Playing for the first time with or without mods?

[berend]

Hey guys,

I have played quite a bit of skyrim over the years, 700 hours on steam already and I heard a lot of good things about this game! I had over 100 mods in skyrim and before I play oblivion I wonder if there are any mods that I should try from the get-go.

I already have Wrye bash or something and the mod manager to install all the unoffical patches (as these are very usefull for skyrim too). I see a lot of mods on the nexus but I didn't use mods the first time I played skyrim either, although when I could go back and play it for the first time, I would use the mods from the get-go.

So.. any tips or suggestions? :)

[berend]

Oh I added one other mod:

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

EDIT: I go to work, I will check back tonight :)

[Minari99]

I think unoffcial patches are good for now, You could add mods on your second playthrough, so you know what mods you want

[Leeux]

I'd personally never play without the Oblivion Character Overhaul, but if you don't mind the way the characters look, is not needed!

Problem is OCO requires OBSE and Blockhead so is not that trivial to install and get it working, but if you're up to the task or/and you're a bit persistent and can read instructions, there should be no problem... and it's worth it, IMO.

[arottweiler]

There's a lot that can enhance the game from the start but not essential apart from the patches. One very useful mod is Darnified UI which makes the user interface a lot easier on the eye. You don't have to use it but it makes inventory management so much easier and toggles to the world map that I suggest installing it straight away. I was playing Oblivion for over 10 years until I discovered it.

https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/10763

Bookmark this URL and start browsing the categories. There is no hurry to complete the main quests so you can put them on hold and start trying out mods.

https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/categories

Another useful mod at the start is the SD Skill diary which tracks your skill increases and shows your progress. Very handy for when you want to micromanage your levelling up. You can also see this information using a console command but I prefer the book. They do the same thing but the book is nicer to look at.

https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/3629/

Another handy mod at the start is Bag Of Holding which allows you to go on longer dungeon crawls and collect more loot. Some might view it as cheating because it effectively allows you to carry a limitless amount but it's a lot less tedious that constantly going back to your storage container.

https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/4065


I had hundreds installed on my old PC and am slowly adding them to my new PC.

[berend]

Originally posted by Leeux:

I'd personally never play without the Oblivion Character Overhaul, but if you don't mind the way the characters look, is not needed!

Problem is OCO requires OBSE and Blockhead so is not that trivial to install and get it working, but if you're up to the task or/and you're a bit persistent and can read instructions, there should be no problem... and it's worth it, IMO.

Yes I already installed that one with OBSE blockhead, works fine and honestly so much of an improvement! I modded a ton in skyrim after all, it all works pretty similar.

Originally posted by arottweiler:

There's a lot that can enhance the game from the start but not essential apart from the patches. One very useful mod is Darnified UI which makes the user interface a lot easier on the eye. You don't have to use it but it makes inventory management so much easier and toggles to the world map that I suggest installing it straight away. I was playing Oblivion for over 10 years until I discovered it.

https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/10763

Bookmark this URL and start browsing the categories. There is no hurry to complete the main quests so you can put them on hold and start trying out mods.

https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/categories

Another useful mod at the start is the SD Skill diary which tracks your skill increases and shows your progress. Very handy for when you want to micromanage your levelling up. You can also see this information using a console command but I prefer the book. They do the same thing but the book is nicer to look at.

https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/3629/

Another handy mod at the start is Bag Of Holding which allows you to go on longer dungeon crawls and collect more loot. Some might view it as cheating because it effectively allows you to carry a limitless amount but it's a lot less tedious that constantly going back to your storage container.

https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/4065


I had hundreds installed on my old PC and am slowly adding them to my new PC.

Wauw, the DarNfied UI looks a lot better than what I saw in game so far, reminds me of SkyUI for skyrim, I will install that one right away, I saw it on the nexus but didn't really look at it..

I am not sure about this Skill Diary book, as I am not familiar how the leveling is different from Skyrim, only that it is different and more RPG like, or so I've been told.. So even if I can see what the progress of some skills are, doubt I know what to do with that information, perhaps after some hours I realize how handy it can be haha.

Bag of holding is to close to cheating to me, you had these kinds of mods in skyrim as well but perhaps that is something I would install after hundreds of hours and completing the game multiple times. When I completed skryim for who knows how many times I started using mods like this and unlimited shouting just for the fun and make my life easier (like you said :p), but I prefer not to do that from the get-go.

Thanks for the suggestions (both of you), Darnfied UI I will install 100%! And honestly I am not sure if I play the main quest first, I already kinda heard/know what it is about. People told me to play this game for the guilds, more RPG elements and better feeling of progressing as a character. The dark brotherhood is my favorite and I heard that it is a lot better in Oblivion compared to skyrim so I guess I want to figure out in the game how to join there first, if at all possible, we will see!

Enough talking and modding, time for playing :D

[KharnTheKhan]

This may not be the place to tell you this but I'm always happy to see more Fans of Older Elder Scrolls, on that Note please after your playthrough of oblivion please play Morrowind i think it is the deepest elder scroll game definitely enjoyable for hundreds of hours as long as you dont mind no hand holding and actually having to think where things are for example (The camp you are looking for is northwest of such and such city) so you would have to actually go out and find it which is refreshing from whereas in skyrim you would have a marker

[berend]

Yeah I actually played a few hours of it a long time ago, I remember that I joined some guild and had to pick some flowers near a marsh or something.. met some dude on the road who was in love with some girl.. or the other way around and got them together or at least did something for them to help.

I can't remember why I stopped playing it at that time honestly (probably no reason) but I am sure I will give it another try at some point! I guess for now I will be playing Oblivion for a while first. I already like the fact I can cast a spell with a sword in my hand or not drawing my weapon and I already saw more variety in spells in a few hours playing then in entire skyrim (without mods). Only I have to figure out hotkeys, and how to disable mouse acceleration because it is giving me a headache.

[Leeux]

I'd personally recommend checking a bit how the leveling system works in Oblivion, before marching ahead with your levels. Most people realize too late that they made a mistake and that the character they're playing is beyond repair when you're at high levels already. Don't want to say too much without knowing if you're interested to hear about it first, don't wanna spoil anything for you, not even the "gotchas!" :P

I personally love Oblivion to bits, but I can't stand the leveling system and it's an aspect that's always modded in my game.

[berend]

Originally posted by Leeux:

I'd personally recommend checking a bit how the leveling system works in Oblivion, before marching ahead with your levels. Most people realize too late that they made a mistake and that the character they're playing is beyond repair when you're at high levels already. Don't want to say too much without knowing if you're interested to hear about it first, don't wanna spoil anything for you, not even the "gotchas!" :P

I personally love Oblivion to bits, but I can't stand the leveling system and it's an aspect that's always modded in my game.

I appreciate you not giving me an in-depth analysis about how it works and what are good ways to build your character, I will trial and error myself, I see that as one of the parts I look forward too the most!

I hope I am smart enough to figure all that out before I reach levels where there is no turning back.. I am level 2 now and play as battlemage on 50% difficulty, so I guess If I mess things up I can still go down in difficulty. I will probably increase it a bit tonight because the enemies in the one oblivion gate I cleared felt like novice level and I can 4-5 hit every enemy with spells.. They hit me, not even 20% damage and I got plenty of magicka for healing spells. If I play skyrim usually on Expert in the beginning and Master/Legendary later enemies can 2 hit me and some powerfull mages can 1 hit me in the beginning.

The one thing I read about the leveling system is that everything scales around you and your level right? Perhaps that is something I do not like but I want to experience that first before I overhaul anything major. I don't know how it is for higher levels, but skyrim becomes the easiest game ever once you reach level 40-50 and I really need a lot of mods to make it a challenge. I hope oblivion can do this better.

[KharnTheKhan]

Originally posted by BEREND:

Originally posted by Leeux:

I'd personally recommend checking a bit how the leveling system works in Oblivion, before marching ahead with your levels. Most people realize too late that they made a mistake and that the character they're playing is beyond repair when you're at high levels already. Don't want to say too much without knowing if you're interested to hear about it first, don't wanna spoil anything for you, not even the "gotchas!" :P

I personally love Oblivion to bits, but I can't stand the leveling system and it's an aspect that's always modded in my game.

I appreciate you not giving me an in-depth analysis about how it works and what are good ways to build your character, I will trial and error myself, I see that as one of the parts I look forward too the most!

I hope I am smart enough to figure all that out before I reach levels where there is no turning back.. I am level 2 now and play as battlemage on 50% difficulty, so I guess If I mess things up I can still go down in difficulty. I will probably increase it a bit tonight because the enemies in the one oblivion gate I cleared felt like novice level and I can 4-5 hit every enemy with spells.. They hit me, not even 20% damage and I got plenty of magicka for healing spells. If I play skyrim usually on Expert in the beginning and Master/Legendary later enemies can 2 hit me and some powerfull mages can 1 hit me in the beginning.

The one thing I read about the leveling system is that everything scales around you and your level right? Perhaps that is something I do not like but I want to experience that first before I overhaul anything major. I don't know how it is for higher levels, but skyrim becomes the easiest game ever once you reach level 40-50 and I really need a lot of mods to make it a challenge. I hope oblivion can do this better.

Yes everything will scale around you, and depending on what you focus the game can be super easy or super hard

[Atrushan]

I'd like to join the conversation with the same question.
I checked Nexus and there are several unofficial mods. How many of them should I use?
My time with mods in Skyrim taught me that they can easily conflict if you just randomly throw stuff together, causing game crashes and other issues.

I figure that Unofficial Oblivion Patch and Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch are good picks. But how about the Unofficia Obilvion DLC Patch? Does it overlap with the others?
Also I'd like to enchant the looks of the game, since Skyrim is the only part of the series I've played so far. Qarl's Texture Pack III looks nice. Any recommendations on that topic? Oblivion Graphics Extender maybe?

I'm glad to see that there are also follower mods in Oblivion.
Up until a few years ago, I only played vanilla games and never bothered with mods. I didn't feel like I missed something. But Skyrim taught me that it can improve the game, most aspects and alter the experience a lot, so it's definitelly something worth trying, even if the vanilla games seem solid and good enough :)

[Leeux]

@Atrushan: You should use all of the ones that apply to your given installation...

I.e. UOP and USIP are a must now, since every installation has Shivering Isles already installed (but that didn't used to be like that in the past,) but the UOMPs would depend on which DLCs you have, if you have them all... then you should install all the UOMP for them!

The user Kartoffels[www.nexusmods.com] in Nexus has been releasing upscaled resized textures packs for Oblivion that from what I've read, look quite nice too... haven't tested them myself yet, though.

As for followers, I'd vouch for Vilja as I used her quite a lot in Oblivion... but other than that I'm not a big fan of followers :) The thing with Vilja though, even if she's a great follower and had an enormous amount of work put into it, is that was Emma's first time voicing her, so the sound quality for some of the clips is a bit rough... I personally didn't mind it myself, but I know some people is very picky, so that's why I have to mention it!

AFAICR there is a cleaned and remastered version of the sounds somewhere, not sure... it may be even be linked from Vilja site at Nexus, for all I remember!

I'd suggest to stay away from Oblivion Reloaded myself, but it's totally personal taste... nothing wrong with it, it's just that IMHO it touches so much other than just graphics than it gets difficult to integrate it and play nice with other mods, sometimes. Also, you can kinda/sorta get a sameish effect with ENBs... not to the extend it overhauls the engine, but at least graphically... superficially, at least. Other than that, using an older version of OR is an option too... one that still doesn't have the extra features later versions come with.

[Leeux]

Sorry for the double post! But I think it's better to reply separately, rather than edit in this reply to my existing post!

Originally posted by BEREND:

<snip>
The one thing I read about the leveling system is that everything scales around you and your level right? Perhaps that is something I do not like but I want to experience that first before I overhaul anything major. I don't know how it is for higher levels, but skyrim becomes the easiest game ever once you reach level 40-50 and I really need a lot of mods to make it a challenge. I hope oblivion can do this better.

Let's say that playing a magic oriented character, you'll have better tools to deal with all the shenanigans that happen at later levels... so if you keep your idea of playing a battle mage, I wouldn't worry about it! The builds that have the worse are mostly those only focusing on just physical damage.

I'd say, just so you have it in the back of your mind, get access to the mage's guild Arcane University soon-ish (or if you have the Wizard's Tower DLC, that works too), and make a mental note to experiment with the spell makers... it will not matter much while you're at low levels, but you'll start feeling the difference around ~L14 or so.

[Atrushan]

Thank you very much for the quick and helpful reply. I'll keep the recommendations in mind, especially that with Vilja. I look forward to it.

[arottweiler]

Vilja is an excellent follower and has good AI in battles. Some other follower mods like the CM Partners mod adds a vast number of NPCs that will follow you but the AI just isn't good enough to make them useful in a fight and they can also easily get lost. The good thing about Vilja is the summon Vilja spell so you can bring her to your location if you get separated.

Summon spells are great for temporary followers with no maintenance. Some mods like the Midas Spells mod adds some very powerful permanent followers and the Golum is my favourite but it's the hardest summon spell to obtain and shouldn't be attempted until level 10-12 at the earliest. If you're going to focus on magic and spells then the Midas mod is a must have.

The CM Partners mod is still useful for placing the NPCs in your homes or inns just not in battle.