I also have the game and mods installed on an SSD instead of an HDD for better loading times, they're always lightning-fast and take about 5 seconds at the most.
My specs are: Windows 7 64-bit, i5 3570 3.4GHz, 8GB RAM, and a single GTX 760.
My PC is from 2012, and runs the fully modded setup decently well at usually a solid 40-50fps in most situations, and in heavy-weather outdoor environments I tend to get 20-30fps. Many of the mods have options to tweak performance in case you fall under the recommended specs. System RequirementsĪs a disclaimer, the fully modded setup will require a decent mid-range PC for the game.
Only the two main expansions, Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles, are truly required.Īs for why I prefer some of the smaller DLCs over others, please see the Oblivion Mod FAQ page. Make sure to select what you want during the game's installation. While you can use all of them without any conflicts with other mods, I recommend leaving out said 2 mods for several reasons. We'll be using only 8, leaving both the (infamous) Horse Armor and Thieves Den alone. There are a total of 10 official DLCs that have been made for Oblivion. How did I get the game not on Steam? That's a secret ) The DLCs For Steam users, see the very bottom of the guide for helpful tweaks. Also, apparently using the developer console ingame will disable Steam achievements for that session, but for Bethesda games it's almost essential to use it periodically to get yourself unstuck/fix an quest issue/etc, so I simply wouldn't worry about achievements.
This usually only happens with certain mods, none of which are in my guide as far as I know, but if you're adamant on using Steam then make sure to disable the overlay for Oblivion in particular.
I personally recommend NOT purchasing the game on Steam, simply because the Steam overlay can range from annoyingly interfering with, to catastrophically wrecking, some aspects of the game. It's not difficult to get a copy of Oblivion nowadays, but what you want is the " Game of the Year Edition Deluxe", which contains all released DLCs and Expansions for the game. We will be enhancing gameplay, graphics, quests, immersion, stability, and much, much more - all while maintaining lore-friendliness throughout the process. It took many hours of troubleshooting and reading comments and bug reports to finally land on a serviceable installation order, so only ignore these instructions at your own risk.Īs with every other game guide on my site, know that this is a comprehensive modding guide, meaning that we will address nearly every category of content with as many mods as necessary, while minimizing hiccups and conflicts. The main reason for this is due to the fact that Oblivion mods must be installed in order, so that certain aspects of them overwrite each other in ways that do not break the game and mods entirely, hence the numbered steps, if you wish for everything to play nicely together. I would like to start by saying that users wishing to mod Oblivion must be very careful, as it is a fickle beast and certainly much harder to mod than Skyrim and most other Bethesda games.
If you're completely new to Oblivion (or even the TES series in general) I recommend starting completely vanilla with no mods at all, other than perhaps a few essentials like the Unofficial Patches if you're feeling adventurous, and after playing through the game to your satisfaction (you don't have to 100% it, just finish the main quest and all the guild questlines) you can then follow the guide. Specific reasoning for most of my mod choices may be found on the Oblivion Mod FAQ page.Īlso, please note that while this is definitely a guide that can be used by anyone, including modding beginners, you may be spoiled on most aspects of the game if you've never played it before, but this guide assumes that you have. While I don't mind getting suggestions on things to add, I won't pay much attention to being offered 'alternatives' that I have thoroughly researched, tested, and found to be much worse than what I use. Also, the 69 steps were funny in 2015, but they became more of an arbitrary thing as time marched on since we now have only 61 steps.īefore you go any further, know that I have selected all of my mods very meticulously. My old 2015 modding guide for Oblivion may be found here, but this page is a new and improved version for the slightly more modern era! While I haven't quite rebuilt the guide from the ground up, there are definitely enough new additions and changes to warrant me officially discontinuing the old one. Ahh, Oblivion, my favourite (and the best) TES game, how I love you so.