Overview
The goal of this modding guide is to not only introduce you how to install and configure mods to Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, but to also provide mods that enhance the experience, dealing with annoying aspects of the game while strengthening the powerful ones.
Introduction
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is the fourth game of the official series. Set upon Cyrodiil, the capital of Imperial City, set upon fourth era during Oblivion Crisis, A champion raises to from the prison by the aid of Uriel Septim in order to save Tamriel from Mehrunes Dagon, the Daedric Prince of Destruction. Set upon medieval temperate forest with diverse locations, in the themes of vegetation and the architechture, and thanks to the colorful visuals, the game can be quite beauty to look at stands even for this time with the vibrant colors it has.
Unfortunately, playing it for few hours will show the worst aspects of the game; leveling that requires min-maxing in order to be efficient at higher levels, fights that lasts over minutes due to a high healthpool and extremely forced level scaling, making sure that nothing high or nothing lower ever spawns, only revolving around the player. Also, the game introduced character face generation, which is great in concept to give every NPC an unique look, but it is unfortunate that the modeling of the faces came a bit off, leading to creations of monstrosities rather than ordinary looking people. As a final nail into the coffin, the game is as buggy and prone to crash like other games Bethesda has made.
Having played Oblivion for hours, first with retail version, then with Steam version, I decided to do this mod guide as means not only to list my own personal mod loadout, but also as means to show how easy it is to mod the game. These tools are helpful to make the experience more worthwhile and breathe new life into the game, while not straying off from the base game’s look and gameplay.
Notice: This is not a guide to make your game as beautiful as possible or make the game as hard as possible. This is to give out vanilla focus upon the game and not resort into flashiness the other modding guides are prone to do.
1. Preparations
With all these said, let’s get upon to prepare our game to be modded. Here are few things to do beforehand;
- Have installed The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Delete/Move every DLC .esp and .bsa files, exception Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine out of the Data folder. Personally, the other plugins are immersion breaking, inconsistent and doesn’t fit into the game well. YOU CAN MOD THE GAME WITH GUIDE’S CONTENTS EVEN IF YOU DONT DELETE THEM, JUST BE ADVISED THAT THIS GUIDE IS GEARED TOWARDS GOTY VERSION OF THE GAME
- Ran it at least once (to generate .ini files and setting your video settings. Start the game, create character and quit). I would recommend having all the fade sliders at maximum and autosaves off, as autosaves are unreliable.
- Backed up the files (in case problems would occur)
With these done, we can start to install tools for ourselves.
[link]
Wrye Bash is one of the oldest running mod managers. You can sort your mods and load order, get conflict notifications, edit INIs, and organize your saves. There are a few key features that separate this from the rest of the mod managers. First off, you can merge mods and make bashed patches. A bashed patch is when you combine features with several different mods and make them not conflict or interfere with each other. It’s a really great tool for someone who likes variety in there game. For Oblivion’s case, Wrye Bash is required to make ANYTHING work together properly because mod conflicts happen all the time with Oblivion mods and Wrye Bash will clean that mess up for you.
To Install, download the installer and follow it’s instructions. A Mopy folder should be upon your folder, where the Oblivion.exe is located at. Launch it once and then quit.
[link]
The Oblivion Script Extender, or OBSE for short, is a modder’s resource that expands the scripting capabilities of Oblivion. Most of the gameplay adding mods require it.
To Install, copy all the contents into root folder, where Oblivion.exe is located at. Retail versions should click upon obse_loader.exe, while Steam users can safely launch Oblivion through Steam.
[link]
Load sorter tool. While BOSS also exists, it has not been updated in a few years, hence using this is recommended. Comes with easy to use installer.
[link]
Tes4Edit is very useful tool to clean your mods, check for conflicts, and apply scripts. Now comes with additional executable solely for autocleaning dirty plugins.
To Install, just download the main file and drop it into the root folder, where Oblivion.exe is.
[link]
Enables the usage of 4GB virtual memory for those that are locked in 2GB, like Oblivion.
To Install, simply drop into root folder, where Oblivion.exe is and launch it, navigate Oblivion.exe and press ok.
[link]
Tool to generate LOD with the mod setup you have. Drop it anywhere and launch it after having installed and finished your mod loadout.
Here are steps-by-step procedure to make “clean, mod open” state for the Oblivion and also showing how to clean mods:
- Run LOOT once. after sorting out the load order, it should show plugins which has notification about Undeleted References (UDR) and Identical to Master (ITM). These are referred as “dirty edits”
- Keep it open. Go and launch TES4EditQuickAutoClean.exe. First time launching it gives you ad for supporting the tool creator, but you can safely close the window after a few moments. It then should give you the list of plugins. Tick one of the plugins that LOOT said is with dirty edits and then click ok. The process is automatic and should take only around 10-20 seconds. Afterward, you can close the TES4Edit. Repeat the process for other plugins that are dirty, one by one instead everything at once.
2. OBSE Plugins
OBSE plugins are mods, which doesn’t use up .esps or anything like that. They go into Data > OBSE > Plugins folder and are automatically loaded into the game if you have OBSE as well. Here are the plugins that ensures not only a stable game, but some that are to be used with mods.
[link]
Micro stutter tick fix, high framerate fix, true FOV fix, alt-tab freeze fix in fullscreen and G-Sync/FreeSync working in borderless/windowed mode.
[link]
Plugin containing fixes to the game engine.
[link]
Plugin that handles BSAs like Skyrim does.
[link]
Useful Plugin for bug reporting, as it logs all console output to text files for reviewing.
[link]
Fixes Oblivion plugin limit.
[link]
Adds first person shadow to player and controls music. Suggested to turn off settings if you want to use plugin below.
[link]
Plugin that enhances musical playback, remembering the position of tracks, fading in and out transitions.
[link]
Required mod for UI enhancement
[link]
Plays a silent voice and generic lipsyncing for any missing voice file.
[link]
Allows modders to create new actor values. Required for some mods.
[link]
Resistance & Spell Effectiveness more precise.
[link]
The plugin from this mod is necessary with some of the magic mods to use.
[link]
OBSE plugin that lets you configure the weapon attack speed, based upon the stats, skill and fatigue/encumbrance.
[link]
New Vegas Anti Crasher, works for Oblivion. 100% guaranteed.
[link]
A plugin that allows you to see your feet and have first person look on various animations.
[link]
A small configurable collection of engine level tweaks and features for the game.
3. Essential/UI Mods
Now we get into the meat of it, the mods. The ones which play the huge part upon the game, or rather, catches your eye.
Mods are easy to install by dragging downloaded archive into installer window in Wrye Bash and dropping it there. First time prompt asks if you want to copy or move file there, just select copy to ensure you have the archive still where you downloaded it. You can also drag mods up and down on the list, showing which mod takes priority over other.
Also some mods come with wizard installer, indicated by magic wand icon when you have dragged them into the installer tab. You can use manual wizard command to give installation setup that lets you follow built in setup.
*The mods tagged as manual (M) can be safely installed by dragging the contents of the mod into the right directory in your game directory, rather than in Wrye Bash.
Normal: [link] (Only tick Unofficial Oblivion Patch.esp)
Shivering Isles: [link]
DLCs: [link] (Only tick DLCs you own)
These are the unofficial patches for the game.
[link]
Fix for engine bug related to chance based spawns.
[link]
Gives you experience for mercantile more when you sell/buy more items.
[link]
Optimizes Shivering Isles mushroom trees.
[link]
Adds some tags for popular mods in usage of Bashed Patch.
[link]
DarNifiedUI Config Addon: [link]
An author decided to make Wrye Bash friendly installer for DarNified UI. Install DarN BAIN from files and follow instructions. If text is looking weird when launching the game, you should go to INI Edits tab and either tick DarNified UI Default Fonts Normal or Large.
[link]
MCM for Oblivion, it allows you to configure some mods that has support for it.
[link]
Adds more features into UI.
Cyrodiil Map by Thacadian: [link]
Shivering Isles Map by nONatee: [link]
Giving some colour to sepia dull world maps.
[link] (Manual.)
Colored enemy health. Green = Good, Red = Bad.
[link]
Collection of scripts, used by various mods. Comes also with .ini files to tinker with, like skill progression values, ingame settings ect.
[link]
Makes beggars not to change their tone (from old lady to their default young lady voice) when speaking with you.
[link]
Makes enemy weapons be on their bodies rather than go loose on the world, to avoid not only being glitched through world, but also save bloat fallen weapons would cause.
4. Gameplay Mods
[link]
This mod fixes some records that are not governed by unofficial patches, but also expands weaponry for Orcish/Mithril materials, as well as Shivering Isles Amber/Madness weapons.
[link]
This mod works as alternate starter mod, allowing you to choose the town where you start out of, without needing to do a tutorial dungeon. It allows you also optionally ignore main quest. The mod comes with two plugins, one that includes also RCP (Character beginnings). Untick/delete that plugin when installing it.
[link]
Adds a static level or enforces maximum level for creatures.
[link]
A lightweight, magic overhaul with ini file for configuration. Comes with QoL spells and buffs magic considerably.
[link]
Overhauls Speechcraft with more stat based system. Now you have a chance to succeed or fail on telling jokes or impressing somebody and disposition matters more than ever. Only install PersuasionOverhaul.esp along with sounds.
[link]
Gives a value to misc items, so they are not worthless items at all and eases in money making.
[link]
Overhauling Alchemy to make you capable of brewing multiple batches and more.
https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/users/337763?tab=user+files
Miguick is a maestro when it comes to doing mods. A lot of his mods here are very friendly with the mod guide, but be sure to check and read out how to install and configure them. Out of all of his mods, I would recommend these:
- Wolf Animation Restoration
- Bashing Reworked
- PSO – Pickpocket Skill Overhaul
- MigMaster Script Resources
- Dialogue Tweaks Fixes and Restorations
- Migck’s Miscellaneous fixes tweaks and additions
- Alchemy Advanced Adjustments
- FEA – Fundament Enchanting Addons
- Real Time Lockpicking
[link]
Let’s you use Welkynd and Varla stones in enchanting. Requires FEA.
[link]
Makes soulgem change price according to soul level you fill it with, and let you fill multiple souls in one soulgem or prevent it from getting filled with inferior souls.
[link]
Adds various trails around the world map.
[link]
Restores cut content. Alternative for Oblivion Uncut, as this doesn’t have silent voices or custom created resources.
[link]
Skooma dealers in every city of Cyrodiil.
[link]
Adds Skooma merchant to Crubcile.
[link]
Overhauls all the artifacts/quest rewards with better stats, to be much more useful.
[link]
It’s rather easy to get staggered in combat, so this mod makes the staggering more quicker, yet balanced.
[link]
Overhaul to leveling, where you can configure which method to level up. XP Based, skill based, lets you distripute skill points and attribute points as you see fit or let them naturally level up by usage.
[link]
MOO Themed Loading Screens: [link]
Smaller MOO Backpacks: [link]
Maskar’s Oblivion Overhaul is the most configurable overhaul ever present on Oblivion. The huge attraction to this is how it makes encounters more unpredictable and makes level scaling and loot placement much better. Laulajatar has also made up a mod to add loading screen text for various things mod offers. Also you might want to check out smaller backpacks incase they take too much back space.
For further explanation and demonstration of the mod, check out my video about it.
5. Graphic Mods
[link]
Fixed version of RTNM. Definitive graphic mod adding normals to textures, giving detail to original textures.
Link: [link] (Manual.)
Less polygons = More frames.
[link]
Skeleton mod that fixes most issues one could have when using the body and clothing mods.
[link]
Female Body mod.
[link]
Clothing mod to go with female body mod.
[link]
Some more defined looking female armors made by Nuska.
[link]
Male body mod.
Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ggzx0adl841z77m/Oblivion%20Character%20Overhaul%20test-43612-1-2.zip?dl=0
Oblivion Character Overhaul version 1. Nuska had removed this and herself out of modding, which was pity to see great mod that was rather compatible with almost everything to go in waste. The advantages of OCO1 is that it’s more compatible with many mods that adds NPCs, and keeps vanilla aesthetics, but doesn’t have detail of OCO2. Preferences, again.
Link: [link]
Replaces the dress version of Sheogorath’s outfit with male one for women.
Link: [link]
Less blurry potato hair. Looks nicer at close ups.
Link: [link]
Infuses the reflection maps with a little bit of awesome sauce, i.e. tweaks them so that they look a tad nicer. Bit subtle at first, but it is pretty spiffy looking in action.
Link: [link]
Removes the enchant glow that remains upon you when wearing items or weapons.
Link: [link]
Adds glowing upon the stones and ayleid wells, along with a sound. This one sound was also bugged and was not fixed, not even by UOP.
[link]
Adds light posts to roads.
[link]
The latest weather mod for Oblivion, giving the game more realistic look and lessening HDR light.
Link: [link]
All the sound effects are now enhanced.
That should be about the mods. Next, you want to go to Mods section and enable every single one of the plugins there, excluding Bashed Patch. Run BOSS and sort out your load order. You should see Maskar’s Oblivion Overhaul mod going after the Bashed Patch. This is normal for it (as mod needs to do edits that Bashed Patch removes), but for other mods not related to Maskar’s, it is advisable to move them right before Bashed Patch. After sorting it out, right click upon Bashed Patch and choose Rebuild Patch. Click Ok to merge what mods it shows up and click Build Patch. It takes a while and then the patch is created. Enable it and close Wrye Bash for now.
Not exactly a mod itself you can download, but when you rebuild a bashed patch, you have bunch of options in “Tweak” sections. These include weights for different items, how much strength gives encumbrance, camera turning speed ect. It’s worth to look these things so you don’t need to hunt for a mod that would do the same thing in Nexus.
6. The End Results
Although images don’t do justice, so have a video showing off what gameplay looks like with these mods.
Now you are off to play and close shut the jaws of Oblivion. If this Guide was at all useful or needs improvements, or you have a question, please do ask. I am trying my best to help out and expand this, if possible.
EXTRA: Music
Music is great for the atmosphere. Jeremy Soule has done amazing work with the ost, although it is kind of lacking, like with Morrowind & Skyrim. However, you can balance it out by including your own custom music. Yes, you can drop your .mp3 files into the music folder and the game will play it out, A feature that seems to be lacking in Skyrim for some reason.
So for my music recommendation, I would want to offer you the music of second Elder Scrolls game, Daggerfall. A composer, Dan Gooddale, had made amazing remakes of the original soundtrack, which enhances the experience and fits well into the game. Here is an example of the most popular tracks upon Daggerfall:
[link]The link above contains a download section for his tracks, and the installation of the music in game is simple. Drag the track you want into Oblivion > Data > Music and to Battle, Dungeon, Explore or Public, where you see it fit. Battle is for the battle music, Dungeon is for the dungeons, explore plays on outside world, public plays inside towns/cities. Special is for the title, fanfare and game over music.
Also remember that each tracks must contain 192 kbs bitrate and suggested to be on mp3 format, otherwise The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion might not play them.
F.A.Q
- When I started modding, there were two things in my mind, which I always wanted from the game; Stability and configurability. The former is good to ensure experience doesn’t get frustrating because of issues or crashes and the latter allows you to suit the things for your taste. Besides, I try to aim to enjoy basegame as much as possible, only seeking out to change things that are universally and personally loathed. The configurability helps a lot too, since there’s always option to disable unwanted features.
- If it’s unmodded game, try redoing your .ini files. Simply go to My Documents and delete Oblivion folder. Then launch the game and let it regenerate them automatically again. If it isn’t automatic, go to options and let the game detect your video card to generate .ini files.
- If it’s modded game, try deactivating mods one at a time to pinpoint the trouble and see if it vanishes. A faulty installation or dirty edits might be in that mod. You should also remember to redo Merged Patch each time you sort your load order or add another mod.
- If it’s due to excessive playing, Remember that Oblivion has not been configured to handle more than 2GB VRAM. 4GB enabler is good enough for it, and you might want to try ENBoost to boost it further.
- Maskar’s Oblivion Overhaul by default increases damage dealt by enemies and you by double, in addition of making bandits higher leveled and mudcrabs rather resilient. You can disable the double damage, although the quick fix for huge damage is that you should either come back later when you have better equipment, or lower the difficulty slider.
I would also like to thank you all for reading my guide, and anybody who has commented and asked for their problems, as I seek out to update and make this guide better and up to date as possible.