Oblivion Mods?

[Togath]

Thanks to getting a new computer, I'm looking into playing TES 4: Oblivion again. Anyone have mods they'd recommend giving a shot?(other than that Morrowwind adaption, which seemed kinda lame when I tried it).

[Winthur]

uninstall.exe

For real, though, you need to install that deal with the ridiculous XP/level up system. Use either Realistic Leveling or Oblivion XP, they are good for that purpose, and I'm sure there are mods that fix the weird level scaling issues - the ones with daedric gear-toting bandits in the late game. Franesco's Creatures and Items are good for that purpose.

Aside from that, Oscuros Oblivion Overhaul is a must.

[Triaxx]

Glass retexture. I know there are a few but I used one that had a dark green that looked infinitely better.

It's been too long for me to recommend specific mods, but Sorcerer Dave did a now dead LP of Oblivion which had quite a few good mods. TK's combat was on the list I believe.

[divitorobert]

this is the first time in my many hours of Oblivion gameplay that I learn about yielding

[Eldan]

Unique Landscapes. It's a series of mods that takes areas of the map that are dull (mostly areas of forest full of copy-pasted trees) and replaces them with areas that were made by hand by modders. Unique ruins, unique landscape types, they are awesome. They also don't really change any quests, since they took empty places.

Just makes exploring much more fun.

[Triaxx]

I recommend Unseen Exits and Rabbit Holes, both by me. The former provides exits for cities which don't have them, while the latter is a simple portal network, giving access around Cyrodiil without having to leg it everywhere.

[Togath]

Thank you for the suggestions so far. I'd forgotten about the leveling issue.
I also remember having some sort of unarmed combat mod last time I played... anyone have suggestions? I'm looking for ways to make the hand to hand skill... a tad less pathetic(the primary one I found basically just upped the damage scaling a bit, but I'm not sure if I bookmarked it or not).

Also, any mods that increase the content/size of cities? I love urban areas in games.

[LibraryOgre]

I don't recall the name, but one I found very useful (especially with Knights of the Nine) was the one that had all the wayshrines marked like Daedric shrines, so if you found one, you could easily find it again, and even fast-travel to it.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

"Most is Endless Jungle" is a great mod, replaces most vegetation models with tropical trees and plants. Is surprisingly ALMOST compatible with Unique Landscapes, so long as you don't mind one small area of the map with a few floating trees. Combine with some Mossy Ayleid Ruins, and you have yourself a whole new environment and mood.

[Rynjin]

Oblivion Character Overhaul fixes the "potato heads" issue for NPCs and makes them look closer to Skyrim's character models.

[Mutazoia]

Oblivion Character Overhaul fixes the "potato heads" issue for NPCs and makes them look closer to Skyrim's character models.

See....now I want to make a mod that makes every NPC look like a Mr. Potato Head.....

[Togath]

On the topic of odd mods... are there any that let you fight Mehrunes Dagon instead of the prince doing it?
Not that I'm likely to get there soon, but it's something I've been pondering.

[Triaxx]

No mod necessary, you just have to do more than his 10,000 HP in a single shot.

[Togath]

No, I mean something to change the ending.:smallsmile:

[veti]

For real, though, you need to install that deal with the ridiculous XP/level up system. Use either Realistic Leveling or Oblivion XP, they are good for that purpose, and I'm sure there are mods that fix the weird level scaling issues - the ones with daedric gear-toting bandits in the late game. Franesco's Creatures and Items are good for that purpose.

Aside from that, Oscuros Oblivion Overhaul is a must.

OOO itself fixes opponents' levels, and thus the scaling issue. It does make the early part of the game really hard to survive, though. Wander through the wrong door, die in seconds - and frustratingly enough, the doors are not labelled. (I seem to remember the author himself suggesting that if it's too hard, you should start by going to the Shivering Isles, because he hadn't touched that, so it'd still be manageable for a low-level character. And by the time you come out, hopefully you'll have gained enough levels to survive.)


See....now I want to make a mod that makes every NPC look like a Mr. Potato Head.....

That's not a mod.

[Beleriphon]

I seem to recall getting a ring that removes the leveled quest rewards and instead just gives you the highest level version, so no more doing a quest at a low level to get an awesome bit of kit that gets progressively more useless.

PC Gamer has their suggestions:
http://www.pcgamer.com/ten-essential-oblivion-mods/

[Togath]

Hmm...
Wait, does normal Oblivion leveling make stuff easier or harder? I'm going for an easy casual playthrough, if it matters.

[Beleriphon]

Hmm...
Wait, does normal Oblivion leveling make stuff easier or harder? I'm going for an easy casual playthrough, if it matters.

Default leveling in Oblivion is stupid. You have to use say a strength skill to raise points in strength, but you don't want to to be a skill you increase enough to gain levels. Because then you aren't using the skill enough to get the maximum base stat increase before getting a level. So the game actively punishes you for doing things you want to be good at.

[Togath]

Wow, that's... funky, if I got what you meant right. Also I vaguely recall something about "raise non combat skills too much in favor of combat ones and now Bob the goblin will destroy you"?
Largely asking since the main leveling fix mentioned here(Obscuro's Overhaul) sounds like it's more to increase challenge, rather than just lowering risks of "By the nine, why are these rats shredding me for being an alchemist!?", aye? Since I'm not really looking for a challenging experience, or to up the challenge above the baseline, I think it might be best I seek out an alternative(I mean, I know I used to use SOME sort of mod for leveling, but I've forgotten which it is now... all I remember is "no longer have to level p at beds":smallredface:)

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Depends on your class. See, vanilla Oblivion levelling is... not balanced. Every so often it jumps hugely, because it'll replace the normal Wolves with Dire Wolves all of a sudden, so in high levels Cyrodiil is plagued by terribly powerful monsters and every bandit has the best armour available (while still only mugging you for a measly 10 gold).

Additionally, the default "classes" are terribly designed. If you just play normally, put the class skills you intend to use most as your Major Skills, you will quickly find that enemies 'level up' faster than your ability to fight them actually does. Because in Oblivion, your skills increase with use, and you level up when your major skills increase a number of times. But if your major skills that you use all the time are not combat skills, than you could be level 20, but only have the combat proficiency of a level 6 or 7. The game, though, it doesn't know that, so your poor Level-6-Combat-but-technically-level-20 character will have every encounter be far too difficult for them.

The way to deal with this without mods is to put your Major Skills as skills you never or only rarely intend to use. Then, when you feel ready to increase the difficulty, you grind your Major Skills to trigger the level-up. Alternatively, if you put your Major Skills as skills you intend to use only once in a while, you might get along fine. Just NEVER put Athletics as a major skill, because it levels up really quickly, and doesn't help in combat, so you'll be screwed.

OOO makes it that some areas will always be hard and some always easy. If you're too low a level, save often and don't go into hard areas. In Vanilla, all areas are the same level of difficulty, which could easily get far higher than you are able to deal with.

[LibraryOgre]

I simply never slept in Oblivion, unless necessary. Don't sleep and you can't level.

[Triaxx]

Oscuro's is fine with Vanilla levelling. It either removes totally, or moves the 'break points' where the game throws in tougher enemies. With OOO you'll feel yourself getting stronger, while without you'll feel yourself getting weaker.

In vanilla you'll claw your way up to level 4. Then you'll be confident enough to knock out the wolves. Then you go to level 5, step out of the cave or inn and encounter a Timberwolves which is significantly stronger and once more capable of destroying you as if you were level 1. Imagine Skyrim, but at level 5, all the wolves are replaced by bears.