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Someone in the Bestheda forum asked for comparison screenshots of Oblivion with and without mods to convince a friend of the importance of a modded game over a console.

It occured to me that textures alone was not enough to really showcase the power of mods - most mods add subtle details that take some time to identify for an untrained eye.

So I took some images from the official screenshots - both pc, xbox and ps3 - and tried to match them as much as possible with my modded game.


Anvil docks -
Vanilla (Xbox) - Modded (PC)

- Mods used: Qarl Texture Pack 3 Redimized, Natural Environments, Better Cities Anvil, Alienslof's Robe Trader, Streamline
- Notice the mountains visible in the background behind the castle and the difference in texture for distant land
- The difference of colors is due to Natural Environment. I personally like the Yellow hue that NE gives to the atmosphere. Vanilla Oblivion look colder most of the time. For a Blueish hue, you can use the alternate weather system AWS.


Skingrad Fighter Guild porter -
Vanilla (PC) - Modded (PC)

- Mods used: Qarl Texture Pack 3 Redimized, Tamriel NPC Revamped, Django's Unique Features, Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul
- The Guild Porter has freckles
- Note that the elf fighter is dressed down (civilian clothes) in the morning. She is not always wearing an armor.


Imperial City view -
Vanilla (PS3) - Modded (PC)

- Mods used: Qarl Texture Pack 3 Redimized, Natural Environments, Better
road signs, Enhanced water, Almost Everything Visible When Distant, HTF noise replacer, BTQ Landscape LODs,
Streamline, More immersive interface

- Notice the distant bridges (left), dock (right) and village at the top of the hill (left) from AEVWD
- The haze around the city itself and the reduced amount of grass are due to Streamline
- Notice the discrete HUD in the bottom corner from a More Immersive Interface



Outside Prison Sewers -
Vanilla (PS3) - Modded (PC)

- Mods used: Qarl Texture Pack 3 Redimized, Natural Environments, Unique
Landscape Imperial Isle, Enhanced water, Almost Everything Visible When
Distant, HTF noise replacer, BTQ Landscape LODs, Streamline

- Notice the changes on the dock and the other side of the water (right) from UL City Isle
- The ayleid ruin on the other side of the lake (left) is now visible
- The blueish hue is caused by a mix between Natural Environment rainy weather and Streamline distant fog.



Skingrad streets -
Vanilla (PS3) - Modded (PC)

- Mods used: Qarl Texture Pack 3 Redimized, Natural Environments, Better Cities Skingrad, Illumination Within Revived
- Notice the clutter and tiny details from Better Cities, and the illuminated windows
- Qarl's Texture pack 3 gives more definition to stone pavement and facades



Chorrol streets -
Vanilla (PS3) - Modded (PC)

- Mods used: Qarl Texture Pack 3 Redimized, Natural Environments, Better Cities Chorrol, Illumination Within Revived, Beaming Sunglare, moDem City Life
- Enhanced sunglare effect
- The Orc beggar is followed by his kid (city life)



Estelle Renoit Bookstore -
Vanilla (XBOX) - Modded (PC)

- Mods used: Qarl Texture Pack 3 Redimized, TNR All Races, Book Jackets Oblivion, Exnem Eye Candy body replacer
- New book covers
- NPC with more character


And finally, THE main reason to use mods

Inventory system -
Vanilla (PS3) - Modded as a list (PC)
- Modded as a table (PC)

- Mods used: wz_inventory, OOO (hood), Chaindress
- Two ways to view your inventory - a list with many more items and a grid, just like Morrowind.
- The chaindress is one of many armors available only from PC mods
- The shaded hood and elven sword come from OOO (hoods and capes are not included in vanilla Oblivion).