3 August 2007
Sweet Oblivion
Posted by Toner under: Gaming .
I recently decided to give Oblivion another shot. Like its predecessor Morrowind, out of the box it was something of a stinker, but, that’s pretty much standard fare these days, so I knew I would have to load up the mods to make it playable.
This, unfortunately, turned into a week long odyssey of trying to get all these mods to work together. If you’ve never modded a game, it can be a bit of a hassle. Everything is user created, so, like a mash-up or open source software, the documentation and usability varies. Anyhow, here’s what I currently have loaded on Oblivion (with seemingly no CTD or conflicts thus far!)
Note:
- Mods need to be loaded in this order (use Oblivion mod manager to re-arrange your mod loading order).
- You’ll also need Oblivion Script Extender to run some of these mods.
- Also, I use the BT mod to fix UI problems– makes a huge difference, you can actually see all of your inventory items, read the map, etc.
- This set up is basically geared around a stealthy-archer type character, so lots of added content around bows, arrows and sneaking (wow that was an extremely nerdy sentence).
Okay, now here’s the mods.
- Oblivion.esm
- OOO.esm
- Enhanced Daedric Invasion.esm
- Unofficial obivion patch.esp
- Keychain.esp
- Natural environments
- Crowded Roads.esp
- Ancient Redwoods.esp (search “unique landscapes” on any oblivion mod site)
- EntiusGorge.esp (search “unique landscapes” on any oblivion mod site)
- AncientYews.esp (search “unique landscapes” on any oblivion mod site)
- Bag of Holding
- Golden Archery Cherry Shop.esp
- FallenLeaf Everglade.esp (search “unique landscapes” on any oblivion mod site)
- ShortGrass V2.esp (this mod greatly improves Framerate performance.)
- Quickstart.esp
- Thieves Arsenal.esp
- BeachesofCyrodill.esp (search “unique landscapes” on any oblivion mod site)
- OOO.esp
- Arena Loot
- Enhanced Daedric Invasion.esp
- Enhanced Daedric Invasion for OOO.esp
This combination of mods makes for a really amazing experience. For example, with ETI, Daedric armies now venture out of their Oblivion gates and attack towns and villages. At the same time, villages raise armies on their own to combat these invasions and venture out into the woods. I’ve met fellow AI adventurers on dungeon crawls, out hunting, etc. Animals behave, like, well, animals should and I’ve seen packs of wolves chasing deer! It’s really as good if not better than most of the big MMORPGs out there with the added bonus of not having to deal with jobless twelve year olds who have nothing to do but build their characters all day.
In some ways it’s kind of a shame you need this many user-created mods to make a decent game these days. For example, out of the box, the AI in the last two Total War games were horrible. Like the Persians at Thermopylae, the only battle plan the computer could muster was to march forward and impale itself on your spears… But with mods like Lusted’s Lands to Conquer gameplay becomes much more challenging.
Partly I think you can just explain it as the “2.0″ culture, where “the company” just provides a platform and what you do with it is up to the user, but, at 50-60 bucks a pop, I think games should at least a little more polished than what they are pushing out the door these days.
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