It's been quite a while since I last played Oblivion, and life has been very busy since then. Back then, I used many mods indeed, altered some, created a couple of simple ones, and helped a number of other players and modders along the way, as best I was able. Anyway, I seem to have forgotten most of the "how to" stuff!

Oblivion (with SI) is installed again - in the right place, and working fine - and patched (SI version). Also, I have added OBSE, Wrye Bash and BOSS to the mix thus far, along with the LAA patch for Oblivion.exe. Which is great. That's all well and good. But now, I am rather puzzled as to how to proceed.

if for no other reasons than that I am asking, and that I have helped others at times, I hope some of you will be so kind as to offer your help and suggestions, as to how best to mod Oblivion nowadays, with a view to stability, more interesting and challenging gameplay, more beautiful graphics in general, better sound, and overall a more immersive experience.

I will be running Oblivion from a very fast, very new SSD. The PC is otherwise a Xeon E3-1231 v3, with 8GB of RAM, and an HD 7950 w/ 3GB onboard, which is plugged into a monitor running @ 1920x1080. Just in case that info is useful.

Whether you point me to a site, or more than one, or whether you have personal recommendations - or indeed, some of both kinds of help to offer - I don't mind. It feels like learning all over again, unfortunately, though I'm sure it will begin to come back, in time.

Hi!

I'll try to recommend something...

For better looking and more stable game consider using Oblivion Reloaded http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/45749/? (be sure to read the description).

For interesting and challenging gameplay Francesco 5.0 http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/40190/?or script-based overhaul by Maskar http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/42780/? (many people use FCOM, or OOO instead).

Also, Guild Advancement http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/42870/? with it's prerequisites by David Brasher listed there (more quests).

And I recommend MOBS http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/28537/? (and MOBSification of mods - link in my signature).

For beautiful graphics I would recommend QTP3 http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/45666/? and Bomret's for SI http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/46162/?

For flora replacer I use discovery1's Imperial Ecology 3 http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/46162/? and Imperial Aquatics http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/45208/?

For sound Audia Arcanum http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/9218/? with update: http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/13555/? and Sounds of Cyrodiil http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/39804/?

For weapon sounds Symphony of Violence http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/13987/?

And for more Diverse Voices http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/9829/?

If you want more, check out this informative site: http://wiki.theassimilationlab.com/tescosi/Main_Page

Welcome back arafel. I too recently came back to Oblivion, from a trip up north in Skyrim.

The one game-changing event that has happened recently is the release of Oblivion Reloaded. Carlos4444 has rightly mentioned it, but I cannot stress how much it has improved game stability and looks of the game.

The other thing I am doing is using Maskar's overhaul (super excellent!) with OOO. Awesome game. And the latest version of Better Cities (v6) expands and gives the cities a fresh new look.

As always, tescosi is your friend. See link in my signature - I think Carlos also linked to it.

"arafel". I recognize that name, and recall your contributions. Welcome back!

Depending on when you last played, you may not be aware of "TESTG". It takes up where TOTO left off, and expanded to cover all three of the TES games. When you decide to start looking into texture replacers, check it out. We try to explain what all the related files are, and cover the utilities involved and concepts like LOD/VWD. Stuff like TES4LODGen, and LandMagic, etc. Also an extensive list of links to texture replacers in one place including the most popular like QTP in it's variations.

I'm an advocate of LAA patching the DLLs as well. If you still encounter the 1.8 GB memory limitations with the game, or wish to better understand the issues, you might want to look into that as well.

Links in my signature.

-Dubious-

Good recommendations above. Anything by Maskar is good. His overhaul is wonderful and very customizable. His needs mods (basic physical activities, basic primary needs and basic personal hygiene) are also good and very customizable as is hotkey pro.

Another new mod that is awesome is Snus Dungeons, only available in the Snus thread here. http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1514252-snus-dungeons-3/page-2#entry24282420It makes a nice complement to Better Dungeons.

For stability, in addition to what's already been mentioned, I view Oblivion Stutter Remover as crucial.

Thank you so much, all!

I've been quite busy lately, downloading new things and updates to old things, as well as reading descriptions, etc.

So far, these are the things on my list, some of which are already installed/done; most of the others are in the installation directory of Wrye Bash, as they should be:

SI, Official Patch, OBSE, Wrye Bash, OBMM, BOSS, TES4ll, TES4LODGen, various ini tweaks

Unofficial Patches

ShadeMe

Blockhead

MenuQue

Oblivion Stutter Remover

Enhanced Music and Control

RuntimeEditorIDs

Elys Universal Silent Voice

DarkUI'd DarN

Alternative Beginnings

Maskar's Oblivion Overhaul

Race Balancing Project

Less Annoying Magic Experience

Supreme Magicka

Sneaking Detection Recalibrated

Phitt's Phighting Phixes

Deadlier Creatures

Oblivion Reloaded

Weather - All Natural

Robert's Male Body

HGEC EVE

Oblivion Character Overhaul

Unique Landscapes Compilation

Better Cities

Grass Overhaul

Animated Window Lighting System

RAEVWD

Oblivion XP

Kvatch Rebuilt

ZUSIO

Audia Arcanum

Symphony of Violence

Dynamic Music System

QTP3R

Bomret's for SI

Better Dungeons

Snus Dungeons

The Imperial Ecology

Alive Waters Redone

The Imperial Aquatics

How does that look, as a place to start? Anything missing in a major way? Anything conflicting/problematic that I'm - evidently - not aware of?

Thanks again.