How To Install Mods To Oblivion

This is a guide to help expedite the process of figuring out the order in which to install multiple mods, especially large numbers of them. Most mods do not overlap with each other so much that there is a specific installation order for most mods; therefore, acknowledging some basic shared properties of various types of mods, most modified setup could be installed in one go (if using a utility the affords ordered installation). The goal of the organization below is to have the fewest logical groupings, while minimizing 'exceptions.' That makes it a good skeleton for organizing BAIN packages as well.

>>note: BAIN users, install 'later' and 'after' means should have higher priority, a bigger number, in the package list. Like wise, mods that should be installed 'before' another mod should have lower priority, smaller numbers. The numbers on the following groups match the general priority of installation in the package list.

BAIN does keep track of mod assets better, so if you remove a mod that overwrote some files from another, BAIN will restore the files that got overwritten. With OBMM, you will have to reinstall the original mod that got overwritten. Tomlong's website has a lot of information about installing mods. In particular, this page explains how to create omod's.

The Install Order

>> Note: Most examples mentioned in this list are linked in Types of Mods (Oblivion).

Original Files (backups)
- Content: Video archive, Shaders archive, Music archive
- Conflicts: every replacer that replaces files in the contained folders
- This group is useful for restoring the backed up folders after using UI mods, video replacers, etc. This group can go anywhere, but having it installed first (at least in BAIN) may make more sense, as these files are truly installed first (when you install Oblivion from the disc or Steam). Therefore, in BAIN, the package will be green if none of these files have been replaced, and yellow if some files have been overwritten. It makes for a good sanity check.
  >> Note: Remember that the original Meshes, Textures, Sounds and Trees are packed in BSAs, so there should not be a reason to install package containing these original files loose. If you are not seeing the original files, check your BSA Redirection settings in BAIN or OBMM and make sure nothing has been installed overwriting them. (See BSAs and Archive Invalidation for more information about BSAs, and see PyFFI if you have you have not packed or do not know how to pack your loose PyFFI-optimized meshes back into a BSA.)
Utilities
- Contents: plugins, few data files, INIs
- Conflicts: few to none, not serious
- These mods rarely have conflicts with other mods. One notable exception is FormID Finder, conflicts with the UOP because they both contain missing mesh marker meshes. If you really want that mesh so badly, install this mod after the UOP (which means giving it a number higher than the UOP in BAIN.)
- Examples: FormID Finder, Kuertee's Actor Details, Streamline
Game Tweaks (Immersion & Special Items)
- Contents: plugins, few data files (typically custom files), INIs
- Conflicts: rare, not serious
- Game Tweaks (and related mods) have few or no data file conflicts. They may contain data files, but they are usually new files. There are some notable exceptions because some game tweaks that truly are not UI mods do include menus to extend certain functionality (i.e., Enchantments Restored over Time, LAME.)
- Examples: Deadlier Sneaking, Common Oblivion, Harvest Flora
New Buildings & Locations
- Contents: lots of different data files (mostly custom) and plugins
- Conflicts: few to none, not serious
- They can contain just about every type of data file, but they usually add only new contents, so there is nothing major to worry about here.
- Examples: Bank of Cyrodiil, Bartholm, Glenvar Castle, Vaults of Cyrodiil
Official Add-ons (DLCs) & Unofficial Official Patches
- Contents: plugins, data files (replacers), BSAs
- Conflicts: many, supposed to conflict
- This category, putting the DLCs aside, contains fixes for the vanilla game. Mods that have higher priority and overwrite these are typically fixed, so both the higher and lower conflicts are expected and safe. There are no real conflicts in this position.
- Examples: DLCs 1-9, UOP, USIP, UOMPs, UOMPs MOBs, USIPMOBS
Quests
- Contents: plugins, all kinds of data files (often packed in BSAs)
- Conflicts: cosmetic mods, some other, minor (with an exception)
- These mods can touch about every aspect of the game. Sometimes they have incorporated other item mods, and often contain files from cosmetic mods. There is no reason that they need to win their conflicts. Most of the important files are custom. The notable exception here is that some (or one) quest mods contain music and video replacers, unlike most of the data folder, the Music and Video folders are not in a BSA, so they are vulnerable to permanent alteration; hence, the initial recommendation to backup the loose original folders.
- Examples: Blood & Mud, Choices & Consequences, Gates to Aesgaard 1 and 2, The Lost Spires, The Mysteries of the Dulan Cult, Ruin Tail's Tale, Ungarion Memoirs: The Welkynd Sword
Companions & NPCs
- Contents: plugins, cosmetic files, few other types of data files that conflict (usually custom)
- Conflicts: cosmetic mods or none, not serious
- The NPCs mods rarely contain overlapping data files; however, companions often include files from existing cosmetic mods (i.e., Ren's hairs) instead of having plugins that depend on the user installing the cosmetic mod itself. There is rarely a reason to have the companion mod overwrite the data files from the original cosmetic mod. Otherwise, there are no file conflicts with this group.
- Examples: Viconia, Vilja
Big Mesh Replacers
- Contents: meshes, textures
- Conflicts: many, minor
- This category in many setups will only include QTP3. It is a huge texture replacer that uses textures which require parallax meshes. The reason why it should be installed early is because the main mods that overwrite it are the unofficial official patches and aesthetic mods that contain support for it (and also require that the meshes be replaced) or individual replacers, which you want to see in the game instead of just Qarl's textures. Incorrect meshes can actually cause serious problems, so it is important that QTP3 is overridden by certain mods (i.e., the higher priority mods it conflicts with in this list, UOP, BC and AWLS.)
- Examples: QTP3, QTP3 Redimized, QTP3 Redimized Reduced, QTP3 further Reduced
Overhauls & Creature-Adding Mods
- Contents: plugins, all kinds of data files (some packed in BSAs)
- Conflicts: many, serious (pay attention to the ReadMes and the instructions found on this site)
- This is probably the only section where alphabetical ordering is practically a worthless effort (though you could alphabetize the patches for an individual overhaul.) There is specific installation order depending on which overhauls you are using. The conflicts that originate outside of this group are found with overhauls and creature-adding mods in this section. This site has the recommended installation order for most of them. (FCOM's recommended installation order applies to most overhaul configurations, even ignoring the overhaul not used in your setup.)
- Examples: Cyrodiil Upgrade Overhaul, FCOM, Francesco's Leveled Creatures Items mod, Martigen's Monster Mod, Oblivion War Cry, Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul, Tamriel Immersion Experience
New Items (Armor & Weapons)
- Contents: lots of different data files (primarily meshes and textures) and plugins
- Conflicts: varies, new item compilations, overhauls, quests, not serious
- If you run an overhaul, it probably includes a number of new items mods, so there are bound to be data conflicts. The reason to load them after the overhauls is because the stand-alone mod may contain newer files. If that is not the case, then simply do not install the stand-alone mod. However, it is perfectly reasonable to install these mods when some or all of their data files are overwritten by compilation-type mods because the original plugins may still add the items with an availability and variety not offered in the overhaul.
- Examples: Bob's Armory, Loth's Blunt Weapons, KD's Circlets, Pure Steel Blade, Slof's Oblivion Goth Shop I, Slof's Oblivion Robe Trader, Xiamara's New Amulets
City & World Aesthetics
- Contents: plugins, all kinds of data files (some packed in BSAs)
- Conflicts: other mods of this type, big mesh replacers, minor (have support)
- The mods that have lots of overlap with other popular mods (i.e., QTP3) offer support for it. This group probably has more support modules for other mods than any other group (i.e., Unique Landscapes patches.) This is a great position in your installation order for them because these mods need to win the mesh conflicts, not texture contests. The biggest of these, AWLS and Better Cities, do not conflict with anytexture replacers. Just make sure to download support options when they are available. For those of you using shader replacers and mods that contain shader changes (i.e., some OBSE mods) absolutely must back up the Shaders folder. In fact, everyone should back up that folder. For some reason, they can be warped during installation or in other cases where the user did not deliberately modify them. (There is a link on this site to replacement 1.2.0416 shaders in the event of a mishap.) Bad shaders cause bad problems. (Screen effects users should get the updated version of the OBGE DLL produced by the OGE team.) OBMM is theONLY utility that fully supports shader installation. Even if that is the only mod you use OBMM for, install it. (Although there are many other reasons to have OBMM installed anyway.)
- Examples: All Natural, Animated Window Lighting System, Better Cities, Enhanced Weather, Let There Be Darkness, Natural Environments, Unique Landscapes
User Interface (UI)
- Contents: fonts, Menus files, Music (has no specific place to be), Textures, Videos
- Conflicts: other UI mods, other mods that touch menus, serious!!!
- The mods mainly conflict with one another and certain game tweaks. You musthave support for these conflicts or something will be broken, and the chance that they cause a serious problem with the game is not small.You must also be aware that there are UI mods that do not replace the HUD and main menus (i.e., Keychain, HotKey mods, etc) and their conflicts can be just as serious. This section also contains the menu video replacers. Users of such mods must remember to back up the Video folder. (Many of the serious things to watch out for will be noted in the next section.)
- Examples: Dark UI, DarN UI, DarkUIdDarN, Immersive Interface, Keychain, Menu Video Replacer Scenery, Toggleable Quantity Prompt, Super Hotkeys
UI-Modifying Game Tweaks
- Contents: plugins, menu files, INIs
- Conflicts: UI mods
- These mods almost always conflict with UI mods, but UI mods either include support for these mods or vice versa. Since the leveling mods people use are usually more current, there is a better chance that the leveling mod contains the right compatibility support for the popular UI mods.
- Examples: Kobu's Character Advancement System, Less Annoying Magic Experience, nGCD, Oblivion XP, Progress, Realistic Leveling, Supreme Magicka
Texture Replacers
- Content: textures (some also contain new meshes or plugins)
- Conflicts: other texture replacers, minor (users choice which 'wins')
- The installation order of these mods is very important, especially if you plan to install texture replacers that overlap with each other. For example, you want to use Bomret's Normals to cover what Corepc's Vibrant Textures do not. In that case, you should install Bomret's mod first, of course. However, many users use more than ten texture replacers, and sometimes three or more of them may touch certain files, but the user desire one version over the other. Plan this group out first. Beyond special details in ReadMes there is no set order for these. Install them in the order that is most aesthetically pleasing. BAIN users can easily switch the order of the packages in the Installers tab on a whim and fix the change by using the anneal function, but the other installation methods are not as flexible. Making mistakes with the multiple texture mods even a tenth of the size of QTP3 become very frustrating, not to mention, non-BAIN users have no sure way of knowing which version of a file is installed once they start uninstalling mods with overlapping files. The ONLY way to cleanly uninstall mods with overlapping files with the other installation methods is to uninstall every mod that shares that file, or reinstall one of those overlapping mods.
  >> Note: Detailed Terrain contains shaders. Only use OBMM to install at least that part of the mod. BAIN users should add '--' to the beginning of the Shaders folder in the packages so that BAIN ignores it.
- Examples: Ampolex's Texture Pack, Better Night Sky, Detailed Terrain, FineWeapons, RustyItems, Magic Shields, Real Lava, Real Night Sky, Vanilla Hair Replacer
Other Replacers
- Content: plugins (maybe a mesh or two?)
- Conflicts: none
- These mods do not belong in the other groups. Most of these will be graphical shader replacers. They do not actually edit shaders; rather, they modify certain visual effects by tweaking certain plugin records. This section is mainly here for sake of organization, but maybe they can be thrown in with the other 'magic' mods because those mods typically contain these types of changes (usually in optional modules.)
- Examples: Initial Glow, Visually Enchanted Customized Fixed
Animation Mods
- Contents: plugins, KFs (animation or idle pose files, typically found in the 'Meshes_Male')
- Conflicts: other animation files, minor, quest/companion mods that add custom animations to NPCs
- Whether talking about data files or plugin records, animation mods usually conflict with other animation mods if there are conflicts. There are many animation mods that add new KFs or replace original KFs (i.e., Seph's H-to-H replacer.) If two animation conflicts replace the same animations, you should know by reading their descriptions. Just make sure the one you want is installed later.
- Examples: Actors in Emotion, Seph's Hand-to-Hand Animation Replacer
Cosmetic Mods & Body Replacers
- Content: plugins, cosmetic files (meshes and textures)
- Conflicts: other cosmetic mods, these should override other mods, not serious
- Generally, if cosmetic mods contain multiple versions of the same files, let the newer one load later, just in case its files are updated in some way. If, for some reason, a cosmetic compilation replaces textures for vanilla races, make sure it either has support for your body replacers or have the body replacers load later. Also, without a Bashed Patch, only one cosmetic mod that overhauls the Vanilla races can be installed at once. For example, Race Balancing Project and Ren's Beauty Pack Hairs Only do not work together on their own; however, with a Bashed Patch the hairs from the Hairs Only version can be imported, while the main plugin, which conflicts with RBP, can remain deactivated. If both mods are more 'full' cosmetic compilation packs, meaning they do more than add hairs or eyes to the Vanilla races (i.e., RBP and BP) even a Bashed Patch make them compatible because they contain new records that cannot be imported (i.e., new races.) Keep an eye out for the eye meshes issue as well. A race can only have one eye mesh. Therefore, if Elaborate Eyes (EE) or BP (which contains EE) is installed, quest mods and race mods that add new eyes using the Vanilla eyes mesh (which is the case with most mods of those types, including Ren's) are incompatible with the current setup. They cannot be used together. If you really want to use the other mods, either install a patch, use a version with converted eyes, or look for a different compilation pack. Lastly, many of these types of mods have multiple versions of the main plugin. Only install ONE.
- Examples: Beautiful People (BP), Race Balancing Project (RBP), Ren's Beauty Pack, Robert's Male Body, Robert's Female Body, Robert's Female, Robert's Female for Mod, Robert OOO Armor, Robert MMM Armor
Character Texture Replacers
- Content: textures
- Conflicts: cosmetic mods, body replacers, other character texture replacers (users choice)
- The organization of this section is all up to the user. This section should load last because there is no point in installing a unique facial texture just to have it overwritten. Make sure the body textures support your body, or the textures will not match and appear deformed in-game. Again, these are texture replacers, so there is no required installation order within this group. Choose the order most to your liking.
- Examples: Enayla's Dremora Face Texture, Enayla's Facial Textures, Enayla's New Face Textures, Improved Facial Textures, Kendo's Orc Textures
Your Projects
- Content: cleaned plugins, (dummy plugin for loading BSAs in the absence of DLCShiveringIsles.esp), tweaked (cleaned) plugins, patches, merges (could also contain data files)
- Conflicts: things that are patched
- Patches have to overwrite the mods they patch, and this is the best position from which to do that, last.
  >> Note: Users of the Cyrodiil Terrain Map should have a patched archive of some kind to contain the fixed world map textures. See PCS Library for the fix.

Install Utilities

Dont's worry about any 'beta' tags here. The following utilities all have well-established positions in the mods community.

Since this is a very focused guide, intended to help users build a working setup with as few uncontrolled factors as possible, many important details may be skipped. However, there is a more general page on the site that is directly related to each discussed subject. As for this page, unless you are already familiar with the available mod management utilities reading the first section of Preparing for Mods should prove very worthwhile. After this step, the rest of the guide, up until the last few (modified) setup steps, will be focused using a primary installation tool.

General Terms, Acronyms and Nick Names

Bash - short for Wrye Bash, a mod management utility and much more
BOSS - load ordering utility
CTD - crash to desktop
'Data files' - This term generally refers to files contained in any of the default folders, BSAs, INI files, or folders that contain INI files. In other words, it refers to all parts of the actual mod (not the doc files) excluding plugins.
Data folder - OblivionData
Oblivion folder - the Oblivion installation folder
Plugins - ESPs and ESMs, does not include OBSE plugins, sometimes is used interchangeably with 'mods'
Load Order (LO) - the order in which your plugins are loaded into the game (which is determined by their 'date modified' status)
OBMM - Oblivion Mods Manager, mod management utility and much more
Install Order - this has nothing to do with load order, but is the order in which mods should be installed
TESCS - The Elderscrolls Construction Set, a mod (really plugin) editing and making utility
'Vanilla' - refers to default, out-of-the-box Oblivion

Utility Installation Steps

The utilities and the configurations for the utilities presented below are not specific to your preferred installation method. More specific instructions will be given later.

Oblivion Mod Install Guide

Install 7-zip (or another archiving utility)

Many mods are packaged in .7z archives, which WinZIP and non-full version of WinRAR cannot handle, and this file archiver is fast and free.

Download 7-zip.
Run the executable, which may require a reboot.
- The installation may prompt you to restart your machine. Do that now, as you will need it in later steps.

Install a C++ Runtime Library Update

This update is required for some utilities and many mods, most notably OBSE.

Download Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package .
- This is a commonly-installed update. If it is already installed, the installer will discover it and abort the installation, which is fine.
Run the executable.

(OPTIONAL) Install The Elder Scrolls Construction Set

This is the 'official' plugin-editing utility. If you want to make mods or tweak plugins, this is a useful tool.

Download TESCS.
Run the executable.
- Windows 7 and Windows Vista users, right-click on TESConstructionSet.exe (in the Oblivion folder) and flag it to 'Run as Administrator'.

Install Oblivion Mod Manager

OBMM, Timeslip's mod managing utility is probably the oldest, most-respected utilities for Oblivion. It is a new mod user's best friend.

Download OBMM (executable version).
Run the installer.
Launch OBMM.
Go to 'settings' (in the right sidebar).
(Still in settings) check 'Never modify load order' (unless you have no intention of installing Wrye Bash)>> notes: This step anticipates using BOSS and Wrye Bash to modify your load order
BAIN users should skip the rest of the OBMM configuration steps.
Click on Utilities, in the sidebar.
Choose 'Archive Invalidation'.
Select 'BSA Redirection'.
Close OBMM.

Install Wrye Bash

Wrye Bash is the most powerful mod-management utility available for Elder Scrolls IV. Use it to fine-tune your load order, manage saves, install mods and more.

If you've already installed Python or will need to install Python to run PyFFI, etc...

Download the latest executable version of Wrye Bash.
If you haven't already done so, also download the latest Wrye Python package.
Run the Wrye Python installer (if necessary).
Windows 7 and Windows Vista users, right-click on the Wrye Bash executable and select Run as administrator. Windows XP users can just double-click on the executable to run it.

If you are not interested in installing Python (or tools dependent on Python, such as PyFFI)...

Download the latest stand-alone installer for Wrye Bash.
Windows 7 and Windows Vista users, right-click on the Wrye Bash executable and select Run as administrator. Windows XP users can just double-click on the executable to run it.
- Requires the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package. Download this if it is not already installed.
  - The C++ runtime installation is quick and will abort if it has already been installed, so nothing harmful should come of trying to install it (again).

Users planning to install BAIN can see BAIN Tutorials for more configuration instructions and tips. Bash's installer BAIN, takes patience and a some knowledge of mod packaging to learn how to really make use of it. In contrast, OBMM's installation and configuration is simple. However, BAIN's uninstallations are cleaner, installation status is more visible and accurate, and it inherently affords prioritized installation.

Install TES4Edit

This is a powerful plugin-editing tool. If you want to investigate inter-plugin conflicts or make a quick patch, this is the utility to use. It is not necessary to get your first modified setup running, but later on you will probably hear about its usefulness for cleaning and tweaking plugins.

Download TES4Edit.
Extract the archive into the Oblivion folder.

Install Better Oblivion Sorting Software

BOSS is a load ordering utility. Maintaining an organized load order is very important and a non-trivial task.

Download the latest BOSS executable.
Windows 7 and Windows Vista users, should right-click on BOSS.exe and choose Run as administrator. Windows XP users can just double-click the executable.
If you have custom plugins or will have unknowns that need rearranging, look at the ReadMe in the Oblivion/BOSS folder (new location as of version 1.7) for instructions about how to create (and comment) a Userlist.txt file, which will have BOSS modify its output accordingly.

>> Note: If you have Microsoft Word 2003 or a later version, you may want to check out BOSS' companion, BOSS Masterlist Manager.

(OPTIONAL) Install TES4LODGen

This application generates distant LOD data based a your mod list.

Download TES4LODGen.
Extract the archive into the Oblivion folder.

Install OBSE

OBSE and its plugins are not 'regular' mods and require a different kind of installation, which is why their installation is covered here. Most of the following are stabilizers, all highly recommended. The two most vital OBSE plugins are Fast Exit V2 and OSR!

The DLLs for all OBSE plugins are installed in Data/OBSE/plugins. Some OBSE plugins have dependencies (DLLs) in subfolders as well.

Download Oblivion Script Extender (OBSE) to the Oblivion folder
Extract it there. (It will add a folder containing the OBSE files.)
Copy the following up into the Oblivion folder: 'obse_1_2_416.dll', 'obse_editor_1_2.dll', and 'obse_loader.exe.' If you use the Steam version, move 'obse_steam_loader.dll' as well. >> note: Steam users do not need the EXE to launch the game with OBSE, but some scripts (primarily OMOD scripts) check for the presence of that files. The presence of the EXE will not break anything.
Delete the folder and the archive it added
Make a shortcut pointing to obse_loader.exe.
1. Right-click on the file.
2. Choose copy from the context menu.
3. Right-click on the location.
4. Choose Paste shortcut here from the context menu.

To run the game with OBSE, use the obse_launcher.exe to launch your game; otherwise, if you launching the game with OBSE-dependent plugins (not OBSE plugins) the game will crash. Unless you are troubleshooting there is no harm in always launching through the OBSE launcher.

>> Note: If upon launching, it errors about needing the latest version of Oblivion installed (1.2.0416), you need to install the latest official patch.

Install OBSE Plugins

Warning!!! Requires OBSE

How To Install Mods For Oblivion On Xbox One

Again, the OBSE plugins folder is Data/OBSE/plugins. The following are all recommendations, and they are strongly recommended but not at all necessary.

Download Recommended OBSE plugins

Elys' Universal Silent Voice (USV) - extends time text is displayed on screen for unvoiced dialog, so that it does not just flash
Fast Exit v2 - prevents CTD on exit
Oblivion Stutter Remover (OSR) - manages memory at a low level, reducing stuttering in-game
Pluggy - extends OBSE, especially for debugging, for mods and the user

Install the archives

Pay attention the folder into which the downloaded archive is extracted because the archives vary in their packaging.

Extract Fast Exit and OSR in the Oblivion folder.
Extract Elys' USV in the Data folder.
Extract Pluggy into the OBSE plugins folder, which you may have to create. All of the DLLs should end up directly in the Plugins folder (except for OSR's component DLLs which should be in their own subfolder.)
- Find the 'Oblivion Stutter Remover' thread on the BethSoft forums before tweaking the INI file.
- The safest edit you can make is to raise the FPS cap; therefore, if, for example, you have a very good computer, you may want to raise the cap to 60 FPS.
- If you use Streamline, turn off Streamsmooth or set SL's FPS range inside of OSRs. OSR is more robust, sd they can cause bad conflicts when vying to handling memory management.

Special Mention

Since it's so popular... If you are going to use Elys' Uncapper--uncaps the level for the PC skills and attributes, raising the limit from 100 to 200 or 255) extract it to (or in)--extract the downloaded archive into the OBSE plugins folder.

How To Install Mods 1.7.4