Modding assistance needed.

[ACRONYM]

I'm going to bullet the situation to make it faster:
-Modded Oblivion Runs as Default
-Oblivion GOTYE
-I use all necessary patches and required addons.
-I have the newest versions of NifSE and OBSE
-I launch with OBMM, (Wyre Bash is ♥♥♥♥ to those of you who reccomend it.)
-Oblivion will launch as default and unmodded (Except for strictly data files like OBSE or NifSE)

What I've tried:
-Reinstalling mods (5 times)
-Checking for conflicts (10+ times)
-Aquired and re-installing all required files (10+ times)
-Re-installing all of Oblivion (3 times)
-Unchecking Oblivion.exe and all DLC's in the Data Files (On game statup.)

What I Think it is:
-Some glitch that de-activates mods (For whatever reason)

What I want to know:
-How to fix it.
-What might be causing it.

What I DO NOT want to be asked:
-"Have you tried unchecking *Insert file here* on startup?"
-"Have you re-installed all files."

Please feel free to ansk any other question you may have.

[bevilex]

What mods are you using and what do you mean by "run as default"?
And yes you should use Wrye Bash, it is better than OBMM believe me.

[ACRONYM]

I'm using, in order, Oblivion.esm, UVIII.esp, DLCShiveringIsles, Knights.esp, HUDStatusBars.esp, DropLitTorchesOBSE.esp, and Sp1stPLegs.esp. In the data I have OBSE, NifSE, and one or two patches.

By 'Default' I really do mean Default or else I wouldn't say that.
It runs as if it doesn't have mods or DLC's. I've reinstalled, restarted, and even tried manually loading it. It just doesn't run the files.

The Two Reasons I don't Use Wyre Bash:
-It's unnecessary for the modding I'm doing, (if anything it is actually worse.)
-Its user interface is, well to put it as kindly as possible. Garbage. Complete and utter trash.

[arottweiler]

I have the same set up and have downloaded Wrye Bash which looks great on paper but I run close to 100 mods of all shapes and sizes just fine with OBMM so I'm not going to introduce it in my current game.

That is a strange issue and it sounds like it has to be related to OBMM. If you're launching the game with the mods checked and they don't appear in game I can't think of anything else but a configuration issue with OBMM or maybe the target you are using isn't pointing to the right place.

Has it ever worked? Have you ever been able to play with mods? Have you tried using Wrye Bash just to see if it works with that? If it's a new game and you've tried everything with OBMM it has to be worth a try to prevent further stress!

I'm not familiar with the Steam version but I would think they are the same as the retail disc so try this test. Launch the game with the mods checked in OBMM and then make a hard save. Then exit the game and on the OBMM menu uncheck one or more of the mods and load up the hard save you just made. If OBMM is working properly you should see a pop up that says the saved game "relies on content no longer available".

However, if the saved game loads without any notifications that suggests that OBMM isn't being used to launch the game.

Assuming you have the unofficial patch installed and checked in OBMM another test will be to see if anything that does that is visual is working because then that will show that OBMM is working to a certain extent. I can't think of any examples but the patch should have a readme with all the fixes.

This is the target I use for my desktop shortcut:

"C:\Games\Bethesda Softworks\Oblivion\OblivionModManager.exe"

[ACRONYM]

I've deduced my way to all of those solutions, the one I had the biggest hunch with was the incorrect save folder, but I check the game's main file and everthing is there, as it should be, so OBMM is doing its job, its just something with Oblivion.

Yes these did work before, I had UVIII running fine on Monday, but I had my heart set on installing Oblivion Reloaded (OBGE) and that completely ruind my game. I had to do a total recall of everything (Delete any related files whatsoever) and restart from scratch.

You may think "Perhaps OBMM was damaged in the Recall?" But I made sure to re-install that aswell, twice actually, 3 times with other mods, just to compare data to make absolutely sue it was unfractured.

I'm going to delete oblivion (Just uninstall, not total recall) and download it again to see if it may be something the steam validater isn't reaching.

[Leeux]

Go to your <User>\AppData\Local\Oblivion and open the Plugins.txt file with notepad.

It should list the plugins that are currently active according to your mod manager for the game to be able to load them... if it's empty then OBMM is not editing it when you activate a mod. Check if it's maybe set to read-only? You can edit it by hand and add to it a plugin from your Data directory and check if the game would load it.

Also, since you didn't mentioned on your original post, do you have installed Oblivion under an UAC protected folder (Program Files)?

If you have installed Oblivion under the default Steam library on Program Files, I'd suggest you to create a new library under C:\Games\Steam or whatever and move Oblivion over there. Steam now has an option that can move an installation without redownloading it. It's always recommended to let Steam re-verify the files after a move, just in case something got messed up.

[ACRONYM]

2 things:

-<User>\AppData\Local\Oblivion Doesnt exist, I'm not sure if this is because steam s in the dfault place or what, but "Plugins.txt" is a non-existant file. (Scanned my entire computer for it)
-By "Move" Do you mean "Backup" Because there is no option that I can find to move games from the central steam folder without having to re-install your entire library.

[Leeux]

In Steam Client -> Select Game -> Properties -> Switch to Local Files tab -> Move Install Folder button ((the last button on the next image))

https://i.imgur.com/9sE0uNe.png

You'd have to create a new Steam Library Folder first for that button to appear.

You can do that from Steam Client -> Steam -> Settings -> Select the Downloads section -> Steam Library Folders button (near the top of the window) -> A new window appears listing the existing libraries -> Select Add Library Folder and complete the steps... Steam will ask you for the info.

https://i.imgur.com/O933pHc.png

[Leeux]

Now, w.r.t. the AppData not existing... it could be possible that the path/folder is different in Windows 10... I don't know, I don't have Windows 10.

You can access the same destination by typing this in the Search Box: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Oblivion

((LOCALAPPDATA being an environment variable that is standard on Windows, AFAIK... it should also work on W10... I hope at least.)

[Gob]

Originally posted by Leeux:

Go to your <User>\AppData\Local\Oblivion and open the Plugins.txt file with notepad.

It should list the plugins that are currently active according to your mod manager for the game to be able to load them... if it's empty then OBMM is not editing it when you activate a mod. Check if it's maybe set to read-only? You can edit it by hand and add to it a plugin from your Data directory and check if the game would load it.

Also, since you didn't mentioned on your original post, do you have installed Oblivion under an UAC protected folder (Program Files)?

If you have installed Oblivion under the default Steam library on Program Files, I'd suggest you to create a new library under C:\Games\Steam or whatever and move Oblivion over there. Steam now has an option that can move an installation without redownloading it. It's always recommended to let Steam re-verify the files after a move, just in case something got messed up.

^^ try that make sure in your plugins.txt file all your mods are listed

[ACRONYM]

Well, there is absolutely no file under that name, or any name related for that matter, the closest was 'obse_plugins_example' I've pain-stakingly searched through over 100gb's of files and I havent found it. Also, I made a new ibrary area, but when I move oblivion everything goes sour.

[Leeux]

I forgot to clarify yesterday, sorry... I know, my bad... but, the AppData directory is normally hidden on Windows 7 and later versions... maybe later Windows version even have it also set as system folder? I don't know.

In order for modding to work Oblivion *needs* that file... it reads it from there, and the active plugins the game loads at startup have to be listed there or else won't matter how many plugins you have installed on the Data directory, they'd be ignored.

So, I'd suggest for you to try checking this one more time... step by step: go to your root directory for your system's drive (where Windows is installed) and get inside the \Users folder.

Then, inside that one should be the actual user you're using for logging in... get inside that one.

After that, go to the explorer's adress box and type by hand, *adding* AppData to what is there already in there (don't forget to add the '\' path separator) and type Enter... then the actual directory contents should be visible and inside it you should be seeing Roaming, Local, and LocalLow, etc. ((You should be inside the folder C:\Users\<your user>\AppData at this point.))

Get inside Local, and look for a folder called "Oblivion".

IF is not there... then create it by hand and create an empty text file called Plugins.txt inside it. ((Close the game and any mod manager you have open before doing that... just in case.))

After that, load your mod manager and activate some mods... and see if it's editing that file... if you don't see changes, then... I really don't know... you'd probably need to think about using a *different* mod manager then :(

Hope you can solve this :) Good luck!