First off, some useful links and utilities:
The Bethesda Oblivion Mods forum, this is where you'll want to go for all the latest news and updates on the mountains of unofficial content we all take for granted. If I don't have the answer you're looking for, chances are one of the many people here do.
Oblivion Mod Manager, I don't think I need to explain this one.
Better Oblivion Sorting Software, this is a well maintained utility that reads the mods you have installed and suggests the best order to load them in to avoid the inevitable conflicts. This is another must-have.
Wrye Bash, the Swiss army knife of Oblivion modding, and I swear by it. It's intimidating at first, but surprisingly easy to use once you figure out how it works. Finally, Once you figure out BAIN, you will never need to worry about installation problems again.
Wrye Bash Pictorial Guide for Newbies, if you are just starting Bash, it can be very easy to get lost in how much it does. This will help you get on the right foot.
TES4Edit, a very important tool. Most of its features don't concern the end user, but its ability to clean up dirty and unneeded edits in a plugin is invaluable.
TES4Edit Cleaning Guide at the TESCS Wiki. It contains a comprehensive list of mods that need to be cleaned, mods that are already clean, and mods that should not be cleaned, as well as a comprehensive guide on how to actually do it.
So, it seems I have become "Mr. Modder" around these here parts, so I've decided to open this little thread if you have any questions for me. Questions about making modding easier for yourself, how to use a specific tool, if you've encountered a rather irksome problem and can't figure out what to do about it, or if you want to make your game perform a bit better. I will be the first to admit I'm not a professional modder, as I don't make my own mods. I do have the experience needed to maintain a heavy load order with minimal issues, as well as understanding a few advanced tricks to squeeze every last drop of performance out of the game, so I do know what I'm talking about.
If anyone has any doubts, this is my load order:
So with that, ask away.
This post has been edited by Thomas Kaira: Feb 8 2011, 06:46 AM