Where are the resource files that the game uses. For instance I want to make a custom race that uses wood elf ears but I can't find where the meshes or textures for the wood elf ears are. For now I'm using something I downloaded but it's just not what I'm looking for. I know I could just copy and paste the wood elf race and customize from there and it would have the ears I want by default but I know this issue is going to come up again if I keep using the CS (which I will), so I figured I'd ask as much for future reference as for now.

On the WIKI:
http://cs.elderscrolls.com/constwiki/index.php/BSA

who'da thunk? It was always there, I just couldn't see it. Thanks, this will make my time with Oblivion much more enjoyable, I'm sure!

A note of caution: If you unpack the BSAs into your Oblivion\Data folder, you will see a substantial increase in load times in game. I recommend unpacking them into a new folder (outside of Oblivion\Data), working on them there, then saving the modified meshes/textures/whatever into the Oblivion\Data folder.

I have never seen this issue and I unpacked 'everything'. I use SATA drives which may make a difference.

Really? My previous HD must have really svcked, then. When I unpacked my BSAs into my Oblivion\Data folder, load times increased substantially in length, sometimes exceeding one minute. That may just have been a symptom of its impending death, though.

The only time I saw increased load is when I started using the graphics packs, but that is because they are much bigger in size. And Oblivion is not as effecient with textures as the Fallout3 engine upgrades are.