Tes4Mod:Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul/Readme

This is comprehensive readme/changelog/general information section for OOO. Due to its size, it's been divided into sections; just click on the link to the section you want to read.

Intro
Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul changes the ways in which the core gameplay elements of TES IV: Oblivion relate to each other. The aim of these changes is to create a more immersive, rewarding, believable and enriching experience as you adventure in the world of Tamriel.

The structures responsible for gameplay could be divided into several areas. The lines separating them are somewhat arbitrary, and we could be more specific and nuanced, but first it is important to define these areas in general terms. OOO considers them in the following blocks:

Gameplay meta-rules
Immersion
Risk
Reward
Gameplay mechanics
Player Character (PC) abilities and Non-Player Character (NPC) abilities
Quests
Economy
Gameplay resources
Environment
Inhabitants
Objects

Each of these areas has subclasses, and each subclass can appear as the sum of lower rank classes. For example, the PC abilities include the statistics system, the skill system, the combat system, the magic system, and the faction system. Likewise, Environment is built by smaller resources, like sounds, music, architecture, flora, weather, etc.

OOO does not change every single variable responsible for gameplay, but it does affect many of those listed above. Each of these changes has been carefully measured against every other change to the gameplay structures in order to enhance the ultimate goal of gameplay: to absorb you into an exciting experience that entices you to overcome the many challenges you will face in Cyrodiil through rewarding your skill, ingenuity, and exploration.

The following sections will give you a summary of how OOO sets out to accomplish this goal in each of the general areas of gameplay. It will also be mentioned (mainly in the detailed section) how each change relates to other facets of the game and why the connection is important for your best game experience.

''The information in these sections is presented with as little explicit revelations of the underlying mechanics of the mod's design for a reason: I do not wish to reveal the inner workings of every single change here documented because that, in my mind, simply detracts from the degree of immersion after which I designed this work. My intention has been, all along, to help this excellent game become as immersive, rewarding, deeper, and exciting as I could. To me, focusing too much on boring and repetitive statistics is a sure recipe to detract from this goal. To be sure, these statistics may clearly represent what one can expect of the mod's changes, but often this detracts from becoming immersed in the game and instead prompts you to keep an eye out for things that "should not be there". My design philosophy aims at bracketing the author of the mod and the authors of the game itself as far away as possible when you adventure within the world.

Some may say that I am less focused, or less rigorous, or less complex, because I am not providing you with statistics for every single thing here developed. That is, I think, a rather hasty judgment. I assure you that I have put extreme care in balancing all the elements of this work. Everything here changed has been carefully balanced with every other gameplay structure in mind. If things are sometimes not symmetrical, that is a purposeful design choice (despite what some may say, or try to create, life is everything but symmetrical and constant).

This mod has been an immense task. More than a year in the making, plus the almost one month of prior work in the first versions of OOO, have given me time to change the way TES IV: Oblivion plays and enhance its gameplay, in my opinion, to great degree. I hope that you understand my reasons, and can tolerate my fastidiousness, in presenting the information below with certain reservation from me.

Thank you very much for your interest and for choosing Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul.

Oscuro''


Player Character Changes
Described in detail here.

Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul is not a character leveling mod like KCAS or nGCD - it does not change the way you level (like how many skills are needed for a level-up, or which skills are governed by which attributes, etc.). However, it does change several aspects of the player character's statistics, as noted below.


Derived Attributes
Special attacks cost less Fatigue to use, while ranged attacks have a higher Fatigue cost.
Player characters have lower starting Health.
Magicka has a slower rate of regeneration from the beginning, but higher Willpower will have Magicka regenerate quicker than before. In addition, players have a larger Magicka pool. Most spells are changed to better suit these changes.


Skills and Combat
The Master perk in Heavy Armor does not completely negate the armor's weight. The Expert perk has also had its bonus reduced.
Light Armor has had its Master perk bonus of 50% extra protection reduced.
Hand to Hand is generally stronger. It has increased damage to enemies' Fatigue and Health, the block rate is better (though still lower than that of weapons), and the reach is slightly longer.
The chance of a successful bonus effect of power attacks (e.g. disarm, knockdown, paralyze) is increased, both for PCs and NPCs.
Damage for the backwards power attack is increased.
The range and speed of arrows is increased.
The chance of finding used arrows in fallen bodies is increased, as is the maximum number of arrows allowed to remain on the ground.
Sneak attacks are more powerful.
The number of potions you can use at once has been changed, and the progression follows your Alchemy skill.
The skill perk descriptions have been re-written to reflect a higher sense of pride and accomplishment, and to fit the new skill perks.
The descriptions of Birthsigns are updated to include the new changes and additions.
Weapons and creatures now do higher damage across the board – combat is in general a bit deadlier.
Weapons and armor only wear down at 30% of the default rate.
The cost of armor and weapon repairs at shops is much higher.
The cost of skill training at specialized trainers is higher.
Messages pertinent to in-game actions are changed to a first person point of view (e.g. “My skill increased” instead of “your skill increased”).
The maximum jump height threshold is slightly higher than in default Oblivion.
The option to fast-travel to all cities at the start of the game is removed.


Magic Abilities
Spells generally require less Magicka, especially offensive ranged spells with area-of-effect.
The spell projectile speed is much higher.
Some spells effects, like Drain Health, cannot any longer be made into custom spells or enchantments due to being highly prone to exploitation.
Enchanting with Chameleon, as well as spells with Chameleon and Invisibility, have a much higher price due to the ease of abuse.
Every default spell has been made stronger, in accordance to the reduced Magicka cost.
Enchanting is much more expensive.
Many defensive enchantments have been toned down.
The enchanting capacity of Grand Soul Gems and Grand Souls are much higher.
Health, Fatigue, and Magicka restoration potions are now based on regeneration rather than instant effects. To compensate for this, potion effects are generally stronger.


Other Changes
All of the Birthsigns have been overhauled.


Nonplayer Character Changes
Described in detail here.

Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul aims for a more static world. The features of "level scaling" are not completely taken away, but are tweaked to enhance the believability, immersion, and unpredictability of the Cyrodiil's inhabitants. Most default NPCs are more static than default, but not completely static. The changes here are too extensive to sum up quickly, so it is recommended that you read through the detailed changes.
Most NPCs have been revamped to be much more unique than in default Oblivion. With thousands of new armor and item types, the variety of looks and possessions that NPCs boast increases immensely.
NPCs' status reflects the items that may be found in their homes.
Lots of books and notes are added that gives depth to new and old NPCs, factions, and quests.
The fleeing script (that which controls when NPCs and creatures flee in combat) has been made very advanced; taking into account  remaining Health, level difference and player fame/infamy.
Bandits, Marauders, Conjurers and Necromancers have been tweaked for added diversity and uniqueness.
Vampires have been divided into four types and degrees of difficulty. They have equipment and powers suiting their rank.
Dremoras are now significantly more powerful. This also makes the main quest harder.
Guards are now level-capped – no longer will they mop the floor with you no matter your level. In addition, female guards are added.
Citizens are now level capped. You will not easily be smashed to bits by anyone and his dog, though some NPCs, especially quest-related ones, will prove to be a more difficult challenge than before.
Arena combatants are completely overhauled; the difficulty is much higher the greater the rank.


Creature Changes
Described in detail here.

These are the changes to the creature system.
New animals, mythic creatures, and Daedra added.
Many new creature factions have been introduced, which opens up for very varying creature-to-creature behavior, as well as creature-to-player-behavior. This cannot be explained in detail here, please see page 43 for more information.
Now, dungeons typically house a single type of animal faction, and not every animal in the game stuffed together.
Animals will respond to events, that being from the player, from another NPC or from another creature, much more realistically than before.
Every creature has different behavior types that suit their nature. For example, wolves will hunt for preys, like boars, deer and so on, while herbivores will graze and eat plants. In addition, all animals will seek out water, especially at dawn and dusk.
It is possible to gain faction with animals. This will allow the player to befriend most animals.
There are now many types of creatures within each species, varying in size and with different items and statistics. In addition, every creature type has a magical weakness matching their specific nature.
An optional setting adds fish swimming around in the water, living out their own carefree lives.


Changes to Creature & NPC Spawns
Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul makes the game overall much harder, but also provides great rewards when you have really earned it.
Almost every dungeon in Cyrodiil has new hand-placed content. The difficulty increases the further into the dungeon you venture, but so does the rewards.
Dungeons are generally more unpredictable – no more can you guess, and always be right, about exactly where in dungeons you will find creatures.
You may now see several creatures/NPCs per spawn point, instead of only one, as often seen in default Oblivion. Weaker creatures will be more frequent than stronger ones.
Most dungeons have a fairly static degree of difficulty. If you cannot beat a dungeon now, come back later when you have grown stronger.
Guild quests now get more difficult the higher up in the guild's quest line they are.
The minimum level required to be able to receive quests at Daedra Lord Shrines is 2, for all quests.
Many creatures have new versions specific to their homes. For example, the northern lands of Cyrodiil are home to the “arctic” variety of creatures.
Creature types differ greatly between regions – for example, you will not find snow leopards in the marshes of Blackwood.
The difficulty of wilderness areas is proportional to their climate's harshness and their distance to urban centers.
Roads are much safer to travel.
There are several bosses for both NPCs and creatures. They are more difficult than their underlings are, but also have great treasures.


Item Changes
Described in detail here.
Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul makes extensive changes to the occurrence, type, and quality of items found in the game.
Containers around the world have items appropriate to the status or difficulty of their locations.
Vendors have mid-end items in stock at any given point.
All "Dwarven" items are renamed to the more lore-appropriate "Dwemer".
Thousands of new weapons, armors, ingredients, pelts, house-wares, scrolls, and books are added.
Items are placed both in loot lists and as a part of the world, so you might find powerful items lying out in the open, if you have a clever eye.
Several thousand containers have been hand-placed to the world, containing items that are designed for the difficulty and status of the locations where they are found.
Weapons generally have shorter range and are slower.
Item values and service prices (repair, training, etc.) are higher across the board.
Many new texts are added, ranging in length from a few lines to several pages.


Merged Mods
Described in detail here.
These are mods that have been merged into Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul:
Bashing containers: LockBash 1.1 is merged into OOO. This mod enables you to bash open containers, which enables fighter characters to open locks without specializing in Security.
Drop Lit Torches: This mod allows you to drop lit torches on the ground.
Gems and geomancy: Tamriel's Glittering Geology and Geomancy/Gem Dust has been merged into OOO. This greatly increases the usefulness of gems.
Guild Item Ownership: This mod by Tandem changes some guild items to be unavailable until later ranks.
Inebriation: This mod by Lap allows you do drink alcoholic beverages to get drunk.
Harvest [Containers]: This mod animates opening and closing of containers, from sacks to chests.
Trapped containers: Containers you encounter during your adventures may now be trapped.


Patches and Add-ons
A list of patches and add-ons, and mods that are made compatible with OOO.


Credits
A list of credits can be found here.