[Kusumura]

Argh. I know where to point the finger to my near constant CTD woes - my load order, birthed of laziness and willing ignorance. Up until now, I've been able to grind my teeth and bare with my own stupidity, but I tell you what - the Dentist's bills are racking up. Since I haven't an iota of intelligence on the matter, I humbly (Though agitatedly with myself) request a quick example of how I should set out the mods I have at the moment.

Current load order:

Oblivion.esm
CM Partners.esm
Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esm
Cobl Main.esm
TamrielTravellers.esm
HorseCombatMaster.esm
MALO - MAIN.esm
MALO - Guild Tweaks.esp
MALO - Vendor Additions.esp
MALO - Clutter Replacer OOO.esp
All+5AttributeModifiers.esp
RealisticForceHigh.esp
Enhanced Water v2.0 HD.esp
RealisticMagicForceHigh.esp
Shadow Steed.esp
attack and hide easier v2.1.esp
_Ren_BeautyPack_full.esp
Cyrodiil Travel Services.esp
DLCShiveringIsles.esp
Books of Oblivion.esp
Cobl Glue.esp
Cobl Si.esp
OOO 1.32-Cobl.esp
Cobl Silent Equip Misc.esp
BlackScreenSneakFix.esp
VaultsofCyrodiil.esp
Thieves Arsenal.esp
Harvest [Flora] - Shivering Isles.esp
Living Economy - Items.esp
Cutthroat Merchants.esp
Harvest [Flora].esp
Living Economy.esp
Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esp
WeightLifter.esp
OOO-Magic_Script_Effect_Fix.esp
Adonnays Elven Weaponry.esp
ScriptEffectSubduer.esp
Stronger Soul Gems - x10.esp
OOO-Water_Weeds.esp
SetEssentialActors.esp
GreatForestMarket.esp
Dwemer_Skyship_1_1_0.esp
DeadlyReflex 5 - Combat Moves.esp
SentientWeapon.esp
SniperSneakSkillup.esp
Retroactive Stats.esp
Crowded Roads Advanced.esp
DS Flaming Arrows.esp
Poison_Apples_as_Poison_Ingredient-3514.esp
New Vampire Feeding Sound.esp
Potion_Unlimiter-1948.esp
SaveSkillTrainingForLater.esp
PPAssasinsRush.esp
HeartOftheDead.esp
RenGuardOverhaul.esp
P1DkeyChain.esp
Cobl Tweaks.esp
Salmo the Baker, Cobl.esp
nVidia Black Screen Fix.esp
Realistic Arrow Flight.esp
RANGEREDIT.esp
Shadow Ranger.esp
RAFVB - LTDVO Compatibility Patch.esp
RAF Vampires Bite 2.esp
LTDVampireOverhaul.esp
TamrielTravellers4OOO.esp
TamrielTravellersItemsUnscaled.esp
TamrielTravellersItemsCobl.esp
TamrielTravellerAdvscript.esp
TamrielTravellersFactionAll.esp
ShiveringIsleTravellers.esp
ShiveringIsleTravellersFriendlyFactions.esp
Magicka Regen x4.esp
Akatosh Mount By Saiden Storm.esp
Geass.esp
KORE- Blood Drinker Umbra.esp
RenGuardOverhaulShiveringIsles.esp
Gattsurus_Easier_Black_Soul_Gems-2708.esp
mythsandlegends.esp
lumi_enchantments.esp
SkillSpecialization.esp

Any help, suggestions of suicide and/or lack of education, insults and otherwise deconstructive comments are welcome, though I'd be very grateful if someone could set out the above list for me xD.

[bben46]

Load order will not fix everything, some mods will just not work with some others, and some require special handling. There is no magic formula to set load order, just a set of general guidelines. If your load order works and you are able to play the game, it is right - for you.

Before you start messing with load order be sure you have patched to the latest version of the game - some mods will not work unless you do.
If any mod requires OBSE, be sure it is properly installed and you start the game using OBSE.
Be sure you have the proper tools to change the load order, usually OBMM and BOSS

Any mod that changes something in another mod MUST be loaded after the mod it makes changes to. Such as patches to a mod.

My recommendations
Batch loading a bunch of mods without testing is asking for trouble. The time you think you will save will be more than made up by the time you spend in troubleshooting. Install one at a time, test that one, then after it is working install another one. This way your load order gets built one mod at a time. And you are never trying to 'fix' more than one mod at a time.

However for those who insist on making things hard for themselves:
Remove Deadly reflex until everything else is working.
Use BOSS http://tesnexus.com/...le.php?id=20516 for your initial setting.

At the end of the BOSS order, there will be some mods that it did not know where to put. Use OBMM to place them manually.

Here is a load order recommendation by Dev_akm

Oblivion.esm
Unofficial Oblivion Patch
<Weather/Environment/Sound Mods>
<Minor Mods/New Items/Houses/DLC's (Post-Completion)>
<Major Overhaul Mods>
<Mods that specifically conflict with overhauls and need to take precedence>
<DLC's (Pre-Completion)>
<Quests>
<Compatibility Patches/UOMP/Merged Leveled Lists>

After DLCs and quest mods have been completed they can be moved up. It is a good idea to have the quest you are currently working on (except the vanilla quests) near the end of your load order. They can be moved up when you start another quest.

After you have everything else working, add in the Deadly Reflex mod. It will go very near the end , if not the last mod.

As this post will eventually lead to an article, I would appreciate any feedback. Positive or negative. Especially if you see anything you disagree with or believe to be wrong. Bben46

[Kusumura]

Not a thing wrong with your guidelines, mate! Very helpful! The only revision I could add to what you have there would be to switch around <Major Overhaul Mods> and <Minor Mods/New Items/Houses/DCL's (Post-Completion)>, since many of the minor mods would lose effect against the bigger overhauls such as OOO, MMM and the like. Seeing as it's getting to the point where real-life fatigue is beginning to hamper my mental prowess (Or lack thereof.. In your face, Real Needs mods!! I can experience the real thing!) I'll submit the order I come up with later, as an example to others going through the same woes.

Already have the latest patch, OBSE version and OBMM. Never used BOSS, though. Seems somewhat superfluous with OBMM able to handle the task on the fly as I'm activating and deactivating mods.

With mine, what I've tried to do is keep what's minor and effects tiny things or else not many towards the bottom (Such as my own Geass (Dear Lord, I'm an anime-munchkin!) power mod, that just adds four or five different spells in without touching anything else), whilst everything that is larger, and could be used as a resource more than anything higher up the list (Deadly Reflex been the exception on the major overhauls rule... It's just been overshadowed by the installation and frustration spree of recent times). Though, seeing as I can't make ten minutes without a CTD, it's obvious how well this method's working for me.. I suppose I should be grateful that I even have ten minutes, with some of the stories I've read while researching the topic of a better load order! Lol.

In another post I read by you, you mentioned that Textures and Meshes left lying around loose in the Data folder resources could lead to CTD's.. is that true? I never knew. I suppose I'll have the thoroughly go through both of the folders with Lieutenant Columbo's glass eye that never misses a strand of thread. I'm one to just simply delete the .esp/m file(s) and leave it at that, rather than scour through finding all of the neglected files.

[Rhiana]

I do my load order the way you said.

One additional thing i do, is after I have manually ordered the mods BOSS didn't know what to do with, is to go into the BOSS Master list and insert those mods in the right place so that the next time I use BOSS it knows where to put them.

Saves having to keep manually reordering them when i add a new mod.

[Kusumura]

Here we go!

Current load order:[u]

Oblivion.esm
CM Partners.esm
Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esm
Cobl Main.esm
MALO - MAIN.esm
TamrielTravellers.esm
The Evolution Stone.esm
HorseCombatMaster.esm
DLCShiveringIsles.esp
Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esp
OOO-Water_Weeds.esp
Harvest [Flora].esp
Harvest [Flora] - Shivering Isles.esp
OOO-Magic_Script_Effect_Fix.esp
P1DkeyChain.esp
Cobl Si.esp
OOO 1.32-Cobl.esp
Cobl Silent Equip Misc.esp
Cobl Glue.esp
Cobl Tweaks.esp
MALO - Guild Tweaks.esp
MALO - Vendor Additions.esp
MALO - Clutter Replacer OOO.esp
TamrielTravellers4OOO.esp
TamrielTravellersItemsUnscaled.esp
TamrielTravellersItemsCobl.esp
TamrielTravellerAdvscript.esp
TamrielTravellersFactionAll.esp
ShiveringIsleTravellers.esp
ShiveringIsleTravellersFriendlyFactions.esp
Crowded Roads Advanced.esp
SentientWeapon.esp
Cyrodiil Travel Services.esp
HeartOftheDead.esp
All+5AttributeModifiers.esp
Shadow Steed.esp
_Ren_BeautyPack_full.esp
Books of Oblivion.esp
BlackScreenSneakFix.esp
WeightLifter.esp
Adonnays Elven Weaponry.esp
ScriptEffectSubduer.esp
Stronger Soul Gems - x10.esp
SetEssentialActors.esp
GreatForestMarket.esp
Dwemer_Skyship_1_1_0.esp
SniperSneakSkillup.esp
Retroactive Stats.esp
Poison_Apples_as_Poison_Ingredient-3514.esp
Potion_Unlimiter-1948.esp
SaveSkillTrainingForLater.esp
PPAssasinsRush.esp
RenGuardOverhaul.esp
Salmo the Baker, Cobl.esp
Shadow Ranger.esp
RAFVB - LTDVO Compatibility Patch.esp
RAF Vampires Bite 2.esp
LTDVampireOverhaul.esp
New Vampire Feeding Sound.esp
Magicka Regen x4.esp
Akatosh Mount By Saiden Storm.esp
Geass.esp
KORE- Blood Drinker Umbra.esp
Gattsurus_Easier_Black_Soul_Gems-2708.esp
mythsandlegends.esp
lumi_enchantments.esp
Rogue Tools.esp
SkillSpecialization.esp
RenGuardOverhaulShiveringIsles.esp
Living Economy.esp
Living Economy - Items.esp
Cutthroat Merchants.esp
nVidia Black Screen Fix.esp
attack and hide easier v2.1.esp
Enhanced Water v2.0 HD.esp
The Evolution Stone EASY.esp
DeadlyReflex 5 - Combat Moves.esp
RealisticMagicForceHigh.esp
RealisticForceHigh.esp
Realistic Arrow Flight.esp


[u]What's changed?

Well... If it wasn't obvious, the list looks a heck of a lot neater than the other - not everything just tossed and left to wherever it landed! Now I'm really starting to step up to my Virgo Zodiac!

It wasn't too difficult, but certain allowances had to be made (Such as Realistic Rag Doll Force and Realistic Arrow Flight being down the bottom rather than Deadly Reflex) to ensure that the effects of everything would be kept and not overridden. IN the middle is all the meaningless bul- I mean, "Under appreciated," mods that didn't quite seem to make any difference, so I left them be, just like the original list.

In the end, all I did was bump up all of the Overhauls, really. But, here's the general jist of it, with bben's setting out;

<Weather/Environment/Sound Mods>
<DLC's (Pre-Completion)>
<Major Overhaul Mods>
<Mods that specifically conflict with overhauls and need to take precedence>
<Minor Mods/New Items/Houses/DLC's (Post-Completion)>
<Quests>
<Compatibility Patches/UOMP/Merged Leveled Lists> -> None in particular that need any attention in this list, aside from Living Economy, which is closest to the bottom out of any levelled list altering mod.