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CONTENTS
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1.0 - How to ask for help
1.1 - How to request a mod
1.2 - Where to get useful modding information (links)
1.3 - Top useful sites (gaming, modding, useful info about games)
1.4 - How to install mods
1.5 - How to install save games
1.6 - Other useful information - See this for the juicy part of this guide
1.7 - FAQ's
1.8 - Credits
~~~~~NOTES~~~~~
This is an all-in-one guide. I've taken much information from other guides/sites and will be mentioned in the 'Credits' section. I, personally, am sick of people asking the same question over and over again and not even noticing the pinned info's the moderators provided us !
To get to the desired section press 'Ctrl' + 'F' key and type the corresponding section number (1.1, 1.6 etc.)
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1.0 HOW TO ASK FOR HELP
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First of all, I've noticed quite a lot of newbies asking in the utmost hated online-English slang. It's driving all of us crazy. Plus, they do not supply us enough information about their problem.
ex: 'OMG my oblivion is not wrking becoz it says 'reason'. cud u plz help me plz plz !!!'. No ! That is NOT the way you should ask for help ! You must always give us enough information ! Furthermore, if you speak that way, people will not even bother helping a person who is too lazy to even browse a bit for the answers.
The way you should properly ask for help is to do some research yourself and find out what's causing it, try to fix it yourself and if you can't , you ask the others, but in a correct manner
ex: ''Please, can somebody help me. My Oblivion is not working, whenever I 'reason', it always 'cause'.''
If you provide enough information, there is always a solution.
Remember, there are thousands of causes, yet thousands of remedies. The more 'jucier' the information the higher the chance for the answer.
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1.1 HOW TO REQUEST A MOD
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Here is another problem indeed. I find many, many users asking for the same thing, talking in the same English slang, and not providing enough information.
First of all, you MUST search for the mod yourself, and see if it already exists. If you can't find the mod, try the Oblivion Mod Detectives. They will search for you, and if they can't find it, then you may only request it.
How to request it:
This is the most common online 'pest', so therefore I must stress the following:
PROVIDE ENOUGH INFORMATION !!. After you do that:
- Write a long, detailed description
- Add screenshots (if required)
- Check the spelling grammar
That's the most useful thing to do, however if you want a more detailed version, you can find it here. Furthermore, many users tend to ask for porn mods. Modders are already busy with their own projects, or with their life. Many modders are sick of those requests, so the only thing I can say about it is for them to stop.
Another possible thing might be requesting big, big projects, or maybe even impossible. So before someone requests something that big, must give it a thought or two. Like I said, there is an 80% chance that the respective user has no idea what he/she is requesting, or a 20% chance that he does, but doesn't know how much time and work it will take. These things can really be annoying. We all know asking them to stop is impossible.
When it comes to requesting a mod, charisma and experience is the key. For example, if you're a total newbie whose first post is that of requesting a mod, the specific modder will immediately know it's something out of his/her's interest. There is a 78% chance that the newbie whose first post is that of requesting a mod, or a 22% chance that it is an experienced player, which has a 60% chance for his request to actually take place.
Most people doesn't even know the true meaning of the File Request/Suggestions thread, 80% of it is spam with pointless requests. 15% of those requests where never even answered to.
So please people, before you request something, give it a thought. Analyse the chances of the request to be replied to, and to actually even be made. A good mod needs a good idea !
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1.2 WHERE TO GET USEFUL MODDING INFORMATION
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- Resources for 3D editing here
- Making a quest here
- How to create new re-textured items here
- Item editing and basic navigation in the CS here
These can be very useful, if you have modding ambitions. My best advice : follow the instructions carefully. I myself would've become one, but it requires a lot of free time, which I don't have.
There are even more tutorials out there, see the 'Article' thread for all of them.
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1.3 TOP USEFUL SITES
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- Official site
- Bethsoft
- Our very own TESNexus !
- Better Oblivion
- Gamespot.com
These are useful sites where you can get help, patches, mods, extras, files and many more !
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1.4 HOW TO INSTALL MODS
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It is very simple. First of all, you will need a program to extract the files (WinRar, 7zip, WinZip). Then, you download the file, use the program and extract the files to a temporary folder. Make whatever changes necessary and then copy/cut the files into the Oblivion/Data folder. After that, make sure you activate the .esp file from the Data Files in the launcher. Also, make sure you've read the instructions carefully.
Then again, there are different types of mods, for example:
- Building mod : Adds/Removes/Modifies the specific building
- Land/Terrain mod : Alters the terrain (changing the mesh, shade etc.) of the specific terrain
- Quest mod : Adds a new quest
- Clothes/Armor/Weapon mod : Adds new Clothes/Armor/Weapons (with or without a quest) to Oblivion
And many more.. all of them require the same steps !
Many mods require different programs, like OBSE, OFEL etc. And most of these programs require the latest v1.2.0416 patch. There can be many different problems in installing it, see 'Other Useful Information' to see how it's installed and what problems might interfere. Visit the how to install mods/plugins for more info
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1.5 HOW TO INSTALL SAVEGAMES
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This is even easier than installing a mod. First of all, make sure you read the instructions carefully, install whatever mod the savegame's author had, otherwise the savegame will load improperly and will cause problems. Download the savegame and copy it to: C:\Documents and Settings\USER\My Documents\My Games\Oblivion. Start Oblivion and load it.
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1.6 OTHER USEFUL INFORMATION
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- Minimum System Requirements :
Windows XP
512MB System RAM
2 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
8x DVD-ROM Drive
4.6 GB free hard disk space
DirectX 9.0c (included)
128MB Direct3D Compatible Video card and DirectX 9.0 compatible driver
DirectX 8.1 Compatible Sound Card
Keyboard, Mouse
- Recommended System Requirements :
3.0 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
1 GB System RAM
ATI X800 series, Nvidia GeForce 6800 series,
or higher video card
- How to take screenshots :
1. Find Oblivion.ini in C:\Documents and Settings\USER\My Documents\My Games\Oblivion\Oblivion.ini
2. Find bAllowScreenShot=0
3. Change to bAllowScreenShot=1
4. Exit and save
In game press 'Print Screen' to take the screenshot. If you want the HUD gone press ` and type 'tm' I'd reccommend FRAPS tho, it's better for taking in-game screenshots. I'd also recommend a mod called Actors In Charge, which allows you to do a lot of emotes which we see on NPC's (Non player characters). For example reading, eating, drinking, several poses, talking animations etc.
- How to fix corrupted saves :
The link to the answer is here
I don't know about you, but once I shut down my computer VIA the CPU's start button. When I tried to play Oblivion it wouldn't load the recent savegames, well that's because the computer didn't have time to save all your changes you made that specific day, making the savegame corrupt.
- How to apply Oblivion v1.2.0416 patch :
The official download site. Download the patch and allow 20 minutes for it to install.
Things that might go wrong :
~ It might say that it's an 'Old File', well, here's the answer :
If you get an error message about "Old file not found", first check that you downloaded the correct version of the patch (Shivering Isles and vanilla Oblivion have two different patches). The other reason for this error message is that you previously installed one of the Shivering Isles beta patches. Any PC users who installed the first Shivering Isles beta patch (version 1.2.0410) need to uninstall and reinstall Oblivion in order to install the final version of this patch. This problem also occurs if you are using the Direct2Drive version of Shivering Isles as the current patch is not compatible with it.
~ It might say that there's an error, and onece you press 'Ok' it will cancel the installer. Answer :
You dummy ! You already have a higher patch than it/already installed it ! Even my grandma is better at installing Oblivion patches than you !
- OBMM & OMOD's ~ What are they??
OBMM (Oblivion Mod Manager), is a more advanced utility of the Data Files which you see in the Oblivion launcer. OBMM is perhaps the easiest way to install mods. It also lets you uninstall mods and all their related files very easily. If you already have an OMOD, all you have to do is select it in OBMM and then click the Activate button. If the mod isn't available in OMOD format (most mods are not, unfortunately), then you'll need to create an OMOD for it yourself unless you want to install it manually.
I never personally use OBMM, the life of manual installation suits me just fine !
There is an excellent omod tutorial here, made by LHammonds. Consult it for a more detailed description on how to convert OMOD's to OMOD-Ready and viceversa.
Most would recommend OBMM for newbies, but I don't really like it as it can cause complications and possibly is hard to fix (unless you're an experienced player)
That's all see the FAQ's for more answers
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1.7 FAQ'S
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What is FAQ? FAQ's are frequently asked questions, the questions we all ask ourselves, the question which must be answered. There are many Oblivion FAQ's, which I'm not going to write, because someone already beat me at it. FAQ's can consist of Technical problems or Extras ( How to take screenshots, how to disable the HUD, how to do this and that and whatever).
Here is dev_akm's wonderful FAQ page. See it, learn it. It's the best Oblivion FAQ out there !
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1.8 CREDITS
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- LHammonds
- Sypron
- dev_akm
- The last Istari
They contributed to this site by creating (a) wonderful guide/s.
I will update this guide constantly, as I examine more/other informations.
Feedback welcome. If you've got a question, PM me. Also, if you read this guide fully, then you MUST download this !. Also, if you're a Blizzard's fan, then you will find more savegames outa me from Warcraft III characters
v1.0 - Initial post
v1.1 - Added more info on 'How to install mods'
v1.2 - Added more info on 'How to request a mod'
v1.3 - Added more info on 'Other useful information'
v1.4 - Corrected some minor spelling mistakes, and added all titles in Cyan colour, and enabled the ctrl + F feature.
v1.5 - Tweaked it even more, other minor fixes
v1.6 - Changed FAQ's description, a bit.
v1.7 - Added even more descriptions, changed, tweaked (whatever
) v1.8 - Added OBMM and OMOD's, what are they?'
Will add more soon !
NEW !! I've added a downloadable version of this guide, AND a player.additem document for all of the items addable by console.
