Several of you have expressed an interest in the mods I use. Since I'm bored out of my mind, I figure I'll oblige. Pardon the slow posting, but I still can't type for any amount of time at all.
Computer Specific Items I Can't Help With:
Most of the mods I use are just to prettify the environment. If you're looking for more gameplay-oriented mods, I'd check out the Oblivion wiki and head from there. Even if not, I'd head there anyway to look at their section of .ini tweaks. I set my game up to take full advantage of Dual Core Powah using this wiki, which would not have been possible through the game menus themselves. Pay special attention to the grass height mod-- it's an easy way to fix framerate issues in the world without sacrificing too much pretty. Alternately, if you're looking for more pretty, you can tweak the trees. Finally, there's an option to enable screenshots (only if anti-aliasing is off, otherwise use fraps), and an option to disable all the splash screens at the beginning of the game.
What I use:
Please keep in mind one thing. The mods I am currently using are taxing to my computer, which is brand new. I am also using HDR lighting plus anti-aliasing, which I set up in my graphics card's options for Oblivion-- it won't let you do that in-game. Where possible, I am going to link to similar mods that will work for a graphics card with less memory, but please read all the text on the pretty download sites before replacing textures!
Before you begin:
Download the Oblivion Mod Manager. You'll need this to play around with getting your mods in the right order to create a stable game. It also auto-fixes your archiveinvalidation file. It's a little intimidating to use, at first, but the Oblivion Wiki is very helpful with telling you about the right settings and such. Two hints with mod arrangement: larger, more comprehensive mods (such as a game leveling tweak) should load near the top of the list. If you have several mods that alter the same effect, the one that loads last will be used by the game.
Environmental Mods:
This is where the bulk of my mods and texture changes lie. First, we have the ones that change all the pretty details.
1) Qarl's Texture Pack III- replaces textures for walls, grass, rocks, and just about everything else with huge new ones that take advantage of parallaxing. This file is about 3gigs in size, and is not recommended for graphics cards with under 500 megabytes of memory. Luckily, there is also a reduced version if you want most of the pretty but can't run the full-size.
2) Improved Doors, Plants, and Food- Pay attention to the install order! Doors and Flora first, then Trees and Flora, then Trees and Flora 2. He also made a food mod that I use, and I've been thinking about nabbing his better sign mod, as well.
3) Better Grass Without Tiling- Gets rid of the nasty tiling seen in distant grass.
Next we have the mods that alter the distances and make them look a lot clearer.
1) Noise Reducer- Gets rid of the weird pixely thing Bethesda decided to use for distances in patch 1.2. It makes it a lot sharper.
2) Landscape LOD 1- Increases the texture file sizes for the distant landscapes of inner Tamriel.
3) Landscape LOD 2- Does the same for the border regions. I use both, but if you've installed Qarl's and are having framerate issues, you may not want to install these at all. I'd choose two among Qarl's, Improved Trees and Flora, and these if you're having problems, otherwise you may experience horrible hanging in forested areas. (I feel the hit, but it's tolerable. A little jerk as the forest loads, and that's about it.)
Then we have the ones that just focus on making everything else as pretty as possible.
1) Natural Environments- Comes with a lot more than you want to use. The weather system is buggy, the habitat system is bulky, and most people find the water fix to be far too clear. Just use the Natural Vegetation part. That's the award winner.
2) Phinix's Waterfix- Not as clear as the one in Natural Environments, but not as muddy as the one in the "vanilla" game. I happen to like it quite a bit. The clarity diminishes the further down you go.
3) Rainbows in Tamriel - There is absolutely no purpose to this mod except to go "SQUEE!" and take screenshots.
4) Darker Nights- Don't leave home without a torch or night-eye spell, or you will quickly get lost and run into a tree. Pay attention to the .ini tweak. I love it for the realism, and for how it combines with the city mods I've listed below. While you're at it, nab Darker Dungeons, grab a torch and get to killing.
Finally, we have what makes the cities better.
1) Cities Alive at Night- Gives cities a glow from the outside, so it looks like there are actually people behind those walls. Pay attention to the .ini tweak.
2) Illumination Within package- For this you need both Illumination Within and Illumination Within Optimized. Install them in that exact order, and use the .esp(s) of your choice from optimized or you'll see a performance hit. It's worth it for the pretty pretty lights in the windows. After you install this, seek out a cathedral and wait until night.
Up next-- Sound, Characters, and a couple extra mods I picked up to ice the cake.
NOTE TO SELF: Update this banner.
