UESP Forums

Hi.

I recently had some trouble with Oblivion, which I posted here on the board... I was recommended to reinstall the game to solve my problems. That worked... but after I've done this Oblivion does not load all my mods or all the official DLCs? I have tried moving them around in OMM and unmarking and marking them again in the "data files" window in the Oblivion launcher... I guess my question would be, has anyone experienced something like this and know how to solve it?

what do you mean by it doesn't load the mods or DLC's? I know that there is an option on the main menu to manage the data files where you have to check what extras or whatever you want to use. Is that stuff checked for you?

I mean after I reinstalled it I checked the data files option in the Oblivion launcher and they were all marked, however when I open my game it has only loaded Frostcrag Spire, Repairing the Orrery and a mod called Windfall... the other DLCs and mods I have are not loaded when I launch the game :s

To ask the obvious question, did you also reinstall all your mods?

Do you have OBSE installed? I believe (!) it's possible that the Oblivion Launcher shows mods as marked, but you have to start your game through OBSE to get them along.

There's also another point: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=6696

Anyway, you either have something missing, or in the wrong place.

As well as having OBSE installed (since many newer advanced mods require it and won't work without it), is Oblivion patched to v1.2.0416 (final official patch)? If not, some mods may fail to load. Do some of them require BSA files? Did you back up and restore those in the Oblivion\Data folder as well? Load order is also important. It's always best to make a note of the exact order you have before reinstalling the game.

The method I use is to simply keep a regular back up of my ENTIRE Oblivion folder (and Oblivion Mods as well if you use Wrye Bash). Each time I install and test a new mod, I delete the old backup and create a new one. It wastes a lot of disk space (in my case, about 15Gb), but it's well worth it. If I ever have to reinstall the game from scratch, I just uninstall it, delete the entire Oblivion folder, reinstall the base game (unpatched) from the DVD (to recreate Windows registry entries), then copy the backup folders in over the top. This restores the official v1.2.0416 patch, OBSE and its plugins, Wrye Bash, OBMM, ALL my mods, their meshes/textures AND my load order exactly as before. I can now simply run the game, reload my latest save and pick up exactly where I left off with NO errors due to anything missing or loading in the wrong sequence. Instead of taking DAYS to reinstall every utility and mod, reconfigure them and resolve load order issues, etc, the WHOLE job's done in about 20 minutes from start to finish.

Hope this helps.

Thanks H8Ball. Don't know if it helps the Author of this topic, but it sure was a good idea for me.

Well, I've never seen the problem described but, once it's solved, keeping a Full Backup will prevent any future reinstall from causing it again. Plus it makes for FAR faster reinstalling and getting back to playing without any errors creeping in.

It's based on understanding the two basic types of backup. Full Backup, where ALL files are copied, and Incremental Backup where only files which have changed since the last backup are copied. In commercial environments, a Full Backup is typically done once a week, and daily Incremental Backups are done in between.

For Oblivion, installing or uninstalling a mod often makes extensive changes under the Oblivion folder which are very difficult to keep track of, so a Full Backup is the best option to use ALL the time. No need to do a Full Backup daily, only when changes are made (e.g. installing or uninstalling one or more mods, or changing load order).

I actually have THREE Full Backups of Oblivion...

1. Oblivion as first installed and patched (official patch and UOP) without any utilities like OBMM, Wrye Bash and OBSE
2. Oblivion after installing utilities, but before any mods are installed
3. Oblivion in its current state with ALL mods installed and working

It's the third one that I delete and recreate on making changes to my mods, load order, etc. The first is in case I ever want to reinstall and use different utilities, and the second is in case I ever want to make a complete fresh start WITH utilities but install a completely different set of mods.

The possibilities are endless. You could install all of your favourite mods, THEN make a Full Backup, THEN experiment with different mods. Or make a Full Backup before trying out a large mod like Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul or FCOM. If you don't like the results, simply delete the Oblivion folder, copy your Full Backup back in and you're back to the original game state with only your favourite mods installed, or without the large mod. You're giving yourself a way to UNDO even widespread changes to the game!