Oblivion

About this mod

A vast dungeon, a collection of new items (from different inspirations, Warcraft being one of them), meshes, textures, a couple of quests and a LOT of power to be gained. Also, crazy wood elves.

Requirements
Permissions and credits
The town eccentric, they called him. Nothing but a madman - a dangerous one at that! Little did they know that the chief cause of madness... is to stare too long into the abyss. A long, harsh and perilous journey awaits those who dare to see more than simple-mindedness in that "crazy wood elf" and gather what little clues are left, long after he lost his mind. Beware! New souls, inexperienced travelers, sightseers and the like will perish. Be prepared! Come well-armed! And sharpen your wit if you even wish to get somewhere



In essence, this is a very big mod, which adds a couple of new quests - one of them, as you may have guessed, implying Glarthir - but also a couple of new weapons and two new armor sets, all with their own custom meshes and textures. This is also my Swan song, the last mod I'll be making for quite a while, given that... well, life goes faster as we go further into it. I've put pretty much all that I've ever modeled or created in this thing. I'm keeping the same name the project had in the beginning (Legends of Azeroth Armory) althought much of the Warcraft-themed things I wanted to make are inexistant. just for melancholy's sake.


I had to axe this project to move onto different things, so the dungeon isin't nearly as vast as it was meant to be, and I haven't created all the armor sets I desired. You'll see placeholders everywhere in the dungeon that should show how ambitious the project was initially, but that was just about 5 years ago when I started it with too much time on my hands. Still, thought, I deem it presentable enough. Anything that dosen't work in it you simply won't notice, and anything that works, should work for good without any bugs. I have tested it extensively and no issues seem to remain (Always, we modders say this, knowing full well bug reports are coming in tomorrow...).

IF YOU'RE HAVING TROUBLE WITH THE NOTE'S RIDDLE :
Spoiler:  
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Starting from the panicked portion of the text, the first letter of every word spells : Fort Naso


THIS MOD CONTAINS:

The Butterfly Blade

A suggestion from WTFTesnexus, who helped me in the creation of this very mod and thusly earned a little freebie in his name. Like a butterfly knife, but big enough to cut a small child in half. Comes its own switching script so it folds when sheathed. The original inspiration comes from the franchise Alita battle angel or something. I'm pretty damn proud of the damascus steel's effect and shine.

The Flametongue

Straight from the traditional Dungeons and Dragons universe, this sword is an unending provider of burns, slashes, sears, flames and ash. Made to honor Lanceor's contribution to my mod and his help in fixing some issues. Of course, it has its own custom mesh.

The Holy Avenger

Also straight from D&D, and also a request from Lanceor (Thanks again mate!), the mighty paladin's sword, now a powerful claymore ready to lay waste to the enemies of Good. Plus it looks badass.

The Dagger of Defense

An amazing weapon from the D&D universe, extremely elegant and beautiful. I had a blast modeling this one. It comes with another name in the mod, but I'm not revealing anything more.

The VoidBlade.

Inspired from World of Warcraft fan art implicating a Death knight. Mighty frozen claymore and one of the first models I created - incidentally, not the best or most polished. The inspiration comes from Katie List (Pokketmowse), but I can't find where the picture comes from (after 5 years of data...)

The Gladiator's Bloodletter 

An amazing dagger from World of Warcraft, details worked out from an illustration by Chenbo on DeviantArt. I just love the design of this blade soooo much.

The Widow's Remorse

A classic weapon from Cassic Wow, also one of the most phallic objects in the game, this blade has always fascinated me. I took immense pleasure in modeling a much more intricate and complicated model, with gems cut like tortured, torn apart souls on the hilt. It's maybe the one model I made that was an attempt at independant art and not just imitation.

The NetherSteel Katana

Just my personal attempt at an oriental weapon, with a big blot of warcraft theme smeared onto it so that it fits the mod... Seriousely thought, it's so pretty i'd date it. *cough*

The Shield of Impenetrable Darkness

Straight from The Burning Cruisade, this shield's design was incredible. So I made it with more than 120 polygons.

Thori'Dal, The Stars' Fury

The Most Amazing Bow in the freaking universe. Loved it in WoW, needed to add it in Oblivion. This weapon, as far as Oblivion is concerned, might just be the most complex morphing mesh on the nexus. Some parts appear and disappear as you draw it to create very cool effects. Also, it generates its very own ammo, just like in Burning Cruisade.

The Warglaives of Azzinoth, Frostmourne, and Ner'Zhul's armor.

Because I must bow down to Jojjo, their creator, who is the best modeler I've seen on this website, and also the main reason I even started to do 3d modeling at all. That's how much I enjoyed killing goblins decked out in a pristine set of Lich King awesomeness. Frostmourne comes with spells to change its appearance (toggle scabbard, toggle 1h-2h grip) and master conjurers can also empower it at will to set it ablaze and increase its enchantment potency.

The Sorcerer's Armor

A set from the original D&D universe, this armor fascinated me. The boots are like the second thing I tried to model in my life. Not only does it grant additional powers when all its pieces are worn, but it comes with a libram, a spellbook that can be worn so the caracter can look badass. This one can even be read, mind you.

The Netherblade Armor

Another relic from The Birning Cruisade, the Netherblade is among my favorite armor sets. But then again, I'm slightly colourblind. Apparently not many people like it, but hey, don't look a given armor in the mouth... or... something. This set also grants superpowers when all its pieces are worn. Comes with an open facemask, and one with a cowl that hides the head.

Also, many, many other things of smaller importance, like

Arcane and fel crystals, the Skull of Gul'Dan, an attempt at killing Akatosh's progeny (Wut?).
In the basement of A FIghting Chance lies a chest with all the mod's new equipment in cse you wish to use my stuff without the hassle of questing.

And a big, badass dungeon filled with hidden passages, puzzles, a freaking real labyrinth, and creatures that pose an actual threat and will constitute a challenge all of their own.

There it is, I hope you like it.

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VERSION HISTORY

1.1 : Various bug fixes, issues graciously pointed out by TheRomans. Now, the baskets in my mod no longer alter the course of a quest in the Shivering Isles, and the StormShroud greaves placeholder no longer weights 9000 pounds. Among other things.

1.0 : Initial release.

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Known issues :

WARNING! Older, rickety rigs might me baffled by the boisterous benediction that is the insane amount of clutter present in this dungeon. Also, high mesh and texture complexity might fry your brontosaurus.

IF Oblivion in installed in "C:Program Files (x86)", this mod will not work properly unless you tweak it personally - and know how to. You will keep running into issues with all mods created and not directly aimed at win7/vista, which is actually most of them, because win7/vista will mistake mods for potential malware if they are installed in that directory. I suggest installing your game somewhere your computer will not try to protect against modding like a paranoid.

Here's a walkthrough: http://wiki.tesnexus.com/index.php/Oblivion_reinstall_procedure.

Please go through this procedure before asking for help if you get yellow squares or missing textures.

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REQUIREMENTS

OBSE (Oblivion Script Extender)

The official 1.2.416 oblivion patch, or the Shivering Isles expansion.

OBMM (Oblivion Mod Manager), or 7-Zip archiver.

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CONFLICTS

Mods that change A Fighting Chance's interior might give weird results, but nothing dramatic is to be expected.

Also, please uninstall any of my previous mods if you have any ; this mod contains pretty much anything important in them.

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INSTALLATION

OBMM install: 

-Click the OMod file (this should open The Oblivion Mod Manager)
-Select this mod in the list (there should be a green square beside its name)
-Click Activate
-Launch Oblivion

Manual install:

Using 7zip, unzip the file, copy the Meshes, Textures, and Legends of Azeroth Armory.esp files and paste them in your oblivion\Data directory, so that the path looks like:

Oblivion\Data\Meshes
Oblivion\Data\Textures
Oblivion\Data\Legends of Azeroth Armory.esp
Then activate the mod.


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It would be an honor to know that another modder has used these files to further his own goals. As long as, of course, my name appears somewhere.

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First and foremost, I have to thank the whole TESNexus community for the ideas, tutorials, help and inspiration they provide to every newcomer. Also, many thanks to Bethesda Softworks for producing one of the most fantastic games in the Multiverse.

I must indeed express my thankfulness to Blizzard's artists for their always amazing art.

The Blood Elf banner pattern is from BeatnikShaggy on DeviantArt.

A few special thanks to:

The owner of the Nexus sites, Dark0ne, for his unrelenting work
LHammonds, for his devotion and help on technical matters

And a very special thanks to Jojjo, whose truly magnificent and inspiring works have litterally sucked me into the fantastic «modding-texturing-3d modeling-animation» vortex.

If there's someone I'm forgetting, don't be shy and let me know! I'll add your name.

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PROGRAMS USED

Photoshop CS4
Gimp
Oblivion Mod Manager
BSA unpacker
Tabula
NifSkope
Blender
And FRAPS for the screenshots

NOTE: Just to be clear, I (unfortunately) do NOT own in any way Blizzard corporation or any related companies, and I do NOT intend to infringe copyright laws.