Oblivion

About this mod

FCOM: Convergence shatters previous barriers in the Oblivion mod community by letting you play four of the largest Oblivion "overhaul" mods at the same time.

Requirements
Permissions and credits
Mirrors
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FCOM: Convergence 1.0 Official HD Trailer by Vini (Youtube, 720p)
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FCOM: Convergence

Francesco + WarCry + Oscuro + Martigen


WARNING: FCOM is not for the faint of heart. It may chew your game up into tiny bits and spit it back in your face! Yes, Wrye Bash really is required.

There's no readme included with the download. Just this post, the website and the files. These explain everything extensively. Please read everything before posting to ask for help since it's very likely your question has already been answered. If you really do need help, feel free to post your questions, but be prepared to include a copy of your load order. To find this in Wrye Bash, simply right-click on the column header in the Mods tab, then select List Mods. See Asking For Help for more details.

FCOM: Convergence started as an experiment in compatibility and has grown into something more than the sum of its parts.

FCOM shatters previous barriers in the Oblivion mod community by letting you play four of the largest Oblivion overhaul mods at the same time -- Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul, Martigen's Monster Mod, Oblivion WarCry, and Francesco's Leveled Creatures-Items. It also seeks to show how new item and/or creature expansion mods can be added directly to this environment, and thus includes direct support for Bob's Armory, Loth's Blunt Weapons, Exnem Runeskulls, Cobl, Tamrielic Ingredients, Knights of the Nine, Tamriel Travelers, and many other popular mods.

FCOM provides complete unification of Mart's Monster Mod and Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul. It brings all of the numerous new creatures, NPCs, and items added by MMM and OOO into a consistent and balanced structure. In addition, it integrates Francesco's vast collection of new items and named NPC bosses along with new creatures and items from Oblivion WarCry.

To make all these great mods work together, FCOM provides a common infrastructure for a series of patches, rebalancers, and relevelers that work with the Bashed Patch feature of Wrye Bash. FCOM also provides a bunch of FCOM Optional Add-Ons to let you further customize your experience. These options tweak various gameplay aspects and improve compatibility for a wide range of popular mods.

If you're looking for extensive compatibility guidelines, patches, more great OMOBS-balanced weapon mods, etc., then check out the FCOM wiki pages on UESP!




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Submit your FCOM screenshots to our Photobucket Group for FCOM

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UPDATE 2010-12-01 - New WarCry EV.bsa uploaded for testing. See bottom of this post for download link and details.

UPDATE 2010-11-28 - New updated Bob's Armory Oblivion.bsa, now PyFFied with PYFFI 2.1.6 for optimized meshes. See bottom of this post for download link and details.

UPDATE 2010-08-13 - New updates of Oblivion WarCry and FCOM_WarCry: 

BSA Testing! - See bottom of this post for new BSAs.

MMM and FCOM OMOD Installers make things easier: TheNiceOne's MMM OMOD Installer 1.6.1 and FCOM OMOD Installer 1.1

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Unofficial FCOM Update for MMM 3.7b3
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Requires a clean install of both OOO and MMM.

by Corepc

This is a Unofficial update to FCOM to hold everyone over until dev_akm returns. It is not an FCOM 9.9.5 version release.

This will bring FCOM into line with the MMM 3.7b3 update. It should also be considered as a major update.

Oscuro's and Mart's no longer share the same resource files.

If updating from any previous version of FCOM in order to use this version you must follow the MMM 3.7b3 rules.

A clean reinstall of both OOO and MMM is required followed by FCOM 9.9 beta.

Install UFCOM overwriting all current files and check your load order, rebuild the bashed patch, and wait x number of days for re-spawn to take effect and alterations to work.

Issues will most certainly occur if the above steps are not followed.

Please read the MMM thread for install instructions for OOO/MMM/COBL/FCOM.

You must have the MMM 3.7b3 BSA installed and rename it FCOM_Convergence_MartsMonsterMod.bsa in order for meshes, textures and sounds to work with FCOM properly.

For compatibility reasons with the MMM BSA it's now important in which order some mods are installed. See Quick Start Guide below.

Leveled list Creatures Fixes
  • Checked every single leveledlist for Creatures and NPC's and fixed as needed for MMM compatibility <- Tons of lists checked.
  • Checked every single Creature entry and updated those as needed <- Butt load of creatures fixed.
  • Checked all Factions and adjusted as needed.
  • Updated Liches to have Undead Faction added to them <- Beware - Liches and Undead are allies now, so undead groups are back in effect.
  • Reavers no longer spawn in undead locations. Liches and Undead types have been increased instead.
  • Both types of Balrogs have been rebalanced in the leveledlists. You will encounter them a little less than before. MMM now controls how they are placed in the leveledlists, which will make them rare - meaning you should no longer encounter them at level 1. They will now start to appear at level 10.
  • Balrogs are Boss type creatures once again.

MMM Creatures Additions to FCOM
  • Lesser Hill Giants, lvl 1-6.
  • Lesser and Ancient Tree Sprite.
  • Lesser Balrogs, and tweaks so they do not appear as often.
  • Lesser and Greater Elemental and Golem Types.
  • Diverse Will-O-Wisps.
  • Slof Horses and Spiders.
  • Adds many new Undead Skeletons with helmet variations.
  • Updated FCOM_Knights Plug-in - for better bash compatibility, merge option.
  • Updated ALL FCOM Spawn Rate Plugins for MMM 3.7b3 creatures and tweaks.
  • Updated FCOM_WarCry so that Staada does not appear until lvl 25.
  • The MMM No XXX Plug-ins will now work with FCOM - in particular Balrogs, Uberhulks and Skeep.
  • Diverse Runeskulls - you no longer require the Runeskulls.esp or FCOM_Runeskulls add-on with FCOM. Also check out Diverse Runeskulls re-balance.
  • Many more tweaks and fixes most likely that I have forgotten.

Important Note
: Make sure you've got Wrye Bash 221 or later -- it contains the latest bug fixes. If you use Wrye Bash 106-112 to import/update NPC levels, you'll start seeing in-faction fighting and possibly CTDs. The problem is fixed in Wrye Bash v116. You may need to use the new Repair Factions command to fix any savegames mangled by the earlier bugged function.As always, make sure you follow the FCOM Load Order Guide and be sure to rebuild the bashed patch after installing this update!See the Version History page for details on prior versionsHighly recommended: TheNiceOne has made OMOD installers for MMM and UFCOM which ensures that exactly the correct files are installed and the BSA is properly renamed.Be sure to get the Entropic Order Rebalance, which fixes several issues already discovered with the Entropic Order (that patch download also includes an optional EntropicOrderHardcore plugin that makes them extremely deadly; use either the Rebalance or Hardcore, not both)

QUICK START
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Recommended install order:
FCOM makes it possible to play Francesco's, WarCry, OOO and MMM together. It also adds support for other mods, such as Bob's Armory, Loth's Blunt Weapons, Cobl, Knights of the Nine etc. You can play FCOM in countless combinations as only OOO and MMM are required as the base.

For compatibility reasons with the MMM BSA it's now important in which order some mods are installed. For this reason, some of the most popular additions to FCOM installs are added to the install order guide, but they are all optional and their readmes and release threads should be consulted for install guides, support etc.

It's very much recommended to start from a clean install of the game before installing FCOM. Oblivion must be patched to 1.2.0416.

Recommended/required utilities: Wrye Bash, OBMM and BOSS - Better Oblivion Sorting Software. Wrye Bash is required as FCOM depends on its Bashed Patch feature, but it's highly recommended to use Wrye Bash and/or OBMM for installs generally and Wrye Bash/BOSS for setting the load order. See respective readmes and guide below.

Install

See the First Time User Install Guide and the Complete Installation Guide for more details.

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5.0 Fran's Quick Install Guide with BAIN Run Wizard it will ask what if using Shivering Isle Choose Yes, if not choose No.Next Question ask Are you Installing has Part of FCOM Choose Yes,Next Screen Shows what will be installed, continueNext Screen Choose Chance of More EnimiesChoose Apply Selection and select finishIf you need Vendor Items and Leveled Quest then choose them 08 Optional Extra SI, if you did not choose SI during install then select them from 08 Optionial Extra
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if using 4.5 follow this below

Updated 4.5 Fran's Quick Install Guide from the First Time User Install Guide


Shivering Isles Version (only if you have SI installed)
Lyrondor's Combat Behavior (recommended)
MOBS (highly recommended, so that Fran's Weapons get MOBS stats)

Hardcore Loot (recommended)
Do not use Living Economy - use Enhanced Economy instead (requires OBSE)
Optional Leveled Guards (for the SI version)
Optional Chance of More Enemies (for the SI version)

Optional Chance of Stronger Enemies (required)
Optional Chance of Stronger Bosses (required)
New Items Add-On' (required by the FCOM add-on FCOM_FrancescosItemsAddOn.esp)
Do not Merge Optional Files!

Cell Respawn Time (if you want to change this, do so in Wrye Bash)
Day Length Rescale (if you want to change this [I use a value of 12], do so in the console by typing the command set timescale to <number>)
Skill Progression Speed (use another mod like Progress instead for this)

Download and install Fran's 4.5b Add-On Package and select the following:
New Items Add-On
BSA File Registration or

Download the Optimized Version and rename the bsa to FCOM_Convergence_FraNewItems.bsa

At this point, only these plugins from Fran's should be in your Data folder (together with 'FraNewItems.bsa'):

Francesco's Leveled Creatures-Items Mod.esm
Francesco's Optional New Items Add-On.esm
Francesco's Optional Chance of Stronger Bosses.esp
Francesco's Optional Chance of Stronger Enemies.esp
Francesco's Optional Chance of More Enemies.esp (only if you have SI installed)
Francesco's Optional Leveled Guards.esp (only if you have SI installed)


Quick Cobl for UFCOM Guide

1. Download and install Cobl 172.
2. Download and install Loot-Drop-Merchant changes Proposal.
3. Download and install the MMM 3.7b3 Cobl Update.
4. Don't use FCOM_Cobl.esp or Cobl Tweaks.esp. Use OOO Cobl 1.32 if you want its ingame menu for OOO options.


Quick OMOBS/MOBS for FCOM Guide

To get as congruent weapon stats as possible in FCOM it's recommended to use OMOBS stats when available as that's what's used in OOO. If OMOBS stats aren't available, MOBS is better than vanilla stats as MOBS is closer to OMOBS than vanilla.

1. Choose MOBS during the installation of Fran's if using Francesco's optional new items add-on. Otherwise you'll get vanilla stats for the weapons in it.
2. Use the standalone OMOBS 2.0a or OMOBS SI 2.0a if having Shivering Isles installed. Don't use OMOBS Optional Combat Settings as they're already included in OOO and Fran's.
3. Use the Updated Official DLC MOBS if applicable. Requires the Unofficial Official Mods Patch for texture fixes etc. Don't use the Knights Unofficial MOBS patch as FCOM_Knights already gives the KotN weapons OMOBS stats.


Load Order

Before you start, please read Setting the Load Order. Really. The whole thing. Even if you think you know what you're doing. You've been warned. Good. With that out of the way, we can continue.

*FCOM Basic Load Order This is the basic, minimal configuration guide for FCOM. Does not include details on the optional files.
*FCOM Expanded Load Order This is a much more advanced and complex configuration guide for FCOM - including details on all of the optional files.


Quick Guide on using BOSS and Wrye Bash for bash tagging and setting the load order

Install: BOSS - Better Oblivion Sorting Software.

1. Copy Bashed Patch, 0.esp from the Mopy/Extras folder to the Data folder.
2. Open Wrye Bash, go to the Mods window, click Load Order to have the mods listed accordingly. Right-click the File-header in the Mods window and make sure Lock Times is unchecked. Also, right-click in the Bash Tags window in the lower right and make sure that Automatic is checked.
3. Launch BOSS. Note that Wrye Bash has handy shortcut icons for BOSS and other utilities.
4. When BOSS is finished the esp's will be correctly tagged - and the plugins correctly load ordered. Note that BOSS also gives useful comments on version numbers, compatibility issues etc., so it's a good idea to check the BOSSlog.text.


Quick Bash Check Guide for Wrye Bash 287

A quick guide on what to check in the Bashed Patch when rebuilding it for an FCOM setup. Based on Wrye Bash 287.

Generally you can rely on BOSS and Wrye Bash giving the correct bash tags and load order, so as a general rule you can check all mods that turn up in the respective Bashed Patch sections. There are a couple of exceptions with the current FCOM release, though, noted in the guide below.

1. Right-click Bashed Patch, 0.esp in Wrye Bash > Rebuild patch:

Merge Patches - Generally all mergeable mods can be checked.
Import Actors - All FCOM mods and UOP checked.
Import Actors: AIPackages - All FCOM mods and UOP checked. Tag FCOM_Convergence.esp with Actors.AIPackagesForceAdd.
Import Actors: Death Items - All FCOM mods and UOP checked.
Import Actors: Spells - All FCOM mods checked. Tag Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esm, Mart's Monster Mod.esm and Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esp with Actors Spells. Tag FCOM_Convergence.esp with Actors.SpellsForceAdd.
Import Factions - All FCOM mods and UOP checked. Exception: Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esp.
Import Graphics - All FCOM mods. Tag Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esm and Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esp with graphics.
Import Inventory - All FCOM mods and UOP checked.
Import Relations - All FCOM mods and UOP checked. Exceptions: Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esm and Oscuro's_Oblivion_Overhaul.esp.
Import Scripts - All FCOM mods and UOP checked.
Import Stats - All FCOM mods and UOP checked.
Leveled Lists - Generally rely on tags.
Tweak Names - Rename Dwarven to Dwemer.

Notes to the Quick Bash Check Guide:
- All FCOM mods means select FCOM, Frans, OOO, MMM, WarCry in that patch section but take note of exceptions.
- Adding a bash tag to a mod: highlight it in the Mod window > right-click in the Bash Tags window in the lower right > choose appropriate tag.

See the Bashed Patch section on the FCOM Homepage for more info (scroll down a bit to find it). [Note: The info is somewhat outdated but a good introduction.]

FCOM FAQs

A bunch of common questions and answers, covering very important topics like how to set up FCOM and unimportant topics like how the project got started and where it's heading, etc.: FAQ Index.

FCOM Trouble Shooting

NOTE: FormID Finder or RefScope are very useful plugins when using lots of mods as you can check what comes from which mod in game with them. Helpful when getting missing meshes or textures - or when just wanting to know which mod a particular item etc. comes from.

Issue: The game crashes on startup.
Solution: Make sure you don't have a missing master, which is easily checked in Wrye Bash as the plugin with a missing master turns red. If it isn't caused by missing masters, try deleting the Oblivion.ini in My Documents/My Games/Oblivion and let the game generate a new one on startup. Some users also get CTD's on startup if having FCOM_Convergence.esp checked under Import Actors: Spells in the Bashed Patch, so if the above doesn't help try rebuilding the Bashed Patch with FCOM_Convergence.esp unchecked in that section.

Issue: Captain Renault's armor is invisible.
Solution: You're either missing resources from OOO or from a female mesh replacer if using one. Make sure you have OOO 1.33 Complete installed. If using EVE HGEC, make sure you install the resources for OOO and the other FCOM mods you're using.

Issue: I get missing meshes from Rusty items in the starting dungeon.
Solution: You're missing resources from MMM. Make sure that the MMM.bsa is renamed to FCOM_Convergence_MartsMonsterMod.bsa.

Issue: The game crashes when leaving the sewers.
Solution: Almost always caused by missing resources. Make sure that the MMM.bsa is renamed to FCOM_Convergence_MartsMonsterMod.bsa. Also, make sure that the resources from Francesco's get loaded, either by registering FraNewItems.bsa in the Oblivion.ini during install or by renaming it to FCOM_Convergence_FraNewItems.bsa.

Issue: Dead enemies have green bodies.
Solution: You're missing resources from MMM. Make sure that the MMM.bsa is renamed to FCOM_Convergence_MartsMonsterMod.bsa.

Issue: Some creatures or armors etc. are invisble.
Solution: Might be missing resources (see above). Also, make sure you're running BSA Redirection either via Wrye Bash or OBMM.

TESTING
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Team FCOM / Team Alpha (past and present):
dev_akm -- project leader.
Martigen -- original MMM for FCOM design and WarCry faction integration.
Waalx -- original RealSwords modules and new Undead RealSwords used as the basis for FCOM_RealSwords.
StarX -- FCOM FAQ, user guide, and tons of help maintaining the ESF thread!
WalkerInShadows, Arkngt, Shikishima and Tobit -- massive help maintaining the FCOM threads on ESF.
nb_nmare -- Unity project.
Wrye and ElminsterEU -- critical tools.
Vini -- WarCry and MMM faction integration, trailer.
Shadowborn -- massive script improvements.
Corepc -- Current Manager for MMM, Armamentarium and Artifacts, EVEHGEC, MOBS, Travellers, help with everything Frans/OOO/MMM/FCOM related
Showler -- tons of bugfixes and help on forum threads.
Cleitanious -- test module.
SpaceBoy -- Bob's Armory rebalance.
Sein_Schatten -- Runeskulls rebalance, Entropic Order, bugfixes.
ElminsterEU -- Slof's Robe Trader integration.
Random007 -- BOSS load-order setup utility.
Lilith -- updates to Martigen's Monster Mod.
Axil -- support patch for KDCircletsOOOOptimized - NPC Equip.
Beta Testers: markb50k, Vini, Cleitanious, StarX, Corepc, Chambertain, SickleYield, cl526, kumkum, ska8tdude, SpaceBoy, LurksInShadow, Psyringe, Arkngt, XD829, Twipley, lollerich, jdayT, Dazu, Eventine Shangea, Skycaptain, Tobit, showler, Axil, Jaded42, Shikishima, Shikamaru_4, Sein_Schatten, Chewu, Lyrondor, daemondarque, bg2408, PacificMorrowind and many more.
Entropic Order credits: created by Sein_Schatten. Contributors included dev_akm (testing, balancing, and spawn control), Nicoroshi (Dreadweave set), blackshark64 (Dragon Armor), commissardan (Rivan Sword), TaylorSD (stealth armor compilation), Cryo_ (face mask), LHammonds (texture modifications to stealth armor and face mask), Painkiller97 (Morrowind-style Ebony sword and shield), and zman (Negotiator sword).


CREDITS
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In addition to the core team working on this mod, a lot of other folks have contributed greatly. I don't really even know where to begin.

The real heroes, of course, are the original creators of all the great mods integrated by FCOM, including: Sotobrastos, Martigen, Newcomer24, L@zarus, Mr. Dave, Waalx, Loth DeBonneville, Tarnsman, and more. You guys rock!

Martigen deserves special recognition because he spent many long hours discussing various ideas and technical details with me, in addition to supporting the project directly with the original MMM for FCOM plugin.

Huge thanks go to all of the creators of the fantastic mods supported by the optional add-ons, and especially to nb_nmare for the Unity project and to Quarn and Kivan for the Unofficial Oblivion Patch (which is required for some of the optional add-ons and is probably used in some that don't specifically require it).

I also owe a huge debt to ElminsterEU and his fantastic TES4Edit program. I never would've had the time to make all the optional add-on plugins with TESCS, even if it were technically possible (which is doubtful).

None of this would work without the massive contributions of Wrye and his amazing Wrye Bash program.

We also could not have done any of this without ScripterRon's original TES4 Plugin Utility and KomodoDave's improvements in TES4Gecko.

Also, a huge thank-you is owed to the many beta testers who have offered support, encouragement, and feedback for the numerous beta versions. Thanks so much for all your help!

dev_akm

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BSA Testing

The FCOM Team ask for your assistance with BSA testing for UFCOM, Oblivion WarCry and Bob's Armory Oblivion.

Required: You need to uninstall all resources from FCOM_Convergence, WarCry and Bob's before using these bsa's. Do not uninstall Frans, OOO, MMM - only FCOM_Convergence, Bob's and WarCry resources. Use either BAIN or make an omod with just the meshes, textures, sounds from those mods, and install, overwrite and uninstall - then replace with bsa.

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New updated Bob's Armory Oblivion.bsa, now PyFFied with PYFFI 2.1.6 for optimized meshes.

Bob's Armory Oblivion.bsa
  • Bob's Armory Oblivion resources packed into a single uncompressed BSA.
  • PYFFI 2.1.6 for optimized meshes. Saved about 2 mb of space overall.
  • Added Mip Map to all Textures that needed so users should be able to run in small or medium textures settings with Bob's Armory now.
  • Do not change name as BSA will launch if Bob's Armory Oblivion.esp is activated.
  • Does not contain any overwrite or conflicts for sure, all new objects so date does not matter, unless you have a texture replacer or body mods for Bob's (which I want if you do)..install those after.
Please report any problems that you have with them.You should only need to replace your bsa. You should not have to redate the bsa, since Bob's does not contain any overwrites after all.
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UFCOM_Convergence.bsa
  • FCOM resources packaged in single uncompressed BSA.
  • It has been pyfii but it was an older version.
  • Textures have been checked for mip map as well.
But a few could have been missed so report any purple objects, flat black looking or missing mesh - wtf problems.
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Oblivion Warcry EV.bsa

- PYFFI 2.1.6 has been performed on all of warcry meshes. The new version of PYFFI was able to fix vertex problem's which many of the armor's had.
- Size is slighty larger than the first bsa due to pyffi fixes once again.
- Textures have mip map's added to them has well where needed

BSA Loading and BSA File Date
  • Do not rename the BSA's, they are named correctly and will load as needed.
  • UFCOM and WarCry do not overwrite any other mod resources, so file date on bsa is not of importance, unless you have texture or mesh replacers for their resources. Which you need to reinstall after these.
Enjoy
TEAM FCOM

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Optimized Fran's New Items and New Creatures BSAs

By Arthmoor

A while back in either an FCOM thread or on a Fran's thread I had mentioned that I'd gone through and cleaned up a lot of broken meshes and done PyFFI on those that could be. Ive had the files sitting around for awhile now, and have been unable to get ahold of Dewshine. Hardly a surprise I guess as she's not been here in eons.

Anyway, someone asked me about it today and I just uploaded the files:

Hopefully someone somewhere can get these to where they need to go to be distributed as needed.

DOWNLOAD:
Optimized Francesco Resources [Note: Fran's New Creatures shouldn't be used with FCOM.]

ENJOY
TEAM FCOM