Oblivion Game of the Year Edition

[tigersty1e]

So I've never played Oblivion and decided to buy the game after all the rage from posters.

How do I get the best experience? Install the game and all 2 expansion packs and just play?

Is the game good enough without any mods?

And what is this DLC? Is the DLC free?

 

[Zenoth]

Ok, well where to start (there's a lot to say).

You don't "need" modifications, that's for sure. But I would highly recommend you to get at least one, namely the Unofficial Oblivion Patch, which fixes literally thousands of bugs (no exaggeration there), from merely misplaced items, missing textures and buggy meshes to quest-breaking bugs, and more. That patch should almost be taken under Bethesda control and made official, really, I myself consider it necessary for Oblivion to function optimally. By the way there's one such unofficial patch as well for the expansion pack, namely Shivering Isles, just in case you also have it. Also, if you do get the UOP then make sure you installed all official patches first, and then at the end you can install the UOP (and don't forget to activate its .ESP file when you launch the game via the launcher).

Then you obviously have the content-adding/others modifications. And out of those I recommend the well known Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul. But there's so much to talk about when it comes to mods and Oblivion. I would prefer telling you that if you want more information regarding modifications you should visit the official Bethesda forums under the Oblivion Mods section and start there. You can also of course Google for "Oblivion Mods" and you'll find plenty from there as well.

As for the game itself without any extra mods, I think it's "alright", it's certainly enjoyable, but it lacks in a few areas, it'd take me three pages to make a proper review of the game, and there's already well enough of them out there on the web from "professional" reviewers and players alike, I suggest you read them if you want, but then again, you got the game so... just play it, do a couple of quests, try not to rush on the main quest from the start or you will end up completing the whole thing under two or three days of play (under pure vanilla condition or not, it doesn't matter, the main quest isn't that long).

Also to play it at the best settings and to properly understand what settings do what and how much impact they have on performance I suggest reading the tweaks guide for it over at TweakGuides.com, it'll help you best configure it, better than just playing around the in-game settings. And, finally, what do you mean by "what is this DLC"?, which of the official DLC's are you referring to? Because there's more than one from Bethesda. And in case you're asking what is a DLC, it's simple really, basically it's just a modification made by Bethesda to add content to the game, just like any other mods made by the community, the difference being it's "official".

 

[tigersty1e]

I didn't mean to say mods. I meant expansion packs. My game came with Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine.

Should I play vanilla first before playing installing the expansion packs?

 

[brandonb]

I'd install it all.

 

[Zenoth]

Well that's simpler indeed.

You can install both the original and expansion pack. When you start you still start in Oblivion, not Shivering Isles, the content of Shivering Isles become available in the game when you first actually enter the Shivering Isles "world" itself. The expansion pack doesn't actually "revamp" all or most original content contrarily to most other games out there. The way it works is that Shivering Isles is a separate location from the "main" Oblivion world (Cyrodiil) which you enter from a specific place (I won't go into details to avoid spoilers).

So in other words the expansion pack doesn't directly affect the "original" game (well it does for some items and vendors, but other than that it's not much noticeable that you have the expansion pack installed until you enter the Shivering Isles world itself). Just think of Shivering Isles as a very big city within Cyrodiil. As for Knights of the Nine that's a DLC, the biggest one from Bethesda (and the best of course). That DLC can also be installed with the original and Shivering Isles. The DLC acts more like a modification than an expansion (of course, that's because it's not an expansion, but I'm just saying how it works compared to Shivering Isles). The Knights of the Nine DLC is much smaller in scale and amount of content, but it does add some replay value and variety to the game.

In the end I still highly recommend installing the Unofficial Oblivion Patch, it's considered a must by anyone who've tried it so far.

 

[pmv]

I second above suggestion. Also you should get the mod that de-console-ises the UI. DarnifiedUI or something like that, or maybe its another one, there's a couple of them. It changes the UI from the ridiculously low-res format to something more appropriate for a PC.

 

[shortylickens]

Originally posted by: pmv
I second above suggestion. Also you should get the mod that de-console-ises the UI. DarnifiedUI or something like that, or maybe its another one, there's a couple of them. It changes the UI from the ridiculously low-res format to something more appropriate for a PC.

Thats the only mod I'd say is "essential" to install. All the others are just for convenience, but the UI mods actually make the game more playable.

As for the official expansions, just go ahead and install them. You can ignore them during gameplay as long as you want. Or jump on them immediately, its your choice.

 

[MustangSVT]

damn it , now I want to play it again.

Only issue I had (kinda) was the leveling system. Is there a good mod to "fix" the leveling system?

 

[Scooby Doo]

Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul will help with leveling creatures and so will Francesco's static leveling (Franc's is a bit easier than OOO). If you want to fix the way leveling occurs for yourself, then nGCD is what your looking for.

 

[kmmatney]

For fixing the UI, I used BTMod. This makes the UI much better for the PC, and is highly recommended (very easy to install and use).

I originally played the game with a Sempron and a X800GTO2 video card, so I also used a few mods (such as "short grass" mod) to get the framerate a bit higher. You don't need that if you have a modern system, though.

As for the original question, yes, install everything first.

 

[Scooby Doo]

Ohhh I like BTMod I wish there was an in-game config menu though.

DarkUI is nice except for the subpixel font sizes it uses.

 

[tigersty1e]

How long is the main quest?

 

[QueBert]

the game still has 3 or 4 people doing voices for EVERY character that speaks. And the people don't even attempt to change their voice from character to character. That killed the game for me. I found it annoying, and ultimately made the game unplayable for me. Is there a way to turn off the speech and just have subtitles? I'd play it probably if I could do this.

 

[shortylickens]

Originally posted by: tigersty1e
How long is the main quest?

If you just do that and none of the optional stuff: Pretty darn short. I have heard of guys who knew exactly what they were doing making speed runs in about 10-12 hours (I think). Even if you are lost & confused the main quest probably wouldnt take more than 20 hours if you just focused on that. Also, since all the enemies level with you its entirely possible to beat the game at level one without killing ANYBODY. This includes the final boss. Apparently you can zap him with a paralyze spell.
At some point in the main quest you do need to get the count or mayor of each town to ally with you, which means doing a piddly little quest for them. But overall it doesnt take very long. It will likely leave you feeling empty when you finally complete it.

The good news is that the game can still be played after the main quest is completed.
The bad news is all the side quests are much less interesting and you will get tired quickly. The Dark Brotherhood stuff is OK. All the other guilds are boring & repetitive. As are the massive number of Oblivion Gates.

More good news: The Shivering Isles stuff is awesome and you will certainly enjoy it even if you've put a thousand hours into the main game.

As for the voiceover issue:
You can go to the audio settings and turn speech down to minimum.

 

[pmv]

Mart's Monster Mod was good, as I remember. Added a lot of variety.

 

[vesuvius333]

Mods are essential for Oblivion. They make a good game into a great game. Go crazy over here. http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsfor...3d7fb8732&showforum=25

 

[Scooby Doo]

Originally posted by: pmv
Mart's Monster Mod was good, as I remember. Added a lot of variety.

I like MMM, except for a few problems, my game became rather unstable afterwards, and those wild cats need to be toned down quite a bit... But theres nothing like running into a herd (12+)of wild brown bears LOL

Also here Planet Eldor Scrolls and here Nexus for even more mods.

 

[tigersty1e]

Does the game bet better after a while?

And does the game shine when you play the main quest or the side quests?

I just got out of the prison and the game is alright. I was expecting much better graphics. My 4850 handles it with ease... granted, I know the game is 2-3 years old, but when it came out I was hearing stories of how the 8800 GTX was struggling with the game and the graphics were the supposed to be the best out there.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: tigersty1e
Does the game bet better after a while?

And does the game shine when you play the main quest or the side quests?

I just got out of the prison and the game is alright. I was expecting much better graphics. My 4850 handles it with ease... granted, I know the game is 2-3 years old, but when it came out I was hearing stories of how the 8800 GTX was struggling with the game and the graphics were the supposed to be the best out there.

it's the same game, while I understand the need for side quests, it sort of took away from the game for me. I mean the world is doomed and I need to save it, but first let me go to this random chicks house and find out while her pet dogs or rats or whatever keep getting eaten. I would think if demonic fuckers were coming in hoards, helping people with menial tasks would be the last thing in this world you'd be doing. That too away all urgency for me, and killed the game. Does it EVER end badly if you don't handle the Oblivion Gates? I never felt a "hurry up!" mentality, knowing I could fart around with side quests, and just walk around doing nothing in general without ill effect, sucks

I also didn't like the trigger crap, like the dude in jail telling you where the gold was buried but if you went there on your on it wouldn't be there until you talked to him, then it magically appeared.