Oblivion and Morrowind Plugins

[Nubclear]

Morrowind doesn't need it so much, but Oblivion could really use some interesting plugins Hence, suggest them to me.

They need to be free

[Nostromo]

I use "No psychic guards" and the "BTmod". The last one is a must. When you're tired with plain vanilla Oblivion, try out "Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul". I hear it changes the games a lot.

http://www.tescreens.be/oblivionmodwiki/index.php/Recommended:Mods

[vovan]

Man... User mods... That's the one thing PC Oblivion has over 360 Oblivion.

[El_Cid]

I run 112 mods on Morrowind(GOTY) - i've added things like needing to eat/drink and sleep and most of the compatible extra content/quests/landmasses that fans made.

Its a completely massive and hugely detailed rpg now(roughly double everything that was in the origonal GOTY edition).

To get it all running ok i needed to work out how to use wyre mash and a few other utilitise that enable stable running of lots of combined mods. That took some time, but most of the info you need is here:

http://www.mwmythicmods.com/telesphoros.htm

many of the mods i got from this site as it requires no sign up and has a great bandwidth:

http://www.elricm.com/nuke/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&file=index

On Oblivion I had about 12-15 mods running, things like the saddlebags and needing to eat/drink etc + the obligatory scaling/fixing mods(i liked Franco's over the other more famous one).

But at the endof the day, even modding Oblivion could only let me put up with it for about 50hours or so. It just didnt offer as much as the previous games in the TES series did(in terms of detailed rpgness).

So i'm back with 'mega morrowind' and daggerfall now - OB is a dust gather sadly.

[Standup]

Never really got into Morrowind - always felt a bit empty, impersonal and bland but the ability to mod it is a great strength. The trouble is which mods to go for? Too many seem to be trying to recreate Lord of the Rings or uber-weapons.

Loaded up about 2 dozen and they do make the game much more interesting (well for me anyway). A couple of graphics ones such as shiny silver, road signs in English (this helps so much) and light through windows are small touches but very good. The ones I'm enjoying most though are the ones that add extra NPCs or dialogue. There's a Seyda Neen NPC one that just adds gossip to the locals but it adds so much more character. Holden Shore (sp?) which is the rich village next door is also well done. So far I haven't left the starting area but with a new village, Slave Hunters and a few smugglers dungeons it feels much more complete. It feels much more like a vibrant community.

It's enough to drag me away from BGTutu for a while anyway even if half the time I just stand and watch the water.

Now if only combat was different

[El_Cid]

With combat(definately a step 'back' from Daggerfalls i find) do you have the toggle for 'always use best hit' on or off? It can make it more interesting to have it set to off, and your blows will be more varied; even if you will find combat more tricky.

But overall i managed to make a much richer(and more massive) game using mods+the wyre mash mod utility. Testool is easier to use, but much more limited - once you get to around 20-30 mods i found Testool would have problems keeping the game stable. It's definately worth working out wyre mash - it also can fix broken save games which is very usefull.

Standup i'll give you my list of Morrowind mods(which uses wyre mash) and the exact order i arrange them in to run best. I spent months to combine all these mods(working out which work well together etc) - some are there as a choice of my gf as she loved morrowind also, so keep that in mind for some of the mods! Maybe you'll find a few more to add to your list?

El_Cid's mega morrowind mod list(in order+functional):

Morrowind.esm
Tribunal.esm
Bloodmoon.esm
Better Heads.esm
Better Heads Tribunal addon.esm
Better Heads Bloodmoon addon.esm
Morrowind Patch v1.6.3.esm
RF-Furntiure shop.esm
Weapon Rotate.esm
Book Rotate.esm
MW_Children_1_0.esm
BT_Whitewolf_2_0.esm


abotWhereAreAllBirdsGoing.esp
The Alchemist Index.esp
Join All Houses.esp
Books.esp
female_cuirasses_2.0.esp
Service_Requirements_V1.4.1&WGI.esp
Clean Black Queen Chronicals v2.5.esp
Adamantium Roundshield.esp
Flee AI Tweaks.esp
NighttimeDoorLocks-LD 1.1a.esp
TAD_Illuminated Order(IndyBank compat).esp
Illuminated Order v1.0 - Bloodmoon Compat Extras.esp
Daggerfall Collection ver 1.1.esp
ModMan_windowlights_full_2.esp
MP_Gold_Weights.esp
TRIB_witchgirladvent1.esp
P.R.E.v4.0.esp
Haldenshore_1.2.esp
MixedSignposts.esp
BH_Argonians1.1
Suran_Underworld_2.5.esp
Emmas_Imperial_heads-1-0.esp
The BlackMill.esp
Emmas_breton_faces_1_0.esp
Corinthian Helms.esp
Potted Plants - Trib&BM.esp
RF-Bethesda Furniture.esp
Better Bodies.esp
RF-Lady E's Extravaganza.esp
Nymeria's Monthly Respawn.esp
farrp_WeaponCompilationMod_V2.esp
farrp_Quivers-FletchingKit_V2-5.esp
Nymeria's Faster Walk.esp
Rangers Tent.esp
Windows Glow.esp
Key Replacer Trib&BM.esp
Weapon Rotate - Vendors.esp
Weapon Rotate - Tribunal.esp
Weapon Rotate - Bloodmoon.esp
Emmas_woodelf_faces_1_0.esp
J-Ninja_v1.0_m.esp
Taddeus'BalancedSettings.esp
Annastasia V3.3.esp
Emma_nord_heads.esp
TAD_AmuletsRings2.1UpA.esp
TAD_IceBradyRobeReplacer_Full.esp
Nevena's Twin Lamps& Slave Hunters 1.5.esp
Indybank2.4b.esp
New Shields.esp
Lothavor's Legacy.esp
Lothavor's Legacy BB addon.esp
EcoAdjIngredients.esp
EcoAdjMisc.esp
Spartan Armoury.esp
Cali's Clothing v1.2.esp
BuyableGhorakManorv2.esp
Book Rotate - Tribunal v5.3.esp
Book Rotate - Bloodmoon v5.3.esp
EcoAdjDaedricDrops.esp
Tamrielic_Features_head_Pack(v1.1).esp
Ascadian_Rose_Cottage_ver1.0.esp
BM_CatCompanions1_0.esp
Silgrad_Tower_internal_build_1-4_3.esp
MW_Children_1_0_patch2.esp
Ice_ElegantGowns.esp
Emma_Imp_headp2.esp
Steinthor_Hall_v1.esp
Emma_bret_headp2.esp
Ald-Vendras_V31-LoKKen.esp
BT_Whitewolf_2_0.esp
BT_WWLokpatch1.esp
RTS_SdctvHeads.esp
True Gems v1.05.esp
Soti_Kungfu.esp
BB_Clothiers_of_Vvardenfell_v1.1.esp
UQFsFaces13.esp
Creatures.esp
Complete Lute.esp
Cali's_BB_V.2_Tight_Dreses.esp
Clean ZopenH.esp
Wilderness sounds T&B.esp
Wakim's Game Improvements with No-glo v9.esp
Theif Experience Overhaul 1.3b(Tribunal)(Combined).esp
Necessities of Morrowind 2.1.esp
Mashed Lists.esp

As an overall graphics boost, i used:

'mixed_textures_v1.1' - big texture replacer, very natural look.
'Texture_Fix_1.5' - smooths the transition of texture seems.
'Texture_Fix_-_Bloodmoon_1.0' - does the same as above.
'mw_fps_opt' - a great utility that allows you to adust view distance.

Oblivion stands no chance for my time when i have this kind of detailed,massive rpg to play.

[Quillan]

Cid, leaving aside the three basic files, how big is the total of all those plugin files? And what is the patch .esm file? Is that a fanmade job? I'm currently getting bored with the games I've been playing, and might go back and give Morrowind another playthrough.

[El_Cid]

Originally posted by Quillan
Cid, leaving aside the three basic files, how big is the total of all those plugin files? And what is the patch .esm file? Is that a fanmade job? I'm currently getting bored with the games I've been playing, and might go back and give Morrowind another playthrough.

Easy question first: The patch esm is a fanmade job - but dont be put of by that, it really is worth having(like better bodies and other 'classics').
I listed them like that so you can get the exact name(oh if it says 'Clean' something or other - ignore the 'Clean' part if searching, those were named that way after running the mods through TESTool) and go check out what the opinion is on the various mod storing sites.

As for size - huge is about as accurate a description as i can give. The texture replacement file was a few hundred meg by itself.

My whole Morrowind file, which includes the various utilities (TESTool/Wyre mesh etc), backups of the origonal game files and all the mods in unzipped and zipped forms, plus the fact that i have a bunch of mods that didnt make it into the final build; well i think it takes up about 15-20 Gigs - around that anyway!

[Standup]

Thanks for that - I recognise a couple of them. Printing out as I type.

Haven't got Bloodmoon so that knocks a few off the list.

I haven't got always use best attack ticked but I have to confess I'm thinking about ticking it as I haven't really got the hang off selecting the best attack.

I think I'll play a bit longer before loading up more Mods. As I always tended to get bored before I got too far into the game probably a good idea to experience a bit more of the game world.

[Standup]

woweee...level two

back to the mods. I keep getting an error message about mesh\sylph\rainbow\meshs\b_sylph and similar. Clicking carry on/ignore seems to work except that I get a graphics glitch presumbly where the missing/broken/corrupt file is.

Is there an easy way to identify which plugin it is?

There's probably only a couple it might be so what happens if I remove it? Can I safely remove mods?

Many of the readmes talk about loading in the correct order but it wasn't clear what that meant. Am i meant to run the game and add each mod one at a time ? Or merely make sure they're all present? Adding all three additional sound plugins at the same time seemed to work.

I just unpacked them all and added them all in one go - seemed to work (well on the whole).

Downloaded python for wyre meshing and decided life was too short. Reminds me too much of when I have to talk to the developers at work

And trying not to turn this into a general game thread but is there an easy way to pace items from your inventory on the floor/shelf etc? I've decided to take up residence in an old fishing shack near Pelgriad (sp?) but all my shiny new belongs end up piled in the middle of the floor.

[El_Cid]

Your best bet in this case would be to go ask the helpful guys on the elderscrolls website - well they can be helpfull

'sylph' would indicate that either it might be part of a mod that adds sexy chicks to your mix - or maybe female clothes? But thats mostly a guess. Either its an installation error(like that file went into the wrong place) OR the mod itself might not be great/well done - there are a whole swathe of mods that come with errors etc.

An installation tip that works quite well for making sure all files go where they should:

Unpack the mod first into a seperate game file(eg.called like Morrowind mods) - then manualy copy/paste the unpacked files into their relevant section in the morrowind directory. Once i got used to doing this many of the missing type file errors mesages i had been getting(or the yellow triangles in the game world) went away.

The telesphoros link i gave a few posts up has lots of good info on the whole modding process+trouble shooting, it's one of the essential morowind mod sites for sure.

And yes the whole wyre mesh(+python) thing took me about 2 months to pluck up the courage to try, after i had been growing increasingly frustrated by TESTools ability to handle the size of my growing modlist.

The best method i found initialy was to add one mod at a time(or a few if they were of the same type eg 'book rotate morrowind+bloodmoon etc) - load up the game and see if i was getting any errors. This way at least you get a better idea of what mod may be causeing a problem, and maybe leave it out or 'clean' it if that was the problem etc.

Still for detailed help i'd go try the morrowind forums on the TES site - they are generaly much more mature than the Oblivion ones.

And you really really will find wyre mesh indispensible once you get over its complicated setup+operation process(which looks and sounds much harder than it turns out to be if i remember correctly?).

But if you stick with TESTool that is good enough to opperate around 20 'compatible' mods - you just have to do the research into your particular mods list order. It's quite important to have them in the right order, some more than others.

In the list i gave the ones near the end are my 'important' mods as they effect things like levelled lists and player skills etc. The last mods in your load order list will take priority over an earlier mod.

And the very last in the list should be your 'Merged list'(for Testool i think) or 'mashed list' as i'm running wyre mash. That list is like the overall compatible list that helps the different mods work together better.

A final tip would be to always make a new save slot - dont override a previous save, especialy important if not using wyre mash(which has a fix save game function).

But yeah i'd ask specific questions at TES site morrowind forum and you should get a solution to your question, or find a pinned thread that will help out.

Yeah it is tempting to use the 'always use best hit' box in morrowind - it's combat system was definately not as intuitive as Daggerfalls. Still it is a good option for an early level char, then you can enjoy more variety later on by chosing to not select it and getting good at varying your attacks.

[Standup]

Thanks...I think it's probably clothes as i got a bit carried away with the better bodies add ons.

I think manually moving the files to the proper directory is probably the best idea for now.

I've gone with a fresh install and a lot fewer mods which as you suggest is the way to go. Just need a bit of patience and not get carried away with loading up every single one I can find.

[El_Cid]

As most of the error messages you get from a problem mod will be shown during loadup, it helps you eliminate the errors as you build your mod list(but keep in mind many of these errors are often harmless - just to make it even more complicated!).

For example in my mod list i had managed to get rid of all the error messages during load up but due to the massive size of all the new content i'm still miles away from being able to tell if it all works as it should. Down near Vivec the SlaveHunters mod causes a tear to appear in the terrain, and i'm sure i'll find other little things like that.

Also you dont need to clean all the files(in fact if using wyre mesh people suggest you hardly clean any as it can damage the content of the mod) - but look out for the nasty GMST ones that get mentiond on the Telesphoros site, its best to clean those mods up.

Sometimes the errors occur from a bad install of the mod(and it not being able to find the files it needs), or a conflicting load order(so try putting it earlier or later in the load list), or maybe the mod is poor quality so you can try to 'clean' it with TESTool and see if that fixes it.

But yeah building it up slowly, while frustrating, will give you a better end result for when your ready to start the game proper.

Oh if your adding the big quest/extra landmass type mods - there are some that conflict quite badly with one another, so use this link to make sure you avoid those:

http://www.mwmythicmods.com/MAPoMODSbyCyronaut.jpg

All this talk of modded MW has given me the desire to get back into it

[Standup]

It was all getting a bit Groundhog Day walking off that boat and trying new plugins so I've selected a modest list and decided to actually play the game.

Haven't got a list to hand but the ones i've gone for have been fairly small and cosmetic. Shiny silver, glowing gems, sensible signs and so on. I also added a load of NPC dialog with some smaller quests for the small villages. They really make a difference for me - gives the game some character. I was almost won over until I got to Vivecc (sp?). Then it was everything i didn't like about Morrowind - bland NPCs who all say the same thing, featureless terrain and loads of fedex quests between the same characterless NPCs and identical buildings. Also takes a while walking everywhere cause your fatigue has run out.

So a couple more questions.

Is there any mod that make Vivecc less boring, samey ?

Money - the main problem is flogging stuff as nobody has enough money. Just made a couple of Grand Soul Gems worth 40K but no-one has that sort of money and my enchant skill is too low. Does using the money mods unbalance the game ? My intial thought is yes but then I'm spending a lot of time running between merchants.

Hotkeys - Not sure if this is a bug but I can equip rings but no longer select them i.e assign a magic ring to key 4 but nothing happens when selecting 4. Everything else works and the items still work if selecting using +/- to scroll through them. seems to affect amulets as well.

[Quillan]

The most money of any merchant I've ever head is 10,000 gold, and only one has that much. Normal options are trying to sell something to Scamp on the second floor of the orc manor in Caldera, trying to find Mudcrab (that's the mudcrab who is a merchant; he's the one with 10K gold, but I've never found him), or hitting Mournhold if you have the Tribunal expansion. Several of the merchants there have about 8K gold, though they offer the normal reduced prices. Scamp and Mudcrab give you full value for whatever you sell, though they don't buy quite every type of item.

There's not a lot of point in selling 40K grand soul gems. Either work up your enchanting skill and use them, or save them to recharge items when you really need it NOW.

By the way, if you want to work up your enchanting skill, go do the Azura shrine quest. It'll get you a reusable soul gem. Combine that with either the Balmora Mage Guild quest reward dagger Soul Drinker, the sword Umbra, or some custom enchantment that does Soul Trap, and you can trap and recharge/enchant from almost every creature you encounter.