» Fri Jan 14, 2011 5:54 pm So I get Oblivion on my laptop.It's damn near the same as it was on the PS3.Good,huge,alot to do,and in game issues.So I learn about mods.Game over man. I'm like a crack head for getting and installing mods.LOLz.But as a console gamer my whole life(started playing on the Atari 2600,onto the 5200,nintendo.sony,etc,etc) I knew nothing about modding.I also didnt know a whole lot about computers.Plug-n-Play wwas what i was used to.While I have found much help here on the web in various forums,most people seem to think that everyone is a tech geek.I am not.Learning how to mod oblivion taught me alot as to what goes into a game,what your computer does in the background to svck away resources you need to be able to play a game,and how to tweak your rig(which im still doing).It took me two weeks of trial and error to get things rolling right(and two reinstalls one to install into the right directory the other to make FCOM to work).Now as I said,I found alot of help here in the forums,but still was looking for that step by step walkthrough of how to do it.So i'm going to attempt to do that for anyone wanting to play and mod this great game.If there are more knowledgable people who wish to contribute please do so.I wil put this together as a work in progress.
Installing your game
Very important.Your install directory is vital to be able to write mods into your Data folder with no issues.When i began modding this game,my install directory was the default.....C:/Program Files(x86)/Bethesda/Oblivion.This ended up creating issues with some mods and utilities and trying to get them to work.Some would'nt even show in game,others like Wrye Bash(a utility)wouldn't work at all.So to avoid thoseheadaches just create a games folder in your C: directory.
Mine is this; C:/Games/Bethesda/Oblivion
Doing this with your initial install,or a clean reinstall will save you headaches down the road.Trust me.I learned this the hard way.
Doing a clean reinstall.
Create a folder on your desktop called "OBLIVION BACKUPS" and place all your back up files there.
MAke back ups of your save files "My Documents/My Games/Oblivion/Saves" and any plugin or .ini's you may have in this folder.A clean reinstall means starting over but these may have things to reference.Your saves are dependent on the mods you have installed already so you may be trahing them.
If you have OBMM already to save youself some time back up your C:/.../Oblivion/obmm/mods folder.THis folder contains the OMODs you already have and will save you download and/or OMOD creating time.
Back up your 7zip's,.rar,s or whatever download format you,using.All of my downloads come as .rar's and i created a folder called "Oblivion mod rar's" where i put them all in.
MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE any OMOD's,rar files,have been backed up.and are not inside your main Oblivion folder.
Uninstall your game either by double clicking your Oblivion shortcut and selecting uninstall(provided youre not using obse)or by going to the “Start” button or “My Computer” and select “Control Panel” then select “Add or Remove Programs” and remove all Oblivion game files. Check your HDD and delete any remnants of your Oblivion install if anything remains.
THis next bit i got from thomas v333 andit helped as there Oblivion remenents left in these from installing or uninstalling."""""
1. Delete unnecessary files from your computer.
a. Select the “Start” button and select “run” and type “temp”, then delete all the files you see in here.
b. Next, select the “Start” button and select “run” and type “%temp%”, then delete all the files you see in there as well.
c. Next empty your “Recycle Bin”.
2. Defragment your hard drive (HDD)<-------------VERY IMPORTANT.I use auslogics as it has a defrag folder option useful later on for dfragging your Oblivion Game folder after you got it all rolling.
a. Click on the “Start” button, select “All Programs”, select “Accessories”, select “System Tools”, select “Disk Defragmenter” and finally choose the HDD you wish to defragment and click the “defragment button”.
3. Next, I highly recommend cleaning up & defragmenting your Windows? registry with a registry scanner/repair program if you have one. If you don’t there are lots for free or cheap on the Internet.
4. Restart your computer if you didn’t have to in the previous step."""""
after you have done this its time to install Oblivion.Go to your C: directory and create a folder named Games .Put in your disc(this guide assumes you have the GOTY edition which is already patched to 1.2.0416.thats what i have so i never had to patch it except with the unnofficial patches.this is where someone with knowledge of it is handy)
When its time to pick an install directory select Browse and find your Games folder in your C:directory,select it and begin your installation of Disc 1 and 2(Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine)
Once it has been completed its time to put in the Official DLC's.Mine came as .exe's so all i had to do was double click 'em and they installed automatically into my Oblivion folder.
You dont need to have the GOTY edition or the Official DLC's,you just got to make sure your game is patched to 1.2.0416 as many mods are dependent on this.Many utilities as well.
Installation order of certain mods,especially the FCOM set up,is very important.some mods will overwrite others.Also remeber that in the load order whichever like mod loads last that is the one that takes precedence and is used.
Example:I was using DMC Stylish for some of the animations both idle and combat.One of the idle poses was in the menu screen(pressing Tab)where my character stood with her blade on her shoulder.I later added the race balancing project I needed for a Large quest mod which overwrote that pose and also loaded after DMC Stylish so I lost that cool pose in my menu screen.So certain mods will overwrite things with other mods.BE CAREFUL when installing.OBMM is your friend during these times as it will warn of conflicts and what is being overwritten.
Now the fun part.Downloading.
This is where i do most of my downloading http://www.tesnexus.com/ there are most of the downloads here and its a good sight.One warning though.The search feature kinda svcks.Manya time i put in EXACTLY what the name was only to have ZERO results.annoying.Other than that very minor gripe its a good sight.
First things first.If you're planning on any modding you WILL NEED these next few utilities:
Oblivion Mod Manager(aka OBMM) http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2097
Down load the obmm 1_1_12 FULL INSTALLER as it is an .exe file and will put OBMM where it needs to go for you.Using OBMM is easy.While many say that BAIN installation is superior(its a feature of Wrye Bash)I still use obmm as i know how to make archives into omods now.Making your downloads into OMODs is the best thing to do as it will install and uninstall everything automatically.A practice I got into was to unpack a download into a folder on my desktop to see the contents.If it has omod conversion data available that simplifies it further as you need only click the "add folder" or "add archive" buttons in OBMM which I'll discuss here in a minute.I do this practice to see whats in the download,read the README for installation instructions or load order instructions.
Next is Better Oblivion Sorting Software(aka BOSS) http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=20516
Download the BOSS 1.65 installer as it is an .exe and will put BOSS where it needs to go automatically.This handy utility will help you when you put in mods as it will set your load order for you.Keep in mind it does not recognize all the available mods out there so you will have to experiment or do research for some mods to know where they should be in your load order.
This bit was taken from the Readme:BOSS is designed to assist in the installation and usage of mods, especially more complex mods such as FCOM, MMM and FOOK, and help mod users avoid serious conflicts. It is not a complete solution to load ordering issues, as there are far more mods out there (estimated at about 30,000 for Oblivion, and about 11,000 for Fallout 3) than BOSS knows about. To properly place mods BOSS doesn't know about, a good working knowledge of mod load ordering for the relevant game is still necessary, for which some research and documentation reading will go a long way.
So you will still have to RTFM(read the freaking manual)to know here some mods need to go.
Next is OBSE(OBlivion Script Extender) http://obse.silverlock.org/
Go ahead and just get v19.All the earlier versions are incorporated,so if a mod says it requires obse v 11 or higher ,you're already covered.You need this because of how many popular mods are already using it.so get,put it in,and be done with it.
Installing obse(as per the read-me):The instructions for installing and running OBSE differ based on whether you are using a retail or Steam version of the game.
IF YOU PURCHASED A RETAIL (NON-STEAM) VERSION OF OBLIVION:
1. Copy obse_1_2_416.dll, obse_editor_1_2.dll, and obse_loader.exe to your Oblivion directory. This is usually in your Program Files folder, and should contain files called "Oblivion.exe" and "OblivionLauncher.exe".
2. Run oblivion by running obse_loader.exe from the Oblivion directory.
If you use a desktop shortcut to launch Oblivion normally, just update the shortcut to point to obse_loader.exe instead of oblivion.exe.
IF YOU ARE USING THE STEAM VERSION OF OBLIVION:
1. Copy obse_1_2_416.dll, obse_editor_1_2.dll, and obse_steam_loader.dll to your Oblivion directory. This is usually "C:\Program Files\Valve\Steam\SteamApps\common\oblivion".
2. Launch Oblivion via Steam or by running Oblivion.exe. OBSE will automatically be run along with Oblivion when launched. To disable this, rename or move obse_steam_loader.dll. You do not need to use obse_loader.exe unless you are running the editor.
You will need to do a coupla things here.
First:create in your Data folder a new folder called obse (yes;lower case) within this folder create another folder titled plugins (once again yes lower case).This is where all mods depending on obse will send that plugin info via manual install(not recommended except in certain conditions)OBMM,or Wrye Bash(BAIN).
Second:you need to point your Oblivion desktop shortcut to the obse loader.this will launch the game via obse which will initialize that scripting.i probably stated that wrong but thats my noob understanding of what it does.You do that like this.Right Click your Oblivion Short-cut and scroll down to properties.Find target:C:/Games/Bethesda/Oblivion/OblivionLauncher.exe and change it to:"C:\Games\Bethesda Softworks\Oblivion\obse_loader.exe"(I just realized I've been using the wrong slash keys,as I said,I'm a noob.)Do this and you are done with obse.
Next thing you want to get is Fast Exit.Its very helpful if you happen to CTD everytime you exit the game.I know not everyone has this happen to them,but just in case put it in anyway as doesn't hurt to have.I have the Fast exit 2 you can download it here: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=22410
This one took me minute how to install it correctly.Unpack the archive to a folder on your desktop.
A word about copying folders.When you open an archive you will see certain set-ups within said archive.Fast exit,once you have extracted to a new folder,you will then see a Data folder and a src folder.Double click the data folder you will see an obse folder.double click on that and you will see a plugins folder.Just like i told you to create in your Data folder.To copy the Data folder,right click on it and scroll down to Copy to folder,click on it,browse until you find your oblivion folder"C:\Games\Bethesda\Oblivion" and select it.DO NOT copy the data folder into the data folder in your game.it will do nothing.Copy it to the Oblivion folder as it will prompt you merge data folders.More on this below.It will ask if you want to merge Data folders,select yes.The src folder you will right click,copy to folder,C:\Games\Bethesda.As this will place it where the readme says it needs to go.
So when you go to your oblivion folder You will click on BethesdaSoftworks and see this:Oblivion
src
These are the basics of what you will need to begin modding your game.I will not cover Wrye Bash just yet.Nor will I get into the FCOM setup yet either.I'm attemptingto give a good guide on installing mods and ensuring a proper,clean,installation of the game as well.These few utilities are required really(or at least I think they are)to help create a stable modded Oblivion.
Now to get into manual install and OMOD creation.Manual installation requires some knowledge of copying and/or moving folders.Almost everything you will unpack will be going into your Data folder.IF you unpack and you have a Data folder in the archive your copy/move path should be as follows C:\Games\BethesdaSoftworks\Oblivion.I say C:\Games assuming you installed outside of Progam Files or Program Files(x86) as i recommend doing especially for Vista and Win 7 users.IF you unpack the folder and you see 2 folders.one named meshes the other textures,and a .esp file then your path should look like this C:\Games\BethesdaSoftworks\Oblivion\Data
It really pays to learn the folder structure of your game.
It really pays to learn the folder structure of your game.
It really pays to learn the folder structure of your game.
This way you will know what needs to get copied where.
OMOD creation.Really its simple.Once again I'll state this,a good practice to get into is to unpack the archive into a new folder on your desk top.Check the contents of the archive to see what is needed to be moved about if necessary,deleted,or to readthe readme for installation/load order/ outside requirements(any mods it is dependent on) instructions.For this I am going to use Nicoroshi_Creations which can be found here.
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=13519
While this may seem to much for most noobs to modding oblivion,this was the first mod i put into my game.And now I will use it for an OMOD,and as a manual install labrat.
First create a new folder on your desk top.Then Right Click the archive and extract it to that folder.when you open that folder you will see this:
A lone folder titled "Nicoroshi Creations 1_0".
Within this folder you will find these folders:"Bethesda original arrow meshes"
"Data"
"Hints"
"Readthis files for each item"
and this text:"MASTER READTHIS FILE FOR Nicoroshi Creations"
For this we will only need the "Data"folder.
Manual install:Copy to your Oblivion folder answering yes to any merges/overwrites.Within this data folder are two .esp's.YOU ONLY USE ONE!!!! RTFM!!!! LOLz
To create an OMOD which I recomend learning how to do,create another folder on your desktop.Open the data folder and Pick which .esp you want to use and remove/delete the other one.Now Drag the Meshes,Textures,and .esp into your new folder.Also darg the MASTER READTHIS FILE FOR Nicoroshi Creations and rename it to readme.
Start up OBMM.Once it is going Click on the "Create" button.this pops up another screen with different fields to fill in.Find the "Add Folder"Button about mid way down and click on it.Add the folder you you have the meshes,textures,.esp,and the readme.In the large empty field near the bottom you will see the .esp.Look at the bottom and you should see 2 choices:Plugins and date files.Go ahead and click on the data files to see the textures and meshes in the creator.
If you click on create OMOD you will be prompted to enter an authors name and a description.So this is how i set it up.I click on edit readme and first feild is mod name.Copy/Paste Mod name,Author name,version number,description from the readme into the appropiate feilds.This gives me a good omod to have for later use if say i need to reinstall my game,i make a back up of my C:\..\Bethesda\Oblivio\obmm\mods folder and I've got all my OMOD's there.Ready for use with the readmes and descriptions ready if i forgot what the mod does or for installation instructions.
Creating an OMOD ready archive.
