December 2007 Archives

You will experience less issues with mods if you install them in an organized way :

- create an 'oblivion-download' folder on your desktop. Download the archives files in that folder (rar, zip, 7z files etc). It is always useful to have a copy of the original file you downloaded in case you need to reinstall a mod later.

- create an 'install' folder in your 'Oblivion/Data folder'.

- open the archive file with winrar and extract all files to that install folder

- open the install folder and read the instructions from the mod. There are always differences with how mods are installed. It comes down to this - copy all .esp, .esm files and folders such as Textures, Meshes, Music etc... to your Oblivion / Data folder.

- it is also helpful to create a 'readme' folder in 'Oblivion/data' where you will copy the instructions (readme files) from your mods.

- once you have copied the files from the install folder, you can delete the original copy from the install folder.

- read the sticky threads in the forum for more details about installing mods, especially about mod interactions/ conflicts and Archive Invalidation methods.

- also, at the very least, download OBMM (Oblivion Mod Manager) so you can reorganize the loard order of your mods more easily

(Summary from a post in the Bethesda forum).

I got tired of getting a systematic crash on exit with my game, so I started playing with the load order.

After a lot of trials and errors, here is what I found.

My load order ends something like this :

[Group 1 - Knights.esp + patches]
[Group 2 - ShiveringIsles.esp + patches]
[Group 3 - UniqueLandscape mods]
[Group 4 - Better cities mods]
[Group 5 - House mods]
[Group 6 - mythsandlegends + darker dungeons + Slof's Oblivion Robe Trader + Origin of the Mages Guild + MannimarcoRevisited]
[Group 7 - Utilities - Streamline etc...]

I found that if I activate any of the mods in Group 6, Oblivion always crashed on exit.
However, if I move all 5 mods in Group 6 before Group 1 (Knight of the Nine), the crashes on exit vanished !

I do not know enough about dissecting mods, so I am at a loss as to why these mods would cause a crash on exit when activate *after* Knights (or Shivering Isles... I didn't check which one it is), while UL and Better Cities mods do not cause a crash.

For the time being, getting rid of Knights of the nine altogether seemed to have resolved most of my crashes on exit. Instead, I am now getting a new issue where Oblivion takes a very long time to quit (up to 20 minutes !).

Sometimes I wish I had crashes on exit again.

Where do the Imperial Patrols go at the end of the day ?

Do they march until they drop ? do they stop at Inns for the night (I know some do... but that is not very martial of them).

I found one missing detail in Cyrodiil was the lack of military camp sites. Places where Imperial Patrols, Watchmen and Foresters can get much needed repair and supplies, or just kick back and relax for a while.

There was a thread a while ago asking about forts to be rebuilt to their past glory. There is a full mod allowing the clean up and rebuilding of a fort, and another WIP around a full Legion faction. This mod is less ambitious - as it stands now, it is purely to add immersive details in the game.

I just needed a simple project to practice making mods - this looks like a good place to start.

So... what does it do so far ?

Imperial Forts - Fort Nikel adds a much needed base camp for Imperial Patrols.

Official forum thread -
Status: On hold until March 08.

The area around the fort was cleaned up. The surrounding fortifications rebuilt anew and the main keep proudly stands once again.

- Fort Nikel rebuilt - view from the north
- West Gate
- South Gate
- Main Courtyard

The fort provides shelter for patrols, with the full amenities one can expect from the Legion.

- Living Quarters
- Practice Area
- Stables

There is a small cemetery and shrine at the center of the fort to honor the memory of fallen heroes.

- Shrine

Smugglers have established themselves under the ruins of a watchtower, north of the lake.

- Smugglers Cave

Practically speaking, I had to move the entrance to the inside of the ruin up north. I also moved spawning points, quest items and a few other goodies in alternate locations in the area.

The fort is almost functional at the moment. I still have some minor clipping issues to fix (I miss how items used to snap automatically together in Morrowind's CS) as well as clean up of the ground level inside the fortifications.

Hopefully, I will have a first version released before the weekend.

Some ideas I would like to explore after the holidays :

- Unique NPCs with services available - smithy, cook, trainer (right now, I only have a few generic guards and soldiers).
- Soldiers 'rest' activities - practicing, cleaning up armor, eating, sleeping
- Separate interior cell for the Keep (open place holder at the moment)
- Patrols leaving and coming home

If this one turns out the way I would like, I would even consider extending it to smaller outpost in strategic locations in Cyrodiil.

(Summarized version of my post in the Bethesda forum)

Here is an encounter I had at Fort Strand (ruins directly East of Anvil).

http://www.alquier.org/TES/images/Oblivion...fort-strand.jpg

My first thought is that something went bad with MMM and/or OOO, but I have learned enough about mod interaction to know better than just go with my first feelings about this kind of issues.

Also worth noticing - the VERY large number of bandits outside Fort Strand. I counted more than a dozen (usually, I only get 4 or 5 there).

After following some suggestions from the forum, it looks like the mutants were caused by a conflict between the new version of MMM, TNR All Races and an old version of Wrye Bash used to try and merge the levelled lists.

I downloaded the latest version of Wrye Bash, used it to update the faces of NPCs only (and leave levelled lists alone) and I haven't seen the mutants ever since.

Granted.. I don't have the latest rig available.

But my P4 3GHz with HT, 3 Gb of RAM and Radeon X1600 is able to run other graphically intense games smoothly - including Call of Duty 4 or Crysis.

I keep reading of people running several mods and getting framerates in the 40 to 60.

The most I can get at the moment is an average of 13 ! indoor and outdoor.
Edit: I am running the game under Vista - with minimum services running in background - 1360x1050 resolution, shadows from tree canopy only and HDR (no AA)

So... what am I missing ?

I read Oblivion optimization guides (and updated my Oblivion.ini file accordingly).
I installed Oblivion on a SATA hard drive with 10000 RPM and keep it defragmented frequently.
I use Streamline with fairly aggressive settings.

On the other hand, I am using Almost Everything Viewable When Distant (with small textures) as well as QT3 textures. Oblivion would not be the same without these two mods.

Based on answers to this question in a post at the Bethesda forum, I managed to add much needed 'frames per seconds' to my Oblivion experience :

- Turning off the Vsync option improved performance significantly. It is recommended to use that option only if you get tearing effects on your screen - since I don't have that problem, I can safely get rid of that option.

- I increased the size of iPreLoadSizeLimi in the Oblivion.ini setting to reflect the use of both MMM and OOO (according to explanations from Jaga Talesin in the Oblivion Performance discussion thread)

- Using Qarl Texture pack reduced (regular version) and Almost Everything Visible When Distant (light version) reduced a lot the impact of the game on my video and system memory

- I eliminated the impact of unnecessary sound files by installing QuietFeetMax. I can easily play without having to hear the footsteps of creatures in the game.

The result - an increase of average fps from 5-10 to 10-15. A difference large enough to make the game finally playable with the mix of mods I would like to have.