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So, you want to mod Oblivion. Maybe you’ve dabbled into modding here and there,

but you just can’t seem to get the hang of it, or maybe it’s your first time playing

and you’re put off by the outdated graphics. Well, no matter the case, this guide will teach

you not only how to install basically any mod made for this game, but I’ll also be showing

you how to visually overhaul Oblivion to make it look like it could’ve been released today.

After you’ve finished following this tutorial, your game will go from looking like this…

to this. Quite the improvement, don’t you think? So, without further ado, let’s begin, shall we?

Now, before we get properly started, this guide is intended to be used with a clean installation

of Oblivion, that is, one which is not associated with any mods. Even if your installation is clean,

however, I would recommend checking its location on your computer. If your Oblivion directory is

located in Program Files x86, I would recommend uninstalling the game and reinstalling in an

entirely separate folder, since there have been many reports of Program Files causing modded games

to not work properly. The Steam version of the game automatically backs up character saves to

the cloud as long as you have the option ticked, assuming you have any character saves in the first

place, but if you’re worried about losing your progress or own a different version of Oblivion,

you can locate your saves in your Documents, My Games, Oblivion folder,

then create a backup copy in case they don’t automatically transfer to your new installation.

While you're here, be sure to delete the Oblivion.ini file, as not doing so causes

a bug where the launcher won’t give you the option to actually play the game.

I would also recommend creating a shortcut of your Oblivion directory to your desktop

for ease of access. Now we have that out of the way, we must install the four-gigabyte patch.

This simply allows the Oblivion program to utilize more RAM on your computer, increasing framerate

and reducing crashes. First, go onto the Nexus Mod page, link in the description, go into files,

and begin downloading. You may need to create an account beforehand, which is very easy to

do and entirely free. Once installed, we simply want to open the folder, activate the .exe file,

and direct it towards our main Oblivion file. After the confirmation message pops up, relaunch

the exe, this time choosing the OblivionLauncher file instead. As stated earlier, this patch

doesn’t add anything new to the game, but it does provide a solid base to begin modding for real.

OBSE, or Oblivion Script Extender, is a program which increases Oblivion’s scripting capabilities,

meaning having it is necessary to be able to use most mods.

Simply download the folder from the Nexus page to start. Open the folder up, and if you own the

Steam version of Oblivion, copy obse_1_2_416.dll, obse_editor_1_2.dll, obse_steam_loader.dll and the

included Data folder into your Oblivion directory. Ensure you have the Steam in-game community tab

enabled or else OBSE will fail to load. For any version of Oblivion not purchased from Steam,

follow the same steps, but instead of the steam loader, copy obse_loader.exe into your directory.

OBSE will not launch automatically alongside non-Steam versions of the game, so feel free

to create a shortcut of obse_loader onto your desktop to make launching your modded Oblivion a

breeze.

Better Oblivion Sorting Software, or BOSS for short, is a program which we can use to sort

the order Oblivion loads our mods to make everything work nice and smoothly together.

Once we get into modding proper, it’s good to make a habit of running BOSS

with every one or two new mods installed. To install, simply go to the GitHub page,

link in the description of course, and click Download BOSS On GitHub. Then,

select the boss.zip folder. Extract the contents of this archive into a new, unzipped folder.

Now, open up the new folder, open up bin, and open the 32 bit or 64 bit release depending

on what type of computer you have. To see your computer’s bit count, search ‘system information’

in the search box on your toolbar, and look for the system type. Open up the respective folder

and make a shortcut of the BOSS application to make opening it easier down the line.

Wrye

Bash is what’s known as a mod manager, a program to make easy work of installing

most mods for Oblivion. Download the latest installer from the Nexus page,

follow the instructions displayed in the install wizard, and feel free to check and

uncheck boxes based on your preference. Once all is said and done, your Oblivion directory should

now contain a mopy folder, which is where everything to do with Wrye Bash is stored.

This will be our main mod manager, but certain older mods require the use of a different program.

Oblivion Mod Manager, or OBMM for short, is another mod manager, similar to Wrye Bash.

However, we will only be using OBMM to install select older mods which were created with the

.omod file type, which Wrye Bash can’t install, along with a few other nifty features we’ll be

making use of later on. Download the installer and run the setup just like we did with Wrye Bash,

create a desktop shortcut if you wish, and viola!

We are now ready to start installing mods. If you’ve gotten this far,

pat yourself on the back, as this is all the setup we need to finally get into the good stuff.

Let’s start off by installing a simple yet essential mod to get our feet wet into the modding

process.

DarNified UI is a mod which, as the name would suggest, drastically improves the

User Interface of Oblivion, giving every menu a much more ergonomic design, making the HUD feel

a lot less cluttered and bulky, and the menus themselves more spacious, with the ability to

show many more items at one time, compared to the overly large text and buttons of the base game.

This is one mod which, once you use it, you can never go back. There are two versions available

for download on the Nexus, with links to both being in the description box below.

The original version, which retains the overall colour scheme and rustic feel of the base game,

and the dark version, replacing the parchment colour with a deep royal red. Choose which one

you install based on what you like better, as they have the exact same functionalities in practice,

but I slightly prefer the original, so that’s the one I’ll be installing for today.

Download the OMOD file of your chosen version,

not the 7z file, and once it’s installed to your computer, extract the folder to your desktop

and open up Oblivion Mod Manager. Simply click the load option and select the .omod file, and

you should see the mod name pop up in the small box to the right, next to a small green square.

This means the mod is inactive, so we’ll need to activate it by double-clicking, typing in

some random stuff, and selecting “install everything.” Here we get some customisation

options. Choose whichever suits you, but I’m going for the classic inventory and coloured local map.

Hold the control key while you click to select multiple options at once, by the way.

Select OK, and now we get a choice of font size. Even though my monitor’s rather large,

I still find the normal option too small, so I’d recommend choosing the Large font size.

Now hold down the control key and click “yes” to the following dialogue boxes,

and the green square next to the mod name should now be blue, indicating that the mod is now indeed

active. Launch the game just to make sure, and lo and behold, it should be working.

Feel free to delete the initial archive from your desktop at this point. These menus just

look and feel so much better than the original game in my opinion, so even though it takes some

time to get used to the smaller font size and buttons, trust me when I say it’s well worth it.

And that’s it for Part 1 of modding Oblivion the easy way. If you enjoyed this video or

found it helpful, be sure to leave a like and subscribe for more content in the future.

In Part 2, we will be installing many more mods to polish aspects of gameplay and make

the visuals absolutely stunning. That’s all for now, and I’ll see you in the next one.