Rivercity by Night

Oblivion

by Nic Evans
10.08 V1.3, 7.09 V2.0

Oblivion (PC, Xbox 360, PS3)
Score: 8 (10 w/mods)

Updated: July, 2009

Bethesda's Oblivion was released on PC and Xbox 360 in March, 2006 and also PS3 the following year. It won numerous awards for it's in-depth storytelling, innovative rpg system and open world environment. The story doesn't end there however. By giving players the TES Construction Kit (basically the same tools the developers used) the PC version has greatly extended the life of the game as it did it's predessor, Morrowind. This is a model other developers should look at more closely.

It's July, 2009 and I'm still finding new and interesting ways to play Oblivion, thanks to a large community of modders whose tremendous time and effort has resulted in a game that goes above and beyond what I had imagined was even possible.

Let's look at the original system requirements...

Recommended:

3 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
1 GB System RAM
ATI X800 series, Nvidia GeForce 6800 series, or higher video card

Depending on what resolution you run at, this might be sufficient for medium quality. If you plan on running a lot of mods, I would recommend at least 2GB of system RAM and 512MB of video memory. Oblivion is known for devouring lesser PCs. Only a proper gaming rig will provide you with smooth framerates. This is as true now as it was in 2006. If this is discouraging consider that memory and a good video card are now much cheaper.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition for Windows includes Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine expansions. Here are just a few vendors that are still offering it for sale.

$19.99 Newegg
$19.99 Barnes and Noble
$19.99 Bestbuy
$19.99 Gamestop

If you have an older PC and can't afford to upgrade it right now, don't despair, you can always download and enjoy The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall for free. That may tide you over till your shiny new hardware arrives.

DOWNLOADS

Patches

Official
"This mod is a joint effort to fix the vast amount of bugs currently existing in Oblivion v1.2.0.416, fixing over 1,800 bugs so far."

Unofficial Oblivion Patch
"This mod is a joint effort to fix the vast amount of bugs currently existing in the Shivering Isles expansion pack for Oblivion v1.2.0416, fixing over 270 bugs so far."

Unnofficial Shivering Isles
"This mod is a joint effort to fix the vast amount of bugs currently existing in the Shivering Isles expansion pack for Oblivion v1.2.0416, fixing over 270 bugs so far."

Unnofficial DLC
"The aim of this mod is to fix the bugs existing in the official mods released by Bethesda."

Utilities

O.B.S.E. (Oblivion Script Extender)

Wyre Bash

O.B.M.M. (Oblivion Mod Manager)
"This is a utility for managing plugins, and also for packing them for distribution. It can be used either as an enhanced version of the oblivion launcher's data files selector, or as a more advanced mod manager when mods are specially packed into omod files."

B.O.S.S. (Better Oblivion Sorting Software)
"A simple "one-click" program for users to quickly optimise and avoid detrimental conflicts in their oblivion mod load-order."

TES4LODGen
"TES4LODGen is a One-Click DistantLOD Generator."

Gameplay

Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul
"Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul aims to make Oblivion a much more interesting, challenging, realistic and dangerous place, and also offers great rewards for the daring adventurer regardless of your level. "

Martigen's Monster Mod
New creatures, npcs and crafting.

Francesco's Leveled Creatures-Items
"This mod changes nearly all creatures lists to provide a more static, non leveled, experience."

Oblivion WarCry
"Oblivion WarCry is a mod, that should enhance fun and long-run motivation to play the game. This is achieved by an improved balance of the Oblivion world and by new game content like additional opponents/creatures and items. In particular highlevel characters will get their money's worth."

FCOM: Convergence
"FCOM provides complete unification of Mart's Monster Mod and Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul. It brings all of the numerous new creatures, NPCs, and items added by MMM and OOO into a consistent and balanced structure. In addition, it integrates Francesco's vast collection of new items and named NPC bosses along with new creatures and items from Oblivion WarCry. To make all these great mods work together, FCOM provides a common infrastructure for a series of patches, rebalancers, and relevelers that work with the Bashed Patch feature of Wrye Bash."

Places

Bananasplit Better Cities
"This mod changes the layout of each of the Cities/Districts.
The Arboretum is turned into a luxurious garden with some domesticated deer and rabbits, a beautiful pond in front of a new hotel with a bar, bedrooms, public and private bath.

In the Imperial Market District, the buildings have been elevated and several towers have been placed. Some ancient Ayleid statues, uncovered from recent digging under the city have been placed in the District for the population's admiration. New housing has been built and the passages are now narrow and less bare than before.

In Chorrol the castle gets elevated and protected by walls, an old prison is now accessible and several new houses have been installed. The general layout is vastly changed.

In Bravil, the aspect of decay has been vastly enhanced and you will understand why this city is called the slump of Cyrodiil. The city contains now several levels of houses with pathways making it a real maze.

In Leyawiin, the castle surrounding has been flooded but a wood pathway has been built for the guard patrols. The old/poor quarter looks mouldy and really poor. A new harbour has been built, a ship of the Imperial Navy is currently docked there.

In Skingrad, the city has been made more floral and the Colovian District has been enhanced. New houses have also been built.

In Anvil, new houses have been built, the central place has been redecorated as well as the little lake surround. The Anvil Bay has also been altered to give more life to the place.

In Bruma, the city has been enhanced with a pond and waterfall, and the poor quarter has expanded.

In Cheydinhal, the general layout has been changed and the city has been made more floral. A prison quarter also has been added as well as some new houses."

Animated Window Lighting System and Chimneys
"This mod has 3 functions:
1. Acting as a simple meshes replacer for all the construction with windows in Oblivion and offering a lit version of the windows (no plugin needed).
2. Allowing to lit and Unlit the windows depending on the plugin you are using (OBSE Required).
3. Adding Smoke to every chimney if you are using the optional chimney replacer meshes.

Unique Landscapes

"Unique Landscapes is based on the vision of a diversified and beautiful Cyrodiil. Imagine a world where exploring not only means to find new enemies and treasures but to enjoy gorgeous landscapes, a world where every step could lead to a new and unique visual experience. That is the Cyrodiil UL is working on.

To achieve a goal that huge, the UL project consists of multiple single mods. Each mod modifies a part of Cyrodiil, following a single theme. Usually UL mods get developed completely independently from each other. This way each modder has a maximum of freedom to work on his or her vision, so every UL mod gets its own style and contributes to the diversification of Cyrodiil."

Ancient Yews
Arrius Creek
Beaches of Cyrodiil: Lost Coast
Blackwood Forest
Bravil Barrowfields
Brena River Ravine
Chorrol Hinterland
Cloudtop Mountains
Colovian Highlands
Entius Gorge
Fallenleaf Everglade
Imperial Isle
River Ethe
Rolling Hills: Roland Jenseric's Farm
Stendarr Valley
The Dark Forest
The Great Forest: Ancient Redwoods
The Great Forest: Lush Woodland
The Heath: Wetland
Panther River

Natural Environments
"Natural Environments is an attempt to enhance and improve environmental components of Elder's Scrolls IV. The 2.1 version of the mod includes dozens of features: seasonal weather patterns, improved visualization of most celestial features found in the game, more than 40 new weather types (the default number is 7), and additional ambient wildlife species, such as birds and insects."

Natural Weather: responsible for all meteorological modifications.
Natural Water: provides various tweaks for in-game water types.
Natural Habitat: adds and controls more than 20 different types of birds and insects.
Natural Vegetation: alters scaling characteristics of trees and shrubs.

Enhanced Weather
"Enhanced Weather is the next generation of photorealistic weather mods. Unlike most other such mods available, it merely adds to, instead of replacing, Oblivion's default weather system, resulting in a seamless blend of both vanilla and new weathers, as well as some unique features."

Enhanced Water
Alternative to Natural Water.

Elsweyr: The Deserts of Anequina "An across-the-border landscape and cities expansion."

Graphics

Qarl's Texture Pack 3 Redimized and Further Reduced
"Qarl: The purpose of this package is to make TES IV: Oblivion look even better than when you bought it. To do this I've created new textures, normal maps, specular and parallax maps to replace a large number of those in the game with ones which are higher resolution and more photo realistic, while at the same time still very close to the original feel of Bethesda's intentions."

Replacers

Improved Trees and Flora

Beauty Faces

Anchakor's Maps

Sound

Ultimate Music Pack
Extra music for Oblivion in spirit of the original score. Composed by a Finnish composer Matti Paalanen.

Symphony of Violence