Running Oblivion OBSE with MO2

Using OBSE with ModOrganizer 2

Note: this procedure applies to all versions of OBSE (Steam/GOG/DVD).

v2.4.3 and later

Note: This only applies to new Oblivion instances created with these versions. If you have an old Oblivion version and have updated MO2, you might need the older set of instructions.

1. Download xOBSE from the official website https://github.com/llde/xOBSE , you will ONLY need these files:

   • obse_1_2_416.dll

     (This is where all the OBSE code actually is)

   • obse_editor_1_2.dll

     (Used for the Oblivion Construction Set)

   • obse_loader.exe

     (This loader is no longer needed except for running the Construction Set with OBSE using the -editor parameter)

   • Data
     (This only contains an INI file for OBSE and could be installed as a MO2 mod)

2. Place obse_1_2_416.dll and Data in the Oblivion game folder, the one that contains Oblivion.exe.

3. If you wish to use the Construction Set with OBSE also copy obse_loader.exeand obse_editor_1_2.dll into the game folder, otherwise you may skip this step.

   The other files are not needed as they are either source files or are not required for running OBSE from MO2.

4. To run the game with OBSE, select Oblivion.exe to the left of the run button. You should NOT run OBSE obse_loader.exe to start the game.

5. All OBSE plugins installed in MO2 should now be seen by the game, and you no longer need to install them in the game folder like in MO1.

6. If you wish to start the game without OBSE, deselect the Force Load Libraries option from the Oblivion.exe executable.

v2.1.7 to v2.4.2

1. Download OBSE from the official website https://obse.silverlock.org/ , you will ONLY need these files:

   • obse_1_2_416.dll

     (This is where all the OBSE code actually is)

   • obse_editor_1_2.dll

     (Used for the Oblivion Construction Set)

   • obse_loader.exe

     (This loader is no longer needed except for running the Construction Set with OBSE using the -editor parameter)

   • Data
     (This only contains an INI file for OBSE and could be installed as a MO2 mod)

2. Place obse_1_2_416.dll and Data in the Oblivion game folder, the one that contains Oblivion.exe.

3. If you wish to use the Construction Set with OBSE also copy obse_loader.exeand obse_editor_1_2.dll into the game folder, otherwise you may skip this step.

   The other files are not needed as they are either source files or are not required for running OBSE from MO2.

4. In MO2, open the executable drop-down and select <Edit...>

5. Select Oblivion.exe, Check the Force Load Libraries and click on the Configure Libraries button

6. Check the checkbox on the line that says Oblivion.exe and obse_1_2_416.dll.

7. Now MO2 will load the OBSE dll each time you start Oblivion.exe. You should NOT run OBSE obse_loader.exe to start the game.

8. All OBSE plugins installed in MO2 should now be seen by the game, and you no longer need to install them in the game folder like in MO1.

9. If you wish to start the game without OBSE, deselect the Force Load Libraries option from the Oblivion.exe executable.

Testing that OBSE is working

Click to see instructions!

1. Download OBSE Tester with MO2.

2. Install and enable OBSE Tester.

3. Start Oblivion with MO2.

4. Start a new game.

5. Name the character and finish character creation (this is just a throwaway character!).

6. A tutorial dialog box may pop up.

7. You should see a dialog from OBSE Tester pop up saying stuff like "don't do anything."

8. Don't do anything!

9. You should see a dialog from OBSE Tester saying that either OBSE is installed correctly or OBSE is missing / broken / not installed correctly.

   • If it's working, you can now exit the game and disable OBSE Tester.

   • If it's not working, contact us on discord for some help!

Why is this needed?

OBSE and MO2 both need to load libraries into the game to work. MO2 needs to be the first one to do so or otherwise it will not be able to show the OBSE plugins from the mods to OBSE. Mo2 needs to launch the programs it wants to load it's library in. OBSE has two different methods to load itself, one for the Steam edition of the game and one for the GOG edition of the game. The Steam edition relied on Steam itself to load the OBSE DLL and people needed to run the game from Steam, so obviously MO2 would not be able to load it's virtualization library. The GOG edition relied on a launcher, but the launcher was actually injecting OBSE before even MO2 could inject his own DLL.

We overcame these issues by allowing the virtualization library to load specified libraries after initialization into the injected program, so that OBSE could be correctly loaded when the game is started from MO2.