FO4 can't find F4SE when launching from Vortex

[HadToRegister]

HadToRegister, I checked the paths in Vortex and they did not resemble what you showed above. My game is in a Steam Library residing on a different drive, but the paths should be similar. They were not, so I corrected them to better match your example. I can now launch FO4 within Vortex but it still can't find F4SE.

 

It appears that when I installed F4SE as a mod, I did it incorrectly and it installed F4SE in Data rather than the root (install) folder. I have disabled that mod for now, but will wait to remove until the game is launching through Vortex and correctly finding F4SE.

 

I will check the Steam client properties next. There was a time when I had it set to run as administrator but I thought I changed it back. Steam has been giving me an error message when launching the first time saying something about not running it in compatibility mode. This I am sure has been corrected, but the message still comes up the first time I try to launch a Steam game. More to follow.

 

Don't install F4SE as a mod.

 

I wish whoever made that guide didn't.

 

 

Follow the install instructions in the zip

 

 

 

[ Installation ]

1. Copy the .dll and .exe files to your Fallout 4 directory. This is usually in your Program Files folder under Steam\SteamApps\common\Fallout 4\. If you see files named Fallout4.exe and Fallout4Launcher.exe, this is the correct folder. Do not copy these files to the Data folder as with a normal mod. The "src" folder is only useful for programmers, most users can ignore it.

2. Copy the .pex files in Data\Scripts\ into the Data\Scripts\ folder of your installation. The .pex files are needed by all users of F4SE.

[jaydawg55]

HadToRegister, you were right about my Steam client. I unticked the 'Run as administrator' box. Must have just dreamed that I fixed that setting. Do I need to reboot my PC for this change to take full effect?

 

Although FO4 now launches as a regular user through Vortex or by shortcut to f4se_loader, in either case the game still says that F4SE is not loaded and Transfer Settlements features are disabled. I am nowhere near ready to use Transfer Settlements yet but I have other mods that depend on F4SE that probably won't work.

 

The same error occurred when loading an earlier save that had been created as admin. It too threw the F4SE not loaded error. This doesn't happen when I launch the game as admin. I checked the main menu (ESC) in game and the 'Mod Config' option was not there. That seems to be a clear sign that F4SE was not loaded.

 

I also selected 'New' from the game menu once expecting to start over, but the game seemed to 'hang' with the garage video playing over and over signifying a lack of progress (I think).

 

Any further thoughts from anyone?

[HadToRegister]

HadToRegister, you were right about my Steam client. I unticked the 'Run as administrator' box. Must have just dreamed that I fixed that setting. Do I need to reboot my PC for this change to take full effect?

 

Although FO4 now launches as a regular user through Vortex or by shortcut to f4se_loader, in either case the game still says that F4SE is not loaded and Transfer Settlements features are disabled. I am nowhere near ready to use Transfer Settlements yet but I have other mods that depend on F4SE that probably won't work.

 

The same error occurred when loading an earlier save that had been created as admin. It too threw the F4SE not loaded error. This doesn't happen when I launch the game as admin. I checked the main menu (ESC) in game and the 'Mod Config' option was not there. That seems to be a clear sign that F4SE was not loaded.

 

I also selected 'New' from the game menu once expecting to start over, but the game seemed to 'hang' with the garage video playing over and over signifying a lack of progress (I think).

 

Any further thoughts from anyone?

 

 

No need to reboot.

 

Did you set F4SE up in the dashboard and set the TARGET and PATH correctly to the f4se_loader.exe?

 

Your target should be something similar, (your Drive, and initial folder will vary obviously, so it might be something like C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Fallout 4)

 

TARGET - D:\Games\Steam\steamapps\common\Fallout 4\f4se_loader.exe

 

START IN - D:\Games\Steam\steamapps\common\Fallout 4

 

Then you make F4SE PRIMARY, by clicking on the 3 little vertical dots, (shown below) and click MAKE PRIMARY, so it loads when you start it through Vortex

You'll know it's made Primary by the little banner that shows up like the example for SKSE below

 

 

 

Be sure to NOT install F4SE as a mod Because it is causing far too much confusion, just follow the installation instructions included in the zip file

 

 

 

[ Installation ]

1. Copy the .dll and .exe files to your Fallout 4 directory. This is usually in your Program Files folder under Steam\SteamApps\common\Fallout 4\. If you see files named Fallout4 and Fallout4Launcher, this is the correct folder. Do not copy these files to the Data folder as with a normal mod. The "src" folder is only useful for programmers, most users can ignore it.

2. Copy the .pex files in Data\Scripts\ into the Data\Scripts\ folder of your installation. The .pex files are needed by all users of F4SE.

[jaydawg55]

1) You were right rmm200 about the path to the F4SE launcher being bad in Vortex. I fixed the paths (see my earlier reply to HadToRegister) and altered the Steam client properties so that it does not run as administrator. Now the game runs within Vortex or via shortcut to F4SE loader.

 

2) But complaints about F4SE not loading continue. So I verified that the correct version of F4SE is installed in the FO4 root directory. But in doing so I found a copy of the old f4se_1_10_114.dll was still in there in addition to the current f4se_1_10_120 version. The old version was never overwritten when I copied the new files in because the names are not identical. Not knowing any better, I never noticed it until now.

 

I deleted the old f4se_1_10_114.dll and will let you know what happens when I re-launch the game. If there is no change, then I will verify the scripts next.

[jaydawg55]

Update for rmm200 and HadToRegister since I fixed the Vortex path to the F4SE loader and deleted the old f4se dll:

 

1) Game now launches in regular user mode from Vortex dashboard. YES!

2) No more complaints about F4SE not loading in game. YES!

 

However, the message about the unsupported game version now appears within Vortex after launching FO4 from the dashboard. The message reads:

 

Unsupported game version 1.10.120.0

Expected 1.10.114.0

WmkActiveEffects will be disabled.

 

Now I am going to check the scripts. There may be an old one in the directory that is looking for the older game version. I will let you know what I find out.

 

EDIT: Active Effects is a HUD mod I had installed that needed to be updated. Having done so, there should be no more complaints about the game version. I can't thank you enough for your help.

Edited February 20, 2019 by jaydawg55

[rmm200]

Another note:

Old .dll's are safe to delete - but they cause no problems if left.

The F4SE executable only calls the appropriate one.

 

Your specific problem is because you need update 1.2.1 of Active Effects:

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/32735

 

Any time Bethesda updates a game for CC junk, F4Se - and SKSE - have to change, and every mod that depends on them has to change.

And that is after Bethesda promised to stop doing this.

[jaydawg55]

Sorry to make such a fuss when all that was really needed was to update Active Effects. I am tracking that mod now so hopefully I won't be surprised next time this happens.

 

When troubleshooting this problem, I discovered that I installed F4SE as a mod with Vortex incorrectly. It was installed in the Data directory like any other plug-in. I should have followed the procedure for installing ENB because it goes in the root directory as well. I did that for Skyrim SE and it worked fine, but I need to find the written instructions again to do it right. It is not something I do often.

 

Bethesda has messed me up a couple times so far by updating the game and making F4SE unusable because of the resulting incompatibilities. I don't know why they do the things they do sometimes.

[HadToRegister]

 

I discovered that I installed F4SE as a mod with Vortex incorrectly. It was installed in the Data directory like any other plug-in. I should have followed the procedure for installing ENB because it goes in the root directory as well.

 

Which is why I wish that video or tutorial of "Installing a Script Extender as a Mod" would GO AWAY.

 

It's meant for ADVANCED Users, yet, IT, and that other terrible (and OLD) youtube video of the guy giving bad information about putting your Mod Folder INSIDE the Game Folder, need to be removed.

Because then people come in here after watching that video, and after screwing up their game with that bad advice, we have to try and figure out what happened

 

Same thing with all of those misguided REDDIT threads telling people how to sort their Plugin Order, that doesn't even apply now, and actually never did.

[AugustaCalidia]

Which is why I wish that video or tutorial of "Installing a Script Extender as a Mod" would GO AWAY.

 

It's meant for ADVANCED Users, yet, IT, and that other terrible (and OLD) youtube video of the guy giving bad information about putting your Mod Folder INSIDE the Game Folder, need to be removed.

Because then people come in here after watching that video, and after screwing up their game with that bad advice, we have to try and figure out what happened

 

 

The authors of the Knowledge Base article, "Tool Setup: Script Extenders," give no advice about how to install script extenders. Rather, they describe two methods - manual installation ("easy") and Vortex installation ("intermediate"). It's left up to the reader to determine which method to use.

 

The second method involves installing a script extender as a mod. However, would deleting that method from the article do anything to stem the tide of script extender problems reported in this forum? In fact, how many of the problems reported here actually arise from people botching this particular process? As the poet once said, "How do I botch thee? Let me count the ways" (sorry about this, EBB). People are messing up script extender installations in a number of ways. Some people do in fact misconstrue the Knowledge Base instructions and build the script extender mod incorrectly (typically by stuffing everything into the Data folder). Others install manually but put everything in the game data folder. Others install the script extender elements correctly but configure the Vortex tools incorrectly. Others use an outdated script extender, thus preventing either the game from loading or individual mods from loading.

 

For these reasons, I see no need to remove the second set of instructions from the Knowledge Base article. However, I do agree with you that installing a script extender as a mod is an advanced process to be used by advanced users. Therefore I would relabel the instructions in the Knowledge Base article as "Advanced" rather than "Intermediate" and post stern warnings about employing this method.

 

My comments here deal strictly with the Knowledge Base article, "Tool Setup: Script Extenders." I offer no opinions about any videos that may deal with this matter.

[HadToRegister]

 

 

For these reasons, I see no need to remove the second set of instructions from the Knowledge Base article. However, I do agree with you that installing a script extender as a mod is an advanced process to be used by advanced users. Therefore I would relabel the instructions in the Knowledge Base article as "Advanced" rather than "Intermediate" and post stern warnings about employing this method.

 

My comments here deal strictly with the Knowledge Base article, "Tool Setup: Script Extenders." I offer no opinions about any videos that may deal with this matter.

 

 

I can agree with that.

The "Install a Script Extender as a mod" should be labeled for "Advanced Users Only"