Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul

Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul 137 has arrived.

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.

You must be prepared to cast aside your previous notions about Cyrodiil. The world no longer revolves around you, the player. Do not expect to be able to beat every monster or NPC you meet. Previously familiar areas may now be much more dangerous and you will frequently be forced to retreat from enemies who are too powerful to beat until you are stronger. You will probably die a lot more often now. However, if you have the ingenuity, skill, and luck to survive the odds stacked against you, then you will be justly rewarded for your bravery!

Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul won GameSpy's Best PC Mod of the Year award for 2006. Although GameSpy is long gone these days, some evidence of this fact remains in a few obscure corners of the web: (1) | (2) | (3).

• Full Trailer for OOO 1.3 by OmegaRED
• The complete guide to details on exactly how OOO changes and adds to Cyrodiil is the OOO 1.3.4 Readme (PDF)
• If you are struggling to survive or start the new quests, see OOO Hints & Spoilers

If you want to get up and running with OOO as quickly and painlessly as possible, then you've come to the right place!

Downloads

Start with the standalone EXE installer Complete package and then add the Patch.

• Get both the OOO 136 Complete BSA Installer EXE and the OOO 137 Patch from NexusMods

Run the Installer first, then extract the Patch and install it as well, overwriting the ESM and ESP files from the previous install.

If you want or need one of the older versions, these are also available at the same NexusMods link. Download either the Complete or Upgrade version, depending on what you already have. The older options include OMOD conversion data with an install script that guides you through the install process and option choices. This is the recommended install method.

The older upgrade versions require a prior install of OOO 1.3 Base. You've been warned!

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Complete Install Requirements

To use OOO 1.3.7, you'll need two downloads to get everything working correctly. Here are the basic requirements:

1. OOO 136 Complete BSA Installer EXE from NexusMods or GitHub
2. OOO 137 Patch from NexusMods or GitHub
3. Approximately 1Gb of free disk space.
4. A decent computer. If your system is already struggling to run Oblivion, then you probably don't want to try OOO 1.3.7. If you also use any large texture replacers, such as QTP3, then you'll probably need at least 2Gb of RAM and a 512Mb video card.
5. If you previously used any of the RC3 or RC5 hotfix plugins, you should remove them after installing 1.3.7. All of the RC3/RC5 hotfixes and changes from 1.32.Final have been integrated into 1.33 and later versions. Also check the list of Known Issues With OOO 132RC5 for help with any other potential problems.
6. Nerves of steel. OOO makes the game deadly!

If you're having trouble downloading the large base file, please read How do I avoid corrupt downloads.

The 1.3.3 Complete package can be installed over any existing OOO 1.3x installation. It doesn't matter whether you have any of the previous upgrades or patches, but you must update any existing savegames with Wrye Bash or the included OOOupsave.exe.

You should also take some time to read through the updated OOO 1.34 Readme (PDF) and the list of OOO 1.33.Final Changes (updated for 1.32.Final). You've been warned.

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If you already have the OOO 136 Complete BSA Installer EXE, you can make your own 1.37 Final Complete by combining your chosen options from 1.36 Complete with the 1.37 Patch

1. OOO 136 Complete BSA Installer EXE from NexusMods or GitHub
2. OOO 137 Patch from NexusMods or GitHub

You can do the same thing with earlier versions. If using OOO 1.32.Final Complete and you already have the 1.32.Final Complete package, you can make your own 1.33 Complete by combining 1.32.Final Complete with the 1.33 Patch, in which case you need:

1. OOO 1.32.Final Complete from ModDB or GitHub
2. OOO 1.33 Patch

For more upgrade alternatives, see Alternate Install Combos.

Patch Upgrade from Older Versions to 133

To use the OOO 1.33 Patch , you'll need at least two separate downloads to get everything working correctly. These are:

1. OOO 1.32.Final Complete from ModDB or GitHub
2. OOO 1.32.Final Complete or the same effect using the OOO 1.3 Base Install plus the OOO 1.32.Final Upgrade.
3. OOO 1.33 Patch. If you get the standard 7zip archive, then you can do either a manual install or a scripted OMOD install (omod conversion data is included). The OMOD method is recommended, but if you don't use OBMM then there's a separate standalone EXE installer package you can use instead.
4. It's a good idea to make your own OMOD of OOO 1.33 Complete. You can do this yourself by extracting both archives to a temporary location and then just dropping the files from 1.33 Patch over the ones from 1.32.Final Complete before you build your OMOD. Be sure to include the omod conversion data when you do this and then when you create the OMOD be sure to add the Official OOO 1.33 OMOD installation script update. This will effectively give you 1.32.FinalComplete+1.33Patch as a single OMOD.
5. Check the list of Known Issues With OOO 1.32RC5 for help with any other potential problems.

The 1.33 Patch can only be installed over a complete or upgraded 1.32.Final install.

Alternate Install Combos

Many OOO players have some prior updates and don't want to download the large OOO 1.33 Complete. Alternate upgrade paths are not recommended, but they will work in a pinch. There are four ways to get the same results as 1.33 Complete. These are:

1. 1.33 Complete.
2. 1.32.Final Complete + 1.33 Patch
3. 1.3 Base + 1.32.Final Upgrade + 1.33 Patch
4. 1.3 Base + 1.32.RC3 + Hotfix06 + 1.33 Patch (but be sure to remove the hotfix plugins afterward)

All of the above upgrade methods will produce the same end result (a working install of OOO 1.33).

Upgrade Install Requirements

Rather than provide details on all of the above methods, let's just focus on #3. To use the OOO 1.32.Final Upgrade, you'll need three separate downloads to get everything working correctly. These are:

1. OOO 1.3 Base Install (available from multiple sites -- roughly 400Mb)
2. OOO 1.32.Final Upgrade. If you get the standard 7zip archive, then you can do either a manual install or a scripted OMOD install (omod conversion data is included). The OMOD method is recommended, but if you don't use OBMM then there's a separate standalone EXE installer package you can use instead.
3. OOO 1.33 Patch.
4. If you previously used any of the RC3 or RC5 hotfix plugins, you should remove them after installing 1.32.Final. All of the RC3/RC5 hotfixes have been integrated into 1.32.Final . See Final Changes.
5. Check the list of Known Issues With OOO 1.32 for help with any other potential problems.

The 1.32.Final Upgrade can be installed over any existing OOO 1.3x installation. It doesn't matter whether you have any of the previous upgrades or patches, but you must install the OOO 1.3 base package (see #1 bove) before adding the 1.32.Final Upgrade, and you must update any existing savegames with the included OOOupsave.exe and/or Wrye Bash.

The 1.33 Patch can only be installed over a complete or upgraded 1.32.Final install. The 1.33 Patch does not include any of the required base resource files (meshes, textures, etc.), only the upgraded plugins.

If you downloaded the standalone EXE installer, then just launch it and follow the prompts to pick which options you want. Once it finishes, you must follow the Post-Install instructions. Otherwise, see the OMOD or Manual Install section first.

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OMOD Upgrade or OMOD Complete Install

1. If you're using the Upgrade package and have not already installed the 1.3 Base files, you must do this first. Extract the 1.3 Base files to a temporary folder, then copy or move them into your \Oblivion\Data\ folder. When prompted to "Allow Overwrite?", click "Yes to All".
2. If you did not download OOO 1.33 Complete, then it's a good idea to make your own OMOD of OOO 1.33 Complete. You can do this yourself by extracting the archives for 1.32.Final Complete and the 1.33 Patch to a temporary location and then just dropping the files from 1.33 Patch over the ones from 1.32.Final Complete before you build your OMOD. Be sure to include the omod conversion data when you do this and then when you create the OMOD be sure to add the Official OOO 1.33 OMOD installation script update. This will effectively give you 1.32.FinalComplete+1.33Patch as a single OMOD.
3. Launch Oblivion Mod Manager (OBMM) and click on the Create button at the bottom of the OBMM screen.
   
4. Now you have a choice. You can either:
   • Click Add Archive and select the OOO 1.33 Complete archive -- or whichever of the OOO archives you downloaded (i.e., either OOO_132f_UPGRADE.7z or OOO_132f_Complete.7z)
   • Or, you can click Add Folder and select the custom 1.32.FinalComplete+1.33Patch folder you made in Step #2.
5. Answer Yes to any question prompts.
6. Now all of the necessary fields will be filled in for you.
7. Click Create omod and wait a while for it to complete.
8. Activate the Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul OMOD you created and follow the install prompts to pick which options you want installed.
9. Follow the Post-Install instructions.

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Manual Upgrade or Manual Complete Install

1. If you're using the Upgrade package and have not already installed the OOO 1.3 Base files, you must do this first. Extract the 1.3 Base files to a temporary folder, then copy or move them into your \Oblivion\Data\ folder. When prompted to "Allow Overwrite?", click "Yes to All".
2. Extract the 1.33 Complete archive to a temporary folder, then copy or move them into your \Oblivion\Data\ folder. When prompted to "Allow Overwrite?", click "Yes to All".
3. Or, instead of #2, extract the 1.32.Final archive (Upgrade or Complete) and the 1.33 Patch archive to a temporary folder. Make sure the 1.33 Patch files replace the 1.32 files. Now copy or move them into your \Oblivion\Data\ folder. When prompted to "Allow Overwrite?", click "Yes to All".
4. Activate both the ESM and the ESP files (Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esm and Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esp). The Full Version and Lite Version are both included in the download. The Full Version is installed by default. If you want to use the Lite Version instead of the Full Version (default), then also copy the ESP file from the \Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul\OOO-LITE\ folder, replacing the default Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esp (which is the Full Version ESP).
5. Activate any optional plugins you want to use. See the OOO 1.34 Readme PDF for a complete summary of the available choices in 1.32.Final. An incomplete summary of the option files can also be found on the Oscuro Installation page. The option files can be found in the \Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul\OOO-ADD-ONS\ folder.
6. Follow the Post-Install instructions.

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Post-Install

1. If you're planning to use an existing savegame, you'll need to update your savegame with Wrye Bash v118 or later. There are two parts to this step, so be sure to read though the next two steps carefully.
2. If you're upgrading from 1.3 or 1.31 to 1.32 for the first time, then you must alter the master dependency for OOO in your savegame to avoid losing any items you may have gained from previous versions (you only need to do this once when you first switch from 1.3 or 1.31 to 1.32, not when switching from a previous version of 1.32 to 1.32.Final ). See Update Savegames for details on how to do this with Wrye Bash. Alternately, you can use the included OOOupsave.exe and follow the prompts.
   
3. If you're adding OOO 1.32 to a savegame that previously did not use OOO (even if it was just created in the starter dungeon before adding OOO) , then you'll need to use Wrye Bash to Update NPC Levels on your savegame. See Update Savegames for details on how to do this.
   
4. If you are upgrading a current savegame from OOO 1.3, you MUST take off any cape you may be wearing (or carrying) that you got from an NPC -- except guard capes -- and throw them away before you load your save with 1.32. If you are not sure where you got a cape, the safest route is to drop it into an empty container, save, install 1.32, then load and see if your cape is still in the container. If it's still there, then it should be safe to use. If you don't follow these instructions, you may get stuck with a cape that cannot be unequipped.
5. If you are upgrading a current savegame from OOO 1.3, you'll need to enter a console command to enable the lockpicking restrictions. You need to type the following in the console (~):
   
   Set LapMinLock to 1
   
   After doing this, save the game and reload. See In-Game Options for details.
   
6. If you use a Bashed Patch (a highly recommended feature of Wrye Bash), be sure to update it after upgrading to 1.32.Final . Otherwise Oblivion may not launch. To do this, right-click the Bashed Patch in Wrye Bash and select Rebuild Patch (called Update Patch in older versions of Wrye Bash).
   
7. Launch the game, load your save, then open the console (~) and execute the following commands:
   
   Set OOOFishSpawn to 0
   
   (This step is not necessary if you start a new game after loading 1.32.Final.) See In-Game Options for details.
   

Update Savegames

To to avoid losing stuff from OOO 1.3 or 1.31, you must update your savegames

This only applies if you've already been playing OOO 1.3 or 1.31 for a while and have accumulated a bunch of stuff from OOO that you want to keep.

Run the OOOupsave.exe included with the 1.32.Final download and follow the prompts, or use Wrye Bash.

To use Wrye Bash, you must first download and install it. Once you get it working, follow these steps:

1. Launch Wrye Bash.
2. Go to the saves tab.
3. Select a savegame you want to fix (one made before the update).
4. Click on that savegame.
5. Look in the lower-right corner at the masters list.
6. Find Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esp.
7. Click inside the text and edit it to say Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esm (i.e., just change the final "p" to "m"),
8. Alternately, you can right-click where it says Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esp and select Change To, then browse to Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esm and select it -- or simply change the ".esp" part of the filename to ".esm".
9. The masters list will now be updated to swap Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esp for Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esm.
10. Finally, you must click the Save button at the bottom of the masters list to save the change.
11. Now, quit Wrye Bash, load Oblivion with that savegame and you're good to go.

Update NPC Levels

Using Update NPC Levels on your savegame will ensure that NPC stats are set properly for OOO. Update NPC Levels is also a good idea (but not required) when updating a 1.32 savegame to 1.32.Final .

In Wrye Bash:

• Select the Saves tab.
• Right-click on a savegame.
• Select Update NPC Levels.

All of the mods in your load order will be examined and the proper changes will be made to your savegame. Be sure to use Wrye Bash v118 or later when doing this.

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Download Mirrors

If you have trouble downloading OOO 1.32.Final Complete, you can always get the original 1.3 Base file instead and then add the 1.32.Final Upgrade to get everything up-to-date. The original OOO 1.3 Base download is available from multiple hosting sites, listed below.

File Mirrors (400Mb download)

• Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul 1.3 from ModDB or GitHub
• Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul 1.3.7 from Nexus Mods
• Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul 1.3.5b from TES Alliance

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Add-On Mods

There is a growing list of third-party add-ons for OOO. We've collected a list of some of them here.

• Add-On Mods for OOO 1.32 and 1.31

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Hints & Spoilers

Many players find OOO 1.3 overwhelming. If you're having trouble making a character that can survive this harsh new world, read the character creation guidelines. Includes suggestions for finding a good starter dungeon and much more. If you're having trouble finding everything OOO adds, check out the detailed spoilers.

• OOO Hints & Spoilers

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Performance

OOO is a system-resource intensive mod. It may slow down your game. This will vary a lot depending on your system and it may also improve as you play the mod for a while. It's a good idea to have more than 1Gb of RAM (this would be a very old system by today's standards). If the performance hit is significant enough to be a problem for you, you can sometimes improve things by turning off the fish. See In-Game Options for details. This will have the biggest impact when you are near water.

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In-Game Options

In-Game Option Controls

OOO lets you set many in-game options using Oblivion console (~) commands. These are described separately below.

However, if you don't like using the console then you can instead add the Common Oblivion (Cobl) mod, which includes a support file for OOO 1.32. Enabling the OOO 1.32-Cobl.esp plugin gives you a special inventory item called +[Options]. Clicking this item lets you set OOO options for:

• Lock picking in combat.
• Lock picking skills requirements.
• Lock bash difficulty.
• Harvest containers.
• Add/Remove torch hotkey.
• Disable/Enable Geomancy.
• Disable/Enable Fish spawns.

Here's what each of these options does (along with the console command for it).

Fish

To disable the fish added by OOO, open the Oblivion console (~) and type:

Set OOOFishSpawn to 0

Lockpicking Restrictions

If you don't like the lockpicking skill restrictions, you can disable it with the console (~) command:

Set LapMinLock to 0

If you don't like the "no lockpicking during combat" restrictions, you can disable it with the console:

Set LapNoCombatLock to 0

After doing this, save the game and reload.

Lock Bashing

If you don't like the lock bash difficulty, you can make it dramatically easier with the console command:

Set LapBashLockDifficulty to 0

Or:

Set LapBashLockDifficulty to -110

Lock bash cannot be turned off completely.

Harvest Containers

You can disable container animations using the Oblivion console (in OOO 1.32 RC3 or later). There are several options for this:

Turn off HC for player house containers: Set OOOHCPlayerHouse to 0
Turn off HC for chests, cupboards, desks, drawers and lecterns: Set OOOHC to 0
Turn off HC for barrels and crates: Set OOOHCBarrelsAndCrates to 0
Turn off HC for sacks: Set OOOHCSacks to 0

Armor Disposition

In 1.32.Final, the armor disposition system is completely disabled.

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Previous Quick Start Guides for OOO

The previous Quick Start Guides for OOO include:

• RC5 Quick Start Guide (Archive)
• RC3 Quick Start Guide (Archive)
• 1.31 Quick Start Guide (Archive)
• OOO 1.31 & 1.23 (Archive)

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