Introduction (Please read!)
Last updated August 20th, 2023. Full changelog available at the bottom of the guide.
Ahh, Oblivion, my favourite (and the best) TES game, how I love you so.
This guide was last revised in 2019, but now that we're over halfway into 2023 as of the time of writing, I've had an epiphany; Less Is More. There are too many buggy and tedious mods on this list for me to feel comfortable recommending them, so therefore it's time to do another revision yet again! With that being said, I ask that you please wait or use another guide until the 'Under Construction' header is removed from this page and the Steps are all in order again. You can consider the original 2015 pastebin guide version 1, the 2019 revision initially on this website version 2, and this 2023 update as version 3.0!
Before you go any further, know that I have selected all of my mods very meticulously. While I don't mind getting suggestions on things to add, I won't pay much attention to being offered 'alternatives' that I have thoroughly researched, tested, and found to be much worse than what I use. Specific reasoning for most of my mod choices may be found on the Oblivion Mod FAQ page.
Also, please note that while this is definitely a guide that can be used by anyone, including modding beginners, you may be spoiled on most aspects of the game if you've never played it before, but this guide assumes that you have. If you're completely new to Oblivion (or even the TES series in general) I recommend starting completely vanilla with no mods at all, other than perhaps a few essentials like the Unofficial Patches if you're feeling adventurous, and after playing through the game to your satisfaction (you don't have to 100% it, just finish the main quest and all the guild questlines) you can then follow the guide.
I would like to start by saying that users wishing to mod Oblivion must be very careful, as it is a fickle beast and certainly much harder to mod than Skyrim and most other Bethesda games. The main reason for this is due to the fact that most Oblivion mods must be installed in order, so that certain aspects of them overwrite each other in ways that do not break the game and mods entirely, hence the numbered steps, if you wish for everything to play nicely together. It took many hours of troubleshooting and reading comments and bug reports to finally land on a serviceable installation order, so only ignore these instructions at your own risk.
As with every other game guide on my site, know that this is a comprehensive modding guide, meaning that we will address nearly every category of content with as many mods as necessary, while minimizing hiccups and conflicts. We will be enhancing gameplay, graphics, quests, immersion, stability, and much, much more - all while maintaining lore-friendliness throughout the process. While I wouldn't consider my aim to be achieving a 'Vanilla+' experience, it's certainly not over-the-top in my humble opinion.
Acquiring Oblivion
It's not difficult to get a copy of Oblivion nowadays, but what you want is the "Game of the Year Edition Deluxe", which contains all released DLCs and Expansions for the game. You can find it on Steam here.
I personally recommend NOT purchasing the game on Steam, simply because the Steam overlay can range from annoyingly interfering with, to catastrophically wrecking, some aspects of the game. This usually only happens with certain mods, none of which are in my guide as far as I know, but if you're adamant on using Steam then make sure to disable the overlay for Oblivion in particular. For Steam users, see the very bottom of the guide for helpful tweaks.
How did I get the game not on Steam? That's a secret ;)
System Requirements
As a disclaimer, the fully modded setup will require a decent mid-range PC for the game. Many of the mods have options to tweak performance in case you fall under the recommended specs. I also have the game and mods installed on an SSD instead of an HDD for better loading times, they're always lightning-fast and take about 5 seconds at the most. Speaking of storage devices, the fully modded game takes up ~30GB of space (not including essential backups!) so make sure you have the disk space. This guide also assumes that you use a monitor with a 16:9 aspect ratio and 1920x1080 screen resolution, which is the most common and universally compatible. I don't recommend that you use a resolution higher than 1080p for these games, because the diminishing returns in performance are not worth it.
My PC is from 2020, and its specs are as follows:
OS - Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
CPU - i7-9700 @ 3.0GHz
Memory - 16GB RAM (can't be assed to check the clock speed)
GPU - RTX 2060 SUPER
Do note that there is a soft limit to how good the performance can get on a heavily modded 32-bit game from 2006 no matter how good your hardware is, so don't think that it is essential to have a better PC than mine/don't be discouraged if your specs aren't as good either.
Following The Guide + Modding Best Practices
The guide is separated into numbered steps, most of which only require one mod to be installed at a time, but some steps have multiple mods in them instead.
Mods are first named fully, then (if applicable), with a short abbreviated form which they will thereinafter be referred to as. Example: Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul/OOO
The name of every mod from each step will also double as a link to its download page. For Nexus mod pages, click the "Files" tab to see the downloads. You also need a Nexus account to download from the site. Unless otherwise mentioned in a step, only download the mod's latest numbered version, which is usually at the top of the Files list.
Most mods change the same game files, and will notify you when installing them that they'd like to overwrite something that is already there. As already mentioned, this is intentional, and we will take advantage of this with our specific numbered steps, so always allow them to overwrite.
Only start a new game to begin playing after you have finished the entire guide. Also, never uninstall mods or install any new mods during a playthrough after a save has already been created. This should go without saying but some people may not know that these details can break the game. You can save a test character for now, but remember to not use it for actual general gameplay and to delete it entirely once you're finished the guide.
0. After installing the game with your desired DLCs, launch it once so that it generates configuration files, and create a new save - this is known as an unmodified "vanilla" install.
After every step, you must launch the game and start a new save/load a random test save to make sure there are no obvious conflicts. The main reason for doing this is to ensure the game even runs at all, so if it crashes upon launching then you've done something wrong. I know it's tedious, but going slow is the safest way to mod - Imagine installing everything at once without checking if the game works, but then one mod broke your setup but you don't know which one did it, and therefore having to start all over again!
Also note that you must not use the "Mod Manager Download" button when downloading Nexus mods since we won't be using Nexus Mod Manager/Vortex (see here as to why) - you must download every mod manually. Make sure to neatly put them all together in a folder too.
Backups
After the game is initially installed, create a backup of your Oblivion installation directory (the one containing the Data folder and the game's .exe) as well as the Oblivion documents folder located in /Documents/My Games/.
It is essential to keep an entirely unmodified backup the game for several reasons, mainly because you can simply delete your installation and replace it with the backup instead of having to wait for the game to be redownloaded and reinstalled in the case of your setup getting broken like it did for me :^(.
You'll want to make another backup after you are fully finished following the guide - it helps to have a modded backup in case you decide to modify your setup and want to restore it. You may also wish to compress the backups with an archival tool in order to save disk space.
Let's jump in!
The Guide
Mod Types
There are three types of mod files for Oblivion, and three ways to install them. There are OMOD-installed files and BAIN-installed files, which are installed through their own programs due to having unique installation scripts that only said programs can utilize, and regular mod files that are installed manually by simply dropping them into either the Oblivion/Data folder or the Oblivion Mods/Bash Installers folder. More information on OMOD/BAIN mods and their respective programs are below. For each step or each mod in a step, it will be noted which method the mod needs to be installed with - OMOD, BAIN, or manually with Wrye Bash (see Step 3). Some manually-installed mods don't just go in the Data folder; it will be noted where else to place them when they appear.
Essential Utilities
Before we even begin downloading mods, first we'll need a few utility programs. If you don't have a free archival extraction program such as winRAR or 7zip, download it now too.
1. Oblivion Script Extender/OBSE - TRUE Manual (Place the contents of the .zip into your main Oblivion install folder, NOT the Data folder.)
- From now on, ALWAYS launch the game through the obse_loader.exe.
2. Better Oblivion Sorting Software/BOSS - Get the boss_installer.7z file and run the installer, I recommend installing it to the Oblivion install folder in a new folder named something like Utilities.
- If you somehow don't know, this tool sorts your load order, which determines which mods the game loads in order when it's launched. If there are load order conflicts, the game will be affected in various ways; ranging from quests being broken to automatically crashing upon launching, so BOSS will fix that.
You must run BOSS every time a Step past #6 is completed.
3. Wrye Bash/WB - Get the Installer version from the Files tab. NOTE that if you already have WB installed for Skyrim, when launching its installer for Oblivion MAKE SURE to untick the box that says it'll install for Skyrim too, or else you'll overwrite files that are already there for Skyrim. And of course, navigate the installer to the directory where you installed Oblivion at.
- WB is for BAIN installations, Bashed Patches, and almost every other mod unless noted otherwise. Simply drop an archived .zip/rar/etc into your Oblivion Mods/Bash Installers folder, click on the Installers tab within the Wrye Bash program, and right-click Install the archive from there. This is what you should do when a mod says to install it manually unless otherwise noted. The reason for doing this instead of actually 'manually' placing files into the game's Data folder is so that WB can easily remove them if needed, and to perform something called Archive Invalidation, which is an Oblivion engine problem that causes loaded texture mods to not be applied, but WB does Archive Invalidation automatically. When something says to install it "TRUE Manual", then you must actually manually drop it where it needs to go rather than use WB.
- Some mods ask you questions through a Wizard installation; if a mod has the Wizard option when you right-click it, make sure to select that instead - this is known as a BAIN installation. BAIN installation options are fully up to you unless otherwise noted. In any mod page's downloads section, ALWAYS go for the downloads labeled 'BAIN' in order to properly install them via Wizard. NEVER use the 'Download with Manager' button, always place the downloaded archives in the 'WhereveryouinstalledWB/Oblivion Mods/Bash Installers' folder manually.
- The thing that Bashed Patches do exactly is combine all your various mod edits that make changes to the game's leveled lists (lists that the game uses to determine what enemies spawn, what items are found in loot, and so on) to make sure everything works well together. By default, one mod that changes leveled lists will overwrite the other depending on your load order, and so you won't see changes from both mods unless you use a Bashed Patch. Many MANY mods change leveled lists, so for a tl;dr: just be grateful that Wrye Bash exists.
- To use a Bashed Patch: You'll notice a new mod/.esp file called Bashed Patch at the bottom of your load order now within WB's Mods tab. Right-click on it and then select Rebuild Patch, and a new window will open. Make sure on the left-hand side of the window that "Leveled Lists" is checked on if it isn't already - do NOT touch anything else if you don't know what you're doing. Then select the Build Patch button and wait for it to finish. You've done it! Don't forget to enable the .esp of course.
You must rebuild your Bashed Patch every time you complete a Step past #6.
4. Oblivion Mod Manager/OBMM - Grab the "OBMM Extended <mostrecentdate> - Setup" file and run the installer.exe.
- OBMM is for .OMOD installations. With OBMM, click on the 'Create' button, click 'Add archive' and select the .zip you'll be making into an .omod, select 'Yes' if it asks you to import omod conversion data, and click 'Create omod'. Activate the mod when it's finished decompressing and it will usually ask you further questions you may answer accordingly. OMOD installation options are fully up to you unless otherwise noted. Unless a mod also has a BAIN installation option, go for downloads labeled 'OMOD'. NEVER use the 'Download with Manager' button, always place the downloaded archives manually.
5. TES4Edit - Place the archive's contents into the Oblivion/Utilities folder we made in Step 2.
- TES4Edit is for cleaning dirty mods, which we'll do at the end. Can also be used to tweak your game/mods extensively if you're into that, but this is not recommended for most people. 'Dirty Edits' are named as such because they are unnecessary changes accidentally made by modders and can clutter up, slow down, or even catastrophically damage the game if they aren't taken care of. You'll be made aware of which mods are dirty and which ones are clean whenever you run BOSS. See the end of the guide for more info.
NOTE that you are to NEVER clean a mod if the mod author says not to on their mod page, even if there are dirty edits discovered by BOSS. The reason being is that some mods intentionally make dirty edits in order to function properly, so be careful what you clean.
6. 4GB Patch - Install it anywhere and run it when you need to use it.
- The 4GB Patch allows the game to allocate more than the default amount of memory, and will improve performance+prevent crashing. Apply it to the 'Oblivion.exe', 'obse_loader.exe', and 'OblivionLauncher.exe'. Note that apparently the GOG version of the game has the patch applied to the executables already, but it wouldn't hurt to apply again just in case it isn't, and you need to use it on the obse_loader.exe anyway.
Recap:
AFTER EVERY STEP: CHECK THE MOD PAGE(S) FOR DETAILED INSTALL INSTRUCTIONS JUST IN CASE, INSTALL WITH THE NOTED PROGRAM(S), RUN BOSS, REBUILD THE BASHED PATCH, AND START THE GAME TO SEE IF IT RUNS! IF YOU GET AN IMMEDIATE CRASH, YOU'VE DONE SOMETHING WRONG!
The Mods
7. Unofficial Oblivion Patch/UOP, Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch/USIP, and Unofficial Oblivion DLC Patches/UODLCP - Manual for all; remember to do it through WB, see Step 3
- Delete the patch .esps for DLCs that aren't installed or you'll CTD when you launch the game (Ignore this if you're using all official DLCs). Also deactivate the 'UOP Vampire Aging & Face Fix.esp' as we'll be able to fix said bug without using an .esp slot later.
- It should be around this point that you notice that some mods automatically show up as "Mergeable" when you attempt to rebuild your patch. Follow this picture in order to successfully merge them into your patch - this is very handy because games on this engine have a limit of 255 active .esp files at a time (the game will not launch with any more than that), but merging them into your patch allows you to use more than 255 mods activated at once! The picture shows WB for Skyrim, but the same principle applies to Oblivion. While we don't come close to hitting the .esp limit in this guide, you'll still want to merge mergeable mods into the Bashed Patch in order to slightly increase performance from having less plugin files loaded, and to also somewhat future-proof this load order in case you ever want to add more mods than what's listed in the guide.
8. The following OBSE Plugins (TRUE Manual but NOT in the Data folder, place their files in the Oblivion/Data/OBSE/Plugins folder!) :
a) Oblivion Display Tweaks/ODT - Replaces Oblivion Stutter Remover and OneTweak. Open its .ini and set bFPSFix to 0.
b) ConScribe
c) MenuQue
d) Enhanced Music and Control 2/EMC2
e) RuntimeEditorIDs/REID
f) Elys Universal Silent Voice
g) AV Uncapper - It also comes with an .esp, but do NOT use or activate it. We'll get a proper configuration mod for it in the next Step.
h) Pluggy
i) EngineBugFixes
j) WalkBlessed Diagonal Move
k) Blockhead
l) Blue's Engine Fixes
m) OBL Mod Limit Fix
n) SkyBSA
9. DarkUId DarN - OMOD, DarNifiedUI Config Addon - Manual, then AV Uncapper Settings Fixed - Manual
- There is an .OMOD file of DarkUId DarN already available to download, which you may use instead of manually turning the archive into an .OMOD. Place the .OMOD into your 'Oblivion/OBMM/Mods' folder, open OBMM, click Load and find the file, select it, then click Activate. Click 'Select Components' and see this picture for installation instructions.
- Select only the first sub-package in the Installer tab for AV Uncapper Settings Fixed - click here.
- Here is a screenshot of my in-game personal DarkUI'd DarN config settings, which I recommend that you follow. Remember that these automatically get saved as you set them, thanks to DarNifiedUI Config Addon!
10. QZ Easy Menus, and Display Stats - Manual for all
- Go into QZ Easy Menus' .ini (found in the Data folder) and disable the Space-to-exit-menu feature by changing the value of the line 'set EasyMenu.iAltExitKey' to 0, as attempting to input a space character within an enchanting/spellmaking menu just closes the whole thing instead with it enabled by default.
- Select both the Core package for Display Stats as well as the one for what UI mod you have installed. Obviously, select DarkUId DarN.
- I recommend going into Display Stats' .ini and disabling the damage rate of weapons as well as the value/weight ratio of items. I really only use this mod to view weapons' speed+reach values.
11. Clean Up, RefScope, and Atmospheric Dark UI Loading Screens - OMOD for all
- Open kuerteeCleanUp.ini located in Oblivion/Data/Ini and change the line 'set kCUQuest.cleanActors' to 0. It will avoid potential issues with actors tagged as Quest Items.
- The install options for Atmospheric Dark UI Loading Screens are up to you, I prefer the Random Quotes for the loading text.
- I recommend going into the /Data/Textures/Menus/Loading folder and deleting 'loading_background.dds', then renaming 'loading_backgroundORIG.dds' into the name of the file you just deleted. This way, you won't see the obnoxious author watermark on the main loading screen when launching the game.
12. Ragdolls for Oblivion, BlockHead Animations Compilation, Unidirectional Attack, and Coloured Enemy Health - Manual for all
- NOTE: Ragdolls for Oblivion is not properly placed within your load order when running BOSS, as its .esp must be manually placed ABOVE the Bashed Patch.esp. However, don't worry about manual load order changes until the very end of the guide.
- Grab both the main download and the NewIdleAnimations package for BlockHead Animations Compilation. It is a very subtle change to most vanilla walking and idle animations by giving different the races different personal touches, I recommend not straying too far from what it does by not downloading any similar mods.
- Unidirectional Attack is similar to Mortal Enemies for Skyrim, IE preventing egregious enemy tracking during their attacks. Open its .ini in Oblivion/Data/Ini and change the line 'set UAQuest.bUseOnPlayer' to 0.
- Coloured Enemy Health is a surprisingly useful little mod, don't overlook it.
13. Expanded Greetings - OMOD, Dialogue Tweaks Fixes and Restorations/DTFR - Manual, and Realistic Player Dialogue Overhaul/RPDO - Manual
- Open the ini for DTFR in Oblivion/Data/Ini and change the line 'set TrespassDialogRestore' to 0, the rest of the options should be left as their defaults.
14. LINK - OMOD, and Really Textured Normal Maps Updated/RTNMU - Manual
- LINK is essentially the same as the Mod Configuration Menu/MCM functionality available for many Skyrim mods, but in Oblivion. Not as many mods take advantage of it, but it's still better than nothing.
- RTNM is our first major texture overhaul to be used as a baseline, which a lot of other mods below will overwrite and make changes to. It also makes a return from the very first version of this guide!
15. Qarl's Texture Pack III Redimized/QTP3 - OMOD, QTP/UOP Compatibility Patch - Manual, Bomret's Texture Pack for Shivering Isles/BTP - Manual, and QTP3 Custom Road Texture - Manual
- It is normal that QTP3 takes approximately ~20 minutes to compress and convert into .OMOD format.
- See this picture for installation instructions for QTP3 Custom Road Textures.
16. New Shadows for Trees, and Enhanced Vegetation Repack - Manual for all
- Select whatever install options you want for Enhanced Vegetation Repack (Click on FOMOD instead of Sub-Packages before right-click -> Installing it in order for the installation options to show up). I suggest using 10% bigger vegetation scale for both vanilla and SI, then the default timescale option of 30, then high resolution textures.
17. Gecko's Ayleid Ruins Textures, Gecko's Fort Interior Textures, and Gecko's Imperial Dungeon Textures - Manual for all three.
- Grab the "NO Parallax" version of the Ayleid Ruins textures, they'll unfortunately mess with some later graphics mods otherwise.
18. The following miscellaneous texture mods (Manual for all but H):
a) HiRez God Statues
b) HiRez Daedric Shrines
c) Improved Skulls Bones and Ironwork - Get the non-OMOD version.
d) High-Res Varla and Welkynd Textures - See this picture for install options.
e) Improved Fires and Flames - Grab the non-OMOD Performance version.
f) Retextured Road Signs - Grab only the first main file.
g) Painters Touch - Grab the larger version.
h) Nighteye Shader Replacement - OMOD, I recommend the 'edgedetect' option, the rest are almost as bad as vanilla.
i) Retextured Inn Signs
- If you're worried about performance, feel free to omit any of the high-resolution stuff.
19. The following miscellaneous armour/weapon mesh and texture mods (Manual for all):
a) Insanity's Ebony Sword Replacer - Pretty optional but these looks great. Manually go into the 'Optional' folder of the archive, take the Oblivion-style retextures, and use them to overwrite the EbonySword.dds and Scabbard.dds found in Data/Textures/Insanity/Weapons/Ebony.
b) Weapon Improvement Project/WIP - Use the WIP .esp that it comes with as well.
c) AwesomeSauce Reflection Maps
20. Tales of Cyrodiil, Reaction, and Voices of Mods - Manual for all
- Use the main Reaction.esp, delete/disable the other one.
- Grab only the 'Reactions' file from Voices of Mods' Files tab, as we aren't using any of the other mods that it covers. It's unfortunate that Tales of Cyrodiil and other unvoiced quest mods aren't covered, but perhaps they will in the future.
21. Unique Landscapes Compilation/UL - BAIN
- Simply select Full when installing UL, you want all of its additions. Do NOT select Merged Full however, you want individual .esps for compatibility's sake (some patches require individual UL modules as masters). Additionally, select Standard for your Chorrol Hinterland version, and Low Poly Grass for The Dark Forest.
- NOTE: xulCorboloRiver.esp is not properly placed within your load order when running BOSS, as its .esp must be manually placed ABOVE the Bashed Patch.esp, preferably near the other UL modules. However, don't worry about manual load order changes until the very end of the guide.
22. Weather - All Natural - OMOD or BAIN, DOWNPOUR Rain Retexture - Manual, and Detailed Terrain/DT - OMOD
- Leave all the options as their defaults for All Natural's installation.
- Select Large in DOWNPOUR's sub-packages.
- Get every DT file from the Files tab. The main Beta II OMOD, the Shader Patch, the Shivering Isles Texture Pack, and the Unique Landscapes Texture Pack - 4 OMODs in total.
23. Immersive Interiors/II, II Bravil and Leyawiin, II Imperial City, and II Landscape Addon, II Fixes, and II Cleaned Patch - Manual for all
- NOTE: Immersive Interiors Fixes.esp and Immersive Interiors Cleaned.esp are not properly placed within your load order when running BOSS, as its .esp must be manually placed ABOVE the Bashed Patch.esp. However, don't worry about manual load order changes until the very end of the guide.
NSFW! 24. Hentai Gentleman's EyeCandy Body/HGEC - OMOD, High Rez Skin Textures for HGEC - Installer, HGEC Argonians and More Nude Fix - Manual, Robert's Male Body Replacer - OMOD, Oblivion Character Overhaul v1/OCO1 - Manual, and Improved Vanilla Hairs - Manual
- HGEC install options are up to you. Might be best to use non-nude textures and non-ridiculous proportions.
- Only use the '2048x2048 Full Package' version of High Rez HGEC Textures. It comes with its own InstallTool.exe, which works basically the same as an OMOD or BAIN installation - point it to your Data folder and select whatever options you want (except for custom races we won't be using), again preferably with some common sense.
- Only use the HGEC NudeBeastRaces if you used the nude option for base HGEC and you're a sicko who wants to see realistic beast race nudity too.
- Only use the 'OMOD FINAL' MaleBodyReplacer file. Its install options are up to you other than making sure you do not select the custom head meshes and face textures, might be best to use non-nude textures and non-ridiculous proportions.
- Oblivion Character Overhaul v1 is absolutely the best overhaul for character faces. See the Oblivion Mod FAQ for my reasoning as to why.
- Grab both the Reduced Textures and Mesh Improvements files for Improved Vanilla Hairs.
25. Oblivion Stereo Sound Overhaul/OSSO, Consistent Beggar Voices, and Dynamic Music System/DMS, then my Custom Music Folder + DMS.ini - Manual for all
- DMS' configuration is very complicated, but luckily for you I have figured out the logistics, so all you need to do is drop my custom files into the Data folder.
- My custom music folder includes many new music tracks, mainly including ones from popular video games and anime. They're all very immersive and fit in the game perfectly (in my opinion), but you're free to go through and further customize the tracks yourself by adding/removing songs as needed. And don't worry, the vanilla game tracks are still there AND they've been copy+pasted many times over to ensure they play slightly more frequently than the new tracks. The new music is from Morrowind, Daggerfall, Skyrim, Berserk, Susumu Hirasawa, Dark Souls, Skyrim's Fantasy Music Overhaul mod, the Celestial Aeon Project, and many, MANY more. Full credits to all the amazing artists - don't sue pls. If you want to add some tracks yourself, just remember that they have to be .mp3 files, and that you need to remove any album art, artist tags, etc from the file or else it'll screw up when it plays in-game.
26. Oblivion Reloaded E3 Edition/ORE3
- Set these vanilla graphical options exactly as follows in your game's video settings in order to make OR work:
Texture Size = Large
Fades = Max
View distance = Max
Distant objects (land, buildings, trees) = On
Shadows on grass = On
Tree Canopy Shadows = On
Shadow Filtering = High
Specular Distance = 100%
HDR Lighting = On
Bloom Lighting = Off
Water Detail = High
Water Reflections = On
Water Ripples = On
Window Reflections = On
Blood Decals = High
- OR is similar in what it accomplishes to an ENB like for Skyrim. Both can actually be used together for Oblivion, but I find that to be unnecessary.
- Surprisingly, the default settings of ORE3 are very favorable right of the box. The only setting I recommend changing would be to disable MotionBlur. Other than that, ORE3 looks and works great!
- Here's how to get your preferred Nighteye Shader Replacement module working with OR, instructions courtesy of Nexus user Lorddae: Open OBMM and find "Nighteye shader Replacement 1.1", right-click it and select extract to folder. Extract it to a temporary folder of your choosing. Navigate to the folder where you extracted the omod, inside the Nighteye shader Replacement folder should be all the nighteye effects with their respective names, pick the one you want and rename it to NIGHTEYE000 and copy it over to the Data/Shaders/OblivionReloaded/NightEye folder, replacing the old file. Finally, navigate to the Data/OBSE/Plugins folder and edit the OblivionReloaded config file, look for the NightEye setting under [Shaders], and change it from 0 to 1. Voila!
27. Harvest Containers xOBSE, Skill Bonus Items, and Shambles Crash Fix - Manual for all
28. Lights of Oblivion Road Lanterns, and Traveling Equipment - Manual for all
- Get only one Mesh version for Lights of Oblivion. I recommend the Fantasy or Rustic version.
29. Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul/OOO - Manual
- First grab the 'OOO esps' archive, then the BSA archive. Install them both with WB as you normally would. There are some other OOO files we'll need, mainly patches, but don't worry about them right now.
- Go into its .ini and set the three lines regarding container animations/Harvest Container features to 0, as Harvest Containers xOBSE does a better job of it without script bloat. The lines to change are 'Set OOOHC', 'Set OOOHCBarrelsAndCrates', and 'Set OOOHCSacks', turn them all to 0. There is also an option for animating containers in player owned houses, but it's off by default.
30. Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul Extended/OOOE, and OOO Shivering Isles/OOOSI - Manual for both
- Grab every file that OOOE has; Meshes, Esps, Textures, and HGEC Conversions. Install them all with WB as you normally would.
- First grab the main OOOSI archive, then the Archery Patch, then the Exnem+HGEC Models. Do not use its Optional Crucible Edits.esp.
31. The following extra files from the 'OOO Misc Files' archive Here (TRUE Manual):
a) OOO - KotN
b) The xulPantherRiver OOO Patch.esp from the 'UL patches (separate)' subfolder
c) The OOOExtended.esp from the 'OOO Extended (No RealSwords)' subfolder, and let it overwrite the OOOExtended.esp from Step 30.
32. Common Oblivion/Cobl - BAIN
- Select these options when installing Cobl.
- During the install wizard, you want the Stable version, Salmo the Baker package, Tweaks package, OOO Mergeable package, and Cobl Races package.
- Grab the Cobl Cosmetic Resources file as well. Install it Manually, make sure to select the "FIRST" and "If using Robert's Male Bodies" sub-packages before installing it.
33. SB Weapon Drop Fix, and Dark Anchor Dolmens - Manual for both
- Take the 'SB_WeaponDropFix_OOOFilterPatch.esp' from the mod's 'optional' folder and manually place it into the Data folder.
- While I don't care much for ESO """lore""", Dark Anchor Dolmens adds some much-appreciated fluff and loot around the world.
34. Reclaiming Sancre Tor/RST, Artifacts Remastered, and Phitt's Artifacts - Manual for all
- Grab all four main files for RST; Meshes, Sounds, Textures, and Esp.
35. Alternate Start Arrive by Ship, and Alternate Start Arrive by Ship Unofficial Patch - Manual for all
- Arrive by Ship is my preferred alternate start mod for roleplaying purposes. There are a few others which you could use instead, or simply not use one at all and just play the vanilla intro.
36. Mannimarco Revisited, Mannimarco Revisited UOP Patch, and Mannimarco Revisited Rebalance - Manual for all
- Grab every file for Mannimarco Revisited - including the OOO patch and v11 patch which overwrites the main .esp. Don't activate the Wardrobe Chest.esp, it's just for debugging purposes.
- Despite all the patches, Mannimarco's throne room still contains some improperly-placed furniture and chests. There are also some enemies that spawn out of bounds when entering the chamber, so kill/disable them all with the console before approaching Mannimarco or else the game will crash (at least it always did during my testing). These issues are unfortunate but I still personally feel they're worth dealing with in order to experience the rest of the mod.
- NOTE: Mannimarco Revisited is not properly placed within your load order when running BOSS, as both .esps must be manually placed BELOW Oblivion_Character_Overhaul.esp or the encounter will be heavily bugged and not work. However, don't worry about manual load order changes until the very end of the guide.
37. Better Dungeons, and Better Dungeons Balance Patch - Manual for all
- Grab the first Main file and BSA file for Better Dungeons.
- As much as I love the Cursed Amulet, the Balance Patch was necessary to prevent from becoming obscenely overpowered.
38. The Ayleid Steps, The Ayleid Steps Guardian's Atlas, Voiced Addons Collection for Mods, Snu's Dungeons, and Phitt's Artifacts + Snu's Dungeons Patch - Manual for all
- Grab only the 'The Ayleid Steps - Voiced Addon BSA' file from Voiced Addons Collection for Mods.
- Select the first 5 sub-packages for Snu's Dungeons before right-click installing it: '00 Core', '02 Better Dungeons Patch', '03 OOO Patch', '04 The Ayleid Steps Patch', and '05 Weather All Natural Patch'.
- The download for Snu's dungeons is a fork of v1 of the mod by WalkerInShadows. Later versions of it aren't compatible with Better Dungeons, so this version compliments it instead to further enhance the game's dungeons.
- The Phitt's Artifacts + Snu's Dungeon Patch is from Nexus user LuxDivinity, originally posted in Phitt's Artifacts' comments section.
39. The Lost Spires, DarkUI Loading Screens for The Lost Spires, The Lost Spires Cleaned Up Scribe Store Ruins, The Lost Spires Archeology Guild Robe Fix, The Lost Spires Tweaks & Enhancements, and The Lost Spires Artifacts Remastered Patch - Manual for all
- The Lost Spires' main website died a couple of years ago, and its Nexus page only hosts old and outdated patches, hence my MEGA link for the archival version of the mod.
- Grab only the 'Assorted Fixes' and 'Warlock Torch Fix' archives from The Lost Spires Tweaks & Enhancements' files tab.
- The patch for The Lost Spires + Artifacts Remastered was made by Dispensation. I can't remember where I originally found it, hence why I have a personal MEGA link for it.
40. Knights of the Nine Revelation/KotNR, Imperial Dragon Armor Reforged, Knights of the Nine Revelation Continued/KotNRC, KotNR Ayleid Armor HGEC Conversion, and AyleidRoyals Armor - Manual for all
- Grab the BAIN package for the Ayleid Armor conversion and select only the HGEC bra cup size sub-package you selected in Step 24 to match it.
41. Ayleid Loot EXtended/ALEX - OMOD, Hidden Treasures of Tamriel - Manual, and Hidden Treasure Chests UL Edition - Manual
- Select 'Yes' that you're using OOO when installing ALEX.
42. Knights of the Nine Improved Infamy System, Mercantile Experience Fix, and Real Retroactive Health Formula - Manual for all
43. Maskar's Oblivion Overhaul/MOO, and Extended UI - Manual for all
- MOO has a very large .ini detailing many options, we'll tweak it at the end.
- Compared to every other mod, Maskar's Oblivion Overhaul.esp needs to be loaded AFTER the Bashed Patch.
- I recommend changing Extended UI's Spell Favorites menu key from Q to something else like the F key, as Q is what I have set for the vanilla Grab function.
44. Vanilla Combat Enhanced/VCE - Manual
- Don't get the Nehrim version for VCE, only the regular main version, and select these options when installing it.
45. Passive Skill Bonuses, Unique Artifacts for Unique People/UAUP, and Better Unique Merchant Items - Manual for all
- Grab only the OBSE-required Silent version of Passive Skill Bonuses.
- NOTE: Passive Skill Bonuses is not properly placed within your load order when running BOSS, as its .esp must be manually placed ABOVE the Bashed Patch.esp. However, don't worry about manual load order changes until the very end of the guide.
- As noted in UAUP's description, keep the Distribution.esp disabled and let it be filtered into the Bashed Patch when it's rebuilt.
- Also grab the Patches archive in the optional files section of UAUP as well. Select ONLY the '01 OOO Patch' and '02 Extended UI Weapon Backstory Descriptions' subpackages before installing it.
46. Supreme Magicka/SM, More Effective Enchantments, Display Skill Perk Effects, Item Description Framework, and Ultimate Leveling - Manual for all
- Select both the '00 Core' and '01 Raised Enchanting and Spellmaking Limits' subpackages when installing SM. We'll do .ini tweaking for it at the end.
- Grab only the MOO-compatible file for Item Description Framework.
47. HESU Landscapes Collection - Manual
- Requires registration for Afkmods to download. Grab only the 'Hesu Mods.7z' and 'Hesu Mods Patches.7z' files.
- Enable all the subpackages for Hesu Mods.7z.
- The patches are a little annoying to install due to the lack of a proper installer. Enable only the following 8 subpackages for Hesu Mods Patches.7z: Fairmere Village Patches, Gnoll Mountain Patches, Seaside Settlement Patches, Shipton Patches, The Hell Lands Patches, The Skyrim Temple Patches, White Rose River Patches, and Wolf's Borough Patches.
- Then, enable ONLY the following 12 patch .esps via the plugin filter right next to the subpackages:
DarkAnchorDolmens-SkyrimTemple Patch.esp
DLCFrostcrag-GnollMountain Patch.esp
HESU Shipton-Seaside Patch.esp
KOTNR-Fairmere Patch.esp
KOTNR-WRR Patch.esp
LostSpires-WRR Patch.esp
OOO-HellLands Patch.esp
OOO-Seaside Patch.esp
OOO-Shipton Patch.esp
RST-Seaside Patch.esp
RST-Shipton Patch.esp
RST-WolfsBorough Patch.esp
48. Unique Landscapes Compatibility Patches - BAIN, and The Ayleid Steps Compatibility Patches - Manual
- Select 'No' on the first screen of the install wizard of UL compatibility patches, it will then automatically detect which compatibility patches you need.
49. Optimized VWD, and VWD for Town Houses - Manual for all
- These are necessary for providing LOD resources for the next few steps.
50. Landscape LOD Generator/TES4LL - TRUE Manual, unpack to the Data directory.
- To use TES4LL, you must run 3 .bat files. The first is the resolution for the landscapes; midres, highres, or ultimate. I heavily recommend tes4ll_midres.bat or tes4ll_highres.bat, use midres if you're worried about performance.
- Then, run tes4ll_normalmaps.bat, and finally, tes4ll_qlod.bat. It'll take a few minutes for each to run, so be patient.
51. TES4LODGen - TRUE Manual, unpack to any location. Simply start its .exe and it will automatically run.
52. Animated Window Lighting System/AWLS - BAIN
- Select whichever visual options you like when installing AWLS, might be best to use performance-friendly options such as Basic Smoking Chimneys and so on.
53. Dynamic Map - OMOD, Elven Map for Shivering Isles - Manual, and World Maps for All Worldspaces - Manual
- Select whatever map style you want for Dynamic Map, I prefer the Terrain Map.
54. Map Marker Overhaul/MMO - OMOD
- Select whatever you want for MMO: For Map Marker Styles, I prefer the Colored Icons. Select Detailed Installation for the Ini and then pick what you want.
- Use your MMO modifier key (left-ctrl+left-click by default) to change map marker properties in-game as you see fit, and use the Insert key on the map screen to add new markers and so on.
55. Load Order Finalization
- Run BOSS one final time. Now we're going to apply load order tweaks to mods that need them - apply the following manual changes by dragging the needed mods to the specified spots within your load order from within WB:
- a) Place both MannimarcoRevisited.esp and MannimarcoRevisitedOOO.esp below Oblivion_Character_Overhaul.esp. This is required in order to make the Mannimarco encounter work correctly.
- b) Move the Bashed Patch to the bottom of the load order.
- c) Place Maskar's Oblivion Overhaul.esp below the Bashed Patch, directly at the bottom of your load order.
- d) Rebuild your Bashed Patch one final time.
- This should now finalize your load order, meaning you don't need to run BOSS again unless you change or add anything. Remember that these manual tweaks will need to be re-applied if you ever run BOSS again or otherwise change your load order in any way!
56. Ini Tweaking
Below is a list of .ini edits that I suggest you make for compatibility/as instructed during their aforementioned steps earlier in the guide, as well as other edits that are highly recommended to make gameplay less frustrating:
Beyond these, every other .ini setting should be left alone as their defaults unless you know what you're doing and/or make extensive backups before making changes you aren't sure of. MOO's .ini in particular has a lot of settings, but again, always exercise caution.
57. Mod Cleaning
We'll now begin the process of cleaning our dirty mods (see back on Step 5 for a description of what dirty edits are). Open up your BOSSlog.html which is found in the whereveryouinstalledBOSS/oblivion folder. Do NOT re-run BOSS in order to open up the log page. If you do, then you must repeat Step 55!
Take a look at the messages claiming which mods are dirty in which exact ways, which should be as follows (at least it was for me):
- DLCHorseArmor.esp - 3 ITM records
- DLCOrrery.esp - 11 ITM and 2 UDR records
- DLCVileLair.esp - 26 ITM and 1 UDR records
- DLCMehrunesRazor - 21 ITM and 15 UDR records
- DLCSpellTomes.esp - 40 ITM records
- DLCThievesDen.esp - 5 ITM and 135 UDR records
- DLCBattlehornCastle.esp - 13 ITM and 74 UDR records
- DLCFrostcrag.esp - 73 ITM and 94 UDR records
- Knights.esp - 121 ITM and 257 UDR records
- The Lost Spires.esp - 165 ITM and 433 UDR records
Note that you should theoretically not need to clean the official DLCs despite their extensive dirty edits. Some other mods, like OOO, have intentional dirty edits that are essential for the mod to function and therefore should not be cleaned either. So for now, just clean The Lost Spires and only consider cleaning the official DLCs if you encounter any major issues during your playthrough(s).
Now we'll begin cleaning with TES4Edit.
a) Simply navigate to where you installed TES4Edit, and locate 'TES4EditQuickAutoClean.exe'.
b) Open the .exe, and select only the .esp of the mod you wish to clean from your load order. The program will automatically do what it needs to do, and will let you know once it finishes.
c) The mod is cleaned! You can now close the program and start it up again to begin the cleaning process for the next mod in the list. Continue the process until you're done and all the listed mods are cleaned. Thank goodness for the new QuickAutoClean feature, as it previously used to be very tedious to manually clean mods.
You are now done modding Oblivion! Congratulations!
Conclusion
And with that, you are now ready to play! Before you move on, heed these warnings:
Delete any and all test saves that you may have created and used throughout the guide
Most new mods that were installed after those saves were created will not work properly, if at all, so you cannot use your older saves.
NEVER add any new mods (aside from selectively updating existing mods or adding minor things such as retextures), or uninstall any existing mods/changing your load order during your current playthrough. This engine is held together with potato skins, spit, and duct tape, and not being careful about it will inevitably result in corruption and destruction of your saves. If you don't pay attention to this fact, be prepared to have to remake your character and/or restart your playthrough.
Have fun, and thank you for reading! Please contact me if you'd like to report dead/incorrect links, make suggestions, or provide feedback!
Gameplay Best Practices and Recommended Controls
Please read the Mod Help page for things like recommended controls, new mod control reminders, and vanilla/mod quest help notes.
Extra Notes/To-Do List/Help Wanted
Vanilla's Screenshot Function (Printscreen key)
This functionality did not work for me anymore upon remaking this guide and reinstalling the game+mods in 2019. I'm not sure why this happened, and I made sure that the option in the Oblivion.ini to enable the function is working correctly, but it just doesn't want to work. This may seem inconsequential to most people but only the vanilla screenshot function allows screenshotting of things like HUD elements, items in the inventory, and NPC conversation subtitles, while OR's screenshot function automatically hides all of those when used, so whenever I'd like to screenshot something like a conversation or cool item that I have from within my inventory I am unable to do it.
After doing some research, apparently the vanilla screenshot function doesn't work with the HDR graphical setting enabled, but said setting is required for OR to work. The ability to use both OR's and vanilla's screenshot function DID work once upon a time when I first made my guide in 2015, so perhaps back then OR had a different enough functionality to allow both screenshot methods. Other people are having this issue nowadays too, but unfortunately there does not appear to be a fix at this point in time.
If anybody discovers a solution to this, please let me know - it would be much appreciated!
Steam Version Troubleshooting
I received a message from Nexus user Chaozrulez, who graciously explained how they fixed some issues they were having with the Steam version of the game:
OBSE plugins [seem to] not work at all unless Steam is launched as an Administrator. Make sure that Steam.exe and GameOverlayUI.exe (they can be found in Program Files (x86)/Steam/ by default) are set to run as Administrator from their Properties menus, and of course make sure to have sufficient access rights.