Fallout Character Overhaul covering all character models with exclamation points

[VelocityPolaris]

Abstract: FCO attacks all hoomins in game and turns them into exclamation point monsters plox halp

 

Yup, I've been following Xuul's almighty modding guide, which means I'm running Mod Organizer, LOOT, bethini, the works. Got a beefy Windows 10 PC with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 graphics thingy. After installing the basic fixes, NVSE, UIO and whatnot, moved onto proper mods like project reality, and everything was just peachy with one or two exceptions. The first is that New Vegas kept crashing mid-cutscene, which I fixed by installing some d3d9 doohickey the internet recommended. The second is when I got to the Fallout Character Overhaul, yep, you guessed it, everyone got infected by the punctuation virus.

 

First clue that something was up was that when double-clicking on the FCO 3.0 download in the mod organizer, instead of opening an external installer like in the vid I was following, it brought me to your standard manual-ok-cancel mod organizer downloading menu. OK didn't open the external installer either, so I instead clicked manual, bringing me to a menu with a bunch of checky boxes, as per standard mod organizer procedure for a normal mod. Some of these checky boxes named options I remember from the normal external installer, like dirty&clean teeth, the afterschool special, and Willow, but some stuff looked to be non-negotiable core files - I think. FOMOD, main, .esp or .esm or something like that. So I guessed the best I could and installed, and then the game loaded with those evil exclamation points. I checked 3rd person view, and even the courier had one.

 

First guess was that I missed a checky box, or checked a checky box too many, so I spent the next couple of hours basically reinstalling with different checky box combinations. Every one of them loaded with those terrible exclamation points. Second guess was that another mod was incompatible with FCO, as everything was exclamation-point-free without it installed. So I unchecked pretty much every mod that wasn't a bugfix or required for FCO, no luck on that front either. As I am not very tech-savvy, the only conclusion I could draw was that the bighorners were getting their revenge on humanity by infecting them with a hallucinogenic grammar-related virus, so I shot all the bighorners in goodsprings as re-revenge. You see, the bighorners don't get infected because they're illiterate.

 

So that leaves me in my current situation. I'm not willing to play without FCO because everyone's face is ugly without it, and I've got no idea how to install it. If anyone can tell me whether any other graphics mods are required to load FCO, maybe Robert's mod or something, or tell me how to run the external installer, or which checky boxes to check in mod organizer manual, or has any other advice to offer, that'd be greaaaat.

 

 

[WastelandAssassin]

it's probably because your installation doesn't install the files in the correct path , thus the game doesn't recognize the meshes from FCO , and you get the wonderful exclamation marks (which means missing meshes , in case you aren't aware)

 

I'm not familiar with the tutorial you are following , and I can't recall if FCO gave me an installer last time I tried installing it (can't even recall if I ever tried FCO 3)

but solving this is actually rather easy , so long as you understand how installing mods with MO works

what you need to do is look at the folder structure other mods have in MO , create a mod in MO for FCO , and manually extract the files you want with the correct folder path into FCO's mod folder that you've created in MO

 

to explain , each mod in MO needs to be set up like it's folder is the Data folder . therefore inside it you need to have the plugins if the mod has any (FCO has plugins , but in general not all mods require them) , and the asset folders (Meshes , Textures , Sound etc) , which contains the assets the mods use

as long as you extract the files properly so that they have the correct paths , the game should recognize the assets and the mod should work correctly

 

yes this requires manual work on your end , which is probably not exactly the answer you were hoping for

maybe there is an easier fix (I recommend reading the comments on the mod's page , maybe other users have encountered similar issues and have discussed a solution)

but if you can't find a better solution , this should allow you to install the mod in a way that MO can still manage , while circumventing the lack of the installer

[VelocityPolaris]

it's probably because your installation doesn't install the files in the correct path , thus the game doesn't recognize the meshes from FCO , and you get the wonderful exclamation marks (which means missing meshes , in case you aren't aware)

 

I'm not familiar with the tutorial you are following , and I can't recall if FCO gave me an installer last time I tried installing it (can't even recall if I ever tried FCO 3)

but solving this is actually rather easy , so long as you understand how installing mods with MO works

what you need to do is look at the folder structure other mods have in MO , create a mod in MO for FCO , and manually extract the files you want with the correct folder path into FCO's mod folder that you've created in MO

 

to explain , each mod in MO needs to be set up like it's folder is the Data folder . therefore inside it you need to have the plugins if the mod has any (FCO has plugins , but in general not all mods require them) , and the asset folders (Meshes , Textures , Sound etc) , which contains the assets the mods use

as long as you extract the files properly so that they have the correct paths , the game should recognize the assets and the mod should work correctly

 

yes this requires manual work on your end , which is probably not exactly the answer you were hoping for

maybe there is an easier fix (I recommend reading the comments on the mod's page , maybe other users have encountered similar issues and have discussed a solution)

but if you can't find a better solution , this should allow you to install the mod in a way that MO can still manage , while circumventing the lack of the installer

 

<INT 1/7> Me no understand. Talky man make head hurt.

<science 2/10> How about me hurt machine until it do what me say? SMAAASH!

 

In all seriousness, I don't follow 100%. I'm perfectly willing to do some work on my end, I just need some foolproof instructions. Think teaching a super-mutant about uranium mining. One of the problems, though, is I'm not 100% which files to keep, and which ones are "only install if you have the appropriate mod they support".

[WastelandAssassin]

well , I'm not really sure I can help you decide which files you need to use , as I have no idea which mods you are trying to use alongside FCO , so I don't know which optional files you are going to need

but looking at the way the mod is packaged , it's not really as easy as I thought (there are several options that require you to overwrite files in specific locations if you wish to use them , so it's not as easy to do , especially if you aren't familiar with where such files are located)

 

honestly I can't think of a reason why the installer isn't working for you

tried looking through the comments and bug reports , as well as searching through Google and couldn't find any record of a similar issue

 

could you please try redownloading FCO 3.0 , try to install that version , and add screenshots of what you are seeing when trying to install this with MO?

[VelocityPolaris]

well , I'm not really sure I can help you decide which files you need to use , as I have no idea which mods you are trying to use alongside FCO , so I don't know which optional files you are going to need

but looking at the way the mod is packaged , it's not really as easy as I thought (there are several options that require you to overwrite files in specific locations if you wish to use them , so it's not as easy to do , especially if you aren't familiar with where such files are located)

 

honestly I can't think of a reason why the installer isn't working for you

tried looking through the comments and bug reports , as well as searching through Google and couldn't find any record of a similar issue

 

could you please try redownloading FCO 3.0 , try to install that version , and add screenshots of what you are seeing when trying to install this with MO?

 

I'll certainly try, just have to do some real life stuff for about 2 hours first.

[VelocityPolaris]

FCO install attempt Part 1:

While it is downloading, uncheck all mods that aren't required. FCO only specifically requires NVSE and UIO, but I kept some crucial patches and bugfix mods checked as well. I'm signed in, archive invalidation is checked, bethini has been used to fix the ini thing, and the game runs fine with every one of these that isn't FCO.

[VelocityPolaris]

Double-clicking on FCO version 3.0 leads to this quick install thingy, instead of running the external installer like it did in the tutorial video. Clicking OK doesn't run it, either, so I'm going to go into manual.

Now we're brought to which the which-checky-boxes-to-check-dilemma. I know that some are add-ons for when you have a particular mod, so I'll try to avoid those, but it's mostly guesswork.

Boxes I did check: Fomod, Hair textures, images, main, teethdirty, FCO - NPC changes.esp, FCOMaster.esm

Boxes I didn't check: Beyond Boulder Dome, Animated sweat, afterschool special, breezepatch, Delilah, enb hair meshes, glowing ghouls, niner, no npc edits, on holy service bound, project brazil, Roberts patch, Russell, Saxons quest collection, teethclean, the new bison steve hotel and lucky casino, and last but not least, willow.

 

Pressed OK, installed and merged FCO 3.01 download, checked the checky box for Fallout Character Overhaul in the mod list.

[VelocityPolaris]

Now it's time to load up FCO, see what's going on! Doc Mitchell, how are ya?

OH MY GOD WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOUR FACE

[WastelandAssassin]

while I don't have New Vegas installed , I'll try downloading and installing the mod on my current installation of MO2 (it should be able to install it , regardless of it being the wrong game)

I'll try checking if I get the installer , and if not I'll see about how it installs the files . maybe I could give you manual instructions on what to do

[VelocityPolaris]

I also did a "control variable" test with FCO unchecked, just to make sure that that specific mod is at fault here.

His face is still ugly, but with no FCO the exclamation point is gone.

 

Just in case the 3.01 merged file was at fault, I went back and did it again without it. Still exclamation point.

 

Did another test without images unchecked, cuz it had some images for options and mods that I didn't check, so maybe that was messing things up. Exclamation Point.

 

Getting desperate, I rechecked images and unchecked the FOMOD file, cuz' I've never heard of a FOMOD, sounds suspicious. And as you may have guessed, there was still an exclamation point.

 

That's about the extent of my technical expertise, which follows the Dr. Fantastic school of pushing buttons to see if something happens, so I hope you can help some.

Also, if you need me to collect any kind of data, just point me to where to go.