Mods for Oblivion

As epic role-playing games go, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is up there with the best of them. Which means that it’s really, really long and is packed with an incredible amount of stuff to see and do, from slaying dastardly Daedra in other dimensions to prancing about picking wildflowers. Odds are that the game keeps the seriously obsessed busy for at least six months. But some people have just gotta have more. So here is a voluminous compilation of ye olde Oblivion mods. Collect them all.

Francesco’s Leveled Creatures & Items

This wildly comprehensive leveling mod removes all in-game scaling so that gameplay feels more realistic. Basically, this means that encounters and items no longer feel tailor-made for your pointy-eared (or not) avatar. Like Oscuro’s similar mod (detailed below), Francesco’s mod makes the game harder, in that you can now run into bad guys who can mop the floor with you. It also makes high-level equipment like Daedric armor and weapons a lot rarer, so you can’t so easily trick yourself out like Zeus and slaughter everything that moves.

Conversely, some aspects of the game are easier, which makes the overall gameplay much more… what’s the word? Ah, yes, “credible.†Additionally, the mod is entirely modular, so you can pick and choose which NPCs, adventures, etc. are altered and which are left alone. Francesco’s also tossed in a bunch of snazzy new armor and weapon styles fresh off the runways in Kvatch. Download Here

Natural Wildlife

One of the bigger annoyances in the original Oblivion was the way all animals would attack you on sight, even lowly mudcrabs. It got to be a bit much. But now you can scrap the When Animals Attack! vibe for more realistic Audubon antics with this small plug-in, which makes animals act more sensibly. Aggressive beasties like wolves and wild dogs may still goon you in the wild, but crabs, deer, and their timid woodland pals will flee unless you corner them. Download Here

No Psychic Guards

Anyone who’s ever so much as lifted a lousy apple in Oblivion knows how irritating it is that guards seem to have a supernatural sense for any crime that occurs in the game and come running on the double. This mod fixes that: It prevents guards from hearing the cries of whining victims unless they’re within 1,000 feet of said whiner. It makes the game more realistic and allows you greater opportunity to go on crazed murder sprees, so everything is win-win. Download Here

Oscuro’s Oblivion Overhaul

If Oscuro’s Oblivion Overhaul was underwear, it would be a standard pair of tighty-whities that just about everybody owns. That’s not meant as an insult—this mod works for just about everyone, as it perfectly revamps the default creature and item scaling of the out-of-the-box game. Every NPC and creature in the game has been level-capped, so there are no more guards clomping around with equipment better befitting a demi-god than a grunt. Some encounters have been more randomized, and others have been set at specific difficulty levels, so every adventure no longer feels as if it’s been attuned to exactly where you are in the game when you encounter it.

Finally, Oscuro has tossed in a bunch of new dungeons and locations, with all-new enemies like Frost Minotaurs and revised familiar foes like vampires and other undead. Not surprisingly, all of these alterations make the game a fair bit harder: You can no longer cruise around cockily assuming you can murder everything you encounter. If you download just one Oblivion mod, make it this one. Especially if you’re looking to spice up the campaign for a second run-through. Download Here

DarkUI

If you want one UI mod for Oblivion, chances are you’ll be happy with DarkUI. Much like BTmod, it changes the default interface into something more appropriate to PCs by shrinking font size, but it also darkens the menu color scheme by using a leathery texture more evocative of traditional fantasy gaming. That part’s an acquired taste. Some players love the deeper hues; some find them so dark they get in the way of reading inventory lists. Download Here

WZ_Inventory

This blast from the past revamps the Oblivion inventory menus so they look and function much like the modular ones in Morrowind. As a result, the entire interface seems more optimized for the PC, and the overall feel of the game (at least when it comes to wrangling swords and potions into inventory slots) is much more similar to old-school PC RPGs like the Neverwinter Nights series. Download Here

Arcane University Revamped

Arcane University looks a lot more, uh, arcane thanks to this mod. Though the changes are mostly cosmetic, they nicely turn what was a second-rate Hogwarts into a legit school for wizards. All of the Gandalf wannabes now wear more elaborate robes, some carry different magical staves, more bell-book-and-candle accouterments are all over the place, rooms have been added and expanded, and shelves groan under the weight of even more books. (Yeah, that’s one thing this game really needed—additional reading material.) Download Here

Kumiko Manor

Right up there with Mountain Tower (see below) as a primo piece of mod real estate is Kumiko Manor. Situated on beautiful Topal Bay, about a mile south of Leyawiin, this old pile boasts an alchemical laboratory, detached mage tower, full armory and training center, an archery range, numerous storage rooms, a master bedroom filled with display cases, and a dining room big enough to serve the Donner party. It also comes with unique armor and weapons left behind by the previous owners, who apparently are too rich to worry about abandoning priceless artifacts. Download Here

Mountain Tower

Location, location, location. That’s what real estate agents say is key for the market value of homes, and if so, then Mountain Tower must be worth a fortune. This house mod adds a huge mage’s tower to Cyrodiil, located in the scenic, snowy Pale Pass near Brum. Along with this great, rather Aspen-ish setting, the tower itself features drop-dead gorgeous rooms loaded with custom textures. Much of this joint looks like something out of “Medieval Architectural Digest.†Just check out luxe accouterments like the green-marble staircase, pool for tropical fish, polar bear rugs, and hand-carved bed in the master bedroom. The tower is more than a pretty face, as well, since it comes with a decked-out alchemy lab, custom spells to zip you to the Imperial City and back, and a rooftop garden for growing potion ingredients. Download Here

Atmospheric Weather Systems

If you want to turn sunny Cyrodiil into wet and foggy London, download HTF’s Atmospheric Weather Systems. Actually, to be fair, it should be specified that this mod adds five times the number of natural weather effects in the stock-standard Oblivion, along with seasonal weather patterns and more dramatic, romantic evenings that can easily put you in the mood to ditch the RPG and seek out your significant other. Download Here

Illumination Within

While it doesn’t sound like much, few mods change the look of Oblivion more than this one. Slap and ModMan’s outstanding creation adds lighted windows to just about every building in Cyrodiil, making the game feel more lifelike during the evening hours. Buildings operate on various schedules, so cathedrals get their candles going at different times from private homes, and taverns light up the night at different times from shops and guilds. There is a lot more here than meets the eye, too, as loads of new textures and 3D objects like shutters had to be created to make possible the illuminated windows. The performance hit is minimal (unless you’re in an area with lots of lights and water reflections; then it’s welcome to Slowdown City). But there is a “lite†version that eases the burden if your PC is already chugging under the weight of the original game. Download Here

Landscape LOD Texture Replacement

As odd as it might sound to some, a fair number of people thought Oblivion wasn’t all that good-looking a game out of the box. Hence the motivation for Landscape LOD Texture Replacement, which doubles the size of the default landscape textures. The result is long-distance visuals that look a lot sharper and clearer than those in the base game, but with a significant performance hit. Midrange systems can really chug, and even chew-bubblegum-and-kick-ass rigs bog down in certain spots. Like most visual-improvement mods, this little number has built a fanbase, so you can download additional mods that enhance it and jazz up its performance. Download Here

More Immersive Sound

All the ambient audio effects in the game are enhanced here, giving every locale a You Are There! feel. Now, when you’re in the woods, you can really hear the trees and the buzzing insects. When you’re in the middle of a city, you can hear the people bustling all around you. And in dungeons, you can really hear that axe whistling toward your head courtesy of 3D sound positioning. Unfortunately, this mod conflicts with Natural Environments. Download Here

Natural Environments

This mod is ssentially reskins the entire outdoors, making trees, mountains, tall grass, water, and even the moons look sharper and more vivid. It also includes 40 different weather effects such as rainbows (up from the seven in the original game) and more than 20 new insects to harass you in the great outdoors. The lone caution here is that you can’t fire up all the mod’s bells and whistles on a rig that gets sand kicked in its face on visits to the beach. Download Here

Creatures Alive

Encounters with Cyrodiil’s wildlife are made more authentic with Creatures Alive. XFusion’s mod alters the behavior of deer, wolves, and the like by adding lifelike behaviors such as pausing to drink from streams. Tiny creatures like mudcrabs and rats now flee from your big manly presence, too, and some animals trail young behind them. You need to give the mod 72 hours of in-game time to reach full operation. Download Here

Crowded Roads

Clutter up your wilderness travels in Cyrodiil with Crowded Roads. Install this mod and you soon start encountering fellow travelers on the roads between major population centers, not just the standard game’s highwaymen and patrolling guards on horseback. The number of new wanderers (263) is hardly staggering, so don’t expect the mod to create gridlock outside the Imperial City or anything. Download Here

Servant of the Dawn

Anyone disappointed with the almost unrelentingly good-guy attitude of Oblivion will like Servant of the Dawn. This quest mod alters the default Mythic Dawn faction, adding all-new adventures and ranks that allow you to get up close and personal with those nasty Daedra. Embrace the hordes of stinky eeeevil, and you can even take over as the boss of the cult. Download Here

Tales of Twilight: Thievery in the Imperial City

Garret wannabes will like this one. JOG has added a fence to the Imperial City named Derrien Venoit, who buys ill-gotten goodies, along with assignments to get him good stuff by robbing people. You get 11 fairly lengthy new quests in the main plotline, along with a pair of miscellaneous adventures. A full 17 minutes of all-new voice acting is included. User-made mods don’t get any more professional than this. If a few more modders made Oblivion add-ons this good, Bethesda might have a tough time charging people for its own expansions. A sequel is apparently in the works. Download Here

Capes and Cloaks

Do the Liberace look with Capes and Cloaks. Hundreds of different models of this always stylin’ wardrobe affectation are for sale in the shops of Cyrodiil after you install this mod. All colors are on offer, and anyone willing to do a little picture editing can Photoshop a logo or insignia on to any cape or cloak for that added touch of arrogance. Download Here

Cheydinhal Petshop

Take Fido on quest with you, thanks to the Cheydinhal Petshop. Fourteen animal companions are available in this merchant mod, including basic buddies like Golden Labs and Siberian Huskies and more exotic (usually) four-legged friends such as the Imp and the Battle Boar. All of these pets level up with you, grow, and can be given orders. Download Here

Invisibility Robe

Install this mod for some sneaky stuff. The black-as-a-Model-T Invisibility Robe lives up to its name by making you as see-through as Claude Rains. It also comes with chameleon capabilities that render you impossible to spot during combat, making it perfect for undercover killing sprees. Bonuses include a ring that gives huge health pluses and a hood with night-eye, water-breathing, and detect-life powers. Download Here