Hello all. Long-time lurker first-time poster

I have two questions:

Background: I used to play mostly PC games years ago, but now with having little kids, full time job, etc life became just too hectic to
bother with device drivers and upgrading video cards. I also prefer to play on a recliner with a hand-held controller on the
large HD TV.

So I started playing primarily on the Xbox 360 when it came out... but now the 360 is starting to get a bit long in the tooth with no new console hardware in sight.
The games I enjoy most are Oblivion, Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, and Red Dead Redemption.
I REALLY want to play some of these mods I see you folks talk about for Oblivion especially (to tide me over til Skyrim), and maybe later the Fallout games.

I'm thinking of building a dedicated PC just for gaming, but primarily hooking it up to the HDTV. I'd like to use it with a
controller and sit in the recliner - not at the computer desk.

Question 1: Do any of you currently do this? How does it work out? What hardware did it take to make that possible? Can
you play a modded PC version of Oblivion with a 360 controller (hooked up to Windows)?
Do you have to modify controls - is it similar to the 360 controls? Is it customizable?
Or do you just come up with a way to have a keyboard/mouse at the recliner?
Obviously I’d have to have a wireless keyboard & mouse available to load the software and move around Windows 7… but I don’t know of a good way to put that on the lap – and may I just prefer a wireless hand-held controller in general.

Question 2: I don't even know how to get started in modding Oblivion. I see there are some forums here, some with extensive links,
but the majority of them seem to be dead links. Any concise suggestions for a first-time Oblivion modder? The information on
the Mod forum is extensive, but I just want some basic mods to enhance the graphics and maybe get new storylines. (I've played the
stock game to death on the 360).

Thank you very much, I appreciate your time in replying!!!

Question 1: I've never played with such a set-up, but I know users on these forums that do and I know for sure it is perfectly possible to play the PC version using the Xbox controller. Not difficult at all. Other forum users will be able to help you better here.

Question 2: This one I can help you with, though.

Most of the mods or utilities I mention here you will be able to find on http://www.tesnexus.com. The ones you don't find there, just google for them and the links will come.

Any reasonable mod setup for Oblivion starts with the utilities. Grab Oblivion Mod Manager (OBMM) - it allows you to manage your mods and it becomes kinda essential when you have lots of mods. A good number of mods can be found as OMODs (the format used by OBMM) or contain easy instructions to help you create an OMOD using OBMM.

You can also get Wrye Bash, a fantastic tool that not only will manage your mods, but will also allow you to create a 'bashed patch', which is pretty much essential if you want to play lots of big mods. Wrye Bash is somehow complicated for the uninitiated, but you can find a http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1123302-wip-wrye-bash-pictorial-guide-for-newbies about how to use it on TESNexus. Once you get used with Wrye Bash, you probably won't even need to use OBMM anymore.

Another essential tool is OBSE - Oblivion Script Extender. It allows mods to change many things that could not be changed just using the Construction Set. Many great mods depend on OBSE to work correctly and the number grows every day.

As for the mods themselves, well, it really depends on what you want: if you want to overhaul the entire game, changing lots of things and adding lots of other things, there are a number of mods that do this, including one of the most famous overhauls, Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul (or OOO). This can be combined with other mods to create the maximum overhaul ever: FCOM, but installing FCOM is not for the faint of heart, so if you're interested in it I'd suggest you read a lot about it and make sure you read the installation instructions not one, not twice, but thrice.

You can also get many great ideas from the List of Lists topic in these forums: http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1010109-list-list-of-mod-lists

The List of Lists is a little bit outdated now, but it can still be used as a starting point. You can always search for an updated version of a mod mentioned in one of the lists.

Finally (sorry for the long post!), let me tell you some of my favorites. I'm not a big fan of big overhauls, so you won't find things like OOO or MMM on my list, and it is meant just as a suggestion. I'll split it into categories to make it easier:

Environment (visuals):

- All Natural
- Enhanced Vegetation
- Enhanced Water
- Brumbek's Sky Pack
- Koldorn's Lod Noise Reduction
- Animated Window Lighting System

Environment (audio):

- Symphony of Violence
- Oblivion Stereo Overhaul (hey, an overhaul mod! )
- More Immersive Sounds Edited

Textures:

- Better Beer
- Better Wine
- Leviathan Soulgems
- Natural Faces

Gameplay:

- At Home Alchemy
- Supreme Magicka
- MOBS
- Realistic Leveling
- Realistic Fatigue
- Enhanced Economy
- Morrowind Lockpicking

Interface:

- DarN's UI

Add-ons:

- Faregyl
- New Roads and Bridges
- COBL
- Armamentarium


These are just a few, can't remember all of them now.

Hope it helps!

I play on a 30" monitor and my computer is on the floor, which is something a little similar to what you're talking about. I'm surrounded by pillows and blankets. I can sit with my back against the wall or lay on my side or on my stomach. As far as I'm concerned playing on the floor is more comfortable than a couch. I don't know what resolution a HDTV is, but at 2560x1600 Oblivion is stunning. I'm usually a foot or two away from the monitor and it's like a picture window into Cyrodiil. I almost feel like I could fall through the monitor and land smack onto the Gold Road, lol.

I use a keyboard and mouse. I keep the keyboard on my lap if I'm sitting, or on the floor if I'm lying down. I usually have the mouse on a small box nearby on the floor. I can move all this stuff around whenever I change position. If I'm lying on my stomach I'll often put the keyboard and mouse on the floor in front of me.

As far as specs, this is what I'm using at the moment:
Intel Core 2 Duo 3200MHz
Bad Axe 2 D975XbX2 motherboard
Raptor 150 gig 10,000 rpm 16mb cache
2 gigs DDr RAM
GeForce 9800 GTX+ (1024mb)
Creative X-Fi Xtreme audio
Dell 3007WFP 30" LCD (2560x1600 resolution)





And here is the list of mods I use with every character:

http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=OblivionMods.Detail&id=3953 by Oscuro, dev_akm, MadCat221.
Not just a 'creature-adding' mod, not just a 'difficulty' mod, not just a 'gameplay-tweaking' mod, Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul is actually one of the finest finest roleplaying mods around. http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=OblivionMods.Detail&id=1757 by Martigen, Corepc Dev_Akm Shadowborn is the perfect complement to Oscuro, adding much-needed spontaneity to Oscuro's static world. Crank Martigen's mod all the way up and Oblivion will feel as wonderfully unpredictable as an MMO. These mods are so inseparable to me I count them as one.

http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=OblivionMods.Detail&id=2764 by, of course, DarN.
This essential mod goes a long way toward making Oblivion's consolized interface useable. Configurable from within the game via a menu. I modify it with one of Luchaire's re-colorings, either http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16387 or http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16897 I also use http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=14822 by WillieSea and http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=19063 by Badmagic to enliven the map with color and to replace what I consider to be ugly map markers with more aesthetically pleasing X's.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=14065 by tejon, or http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=13879 bu ABO.
Two excellent character-levelling mods that do away with stat management, allowing the player to concentrate on roleplaying. Realistic Leveling tends to be the better mod for the more jack-of-all-trades characters or for characters that change during the course of a game. nGCD tends to be the better mod for characters that fit conventional Dungeon-and-Dragons archetypes and never deviate from that during the course of a game.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=14304 by tejon.
This mod allows the player to control the speed of advancement of each skill. Easily configurable via an .ini.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=11237 by tejon. Willpower again has an affect on the player's vulnerability to magic, as in previous ES games.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=7484 by Deathless Aphrodite.
Makes the player lose fatigue when running. When the player's fatigue hits 0 he starts to walk. Also allows the player to sprint for a brief time.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=25078 by TheNiceOne.
Using this mod merchants' gold goes up and down with each trade. Also does away with the haggle slider (what a relief!) Allows the player to specify how much gold they recive from looting containers, enemies, as quest rewards, etc. All configurable via .ini.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=12149 by tejon. Attempts to expand on Bethesda's concept of Birthsigns and make them for interesting and fun, at all levels.

http://tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=35300 by ZenshinZenrei. Introduces three special advantages to each of the predefined Oblivion classes in order to make them more unique. Advantages are similar to special class traits from Arena and Daggerfall. Custom classes pick three Advantages manually.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2037 by Quarn and Dejunai.
Removes flowers from plants after you have picked them. This is a great little visual aid when picking many plants very close together.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1840 by Woodman, http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=OblivionMods.Detail&id=21 by Tandem, http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5138 by Soor, http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5919 by b3w4r3, http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=OblivionMods.Detail&id=129 by Talonhoff and http://morrowind4kids.com/pseronwyrd/PWRunSpeed.zip by Pseron Wyrd are a collection of small tweak mods that I cannot bear to play without. Chase Camera Mod is essential to me because I play exclusively in third person and will quickly become nauseous without it; Bethesda went to great lengths to create the illusion of a seamless worl when they made Oblivion and then went and ruined it by spamming messages onto the player's screen everytime they enter a new cell, and No Load gets rid of that; Initial Glow gets rid of what I consider to be a very ugly 'plastic wrap' enchantment effect; Sleep Rest Wait Any Time, because no game has any business telling me when I can sleep, or where; No Psychic Guards tones down guards' clairvoyance a little bit; Run Speed Tweak slows down the base running/walking speed of the game to Morrowind's running/walking speeds.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16005 by mmmpld'
A fun little 'immersion' mod that allows the player to see their character use the same getting-into and getting-out-of bed animations used by NPCs.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=11449 by RamyEnfant.
Adds a collection of new jump animations. The characters execute a cool Night-Elf-style forward roll with weapons sheathed and a variety of other jumps with different weapons drawn. I often jump just to watch these animations. I'm easily pleased.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=4387 by CorePC.
Adds much-needed life to Cyrodiil's roads. The merchants are great if you like to spend extended time away from cities as I do. To this I add http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=20575 by LazyAltmer. These two mods do a lot to make Cyrodiil a lot less lonely when travelling the roads. They also help fight, too, which has saved my character's life more than once when playing all these overhaul mods.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16513 by Bananasplit, Wolfslady, Reckless, SilentResident, Nernie, Vorians and Ismelda.
The way the cities of Tamriel should have looked. Spend hours wandering around like a tourist, awestruck at how different (and gorgeous) everything looks. Comes in modular form - you can choose to redo all of Cyrodiil's cities or just one. It's your choice. When I'm not using Better Cities I use Arthmoor's http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1019807, which tranfers the vanilla cities into the Cyrodiil worldspace, ala Morrowind. Wonderful for those of us who love to ride horses through town.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2536 by Max Tael.
This is one of the plugins in Max Tael's Natural Environments suite of mods. It adds several non-hostile flying animals such as birds and butterflies.

http://morrowind4kids.com/pseronwyrd/PW_MorrowindFog.zip by Pseron Wyrd.
Oblivion's near-infinite view distance is ugly, in my opinion, and it also makes Cyrodiil feel much smaller than it ought to. This is my attempt to simulate Morrowind's fog. Combined with Run Speed Tweak, Cyrodiil feels as large and wonderfully mysterious as Vvardenfell once did.

http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=942911 by Arthmoor.
Adds Morrowind-style transport to the game. A nicely immersive touch.

http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=984109 by XMarksTheSpot, Brumbek & Ismelda.
Another mod I can't play without anymore. It adds windows that turn off and on in synch with day/night cycles and also, optionally, smoke from chimneys. Comes with a nice variety of window color tints too.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=28977 by Emma.
An Alchemist-oriented companion with a mind of her own (and, as a bonus, dialog voiced by Emma herself).

http://oblivion.brashendeavors.net/bows/ by Brash.
A wonderful mod for anyone who loves light, ranger-ish amror and slightly more natural, non-fantasy-type bows. I also love the ranger camp just outside Weye (conflicts with Weye TICS, but not AFK Weye).

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=22828 by afk_dwip - or - http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=9514 by TamaraVico.
I tend to alternate these two mods, as I love them both. I absolutely and without equivocation adore Tamara's Weye mod - but it does come with a framerate hit. I just love her cramped medieval-looking alleys and its attention to detail. It is quite possibly my favorite town expansion mod for either Morrowind or Oblivion. The area occupied by dwip's mod is smaller and, thus, conflicts with fewer mods and also does not hurt framerates quite as much (in my experience). It comes with some interesting quests though and is also nicely-laid out.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=35908 by Shezrie. A sparkling-new compilation of five of Shezrie's superb villages, all in the Tamriel worldspace (not in interior cells). Lakeland Village (south of Imperial City), Ravenwood Village (north of Chorrol), Woodland Village straddling the road between Imperial City and Skingrad (my favorite up to now), Haven Bay (in Valenwood) and the centerpiece of the mod, a complete makeover and expansion of Pell's Gate. Shezrie has been an excellent house modder since the days of Morrowind and her villages for Oblivion are Bethesda-quality in my opinion.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=22401 by The Tamriel Rebuilt Team.
Stirk is a small but highly detailed island in the Abecean Sea west of Anvil. Those who are familiar with Tamriel Rebuilt's work for Morrowind will know that this is high-quality modding with an eye towards accuracy in matters of lore.

I can tell you that Oblivion's Xbox controller support for the PC is shady at best. It won't work like an Xbox, just try to mimic it. You have to click (LEFT BUMPER) and drag the mouse (LEFT STICK) to move across the map and select items from your inventory. If you want to name a custom spell or item, you will have to use the keyboard for it. Aside from those points, it works very well - just expect to get up every once in a while to name stuff, if you like that.


http://www.gamesas.com/?showtopic=565651

Sorry for not posting more, or wording it better. It's about mid-night here. Tell me how it works out!

This is my page,its not done and i havent had the time to finish,but its a start http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1146469-tips-for-beginners-modding-oblivion/page__p__16756309__fromsearch__1#entry16756309 .
Check out this one as well http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1119325-50steps-to-stable-fcom/ that one isnt noob friendly but you ll get a good idea of what to do for the modding aspect.
as for using a controller or all that set up.I had that set up before my PC and PS3 went bust.I didnt use a controller for my PC.So it could work.If you have to use your mouse and keyboard,do what i did.I made a lap table to set perfectly and comfortably on my lap for the wireless keybaord and mouse i used.Im right handed so it sat over my legs and extended out over the right hand arm of my ez chair.I only had a 27" tv but still it was comfortable.Oh,on the left side was my end table for my drinks,smokes,and food.

You have all been GREAT... THANK YOU THANK YOU for the information dump.

When I get a chance to build out my gaming PC (for an HDTV) I will be following all this advice.

THANKS!!!