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Popehat Project overhauls Oblivion
One of the great things about a game like Oblivion is that many people who love it roll up their sleeves and bang on it to make it better, stronger, faster, and without the crazy unfair leveling monsters. They create mods that improve the gameplay, gussy up the graphics, add new missions, and more. Of course, it's also one of the confounding things about a game like Oblivion, because there no easy way to sort the wheat from the chaff. For every great mod, there are a half dozen that turn your armor pink, replace bandits with Power Rangers, or let you shoot laser beams from your eyes that do 1,487 points of damage.
Which is why it helps to have a friend who's hardcore into a game like Oblivion. "Hey, So-and-so," you can ask your friend, whose name you might have forgotten, "what mods should I use if I want to get back into Oblivion?" If you don't have a friend like that, I can lend you Chris "triggercut" Hornbostel, who just put together a massive 3GB collection of his favorite Oblivion mods and rather inelegantly gave it the self-defecating, I mean -deprecating name "Popehat Oblivion Omods Project". I'll let you figure out the acronym.
You'll have to grab it with a torrent client, and you should check the ongoing conversation here to make sure you work it right. But for the most part, it looks like an idiot-proof way to re-explore the best the Oblivion community has to offer. The whole thing installs from a single file, and there are optional installs for some of the more controversial mods. It doesn't require any of the add-ons, so even you cheap bastards who didn't spring for Shivering Isles or the horse armor can use it.
By the way, Chris was reluctant to be credited:
…Honestly I'm not sure I'm worth it; the guys who made these mods are the artists, I'm just the DJ spinning their tunes...Rock on, Chris.
By budgethero at 12:45 PM ON 06/10/08
reading this has me wondering if mods could also be something for fidget to look at once in a while, just maybe??
also, tom, are you the only guy we're gunnu hear from, or will there be more one day? not that your not doing a good job, its just variety is the spice of life.
By ALEXANDER at 2:22 PM ON 06/10/08
If Tom Chick is not the writing, it will not be as better.
By Tom Chick at 5:25 PM ON 06/10/08
Budgethero, I *completely* agree with you about variety, and so do the guys at Sci Fi. But at this point, I'm all you get. :( We hope for that to change in the future, but for now, I'm the only guy holding down the fort.
By budgethero at 12:04 PM ON 06/11/08
cool, i was a little worried you were being over worked.
By mattwivs at 12:09 PM ON 06/11/08
will these mods work with existing saves? I really want to check them out but I don't want to watch the emperor get assassinated AGAIN! It was traumatizing enough the first time ;)
By Tom Chick at 4:43 PM ON 06/11/08
Matt, good question about the existing saves. My guess -- but you'll have to check the documentation -- is that you shouldn't have any problems. These mods are designed to work with the story progression, so they should be able to pick up wherever you left off. Plus, I think Chris was pretty conscientious about making any of the more drastic mods optional toggles.
By malkav11 at 11:22 AM ON 06/12/08
Most Oblivion mods just drop right in (they may conflict, but half the point of a project like this is making sure nothing like that's an issue.). There are only two kinds of mod I've really noticed requiring a brand new game. The first kind, of course, would be those mods that alter character creation by, e.g., adding new races. But that's to be expected. The second kind are the overhauls. I don't think they per se *force* you to restart, but it's recommended. I believe this project does include one such overhaul (Francesco's). You may be able to skip that.
By Haawkings at 5:39 PM ON 01/26/09
Wow, I wish someone would give good ol' M&MVI an overhaul, ofc it would be a hellar lot of work.
Haawkings:
Wow, I wish someone would give good ol' M&MVI an overhaul, ofc it would be a hellar lot of work....More »