Hello all, can someone help?

I want to play Oblivion with mods, using high def texture packs, audio enhancement, gameplay improvements and so on. I've done this all before, I used OBMM to load my mods and then a bash patch to get them to work. I also used OBSE and OBGE. I used TOTO as a reference to find graphic files as that was an excellent reference, but now very much outdated.

Now I can find the mods and the tools using TES Nexus, but I have no idea anymore how to use them. Seems strange I could do this a couple of years ago and now it reads like a foreign language.

- Is OBMM no longer used by most people and they use Wyre Bash 295 instead?
- I have a few mods converted to .obmm files already how do I use Wyre bash to install them and how do I create new packaged files?
- Do I still run BOSS or is there a better method?
- How do I get OBGE shaders to actually work and how do I compare them without installing, tweaking, uninstalling and repeating?
- Since whenever I search for mods to use the list seems old or incomplete and TES Nexus doesn't sort very well to quickly read against each one; where do I find a good list or comparison chart for mods? Example a new TOTO or that excellent image chart for Morrowind of all the texture overhauls.

This seem like idiot questions reading back on them, but these things are stumping me.

Thanks to anyone who wants to help this brain fried fool.

Boomark TESCOSI in your favorites, and download Alt3rn1ties Pictorial Guide to Wrye Bash. BAIN just works better than OBMM because it gives you control of where mods are installed in relation to each other, and gives you better control over what gets overwritten during mod installation.

OMODs can now be converted into projects by just dragging them into the Wrye Bash Installers tab, but BAIN does not yet support unicode. I converted all of my OMODs into BAIN archives before this feature, most mods are already in a form that BAIN will recognise, and converting the ones that are not is mostly a problem with how the mod was packaged for release by the modder.
Streamline is still relevant for the Streamsave and Streampurge functions, but Streamsmooth has been replaced by Oblivion Stutter Remover, and Streamsight has been superceded by altering the fog values in All Natural.

BOSS is still the way to set a Load Order.

Thank you for this, this will be helpful I'm sure.

Any other suggestions are welcome.

Couple of things,

For OBGE, i use http://shy.jsphr.net/upload/img/ups29492.zip , all you have to do is hit page up and a side menu will pop up with the various shaders, you use the arrow keys to move up and down the list and use the left and right arrows to enable and disable, and you hit page down to tweak the settings. As for the mods, you're kind of left to your own devices, but going through thehttp://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/filesofthemonth.phpwill at least lead you into the right-ish direction (as long as you steer clear of the occasional six,or anime mod). Also, Unique Landscapes is generally thought to be one the best mods, atleast as far as improving the world in general.

http://tescosi.com/wiki/Main_Page is more up to date, and vastly more comprehensive. It covers nearly every aspect of the optimal installation and configuration of Oblivion mods. And where it does not, there are probably links enough to suffice. I recommend bookmarking it, and working your way through a good deal of it - the parts that might apply to you, that is.

The http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=35230 mentioned in an above post is the best way to learn, well, Wrye Bash, if doing it the hard way does not appeal. I strongly recommend following this guide to completion. You will learn a lot about mods and mod tools.

And http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1213147-oblivion-the-beautiful/ is a thread about aesthetic improvements for Oblivion, that is much more recent than the TOTO pages. It should prove fruitful. Selection is still left up to you, but I consider that a good thing, personally, for so many reasons.



Time is a curious thing, and what is more, mods - and modding - have come a long way since two or three years ago. Luckily for you - and the rest of us! - documentation and bug-fixing have improved in many areas, quite significantly.



Plenty of people either do not know about Wrye Bash (still!) or refuse to use it, particularly for mod management, as opposed to sticking a hastily configured - if at all - Bashed Patch at or near the end of a jumbled load order. And, on the other hand, there is nothing wrong with installing Oblivion Mod Manager, or the Extended version, as well as Wrye Bash. I doubt you would ever need the extremely limited unique functionality it offers, but you never know, I suppose.



You can convert them back to 7zip archives, using OBMM or OBMMex, or apparently using Wrye Bash now. Interesting. And useful! Any kind of archive, just about, or even unarchived folders, can be used with BAIN.



Unless you are both exceedingly knowledgeable regarding Oblivion and all the mods you will ever wish to use, and requiring or desiring a very abnormal setup for whatever reason, BOSS is more or less a must.



The OBGE thread is the best place to find out, and also, should it be necessary, to ask.



You can sort search results (or category browsings) any way you like them. Though this might not be quite what you meant, I know.



Not at all. You seem quite coherent, and it is far better to ask and possibly discover, than to assume and perhaps never know...

Thanks looks like a good load to start with, will get cracking!

- EDIT -

These have been helpful, anyone know where I can find ini files created by other people to be at a high quality all ready?

Thanks

- Oops double post, how do I delete? -