Hello! What would you say is the best mod to use when making a character? What adds the best eyes, hair, textures, etc? Two I've heard of are the Cosmetic Compilation mod and the Beautiful People mod. Thanks!

The guys over at the mods section would probably know better. :rolleyes:

Haha, but the guys here in general answer so much more quickly!

"Best" is highly subjective. I'd stay away from Beautiful People as it has compatibility issues with other cosmetic and race mods. Isn't Cosmetic Compilation quite old by now? Cobl Races is a nice package, adding several races and lots of hairs/eyes. For better looking bodies, there's Robert's for males and several to choose from for females. EVE HGEC, for example, is excellent and also has mesh replacers for several of the most popular mods that add armors. For face textures there are also several alternatives. I'm using Improved Facial Texture for its ageing textures and F-IN evOblivion - which is a hires texture set for HGEC and also has face textures.

Thanks. I looked up the Cobl mod and it doesn't seem to say anything about appearance. I'd love to see the hair and eyes before I go ahead with it.

It's a compilation so you can check out the included mods:

Oh, okay, I see. Thanks!

Will Cobl be compatible with the following facial texture mods?

IFT - Improved Facial Textures
IAFT - Improved Argonian Facial Textures
Enayla's New Face Textures 2

Yes, as those mods only change how the textures look rather than how the faces look.

I also recommend http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=OblivionMods.Detail&id=2108 for your Argonian. Again, it doesn't affect body meshes, only textures.

So, I managed to get all the texture ones working, it seems.

However, I downloaded the Cobl cosmetic file and transferred the four folders to Data, merging with existing folders . . . but I don't have any more hair, eyes, or race options. What did I do wrong? Do I need to download more than the cosmetic file?

Thanks!

Yes you do. You need to download COBL itself and the Race packages included in that. It is those that call those cosmetic changes into the game.

My personal suggestion (and what I use myself) would be:
COBL: Get the whole thing, including the "TNR Races" parts. This adds some of the hair and eyes from Beautiful People (I think it was) available to your character and added to NPCs as well.
HGEC Body mod: I recommend "EVE HGEC Eyecandy Variants Expansion" as this adds both the body variants as well as the clothing and armour to fit/suit them.
High Rez Skin Textures for HGEC: (Face and full packages) This vastly improves the textures of the above body types.

So I downloaded the entire Cobl mod and installed it, and then the cosmetic mod . . . but, when I go to data files and select the mods, the game crashes when I try to play. Hm.

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1051762-relz-cobl-races-relz - you should find your answer there

Make sure you have Cobl_Cosmetics_Res_01 installed as it has all the resources for hairs/eyes/races. Also, run BOSS to get the correct load order.

As far as body replacers goes, I'd go with HGEC (if you're playing as a female character like I am!) because you can get some pretty cool clothes for them and such, not to mention that HGEC female body replacers has far less bugs (if any) than the other female body replacers I've tried in the past! But for male characters, that I'm not sure of! People tell me that Robert's Male Body Replacers is pretty good for male characters! And for hair, nothing beats out Ren's Beauty Pack (in my opinion, at least!) But for eyes, that one would be kinda tricky for me!

You know what . . . I wonder if it's because I haven't installed Shivering Isles yet. "Cobl Races currently requires Shivering Isles."

Duh.

May I suggest something?

COBL is a great mod.
Its Races part though is somplified version of bg2408's Race balancing Project. Another great mod.

I have played both rece-adding mods and eventually foubd out that I want to play COBL main + Race Balancing Project because bg2408 made RBP much more elaborate (more eyes for your character for instance, and nice plugins allowing NPCs to use the RBP resources etc. etc.)

So, my suggestion is:
1. Install COBL.
2. Install COBL Cosmetic Resources + COBL Races.esp Try it. Uninstall
3. Install RBP http://tes.multimediaxis.de/?go=dlfile&fileid=293 andhttp://tes.multimediaxis.de/?go=dlfile&fileid=215 Try it.
4. See which more suits you (for me RBP is superior compared to COBL Races because gives more options and flexibility) and stay with the one you choose.

This way you will have had tried 2 of the best cosmetic mods out there and have hade made informed choice, with both eyes open.

It should be added that RPB does a lot more than add races/hairs/eyes, so check if you want its other changes first.

I'm just so lost . . . downloaded Wrye Bash and ran it. When I check Cobl races, the checks are red, but I know I installed the main Cobl mod . . . still when I try to open the game, and check the mods, it won't start (just crashes). I'm going to go home and install Shivering Isles and see if that fixes the problem. If not, I'll probably reinstall the game (I just bought it on Saturday and only have 8 hours in . . . plus, I'd like a better character to start with) and try to add mods in the right order.

It's all so complicated, gah!

Yes, Cobl Races requires SI. Didn't think about that as I always have SI installed. So install SI first and see if that fixes it. If not, post your load order via Wrye Bash: right-click File-header > List mods > Paste into post.

SI doesn't seem to help . . . I just think I have things all screwed up from trying to install the mods. And it says I'm missing Cobl Main, but I don't see how I downloaded everything else without it? And geez, why am I missing everything else?

Thanks for the help, I'm new to this game and modding system . . .

Active Mod Files:00  Oblivion.esm01  Cobl Races TNR.esp  [Version 1.53]----> MISSING MASTER: Cobl Main.esm02  Cobl Races TNR SI.esp  [Version 1.53]----> MISSING MASTER: Cobl Main.esm03  MMM-Cobl.esp  [Version 1.69]----> MISSING MASTER: Cobl Main.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Mart's Monster Mod.esm04  OOO 1.32-Cobl.esp  [Version 1.72]----> MISSING MASTER: Cobl Main.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esm05  Knights.esp06  Salmo the Baker, Cobl.esp  [Version 3.08]----> MISSING MASTER: Cobl Main.esm07  DLCShiveringIsles.esp08  Item interchange - Extraction.esp  [Version 0.76]----> MISSING MASTER: Francesco's Leveled Creatures-Items Mod.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Francesco's Optional New Creatures Add-On.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Cobl Main.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Qarls_Harvest.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Ulrim's Horses.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Mart's Monster Mod.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Diverse Wisps - Base.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Armamentarium.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Better Cities Resources.esm----> MISSING MASTER: AliveWaters.esp----> MISSING MASTER: advlt Books.esp----> MISSING MASTER: CT-Com's Torch Compendium.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Elder Scrolls Book Club - Oblivion.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Happyhannah's Wines.esp----> MISSING MASTER: More_Animals.esp----> MISSING MASTER: More_Vegetables.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Oblivion Collectible Cards.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Q - More and Moldy Ingredients v1.1.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Qarls_Harvest addon.esp----> MISSING MASTER: FF_Real_Thirst.esp----> MISSING MASTER: DLCSpellTomes.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Jade Dishes.esp----> MISSING MASTER: ExnemRuneskulls.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Mart's Monster Mod - Diverse Runeskulls.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Mart's Monster Mod - Gems & Gem Dust.esp----> MISSING MASTER: TIE.esp----> MISSING MASTER: T.I.E4MODS.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Qarls_Harvest addon_MMM.esp----> MISSING MASTER: zCats & Rats.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Jagnot- Imperial City Library V1.3.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Lost Paladins of the Divines.esp----> MISSING MASTER: PitcherPlantHarvestable.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Lily of the Valley Nectar.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Pitcher Plant and Lily Ingredients.esp09  Item interchange - Option, Ingredients in Bulk, reduced.esp  [Version 0.76]----> MISSING MASTER: Cobl Main.esm----> MISSING MASTER: More_Vegetables.esp----> MISSING MASTER: TIE.esp0A  Item interchange - Option, Ingredients in Bulk.esp  [Version 0.76]----> MISSING MASTER: Cobl Main.esm----> MISSING MASTER: More_Vegetables.esp----> MISSING MASTER: TIE.esp0B  Item interchange - Placement for FCOM.esp  [Version 0.76]----> MISSING MASTER: Cybiades.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Francesco's Leveled Creatures-Items Mod.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Cobl Main.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Qarls_Harvest.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Mart's Monster Mod.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Enhanced Daedric Invasion.esm----> MISSING MASTER: TamrielTravellers.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Armamentarium.esm----> MISSING MASTER: DremoraCompanion.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Better Cities Resources.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Francesco's Optional Chance of Stronger Enemies.esp----> MISSING MASTER: More_Animals.esp----> MISSING MASTER: More_Vegetables.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Q - More and Moldy Ingredients v1.1.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Wogs!.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Crowded Cities 15.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Crowded Cities 30.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Crowded Roads.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Crowded Roads Advanced.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Crowded Roads Advanced less crowded.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Choices and Consequences.esp----> MISSING MASTER: C&C - The Blackwood Company.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Adonnays Classical Weaponry.esp----> MISSING MASTER: PersuasionOverhaul.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Thieves Arsenal.esp----> MISSING MASTER: DLCThievesDen.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Oblivion WarCry EV.esp----> MISSING MASTER: ArmamentariumArtifacts.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Mart's Monster Mod - Additional Enemy NPC Vars.esp----> MISSING MASTER: TIE.esp----> MISSING MASTER: T.I.E4MODS.esp----> MISSING MASTER: ClocksOfCyrodiil.esp----> MISSING MASTER: ClocksOfCyrodiilBC.esp----> MISSING MASTER: ClocksOfCyrodiilOBC.esp----> MISSING MASTER: ClocksOfCyrodiil_BC_OBC_OC_OCLR_Vanilla.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Ivellon.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Ancient_Goblin_City-4843.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Blackrock_Mountain-4489.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Lair_of_the_Hydra-4490.esp----> MISSING MASTER: MiniCyrodiil.esp----> MISSING MASTER: snowglobe.esp----> MISSING MASTER: The Ayleid Steps.esp----> MISSING MASTER: The_Dragon_Citadel-6178.esp----> MISSING MASTER: The_Tower_of_the_Lich_King-4492.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Unique Dungeons - Lichs Lair.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Unique Dungeons - Lost Glory.esp----> MISSING MASTER: DLCBattlehornCastle.esp----> MISSING MASTER: CybiadesDungeon.esp----> MISSING MASTER: The Lost Spires.esp----> MISSING MASTER: TOTF.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Blood&Mud.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Lost Paladins of the Divines.esp----> MISSING MASTER: xulStendarrValley.esp----> MISSING MASTER: xulChorrolHinterland.esp----> MISSING MASTER: xulAncientRedwoods.esp----> MISSING MASTER: xulArriusCreek.esp----> MISSING MASTER: xulRollingHills_EV.esp----> MISSING MASTER: xulBrenaRiverRavine.esp----> MISSING MASTER: xulImperialIsle.esp----> MISSING MASTER: bartholm.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Slof's Dogs.esp----> MISSING MASTER: MidasSpells.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Grandmaster of Alchemy.esp0C  Item interchange - Placement for Frostcrag Reborn.esp  [Version 0.76]----> MISSING MASTER: Cobl Main.esm----> MISSING MASTER: DLCfrostcrag.esp0D  Item interchange - Placement for Frostcrag Spire Revisited.esp  [Version 0.76]----> MISSING MASTER: Cobl Main.esm----> MISSING MASTER: DLCFrostcrag.esp0E  Item interchange - Placement for Frostcrag.esp  [Version 0.76]----> MISSING MASTER: Cobl Main.esm----> MISSING MASTER: DLCfrostcrag.esp0F  Item interchange - Placement.esp  [Version 0.76]----> MISSING MASTER: Cybiades.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Francesco's Leveled Creatures-Items Mod.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Francesco's Optional New Creatures Add-On.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Cobl Main.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Qarls_Harvest.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Mart's Monster Mod.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Enhanced Daedric Invasion.esm----> MISSING MASTER: TamrielTravellers.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Armamentarium.esm----> MISSING MASTER: DremoraCompanion.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Better Cities Resources.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Francesco's Optional Chance of Stronger Enemies.esp----> MISSING MASTER: More_Animals.esp----> MISSING MASTER: More_Vegetables.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Q - More and Moldy Ingredients v1.1.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Wogs!.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Crowded Cities 15.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Crowded Cities 30.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Crowded Roads.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Crowded Roads Advanced.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Crowded Roads Advanced less crowded.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Choices and Consequences.esp----> MISSING MASTER: C&C - The Blackwood Company.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Adonnays Classical Weaponry.esp----> MISSING MASTER: PersuasionOverhaul.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Thieves Arsenal.esp----> MISSING MASTER: DLCThievesDen.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Oblivion WarCry EV.esp----> MISSING MASTER: ArmamentariumArtifacts.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Mart's Monster Mod - Additional Enemy NPC Vars.esp----> MISSING MASTER: TIE.esp----> MISSING MASTER: T.I.E4MODS.esp----> MISSING MASTER: ClocksOfCyrodiil.esp----> MISSING MASTER: ClocksOfCyrodiilBC.esp----> MISSING MASTER: ClocksOfCyrodiilOBC.esp----> MISSING MASTER: ClocksOfCyrodiil_BC_OBC_OC_OCLR_Vanilla.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Ivellon.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Ancient_Goblin_City-4843.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Blackrock_Mountain-4489.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Lair_of_the_Hydra-4490.esp----> MISSING MASTER: MiniCyrodiil.esp----> MISSING MASTER: snowglobe.esp----> MISSING MASTER: The Ayleid Steps.esp----> MISSING MASTER: The_Dragon_Citadel-6178.esp----> MISSING MASTER: The_Tower_of_the_Lich_King-4492.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Unique Dungeons - Lichs Lair.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Unique Dungeons - Lost Glory.esp----> MISSING MASTER: DLCBattlehornCastle.esp----> MISSING MASTER: CybiadesDungeon.esp----> MISSING MASTER: The Lost Spires.esp----> MISSING MASTER: TOTF.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Blood&Mud.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Lost Paladins of the Divines.esp----> MISSING MASTER: xulStendarrValley.esp----> MISSING MASTER: xulChorrolHinterland.esp----> MISSING MASTER: xulAncientRedwoods.esp----> MISSING MASTER: xulArriusCreek.esp----> MISSING MASTER: xulRollingHills_EV.esp----> MISSING MASTER: xulBrenaRiverRavine.esp----> MISSING MASTER: xulImperialIsle.esp----> MISSING MASTER: bartholm.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Slof's Dogs.esp----> MISSING MASTER: MidasSpells.esp----> MISSING MASTER: Grandmaster of Alchemy.esp10  Cobl Races - Balanced.esp  [Version 1.52]----> MISSING MASTER: Cobl Main.esm----> MISSING MASTER: Cobl Races.esp11  Bashed Patch, 0.esp12  Cobl Silent Equip Misc.esp  [Version 01]

Ok, I redownloaded the main Cobl file, and now I have Cobl races! Yessssss. Now I need to reinstall the facial textures, I think, and I should be golden.

Dude! You really have to think through your installations. First off I recommend installing through Wrye Bash, or failing that OBMM. Much better than manual installation.

All those missing masters?!
They WILL crash your game instantly - every time.

Cobl Races TNR.esp [Version 1.53]
02 Cobl Races TNR SI.esp [Version 1.53]
Clearly you hadn't installed COBL properly, you say this is fixed so that should be fine now.
And yes it needs Shivering Isles because it uses meshes and textures from it.

03 MMM-Cobl.esp [Version 1.69]
You don't want this installed UNLESS you are using MMM

04 OOO 1.32-Cobl.esp [Version 1.72]
You don't want this installed UNLESS you are using OOO

08 Item interchange - Extraction.esp
The reason that these through up all those missing masters is that it needs to be DEACTIVATED, and merged into your bashed patch (which I see you have there - Rebuild it.)
This is the only way to use such "filter" mods, which work on various mods, only some of which you might have.

09 Item interchange - Option, Ingredients in Bulk, reduced.esp [Version 0.76]
0A Item interchange - Option, Ingredients in Bulk.esp [Version 0.76]
And this really shows your problems: You can't use both of these (Try installing through OBMM, it uses a script to sort this out for you - Wrye bash is even better but doesn't lead you by the hand as much, which many of us need at first.)

0B Item interchange - Placement for FCOM.esp [Version 0.76]
You don't want this installed UNLESS you are using FCOM (which would negate the need for the MMM and OOO ones.)

0C Item interchange - Placement for Frostcrag Reborn.esp [Version 0.76]
0D Item interchange - Placement for Frostcrag Spire Revisited.esp [Version 0.76]
0E Item interchange - Placement for Frostcrag.esp [Version 0.76]
These three are for each of the possible frostcrag modifications: Reborn, Revisited or the original DLC version. Once again you can only use one. But as you don't any of them, you don't want (and can't have) any of them.

0F Item interchange - Placement.esp [Version 0.76]
Another one that has to be DEACTIVATED and merged into the bashed patch to work.

Thanks. I suppose I didn't use all the care I should have since all I wanted as the Races pack . . . I'm not even activating the other ones, which is why it doesn't crash now.

There are a lot of hair and eye compilations out there. If you know how to add them through the construction set then I like the hair pack that comes with the Moonshadow Elves race mod. Just check out tesnexus.com, there's a section devoted entirely to "hair and face" mods.

For facial textures I recommend installing Improved Facial Textures and then installing Facial Textures by Enayla. Both can be found at tesnexus.com

My favorite body mods are Fantasy Figures and HGEC. I currently use Fantasy Figures (TFF). All the stock armor and clothing for vanilla and shivering isles have been done (one of them you'll have to ask for somewhere since it's not on tesnexus). TFF Also has conversions from several popular armor and clothing mods. HGEC is the same, and then there's HGEC EVE that has a replacement for stock armor and clothing relevant to the body type/size you have chosen. HGEC EVE or TFF are the way to go in my opinion. If you want something more realistic and less fantasy-like then I also highly, highly recommend looking at Robert's Female Body replacer or The Girl Next Door. Go ahead and head over to tesnexus and search for TFF or UFF (both are tags used for the fantasy figures body and armor mods), HGEC, Robert Female, and TGND and see which one you like. There used to be a screenshot that compared several popular female body replacers but it's rather dated, last I saw. Many if not all of these replacers can be installed with our without underwear. I also forgot about Exnem, which is also pretty darn popular. There's also BAB (Biu's Adventuress Body).

For male characters look at Robert's Male Body replacer (just search Robert Male v5). It comes in nvde or underwear varieties, and you can choose from several different physical shapes such as bulky, muscular, average, and and a skinny little dweeb. Robert's body has also been adapted into Breeze's Defined Male Body and...um...there's another and I can't think of the name right now, sorry. I'm fond of Robert's Muscular body and the male clothes made by AlienSlof, but I kind of think you'd have to be a chick to truly aprpeciate them . I am, and I need me some male eye candy in my game haha.

For textures, it depends on which mods you're using. There are different argonian and khajiit textures depending on which body replacer you're using, for example.

If you're using Robert's male and female replacers AlienSlof has some absolutely BEAUTIFUL retextures for Khajiits, as well as a mod adding whiskers and claws to Khajiits and spiked tails and claws to argonians. She ONLY supports Robert's male (muscular or bulky I think) and Robert's Female body replacers. Using her textures or armor/clothing on other bodies will give odd, messy results. I don't much like Robert's female but I've gotta be honest her retextures and some of her armors really make it tempting for me to make the switch lol.

There are also a TON of race addons, the most popular ones seem to be various elf races. Luchaire's Tabaxi Cat replacer is pretty cool. There's also Argonian Beautification with Scripted Argonian Feet, but it's still very much a work in progress (on pause indefinitely). It tries to replace the argonian human-like feet with a "boot" type mesh that makes the feet look like nifty reptile feet. There's a bunch of model clipping though. If you can ignore the odd clipping then it's worth checking out.

If you download and intsall oblivion mod manager and wrye bash (and its dependencies) you can make all your current mods work together through the "bashed patch". There are numerous tutorials available and I can give you a rough run-through sometime.