→ TES Portal
Core Mods
xOBSE
Community updated version of OBSE. Core requirement for many mods.
4GB Ram Patcher
Small .exe with sole purpose of applying >2gb patch to .exe and .dll files. Do not use with GOG version.
Blockhead
BSE plugin that adds support for gender variant head models and textures for NPCs.
Oblivion Stutter Remover
What it says on the tin. Improves stability.
Engine Bug Fixes
Fixes game engine bugs.
SkyBSA [IMPORTANT]
Unofficial Oblivion Patch
Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch
Unofficial Oblivion DLC Patches
Fixes a majority of the bugs in Oblivion.
Shambles Crash Fix
Menu Alt-Tab Crash Fix
2 Crash Fixes not included above.
OBL Mod Limit Fix
Fixes mod limit bug. Not strictly nessisary unless you're over 255 plugins.
Console Paste Support
Makes console use less painful. It's a Bethesda game, you'll need this.
Visuals
Improved Videos
Improves several prerendered cinimatics for modern hardware.
OCO2
Character visual improvements. Makes Argonians some of the best in the series IMO. Don't use if you like the old goofy visuals. Don't worry, they're still plenty ugly.
OCO - AE
Fixes for OCO2
Improved NPC Faces for OCOv2
More fixes for OCO2, restores the old visuals and removes a lot of the unessisary changes.
Falling Leaves
Adds falling leaves to one of the autumnal areas. Very pretty.
Downpour
Rain retexture.
Atmos4096
Mist / Fog retexture.
Tree Bark HD Reduced
Tree Bark retexture.
Team Diesel Mushroom Rextexture
Team Diesel Flora Retexture
Two very pretty Russian retexture mods. Look for the "СКАЧАТЬ" button for download. Also worth checking out their other mods.
Improved Sky Textures
What it says on the tin, removes a lot of artifacting and jpeg weirdness from sky textures.
VKVII Anvil
VKVII Cathedrals
VKVII Castles
VKVII Imperial City
VKVII Sidewalks Stonewalls
VKVII Mages Guild Clutter
Vanilla friendly HD retextures.
Guard Armor Retexture
Hand painted retexture of guard outfits.
HD Septim
High quality currency retexture lifted straight from Amazon.
Team Diesel Clutter
More retextures from Team Diesel.
CM Better Wine - Shivering Isles
Old but still relevant.
AWLS
Get this. I can't stress this enough.
Retextured Road Signs
Road sign retexture.
Additional Beauty Pack
OCO2 addon. Various Retextures.
Improved Signs
Sign retexture.
Mehrunes Dagon Walking Animation
This took S I X T E E N Y E A R S.
DarNified UI
The SkyUI to Oblivion. I don't use this but if I didn't include it here demonic birdmen would peck out my eyeballs.
Gameplay
Mannimarco Revisited
Mannimarco Revisted Rebalance
If you aren't a lorebeard and you don't know who Mannimarco is, I don't care. Get this unless you want a disapointing and anticlimatic ending to a major questline.
Quest NPCS Run
Does exactly what it says.
Doing quests for an NPC raises their disposition with you.
Redoes the encumberment system to match how Skyrim handles it.
FAQ:
Q: MO2 or Wyre Bash?
A: For Oblivion? Wyre Bash. MO2 can work but you need to know what you're doing.
Q: This is a short list! Why is that?
A: This list is a personal preference and nice for first time players. I've left a lot of the original game's jank intact and not added much in the way of new content to preserve as much of the original game as possible. Everyone will have different tastes when modding, and I highly encourage you to look around yourself.
Q: Should I use X mod?
A: Up to you. I can't personally reccomend anything for Oblivion.
Setup Instructions
Installing the game:
- Open Steam and go to your Library.
- Find The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion in your list and select Install.
- Wait for installation to complete to continue.
First Time Setup:
Launch the game through Steam to pull up the configuration screen.
Select Options and configure accordingly.
Hit OK and then press EXIT.
MO2:
- Download MO2 from here.
- When the download has finished, run the installer.
- Choose the installation location (or use the default) and continue to hit NEXT until the installation finished. Once done, MO2 should open.
- You will be prompted to create an instance. Click create a global instance and when prompted on the next page, select Oblivion
- Finish instance creation by selecting NEXT until the main MO2 screen appears.
Preparing the Root Folder.
- Open Oblivion's root folder. (Accessible by right clicking the title in your Steam Library and selecting "Browse Local Files" under "Manage")
- Download the OBSE.zip here.
- Drag & Drop everything inside the zip inside your root folder.
- Download OSR here.
- Drag & Drop everything inside the zip inside your root folder.
- Download 4GB Ram Patcher here.
- Open the zip. Open the folder inside the zip. Drag & Drop 4gb patch.exe into your root folder.
- Run the 4gb patch.exe as administrator. Patch the following files: Oblivion.exe, binkw32.dll, atimgpud.dll.
Congrats! You completed the basic setup. All other mods on this list can be installed normally using MO2.
IT IS IMPORTANT THAT ALL MODS ON THIS LIST BE DOWNLOADED, AS SEVERAL ARE DEPENDANT ON EACHOTHER TO RUN.
Once all mods have been installed using MO2, you're ready to launch. Launch the game through MO2.
