[RELz] The Oblivion Mod Archive

[WalkerInShadows]

The Oblivion Mod Archive is a project nine months in the making. It came about when I was searching for mods for my game. I came to find that a) there are dozens of hosting sites, each with its own categorization system; and B) even with all the different categories, a lot of mods aren't placed correctly, which makes it really hard to find things if you're simply randomly searching. I thought about doing a grand arcive of mods, with ONE categorization system, which would make it far easier to find mods people already know about, as well as show them mods they don't.

And so, I present to you, the discerning public, the single largest archive of Oblivion mods on the net. Yes, that's right - the largest. As of this writing, I have 17,615 mods listed. If you exclude foreign language mods (around 950), it's still well over 16,000 unique mods.

The Archive is simple - an Excel/Open Office spreadsheet listing the mod's name, author, version, location(s), and a short description. I have 26 categories, and several subcategories in each for easy sorting. Each subcategory has keywords (for example, Environment and Weather has Sky, Terrain, Water, and Weather). So, if you're looking for a mod to replace the moons, you'd look under Environment and Weather, keyword Sky. Easy, huh?

Each mod has only two links. This is because a) having two columns for links, instead of a varying number, makes things much cleaner; and B) the vast majority of mods (maybe 85%) are on only one site - usually TES Nexus, since it's the largest; another 10% are on two sites. In point of fact, since it IS the largest mod hosting site on the net, I started there, then I moved to PES, the (possibly) second-largest, This is also why the links are organized the way they are - it's not favoritism or bias; I simply started with the largest site and am working my way down the ladder. I also have some mods from a few other sites; in the coming months, I will be going through any other hosting sites I can find and adding their mods as well. If there is a large call for it, I can find a way to add all the links for each mod.

If you know of a mod that has been hosted for at least 30 days and isn't listed (subject to the above), please let me know so I can add it. Likewise, if you find any mistakes (especially missing descriptions), version updates, etc., let me know.

I have made minor changes here and there to some mod names in the interests of saving space and correcting typos. Likewise, mod authors don't always use the same name on multiple sites (much to my annoyance), so the name most often listed is the first one I encounter. If I know the person by a more common name from the TES forums, I used that one instead (since, presumably, others would recognize that name also).

How to Use

The Archive is divided into 26 categories, as noted in the readme. Each has two or more subcategories, noted with keywords. If you're looking for a specific mod (say, a vampirism mod), click on the Keywords column, at the top, then select Data - Filter - Standard Filter and tab over to the Value box, then type in the keyword you want (in this case, Vampirism). The filter will then sort out all the mods with the selected keyword. I'm not exactly sure how Excel works, but it should be somewhat the same.

Warning: If you use SCalc, be sure to hit the Undo button (or Ctrl-Z) before saving! Otherwise, there's a bug in the program that will permanently screw up that page, because it won't restore the filtered entries properly.

Known Issues

Yes, I know some of the descriptions are vague. In some cases, there was little or no description in the entry itself, so I had to resort to "??? description unclear". Some mods (especially levelling mods) are quite hard to summarize with a short, one-sentence description, let me tell you.

Some mod versions made be out of date. I check the lastest files on TESNexus, but I don't over the recent changes - it's too time-consuming, and the vast majority of mods never make it past a 1.0 release. See below for more.

The Archive has only the latest versions of any mods - I did not, for example, list all the older versions of MMM, even though they're still accessible on TESNexus. I also did not list obsolete mods, or any mod whose entry was "blocked from viewing", since there's no actual file to download.

There are lots of blank lines. This is deliberate, not an oversight. When I was adding entries, I often had to insert several blank lines to accommodate new entries, and I simply left any blank lines there so I could slot in later mods without having to add new lines. If it bugs you, just highlight the entire page below the headers and click the A-Z button - that will organize everything. Be careful! The Models & Textures and Weapons & Armor pages have several subheaders, and highlighting the entire page for those will make a large mess.

Contact

I am seeking feedback on this! I want to keep improving and expanding on the Archive, and I can't do it without your help. If you have any suggestions, ideas, or comments, drop me a PM or post, and I'll either explain why I did what I did, or try to accommodate you.

Download

[lEx0dusl]

I registered just to say that this list is simply amazing. Even the most out of the way mods seem to be listed here and this list helped me find a mod author that i thought i had lost forever.

My one and only suggestion would be to put a date (or at least a month and year) of the last time the mod was updated in a column (if that is not too much work that is). It is a minor thing, and i only really ask for it because I am really lazy and want a quick way to see what is relatively recent and what has not been updated in forever (i have an aversion to mods that are quite old when dealing with some of the more complex things in oblivion modding).

By the way Children of Salmacis - Halicarnassus listed in the partners section was a ayleid ruin home for the partners created in the CoS series. I figured helping clear that description up is the least i could do for the immense amount of help your list gave me.

Keep up the good work =D

-Ex0dus

[Psykolabe]

Thank you so much! This really helped me look through and find the best ways to rebuild Oblivion for me, greatly appriciated sir!

I really cannot say how much I appriciate this, as it must've taken you an immense amount of time to compile such a comprehensive list! If I do happen upon a score of mods you seem to be omitting, I will post! Thanks again!

[WalkerInShadows]

I registered just to say that this list is simply amazing. Even the most out of the way mods seem to be listed here and this list helped me find a mod author that i thought i had lost forever.

Cool! Glad to help.

My one and only suggestion would be to put a date (or at least a month and year) of the last time the mod was updated in a column (if that is not too much work that is). It is a minor thing, and i only really ask for it because I am really lazy and want a quick way to see what is relatively recent and what has not been updated in forever (i have an aversion to mods that are quite old when dealing with some of the more complex things in oblivion modding).

Actually, it would be too much work - I'd have to go through all 17,000+ mods again. Sorry.

By the way Children of Salmacis - Halicarnassus listed in the partners section was a ayleid ruin home for the partners created in the CoS series. I figured helping clear that description up is the least i could do for the immense amount of help your list gave me.

Ah, okay. Thanks for the heads up.

Thank you so much! This really helped me look through and find the best ways to rebuild Oblivion for me, greatly appriciated sir!

I really cannot say how much I appriciate this, as it must've taken you an immense amount of time to compile such a comprehensive list! If I do happen upon a score of mods you seem to be omitting, I will post! Thanks again!

Nine months, yes. But then, I have no life.

[Nic-V]

Wow I hope you have time for updating it!

With so many mods your version numbers and the like can easily get old.

[Fiore1300]

snip. Posted in the wrong thread. Had too many dang windows up.

Edited April 30, 2011 by Fiore1300

[emma]

If you know of a mod that has been hosted for at least 30 days and isn't listed (subject to the above), please let me know so I can add it. Likewise, if you find any mistakes (especially missing descriptions), version updates, etc., let me know.

Well, as you are asking...

None of my mods are listed there, except for my newly released Red Rose Manor, but in your list this mod is said to be a manor located outside Bruma by the author Versa??? Your link to it is dead, so I don't know if there maybe once upon a time existed another Red Rose Manor at Bruma by this author.

My other 11 Oblivion mods, all released during 2009-2011, are not in the list, although most of them are on the top 100 list for their respective cathegories on Nexus (i.e. they are neither exceptionally newly released, nor exceptionally unknown).

I notice that there doesn't seem to be any companion-cathegory in your list (the npc&companion list doesnt' seem to include much companions and none of the more used ones, like Vilja, CM Partners, CSR, Ruin-Tail, Viconia, Neeshka, Ramys Enfant are mentioned), and I'm not sure how Immersion mods are labelled?

I notice that one of my favorite Cheydinhal houses, Amenthala's Well House by Khetilenna, is listed as a tent and an unicorn in the Heartlands by Pedro Barusso?? One of my other favorite houses, the groundbreaking Millstone Farm by Korana, released in 2009, is not on the list.

I'm sorry if this sounds negative... it's a massive task to try to provide a comprehensive list of mods that covers all cathegories.

[Leonardo]

This mod list are indeed interesting perhaps it can be used one way or another in future but who knows. Keep up the hard work and thanks for sharing.

[WalkerInShadows]

Sorry for the late response... I don't stop by here very often.

Well, as you are asking...

None of my mods are listed there, except for my newly released Red Rose Manor, but in your list this mod is said to be a manor located outside Bruma by the author Versa??? Your link to it is dead, so I don't know if there maybe once upon a time existed another Red Rose Manor at Bruma by this author.

My other 11 Oblivion mods, all released during 2009-2011, are not in the list, although most of them are on the top 100 list for their respective cathegories on Nexus (i.e. they are neither exceptionally newly released, nor exceptionally unknown).

I stopped updating the archive on Dec 12, 2009; from what I can see, most of your mods were added after that, so of course they wouldn't be listed. As for Red Rose Manor: I'm not sure why it ended up like that. I based the short descriptions on what I could get from the readmes (unless I actually used that mod myself); it's possible that it actually belongs to another entry, and something got messed up during editing.

I notice that there doesn't seem to be any companion-cathegory in your list (the npc&companion list doesnt' seem to include much companions and none of the more used ones, like Vilja, CM Partners, CSR, Ruin-Tail, Viconia, Neeshka, Ramys Enfant are mentioned), and I'm not sure how Immersion mods are labelled?

All of the mods you mentioned are listed, except for CM Partners (note sure how I missed that) and Vilja; Neeshka is listed as CM Partner Neeshka. I found them using the search function. "Immersion" mods are split up into Graphics & Sound, Environment, etc. - Immersion was just too broad (and vague) a category.

I notice that one of my favorite Cheydinhal houses, Amenthala's Well House by Khetilenna, is listed as a tent and an unicorn in the Heartlands by Pedro Barusso??

Again, likely an editing error. Sorry.

One of my other favorite houses, the groundbreaking Millstone Farm by Korana, released in 2009, is not on the list.

It was probably released after I'd gone through the House mods. I tried to keep up with recent releases by scanning the lists on TESNexus, but a few things likely slipped through the cracks.

I'm sorry if this sounds negative... it's a massive task to try to provide a comprehensive list of mods that covers all cathegories.

Yes it is - that's part of the reason I gave up. Some months ago, I thought about doing a mod wiki (an online archive) and started going through the archive to update links and such, but after I caught the hostage-taker virus from a Google ad, I gave that up as well. I really should update the file... as soon as TESNexus stops having fits.