FCOM in 2015 (and some others questions) ?

[IlliciteS]

I have been checking on internet for two days, and my google pages and historic concerning FCOM, wiki, Oblivion, OOO, MMM and so on are full of purple colored links.

 

 

Hi there,

 

I was wondering if in 2015 (we are close to be in 2015) we can still play Oblivion with FCOM. Strange question, maybe, but I am trying to get it installed, and I have the feeling that is impossible. For Skyrim, you just have to download a mod with Nexus Mod Manager, and you can play it directly without any problem. I can play it with more than one hundred mods without crash or bug. For Morrowind, like more than ten years ago, it was quite as easy to install some mods, even if you have to manually do it. But for Oblivion...

 

I am at my third attempt concerning FCOM, after having deleted and re-downloaded Oblivion twice. Sometimes I got some missing files, textures, meshes or I do not know what, another time, some parts of  the game were in German (??), then the game could not be launched and crashed, and finally, I absolutely did not know what was really installed as OBMM and Wrye Bash decided to tick and untick some  random mods here and there in a plurality of beautiful colors (BOSS said me there was only one Error, but I could not figure out where, and I could launch the game with several bugs, missing files, textures and so on). 

 

During my attempt to install FCOM, I have encountered these issues:

- There are several documentations about how to install it, but they all say different things with different mods with different versions at a different date

- They are all outdated

- The author's site is down

- All (or almost) the given links refer to planetEldercroll or something like this, which does not exist anymore

- Some mod have been updated, others have not, so you never know which one you can take and if they are compatible

- The updated ones have their updates scattered all over Nexusmod/oblivion.com, and you are bound to miss some of them

- Some mods can be installed with BAIN, other with OBMM, others with an .exe, others with nothing. For an easier installation, they say.

 

Really, I said to myself, when I installed it for the 1st time, that it shoud be easy, as it was for Morrowind or Skyrim. But this is such a mess, seriously. Even Wrye Bash and OBMM, which are meant to help you and be easy to use, are complicated to use in comparison with Nexus Mod Manager, when you have just to click on "Activate" to install a mod. 

 

So, are some of you still playing with FCOM, without any complication ? (Incidentally, am I an idiot ? Huehue). 

What is the best utility to install FCOM ; Wrye Bash BAIN, Oblivion Mod Manager, or even Nexus Mod Manager ? 

Can I use all of them for different mods ? 

And the last question, concerning Oscuro Oblivion Overhaul, the main file is a .bsa. How to use it, how can I open it with BAIN or OBMM ? (I have tried the normal way, but it does not seem to work).

 

 

By the way, I am not sure of it, but if someone can show me a screenshot of his FCOM list of mod (name and version), it might help me to download the good ones.

otherwise, I would content myself with some answers, even if they do not cover all my questions. 

A fresh Oblivion install is ready, I will wait for some tips and advice before doing anything. x)

 

Thanks in advance !

[HeyYou]

FCOM is an extremely complicated SET of mods that were not originally designed to work together, that the FCOM team managed to get them to play nice, is nothing short of a miracle.. The install is not for the faint of heart, nor is it simple.

 

You are correct though, a fair few of the resources that were once available to walk you thru the installation, seem to have fallen by the wayside. Check out the Fortitude thread that around here somewhere, for someone else that was having some issues.

 

There are also some youtube videos for the installation. The version of FCOM I have, didn't come with a detailed readme...... you were expected to be able to go to the website... which is now MIA. That's gonna make life interesting. Even TomLong's site seems to have fallen off the net, which is truly unfortunate, as there were some excellent resources there.

[IlliciteS]

Quite a miracle, indeed, especially when no updated documentation are available.

That said, thanks for the link; there are several really interrested sreenshots concerning the version of the mods.

I will keep an eye on it during my installation. 

[HeyYou]

Wonder if it would be possible to contact one of the FCOM team over at the Beth forums, and get a copy of the install docs from them........ I think that would be something worth archiving.

[alpheus911]

It can be done.  The best recent guide I've come across is nUbee's guide for FCOM 1.0:

 

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8BTIQGFFmHPWmNCbVdSUXFDRXc/edit?pli=1

 

Following it to the letter worked great for me.  Where I ran into pain was when I tried to get all my other favorite mods to work on top of it.  (Deadly Reflex, Midas Magic, Morroblivion, and heaps others)  Which ones were causing me grief I haven't been able to tell.  Going through fresh install and this time testing the game out after every mod that isn't completely trivial in scope.

 

Edit: Also going to do my best to not manually install ANYTHING as when you do it can make finding the source of problems & managing conflicts much MUCH more difficult.

Edited January 27, 2015 by alpheus911

[wellden]

Yes FCOM is still alive! I use it every playthrough. Hishutup, from STEP, has a great walkthrough of the basics of FCOM  http://wiki.step-project.com/User:Hishutup/OblivionGuide ...follow carefully, definitely not for the faint  but worth it. Wyre Bash highly recommended as mod manager for FCOM and BOSS, not LOOT. Right tools for right game! I use MO for most anything BUT Oblivion...happy gaming!