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| tabtitle | title | topics | pub | short_desc | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oblivion on Linux | Oblivion on Linux, with Mods! |
|
2021-11-20 |
Oblivion holds a special place in my heart. I remember spending a summer in the town I went to college in, and playing Oblivion almost every day while listening to Dream Theater's Systematic Chaos. Back then, I wasn't aware of modding, so it was literally just vanilla Oblivion for hours upon hours. I also used Windows, so the game would run fine. Now, things have changed. The easier issue to deal with is playing Oblivion on Linux. Thanks to Valve, Oblivion runs excellent with Proton out of the box. The more challenging issue is mods, and that's what this write-up is all about!
Vanilla Oblivion
Starting from the beginning, Oblivion is available on many platforms, but my
experiences here will assume the Steam installation. The primary difference will
be with respect to the how the tools used to mod Oblivion are run. I've got the
Game of the Year edition, which is Steam ID 22330.
Modding Tools
Much of modding Oblivion is done with the help of additional tools. A mod
manager is used for installing and configuring the mods. There are several
options for Oblivion, and the one I've been suggested and use is called Wrye Bash. Mod load order is also important, and the tool I'm using to help with
that is LOOT. Finally, TES4Edit, TES4LODGen and BethINI each helps with
performance and configuration.
I have the following directory structure setup for my mods:
OblivionMods
|- Archives
|- Backups
|- Tools
|- WryeBash
Archives is where I store the actual archives of the mods I use. Backups is
where I store any relevant backups for my Oblivion game, such as saves or
configuration files for the mods. Tools is where I put the executables for all
the tools I mentioned above. WryeBash is used to store the unarchived mods
(which are called "projects") and mod data that Wrye Bash uses.
Because each of these tools is run using Proton (or Wine for non-Steam installs), I also have a set of aliases configured.
Wrye Bash
Project Link || Homepage || Nexus Link
Wrye Bash is involved. I don't know how to use it fully. There are a few
guides that helped me learn how to use it enough to get mods installed and
configured though. The first, and very relevant, is at Shrine of
Kynareth. I referenced
this guide, and the
other
written
guides
to learn how Wrye Bash works and what to setup. I also learned some tricks from
the Oblivion Comprehensive Modding Guide by
Dispensation.
Setup
The easiest option is to use the stand-alone executable from the GitHub releases page. Extract the archive, and then use Proton to run the executable in the Mopy directory. This is the alias I use; replace directories accordingly:
alias oblivion-wyre='STEAM_COMPAT_DATA_PATH=/path/to/steam/directory/steamapps/compatdata/22330/ \
STEAM_COMPAT_CLIENT_INSTALL_PATH=/path/to/steam/directory/ \
/path/to/proton/proton run /path/to/OblivionMods/Tools/Mopy/Wrye\ Bash.exe'
Additionally, I copy the Mopy/bash_default.ini file to Mopy/bash.ini and set
the sOblivionMods to "Z:\path\to\OblivionMods\WryeBash", sBashModData to
"Z:\path\to\OblivionMods\WryeBash\Bash Mod Data", sInstallersData to
"Z:\path\to\OblivionMods\WryeBash\Bash Installers", and sOblivionPath to
"Z:\path\to\steam\steamapps\common\Oblivion". In Wine, Z: references your
local file system. Theoretically, because Wine is awesome, you may be able to
use Linux file system paths in the configuration, but I went with this.
Usage
The guides above provide a very thorough explanation of use. Of note: Wrye Bash in Wine does not like drag-and-drop actions, so don't do them. I don't do
anything special with my usage of Wrye Bash: run the alias, install mods from
the Installers tab, enable or disable mods from the Mods tab. I generally don't
do anything else.
LOOT
LOOT sets the proper load order for mods. There is a native Linux client, but
I ran into this issue and decided to
just use the Windows version. The GitHub releases page includes a 7z archive
with a stand-alone executable, and that's what I used.
Setup
Download the stand-alone executable, and extract it to OblivionMods/Tools. This is the alias I use; replace directories accordingly:
alias oblivion-wyre='STEAM_COMPAT_DATA_PATH=/path/to/steam/directory/steamapps/compatdata/22330/ \
STEAM_COMPAT_CLIENT_INSTALL_PATH=/path/to/steam/directory/ \
/path/to/proton/proton run /path/to/OblivionMods/Tools/LOOT/LOOT.exe'
On first run, it should auto-detect the Oblivion installation and configure everything accordingly. If it doesn't, there are instructions on the Homepage for configuration.
Usage
LOOT is pretty straight forward. It references a master list of mods to
determine the optimal load order for all installed mods. I ran into an issue
where LOOT couldn't properly download the master list, and so as a work-around
I manually downloaded the master list, and then configured LOOT to use that
local file instead of the remote Git repository. If everything works, and the
list of mods is there, then you can run a sort, and apply the changes. LOOT
will inform you of any "dirty" mods, which you can use the next tool the clear
up. I ended up keeping LOOT open, while stepping through the cleaning
procedure for each mod, until everything looked happy.
TES4Edit
Project Link || Homepage || Nexus Link
TES4Edit is the Oblivion version of xEdit, which is an incredible tool. All
I use it for is to clean dirty mods. LOOT provides a link to the quick
cleaning guide, which gives us exactly the steps required.
Setup
Download the latest build from GitHub, and extract it to OblivionMods/Tools. This is the alias I use, which runs the "Quick Auto Clean" function; replace directories accordingly:
alias oblivion-wyre='STEAM_COMPAT_DATA_PATH=/path/to/steam/directory/steamapps/compatdata/22330/ \
STEAM_COMPAT_CLIENT_INSTALL_PATH=/path/to/steam/directory/ \
/path/to/proton/proton run /path/to/OblivionMods/Tools/TES4Edit/TES4EditQuickAutoClean.exe'
Usage
Run the alias, select the problematic file, and click "OK". Only one file can be cleaned at a time.
TES4LODGen
Project Link || Homepage || Nexus Link
TES4LODGen will generate the relevant LOD file ahead of time. Apparently it
helps with performance in-game, but may result in slower initial load times when
starting the game.
Setup
I downloaded the files from Nexus, and extracted the archive to OblivionMods/Tools/TES4LODGen.
Usage
Run the alias. The program should auto-find everything, do some magic, and will eventually report that it has finished. At this point, you can close the application. Here's the alias; replace directories accordingly:
alias oblivion-wyre='STEAM_COMPAT_DATA_PATH=/path/to/steam/directory/steamapps/compatdata/22330/ \
STEAM_COMPAT_CLIENT_INSTALL_PATH=/path/to/steam/directory/ \
/path/to/proton/proton run /path/to/OblivionMods/Tools/TES4LODGen/TES4LODGen.exe'
BethINI
Mod List
Every player's mod list is different. Some will focus on visuals, making the game as graphically impressive and pretty as possible. Others care primarily about additional content. I tend towards the later, with a preference for additional survival or realism mods. I recommend starting with the "Core Mods" section in the Oblivion Comprehensive Modding Guide by Dispensation which will cover some essential performance and enhancement mods.
Below are some specific mods I would like to highlight, and which I enjoy.
Survival Related
Basic Primary Needs & Personal Hygiene
Nexus Link - Basic Primary Needs Nexus Link - Basic Personal Hygiene
These two mods cover most of the survival aspects of my mod pack. "Basic Primary Needs" adds hunger, thirst, and fatigue, while "Basic Personal Hygiene" adds cleanliness. Managing these will feel tedious to some, but I really like having to eat and drink, and visiting a bath house after a long time adventuring.
Each mod can make use of additional HUD Status Bars, which makes tracking the new needs much easier.
Traveler's Tent
This mod adds a portable player home, and is supremely comfy.
World Enhancement
These I would consider my graphical improvements. I'm generally not too concerned with making the game look good, but I love making the game feel more realistic. These mods make Cyrodiil feel more alive.
Better Cities
This is a massive collection of city overhaul and enhancement mods. I was awe-struck when I walked around the Imperial City for the first time with this mod enabled. Bravil felt like a dangerous, crowded harbor town. Leyawin looks like an actual place people live. Though the improvements do come with FPS hits. Doubly-so if enabling the Open Cities option, which moves cities into the overworld space, instead of their own individual instances. It's a balancing act: the immersion of walking directly into a city sometimes isn't worth crashing to desktop when adventuring around cities.
COBL
"Common Oblivion" enriches the world of Oblivion by adding lots of little things, and helping different mods "talk" to each other. I like to think of it as filling in a lot of the details that couldn't be included initially.
Enhanced Economy
This mod and the corresponding patch make the economy of the world more dynamic. What I really like are the merchant quests that are added. Several merchants in each town will ask you to find an item in one of the nearby dungeons. It adds flavor to the game in just the right way.
Lights of Oblivion - Road Lanterns
A very simple mod that I feel really enhances my travel around Cyrodiil. I avoid fast-traveling whenever possible, and walking lit roads at night feels comfy.
Natural Environments
Cyrodiil Travel Services
I really enjoyed that in Skyrim there was a dude with a wagon you could pay to travel to the various cities. This mod adds similar functionality, and then some. Useful when playing the game without fast-travel enabled.
Overhauls
Arguably, these are the heavy hitters. These mods will alter the mechanics of the game, often making things more challenging but also more rewarding.