GameBanshee Forums

mods to fix some flaws (official or third party)

well one of my friends decided to try to convince me that Bethesda improved some of the aspects of Oblivion and bought me the Shivering Isles expansion pack, so I've decided to dig Oblivion out of the attic and give it another go. but first I was hoping that I could find some fixes for some of the issues that most annoyed me, or at least the ones I can remember. so if anyone knows of anything that addresses the following please throw me a link, or at least anything you can remember about how to fix it

persuasion mini-game. I really hated it. as far as I remember it was entirely random and ridiculous, involving you having to insult, bribe, threaten and flatter in a random combination that should achieve nothing but getting your character dragged off in a straight jacket. as far as I remember the only other mini-game was lockpicking and I can't remember if that one was annoying or not

trade. again, my memory's a bit faded on the details but I remember it being incredibly annoying and awkward to buy/sell large quantities of items

skip the main quest. I've completed it and wasn't impressed and don't really want to bother doing it again. but assuming it's anything like Morrowind, while completing it isn't essential it does have some effect on later (ie: expansion) content. also that Oblivion gates are irritating as hell so having them gone would be great. I know I can download other peoples saves for this but I'd rather play with my own created characters

variety to dungeons. I don't know if anyone would have taken the effort to improve the copy-pasted dungeons that shipped with Oblivion but if they did, I'd want those mods

that's all I can remember off the top of my head, but if you can think of anything else that addresses common complaints/criticisms I'd love to hear about it. I'm not too bothered about additional content mods just yet, but assuming the game manages to avoid being uninstalled again I'll look for those later

I think I used to have a little utility that made organising save games for different characters easier as well, although that may have been for Morrowind, I can't remember. but anything like that would be useful

oh and advice on a mod management program would probably be handy, I can't remember what I used to use

skip the main quest. I've completed it and wasn't impressed and don't really want to bother doing it again. but assuming it's anything like Morrowind, while completing it isn't essential it does have some effect on later (ie: expansion) content. also that Oblivion gates are irritating as hell so having them gone would be great. I know I can download other peoples saves for this but I'd rather play with my own created characters

As long as you don't talk to Jauffre or pick up Marten the gates, other than Kvatch, never appear, and I can't think of any mod/expansion that is adversely affected by not doing the main quest, apart from Servants of the Dawn.

You can still close the Kvatch gate and Breaking the Siege as I recall without triggering the opening of any other gates.

Persuasion mini game isn't random! :laugh: It's very logical if you take the brief amount of time needed to spot how it works. Each person has one thing they love, one thing they hate, one thing they mildly like, one thing they mildly dislike. Just watch the expressions on their faces to identify which is which after you 'start' the game. Then proceed accordingly, making sure you give the small block in the rotation to the one they hate, and the biggest possible available to the one they love.
Or ignore the mini game altogether and use a charm spell.

well I found some mods to fix some of the issues and I have to say I'm enjoying the game at the moment, haven't got started on the Shivering Isles stuff yet though as I got distracted by some player-made quest mods (even though I swore I wouldn't)
still a few annoyances though...

horses... why is it that you can use the mouse to turn your character when walking/running but not when riding? anyone know of any mods to make horse controls the same as when not mounted?

trade... yeah that one's still there. the confirmation dialogue on every single purchase, and some items will ask for the quantity but many you have to buy one by one if you want multiples, very annoying

and I'm not sure if it's possible from mods but the inventory management system is a mess. armour and clothing of all types bundled together under one heading, no ability to sort by slot either (for example feet, hands, head, etc)

Did you find a mod for persuasion? I use one that is more like morrowind with still you can do all those four things but they are a named list and you click on the name. It is based on personality and speachcraft. Also all kinds of logical thing like opposite sexes more responsive to flattery, nords more responsive to boasting etc

yeah that sounds like the one I got, only snag is bribery doesn't work, but I've made do without