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Posted by: Renee Gade IV Dec 22 2013, 01:49 AM

Check it out, my very first post in a modding forum. Interestingly enough this forum happens to be rather slow. I can see some threads haven't been touched since summer or even earlier.

Enough with the small talk though. I am starting this thread because (let's face it) I am new to PC gaming and I'm going to need a LOT of help in the upcoming months and years. So this thread is a place to hopefully get all my answers questions, and questions answers. And of course if somebody else has questions they can ask 'em too.

I keep a 'modding file' on a Word Pad page located in one of my PC's folders, and I've been adding a lot of helpful random advice there, but one of my probs is sometimes I'll read something online in some thread, and then later I'll go to have a look at that thread, trying to remember what the solution is to a problem, but I can't find it anymore.

I'm somewhat of a PC dummy, but also a fast learner. I'm not sure if Beth's forums have a decent modding community; I'm sure it's great (and with a low rate of flaming), but I also can sometimes get too overwhelmed by Bethesda's official forums. I also know that Beth is packed with rude gamers, and I don't have time for that sort of nonsense.

Also, Why ask questions there when everybody I trust is already here, right?

I've been hearing about how great Wrye Bash is, so this is one of the very first things I think I'll mess with. I have also heard Nexus is better than Steam to get mods from, so I'm following that advice. When I go on Nexus and try to locate Wrye Bash, I find a page which has several different versions (?) attached to it.

Which one do I choose? http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/22368/?

Posted by: SubRosa Dec 22 2013, 03:54 AM

I do not use Wyre Bash, so I am afraid I cannot help there. But Acadian and Wyrd do, and think Grits too. I am sure one of them will chime in with something more useful than this post.

Posted by: Acadian Dec 22 2013, 04:19 AM

Renee, I started with OBMM for installs and have stayed with it for that purpose. Not because it's better but because I'm used to it and it does what I need for installs. I do have an older version on WB installed so can't help much on current events with WB. WB is good for two main things. First, as a utility. It beats the pants off of any alternative (like Oblivion Animation Fixer - OAF) for fixing the A bomb every few hundred hours. Thanks to WB, that is a simple 30 second operation. It also is very handy for tweaking some things like deleting spells from your spellbook or reweighing potions if you don't use mods for such things. So, even with an OBMM install, I consider WB an essential utility. The second main purpose of WB is for installing mods via the Bash Installer (BAIN). Since I am comfortable with OBMM and somewhat intimidated by BAIN's steeper learning curve, I'm not familiar with using BAIN. There are a great number of OB players whose opinions I greatly respect that absolutely swear by BAIN, and the majority of heavy OB mod users recommend it for install. If I were starting anew, I would spend the time to learn BAIN.

I'm no whiz at installing mods. If I was interested in talking to someone at Chorrol who likely is familiar with WB, I would consider Pseron Wyrd - if he's not a Bash master, I'm sure he can help get you in touch with someone who is. He has another advantage of being familiar with modding TES III, IV and V. Another likely candidate might be ghastley.

One area that I do profess a sound knowledge of however is the command console. I developed a love for the wonderful things it can do years ago and have maintained my love and interest for it.

Posted by: Grits Dec 22 2013, 04:59 AM

That's the one I'm using. (The standalone version.) If I remember correctly there is an installer. The main thing for me was to give myself a lot of time and not panic. I am very much a clueless beginner! But it does the work.

I got it so that I could make NPCs out of some of my characters following Pseron Wyrd's instructions. The more I learn, the more I love it.


Oh! I forgot to say that the few mods I’ve gotten from Steam I’ve made sure to unsubscribe from right away so that I don’t get automatic updates. I like to wait a little and see if an update adds something I want to the mod (not to mention actually works) before I put it in my game. I've only used Steam for Skyrim, but I’m guessing the process must be similar for Oblivion.

Here’s another thing I didn’t know until I’d been fooling around for a while. On the Nexus you can use the green Track button on a mod's page and then check your tracking center (near the bottom of the Files menu) to see what’s been updated recently. Then you just go to the mod page and figure out what’s been changed.

Posted by: SubRosa Dec 22 2013, 05:29 AM

I forgot to say. I always use the Nexus for my mods. The reason is that way I can save the zip file the mod came in to my backups folder. Then I manually copy the contents to my Skyrim or Oblivion folder and/or make an .omod file out of it using http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/5010/. Anything that has loose files gets turned into an .omod. The .omod you can create with Tes Mod Manager is basically an archive that stores all of the mod's filed within it. When you active it through the TESMM interface it extracts all the files to wherever they are supposed to go. When you deactivate it, it automatically deletes all of those files. That makes it easy to clean up when I find I don't want a mod anymore. It also makes installation simple. Anything that is just an .esp file just gets copied to the Oblivion or Skyrim/Data folder.

Posted by: King Coin Dec 22 2013, 05:35 AM

I don't think there is a Steam Workshop for Oblivion.



I use Nexus for the reasons Grits said. Sometimes I want to see what the mod update includes before putting it in my game. And there's the occasional screw up by the mod author that ends up breaking something...

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Dec 22 2013, 02:09 PM

What do you use instead of WB? Just curious.

Cool, lots of advice here, thank you all. The Wyrdster seems to be missing in action lately, maybe he's been sucked in by CoD: Ghosts. Last night I did go to Beth's forums to simply read their mod FAQs, lots of cool stuff there to read. I now know what an 'install' is, and how they affect modding (the last mod wins or something, assuming several mods which affect the same thing are being employed).

And I found a website which will help me get my wired Xbox-style controller working. Arena definitely recognizes it (I'm starting with Arena) but the way the dude wrote the site is all http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/178119-how-to-use-a-xbox-360-gamepad-for-elder-scrolls-arena/

Like he says: 'then download the files here and put the .cfg files in the JoyToKey folder.' What the **** does he mean by "here"??? That alone had me stumped for probably close to an hour, until I finally figured out "Here" means the two configuration files he personally linked on the bottom of his page.

I am nowhere near to getting my first Oblivion game (which will probably be Lady Saga) up on PC, but when I finally do get her going, I will definitely be ready to roll in no time, instead of struggling to get anything happening.



That sounds interesting. I've heard so many bad things about Steam, and I'm not sure I understand what these automatic updates entail, but I'll try my best to just use Nexus.



Is this the one you speak of? http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/39522/?

Oh wait, I see that one's for Zelda.

Posted by: mirocu Dec 22 2013, 03:44 PM

I don´t use Wrye Bash or anything like that. I have enough with the few mods I use and don´t need a program with an overly complicated installation or UI

I also don´t know what BAIN or OBMM is and I still manage!

Posted by: Acadian Dec 22 2013, 05:15 PM

Here is the http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/2097 to Timeslip’s mod, Oblivion Mod Manager (OBMM). OBMM is simple and works well but, again, if starting anew, I would pick the brain of folks like Grits and try to go for a Bash Installer (BAIN) install via WB.

Posted by: King Coin Dec 22 2013, 06:42 PM

I would definitely use a mod installer of some type. Otherwise it turns into a mess fast, especially if you are trying mods and may want to remove them. OBMM is easier to use and I never had any issues with it. I am not sure what the Bash installer offers that OBMM doesn't so I am not any help there. I just know, USE an installer.

Posted by: SubRosa Dec 22 2013, 06:43 PM

I forgot to mention. TES Mod Manager is for Oblivion as well as Skyrim. It works on both. It is the updated version of OBMM, that Acadian linked to.

Posted by: Grits Dec 22 2013, 06:54 PM

For installing Oblivion mods I mostly did it manually to teach myself how it works. I always keep copies of the mods I have tried, whether I keep them in my game or not. That way I can figure out exactly what has gone where when there’s an issue. I also always keep carefully labeled backups whenever files get overwritten this way. It’s much safer to use the utilities that automatically handle such things. If you do it manually just be very careful. I’d highly recommend following everyone else’s advice on using a mod installer (but not the Nexus Mod Manager) and not doing it my way!

The next time I have to install Oblivion (on a new machine) I’ll just use BAIN for installing mods. I use the Skyrim version a lot more than the Oblivion one, since my Skyrim is still very much in flux. I still unzip the files and take a look first, though, since sometimes you can tell right away that something looks screwy.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Dec 23 2013, 05:13 PM

Awesome, thanks again, all. I'm pretty confused about which installer to choose, but once I start getting into it I'm sure it'll make more sense. Plus, I don't intend to throw so many mods into my game early on. Actually, now that I just said that out loud, I'm liking Grit's plan of installing manually. I'm planning on starting off slow (that's the plan, anyways).

Actually, that is a good question: I do have one mod that I want to get into my first PC Oblivion game from Day 1. It's a hardcore mod (makes food and eating and sleeping matter more) and I forget which one it is, but I have it written down at home.

The question: is it possible to start a mod before the game actually is even being played? Before the Tutorial starts, and before Character Creation even begins? OR will this screw something up?

I suppose I'll have to find the name of hte mod I speak of first, but it doesn't seem to be a very big one. On the other hand, I DO want to get Better Cities into Joan of Arkay's game before she gets of the Tutorial (so the Imperial City starts off being filled with this mod's stuff). How viable is this plan?

I know BC requires OBSE and I've already got this on my PC.

Posted by: Acadian Dec 23 2013, 05:23 PM

Once you have the game installed (you did install outside of Program Files, right?), then you can indeed install mods that will be effective when you start the game. My caution here would be this: Normally, I'd only add one mod at a time, then test and play it to make sure it causes no problems. The challenge with adding a handful at a time at once is that when you play and get some sort of an unpleasant surprise, it can be very difficult to find the culprit. When you have a stable game and add only one mod at a time and fully play test it before adding any more, then if you encounter a problem, it is pretty easy to figure out what mod caused it.

Oh, and you are wise to have OBSE installed. A great many wonderful mods require it.

Posted by: King Coin Dec 23 2013, 05:26 PM

There should be no issue with that.

And I strongly encourage you to use a mod installer of some type. Especially if you start adding a lot of mods, it can become messy very quickly if you install mods manually. Installers are not really there to make adding mods easier, it's there to make removing them easier. If you do decide to install manually, then keeping a copy of the mod is a must. That way if you do want to uninstall it, you will have something to refer to when you are deleting files.

Posted by: Grits Dec 23 2013, 08:11 PM

Yikes!! Let’s rename the Grits method “Asking For Trouble.” I think it’s a great idea to install one or two very simple mods manually so that you get comfortable with the system, but pick something like a mod that adds a new set of armor or maybe one bow. Please, please use an installer for any major overhaul mods. Eventually you will come across a conflict that you have to puzzle out, and adding/removing things one at a time with an installer makes solving issues much simpler.

I’d suggest a test character so you can check the game out every time you add something. Fast Travel, use the console, do what it takes with them to make sure the mods are working together. Then add another mod and load up Testy’s game again.

Heh heh. Testy.

Anyway when you unzip your first mod and take a look at the files, you’ll probably get a gut feeling. If that feeling is “holy skitt,” I’d say pick a smaller one to start with. If it looks like something you can un-do, just be careful.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Dec 24 2013, 03:33 PM

I haven't installed (or touched) Oblivion yet. What do you mean 'outside of Program Files?' Won't the computer automatically put those files wherever it wants to put them?

On Windows 8, there are actually TWO program file folders: Program Files, and Program Files(x86). The latter folder is where the game automatically puts gaming files, I have noticed.


I have heard we're supposed to use OBSE to load the game too, correct?



Okay hon, thanks. The test character idea is great; I'm too impatient to get Joan or Saga's game up from the get-go, and that's probably asking for trouble.



Okay. The very first one I want to add (the hardcore one) seems rather small, while Better Cities of course is gigantic.

Posted by: Acadian Dec 24 2013, 04:58 PM

On Windows Vista and above, mods sometimes get into a peeing contest with the virus protection features afforded by windows to residents of 'Program Files'. That is why most modders install the game in a different place. What you can do is click on 'Computer' to open up and display your drives. Then open your main hard drive (where Program Files and some other folders live). Now, right click in an unused area of you screen and follow the prompts New > Folder to create a new folder. You can name the folder whatever you like (My Games, TES4, or whatever). Then, when you install the game, don't accept the default install location (Program Files); rather, tell the game to install in your newly created folder.

Regarding OBSE, yes, if you have it installed, you need to start the game via OBSE instead of auto start or the normal game starting procedures. The read me for OBSE should tell you how to do this. What most of us do is put a shortcut to the OBSE file that opens the game onto our desktop. Another feature of OBSE that ties to WB is that if you are going to fiddle with a script created by OBSE, you must have the construction site open via OBSE. Happily, one of WB's many features is a little button along the bottom tool bar for WB that opens the CS via OBSE with a single click - very handy and that is now the only way I ever open the CS.

All this makes me sound much smarter than I am. Mostly I'm simply relaying what I do and what I know works for me. I would certainly defer to most other folks here that use mods, since probably most of them are way smarter about puter stuffs than me. At my age, I attribute most puter things to some sort of unknowable magicks.

Posted by: Thomas Kaira Dec 24 2013, 05:22 PM

On the topic of Wrye Bash: I swear by it. It has saved my Oblivion installation on multiple occasions (read: full reinstall and I could still use my saves from before the wipe). It is also required if, like me, you use a lot of mods and require merging records for compatibility. Of all the people here, I think my Oblivion is the most heavily modded:




All that and Wrye Bash can still save the installation thanks to its wonderful installer? Go Bash or go home, is what I say. Do not hesitate to ask about Bash, as it is well worth it, but does have a learning curve.

Acadian is right about Vista and this carries over to 7, as well. If you install your game in "Program Files" Windows will likely block mods from loading properly. That is why I install all of my games to the C\:Games directory and NOT program files. This prevents UAC from causing problems for me, while also allowing me to keep it turned on.

OBSE is needed for certain mods. I actually have several that are not listed there which do some more low-level things, like let me copy the contents of the Console (which OBSE prints debug messages to) to a text file, or optimizes the game engine's memory management a bit so to reduce the stutter. Just remember, as said, you need to launch the game through the OBSE loader, as OBSE uses the Injection method to insert itself into Oblivion's EXE file.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Dec 26 2013, 11:46 PM

Awesome! Thank you Acadian and Thomas Kaira.

Posted by: SubRosa Dec 27 2013, 04:10 AM

Besides all of the excellent advice given here, I can add one suggestion.

If you have the drive space, before you start adding mods, create a new folder called Oblivion Vanilla (or something similar) and copy the entire contents of your Oblivion folder and all of it subfolders into it. This way if you do screw up your game six ways to Sunday, you can always delete the contents of the regular game folder, and then copy the vanilla files back to it. It is the same as reinstalling the game, except without all the hassle that comes with having to do it the normal way. This also allows you to selectively replace or just compare individual files in your modded folder with the originals. Just in case there is just one file that is causing you a problem.

While you are at it, you will find your game's .ini files and the saves in your My Documents/My Games/Oblivion folder. The same with Skyrim as well. If you are going to make changes to your .ini files, it is not a bad idea to make backup copies of them first as well.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Dec 27 2013, 09:09 PM

Awesome thanks SR. A friend of mine from Beth might show up here too, or perhaps I might ask a few questions for him.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 2 2014, 01:41 AM

I am now copying files to the Vanilla Oblivion folder, just like you said, SR. Might as well start with this. It's a slow process, eh?

I guess the next thing is to install the game, and that's where Cream Steam is needed, I suppose. Yucky Steam. Actually Steam's not that bad. It just confuses me. Extra steps to deal with, extra stuff to be aware of.

Posted by: SubRosa Jan 2 2014, 01:44 AM

Copying can take a while, especially on an older computer. It is a good time to watch a little tv.

You won't need Steam if you are just playing Oblivion. Unless you bought Oblivion through Steam I suppose. You only need Steam for Skyrim, and it will automatically install itself when you try to install Skyrim.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 2 2014, 02:23 AM

Nope, I am using the Anthology disc so (Yah!) no Steam for Oblivion.

Okay, here goes the install. I made sure to create a New Folder as suggested, so htat it looks like this:

C > Modded Oblivion

instead of

C > Program Files(x86)

Let's see if this works. EDIT: Yup, it's giving me a choice of where I want to install. COOL. Here we go....
..I am kind of excited!

EDIT 2: so I can tell this is going to be a long install. I just turned on my PS3 to watch some Netflix, but I can't help but watch the OB game install. I'm sitting here staring at it as it says C:\...\Data\Oblivion - Meshes.bsa.

Nothing is happening but this install (and some pretty pictures being shown) yet I'm fascinated. It's like a computer roleplay or something. Here's me, Renee G rolling the dice, seeing if I get this right!

EDIT 3: Whoa, holy **** look at those graphics. Maybe it's just some pretty art that's being shown, but wow, it's much smoother than what's seen on consoles. Hard to explain.

EDIT 4: screw the Alternative Start mod. I gotta see the differences in the Tutorial! Not tonight, but next time it rains or snows. So hurry up and rain or snow!

Posted by: SubRosa Jan 2 2014, 03:06 AM

The graphics are way better than a PS3 or X-Box. That can have a bad side to it however, as you might find yourself noticing more that people's faces are blotchy looking. In Skyrim the face textures all have a blocky look, like they were Minecraft characters. I am told it is not really noticeable on the consoles. But on the PC, it is really glaring.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 2 2014, 04:34 PM

Yes, I have seen this actually in the vanilla game. Originally I had one of those big, heavy TVs with tubes in its back, this TV was slightly blurry and not 'hi-def', so I always wondered why people complained about the faces in OB. Then I went to my sister's place one day. My nephew has Oblivion, and they have one of those flatscreen TVs, but this one's almost the size of an entire wall.

So that was the first time I saw it: all the pockmarks, acne, measels, etc. I'm not sure if I'll ever mod this out or not, we'll see.

Posted by: Thomas Kaira Jan 2 2014, 08:25 PM

http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/44676/

And as for the screenshots of the game during install, those are downright hideous compared to what you can do with mods and decent hardware.

To explain the blockiness of the faces in Skyrim: this is because the normal maps for the face textures (normal map is a texture that relays information to the game engine on lighting interaction) are compressed. This results in inaccuracy in the normal maps due to the colors of some of the pixels not being quite what they should be. The blocky look comes from how DDS compression algorithms work (very basic explanation: they take 2-2 grids of pixels and unify the color for them).

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 2 2014, 11:39 PM

Thanks Thomas Kaira. You're named after a rare sports car.

I'm currently messing around again. Just downloaded OBMM, where should I put it, though? I don't see any specific instructions on the Nexus page.

Should I put OBMM right alongside the regular Oblivion files, like this?

C:\Modded Oblivion\OBMM files

"Modded Oblivion" is the folder I created last night. *starts clicking F5 over and over, waiting for answer*

Posted by: Acadian Jan 2 2014, 11:45 PM

Yes, that is where to put it.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 2 2014, 11:56 PM

Awesome. Good lord, it's got a lot of reading in there.

Well so far I've got OBSE ready. OBMM installed. I think next I'm going for the mods *drools* Sorry. I'm salivating and I can't help it.

I should probably do a bit of reading on how OBMM actually works first though. It looks pretty serious.

IT is snowing outside, and I am going to *attempt* to put a couple mods in my first PC Oblivion game. I know that's a lot for one night, but you don't know how long I've been waiting for this. My first 2 mods will be "See Me Sleep" and "Natural Hunger". They seem rather small.

Whenever I wait for something to download, I've been switching to Lord Haaf-Mersey as he rides his horse slowly back to Falkreath.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 3 2014, 12:27 AM

What does esp stand for? Sorry, I tried Googling this but it's simply a nightmare getting straight information.

Here is an example of what I mean: The left hand panel contains a list of all active esps. They are listed in oblivion load order, with the top mod in the list loading first and the bottom last

Wow, OBMM color-codes the mods to show if they're active or not? Holy moly

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 3 2014, 12:48 AM

I'm downloading mod files as we speak. I haven't unzipped anything yet. Where should I unzip these mods?

I am guessing C:\Modded Oblivion\OBMM\Mods?

Never mind! I figured it out. YES! I got Natural Hunger installed and there's a little blue box next to it in the Mod Manager!! I wish Chorrol had more smileys, I want to put :foodndrink: and see the smiley with the bottle

Posted by: King Coin Jan 3 2014, 01:14 AM

ESP stands for elder scrolls plugin file. Nearly every mod, expect things that only change colors or what shape things are in game will have a .esp file associated with it. That is what is set to 'active' or not.

Posted by: SubRosa Jan 3 2014, 01:31 AM

Hi Renee. You installed OBMM to the right place. The same place I did.

.esp is the file extension of the most mods for Elder Scrolls games. I believe it stands for Elder Scrolls Plugin. Where .esm stands for Elder Scrolls Master. You will only see a few of the .esm's. One for the vanilla game, and once in a while one from a mod.

An .esp is what you create when you use the Construction Set to make a mod. Say like one that changes the stats of an NPC, or puts a new house on the map, or changes how quickly magicka regenerates, etc... Some mods have more than just an .esp. Things like new meshes (.nif files), new textures (.dds files), sound effects, music, voices, and so on. Some mods don't even have an .esp. They are ones that simply replace vanilla files with new ones. Texture replacers for things like armor or clothing are common examples.

In any case, a .esp files gets copied to your Oblivion\Data folder. It will be the same folder your Oblivion.esm file is in. If all you have is an .esp, you do not need OBMM to install it. Just copy it over manually, open OBMM, and select the .esp file in the list to make it active.

It is when you have mods with extra files, like those new textures or meshes, that OBMM comes in really handy. Rather than manually copy the files to your Oblivion\Data folder, you have two options. I am sure every mod you download is going to come in a .zip, .rar, or .7z file. The first option is to extract the files to some temporary folder on your hard drive. I keep a folder called Temp off of the root of every hard drive for this sort of thing. Make sure the directory structure is kept intact, if whatever you are extracting with has an option for that.

Then open OBMM, and go down to the bottom and click on the Create button. That brings up a new Omod Creator window. Put in a name that you want to use for the .omod file. The same name as the mod is obviously a good idea. Version Number, Author, and that stuff you can leave blank unless you want to put it in. You can leave the compression rates at the defaults too. Though I always set them to the lowest or none. That takes up more space on my hard drive, but I have plenty to spare.

Now look in the middle of this window and click on Add Folder. A Browse For Folder window pops up. Use it to go to the folder you extracted your mod to. Make sure it is the same folder that the .esp file is in. This is the tricky part, since a lot of people who make mods bury the actual files in a few layers of folder names that are completely useless. Like NickAwesomeUberSword\Uber\Oblivion\Data\<the .esp file>. You just want to select that Data folder with the .esp in it. Click on OK, and wait for OBMM to do its thing. It will take you back to the previous window. From there you can add a description. This is a good idea, so you remember just what the heck Nick's Uber Sword actually does and where to find it. I usually just copy and paste the readme file from the mod. If it does not have one, I copy and paste the description page of the mod from the Nexus. When you are done, click on the red X in the upper right corner. It will ask you if you want to save your changes. Say Yes, and it takes you back to the new Omod Creator window. Now click on Create Omod at the lower right. It will take a few moments to do build the file. When it is done, a little window will pop up saying so.

What this does is take all of those loose files and packs them all together into a single archive. You will now see it in the big window pane on the right side of the program. To activate it, just double click. Or click once to select it, and then click on the Activate button at the bottom. What this does is automatically pull out all those loose files and copy them to your Oblivion folder and all the proper subfolders. It also makes the .esp that came with it active. Do the same to deactivate it. If you want to delete an .omod, make sure you Deactivate it first, then Delete. That makes sure all those files get cleaned up. The beauty of this is that you do not have to keep track of all those loose files. OBMM does it all for you.

The second option I mentioned to creating an .omod above is to skip extracting it to your hard drive. Instead in the Omod Creator window click on Add Archive, and then navigate to the .zip file you downloaded. This works so long as the mod author put all of their files in the right folders. But sometimes mods come with option files, which are stuck in extra folders that OBMM does not know what to do with. This method won't get those options working, and you have to manually extract the files first, and move around the ones you want to use into the correct folders. Because of that I almost always just extract my mods to a folder first, and make my omods from there.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 3 2014, 01:32 AM

Okay, one last thing before I launch my first PC game. Actually I suppose I could launch the game now, but try this later.

Two questions. (1) Timescale. I wanna slow it down. Am I looking in the .ini file to change this? And also (2) how do I get the console working.

I think I know the answer to #2. It's the ~ button, right? .. anyways, here I go. Heh heh....

Posted by: SubRosa Jan 3 2014, 01:36 AM

You got it. Use the ~ to open the console. Then type in:

Set Timescale To X

With X being the number you want. 30 is the default. I set it to 10, and most other folks go with something in that neighborhood as well.

You might also want to look at http://www.tweakguides.com/Oblivion_1.html for ways to optimize your performance. Or just to find out what all those settings mean. I found it very handy, as it has pictures showing you what different settings look like in the game.

http://cs.elderscrolls.com/index.php?title=A_beginner%27s_guide,_lesson_1_-_The_Construction_Set_Primer is also a good place to look at for more info on mods, what file extensions mean, as well as how to use the Construction Set itself.

The UESP Wiki has a good page on http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Console.

TFC is a handy command for giving you a free camera to take screenshots with.

TM will toggle the menus.

TAI will turn off the AI, which is handy for getting monsters to stay still while you take pictures of them.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 3 2014, 04:46 PM

SWEET! The mod works! I put Natural Hunger in the game successfully, and did see a couple messages show up that are definitely not vanilla.

I did start my character last night (the dark elf named Snaat Rayag) but then I got stuck trying to figure out button-mapping for my Xbox/PC controller. Still haven't figured it out; that part's going to be harder than the actual modding. But I'll get it.

Posted by: haute ecole rider Jan 3 2014, 05:22 PM

Congratulations RG4! Welcome to the world of modded Oblivion!

I got into modding when I set up my Mac desktop to boot into Win 7 (Boot Camp) and installed Oblivion on that. Put in a lot of hours playing different mods.

I have just installed Win 7 and Oblivion under Parallels on my Mac laptop (Parallels allows you to run Win 7 on top of the Mac operating system--it is not a separate boot partition). Oblivion plays well enough, though the game play stutters somewhat. I am also missing the console key under Parallels (it works normally under Boot Camp) and some of the modifier keys don't work consistently. So I may go ahead and partition the hard drive on my laptop and run Boot Camp instead.

I only mention this because there are a few folks who use Macs here and may feel they can never run Oblivion on their computers.

I have to second TK's recommendation for the faces. Of all the face mods I've tried to get better looking faces, OCO2 has been the best. I'm the most pleased with the results of this one. I should warn you, though, many of the NPC's, especially the mer, have been "Skyrimized." I don't mind. IRL, not everyone is a Beautiful Person.

I use Wrye Bash for most of my installations, but keep OBMM on hand for a few. DarN UI is one of them. It simply does not work under WB, but is easily customizable under OBMM.

As Sage Rose said, I have a copy of a clean install of Oblivion elsewhere on the hard drive. I have two saves with that: one at the end of the tutorial, and one at the end of the MQ.

Posted by: Thomas Kaira Jan 4 2014, 01:08 AM

And you're the first person who actually got it.

For which mod manager to use, I use OBMM if the mod requires INI alterations in order to configure (specifically DarNified UI, which needs entries in the Oblivion.INI in order to properly display the new fonts). Otherwise, I use Wrye Bash, as there are a number of advantages with using BAIN:

1. It respects install order. Installing a mod after a certain mod that contains alterations to the same object will cause the latter install to always take precedence. Always. This allows you further control over which changes you get out of which mods. Very useful for replacers. OBMM does not do this, for it the last mod to be activated supercedes everything.

2. Conflict detection you can actually use. Bash gives you a nice to-the-point list of all the items that a mod package will override when installed and what packages will override it. OBMM gives you arcane junk that is completely unreadable.

3. It can handle complex installations without needing scripts. All you need to do is set the package up correctly and you can pick and choose which individual PIECES of mods you want to install, too. You can select if you want certain ESPs over others, install some textures in a replacer but leave out the rest, you name it. Outside of INI edits, Bash can do everything OBMM does without the need of scripting the install. And you can even find scripted installs for BAIN now too (called wizards).

4. Clear reporting of mod installation status. It will adjust the color on the package's status symbol depending on what it detects: green = all files matched, yellow = resource file mismatch, orange = ESP mismatch, red = missing files.

5. It does not require the package be a specialized file to work. All you need is a file archive with a folder structure it recognizes. Nothing more.

Another useful console command: TCL. Use this with nothing selected (very important nothing be displayed as selected in the top-center screen) will turn off collision detection for the entire game. Useful for if you get irreversibly stuck and don't want to reload.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 5 2014, 08:39 PM

You're welcome haute ecole rider. Your name has something to do with horseriding I can see. I've been on somewhat of a Google crusade with people's names lately, I think I started with Pseron Wyrd.



http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=thomas+kaira&id=D7C5631792BF6397CB7C256F5B97BF7B979AF0D9&FORM=IQFRBA#view=detail&id=E407C87E009B242E690E869C960E62B43C42219A&selectedIndex=8

That's a sweet-looking car right there!

Hey while we're here, I do have one more question. I'm going to have a zillion over the days, weeks, months, years...

I have heard many words about the Unofficial Oblivion Patch. Wondering if I'll need to mess with this at all? ... It's third-party stuff, so I kinda doubt the ES: Anthology disc has anything to do with this.

Posted by: King Coin Jan 5 2014, 08:55 PM

Unofficial Patches are usually a good idea. It fixes a lot of little (and not so little) issues that the devs never addressed.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 5 2014, 11:51 PM

Oh I see. So I'll probably just wait a bit until I find out if my game might possibly have a quest broken or whatever.

One more question, and this one has nothing to do with mods: in Oblivion how do I drop something? I've had my new dark elf pick up the tan cup at the very beginning of the game but can't figure out how to drop it. I've tried going into the menu, highlighting the tan cup he picked up, and then I've pressed every key on the keyboard (I think). Can't figure out how to drop it.

Posted by: SubRosa Jan 6 2014, 12:09 AM

Select the item. Hold down the Shift Button, and left-click on it. Exit the menus and it will fall to the ground in front of you.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 6 2014, 12:29 AM

Awesome thanks!

I just figured out how to disable spells, so Snaat Rayag hasn't got a Flare spell! ... I also changed the timescale and am now trying to figure out how to delete the (guess) compass from the HUD. So much fun. I haven't even left his jail cell yet!

Posted by: SubRosa Jan 6 2014, 01:17 AM

Just don't ever get rid of the starting healing spell. The game uses it by default to fill the selected spell slot. Sometimes events happen - like when you use a scroll - that clear out that slot. Afterward the game automatically puts the Heal Minor Wounds spell back in that slot. So if you delete it, the game will crash.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 6 2014, 02:02 AM

Oh okay. Good to know. Yes you are right, the game does automatically default to that healing spell, that's the way it is on consoles as well.

Well I got him out of the prison cell finally. I'm not sure when Darker Dungeons is supposed to work; it is really bright down there! .. I also found a mod called No Compass but it didn't work. I found another mod which deletes all of the compass info except for the basic N E S W directions, and this one worked. No more electrical tape on my damn TV!

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 14 2014, 12:23 AM

You guys and gals haven't heard from me; it's because I hit a wall modding-wise and was determined to figure it on my own, but I'm just stuck.

Not sure why, but the PC tutorial dungeon is INSANELY bright. I used to think console dungeons are too bright, but on PC, there literally is no darkness. I've tried messing with Darker Dungeons and Cava Obscura but neither seems to do anything.

When I was reading Cava's ReadMe, I noticed this....

Okay, that seems to explain it, I need Wrye Bash, even though a friend has sworn he got Cava to work with OBMM only. Anyways, it's not a prob. I'll need to figure Wrye next, but I'm okay with this because it was one of my goals, anyways.

My question: http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/22368/? I notice there's a message on the front page where it says the "WB team is MIA" (not around anymore) which is a scary thought.

Posted by: SubRosa Jan 14 2014, 02:05 AM

I do not know a thing about Wyre Bash, so I cannot help you there.

But one thing I can suggest before you start tinkering is to go into your Video Settings and see if you are using HDR Lighting or Bloom Lighting. I found that HDR made everything way to bright for me, to the point where it was literally washing out all the colors. So I always play with it set to Bloom.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 14 2014, 02:39 AM

Interesting thanks I will try that.

Posted by: Grits Jan 14 2014, 03:29 AM

Renee, I believe that’s the current version. I used the installer. It did all of the work.

I have no idea about the dark cave mods, sorry. I've only adjusted my settings like SubRosa suggested.

Posted by: Acadian Jan 14 2014, 04:04 AM

Renee, I installed WB a long time ago, so am unable to help with what is current.

Like SubRosa and Grits, I only use the in-game settings and find the dungeons dark enough that Buffy can easily miss trap pressure plates, trip wires and such since she finds her way primarily by stalking the pink glows of detect life.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 14 2014, 04:41 PM

Awesome. Do you folks enjoy answering all these questions? I hope so. I like the variety of answers. Everybody does things a little different.

http://www.tweakguides.com/Oblivion_7.html

I found the cool webpage in the link above which shows all the diffs between OB PC settings which is GREAT because I saw all these settings in my game and had no idea what they affect. So now I have an idea. Now, the way my game is, it automatically sets the graphic settings to Medium. Turns out, an Xbox or PS3 actually has better (more defined) graphics than a PC on Medium setting. So .... I want it all. I want to go for the best settings possible. I know this means upgrading my video card, which I am fine with. More money, basically.

SubRosa, I think you told me in the past what I need to look for (via PM) and I'm wondering what sort of cards I should be looking for but I want to ask everyone for opinions, because I bet there will be a huge variety out there.

Also what's a good store for vid cards? I'll probably go to Best Buy or Radio Shack unless there's something better unbeknownst to me here in America

Posted by: SubRosa Jan 14 2014, 05:22 PM

I think the first place to start is going to be your current computer. Open the case and see what kind of video card slot you have on the motherboard. It is probably a PCI-Express (or PCI-E slot). But you never know, it might be an AGP slot, some older computer still have those. http://s3.amazonaws.com/igit-uploaded/production/images/uploaded/pages/272/AGP_PCI_PCIE_PCIEx1_Bus.jpg. Write that down, because you need to make sure the card you buy uses the right slot.

I suggest going for an Nvidia-based card. Different companies like EVGA or Visiontek make the cards themselves, the chipset they all use is Nvidia. Just look for the Geforce name. There is really not a whole lot of difference between the Nvidia video cards and the AMD cards (AMD bought out ATI). I have been using Nvidia since 3dfx went out of business, and I have always been happy with the quality of the chipsets, and the driver support. So I stick with what I know to be good. I am sure many people say the same about the ATI/AMD cards too.

Generally speaking, the more money you spend the better you are going to get. But I know you do not have a zillion samoleons to blow on a video card. You should be able to find a decent card in the $100 - $150 price range. Look for something with at least 1gig of onboard memory. These days DDR5 memory is pretty standard, so I would no go with anything slower. (the DDR# is a basic speed of how quick the memory works, the higher the number the better). http://www.bestbuy.com/site/nvidia-geforce-gtx-650-2gb-gddr5-pci-express-3-0-graphics-card/7001189.p?id=1218820824135&skuId=7001189&st=categoryid$pcmcat182300050008&cp=1&lp=8. It will handle a game like Skyrim just fine.

Best Buy is probably a good place to look. I often go to http://www.microcenter.com/site/stores/. It looks like they have a couple of stores out in Maryland, so if they are close you could try them. I don't know what else is out there. Don't be shy about buying online though.


Edited to Add: It is also not a bad idea to look for how many and what kind of free power plugs you have left inside your case. In the old days you just slid the card into the slot on the motherboard and that was it. But modern cards have so much horsepower that they require their own power connections. Usually the video card needs a 6 pin power cable that looks kind of like a lego. Sometimes there is an 8 pin cable coming from your power supply, with a detachable part that takes off 2 pins and lets you use just 6. Depending on the card you buy, you might need 1 or 2 of these 6 pin cables. http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/connectors.html. The ones I am talking about are the http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/connectors.html#pciexpress, and the http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/connectors.html#pciexpress6plus2. A lot of power supplies come with the 6 + 2 kind, that way you can just pop off the extra 2 pins if you do not need them. Mine is like that in fact.

You might also need more than one cable for your card. I have a pair of Geforce 670s, and they each use two 6pins. If you don't have any 6 pin cables and you need them, there are adapters you can buy that will plug into a standard 4 pin drive cable. There is a pic of one of those above.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 14 2014, 10:41 PM

It's on "None" (or whatever the 3rd choice is). I tried putting it on Bloom and that didn't seem to make a diff. Not for the Tutorial, anyways.

I'm attempting to learn Bash now. Interesting. It's rather like OBMM, but seems more complex.

Edit: Interesting. Bash puts a huge red slash across Cava Obscura. Wonder what that means. Guess I'll find out as I read. OBMM did not do anything like this.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 15 2014, 11:04 PM

Hello it's me again, aren't you excited?

http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/ad208/xenaclone/DSCF0030_zps492a234f.jpg. Look how freekin' bright that is, and that's with the Brightness dumbed down all the way! It's like I'm trying to play Oblivion underground with Walmart-style lighting everywhere, and with the Tutorial dungeon this bright, I cannot get im ... im... I cannot get IMMERsed. Thank you.

Wrye Bash is not easy to understand, at least not to me. I could have written their ReadMe better. To a no0b like myself, I have no idea what they're talking about half the time because they start off with some extreme tech-talk. But I have to learn Bash. Just have to.

One of the cool things I'm noticing about Bash is it put a large red slash across the mod slot where Cava Obscura is, and it does the same thing with Darker Dungeons. For some reason, something is going haywire whenever I want to darken the Tutorial dungeon, yet all the other mods I've installed so far are green, which means they are fine.

It's interesting because OBMM did not do anything like this. All OBMM tells me is Cava Obscura (or DD) are "Active". So obviously Wrye Bash is trying to communicate something to me. What the heck it is, I can't really tell. The ReadMe says this if a red background shows up: An active plugin that should remain deactivated (ie. tagged with Deactivate) or, for Oblivion only, an active plugin that shares its modification date with another active plugin. This must be corrected so that they have different modification dates or else it may break your load order.

...that barely makes any sense to me.

http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/ad208/xenaclone/DSCF0031_zps1586e75b.jpg. Any ideas what to do?

Posted by: Acadian Jan 15 2014, 11:11 PM

Renee, I don't know on the WB message. What I do know is that the lighting in your dungeon screenshot is not due to the game being on PC. My vanilla PC dungeon lighting was just fine. I've adjusted the vanilla in-game options a bit darker, but have never found the need for any sort of 'darker dungeons' mod. It is very easy to miss trap pressure plates, tripwires and such in Buffy's game. Did that 'WalMart' lighting start after you began modding?

Posted by: SubRosa Jan 15 2014, 11:25 PM

Acadian is right, that is not how it should look on the PC. I use no lighting mods at all, use the Bloom setting, and have the brightness slider just a little to the right of center, and http://i.imgur.com/IUVoyvb.jpg is how the tutorial dungeon looks. However, if I use the TLB command, I get http://i.imgur.com/m7rQVsH.jpg.

Did you ever use the console command TLB, which is short for Toggle Lite Brite? It makes everything really bright like that. Try running the command from the console and see if it changes things.

Other than that, I can only think to delete those lighting mods, and any loose files that came with them. Maybe one of them is F'ed up, and is actually messing up the lighting.

Posted by: Grits Jan 15 2014, 11:39 PM

Renee, I am very new at Wrye Bash, so hold on for some more experienced advice. I’m sure someone will come along.

I looked in the Darker Dungeons description for a clue about what’s going on, and it says “New in Version 1.1- A Shivering Isles ESP! It REPLACES the one you may already have (Also, the old version of the ESP is packed in too).”

Does this mean you should only be using the SI esp? Perhaps the SI version is the original plus SI, not just the SI part. Maybe try that?

But first as SubRosa said get vanilla looking the way it should. Fingers crossed for an uncomplicated fix.


Added: I can’t see in the picture, do the Darker Dungeons mods have the same date as Camping (or each other)?

Posted by: ghastley Jan 16 2014, 01:18 AM

I'd add BOSS. Even though you don't have a lot of mods, it will fix this, as it re-dates the mods to get them in the correct order to override each other properly. It also knows which mods are incompatible, and which need cleaning. Launches from Wrye Bash, and Bash picks up the changes immediately.

And that's not nearly enough mods! Not to mention, none of them are mine!

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 16 2014, 06:48 PM

No, the lighting has always been that bright in the Tutorial, I know this because when my Dunmer was looking across the hallway to the other Dunmer (the one who insults) I could see him clearly, and that's not what I've been used to on console. On console he'd just be a dark shape behind his jail cell bars.

But just to double-check, what I can do is start all over again from the very first save and not add any mods. Let the Emperor & guards do their thing (open up the wall) and see if that makes a diff.



Nope. I've only used the console to (1) slow down the Timescale and (2) remove the starting Flare spell. I'll try that TLB command though.



Okay.



Umm. I don't think so. How do I find out?



Lol, cool thanks! .. I've got BOSS installed but barely know how to use Bash at this point.

I know Wyrd is a Bash-master, looks like I'll have to PM him about the red background bit, assuming BOSS can't figure it out.

Posted by: haute ecole rider Jan 16 2014, 07:43 PM

I'm no WB expert, but I do use it quite a bit. I also second ghastley on BOSS. Never add a mod without my full complement of utilities - WB, BOSS, TES4Edit and TES4LODgen.

Run Boss on your mod list, then see if the problem persists in WB.

I can't quite remember what that red background means, but I do suspect it means the dates are somehow identical. BOSS fixes that for you.

I'll take a look at my WB stuff and see if I can't explain things a little better for you.

Thomas Kaira is the big WB user around here, but I don't see him just yet . . .

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 16 2014, 10:58 PM

HA! figured it out! SubRosa gets the cookie. She was right. IT was the TLB command. For some reason it was on. Well at least I know what to do to fix this.

My game looks nice and dark now, I might not even need a darkness mod.

Posted by: Acadian Jan 16 2014, 11:07 PM

That's great news, Renee! Sometimes the answer is indeed the simple one - and SubRosa is indeed a smart cookie.

Posted by: ghastley Jan 16 2014, 11:26 PM

It does make you wonder why the TLB command exists, but I suppose the devs might need it if they forgot to put in any lights in a cell at all.

Posted by: King Coin Jan 17 2014, 12:49 AM

I read that command can make the game run a lot better if you PC is not running it well.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 17 2014, 01:53 AM

I am guessing it's for gamers that have some sort of intolerance to dark spaces? Dunno.

All I know is I'm done assisting my daughter with her homework and now it's GAME ON. I am so psyched you guys & gals, you don't even know.

Edit: Maybe TLB is for partially blind gamers? I just had that thought.

Posted by: SubRosa Jan 17 2014, 03:06 AM

I am pretty sure the TLB command is out there as a way to speed up the game on really old computers. It disables all dynamic lighting, which gives an FPS boost. It is easy to forget now that the game is many years old, but when Oblivion first came out, it really pushed the boundaries of computer technology. When I first tried to play it, it literally would not run on my PC. Not because of compatibility issues, but simply a lack of power. I got as far as the character creation. Then I would move the mouse, wait five minutes, and see the cursor move. My comp at that time was not a blazing speed demon, but was not an old, dead horse either. It was years before I had a computer that could run the game.

I think the TLB command might be enabled by default at the lowest graphics setting. That might be why it was turned on in your case Renee.

Posted by: haute ecole rider Jan 17 2014, 04:10 AM

I'm glad to know that you're off and running again, Renee!

Posted by: ghastley Jan 17 2014, 03:44 PM

Good point - being an older game, the Oblivion installation often can't recognize the current video cards, and assumes the worst (the idea being that the game will at least be playable before you adjust it). You may want to review ALL the video settings and move them off the bottom end of the scale.

Posted by: Thomas Kaira Jan 17 2014, 06:30 PM

TLB is not for vision-impaired gamers. What happens when you use it is it completely turns off the game's dynamic lighting and makes the ambient light full-strength white.

It's the ingame version of a Construction Set feature. In the CS, there is a work light you can toggle on and off to do the same thing. Idea being that if you are designing a dark location you can see what you are doing while you work. TLB is meant for the same purpose.

TLB does not get enabled at very low graphics because it changes the ambient light color to full white. At low graphics all that is done is the dynamic lighting gets disabled.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 18 2014, 01:25 AM

Interesting, Thomas, SR, and ghastley.

I have some (more) questions. I want a mod that slows magic down somehow. I'm looking for a mod that can possibly slow all the magic down to Restoration levels. In other words, Restoration is the slowest-leveling skill in the vanilla game, and I've always felt that the rest of the magic skills (all of them) move upwards way too fast.

Back in my tabletop days (way back in the '80s) I had a wizard character who became all-powerful, but this took years to achieve. Not a few weeks as in TES. Granted, tabletop games are intrinsically slower because they're all about dice rolling and pencil notations, but even still I think it would take a long time for my wizard to level upwards even if his game was in real-time.

Any sort of mod like this out there?

Bottom end of the scale? Not sure what you mean. The general setting is Medium, and I haven't messed with any of the other settings (the ones that affect grass and leaves and distant buildings and stuff. First thing I'm gonna do is figure out what sort of video card I've got in my PC, but I'm too afraid to open it. I've got a friend that's done this before though, so he'll probably be over tomorrow.

You all are gonna laugh, but after all that stuff with the TLB and too-bright dungeons, once I got to gaming last night, I was thinking it's still too bright. It's about the level of brightness as what's on consoles, basically. So I did wind up trying Darker Dungeons again, and this time it DOES make a diff. Areas where there's no ambient light are now BLACK, and I do need a torch to see once I'm in these areas.

But it still wasn't dark enough. So (check this out) I added my Darker Dungeons pretend mod to the Darker Dungeons actual mod. This means I push a button on my TV screen (the button toggles a setting called "Sports") and FINALLY I got what I want. With Darker Dungeons, yes there are areas that are darker, but they're more of a washed-out gray than what I want. With my DD pretend mod, these washed out areas are now pitch BLACK. YES!

Um. I had another question, but I forget it now. Had something to do with TES4Edit though. I was messing around with this last night. The thing that's weird is even though Wrye Bash still puts a red background across Darker Dungeons, this mod seems to work fine.

Posted by: King Coin Jan 18 2014, 01:30 AM

If you would like to know what graphics card you have, click the Start button and in the search bar, type DxDiag, and run that program. When it appears and is done running, click the Display tab. That will detail what you have.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 18 2014, 01:39 AM

Naah, didn't work. It says "No items match your search".

Posted by: haute ecole rider Jan 18 2014, 01:44 AM

TES4Edit cleans mods, but does not fix their dates. http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/20516/? (Better Oblivion Sorting Software) does this for you. That should get rid of the red bar.

Here's my usual modding routine: Add a mod using WB or OBMM (some mods like OBMM, like DarNUI and Robert's Female Body Replacer). Run BOSS to sort load order, fix dates, and identify dirty mods. Run TES4Edit on the dirty mods identified by BOSS. Play the game. No crashes? Great, add another mod, or keep playing.

Posted by: SubRosa Jan 18 2014, 02:33 AM

I don't know of any mods off the top of my head that slow down the time it takes to raise your magic skills. Why don't you just make one?

I don't know what version of Windows you have. If it is Windows 7 or Vista, you can click on Start, then type Device Manager into the Search field. Click on it in the list that pops up. Look down through the list for Display Adapters, and open that line up. It will give you the name of your video card.

Posted by: King Coin Jan 18 2014, 02:33 AM

Really? What's your operating system?

Posted by: Acadian Jan 18 2014, 03:30 AM

Renee, there are indeed mods that let you customize how quickly differing skills level up. I can't recall any of the names because I don't use any mods that affect leveling or skills. But Pseron does and I'm sure he can give you the insight to select the best choice.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 18 2014, 11:05 PM

King Coin: I have a Hewlett Packard Pavillion 500-023W which has Windows 8. I'm supposed to upgrade to 8.1 (I get reminders on the PC telling me to do this occasionally) but I've heard 8.1 will possibly mess up my Xbox controller when I'm gaming. Besides, everything is working fine to some extent on 8, why should I upgrade? I'm in no hurry.

SubRosa: MAKE one? .. Eeesh, I dunno about that! I'm too much of a n00b for that! .. Maybe when I'm not so green I'll feel more confident in that regard.

Start > Search > Device Managers did not work either. Win 8 does a lot of [censored] different and it's basically the new kid on the block that nobody fully knows yet. I've noticed (for instance) that whenever I'm looking up modding info or computer info, everything is written for Win 7 or Vista or XP.

My friend was supposed to come over and dismantle the back of my PC for me but he ran into probs. If I have nothing else to do this weekend maybe I'll go on You Tube and watch a vid (there's gotta be one somewhere) of somebody removing their video card. Not that I'll do this, I just want to try and get in there, at least.

HER: Yes, I've got BOSS installed. I'm not sure how to figure about the Darker Dungeons date thing, but this is what it says next to Darker Dungeons:

Dark Dungeons.esp Version 1.0 Active Bash Tag suggestion(s): {{BASH: C.Light, Deactivate}}

I have no idea what this means, though. It's suggesting something about Deactivating Light, but what is it? I have not a clue.

It also says See You Sleep has a "dirty edit", and that's how I wound up messing with TES4Edit, but I couldn't figure how to clean this up. I'll have to explain what the directions said, but that'll be for later.

Posted by: SubRosa Jan 19 2014, 02:51 AM

Every modder in the world started out knowing absolutely nothing about modding. We all have to start somewhere, and that is usually the situation of saying "I really wish I could change this." So jump in the pool and have fun. The link I posted on page 2 to the construction set wiki has all the info a first-time modder needs.

I have Windows 8 on my Surface. Assuming it works the same on a Desktop, open the sidebar, and click on Search. Type in Device Manager. It will say 0 items at first. Look down in the list, and you should see it say Apps, Settings, and Files. Click on Settings, and Device Manager will be the first thing that comes up on the list.

Posted by: haute ecole rider Jan 19 2014, 03:10 AM

Renee, what that message from BOSS means is that you turn off DD in Wrye Bash, then build a Bashed Patch which will then merge the resources from DD into the game patch.

Basically what the game patch does is combine resources from multiple mods into one so that you can run more mods than the limit the game allows.

I have a couple of mods in my load list that is the same - the Road Records for Roads of Cyrodiil and Robert's Female Body Replacer, for example. Their resources are merged in the Bashed Patch and that frees up their slots for other mods.

I know, I know. Clear as mud! But it's one of those things that makes sense only after you've done it a few times.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 19 2014, 05:48 AM

Thanks hon. For now I'm just going to be a passive modder, just trying what's out there, once I get good and confident then I'll start to maybe go on my own path..

Matter of fact I think I've found what I'm looking for. It's called http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/14304/, and it promises the following:

Base options include:
* Set an overall multiplier for advancement rates
* Edit the bonus given to class skills
* Change the number of skill increases required to gain a level
* Change how many times you can train per level, and how much training costs
* Modify the advancement rates for specific skills

That final one (modify the advancement rates for specific skills) is exactly what I want.


What's the sidebar?


Ohhh I think I get it! .. Wow thanks for explaining, I'm going to try this soon as I'm done with my Arena session.

Posted by: mirocu Jan 19 2014, 06:03 PM

You getting all the mods up and running, Renee?

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 19 2014, 07:54 PM

Yeah, kinda. I was having some probs last night because the game kept immediately crashing after loading, but I was really tired by the point and couldn't figure out what was going on. This morning I thought 'maybe I've got too many mods checked off' and turns out that's just what was happening.

Am going to see if I can mess around again some more today.

Posted by: mirocu Jan 19 2014, 08:34 PM

How many mods do you have now?

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 20 2014, 01:10 AM

Here's the active ones

Realistic Hunger
Darker Dungeons
No POI Compass
See You Sleep (having some probs with this one, though)
Fundament

I removed Camping and Cava Obscura and a couple others because I believe SYS might clash with Camping (they've both got sleep-oriented stuff), and DD is working in my game, so I don't need Cava. My goal is to get to about 40 mods, I think I'd be happy with that. In Skyrim I'm definitely wanting more; perhaps 70 in that game. I want attributes back (dammit!) and also I'm going to be looking for mods that'll liven up (or maybe clam up) those NPCs from their stock, repetitive ... stock, repetitive ... stock, repeti*clunk!* dialog voicings.

Posted by: haute ecole rider Jan 20 2014, 01:25 AM

That's a light load list, really. I've had up to about 80 mods on my old Mac Pro and they ran fine.

See You Sleep does conflict with some other mods. I couldn't use it with Camping, either. I ended up dumping Camping for Realistic Fatigue, mainly because it let me pick up and carry those bedrolls you find at the bandit camps. It was perfect for my hardy Redguard Not-a-Hero character - she was so used to roughing it in the Legion that the big tent at Ra'sava Camp was sheer luxury for her!

On this play through, I'm using my newer MacBook Pro running Parallels and Win 7. It's working fine, but I do find more glitches. The MBP is only about a year and a half old, so it's got a very decent graphics card in it - maybe too decent! I had to install DirectX 9 to get TES IV to run on this one.

Posted by: mirocu Jan 20 2014, 08:37 AM

40 mods? Geez, I don´t think I have that many mods in Oblivion and Morrowind combined!

You´re like a kid in a candy store, Renee!

Posted by: SubRosa Jan 21 2014, 02:25 AM

I have 122 .esps active in Oblivion, and 174 in Skyrim. That of course does not count all the mods that do not have .esp files, and do straight mesh/texture replacements.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 21 2014, 04:12 AM

40 just seems like the right number for me. And 70 in Skyrim.

Tonight I'm messing around with a mod called Fundament which is supposed to be able to tweak skill rates. I can't seem to figure what the ReadMe is saying though (it's another one that's written for advanced gamers, it seems). I'm guessing I'm supposed to change values in an .ini file called Skill Rates. Tried changing some stuff around.

Like for instance the default rate for Restoration is 1.0, and the default rate for Conjuration is 5.5. Makes perfect sense to me because Conjuration levels upwards uber-quick. So I had Snaat Rayag cast the default healing spell 10x in a row with the default Restoration settings of 1.0. He wound up leveling from 6-7/8 to just over 8. Then I quit the game, changed the value for Restoration to 5.0, and started the game back up. Cast the default healing spell 10x, but it's still moving at the same speed. The ReadMe directions are so vague, it almost seems like it's written for somebody who already knows stuff.

None of you are familiar with Fundament, eh? I kinda doubt it.

Posted by: mirocu Jan 21 2014, 09:35 AM

Not me anyway.

Don´t forget to actually play the game once in awhile other than for testing mods

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 21 2014, 04:23 PM

Not yet. It's gotta be perfect, the gameworld that is. Been waiting for mods for a long time, Crow. I already know what the vanilla game's like because I've been walking around in it for 5 years now, so what I want is something which is more obviously different.

Posted by: SubRosa Jan 21 2014, 06:04 PM

Now young grasshopper, you are ready...

Seriously though, welcome to the same world that people like Wyrd and I live in. I have been planning on picking up Skyrim again for about a week now, and starting up an old character. But I cannot just start the game and begin playing. I wanted to change up her look some to reflect how far she has come as a person. So I spent the last week going over character concepts and experimenting with mods to which would work with the ideas I had, and which would not. I started playing her a few nights ago, and realized I am still not ready yet. I want to go over ideas for a new sword, and a lair for her. And this is with an established character! If she had been a brand new one it would have been much more work!

Posted by: haute ecole rider Jan 21 2014, 06:40 PM

I hear both of you, SubRosa and Renee!

I've played the same character four times, trying out different mods and figuring out what she is. It's not as easy as my first PC, who pretty much dominated the vanilla game and needed little more than making Gweden Farm her own after she cleared out the ... umm ... squatters.

Unfortunately her save games on the external drive are corrupted, so she only lives on in Old Habits Die Hard. I'm not sure I want to replay her from scratch . . . she was amazing to play the first time through and I'm not sure if I can capture that feeling again. Yet, I'm anxious to continue her story beyond the Main Quest and have some really cool snapshots from the game for that. And the mods I've tried out for Tallei would be useful for Julian as well - especially the textures and the All Natural system.

Something you might want to consider -- sometimes you will not discover mod conflicts until you actually play the game and follow a quest or another. This happened to me after I loaded about 40 or so mods (most highly endorsed on Oblivion Nexus) and tested each of them. Then when I started playing a small quest mod, I came across a particularly annoying fatal conflict that prevented me from completing the quest until I deactivated the offending mod. The problem is I really, really liked that mod.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 21 2014, 10:23 PM

Yes, that's how I am right now SR: everything's gotta be 'perfect', but also (in my case) obviously different from vanilla. This has been my dream for ... literally years now.

It's snowing outside so I created a second character named Clea Vigge. (get it? Har har..) I only created her, I'm not actually playing her yet. But with her, I'm going to want some boobie mods. -(.)(.)- She's going to be a Bard I think, but she'll have an 'enhanced' chest, is what I mean to say. With Clea, what's going to happen is I'm going to find a (tasteful) boobie mod. I've seen these sort of mods out there, never thought I'd get one for a character, but with Clea Vigge it'll be just perfect.

Good luck with your new Skyrim mama.

This sounds scary. What did you wind up doing about these corrupted game saves? I guess you just said it: you needed to restart from scratch. How did they wind up getting corrupted, though?

Posted by: mirocu Jan 21 2014, 10:30 PM

I love how you come up with your character´s names!

To quote dear mALX: SPEEW!!

Posted by: haute ecole rider Jan 22 2014, 03:33 AM

Well, I suspect a brownout from one of the numerous storms we get through here. All my electronics are plugged into surge suppressors, but nothing is ever 100% . . .

In any case, I had my Windows partition on my Mac Pro run a disc diagnosis and it removed a bunch of corrupt files from the data folders as well as fixed a bunch of others. So I suspect the "backups" I had on the drive are no longer backups. However, I was able to copy over the saved games and the screenshots from the external drive to the desktop. I've formatted the external drive (from the Windows partition, natch) and am setting it up to be the backup drive for Windows (only for the game files, though, not for the entire drive).

Now I'm off to finish setting up Oblivion on the Mac Pro. I'm reorganizing the entire Oblivion system on the Windows partition so I can have a separate folder for each game with its own mod load list. That means installing OBMM, Wrye Bash, CS, TES4Edit and TES4LODGen in each folder. All the other mods will be stored in their own folder and be available to each game.

Sometimes all the work ahead of play makes the play worthwhile.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 22 2014, 08:24 PM

Yup, this exactly. On console all you gotta do is plug 'n' play, but with PC there's a lot more tweaking involved. And at some point, I'll just sorta 'know' when the tweaking is done and I can finally start playing.

Posted by: ghastley Jan 22 2014, 09:40 PM

1) Tweaking is NEVER done. There's always something that might be better if you just ...
2) The only way you find out what wants tweaking next is to play, then tweak, then play, then tweak.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 23 2014, 01:23 AM

I like your Warrior Nuns mod, ghastley, and also the Gweden Farm one. I might have to eventually get both of those.

Posted by: haute ecole rider Jan 23 2014, 10:20 PM

Renee, ghastley is totally right.

It's never perfect. You play it a while, with what you think is the perfect, stable, mod load order, then something happens, or a stray thought occurs to you, and you start asking yourself "What if . . ."

As I was writing OHDH, I got to hankering after making Gweden Farm Julian's homestead after she evicted the squatters. So that led me into the bowels of the CS. I was successful at making the little cottage with the big basement Julian's own unique retreat (we see a bit of it at the end of OHDH). It was a thrilling accomplishment for me.

Of course, I wanted to do the same with the Leyawiin house for sale for my current character Tallei. It took some doing to make it work, but I was successful again. Imagine how pleased I was to run TES4Edit on that little plugin and find that it was clean!

So modding starts in small increments. You try changing something here, something there. Just little things, but they add more to your role-playing experience.

One thing I'd like to learn to do is how to take apart another's mod, evaluate it and figure out what makes it work, and then build one that is more my taste. But right now I'm too busy enjoying some excellent mods out there that add so much more to the game experience.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 23 2014, 11:02 PM

That's awesome, haute ecole rider, your little story there. I find messing around with mods and the console fun, but it can get frustrating for me in a flash. I can't wait till the day that I know how everything works. It's a slow process.

Sometimes when stuff goes right I get these weird tingles in my fingers and down my spine. Hard to describe. I get so nervous, though. It's nervous energy. Everything goes right and I'm like "damn, did I just figure that out?"

Posted by: SubRosa Jan 23 2014, 11:15 PM

That is how I figured out how to do most things. I download a mod that does the same basic thing, and then reverse-engineer it to find out what the creator changed. Or I reverse-engineer things from the vanilla games and their expansions. For example, I created my Forest Friend Amulet for Oblivion by looking at the Boots of the Crusader from KOTN. That showed me how to make a script that would put the player in an animal-friendly faction whenever the item was worn, and take them out of it again whenever it was taken off.

There really is not much to it. After you open up the Creation Kit and either click on File -> Data, or click on the Load Master Plugins/Files button (they do the same thing), it brings up the Data window where you pick what .esp you want to edit. Find the one you want, select it, and then click on the Details button. It will show you every record the mod changes. You can sort the list by Type, which I find makes things much easier. It will also give you the ids in names, which makes it easy to find what you are looking for once you load the mod.

Of course it does not tell you what in the record was changed. You have to use either the UESP Wiki, or load the Creation Kit without the mod and take screenshots of the vanilla records and compare them.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 28 2014, 12:06 AM

This question is actually not a modding question. All the text on my screen is now 'stretched' horizontally. I have no idea why. I went on an internet search and found a site which says I need to change the aspect ratio of my screen from X to 4:3.

I did more digging and found that my screen actually is 4:3 already. It's 1024 x 768 which equals 4:3. I just checked this on a calculator. Any ides what to do?

Never mind. Figured it out. Tech support rules.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 30 2014, 03:29 AM

So I have Better Cities installed and whenever I start the game it crashes almost immediately. BC's FAQ has a Q & A devoted to this issue, here is what it says:

Q: 9 - After installing Better Cities, the game no longer loads! Why does the game close as soon as I try to start it?

A: This happens if you install an ESP from Better Cities which you shouldn't be using. Any ESP which is dependant on another ESM or ESP will cause the game to quit on start-up if the ESM or ESP it is dependant on is not in your Data folder.

All our compatibility patches are dependant on the mods they patch.

All our FPS patches are dependant on whichever specific city the FPS patch is named for.

So if you try to use one of our compatibility patches without installing the mod it patches, the game will fail to start. Remove that patch to resolve.

It talks about ESPs and ESMs being dependent on ESMs and ESPs in the Data folder. I checked this. All the relevant ESP/Ms are in the Data folder. I've got Better Cities.esp, Better Cities Full.esp, Better Cities Resources.esm, and Better Imperial City.esp checked ON in the Oblivion startup screen, and all 4 of these are in the Data folder as well.

Posted by: SubRosa Jan 30 2014, 03:41 AM

They may need to be set to load in a particular order. I know .esms always have to load first, and .esps after. Likewise some of those .esps might have load before the others. Like that Resource.esp might have to load before the others.

Also, they might not all work together. It might be that you are only supposed to use one or two of the others. With a name like Better Cities Full, that one sounds like it does everything the other two do and more. Try it with just the Resources and Better Cities Full and see what happens. Or other combinations. See which specific .esp it is hanging on.

Finally, try going to the Nexus topic on it, and see if anyone else has had the same problem.

Posted by: haute ecole rider Jan 30 2014, 06:10 AM

I once played with Better Cities, and here is the load order of all of the files (relative to each other):

Better Cities Resources.esm
Better Cities.esp
Better Cities Full.esp
Better Imperial City. esp
Better Cities Full FPS Patch.esp

There are also an entire list of patches to make Better Cities work with other mods, such as the Unique Landscapes mods.

Hope this helps!

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 30 2014, 02:47 PM

Whoa, there's a BC patch? That's weird. I don't remember seeing that over at Nexus. Hmm.

I'll check that load order too. Thanx Miss Rosa and haute ecole rider.

And look how far we've come! A month ago if you asked me the diff between an esp and an esm I woulda been like

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 31 2014, 01:11 AM

Trying to use BOSS to sort load order. Because what's happening is all the BC files are in the order you've got, haute rider. The ESM is first, then BC.ESP, then BC Full.ESP, ... etc.

The problem is Better Cites.esp is way above a lot of other esps, including all the MMM stuff. All the other BC esps are at the bottom of the load order (where they're recommended to be by the BC team). So I'm trying to move Better Cities.esp above Better Cities Full.esp, can't figure it out, though.

In the GUI User Rules Manager, I somehow did manage to move Fundament.esm before Better Cities.esm last night. I did this by telling the Editor "For Fundment.esm Sort Item before Better Cities.esm, and this worked. Somehow. Can't move BC.esp down the list with the other BC esps, though.

Edit: Hmm, I notice there's a Notepad file called 'modlist', and it's got all the files listed in order. I wonder if it's safe to just cut & paste the BC file where (I think) it should be? I'm not going to do this until someone says it's okay, though. BOSS's ReadMe is (as usual) rather vague.

Edit 2: Maybe I should try re-installing Better Cities from scratch, but this time use Wrye Bash instead of OBMM. I'm try that tomorrow perhaps.

Posted by: haute ecole rider Jan 31 2014, 03:28 AM

Actually, the way BOSS does it is correct. In my load order, I had like twenty other mods between the Better Cities.esp and the other esp files. So don't worry about that, it is supposed to do it that way. It has to do with what resources get overwritten. For Better Cities to work, some of the supplemental files have to come after certain other mods, such as the OOO, MMM, and the UL mods.

Make sure you have all the patches you need to make BC work with your other mods. I'm not sure, but I think those patches may be part of the main file. You should see them as checkable options in Wrye Bash when you install it. I can not remember (it's been so long ago) if it comes with a built-in Wizard that helps you cover all the bases.

Hope that helps!

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Jan 31 2014, 04:46 PM

Bash. You are right, I gotta use Bash. OBMM screwed up MMM for my game, so who's to say it didn't also screw up BC?

I'll try Bash next.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Feb 1 2014, 05:10 PM

Better Cities is still not working, and it's driving me insane because it's such a popular mod, it's gotta be able to work, right? I did start all over from scratch installing BC, this time using Bash's wizard, installed the game in the specified order, yet the game crashes on startup.

So what I did is uninstalled everything except the BC files. All other mods (Fundament, Darker Dungeons, etc.) were uninstalled, and the game still crashes. I narrowed this down to the very core file: BetterCitiesResources.ESM and de-activated everything else. The game crashed. Then I tried de-activating this ESM while activating BetterCities.esp. NOW the game does not crash. So it's gotta have something to do with the master.

The master file needs to be activated, correct? .. Dumb question I guess. I'm not seeing any options for patches, but maybe I need to look again. Still, if everything else is de-activated except the BC resources master, why would it clash with some other file?

Posted by: haute ecole rider Feb 2 2014, 07:43 PM

Renee, forgive me for not logging in sooner to see your latest plea.

Better Cities is one of the more complex mods, which is why I use Wrye Bash to install it. IMHO, Wrye Bash does a much better job installing these complex packages than does OBMM. There are actually very few mods I use OBMM for. The rest are all installed through Wrye Bash. The reason? WB shows me the install options that I can then install.

For your situation, I recommend you start http://www.darkcreations.org/better-cities/wiki/index.php/Main_Page. This is where I went for questions, and there are detailed instructions for installing, including WB (which is the recommended method, BTW). I found it to be very helpful, and was able to get BC up and running (finally) when I followed the instructions there. I think if you take the time to read through the FAQs and the installation instructions, you will find it very helpful.

Good luck!

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Feb 2 2014, 09:34 PM

Okay ..... you.... are ...

not...

going....

to believe this. We figured it out. The problem, that is. I'm facepalming so hard right now. The problem was (drumroll....) I NEVER INSTALLED SHIVERING ISLES!!!

Last night my friend was going through the mod with me and he asked if I had installed SI yet? Um... no I hadn't. Anyways, we fixed the problem. Phew!

Posted by: King Coin Feb 2 2014, 09:37 PM

... I think I did that once too! Glad you figured it out.


I don't have a lot of advice regarding Oblivion, I haven't played it since before 11/11/11, but I've been following this thread and silently cheering you on!

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Feb 2 2014, 11:30 PM

Truth is I would be nowhere without this community and a couple friends over at Beth.

Just saw my first sign of Better Cities. Bravil. Oh yeah, it's definitely different

Posted by: haute ecole rider Feb 3 2014, 01:17 AM

I rather suspected either your Oblivion.esm was unpatched or you did not have SI installed. That's why I pointed you to the wiki for BC. Keep that linky handy!

And yes, BC makes everything different. So does UL. Having both BC and UL together is like . . . wow. I prefer Open Better Cities as the horses can enter the towns (though not the IC, for technical reasons apparently).

Glad you worked it out! Enjoy!

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Mar 1 2014, 04:03 AM

Trying to get CSR (Companion Share & Recruit) working tonight. The mod's been installed and activated, but I can't seem to get it working in the game. The Read Me is written on a program that I don't have on my computer, some office program, and they're asking for $99 a year to get this program started. No Way.

I managed to transform the text of this Read Me into a Word Pad file, but this turns the text into a huge wall. I broke this wall up a bit, but I'm not seeing any instructions on how to actually get this thing started. That's my question: where do I start?

Lady Saga found an NPC adventurer in some goblin fort. The guy is added by MMM, so this could be the reason why there are no options to try and recruit him. Does this mod only work with vanilla NPCs? .. And if so, how do I get it working.

Posted by: Acadian Mar 1 2014, 04:25 AM

Generally speaking, CSR works for NPCs who have 'Rumors' enabled as a topic. These NPC should also now have a 'Friend' topic. If their disposition toward you is reasonable, they will let you go into their inventory or consent to join you.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Mar 1 2014, 03:45 PM

Oh okay thanks. Gotta be the fact that this is an MMM NPC because his disp was 84 towards my elf. She even bribed him to boost it to this level and there's no Friend option.

Takes care of that, thanks.

Posted by: Acadian Mar 1 2014, 04:30 PM

Talkie Toaster built CSR to be tied to if NPC's have the 'Rumors' option, they should be recruitable. Some NPCs with complex scripts don't have the rumors option enabled. A good vanilla example of this is Umbra. What I did in that case was opened her up in the CS and checked 'Enable Rumors'. Then Buffy was able to recruit Umbra. Talk about an overpoweed companion! Now, sometimes the scripting is too complex to allow the Rumors option to be enabled. Mazoga is a good example where simply ticking the box in the CS doesn't work; I had to use another mod to recruit Mazoga. I have been able to recruit mod-added NPCs as long as they have that Rumors option enabled.

Kind of long winded here, but what you might try is going into the CS and making sure the 'Rumors Enabled' box is checked for the desired NPC.

Posted by: haute ecole rider Mar 1 2014, 05:10 PM

Renee, I feel your pain about the Read Me file being in a program you don't have on your computer. If you want to have that Read Me for future reference, I can convert it into rich text format and PM it to you. It should open in Word Pad for you then (I think). Want me to try?

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Mar 1 2014, 11:28 PM

Ha ha Grits beat you to it. She just PM'd me with the Read Me's text. Thanks H.E.R.

Holy **** you recruited Umbra? Lordy! .. That MMM adventurer did have a Rumors option, so maybe I'm missing something. I'll have to look at what Gritsy sent me.

I haven't even messed with the CK yet, but I will when I've got a lot of time to kill. I need to start reading about that from scratch. Imagine that?

Overall I want to thank ALL of you in this thread once again. I'm sure I would have figured out the 'bright lighting' scenario, but I'd be stuck on something dumb for sure without you all.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Mar 22 2014, 01:09 AM

Garr. Sorry to drag this thread up again. I'm trying to get Coolsims hair to work. I've noticed that Nexus has two different pages for Coolsims Hair: one for all the meshes & textures, and another for the esp itself. I have no idea why they did it this way.

Anyways, there are literally no instructions in the ReadMe. I'm trying to move the meshes & textures around into different areas of my Oblivion > Data > Meshes and Oblivion > Data > Textures folders with no luck.

I mean, once I get to character creation, I see the options to pick a variety of Coolsims hairstyles, but I don't see the hairstyles themselves.

EDIT: I found a post over at Nexus that says I need to go into the Construction Set to get this to work. I need to make my own esp. Great.

Posted by: SubRosa Mar 22 2014, 01:23 AM

I have never used Coolsims, so I am not sure exactly what the issue is. It might be that one of the mods is simply the meshes and textures and nothing else. That at least sounds like what you dealing with.

The problem with hair mods is that to get them to work, you have to not only create a separate hair record for each hairstyle, you also have to manually add those hairstyles to every race that will use them. When you have two hair mods, that means they will conflict with one another, and only the one loading last will work.

The only way to get around that is to combine the two (or more) hair mods together into one mod. I had to do that with Corean, Ren's, and Soya's hairs to get them all to work. That might be why the modder released it as just meshes and textures, so people could add them into their existing hair mod. The good news is this is easy to do. http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/122415-adding-custom-hair-to-custom-races/. The bad news is that it is very tedious.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Mar 22 2014, 02:06 AM

Thanks SubRosa, but YES I figured it out! *dances around room* I got it!

Turns out all I had to do was rename the esp file. I noticed the esp was called Coolsims627.esp. Just as I was getting ready to follow a rather long set of CK instructions I thought "hmm, I wonder what'll happen if I rename the esp? .. Removed the '627' part, and voila


Why on Earth would they not just have it so it's named Coolsims.esp from the get-go??? ... urrgh! ... Well at least I learned a few new things.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Mar 27 2014, 11:48 PM

Gahh!

Since Renee Gade III got http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/23934/? her game's got a lot of frame-skipping and slowdown going on. Time to upgrade that memory card.

SubRosa I know you told me in the past I can do this myself, but I'm just too chicken. Plus, it'd be a warranty thing if I opened up my PC and screwed something up. So my question to all: Is it safe to take one's PC and bring it to some shop? Will a PC shop of some sort even change my video card for me? Where's a good place to go?

Actually that last question's dangerous. I don't want to take my rig to a giant chain store like Best Buy or Comp USA. Are there usually smaller, more specialized places that are reputable? .. I know this is going to cost some coin wherever I go, and I'm not too worried about how much. It's more a matter of getting it done.

Posted by: SubRosa Mar 27 2014, 11:55 PM

There are lots of places that will both sell you a video card (or any part), and do the installation for you. That is from Mom and Pop stores to the big chains like Best Buy or Micro Center. I cannot give you any advice about the M&P stores in Maryland, but you are safe taking it to a place like Best Buy. They do this kind of thing all the time.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Mar 28 2014, 01:56 AM

Good to know, thanks.

Posted by: Thomas Kaira Mar 28 2014, 05:29 PM

If your PC was bought pre-assembled, yes, making your own modifications to it will void the warranty. But, when you're me, pre-assembled doesn't cut it anymore, so this is for the homebuilders:

Changing a graphics card is one of the easiest and least risky things you can do. All GPUs built nowadays use the same slot type, so all you need to do is check that that specific slot (PCI Express x16, it's the largest side-mounted slot on your motherboard) and the one below it (if you plan on buying a high-end GPU, as the cooling units are big enough now to require taking two slots) are available. Then all you need to do is this:

1. Uninstall your current drivers (they may not be compatible with your new card). Windows has a basic display driver it will default to when you remove your aftermarket display driver.

2. Plug in your new graphics card.

3. Install the new drivers for it.

4. Enjoy

Just make sure you work on a tiled surface. Static discharges are not good for your PC.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Mar 28 2014, 07:02 PM

I went in to Best Buy today. I figure they've got it all, or they can get it all. I think I've hit a wall, though, system-wise.

The least powerful graphics card they had on the shelf was a GeForce GTX 450, which costs $239. Cost is not really the issue though, I figure I can shop online and find one cheaper than that, no prob. Best Buy only charges $50 to do a hardware install, so that's peanuts.

The guy I spoke to was really informative, although he spoke really fast. I'm like "slow down, I gotta write this down!" Anyways, one of the things he was pointing out was wattage. He picked up one of the cards nearby and showed me it's got a 600w minimum or something. The cheapest card (the 450) has a 400w minimum.

Problem is my system: it's only 300 watts. Damn. Now, I did manage to figure out on the GeForce website that the GeForce GT440 has a 300 watt minimum, problem is the guy was saying my actual wattage should be higher than the quoted minimum, and I think that sounds reasonable.

So how does that work? How does wattage get increased? Or is that even possible? Obviously with money, anything's possible. How much money, though? Damn. I wonder if I should start all over. Maybe trade in my system (if possible) and get something even better..

Posted by: Thomas Kaira Mar 28 2014, 07:20 PM

Ah, yes. Wattage.

High-end GPUs (and current mid-range as well) are extremely power-hungry.

The component that provides the power to the whole computer is the power supply (PSU).

If you are a gamer, the bare minimum wattage you want is 750. The recommended amount is 1000. My former PSU was 1000 Watts, until it catastrophically failed and blew my motherboard forcing a total rebuild. I'm now using my reserve PSU, which is 750.

You do not want for your GPU to exceed, or even meet the wattage. That power is needed elsewhere too and the closer you get to maxing out the power output of your PSU the more likely it is to fail and the smaller its lifespan becomes. You want to have a buffer zone to make sure your PSU is not being fully utilized at any point, it seriously helps the lifespan.

To increase wattage you need to replace the power supply. This can be a bit finicky because every component uses a slightly different plug from the supply, the CPU gets its own, the main board gets its own, the GPU gets its own, etc.

Posted by: SubRosa Mar 28 2014, 08:35 PM

Oh yes, power supply. Don't skimp on your PSU. Spend the extra money, and as TK says, get at least a 1,000 watt PSU. That is going to cost you though, probably about $150 I would imagine. That is a good one to have the store do the install for you, as some of the cabling can be tricky.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Mar 28 2014, 09:40 PM

But you think Best Buy can do this? .. That's a relief. I paid off one of my credit cards last summer, and that one's got a $4,000 limit, so technically I could buy an entirely new system if I absolutely needed to. I figure I'd trade the one I have now, and get at least a couple hundred bucks down.

Guess the people I should be asking are the ones at Best Buy, of course. I'll have to take my processor in sometime (maybe tomorrow) and have them at least look at it. Then they can tell me what to do next.

I was looking at http://shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Desktops/Desktops?SearchParameter=%26%40QueryTerm%3D*%26categoryusagedesktops_dte2%3DGaming%26ContextCategoryUUID%3DOp0QxXjbaUcAAAE0eehcZzOt%26%40Sort.TieredPricing%3D0&ShopByUse=Gaming earlier. This is HP's 'gaming rig' page, and yeah, these suckers are expensive! .. Liquid cooling? Christ, there's liquid in these rigs??

Anyways, that's a last resort. I'll go for something top-notch like this only if upgrading my current system is a no-go.

Posted by: SubRosa Mar 28 2014, 09:47 PM

Stores like Best Buy and Micro Center (I think there is one of those in Maryland) replace computer parts all the time. Micro Center will even build your computer for you from scratch, so will a lot of mom and pop shops. I don't think Best Buy would do that though, since I don't believe they sell all the individual parts (like motherboards and cases).

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Mar 28 2014, 10:20 PM

Okay, there's a Micro Center about a half hour away from me, maybe an hour assuming I went there during rush hour. I doubt the house I live in will be able to support a thousand watts from one outlet; that sounds like circuit breakers getting tripped (it's a 40 year-old house with no new wiring). .. I'll go for maybe 600 to 750, and a vid card rolling 400 to 450. That sound feasible? .. I just want Renee's game to not have any slowdown & frame-skipping, without pushing the Video quality lower than "High".

Right now I've got 300 watts, an integrated video card, and from what I understand it's the 'integrated video card' that's mostly the culprit.

Posted by: SubRosa Mar 28 2014, 11:39 PM

Sounds like you need to upgrade the wiring in your house too!

I am in an old apartment with crappy wiring too. I cannot use a blow dryer or microwave that is rated for 1200 or 1500 watts without blowing a circuit breaker. But my PC has a 1000 watt PSU, and I have never had a problem. The top end of your wiring can handle is something only you can guess. Look for a PSU just under that.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Mar 29 2014, 02:47 AM

I can run both my Xbox and my PC at the same time with no problems, it's how I write some of my stories. PC = 300 watts, and the Xbox only uses 125 according to a Wiki page I found. I've got a 'fattie' PS3, which draws about 130. There's a been a few times I've had all three systems on at the same time (by accident) and so we're talking

300
125
130

555 watts if I got my math correct. All 3 are plugged into the same power strip, so 600 watts (or a little more) seems reasonable.

Hey thanks for all your advice!

Posted by: Thomas Kaira Mar 29 2014, 05:38 PM

Do you have a microwave you use regularly? What's the wattage on that?

That should give you a good baseline of what your house can handle.

Posted by: Renee Gade IV Mar 30 2014, 02:09 PM

I do have a microwave in my room, it's a small one, though. Not sure what its wattage is, but I suppose I could look at the label on its back to find out.