In fact, a bunch of you have already jumped in and started modding the game. We have over 270 mods already uploaded to the site, with more than 421,000 unique downloads. These include things like a Simple Photomode, a new HUD, Better HUD, and the Ayleid Reshade, a preset created to bring back the vivid colours of the original game.
So, what do we know so far about how the game works?
As soon as the game dropped, we were all frantically downloading it here at the office, ready to poke around and find out how it all worked. However, less than an hour after release, the super-talented users in the community with a passion for reverse engineering had already cracked the game wide open and were discussing their findings, so we're keeping an eye on their conversations and supporting them if we can. Special thanks to doodlum, shad0wshayd3 and the other members of the xSE RE Discord server for providing us with a summary of what they've found so far!
Oblivion Remastered uses an interesting hybrid of two different game engines - a modified version of the original 2006 Oblivion game engine and Unreal Engine 5.3. If you take a peek into the installation folder, you'll actually find a large chunk of the original game assets still intact, including the original game plugin files.
Below are a few key things we've collated from our observations and what we've been hearing in the community. Take everything you read with the biggest pinch of salt at this early stage:
- The core data for the game is still loaded from the plugin files, as with the original games; however, each game object (record) in the plugins is mapped from Oblivion Engine to Unreal Engine using JSON. This means that the traditional methods of detecting conflicts may not work anymore.
- When adding new content to the game, the JSON data for this content would need to be inserted.
- The JSON structures for many game objects include additional values that did not exist in the original game, and the purpose of them is currently unclear.
- Any text that is added to the game via plugins seems to show up with an "[NL]" prefix, which is currently thought to mean "Not Localised". Investigations are ongoing to work out how to make mods that don't have this prefix.
- The new Unreal Engine versions of the textures, models, particles and animation files appear to still be linked to the original version in some cases.
- The Level of Detail (LOD) for this game appears to use a completely new system, most likely heavily controlled by the Unreal Engine side of the game.
- The game uses several scripting languages across different systems, including an updated version of OBScript, Unreal Engine Code, and Unreal Engine Blueprints.
- Concerning a possible script extender for the game (equivalent to xOBSE), there is a challenge of the Creation Engine script extender devs being unfamiliar with Unreal Engine and Unreal Engine modding being unfamiliar with Creation Engine script extenders.
- There are some hints within the game code that there may be a Construction Set coming for this game, but that may also simply reference the tools used by the developers.
- On the Xbox Game Pass store, the game states it includes "In-Game Purchases", which could imply the eventual integration of the Bethesda.net paid mods store.
- The Xbox Game Pass of the game came with a lot of extra debug data that is helping with the efforts to reverse engineer it.
- A version of xEdit is in development to support creating plugin files for Oblivion Remastered, but it is currently largely untested and not yet available on Nexus Mods.
To heavily summarise, there's some potential here, but unless we get an official Construction Set from Bethesda/Virtuos, there's a lot of reverse engineering work to be done before modding can be fully realised. Please don't badger the super smart folks working on this; let them cook.
Porting Permissions
One thing that is really important to remember when modding for Oblivion Remastered is that any porting of mods from the “old Oblivion” must have permission from the original mod author, either by contacting them directly or if they have stated this in the ‘Permissions and credits’ section of their mod page. It is also worth noting that it is unlikely that any of the old mods will work “out of the box” for this remaster.
What We Have Planned
We have already worked on the official extension for Vortex, which is up and ready for you all here, and there are plans to add Oblivion Remastered to the Nexus Mods app roadmap too once the modding scene becomes clearer.
Will It Support Modding?
At the moment, the official response from Bethesda on this is that no, mods are not officially supported for the game. They have stated that:
If you are experiencing gameplay issues while playing with mods, it’s recommended you first try uninstalling your mods, then verify your games files on Steam, or the Xbox App.
A big shoutout to Pickysaurus for his help on the technical part of this post. Let us know what you’re hoping to see modded for the game in the comments!
168 comments
Further off topic comments about this will be removed and accounts subject moderation where appropriate.
It would be amazing to have a mod that adds several predefined shapes (different types of lips, noses, eyes, etc.) to choose from directly, without having to deform the models with sliders.
It would allow us to create prettier and more realistic faces, kind of like in Skyrim with all the character creation mods.
It's the Plugins.txt.
The entry "Oblivion.esm" must be the very 1st entry in that list. At the top, above all the "DLC...".
I dunno if it's done incorrectly by Vortex or by the game itself but after I placed the "Oblivion.esm" at the top, I had no issues anymore and it helped others too, because they reported their success under my Reddit comment to a CTD post.
Hope that helps some ppl here.
You can find the Plugins.txt in C:/Steam\steamapps\common\Oblivion Remastered\OblivionRemastered\Content\Dev\ObvData\Data
Also, while it might be an undertaking, an Open Cities mod would be great, maybe not open interiors, but a mod that at least adds cities to the world space removing the load screen to enter. I know there was one awhile back, but no idea if it's still around or able to be made functional with this version of the game.
Lastly, could we possibly get a pinned comment of all mods from Oldblivion that are known to work with the Remaster, that others have tested or found work even though they're not officially ported yet?