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- Aug 4, 2008
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Hey guys! I was just recently asked to elaborate on my favorite Oblivion mods, and while contemplating this, decided that since everyone has their own taste in mods, it would be cool to create a community thread where everyone can share his or her own suggestions and recommendations when it comes to modding The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
As an avid modder, I of course have my own favorites, but I would love to hear what you guys think are some of the best mods out there! Since this is predominately an FPS forum/clan I really don't know what kind of response this will get, but feel free to leave a comment, if you wish, describing your own favorite Oblivion mods, and why they're the best! :biggrin:
To kick off this thread, I thought I'd compose a simple guide, of sorts. Of course, this guide comes no where close to the amount of mods available for customization, and is (obviously) pretty subjective in nature. Hopefully, though, this post (and thread) will better inform people of some of the great mods available, and hopefully inspire others to mod for themselves.
(currently a work in progress... don't hurt me)
Before you begin your modding experience, it would be wise of you to install the following tools and programs to aid you in controlling, manipulating, and running most Oblivion mods to their full potential. In fact, many of the mods I'll list below will require, not only their correct installation, but a bit of proficiency in using them.
Required Tools/Mods/Patches:
Now, given the huge amount of mods available, it's very easy to make your Oblivion experience completely customized with your own preferences. Because of this, it becomes hard for me to suggest mods, as the ones I've chosen for myself are quite personalized towards my own style of gaming.
However, there are still some mods that I would consider "essential" for an enjoyable Oblivion experience, which I will split up into different categories below:
User Interface / Control Mods:
A good UI has a huge impact on whether a game is enjoyable. You interact with it all the time, so it should be easy to use, and pleasing to look at. Unfortunately, while the original Oblivion UI was, for the most part, functional, it was clearly designed with consoles in mind. With the following mods, I hope to fix that problem. Not only will they make the UI easier to deal with on a PC, but they will also create a much more immersive experience for the player. Mods in this category that I highly suggest, include the following:
Graphical and Audio Mods:
Graphical and audio mods make up a large majority of the many mods I have installed. As I don't know your system specs, and taste can vary greatly, I won't list outright these types of mods I use, myself. This website, however, contains a very comprehensive listing of graphical and audio mods that are available for Oblivion. I suggest that you use it as a base when trying to improve audio/visuals.
Immersion Enhancing Mods:
Immersion enhancing mods are some of the most popular mods for Oblivion. While not having a large effect on actual gameplay, their sometime subtle, but sometimes substantial impact on the player's experience, shouldn't be overlooked by any Oblivion modder.
Here are just a few mods I recommend to improve the games immersion factor:
Gameplay Changing Mods:
Mods that fall under this category make some kind of change to Oblivion's original gameplay system, whether it's changes to combat or magic, or changes to the leveling or reward systems. Some of these mods I would describe as being "essential" as they improve upon the original system in universally positive way.
Many gameplay mods are chosen based on taste, however. Some people think that magic is underpowered, so they get a gameplay mod that boosts magic proficiency, like the popular, Supreme Magicka mod. Others want to change the way guards behave, as to be more realistic, and therefore might install a mod such as, No Psychic Guards.
Some gameplay mods are so enormous, however, that they make changes to almost every thing about the game. There are a few largely popular "overhauls" that I will discuss below, and each of them has it's own particular style. Still, there is no doubt, though, that your entire Oblivion experience will be changed with their installation.
Essential Gameplay Modifications:
Complete Gameplay Overhauls:
(Read the ReadMe on these ones... They will have an HUGE impact on your game. Chose just one, or mix with caution.)
Ending considerations:
This guide will probably seem pretty daunting to some. If you get nothing else out of it, though, I urge you to at least explore and install some UI mods. These really do make a huge difference when playing on the PC, and are pretty simple and easy to install.
If you found this post helpful or interesting, however, than I definitely urge you to check out the following links and resources for other great mod recommendations, and guides on their use:
UESP - Recommended Mods
Arwen's Oblivion Journal
Oblivion Mods FAQ
dev/akm mods
Once you mod, you'll never go back, and I'm glad I've had this chance to perhaps introduce a few of you to this great experience!
(to be continued...)
What are YOUR favorite Oblivion mods?
Leave a comment below!:thumbup:
As an avid modder, I of course have my own favorites, but I would love to hear what you guys think are some of the best mods out there! Since this is predominately an FPS forum/clan I really don't know what kind of response this will get, but feel free to leave a comment, if you wish, describing your own favorite Oblivion mods, and why they're the best! :biggrin:
To kick off this thread, I thought I'd compose a simple guide, of sorts. Of course, this guide comes no where close to the amount of mods available for customization, and is (obviously) pretty subjective in nature. Hopefully, though, this post (and thread) will better inform people of some of the great mods available, and hopefully inspire others to mod for themselves.
(currently a work in progress... don't hurt me)
Before you begin your modding experience, it would be wise of you to install the following tools and programs to aid you in controlling, manipulating, and running most Oblivion mods to their full potential. In fact, many of the mods I'll list below will require, not only their correct installation, but a bit of proficiency in using them.
Required Tools/Mods/Patches:
- The most resent official Oblivion patch
- Oblivion Mod Manager
- Wrye Bash
- Oblivion Script Extender
- Unofficial Oblivion Patch
- Streamline 3.1 Beta
Now, given the huge amount of mods available, it's very easy to make your Oblivion experience completely customized with your own preferences. Because of this, it becomes hard for me to suggest mods, as the ones I've chosen for myself are quite personalized towards my own style of gaming.
However, there are still some mods that I would consider "essential" for an enjoyable Oblivion experience, which I will split up into different categories below:
User Interface / Control Mods:
A good UI has a huge impact on whether a game is enjoyable. You interact with it all the time, so it should be easy to use, and pleasing to look at. Unfortunately, while the original Oblivion UI was, for the most part, functional, it was clearly designed with consoles in mind. With the following mods, I hope to fix that problem. Not only will they make the UI easier to deal with on a PC, but they will also create a much more immersive experience for the player. Mods in this category that I highly suggest, include the following:
- DarkUId DarN
- No More Annoying Messages Fixed
- Menu Escape
- Toggleable Quantity Prompt - Updated
- Drop Lit Torches OBSE
Graphical and Audio Mods:
Graphical and audio mods make up a large majority of the many mods I have installed. As I don't know your system specs, and taste can vary greatly, I won't list outright these types of mods I use, myself. This website, however, contains a very comprehensive listing of graphical and audio mods that are available for Oblivion. I suggest that you use it as a base when trying to improve audio/visuals.
Immersion Enhancing Mods:
Immersion enhancing mods are some of the most popular mods for Oblivion. While not having a large effect on actual gameplay, their sometime subtle, but sometimes substantial impact on the player's experience, shouldn't be overlooked by any Oblivion modder.
Here are just a few mods I recommend to improve the games immersion factor:
- Natural Environments
- Enhanced Weather
- Open Cities Complete
- Animated Window Lighting System
- Get Wet
- Harvest Flora
Gameplay Changing Mods:
Mods that fall under this category make some kind of change to Oblivion's original gameplay system, whether it's changes to combat or magic, or changes to the leveling or reward systems. Some of these mods I would describe as being "essential" as they improve upon the original system in universally positive way.
Many gameplay mods are chosen based on taste, however. Some people think that magic is underpowered, so they get a gameplay mod that boosts magic proficiency, like the popular, Supreme Magicka mod. Others want to change the way guards behave, as to be more realistic, and therefore might install a mod such as, No Psychic Guards.
Some gameplay mods are so enormous, however, that they make changes to almost every thing about the game. There are a few largely popular "overhauls" that I will discuss below, and each of them has it's own particular style. Still, there is no doubt, though, that your entire Oblivion experience will be changed with their installation.
Essential Gameplay Modifications:
Complete Gameplay Overhauls:
(Read the ReadMe on these ones... They will have an HUGE impact on your game. Chose just one, or mix with caution.)
- Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul (OOO)
- Francesco's leveled creatures/items mod
- Oblivion WarCry
- FCOM: Convergence (Note: I don't recommend this for new modders.)
- Oblivion XP Leveling
Ending considerations:
This guide will probably seem pretty daunting to some. If you get nothing else out of it, though, I urge you to at least explore and install some UI mods. These really do make a huge difference when playing on the PC, and are pretty simple and easy to install.
If you found this post helpful or interesting, however, than I definitely urge you to check out the following links and resources for other great mod recommendations, and guides on their use:
UESP - Recommended Mods
Arwen's Oblivion Journal
Oblivion Mods FAQ
dev/akm mods
Once you mod, you'll never go back, and I'm glad I've had this chance to perhaps introduce a few of you to this great experience!
(to be continued...)
What are YOUR favorite Oblivion mods?
Leave a comment below!:thumbup:
Last edited:
