A few things I need some help with:

• I'm getting an error in-game telling me that the game cannot find my RealisticLeveling.ini. Based on my research, the problem apparently lies with Wrye Bash. This mod is supposed to be installed with OBMM, or so I've heard. Problem is, I'd rather not use OBMM since I want Wrye Bash to be my universal mod manager. Any ideas here? For the record, I didn't do anything fancy in regards to installing this mod with Wrye Bash. I literally just dragged the .zip file to and installed it.


• Can I speed up the leveling process? I want my skills to increase faster and have the connected attributes increase just as fast.

Many thanks.

I install all of my mods manually so I am unable to help with any OBMM or BAIN issues you are having. But I can tell you that the Realistic Leveling .ini needs to be placed in your Data folder (the same folder the .esp is in). If it is anywhere else the .esp will not be able to find it. You can easily move it there yourself.

Realistic Leveling does not affect the leveling speed of skills. For that you need a mod such as http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/41005/? Fundament provides an .ini file called "Fundament - Skill Rates.ini" in which you can configure the speed of skill gain. An additional benefit: if you are a mage you can also use Fundament to get experience from missed ranged spells, which I think is a nice touch.

Actually, there is a setting in RL that allows for basic skill progression customization. Search for "setGS fSkillUseFactor 0.35" (that's default -- it is commented out, note). A higher value slows progression, while a smaller value speeds up progression. But, like Pseron suggested, I'd seriously consider Fundament. It has direct access to skill rates per skill, or more "set it and forget it" options such as "Global Rate Control" which uses a curve and handles everything with minimal hassle. Also, there are "variable advancement" options such as the magic advancement that Pseron mentioned. Other Variable Advancement options include hand to hand, mercantile, armorer and more. Fundament is just plain essential if you want to adjust skill progression rates. Up or down.

Also, if you are interested, I have a custom version of Realistic Leveling that allows you to slow down level-ups. Not skills, but how frequently you level up. It's basic because I never intended to share it, but I'll be happy to upload it for you. I always found that the player leveled up waaay to fast with default RL.

That's odd. My RealisticLeveling.ini is in the Data folder, so I'm not sure why I'm getting this error.

Thanks for the setting, although I'll pass on that customized version of RL. Thanks for offering it though.

Thanks. I've always used mods for this so I guess I overlooked that. *smacks forehead*

I'm at a loss myself. I just did a quick test, installing the mod with OBMM and it worked flawlessly for me. Have you tried installing the mod a second time?

Maybe I misworded my OP, but I already know that installing the mod with OBMM will work. The problem is that I'd rather not use OBMM and just stick with Wrye Bash to install my mods. But yes, I have tried installing it a second time.

Are you using a development build of Bash? The official build on Nexus? Sometimes the Dev Builds, while including new features and squashing some bugs, do introduce other bugs at the same time. If you are using a Dev Build, I'd ask in the Bash thread. Maybe post there, just in case? They may know something about it there.

I'm using Wrye Bash 306 from the Nexus, which I assume is the latest official build.

Okay. That's a pretty bug-free version, and it is the latest official build. It couldn't hurt to try and post this problem over in the Bash thread. There's some pretty knowledgeable people browsing that thread.

I'm building up my modlist for a new playthrough, and precisely today I added Realistic Leveling. As the OP, I want to use only Wrye to install and manage my mods, and I remember failing to make RL work in the past, so I used other levelling mods.

This time, though, I thought I'd try RL. I'm more confident now when it comes to installing, adjusting and troubleshooting, so I went for it. I can't tell for sure the mod is properly working because at this stage all I do is install a couple of mods, launch the game and run for a while for the IC districts and nearby places checking the game doesn't lag, freeze or CTD, that the initializing messages fire up as expected and that the easy to spot/test features of the mods I just installed work as intended. To make sure RL is running fine, I have to obviously level up, that is never gonna happen during these test runs, but what I can say is that this time I had no error messages popping up.

So what I did:

-Put the RL mod in the Bash Installers folder.

-Launch Wrye Bash, go to the Installer Tab.

-Locate Realistic Levelling, right-click on it and choose "Unpack Project", name it whatever you like (I keep the original name but deleting the nexus number reference), click OK.

-Right under Realistic, you'll see the new entry. To its left, it will be a pink diamond shape box, instead the usual square one.

-Delete the original mod from the Installers Tab.

-Rick-click the project and choose Open. A windows folder appears showing the content of the mod.

-Get into "menus" and delete the two menus you don't need. For example: If you are using DarnUI, you keep levelup_menu_darnui and get rid of the other two. Then rename it levelup_menu.

-Get back to the root directory of the project and delete the "omod conversion data" folder. If you like, you could delete the Realistic Leveling readme also.

-Edit "Realistic Leveling".ini. I use Notepad++, it's free and much user-friendlier than Windows Notepad, but any text editor would do. You need to edit these lines:

set aaRealisticLeveling.mode to ; default = 3

you have to replace with one of those numbers 0,1, 2, 3, 4. Choose your preferred option. They are all explained in the .ini, just above

the line you're going to edit.

set aaRealisticLeveling.levelMax to ; default = 65

Replace with 65, or another alternative value if you want to speed up/down leveling, but the default 65 would do for now.

setGS iTrainingSkills ; default = 5

Replace with any number between 1-5. I think you could go higher, but I'm not sure.

The .ini document could be edited further, and you should do it later on to tailor the mod options to your needs and tastes, but I just pointed out the adjustments needed to get the mod running and working.

-Close the project. If you have "Auto-refresh Projects" ticked off (you can check that, and enable/disable that option and others right-clicking Package in the Installers Tab), then right-click the project and choose Refresh, so the changes you just made into the Project take place. If the "Auto-refresh Project" option was on, you don't need to do this.

-Now rick-click the project and choose install. The diamond shaped box will turn green and Realistic Leveling is installed.

I hope this helps.

The easiest way to tell, in my experience, is to look at your character stat page. Your attributes and derived attributes should be different.