User talk:Diana TES GotH/Morroblivion Overhaul

Morroblivion Overhaul
Version 2.0: The Modular Build
Changelog | Forum | Release Date: TBD

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Introduction and Summary

Please visit my Patreon site to learn more about my goals and intentions: Diana TES GotH is creating Modding Guides and Tutorials.

As my friend ponyrider0 says, 'If you can find enjoyment in unskilled fan-fiction and fan-artwork, then Morroblivion might be for you. Morroblivion is an unpolished, inefficient, precarious fan-fic quality mod that is no longer being maintained by a development team. Users should not expect to experience the best performance or FPS when playing Morroblivion, even in its vanilla state. Yet, there is still a tremendous amount of love and hard-work poured into this project by its fans. Nevertheless, if you are looking for something that rises above your average unskilled, fan-made effort, you should probably wait for Skywind or another similar project.'

Disclaimer: This is a guide intended to help first-time modders make their modding experience as successful as possible. The guide has been split into a number of small sections for your convenience.

Neither S.T.E.P. or I are responsible for users who do not install the recommended mods carefully and end up breaking their game. We are also NOT responsible if a user's system is not capable of handling the recommended mods.

Requirements: Any questions or issues related to this guide will be addressed on the STEP: Morroblivion Overhaul forum. I encourage all users of this guide to register on the forum. For live assistance, discord members may join The Morroblivion Help Desk hosted by ponyrider0. I also encourage feedback and suggestions. While I am an experienced modder, I am by no means a master.

Notice: It is particularly important that new users begin with a clean installation of both Morrowind and Oblivion in order to be successful with their modding setup the first time through, so PLEASE READ EACH SECTION CAREFULLY, as no information included in this guide is irrelevant! Due to the many steps one must take in order to successfully install each mod, this will be a tedious and time consuming project. It is recommended that you take the time to save all changes made to any files so that if you have to revert back to any part of this guide you can more easily retrieve the files you made any necessary changes to.

This guide has been created by experimenting with many online guides and modifying others recommendations to suit my own personal tastes. Mods tailored for Morroblivion are noted for convenience.

You must have LEGAL copies of BOTH Oblivion GOTY and Morrowind + All DLC’s.

IMPORTANT: READ the developer’s information provided before performing any installations. The instructions provided within this guide are only suggestions that work for the majority of users. Not all users have the same system setup.

Author's System

Desktop

* Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700K CPU @ 4.20GHz
* Motherboard: Alienware Aurora R6
* Ram: 64GB (4x16G) 2400MHz DDR4 Memory
* GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
* OS: Windows 10 Pro
* Games: NVMe THNSN5512GPUK NV 512 GB SSD
* Data and Backup: TOSHIBA DT01ACA200 2TB

Laptop

* Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8750H CPU @ 2.20GHz
* Motherboard: Alienware 17 R5
* Ram: 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 2666MHz
* GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070
* OS: Windows 10 Pro
* Games: SM961 NVMe SAMSUNG 512 GB SSD
* Data and Backup: HGST HTS721010A9E630 1TB

Legend and Terminology

Each mod or tool is preceded by a tag for easier management of the guide:

• CORE
  - This mod is a full part of the guide and is expected to be installed.
• TOOL
  This isn't a mod, but a modding utility to be used during your modding adventure.
• Optional
  - This mod is optional. This is an addition considered useful to the setup, but might be more of a personal preference.
• Morroblivion
  - This mod is specifically tailored for Morroblivion.

Terminology:

• Plugin - any .esp or .esm file.
• ESM - Elder Scrolls Master. Usually saved as a .esm file, which has the same format as a .esp file, only one bit (as in, one bit of a byte) is different.
• ESP - Elder Scrolls Plugin. Most mods are ESPs, but some are ESMs. Their format is the same, but the game handles them slightly differently in some specific cases.
• ESS - Elder Scrolls Save. Your saved games. This is loaded after all the ESPs and ESMs are loaded, so that its changes (like what items are in which containers) can override what the plugins say.
• BSA - Bethesda Softworks Archive. Sort of like a .zip file, but specific to Bethsoft's games, and optimized (sort of) for their specific usage.
• Load Order - The order that your mods (ESPs and ESMs) are loaded. When conflicts occur, the last loaded conflict "wins".
• Install Order - The order that files are installed into your Data folder. When multiple packages install the same file, the last installed package "wins".
• Loose File(s) - A resource file in the Data folder that's "loose", as in not packaged into a BSA.
• FormID - A unique ID assigned to each "record" of a plugin. Each object in the game is defined by a record, and each record has a FormID. A FormID is 32-bits, with the first 8 bits defining which ESM or ESP the record belongs to.
• Vanilla - A term referring to Skyrim as distribute by Bethesda and Steam. This means no modifications have been done. Alludes to the "plainness" of the vanilla ice-cream flavor.
• Vanilla Enhanced - A term that refers to models and textures that enhance content and is "lore friendly" or only visually different in terms of quality and/or better performance. Vanilla Enhanced will be flagged as
  CORE
  , meaning that the mod is a full part of the guide and is expected to be installed.
• Graphics Expanded - A term that refers to models and textures that expand content and may appear visually different than vanilla content. Graphics Expanded will be flagged as
  Optional
  , meaning that the user may opt to install the Graphics Expanded section instead of the Vanilla Enhanced section. It is not recommended to install both together.

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Prepare for Modding

Click Prepare for Modding and follow its guide before continuing to the Mod Installation section.

Prepare for Modding includes the following:

* Install Utilities
* INI Tweaks
* BOSS Sorting
* Suggestions for In-Game Testing

Extenders and DLL Enhancements

Third-party programs (or extensions thereof) that enhance Oblivion functionality or display.

[Gameplay - Fixes]

Clean the Official Oblivion DLCs and install essential mods which involves fixing issues with the base game.

[Gameplay - Stability & Performance]

Fixes which specifically address game stability or performance.

[Gameplay - User Interface]

Mods which add or modify user interface components.

[Gameplay - Quests & Stories > Morroblivion]

Morroblivion Project Release [v064] Core installation instructions and essential mods that fix bugs and tweak deficient aspects of Morroblivion.

[Gameplay - Substantial Overhauls]

Mods that add substantially new events, enemies, and items to the game.

[Gameplay - Quests & Stories > Modified and Expanded]

New or alterred quests that often involve new locations.

[Gameplay - Skills and Leveling]

Mods which add or modify skills or leveling.

[Gameplay - Magic & Abilities]

Mods which add new abilities or spells.

[Items - Loot Leveled List]

Mods that change or add items and loot to the Leveled Lists.

[New Characters - Enemies]

Mods which add characters that are hostile to the player.

[Items - Attributes & Effects Changes]

Mods that change vanilla item attributes, enchantment.

[Audiovisual - Sounds & Music]

Mods which add or modify sounds or music.

[Audiovisual - Lighting & Weather]

Mods which add or modify lighting or weather.

[Audiovisual - Grass Mods]

Mods that add non-interactive grass and or flora to the world space.

[Audiovisual - Landscape and Grass Fixes]

Mods that removes or disables non-interactive grass and or flora in the world space.

[Character Appearance - Body Meshes Mods]

Mods that adjust body shapes or textures, including skeleton mods.

[Audiovisual - Animations & Physics]

Mods which add or modify animations or physics.

[Audiovisual - Models & Textures]

Mods which provide models, textures, or shaders.

[Gameplay - AI Mods]

Mods which adds, modifies, or disables NPCs AI.

[Gameplay - Immersion & Role-playing]

Mods which specifically aid player immersion or role-playing.

[Character Appearance - Face Parts, NPC Overhauls, Overlays, & Races]

Mods that add new face parts such as hairs, beards, brows, or eyes, overhaul NPC appearance, or add new overlays such as warpaints, tattoos, or freckles.

[Audiovisual - Interior Lighting and Interior Decorating Mods]

Mods that alter lights in interior cells as well as adds, modifies, disables, or overhauls objects in interior cells.

[Locations - New > Single Area Exterior Edits]

Mods that adds, modifies, disables, or Overhauls a specific area in the world space.

[Locations - New > Multiple Area Exterior Edits]

Mods that adds, modifies, disables, or Overhauls multiple areas in the world space.

[Items - Unique: Added to Exterior/Interior Locations]

Mods that add unique items to interior or exterior locations without overhauling the landscape or navmesh.

[Gameplay - AI & Combat]

Mods which modify character behavior, combat mechanics, or enemy strength in general.

[New Characters - Allies]

Mods which add characters that can be allied with the player without changing the world space.

[Gameplay - Quests & Stories > New Characters]

New or altered quests that often involve new characters.

[Gameplay - User Interface > Map Mods]

Mods that modifies or overhauls the map or its features.

[Specialized Mods - Lowest in the Load Order]

Specific Mods that require the lowest possible order due to specific zone edits or special fixes in the game.

Conclusion

Morroblivion Overhaul's Conclusion page includes the following:

Launching Morroblivion

Prepare for long term game-play.

Tips & Troubleshooting Common Issues

Review modding TIPS and suggestions for Resolving Common Issues users have reported when modding Oblivion.

Credits

Review sources for this guide.