most stable mods for a enhanced vanilla experience?

[Googley Eye'd Bastard]

I've been trying to go with pushthewinbutton's "through the valleys" mod list to get a "vanilla plus" experience where the game is enhanced but doesn't stray too far from the original oblivion experience, problem is that though this list is supposed to be highly stable and runs great at least according to the description I haven't had a good time with it.

My game essentially runs for about 10-15 minutes before eventually I open a door to a new area and once the loading screen completes I instantly crash or sometimes I will get micro stuttering for a crash.

Anyone have a list of simple mods? I mainly just want something to fix the leveling and progression of the game (like the ascension, attributes progression redesign, etc mods) and the face overhaul mod. Texture mods for landscape, trees, grass etc that kind of stuff I can do without, their nice but I want to most stable game I can get while running mods.

[sdpad222]

One simple mod I would recommend is Realistic Leveling.

"This mod changes leveling and attribute advances to be more realistic and provide better game play. Level and attributes will increase naturally as your skills improve, without the need to micromanage them or worry about what skills to use to optimise your advancement."

https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/13879

[Conkwer]

@OP,

1. Oblivion Script Extender (OBSE v22)
https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/37952
and test it with OBSE Tester, if not sure if it installed properly.

2. Francescos leveled Creatures and Items
https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/40190
For leveling. Instead of this you can check Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul, if you like Gothic2-style leveling.

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bugfixes:

1. Unofficial Oblivion Patch
https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/5296

2. Oblivion Stutter Remover
https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/23208
Note: set 60fps in sr_Oblivion_Stutter_Remover.ini if needed, since default value is 30.

3. EngineBugFixes
https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/47085

4. AltTabFix (if you are using Alt+Tab in fullscreen)
https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/47954

-----------------------------------------------------
cosmetics:

6. Oblivion Character Overhaul v2
https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/44676

7, Blockhead (needed for Oblivion Character Overhaul)
https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/43752

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These are the basics. Probably, you should use some sort of Quality-of-Life mods (like Keychain mod) in addition to this list.


As for mods listed above, I have them installed for a long time and had any problems with stability and bugs.

As for textures, I don't know since I don't care. Vanilla textures are pretty good enough, as for me. There is a lot of good mods for Morrowind, but for Oblivion most of such mods looks even worse then vanilla, IMHO.

If you need mods for followers, then use Companion Vilja. This is a most stable. I always had problems with another companion mods but never had bugs with this one.

As for landscapes, use "Unique Landscapes Compilation" but be careful.
https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/19370
I have no problem with this mod (installed via OBMM, as far as I remember) personally, but some peoples had [crashes and bugs].

Also, use a good mod manager like OBMM or MO2 and sort plugins with Loot (The Load Order Optimization Tool). Wrye Mash is useful.

[ahseph]

extending from above, let me help here:

Maskar's Oblivion Overhaul
Basic Primary Needs
Ultimate Leveling
Kvatch Rebuilt
Alternate Start Revamped

For fun, I suggest create or find a mod that edits away all OP/exploit fighting methods (e.g. I removed spellmaking+enchanting for Weakness Magic)


This (https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/47591) helps me alot, I simply pick and choose to make my game light.

My load order (stable for past 400+ hours, save often and do not use quicksave):
(All mods can be found on Nexus except those I labelled as my own edits)

Oblivion.esm
Unofficial Oblivion Patch.esp
UOP Vampire Aging & Face Fix.esp
Oblivion Citadel Door Fix.esp
DLCShiveringIsles.esp
Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch.esp
BookTrackerOBSE.esp
Spell Delete.esp
DLCHorseArmor.esp
DLCHorseArmor - Unofficial Patch.esp
DLCOrrery.esp
DLCOrrery - Unofficial Patch.esp
DLCVileLair.esp
DLCVileLair - Unofficial Patch.esp
DLCMehrunesRazor.esp
DLCMehrunesRazor - Unofficial Patch.esp
DLCSpellTomes.esp
DLCSpellTomes - Unofficial Patch.esp
DLCThievesDen.esp
DLCThievesDen - Unofficial Patch.esp
DLCThievesDen - Unofficial Patch - SSSB.esp
Kvatch Rebuilt.esp
DLCBattlehornCastle.esp
DLCBattlehornCastle - Unofficial Patch.esp
DLCFrostcrag.esp
DLCFrostcrag - Unofficial Patch.esp
Knights.esp
Knights - Unofficial Patch.esp
Enemy Weapons dont drop.esp
Basic Primary Needs.esp
InstantMagicEffects.esp
BalancedMagic.esp (my own)
Alternate Start Revamped.esp
Maskar's Oblivion Overhaul.esp
Bound Armor Is Heavy - BAIH.esp (my own)
Ultimate Leveling.esp
CapMasterTrainersto90.esp (my own)


hope this helps!

[Leon]

If you never played the game before i suggest you to avoid large overhauls like "ascension" because it might change stuff that you like the way the are.

For a vanilla experience i suggest you the franscesco and attribute progression redisign,than you can add any texture mod that you want (avoid too many texture over 2k size)

For the grass take Far Cry inspired Grass - Expanded + smooth grass (dont use any other mods about grass because they cause stuttering in combination of many texture mods).

Ensure you grab real retroactive health too (for the endurance problem)

[Googley Eye'd Bastard]

Originally posted by Leon:

If you never played the game before i suggest you to avoid large overhauls like "ascension" because it might change stuff that you like the way the are.

For a vanilla experience i suggest you the franscesco and attribute progression redisign,than you can add any texture mod that you want (avoid too many texture over 2k size)

For the grass take Far Cry inspired Grass - Expanded + smooth grass (dont use any other mods about grass because they cause stuttering in combination of many texture mods).

Ensure you grab real retroactive health too (for the endurance problem)

I played the game a ton back in the game on xbox 360 but never on pc, I wanted to make the game experience smoother than it would have been back then.

[Leon]

What to you mean for smoother? Easier?

[Googley Eye'd Bastard]

Originally posted by Leon:

What to you mean for smoother? Easier?

No not easier but I guess it depends on your view, smaller things that annoy you like the inventory transfer system where you ALWAYS have to confirm the amount you want to transfer, with a mod I have you can just shift click to move the entire stack, click normally to select an amount, or control click to just move one.

What I wanted was to smooth out the rocky experience of playing oblivion so it can be more enjoyable but at the same time not remove it too far from the original game. I can see how you would say some of the mods id like to use make the game easier because fundamentally they do, example being the plant gathering mod that once I harvest one plant it gathers all the same type in a radius around you but personally I consider this a quality of life improvement because I just don't have the time these days to do that one by one, especially on my playthrough as a character that basically requires alchemy.

Just to make it clear I have played oblivion MANY times before just back on the xbox 360.

[Leon]

I just wanted to understand better what do you need exactly, i'm not here to judge how people want to play their games :)

Anyway basically you want QOL kind of mod, i use DarniFied UI for the menus and inventory, Extended UI for better hotkeys management, the item stack thing IIRC is toggeable quantity promt mod but extended UI should work the same.

For the levelling problem you can use oblivion XP or maskar ultimate levelling, for the enemies levelling scale problem you could try francesco. I cant' speak for ascension because i didnt try it.

For alchemy try Static Alchemy and Ingredient Storage, this mod adds complete sets of static alchemy apparatus to various locations around Cyrodiil and the Shivering Isles, allowing you to brew potions without the need to carry around all that weighty apparatus with you everywhere you go.

[ManualMakron]

Tamriel Immersion Experience