I would post this at nexus, but there's been no activity on the SPAM thread for about a year. I'm hoping someone here might have had the same problem and can tell me the fix.

I'm using the SPAM leveling mod, and it doesn't seem to be working properly. When I sleep to level up, I get the level up message, but I don't get the menu to choose which stats to raise. Instead, I get some dialogue (like what you get when you go up in a skill) listing all the possible modifiers for my primary/secondary specialization. At first I thought it was giving me all modifiers (which it shouldn't do). but when I checked my character screen, none of my attributes actually changed.

This is the only mod I'm using, though I am also using the supplemental SPAM restore spec and fav mods with it.

Has anyone else had this problem with SPAM? If so, how did you fix it? Thanks.

I got it working. I'll post my fix in case someone else has the same problem.

I had previously tried other leveling mods. I think this problem can occur if you use any automatic leveling mods. What they often do is create a folder in your data folder called menus. In that folder you are likely to see a config file. A previous post mentioning deleting xml files from other mods, though Windows 7 doesn't explicitly indicate it's an xml file in the explorer. Anyway, take out the file, load up, and it should work.

This is a great mod, and my favorite leveling mod that I've tried (and I've tried a lot of them).

I think SPAM is very simular to realistic leveling which I use now. If you used both mods what is the main difference between realistic leveling and spam?

Oh cool, another SPAM user.

Often when people have issues with a mod that are then resolved, they edit their post with a "nvm- fixed" kind of message, instead of taking the time to share the solution. So I just wanted to say thanks for posting the solution to your issue, punkbohemian.

I don't know about Windows 7 because I use Vista, but Windows sets Explorer to hide known file extensions by default. This is always the first thing I change on a fresh install of Windows. To change this, in Explorer click Tools in the menu bar, click Folder Options, and click the View tab. In the Advanced settings listbox, uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types." Other things I do while here is change the radio button to "Show hidden files and folders" and uncheck "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)."

Well, Realistic Leveling is more like Balor's Leveling mod, they both auto-level your character based on total skill usage, so there's no need to sleep. The potential problem with this is that you could level much faster than you want, which could be bad if your non-combat skills are leveling faster than your combat skills (as is the case with me). Unless you play a very combat-oriented character, you're going to get outclassed pretty quick and there's nothing you can do about it. Well, you could probably "train" by killing your own summons, but then you're going to level due to both the improvements of your combat skill and conjuration skill creating kind of a catch 22.

SPAM doesn't auto-level. With SPAM, you pick your (primary) specialization (Combat, Magic, Stealth) but also a secondary specialization, which determines how much you can level up each attribute. This is what the table looks like:

(Primary Specialization/Secondary Specialization)........C/M....C/S....M/C....M/S....S/C....S/M----------------------------------------------------Str.....+4.....+4.....+3.....+2.....+3.....+2Int.....+3.....+2.....+4.....+4.....+2.....+3Wlp.....+3.....+2.....+4.....+4.....+2.....+3Agl.....+2.....+3.....+2.....+3.....+4.....+4Spd.....+2.....+3.....+2.....+3.....+4.....+4End.....+4.....+4.....+3.....+2.....+3.....+2Per.....+4.....+4.....+4.....+4.....+4.....+4Lck.....+1.....+1.....+1.....+1.....+1.....+1

So, my character is Magic and Stealth (M/S). I have to sleep to level, and get three picks like usual. However, how much they will raise is a fixed amount based on my specializations. So, I can go +4 to Willpower, but only +2 to Endurance. I should also mention, your two favored attributes get a +1 modifier. So, my character's favored attributes are Intelligence and Agility, which means that if I chose them for level up picks, I actually get a +5 for Intelligence or a +4 for Agility. It doesn't matter which skills you used, and how much, the bonus remain the same. Obviously, this makes a +5/+5/+5 or +5/+5/+1 strategy essentially impossible, but that's only a turn off for power-gamers.

SPAM has other advantages. You make your character, and you pick the skills your actually going to use for the character, rather than picking one from every attribute or controlled vs. non-controlled skills or some other metagame-y [censored]. This means you'll level faster, but because you don't auto level, you control when you level (just don't sleep). My character is a (custom, obviously) Ninja whose only weapon skill is Blade, and it happens to be lagging behind a lot of my non-combat skills. No problem. I only level when I feel my Blade skill is high enough (I have magic, but I depend pretty heavily on my sword). Right now, I probably have 5 or so levels waiting for me to take, but my Blade skill is only about 35, so I'm not going to level until I feel the skill is strong enough to handle the consequences of leveling.

I've only just started to get into Oblivion (I found out about it from the new Fallout games), but I think I actually tried every leveling mod out there because vanilla is just so ass backwards. SPAM is definitely my favorite. It lets me create thematically appropriate characters with the proper major skills, and I don't have to break immersion by micro-managing my in game actions to make sure I don't over-level, under-level, or anything like that just to make sure that my character develops the way s/he should considering the concept.



You're welcome.

I used to be a "nm fixed" person, but then (crappy) Windows Vista came out, so I switched to Ubuntu and the way that community worked at the time forced me to develop the habit of leaving breadcrumbs for other troubleshooters.



Yeah, I'm still getting used to 7. It's looks like a Fisher Price toy compared to Ubuntu. IIRC, in Explorer, it didn't list the actual file type, it just gave it a generic "configuration file" label. If I hadn't poked around in all the subdirectories to try and figure out where the problem was, I never would have guessed it was an xml file.

Thanks for your detailed response Punk Bohemian, I mostly use other leveling overhauls like Waalx Animals and Creatures and Oblivion Warcry New Dimensions and find that it's not really nessesary for me to moderate my leveling abilities, of course I usually play combat centric characters so it's not that big of a deal in the first place.

Punk Bohemian-

I've always wanted to try SPAM but haven't.

Is there a way to level attributes associated with skill not in your first or second specialization?

Then - if You didn't know both Realistic Leveling and nGCD both have ini files that let you adjust the speed of leveling. Combine them with http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=14304 and you have complete control over that speed. So part of your worries are not really concerns after adjustment.

Thanks for the information. I'll definitely give it a try.

I'm happy with Vista now. I have it customized out the wazoo so it works the way I want it, so granted it's not an out-of-the-box experience. I think most of the people who say Vista svcks has never tried it. It's like that ad campaign Microsoft ran a couple years ago, where people were surprised to learn the OS they were using was Vista. Go back ten years and I think you'll find that there was more negative feelings over XP when it first came out than Vista.

What I've seen and read about the file system and user experience has me hesitant to "upgrade" to 7. The "user-friendliness" has me reluctant to try it because I don't need or want my hand held all the time.

You can raise any attribute you want. You're primary/secondary specialization only determines how much it will raise with each pick. So, with my mage/stealth character, I'll pick Strength every couple levels or so. It will only go up +2, but I can pick it every time I level if I wanted to (which I am doing with Endurance).

I know you can modify the speed of leveling with RL and nGDC (I don't know much about progress, though), but it's totally easy for me with SPAM. I can bank levels and cash them in when I'm ready. Also, even if one gets auto-leveling at the perfect rate, you still have the problem of non-combat oriented characters falling behind in Strength and Endurance, which can make leveled creatures a problem. Of course, there's ways around this, but SPAM is the easiest I've seen. I just level when I'm ready.



I miss ext3 and having a proper console.

I'll tell you flat out, I wasn't too psyched about going to Windows. I left for Ubuntu because the reverse compatibility for Vista was just horrible. Not to mention, it was so large, slow, and clunky, I'd have to pack a lunch just to get me through starting the damn thing up. Even with 7, it still needs a lot of work, but I'm thinking of buying a new box soon anyway, so rather than retool an OS now, I'll just wait until I get new hardware.

Anyway, I don't see myself as having chosen Windows, but as having to leave Ubuntu. Their support was really starting to wane, and the development was taking some pretty commercial turns. Not to mention, even with Wine (sorta like a Windows emulator), getting games to work on Ubuntu was sketchy at best. I'm tempted to try other Linux distros, but I just don't have the time it would take to develop my computer skills to the extent it would take to use them fluidly. Ubuntu is actually the most user friendly distro of Linux...and I mean actual "user friendly", not the candy-assed-Microsoft "user friendly".