» Sat Jun 23, 2012 1:37 pm Moop here with a simple, easy-to-follow guide to make Oblivion look like a 2012 game. I have tried to make this guide as user-friendly as possible. Now before I start, here's a little info. You should have an average to above-average computer to run this. Personally I have a(n):
Core2Duo @ 2.5Ghz
4GB RAM
nVidia GeForce 260M
Now, we can start.
1) Download OBSE. OBSE is a common requirement for many great mods. It simply gives modders more accessibility to edit the game. First off, don't be scared to download/use OBSE. It does not overwrite any files. OBSE works by patching the game while it is in memory.
····a.) Start by downloading the .zip. http://obse.silverlock.org/
····b.) Open Windows Explorer and navigate to your Oblivion directory. The most common path is "C:\Program Files (x86)\Bethesda Softworks\Oblivion". If it's not there, check "C:\Program Files\Bethesda Softworks\Oblivion"
····c.) Open the .zip with WinRAR or 7zip. It's your choice. Drag n' Drop "obse_loader.exe", "obse_1_2_416.dll", "obse_editor_1_2.dll", and "obse_steam_loader.dll" (If you have the Steam version of the game).
····d.) Now, whenever you play Oblivion run it from the "obse_loader.exe". You can still use the Launcher to set your graphics details, and change the active mods.
2) Download Really Textured Normal Maps For Vanilla. RTNMFV is a mod that re-textures Clothes, Enemies, Architecture. Basically everything. It also causes a 0% loss in framerate. How? Because these are still the same textures used in the Vanilla version of Oblivion, just larger, and with added "depth".
····a.) Start by downloading RTNMV. http://oblivion.nexusmods.com/mods/38204
········a2.) Remember there are two parts to this mod.
····b.) Drag n' Drop the "Textures" folder inside the .zip(s) to "Oblivion\Data".
····c.) Done!
········c2.) Playing now should look much better than Vanilla Oblivion. But we have more to go.
3) Download Qarls Texture Pack III. QTPIII is a large re-texture mod that greatly increases texture quality. These textures are all hand made, and add a better look to Oblivion. But didn't we just get a retexture? Yes, but QTPIII doesn't retexture clothes, or creatures, or armor. Just land, and clutter. Since we applied RTNMFV we can then overwrite most of it with QTPIII. You still keep the retextured armor, clothes, and NPCs of RTNMFV, but with the beautiful landscape of QTPIII. See?
····a.) Start by downloading QTPIII. http://goo.gl/dETfi
····b.) Upon opening the .zip you may be scared to see the mod is in a .omod form. Don't worry. An .omod file is used the by the Oblivion Mod Manager. You don't really need the Oblivion Mod Manager, but we need to use it because it can decrypt .omods. You can get it http://oblivion.nexusmods.com/mods/2097
····c.) Put the .omod in the "Bethesda Softworks\Oblivion\OBMM\Mods" directory.
····d.) Open the Oblivion Mod Manager (the .exe is located in the "Bethesda Softworks\Oblivion" directory).
····e.) You should see the name of the .omod in the right hand column.
····f.) Right Click the .omod and hit "Extract to Folder".
····g.) Once you have finished extracting the contents of the .omod to a temporary folder, Drag n' Drop the Textures and Meshes folder into "Oblivion\Data". It should ask you if you want to overwrite any of the RTNMFV textures. Hit yes (click the check box so you don't have to hit yes 1000 times).
····h.) Done! Playing Oblivion now should look vastly different.
4) Download OBGE. OBGE is a simple extension (or plug-in) for OBSE. It works by allowing external shaders to be applied in-game, at real time. What is a shader? A shader is what determines how the screen looks. These shaders are what allow you to see the game. For example, one time I accidentally deleted all of my Shaders in the "Oblivion\Data" directory. No more shaders = no more screen. All you would see is a completely black screen.
····a.) Start by dowloading OBGE Core. It is available http://oblivion.nexusmods.com/mods/30054
····b.) Open the OBGE Core .zip.
····c.) Drag n' Drop the Contents of the .zip into "Oblivion\Data". Hit yes to any overwrite changes.
····d.) Now download the OBGE Standalone Effects (it's under optional files).
····e.) Drag n' Drop the contents of "00 Core" into "Oblivion\Data". If you want the support .esp drop that in too. Accept any merge/overwrites.
····f.) Drag n' Drop the contents of "01 Godrays Sunglare Fix" into "Oblivion\Data". Accept any merge/overwrites.
····g.) Done! Whenever you run Oblivion, you must have Anti-Aliasing off.
5) Download OBGE Liquid Water. OBGE Liquid Water is a mod that changes the ugly, flat, gross water of Vanilla Oblivion, into a much better looking water. This is a must.
····a.) Download OBGE Liquid Water. It is available http://oblivion.nexusmods.com/mods/37825
····b.) Drag n' Drop the contents of the .zip into "Oblivion\Data".
····c.) Done!
6) Getting OBGE to work. Getting OBGE to work is easy. Navigate to "Oblivion\Data\Shaders". There should be a file named "shaderlist.txt". Open it with notepad. If you don't have a shaderlist, make a new text document named "shaderlist". Add any shaders you want in there. An example would be: "CrysisDoF.fx". Make sure you include the ".fx". Add as many shaders as you want. I personally prefer "CelShader+EdgeAA.fx", "CrysisDoF.fx", "Godrays.fx", and "water.fx".
7) Adding additional effects through nVidia Control Panel/Catalyst Control Center. nVidia graphics cards and Ati cards have programs that can force special effects through the panel that aren't normally available. The big effect we need is Anisotropic Filtering, and Performance SSAO. Anisotropic Filtering fixes an issue where textures are blurred when looking at them at an angle. A picture best showing it is http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c0/Anisotropic_compare.png
····a.) Open nVidia Control Panel/Catalyst Control Center. There should be an area where it lets you decide if you wan't the 3D application to decide settings, or "Use Advanced 3D Settings". Check the Advanced 3D Settings. I am unsure what these are for ATi cards. Sorry!
····b.) Once you have checked the Use Advanced 3D Settings bubble, hit "take me there".
····c.) Hit the Program Setting tab, and select Oblivion from the drop-down menu.
····d.) Turn Anisotropic Filtering up as high as you want, and turn "Ambient Occlusion" to "Performance".
····e.) Done! I am sorry I don't have an ATi card, you will have to do some poking around to find these settings. I know it has them.
8) Run Oblivion! Bask in the utter beauty that the game looks now. Have fun! If you have any issues go to the FAQ. Here are some screen-shots!
http://i.imgur.com/j2ZVi.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/ZA63a.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/mFKQQ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/6pzE9.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/RvRHC.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/GsfuX.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/avBdj.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Y7SAf.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/aqLig.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/HeKcf.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/wMtVo.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Wupb7.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/q0wbj.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/V2iH7.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/gGBLj.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/JcUht.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/kZ73W.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/3Ckse.jpg
FAQ:
You broke my game! I totally did everything right, and now my game is not working!
No I didn't. Make sure you didn't delete stuff. Try re-doing most of the steps over.
How come my main menu has disappeared?
You have anti-aliasing on. Make sure it's off.
How come none of my shaders appear to do anything?
Make sure you have the .fx at the end of your shader's name in the Shaderlist.txt.
Is there an .ini for OBGE?
Yes, it is located in "Documents\My Games\Oblivion\OBGE.ini"
My performance is too slow with OBGE.
Unfortunately you don't have a fast processor, or good enough Graphics Card. Usually this is a case of slow CPU. You may have an i7, but Oblivion doesn't support multi-core CPUs. So clocks are what matter most. Try getting at least 2.5Ghz.
I hope you guys enjoyed this guide. If you have any questions, comments, please reply. I'll answer any questions.
Thanks,
MoopusMaximus.
