.

Go for Unique Landscapes...there are 25 of them...pick and choose which ones you want.

I have this (probably irrational, given I'm now up to about 60 mods, including OOO, MMM, Enhanced Economy, several vilalges, etc.) fear that Unique Landscapes will destablize my build, which has been remarably stable. Do they tend to be performance hogs or prone to conflicts and destabilization?

Overall they give small hits to performance as they tend to be more detailed than vanilla, but it shouldn't be a concern unless you already have low fps in those areas. They are excellently supported so very solid (possible exception a brand new release) with patches for basically all conflicts with other mods (so a good idea to check out patches/conflicts if using lots of mods). In short, perfectly safe but check if you need a patch and run BOSS (as load order can be important).