Current Top 10 Oblivion Mods

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Posted by ryuzaki0 on Friday April 21, 2006 @05:13AM from the see-the-light dept.

For those of us playing on the PC, the Oblivion experience has only gotten better since launch. Planet Elder Scrolls has a short blurb on ten promising mods already released by the community. The top two have been running on my system for slightly over a week now; I highly recommend BTMod (mentioned by Tycho last week) and Natural Environments.

17 of 85 comments (clear)

In addition to those, my short list. by semifamous · 2006-04-21 05:18 · Score: 4, Informative

These are some of my favorites here:

Better Sortable potion names

Cool armor for the Grey Fox

Show more places on the map (wayshrines, rune stones)

Make YOUR OWN map markers for things
Those are just the ones that are bookmarked on this computer at work. My home puter has a bunch more.
Slashdot wubs Gamespy by Dachannien · 2006-04-21 05:37 · Score: 4, Insightful

Is this a legitimate /. article or a shill? Gamespy comes up with a list of ten of the "most influential and eye-catching" Oblivion mods, despite the fact that there are hundreds (513, in fact) of mods listed here, not all of which are hosted on Planet Elder Scrolls.

Note that Gamespy only included mods hosted on their website, and that Gamespy is notorious for running interstitial ads that require a Greasemonkey script to bypass. Besides, this wasn't submitted by a Slashdot reader - Zonk posted it himself. The linked article had nothing more than some guy's opinion on what mods were good, so if Zonk is such an Oblivion fan, why not just link us to his favorite mods right there in the Slashdot article, rather than shilling for the ad-ridden IGN network?
an almost great game by Jett · 2006-04-21 05:42 · Score: 4, Insightful

I'm excited that we have so many mods already - what is sad is that people have to waste time creating mods that fix the game. Why aren't the developers doing this? They released a buggy as hell game with several glaring design/balancing/"realism" issues - why do we need a mod to make animals behave correctly? Why do we need mods to fix broken quests? Why do we need mods to fix the screwed up UI? Why do we need mods to fix the stupid inventory system? Why do we have to manually edit .ini files to change obvious performance enhancing settings? Why do we need people creating custom shaders to improve performance on low-end cards? Why do we need people to create improved textures for high-end cards? To me all of these issues illustrate that the development team has some serious problems - they've got their own mods out to add content to the game (that they are charging for!) but they have released a seriously flawed game - what the hell is up with that?

That said, I'm not an RPG fan really but Oblivion is one awesome game - and it does run great on my 2.3ghz A64 w/6600GT, minus all the godamn bugs. And fanboys - don't tell me it is my system! I've got a fresh install of XP, fully patched and updated - Oblivion, HL2, and Firefox are the only programs installed on it - the fact that my entire system locks up if I load any of my saved games without first creating an entirely new game on a product that the developer is already releasing paid expansions for instead of patches is BS.
1. Re:an almost great game by electronym · 2006-04-21 08:15 · Score: 2
  
  It looks to me like the crappy key binding system, along with the horrible kindergarden-sized interface, is a byproduct of its simultaneous development as a console game. I really, really hate the way the menus work, although BTMod helps with the size somewhat. I still wish I had separate buttons for my map, character, skills, etc., instead of hitting tab and then clicking 45 times to check my quest and equip a weapon.
2. Re:an almost great game by Bieeanda · 2006-04-21 09:50 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Let's take a peek at Bethesda's track record:
  TES: Arena. Dull-witted and buggy. No major patches.
  TES: Daggerfall. Buggier than an ant farm. 'Enjoyed' a litany of patches that didn't actually fix major things like the plotline stopping, quest-critical monsters from falling into the void, or unbelievably awful dungeon design.
  TES: Morrowind. Trades the majority of bugs for poor mechanical and art design. Who, seriously, thought it was a good idea to make every enchanted item shine like it was covered in an inch of iridescent plastic? Weird bugs, like NPCs on boats falling through into the water and drowning, remain. Poor design decisions, like the ludicrously expensive assassin armor all but given to the PC after Tribunal is installed, are added after the fact. Internal mechanics are horribly broken, ranging from the infinitely abusable alchemy to the arcane min-maxing that the level advancement and attribute gain system all but demands.
  TES: Oblivion. Keeps Morrowind's obnoxious level advancement system, plus adds the insult upon injury of monsters leveling with you. Bandits running around in king's ransoms worth of equipment, 'psychic guards' that punish you for taking too long in completing quests, early quests that are virtual deathtraps (including one that can lock a first level character in a small room with two heavily armed adversaries), and atop all of that, an army of CTD bugs.
3. Re:an almost great game by Feanturi · 2006-04-21 09:54 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  I still wish I had separate buttons for my map, character, skills, etc., instead of hitting tab and then clicking 45 times
  
  You could always try reading the manual, where you would discover that F1 - F4 gets you at least to the section you want without even hitting tab. You still have to click the sub-section you want though.
without this mod I wouldn't still be playing Ob by JeanBaptiste · 2006-04-21 05:48 · Score: 5, Interesting

Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul

Does a bunch of good stuff, but most importantly it gets rid of that stupid level scaling thing.

I've been involved in some debates over that, and I still maintain its dumb, mostly as it provides no sense of accomplishment to leveling or getting better items or anything.
1. Re:without this mod I wouldn't still be playing Ob by Feanturi · 2006-04-21 10:21 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  I haven't been able to understand why people feel there is no sense of accomplishment with leveling. Because the monsters get harder and have better stuff on them after you level? So what? When I level, I have been developing my character and can do more things better, that is accomplishment. Oh but now the monsters aren't weak little babies compared to me, so that reduces my accomplishment somehow? Why? If the monsters have gotten too hard, you have to start playing smarter. Any game I've enjoyed has made the game get harder as you advance, otherwise where is the challenge? I guess if your goal is just to become some uber one-hit-kill-wonder then Oblivion is not for you.
  
  The version of Oblivion that some people seem to want to play goes something like this pencil-and-paper roleplaying session:
  
  DM: Ok guys, got a good one planned tonight, get out your 15th level characters!
  
  P1: I can't wait to try out my new sword of troll-slaying!
  
  P2: I got a new spell after my last level too, this is going to rock..
  
  DM: Ok, so, you're walking in the forest and you meet 2 kobolds.
  
  P1: ...
  
  P2: Umm, are they really big kobolds or something?
  
  DM: No, they're like, first level.
  
  P1: Ok. Well I swing at one.
  
  DM: He dies.
  
  P2: I swing at the other one.
  
  DM: He dies.
  
  P1: Ok, now what?
  
  DM: You walk along further in the forest, the air is still, you sense danger nearby.
  
  P2: Oh good, here we go now..
  
  DM: You hear a rustle in the bushes and out jumps... A kobold.
  
  P1: I throw a rock at him.
  
  DM: He dies.
  
  P1: You know what? You really suck as a DM.
  
  P2: Leave him alone man, I feel so UBER!!
The Obvious Question by Anonymous Coward · 2006-04-21 05:51 · Score: 3, Insightful

If a handful of amatures can produce a decent mod in a reasonably short period of time (I think the game was only released last month) why are they charging $2 for a Horse texture or a 10 minute quest?
Incorporate into official patch by Jagasian · 2006-04-21 05:55 · Score: 2, Insightful

If Bethesda is smart, they will keep an eye on these mods, so that ideas from them can be incorporated into an official patch.
1. Re:Incorporate into official patch by Jaysyn · 2006-04-21 06:50 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  Bioware gets around this for NWN by stating in the games & toolset's ELUA by stating that they reserve the right to use whatever custom content they want for whatever use they want.
  
  Jaysyn
  
  --
  There is a war going on for your mind.
In the spirit of D&D... by empvirus · 2006-04-21 06:20 · Score: 3, Funny

The D&D portable hole! Literally 6 feet wide and 10 feet deep. It's loaded with chests and stuff so you don't have to carry it around on your back. And you can access it whenever you wish.

--
Sometimes I comment just to hear myself typing.
10 mods aren't enough by spyrochaete · 2006-04-21 06:37 · Score: 2, Interesting

I blogged pretty thoroughly about many shortcomings of Oblivion. At least 75% of the mods out there are fixes that mould this game into what it should have been out of the box. Oblivion was very obviously designed with the 360 in mind as is made obvious by the horrible UI, enormous font, cryptic icons, tiny buttons, and lack of onscreen information - and that's just for starters. Read for yourselves if you can stand fair criticism of everyone's favourite game.

http://demodulated.blogspot.com/2006/04/elder-scro lls-oblivious.html
The ones I'm using. by tukkayoot · 2006-04-21 06:37 · Score: 3, Informative

Natural Wildlife - Instead of all animals (aside from deer) being universally aggressive, this mod adds variable creature behaviors.
Harvest Mod - Makes it so when you harvest fauna, most of it disappears from the environment or is replaced by a "deflowered" version of the model. Makes it much easier to tell which flowers and mushrooms you've already picked.
Stamina/Fatigue Text Switch Mod - Gets rid of the annoying use of the word "fatigue" in the game and replaces instances of that word with "stamina".
Turn Out the Lights - Makes it so you can snuff out various candles, lamps, etc. found in environments.
Planet Elderscrolls is the core community by DoctaWatson · 2006-04-21 06:57 · Score: 2, Informative

The Planet Elder Scrolls (formerly Morrowind Summit) forums were basically the place to go for Morrowind information a year or two ago, and they hosted the largest library of mods.

Oblivion and the official forums have changed that a bit, though the Elder Scrolls Planet forums are still a breath of fresh air compared to the underage cesspool that is the official boards. And even though fileplanet downloads suck hairy balls, Elder Scrolls Planet has one of the best systems for cataloging and ranking mods, in addition to what is likely the largest collection of mods.
Re:How about ten essential mod download sites by Gunslinger47 · 2006-04-21 06:58 · Score: 2, Insightful

"That don't require you 'sign up'?"
I believe this site doesn't require login.
Yay mods by Bungleman · 2006-04-21 07:14 · Score: 5, Informative

100% agree about BTMod... this came out days after Oblivion's release, and it was very needed. I'm not sure what kind of lazy programming left that original UI in the PC version, but it's inexcusable. I'm also using the Natural Environments mod and loving it. Here are some others I'd recommend:
Tom Servo's equipment rarity mod
http://www.tessource.net/files/file.php?id=1968
Tired of seeing supposedly rare daedric and glass armor drop off common bandits at high levels? Ever wonder why these guys are harassing you for 100 gold when they're wearing tens of thousands of gold worth of armor? Download this... now rare armor stays rare, only dropping from high level creatures, and bandits have more appropriate gear. (I know this is the same as #9 on the list, but this is the one I use personally).
No psychic guards
http://www.tessource.net/files/file.php?id=2299
It's hard to be a master of crime when the guards are psychic... ever try killing someone and having a guard port up to get you? This mod greatly reduces the guard alert radius when you attempt a crime against someone. No guards hear, no bounty. Yay.
Arrow velocity
http://www.tessource.net/files/file.php?id=1793
Now a bow actually shoots harder than a plastic Wal-Mart bow... even the lowest quality of arrows will fire harder, and the better ones work much better.
Longer summons
http://www.tessource.net/files/file.php?id=1898
The summon length in the game is really low... some only last as long as 20 seconds. This mod can double or triple that value... especially useful for pure mage characters who depend on summons to 'tank' for them.