Going back into Oblivion - mod recommendations?

[dyre]

Everyone few years, I get the urge to delve back into one of Bethesda's Fallout or TES games, and sink a few hundred hours into it before I get bored of it and ask myself why the hell I thought it would be a good idea to waste so much time on a video game I've already played in the past.

Obviously the most important part of replaying these games is picking up all the great mods that come out between my last playthrough years before and the present playthrough. Anyway, this time around I feel like giving Oblivion another go, and instead of spending ten or twenty hours looking for all the mods I want (seriously, the time investment to prepare to play a Bethesda RPG is longer than it takes to complete most games), I was wondering if anyone played Oblivion recently and is willing to share their list of all the new, awesome mods they used when they played through it.

In terms of what kinds of mods I care about, from most to least important:

Gameplay improvements - there was a great combat mod the last time I played, but not a very satisfying magic mod. Midas Magic is cool, but it's not really balanced for actual gameplay. Also, what's the latest or greatest mod to fix vanilla's stupid leveling system?

Storyline / Quest mods - Fallout has the Puce Moose mods, but I remember Oblivion had a ton of great storyline mods too. Any new ones or memorable old ones?

Cool locations, dungeon, and exploration mods - more exploration is obviously cool, especially given that a lot of the Oblivion dungeons look pretty similar

Atmospheric / Cosmetic changes - some of my friends say that it doesn't matter if their game doesn't have as many pixels in the night sky...but they're wrong

Weapons / Armors / items - I only care about total weapon overhauls and really cool armor sets. I don't tend to install every "LoTR swords" or "cool daggers" mod out there.

Don't care about house mods. Companion mods have to be supremely excellent; there was one in FONV called Willow that was quite good, IIRC.

Total overhauls are kind of a wildcard. If they interest me, I'll go for them, but I wouldn't really care for, say, a Star Wars Oblivion overhaul, no matter how good it was

Thanks a lot in advance!

 

[Vern5]

The most popular and extensive mod for Oblivion is probably Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul. Seriously, this thing changes almost everything about how the game functions as well as adding huge piles of loot, enemies, magic, and locations to the game itself. The gameplay changes are not too jarring and I would have to say that the overhaul remidns me of some sort of equilibrium between the gameplay of Morrowind and Oblivion.

A word of warning. Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul will kick your ass early on in the game and you will find yourself running from enemies more often than not. My advice would be to begin the game with the Difficulty bar pushed a quarter towards Easy and then push it back to Normal once you get a few levels in you.

Other than that, get the Alternative Start Mod. This handy mod tears you out of the Tutorial dungeon whenever you start a new character and, instead, drops you on the dock in the Imperial Capital. You can pick out some starting gear and wealth after you've created your character. It's pretty handy.

 

[dyre]

Yeah, I remember OOO; it's a pretty nice overhaul. Does a good job of fixing a lot of the game's weaknesses.

 

[Chromatic Aberration]

Wait...I made a post about this a year or so ago...let me check....

There it is!

Seconding most of the stuff the people have already said. Heres a quick summary of what I'd recommend:

Tools You Need

BOSS (Better Oblivion Sorting Software)
Wrye Bash
OBMM (Oblivion Mod Manager)
OBSE (Oblivion Script Extender)

Better Graphics/Performance

OBGE (Oblivion Graphics Extender)
Darnified UI
Streamline
Qarl's Texture Pack

Gameplay Mods

Unique Landscapes Compilation
Better Cities
Deadly Reflex
Oscuros Oblivion Overhaul
Frostcrag Reborn
Windfall
Elsweyr Anequina
Malevolent + Tears Of The Fiend

Where to go to get that stuff: TESNexus [http://www.tesnexus.com]

Also, always remember to read the README files that come with your mods to check for compatibility issues....

In terms of story you'd want to check out Tears of the Fiend and Malevolent. They are very well done and try to get some interesting aspects into the storyline. Windfall is, in essence, like a second expansion for the game giving you the whole island of windfall to explore along with a faction-based storyline.

I personally used the whole F-com mod which couples a host of distinct gameplay mods into one huge pile. Worked great, though. It is, however, one big pain in the ass to set up properly. Hence, the smartest choice would be OOO. Deadly Reflex is a nice addition to the combat and makes it more interesting adding kicks, throwing torches and other stuff - just don't expect a quantum leap.

When talking about general graphics stuff or world-stuff the Shaders, Textures and Unique Landscapes plus Better Cities is your go to goal. Unique landscapes and Better Cities improve the feeling of Cyrodiil as a unique place by a vast amount and the Shaders plus textures make them look awesome. I'd heavily recommend them.

EDIT: Also use that Nexus Mod Manager [http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/modmanager], it makes life much easier.

 

[dyre]

Wait...I made a post about this a year or so ago...let me check....

There it is!

Seconding most of the stuff the people have already said. Heres a quick summary of what I'd recommend:

Tools You Need

BOSS (Better Oblivion Sorting Software)
Wrye Bash
OBMM (Oblivion Mod Manager)
OBSE (Oblivion Script Extender)

Better Graphics/Performance

OBGE (Oblivion Graphics Extender)
Darnified UI
Streamline
Qarl's Texture Pack

Gameplay Mods

Unique Landscapes Compilation
Better Cities
Deadly Reflex
Oscuros Oblivion Overhaul
Frostcrag Reborn
Windfall
Elsweyr Anequina
Malevolent + Tears Of The Fiend

Where to go to get that stuff: TESNexus [http://www.tesnexus.com]

Also, always remember to read the README files that come with your mods to check for compatibility issues....

In terms of story you'd want to check out Tears of the Fiend and Malevolent. They are very well done and try to get some interesting aspects into the storyline. Windfall is, in essence, like a second expansion for the game giving you the whole island of windfall to explore along with a faction-based storyline.

I personally used the whole F-com mod which couples a host of distinct gameplay mods into one huge pile. Worked great, though. It is, however, one big pain in the ass to set up properly. Hence, the smartest choice would be OOO. Deadly Reflex is a nice addition to the combat and makes it more interesting adding kicks, throwing torches and other stuff - just don't expect a quantum leap.

When talking about general graphics stuff or world-stuff the Shaders, Textures and Unique Landscapes plus Better Cities is your go to goal. Unique landscapes and Better Cities improve the feeling of Cyrodiil as a unique place by a vast amount and the Shaders plus textures make them look awesome. I'd heavily recommend them.

EDIT: Also use that Nexus Mod Manager [http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/modmanager], it makes life much easier.

Exactly what I'm looking for, thanks!

And yeah, obviously I'll use the mod manager

 

[ohnoitsabear]

The Nehrim total conversion mod obviously. It's a self-contained game that puts Bethesdas version to shame. http://www.moddb.com/mods/nehrim-at-fates-edge

http://nehrim.wikia.com/wiki/Oblivion_and_Nehrim_Main_Differences

This. Seriously, if you haven't played Nehrim yet, do it. It is perhaps the best thing to ever come out of the Oblivion modding scene.

 

[Saladfork]

I wanted to get into Oblivion again, and the only thing really keeping me away was the atrocious levelling system. I searched for awhile, but I never found any mods that fixed it.

It may be possible that one of those earlier overhaul mods included changes to the levelling, but I never saw any that said that they did.

 

[Arluza]

The Nehrim total conversion mod obviously. It's a self-contained game that puts Bethesdas version to shame. http://www.moddb.com/mods/nehrim-at-fates-edge

http://nehrim.wikia.com/wiki/Oblivion_and_Nehrim_Main_Differences

This. Seriously, if you haven't played Nehrim yet, do it. It is perhaps the best thing to ever come out of the Oblivion modding scene.

I tried playing it once. MY save glitched 7 hours in, and with no fast travel in such a huge world (and no vehicles Just Cause 2 style) I couldn't bring myself to try again. Here is what I can say.

This mod has one of the BEST opening dungeons of ANY game I've ever played.

 

[Easton Dark]

If no other mod you get changes the leveling system, you'll need: +5 Attribute modifiers

http://oblivion.nexusmods.com/mods/2691

Fuck Oblivion's punishing leveling system, seriously.

 

[dyre]

Exactly what I'm looking for

Look at my post and you'll find what you're looking for. Trust me.

That Nehrim thing does look interesting. How's the compatibility with other mods? I mean, if it's a totally different continent, and I have mods that add new locations or NPCs or quests, will they work?

 

[ohnoitsabear]

Exactly what I'm looking for

Look at my post and you'll find what you're looking for. Trust me.

That Nehrim thing does look interesting. How's the compatibility with other mods? I mean, if it's a totally different continent, and I have mods that add new locations or NPCs or quests, will they work?

From my understanding (I've never actually used other mods with Nehrim, so take this with a grain of salt), any mod that adds something directly to Oblivion's world (like quests, NPCs, and probably most item mods) will not work. However, gameplay or interface altering mods might work, depending on the mod. Model and texture replacers should work as long as they're pluginless.

Basically, it's best to think of Nehrim as a totally new game. There are some major similarities to Oblivion (mostly in the combat), but there's enough that's different that you don't need a bunch more mods to make it feel new.

Anyway, I highly encourage you to at least try it out. It's completely free, and if you don't like it, you can just go back to playing Oblivion proper.

 

[Rooster Cogburn]

There's this mod called Skyrim. It's standalone, but you have to pay for it.

(seriously, the time investment to prepare to play a Bethesda RPG is longer than it takes to complete most games)

I'm glad it's not just me lol.

 

[shrimpcel]

Anyway, this time around I feel like giving Oblivion another go, and instead of spending ten or twenty hours looking for all the mods I want (seriously, the time investment to prepare to play a Bethesda RPG is longer than it takes to complete most games), I was wondering if anyone played Oblivion recently and is willing to share their list of all the new, awesome mods they used when they played through it.

When I came back home from my extra-long trip this summer, I thought the last few days of summer before going back to college would be enough to get my fill of Skyrim. And then I started looking at mods. Boy was I wrong.

 

[SUPA FRANKY]

OBGE Graphics
Oblivion Mod Manager
Maskar's Oblivion Overhaul ( Less intrusive overhaul that is similiar to OOO. The author updates it frequently so I would use this over OOO or MMM)
Deadly Reflex
DMRA Overhauls ( If your a pervert)
Tamriel NPC's Revamped
Quarl's Texture Pack
Male Body Replacer
Dungeons of Ivellon
Tears of the Fiend
The Fight for Castle Ravenpride
Unique Landscapes
Knights of the Nine Revelation
Synx Race
Midas Magic
Daedric Shrines Revamped
Symphony of Violence
Companion Vilja
Companion Fergus
Companion Nesheeka
Blade of the Haunted Quest
Haunted House Quest mod
Artifacts and Armentarium ( Adds a bunch of new loot to leveled list, like new weapons and Armour)
Daggerfall Books
Enhanced Magic Effects
Better Enchantment Effects
Darnified UI Red
Grab Companion

And a whole lot more, but we don't want to be here all day, right?

 

[dyre]

Alright, I'll play a Nehrim playthrough first, and after that, a Oblivion + tons of mods playthrough. Thanks everyone for the help

snip

thanks, I'll definitely use this list, and I'm glad there's a more recent alternative to OOO