» Wed Jun 04, 2014 4:31 am Hello and thanks for reading.
My thread comes with a story that I simply need to tell. I'd like to think it's kind of a good one, but if you've no patience for that sort of thing, feel free to skip to the request below (I'll mark the spot).
8 Years a Failure (aka Modblivion)
Incredibly (and embarrassingly), I bought Oblivion when it first released eight years ago...and I've yet to play it through once. It's not that I didn't like it, got distracted, fell prey to boredom, forgot about it or had an extended tour in the Peace Corps. No, the problem was mods, all those brilliant, accursed mods.
You see, I started with an initial play of "vanilla" Oblivion, and it was fun enough. But, for reasons that have been lost to time, I paused for a bit of a break. And by the point I returned I'd already heard rumblings on the 'net about community-created mods — "must-play" mods that changed the game radically for the better. "With this mod, it's a whole new game!" was a not infrequent comment.
And with that, my innocence was lost. Farewell, blissful ignorance! Of course, you can see how I had to have these mods. How could I possibly play one of the seminal games of our time without them? To do so would be to shortchange my gaming memories forever.
At this point some right-minded thinkers would quite reasonably suggest playing "vanilla" Oblivion through once before going mod crazy. Further, they'd advise to add them slowly, perhaps one or a few at a time. But this sound advice would fall on deaf ears, because I simply don't do multiple playthroughs. It's not some irrational personal credo; it's just that once you've played a game like Oblivion, the unknown is known, the mysteries demystified, the romance is gone. In short, it can only be your first time once.
Plus, knowledge of what great mods can do can't be unlearned. The proverbial toothpaste cannot be put back in the tube. You can't rightly be expected to embark on the game possessed of the foreknowledge that what's ahead of you will be, by your own hand, second rate, a pale shadow of its potential.
So I embraced the complexities and vagaries of mod installation. I spent countless hours researching mods, looking at others' gargatuan mod recommendation lists, fiddling with Oblivion Mod Manager, Wrye Bash, FCOM, OBSE, B.O.S.S., et. al, learned lore I never wanted to know about things like archive invalidation, and collectively read several War and Peace's worth of readme files, installation guides and way-too-long (OOO, anyone?) user manuals.
This took months of my game-playing life. And I endured this crucible multiple times over the years (at least four serious attempts). And, tragically, it never quite came together to my satisfaction. By the last time around it all worked fairly stably — though I cannot say whether it was properly balanced — but the load stuttering was irritating in spite of my having a way-over-spec potent PC, so I resolved to do it yet again with a solid state hard drive.
Suffice to say, I bought the solid state drive several years ago, but the mere thought of the titanic installation task ahead was enough to deter me. I procrastinated and played other things while my Oblivion box, like some forgotten artifact, gathered dust. As if solely to mark the passing seasons, Skyrim was released, lauded, beloved and now can be had for $5 on sale. But I abstain — the thought of playing Skyrim without having played Oblivion (and Shivering Isles, which I now own, the purchase of which was for me not unlike doubling down in poker) is unconscionable. [I'll mention at this point that I was wise enough to buy Fallout 3 very shortly after it released and set to completing it immediately, before too many mods released. I have learned my lesson. Tragically, however, by the time I get to Skyrim — delayed as it's been until such time that I finish Oblivion — I'll undoubtedly face another nontraversable morass of mods.]
Which brings me to today, when I find myself once again staring down my now-all-too-familiar demons at Oblivion Nexus. I am ready to take another crack at it. I pray it is my last.
END STORY, BEGIN REQUEST
So, here's the deal. I'll start by establishing that I have the original game (boxed, not Steam) and Shivering Isles (none of the other DLCs). I've got a mod list from the past and present that's a mile long — easily somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 mods. I've reviewed it and checked Nexus for updates, etc. (there are many with relatively recent versions). The mods cover nearly all categories, from visual to combat to patches to convenience alterations to UI to quests...you get the picture. Many are small and straightforward. Some are not. I should note that, unless I am told it's truly essential, I'm actually looking at not fiddling with OOO (or FCOM). I don't think I need it and the headache that is its stalwart companion.
What are my goals for this, my first momentous playthrough? (in rough order of importance)
- Play balance
- Rewarding challenge level (I like Hard difficulty in most games, not Insane)
- Non-vanilla character leveling (nGCD or Realistic Leveling, etc.)
- More involving combat (so Deadly Reflexes or Unnecessary Violence...or both!)
- Balanced and improved spellcasting (LAME and/or Supreme Magicka)
- Smarter A.I. (if such a thing exists — at least for guards and such)
- Convenience (hotkeys, map markers, auto-sorters, easier alchemy, book organizers, that sort of thing)
- Companions (I find the idea of using Vilja particularly appealing — I've heard it's so good)
- Quests — at least a few of the best the community has created (those said to be better than the vanilla game itself)
- Improved visuals, sound, etc. (I don't need every bell and whistle...just some of the more meaningful and impressive improvements)
- More houses, improved cities/landscapes, additional weapons, armor, monster variety, etc. — as with quests, I'd like to see a sampling of the best the community has created, but I don't need hundreds of options
The most important factor for me is gameplay. If a game is well balanced and the main activities (usually combat) are enjoyable, the rest is trivial.
Also, FYI, while I'm likely to let my character evolve "organically" (I did this with Fallout 3 — just taking the skills that seemed "in-character" at the time, and it was great), I lean towards mages and fighter-mages in games like Oblivion, rather than stealth-and-steal types. That said, I can't imagine skipping the Dark Brotherhood quest line.
I also don't need my Oblivion/Shivering Isles experience to be extra long. I know some people invest 1,000+ hours in Elder Scrolls games. I don't have that kind of appetite or patience. If it's good and moves quickly, I'm sure I'd be satisfied with something like 50-100 hours, or less, if that's possible.
Any (and I do mean ANY) input is welcome. Tell me I'm crazy to try to install all these mods. Even better, tell me how to best do it (yes, I know what a bashed patch is). Tell me what you think represents a manageable list that will result in a great game. Tell me what your favorite mod(s) is for a balanced challenge. Tell me what you think I need to know to actually make it to the end of Oblivion/Shivering Isles...finally.
And if someone actually wants to see my list of potential mods, I'll send it to them or post it (just please instruct me on how to make it an expandable list, as spoilers are done, so it doesn't take up the whole page), just know that you were warned.
Thanks so much for reading.
- ELB
