Listed here are commonly used acronyms for Oblivion mods and modding tools. Rules for adding content:
- This page is designed for players who are likely to be confused by an acronym that they've run across in the modding community. If such confusion is not likely, or if expanding the acronym doesn't reduce confusion, then don't add the term.
- Acronyms only. Terminology should be defined on the Glossary page. Or if more technical (useful to modders only), on the Glossary at TESCS Wiki.
- Only list acronyms that are actually commonly used. Don't acronymize your favorite mod and post it here as advertising.
- Don't use evaluative terms like "popular". If it's not reasonably popular, then it shouldn't be here.
- Sort alphabetically (by acronym, not by full name).
- Keep descriptions short (one or two short sentences in almost all cases).
| Acronym | Full | Description |
|---|---|---|
| AS | Alternate Start | Describes several mods that alter the beginning of the game, typically replacing the Tutorial. |
| AWS | Atmospheric Weather System | A weather overhaul mod. |
| B&M | Blood and Mud | A quest mod and city overhaul of Bravil. |
| BAB | Biu Adventuress Body | A female body replacer mod. |
| BAIN | BAsh INstallers | A mod package installer feature of Wrye Bash. Somewhat similar to OBMM. |
| BALO | Bash Auto Load Ordering | An automated load ordering feature of Wrye Bash. No longer enabled as it has been effectively deprecated by BOSS. |
| BC | Better Cities | A major city overhaul project that expands all of Cyrodiil's cities. |
| BOSS | Better Oblivion Sorting Software | A utility that automatically sorts the load order of your mods. |
| BP | Beautiful People | A compilation of various race and cosmetic mods. |
| BSA | Bethesda Softworks Archive | The extension and file format used to archive all art assets used by Oblivion into a single file. |
| COC/CoC | Clocks of Cyrodiil | Adds working clocks around Cyrodiil. |
| Center on Cell | A console command that teleports you to the specified cell. | |
| Champion of Cyrodiil | A rank that you gain after completing the main quest. | |
| Cobl | Common Oblivion | A modder's resource that functions as a shared asset library for the many mods that require it. |
| CR | Cobl Races | A compilation of race and beauty mods, part of Common Oblivion (Cobl). |
| CRB | Cobl Races Balanced | Similar to Cobl Races, but the races and birthsigns are rebalanced in the spirit of RBP. |
| CS | Construction Set | The Elder Scrolls Construction Set, which is used to make mods. |
| CTD | Crash to Desktop | When Oblivion crashes and quits. |
| DDS | Direct Draw Surface | The image format used by Morrowind and Oblivion for textures, icons, and most other graphics. |
| DLC | Downloadable content | Refers to the official Bethesda downloads for Oblivion. |
| DV | Deutsche Version | Used when designating the German-language version of a mod. |
| EW | Enhanced Weather | A weather mod. |
| EV | English Version | Used when designating the English-language version of a mod. |
| FF | Fantasy Figures | A female body replacer mod. |
| FCOM | Francesco + WarCry + Oscuro + Martigen | A mod that integrates the leading overhaul mods (plus others) into a single, cohesive system. |
| GOTY/GotY | Game of the Year | The game version that includes the Knights of the Nine download and Shivering Isles expansion. |
| HC | Harvest Containers | A mod that causes containers to appear opened when activated. |
| HDR | High Dynamic Range | A graphics technique that allows a wider range of colors to be displayed. See the Wikipedia article for more information. |
| HF | Harvest Flora | A mod that causes harvested flora to look depleted after harvesting. |
| HUD | Heads-Up Display | Refers to the health, magicka, and stamina bars, weapon and magic slots, compass, and other icons and text that appear directly on the screen. |
| KA | Kvatch Aftermath | A mod that features a reconstructed Kvatch. Not to be confused with Kvatch Rebuilt. |
| KCAS | Kobu's Character Advancement System | A player leveling overhaul. |
| KOTN/KotN | Knights of the Nine | The official download that revolves around an order of knights as they recover the lost relics of the Divine Crusader. |
| KR | Kvatch Rebuilt | A mod that features a reconstructed Kvatch. Not to be confused with Kvatch Aftermath. |
| LAME | Less Annoying Magic Experience | A magic overhaul mod with the goal of fixing flaws and enhancing the player's experience. |
| LOD | Level Of Detail | The amount of detail displayed by the graphics engine for distant objects. |
| LOOT | The Load Order Optimisation Tool | A utility that sorts the load order of mods, with support for Oblivion and other Bethesda games. |
| LS | Lost Spires | A large quest mod with a new guild. |
| LSTR | Loading Screens Themed Replacer | A mod that replaces sepia-toned vanilla loading screens with high quality, full-color screenshots. |
| MM | Mighty Magick | A magic overhaul mod. |
| MM:R | Mighty Magick: Reborn | A magic overhaul mod. |
| MMM | Martigen's Monster Mod | A mod focused on adding additional creatures and NPCs. |
| MBSP | Magicka-Based Skill Progression | Originally a Morrowind mod, now a genre name for any mod which adjusts the advancement of spellcasting skills based on the cost of the spells you cast. |
| MOBS | Medieval Oblivion Equipment Balance System | A system used by many mods to balance weapons. Without MOBS, weapons added by different mods can behave inconsistently (e.g., a small dagger having longer reach than a sword). |
| NE | Natural Environments | A weather overhaul mod. |
| nGCD | not Galsiah's Character Development | A player leveling overhaul. (GCD is a player leveling system for Morrowind, which inspired this mod. nGCD is by a different author, hence not Galsiah's.) |
| NIF | NetImmerse File | The GameBryo file format for 3D meshes. See NifTools for more information. |
| OBGE | Oblivion Graphics Extender | A modder's resource that expands the graphics capabilities of Oblivion. |
| OBMM | Oblivion Mod Manager | A tool for installing and removing mods, managing load order, and implementing archive invalidation. |
| OBSE | Oblivion Script Extender | A modder's resource that expands the scripting capabilities of Oblivion. |
| OBC | Open Better Cities | A city overhaul mod that removes city gates and allows seamless entry into Better Cities. |
| OCC | Open Cities Classic | A version of Open Better Cities for vanilla cities. |
| OCR | Open Cities Reborn | A city overhaul mod that both removes the loading screens to enter cities and redesigns their layouts. |
| OMG | Origin of Mages Guild | A quest mod. |
| OMOBS | Oscuro's Medieval Oblivion Equipment Balance System | Oscuro's variation of MOBS. Largely consistent with MOBS. |
| OOO | Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul | An overhaul mod. |
| PYLO | Post Your Load Order | A request on the forums that someone post their load order, typically to help with diagnosis of problems. Usually fulfilled by using Wrye Bash's List Mods command, or by using OBMM and copying and pasting the contents of %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Oblivion\plugins.txt, which OBMM will sort by load order automatically. |
| QOTW | Quest of the Week | A modding group that makes miscellaneous quests. |
| RAEVWD | Really Almost Everything Visible When Distant | A mod that makes almost all structures (Ayleid ruins, forts, etc.) viewable from far away. |
| RBP | Race Balancing Project | A race and birthsign overhaul. |
| Ren's Beauty Pack | A race and hair mod. | |
| RELZ | Released | A released mod. Usually used in the titles of forum topics to flag that the post is about a released mod. The trailing "Z" exists to increase the term to four letters (Bethsoft forum searches do not allow searches on three-letter terms). |
| RGO | Reneer's Guard Overhaul | A mod that overhauls the behavior of guard NPCs. |
| RTFM | Read the F***ing/Fine Manual | Blunt admonishment that an asked question is already answered in the manual/readme.
A less rude alternative is to ask "How is the manual unclear?" |
| RTT | Ruined Tail's Tale | A classic companion and quest mod. |
| SDR | Sneaking Detection Recalibrated | A stealth overhaul mod. |
| SI | Shivering Isles | The official expansion for Oblivion, adding the realm of Sheogorath. |
| SM | Supreme Magicka | A magic overhaul mod. |
| SPAM | Simbacca's Player Advancement Method | A player leveling overhaul. |
| TIE | Tamriel Immersion Experience | An overhaul mod. |
| TFF | Team Fantasy Figures | Marks official FF releases. Contrasts with UFF. |
| TNR | Tamriel NPCs Revamped | A face overhaul mod. Improves the faces of all human, elf, and Orc faces in Cyrodiil. |
| TotF | Tears of the Fiend | A large companion and quest mod. |
| TT | Tamriel Travellers | A mod that adds traveling merchants. |
| TRN OotG | TRN One of the Gang | A mod that lets you disguise yourself as a member of the Imperial Legion. |
| UI | User Interface | All the menus and other non-game objects visible on screen, such as the inventory menu, compass, and health bar. UI mods change various aspects of the menu and HUD. |
| UFF | Unofficial Fantasy Figures | Marks mods made for TFF bodies that are not from Team Fantasy Figures. Contrasts with TFF. |
| UL | Unique Landscapes | Series of mods that redo landscapes in different areas of Cyrodiil to make them more unique and interesting. |
| UOP | Unofficial Oblivion Patch | The most widely used patch mod for Oblivion. Fixes almost all known bugs in the game, provides some performance enhancements, etc. |
| UOMP | Unofficial Official Mods Patch | Same as UOP, but for the various official downloads Bethesda sold. Use this in addition to UOP. |
| USIP | Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch | Same as UOP, but for Shivering Isles. Use this in addition to UOP. |
| WCIF | Where can I find? | Indicates the thread is asking where to find a particular mod or a certain type of mod.
On the Official Elder Scrolls Forums, at least, such questions ought to be directed to the current mod detectives (for a known mod that cannot be found) or mod psychics (for asking if a mod exists) thread. |
| WIPZ | Work in Progress | Term for mods that are in development. The trailing "Z" exists to increase the term to four letters (Bethsoft forum searches do not allow searches on three-letter terms).
"WIPZ" usually implies that the mod is actually in development (i.e. not just an idea), and that the mod is planned to be released (i.e. is not a private mod). |