alright so...now taht we have access to the content, we can edit files on the disc, and possibly get mods up and running on the 360. Ive already seen on x-h some guys edited the oblivion.ini file and getting it to work. They had some trouble with offsetting the data in the image, but they just had to keep the content they modified the same number of bytes.
Now, Ive been trying today to accomplish something, so Ive started big (i know i know.....) trying to see if i can get the Natural Environments mod working on the 360. natural environments

this is starting (relatively) small with some mesh files, textures, and sounds. Ive unpacked all the .bsa's from the 360 oblivion content, and added all that from the natural environments mod. And this is where I come across the first roadbump. The ESP files for controlling the mod...I dunno quite what to do with them. Over on the official oblivion forums someone suggested merging the esp's into the main Oblivion.esm file, but I think some paths might need to be edited in the esp's as the content is now located inside a bsa archive.

some things I am not able to figure out myself, but I think need to be understood for anything to work are:

1. how the PC oblivion stores information regarding how it knows to load the ESP's

2. how the content in the .bsa archives on the xbox360 are read. they are cached onto the hdd (or so it seems from reading the .ini) but are the files in the archives decompressed on the fly, or are the files unzipped in the hdd's cache? Are they mounted and read like VFS...

Also, I dont have oblivion for the pc, and i realize that it would probably having it and knowing a little about modding it on the pc would help the cause, which is why I ask for anyone that has any input at all to post anything that you think might help. Thanks

edit here is a post from oblivion forums:

http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/index.p...howtopic=494100

Understood, but I don't do any type of modding so I can't actually help you.

And I think you are probably the most technical person on these Oblivion threads; alot of people just come on here to find out how to recharge weapons or get past parts of the quest.

What, have they got mods working? I thought all content was in PIRS archives, unless we're talking about editing the Oblivion disk?

Well the downloadable content sits on your hard drive, why not usermade mods? And no, I apollogize, I have no idea how to do this either.

I know this is a really old thread, but has any progress been made on this? Now that we have write access to the hard drive, maybe we could drop the mods in alongside where the premium DLC goes?

No 360 games have really been modded yet. So well have to wait till TES:V I guess.

this thread should be stickied.

Well..... honestly I for one am not going out of my way to do a firmware update and then buy a TON of Dual-Layer DVD's just so I can change minor things in Oblivion which most likely wont work the first 50 times you try.... :/

So I'm just gonna wait until Xecuter or some other group comes out with the 360 chip or a softmod of some sort without the need of burning discs and then I will start to mod this game! Sorry if I sounded harsh... just saying that right now it's waaay too much of a hassle to try and mod this game... or any game on the 360

Isn't adding files to a disc still impossible?

Anyways, you should PROBABLY take a step back and think about just trying to get a simple .esp working, not a mod with textures, dialog, and meshes involved.

If you remember the Morrowind days, dialog's tended to be broken( i think this was resolved later on?) and textures could be tricky. So, start small my friend, start small.

Merging would be good, however there is a problem with the Oblivion.esm. It differs from the PC version, official/unofficial tools are unable to open the Xbox 360 version of the Oblivion.esm. I haven't looked enough to see what the problem is...I'll look more to see. There is about a 300-400kb difference between Xbox 360s and Pc's.

The tools I used can be found here: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Tes4Mod:Modding

"TES4 Gecko" would be the best if we can get this working, hopefully there are no signature checks that involve the default.xex since we can not modify this without breaking the signature.

Ooops,
there are a few differences in the header. Changing them to match the PC version still doesn,t allow any editing or merging yet, though.

Someone needs to try modify a string (any in game text string) in Oblivion.esm to see if we can still run the game.

Also, the 360 version of oblivion.esm is able to run on PC (with a new save).

Nope, we're still working on dialogue. Although, I discovered the problem, and a good theory on how to fix it.

As for now, good luck getting anything other than a few byte swaps working with only a disc. Its not worth your time. Until the 360 has a running homebrew dashboard, I'd say extract the Oblivion files, hex em, and develop apps to work with them easily for when the time comes.

Hey, BTW does Oblivion have a Oblivion.esm.map file? And if so, only on the Xbox360 version or on the PC too? Because I could get to cracking that now like Morrowind.

Oh, and whoever mentioned the DLC. This is the perfect way to add content. Morrowind's system wasn't perfect for adding on content, hence the GOTY, but Oblivion has perfected it. The project should be to crack the encryption on the DLC.

i came to the board hoping to find just this thread

i started playing Oblivion a few days ago on the 360. The one mod that i really want is the Harvester mod, where when you pick up a mushroom, it actually disappears. I have no idea why that's not in the game. I am hoping that someday, someone will figure out how to mod oblivion. I would do the firmware hack just for that.

man i hope you guys get this going. any updates?

Here's a bit about the differences between 360 and PC mods (got this in about 3 mins worth of work):
For those of you that don't know, the official plug-in files (plug-in files are called ESP files, correct?) for the PC and 360 versions of Oblivion are exactly the same...

Below are a few MD5s for a few official plug-in files:

Vile Lair PC:
2C51FF6C5196A334377F41A5EC7159E5

Vile Lair 360:
2C51FF6C5196A334377F41A5EC7159E5


Horse Armor PC:
12733AD9718557860AE8C14BC7EB11CA

Horse Armor 360:
12733AD9718557860AE8C14BC7EB11CA


BSA files, as far as I know, are the same as well, except they have special archive and file flags (which, btw, are supported by BSA Commander).

Sound: .mp3 files have to be in a .xma format (xbox 360 audio format... can be built with XMA sound tools)

LIP files are again (as far as I can tell) identical:

sound\voice\dlcvilelair.esp\breton\m\dlcdeepscorn_goodbye_00004b9f_1.lip (PC) md5:
2AF3E7A60C13CC7FEB3435520A05EEFA

sound\voice\dlcvilelair.esp\breton\m\dlcdeepscorn_goodbye_00004b9f_1.lip (360) md5:
2AF3E7A60C13CC7FEB3435520A05EEFA


texture files: PC textures are in .dds format where the 360 textures are in .ddx format (I am assuming that the .ddx files are general xbox 360 testure files, not game specific, but i can't say for sure without doing a bit of research).

meshes: .nif files (both use v20.0.0.5, although are compatible with a few different versions as far as i know).
differences between pc and 360 nif files:
360 version has "BSPackedAdditionalGeometryData" whereas PC version has "NiBinaryExtraData" don't know what they are but i'll try looking into it.


conclusion: except for a few differences in data (textures, sounds and meshes), the mods are more or less exactly the same

So, anyone figured out anything new?

I'm wondering if the next dahsboard update that will let you copy games to the hard drive will finally make this possible. I'd love to use the better body and natural environment mods on the 360.

I realize that nobody has posted on this topic in a looonnnggg time now, but has anyone made any progress, specifically with the DLC decryption? cuz that would be the way to go, a simple game plugin of sorts instead of directly changing the files on the disk itself.

IS there anywhere to find more info on Oblivion Modding , now that we have a fully unlocked machine? I know they can do it with Halo 3 maps.

Well i've been digging around looking for any kind of updated info on this and so far nothing. My first experiment was to see if I could run the game from a usb stick and yes I had it running before I could find any instructions on how to. After that was to see if I could get a simple pc mod to work, I chose the simplist I knew of which is the borderless one as it only has one esp file. Dumping that into the data folder didn't activate it so ima try and install oblivion to the internal hdd with shivering and see about dumping the file into whatever folder the expansion makes. This seems to be how people are getting fallout 3 pc mods to work so it can't be much different for oblivion.

With Pc oblivion the mods depend on a list to tell it which mods too look for , and also archive invalidation too tell it not to look in the BSA files for textures and meshes and such. I have not looked at the file structure on a 360 HDD installed version , if it is similar i can probably get them running and share with everyone. If it isn't then it will take some time and getting someone who knows more than me involved with it. I have gotten all my mods running on MAC which you have to use a modified version of the spore engine to run it and edit your list on the PC but it works that way. If it is like morrowind the file structure will be similar too the PC version , the main hurdle too overcome would be too figure out where archive invalidation is on the 360 , it would still have to exist because their are mods for 360 version that wouldn't have their own BSA file for textures , i mean downloadable "legal" mods if you will.

Here is the portion of the .ini file with archive if you want to look it over.


[Archive]
iRetainFilenameOffsetTable=1
iRetainFilenameStringTable=1
iRetainDirectoryStringTable=1
bCheckRuntimeCollisions=0
bInvalidateOlderFiles=0
bUseArchives=1
sArchiveList=D:\data\Meshes\Oblivion - Meshes.bsa, D:\data\Textures\Oblivion - Textures.bsa, D:\data\Sounds\Oblivion - Sounds.bsa, D:\data2\Voices Dialogue\Oblivion - Voices Dialogue.bsa, D:\data\Voices NonDialogue\Oblivion - Voices Nondialogue.bsa, D:\data\Misc\Oblivion - Misc.bsa

Well i just got a house mod to work just one that use existing game data though by editing this part of the .ini


This is default.

STestFile10=
STestFile9=
STestFile8=
STestFile7=
STestFile6=
STestFile5=
STestFile4=
STestFile3=
STestFile2=
STestFile1=Oblivion.esm

And this is where i edited it.

STestFile10=
STestFile9=
STestFile8=
STestFile7=
STestFile6=
STestFile5=
STestFile4=
STestFile3=
STestFile2=ImperialCityApartment.esp <------added that there and put the .esp in the folder where .esm is.
STestFile1=Oblivion.esm

Add capes and cloaks to the list as well,just put the name of the .esp in the list and dropped the textures and meshes in the textures and meshes folders in the oblivion data files folder,the icon doesnt show up in the inventory but the cape looks just fine when equipped.

That's awsome info bud! I used freestyle to copy the dvd over so i could have the folder names the same but i'm stuck from that point. There's 2 data folders, a "Data" and "Data2" which one would I put the mod files into? They both contain the main esm file so i'm confused.

is the bInvalidateOlderFiles=0 supposed to be set to 1?
I tried to remove the borders by setting it to 0 but so far I can't get them to turn off. I must be doing something wrong.

Edit: nope, changes to the ini don't seem to have any effect. For those that are getting stuff to work, where is your game installed? I have mine installed to HDD1\Games but it's just a rip from the actual disk so I don't know if it needs to be installed by the system or not.

Yeah i have it in the same place you do,and i havent tested out any .ini changes besides just using the two mods i spoke of because i have been gone all day,but i did install the mods,textures etc. into both data and data two to see if it worked now i just need to narrow down which its working from.


*EDIT* "Use archive 1" Don't set that to 0 in the .ini game wouldnt even load for me when i did.

Ive gotten companion share and recruit working now.

I've got the borderless and alchemy book working but those are single file mods. I tried the hgec body and the game sees it but the textures messed up. I went into the meshes folder and there's just a mesh.bsa so I guess I need to figure out how to turn the files into bsa. I want to get natural environments working aswell.

Their are programs you can do that with , i wish more people were interested in oblivion mods , i have a ton that i made for my PC version i would love to be able to play on a system better than my PC haha. I don't have a copy of Oblivion for 360 so i can't even work on it right now , but i will make progress when i do get a copy.

Yeah i have capes and cloaks mod working fine though,they show up perfectly ingame even when i added the textures and meshes folder into the data folder,i do need to get the expansions though i think that may be the reason some of these mods even single file ones don't seem to work.

I just tried natural environments via building it with xlast. it did something because i get the warning about the game relying on stuff that is no longer there but i don't see anything different. I'm really hoping the people working on this can make some progress with the more complicated mods and let us know how they did it.

On a side note: anyone in here using xlast, do you have your 360 hooked up to the computer or do you build the packages as live then transfer them via ftp?


I hear ye, the pc version is great but the controls really suck afte you've played on the xbox. If there's any programmers reading this, would you consider modding obse to work as an addon rather then requiring the launcher? This would be awsome and open up alot of really cool mods for the box such as thieves arsenal.

Seems really hit and miss,with some mods atleast until we figure out exactly how the 360 works,i did notice they have their voices seperated into two different .bsa files one for non dialogue and one for dialogue unlike the PC version which has them all in one i think anyhow keep us updated on how progress is going and i will do the same the minute i find out something new or get another mod working.

absolutely!
Here's some stuff I pulled from some other threads, it's about fallout 3 but I figure since they're made by the same company and appear to have the same directory structure, the advice should work either way.

"Okay, a few things I've found out:

* Installing mods that use extra files by using BSAs doesn't work well.
* For mods that use ESMs, you have to install them to the Data folder and add them in Fallout.ini to load after Fallout.esm.
* You should just install all non-ESPs to the Data directory.
* You can use LIVE containers or just edit Fallout.ini for ESPs. Keep in mind that LIVE containers are loaded after everything in Fallout.ini.
* Some plugins are picky and some depend on DLC (mainly Anchorage), so you have to extract the ESM from the DLC, add it to Data and put it in Fallout.ini before the non-"Fallout.esm" ESMs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can fill up those 10 STestFile slots, but you can't add more after that. If you're using mods that require one or more of the original DLCs, extract them and add their ESMs after Fallout 3.esm and before everything else. Then add mod ESMs, then ESP. Once you run out of space, use LIVE containers. By the way, Le Fluffie works fine for making LIVE containers. I haven't even downloaded XLAST.

For example, my Fallout.ini has:

STestFile10=
STestFile9=
STestFile8=FNNCQ_Mesmetron.esp
STestFile7=CALIBRxMerchant.esp
STestFile6=BlackWolf Backpack.esp
STestFile5=Heroes Mod.esp
STestFile4=CALIBR.esm
STestFile3=FNNCQ.esm
STestFile2=Anchorage.esm
STestFile1=Fallout3.esm



and then I also have LIVE containers for Fellout, GreenWorld, Tailor Maid, and some extra perks. Only use LIVE containers for extra ESPs that can be loaded last. Don't put anything else in them. Also, I managed to get some extra textures to load by editing ESMs/ESPs/models to read files with a .ddx extension instead of .dds and renaming the corresponding textures to .ddx. It's incredibly buggy, though. "

I am curious im a noob here with the whole live container thing could you explain it a little bit for me please?

ok well as i understand it, "live container" is the term m$ uses to describe the file that goes into your xbox hdd. Basically yer collecting yer files together that make up the mod or program, you include some intructions with those files and then the program crunches them all together into 1 file and gives it a special name that xbox uses to make it work. That's the best I got for ye on that lol

I did however find more info about getting mods to work, some of this info comes from other threads in this site and other sites but it's all relevant to this topic. It may repeat what I've already posted but in different wording, it don't matter, my idea is to get a single source of info on this topic so here's what i found...
BTW i saw that some of the links posted are now dead, now you know going in...

"Hi all! I managed to get some (unofficial) mods running in the Elder Scrolls: Oblivion! So I am posting a tutorial on how to do it here!

Things you will need:
XBR or FreeBoot
XexLoader
Oblivion installed on an external hard drive.
An oblivion mod of you choice - http://www.tesnexus.com
Xbox and Live Authoring Submission tool
BSA Commander - http://letalka.sourceforge.net/morr/index.htm
A way to get content onto your XBOX 360's harddrive (XPORT and xplorer360 is what I used)

The first thing you need to do is make sure that the mod you have is in BSA format, if it isn't then you must make it a BSA with BSA Commander.

To make the mod a BSA file follow this tutorial: http://cs.elderscrolls.com/constwiki/index...r_Own_BSA_files

Once you have your BSA file, place that file, and any .esp/.esm files into a new folder. Then create a .txt file called, "ContentFileInfo" without the quotes inside the new folder. Open it up and put this in it:

The name of your .esp, .esm, and .bsa file, with the extension at the end of it
1/01/2001 12:00:00 <---- date and time, in this format, it does not have to be right
0 <----and a 0, not sure what it is for but it must be there.

Do that for all your .esp, .esm, .bsa files.

Here is an example:
QUOTE

za_bankmod.esp
1/01/2001 12:00:00
0
za_bankmod.bsa
9/12/2006 12:00:00
0


Make sure that it is saved in the new folder you created with the .bsa, .esm, and .esp files in it.

Now, open the Xbox and Live Authoring Submission tool and follow this tutorial to create a new LIVE con file: http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B0HjQN...jMGM5&hl=en

Except instead of authoring it as a demo, author it as in-game content, and use the TitleID: 425307D1 and Name of game: Oblivion

Add any .bsa, .esp, .esm, and the ContentFileInfo.txt to the Container.

Now, you have to edit the Oblivion.ini file in the root directory of your Oblivion installation. Go here: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10724 and download the manual installation and follow the instruction in there to edit the .ini file.

Finally, place the CON file you created earlier into the /Content/0000000000000000/425307D1/00000002 directory on your Xbox 360's hard drive.

Load Oblivion with XexLoader and enjoy! biggrin.gif

You may have to clear oblivion from the cache by loading some another game after editing or adding mods."

Ahh appreciate the information,now i am going to have to tinker with xlast and see what i can get working.

So it looks like the barrier we have is with textures, I looked for a proggram that would convert to ddx but nothing yet.

It recognizes some textures it seems because i have capes working,but other things just dont show up.

So far no luck with finding anythign about converting files to .ddx either.

so with capes and cloaks, it has a mesh, textures folders and the esp. you got this working by putting those folders into the data folder along with the esp? i've been focussed on getting the hgec body mod working so i haven't even tried other mods yet.

Yeah thats what i did,the inventory icon is messed up for it as well as when your looking at your character in the character screen somewhat,man i would really like to crack this .dds to .ddx conversion process lol

ok i put in capes and cloaks and they show in the game. that strange visual effect is the same one i got from hgec body. kinda looks like black void or some such, you can see whatever meshes are behind it like see through. i think this is the texture issue.

You mean in the character screen where it goes see through? Yeah i do beleive that is a texture issue but does it look fine for you ingame though?

well the ones i tried looked alright. i tried the crimson cape and wasn't sure if it was screwy or not so i tried the white to see the detail and yeah it looked fine. i normally play in 1st person so it wouldn't affect my game any.
I just tried bag of holding, no go, it shows up as some funky big yellow shape that ye can't touch.

back to the drawing board, I think until someone figures out this texture problem we'll have to stick with mods that don't use custom textures. That doesn't leave much left over.

Weird..the icon shows up for the capes now in my inventory the invisibility part is still wonky though,and yeah ive tried several others and havent gotten them to work either,the capes and companions are the only ones so far ive gotten to work.

Well no luck on my end.

yup i'm hittin stumps all over. anything with textures. interesting that the guys that started this thread have gone silent. Here's a short list of what i've tested and confirmed work,
borderless cyrodil.esp - just drop it into the data and add it to the ini
alchemy book.esp - same as above
decorator assistant.esp - same as above
rings of wizardry.esp - same as above

capes and cloaks - works but with texture problems
DLC vile lair - same as above
hgec body - same as above

so here's my take, if it's just an esp it'll work fine. if it comes with extra files, all but textures should work fine. the pc textures are in dds format and the xbox uses ddx which is why these texture problems occur. After digginf around on the net, i found reference to a program called neavoux or something. i lost the bookmark. anyways it's an nvidia kernel and it makes several references to ddx files. might be something there. So for the time being, if you got the editor on the pc then you can make mods that just use what the game has and they'll work. I haven't a clue on how to use it so i can't help there. Something I wanted to try was use the scripts from the bag of holding mod and apply them to a new object in the game like a skull. Doing that should make it work fine.