uGridstoload=9 causes massive CTD problems

[theoneandonlyboiler]

Hi

 

I got really frustrated lately that buildings and stuff popped into existence right in front of me. So I went to the fallout.ini and changed ugridstoload to 9, adjusted the buffers like described here: https://sites.google.com/site/bethesdasfallout3/ini-tweaks , did the quad-core fix and the large address aware fix. And it really makes the game look a lot better!

 

But after I changed all that I suddenly got massive CTD issues when roaming the Wasteland. No Problems with load or save or enter and leaving buildings, it just crashed while walking around outside. The weird thing however was that those random crashes always occured in the exact same spot after every reload. Every time it got these repeatable crashes I was walking toward new areas that I hadn’t visited before. So these were loaded for the first time. Therefore i strongly suspect it has something to do with that.

 

I also got random CTD’s while walking trough previously visited areas, but those i did expect to occur after making the described changes and they didn’t repeat and so are not a problem. But the other ones really break the game because they effectively and completely prevent me from entering new areas as the game will always crash when trying to get there. I tried coming back a few days later, tried every savegame-trick like emptying the savegame folder and only ever make new saves and stuff, nothing helps.

 

So I reverted the fallout.ini and my save back to the default setting and everything run’s fine again. I don’t even get the occasional CTD others complain about in the vanilla game. The game run’s as smoothly as possible (well, except for that damned stuttering, but that’s another story).

 

My computer is more than powerful enough to handle Fallout 3 even with ugridstoload at higher levels than 9, so that can’t be the problem either. This is the system I’m running Fallout3 on:

 

Intel Core i7 2600K @ 3.4 GHz

2x4 GB of DDR3-1866 RAM

Asus HD 6970 DirectCU II 2GB, PCI-E x16 2.0

Windows 7 ultimate 64bit

 

So, any ideas on how to run F3 with ugridstoload at 9 without gamebreaking CTD’s? I don't mind the occasional random CTD, just those described above.

Edited February 26, 2013 by theoneandonlyboiler

[NemesisTheWarlock]

It's not your machine, it's the background game engine thats restricting you. Despite what you may have read, you shouldn't have ugridstoload set to anything higher than 5, otherwise you'll get the CTD's you're experiencing. All the best,

 

Nemesis

[theoneandonlyboiler]

Oh no, please don’t say that! The game looks so much better with uGridstoload at 9!

But I wonder why there is no word about these severe CTD issues in any thread or article about the uGridstoload value if it can’t be fixed? Yes, there is always mention that one may experience occasional CTD’s with values higher than 5 and that anything higher than 9 will cause more severe problems. But from what I could find I’ve got the impression that many players run values of 7 or 9 without much trouble.

 

But if it really is not possible to fix it: Is there any other way to increase the load distance? Because having buildings appearing out of thin air 100 meters in front of me utterly destroys immersion!

[NemesisTheWarlock]

I'm not sure why there isn't more said about it, but I do know that I came across an obscure piece saying that it was what caused the problem and reducing it to 5 stopped my CTD's. I know I was able to run it at 7 for a while away from heavy load areas.

The first thing I'd suggest though, is try setting it to 5 and see if it solves your problem, that way you can be sure you're not suffering it due to another reason.

[theoneandonlyboiler]

As mentioned in the opening post i already set it back to 5. The question was if there is any solution for setting it to 9 again without causing massive CTD problems. Maybe by adjusting some other things in the ini?

[Purr4me]

As mentioned in the opening post i already set it back to 5. The question was if there is any solution for setting it to 9 again without causing massive CTD problems. Maybe by adjusting some other things in the ini?

create a mod of your own in the geck, prior to loading the mod in the data windows as set active, above, the main settings for the games overall appearance is set to a default 800 x 600 very low settings. you need to set this twice, once before loading your project, and once at the moment of saving it. 7 is Ideal for the geck, 9 is too much as the settings when set to fill LOD and view, will exceed level 9 anyways.

 

this tends to crash the geck but! it will save it as a back up. once you have captured the save in the editor, you can delete the esp it made, rename the bak file as your project and you have full LOD view on any settings you choose.

 

one other small nasty trick is to fool the engine with default ini settings.

 

yes, you heard me correct. find ultra high ini, select all in that ini, and edit all lower ini files in the games root to have the very same data.

 

the graphics reset will then reset you video cards settings to what ever is contained in it's "Given choices. only you are in control of those choices now, Ultra is not seen by the engine, the files name "low, medium, high, and very high...are all it see's and will load it according to those ini files.. it's sneaky, and it works, no matter what software you use, you will always have very vivid screen shots and all the other things that take place will no know whats going on. try that.

 

these ini files are in the games root directory.

 

EDIT: as an example of internal programming to obtain the results your looking to aspire, here is a mod I made for testing out the very subject you brought up here.

 

http://rapidshare.com/files/3385674435/KittyBlack.7z

 

this was tested by other than my self to be mod worthy but, it's a technical application for some things I needed in the point lookout DLC visual display's. this was the only way to get that to work.

 

your all free to use this data as a resource just make Sure I get the credits for it, that's all.

 

Note: do not load this into the geck as the geck will assert defaults to it, the process to build a mod such as this requires that you have the knowledge of how the geck treats files when loading them.

 

you build your mods, and load them in the game. take some shots. then load this under it, and take some more. compare the results. I want to see a before and after of your works and links to them. keep me apprised. that's the fun here.

 

kitty.

Edited February 27, 2013 by Purr4me

[theoneandonlyboiler]

Ok, this sounds a bit more complicated than i hoped, but i'll try it. Could be a few days before i have the time to do it though.

 

Thanks.

[prensa]

theoneandonlyboiler - Hello!

As NemesisTheWarlock said, there's an inherrent problem with setting uGridsToLoad= above it's default of 5.

The increased memory load usually leads to CTD's, it can be mitigated by increasing uExterior Cell Buffer but is not really recomended.

Changing the uGridsToLoad= setting also has another negative side effect in that once the setting is raised, savegames don't like to go back to a lowered one.

uGridsToLoad= is discussed in detail here:

http://www.tweakguides.com/Fallout3_9.html

Have you tried playing with the different view distance settings, as they have more affect on items fading in & out?

Information on the settings here:

http://www.tweakguides.com/Fallout3_7.html

Also check out these settings:

fBlockLoadDistanceLow=50000
fTreeLoadDistance=40000

Discussed here:

http://www.tweakguides.com/Fallout3_9.html

Of particular note:

"These two variables are actually quite important for overall Level of Detail. They correspond to the Object LOD Fade and Tree LOD Fade settings available in the Launcher options and are covered in the In-Game Settings section. In effect they determine the visible distance for buildings and trees respectively. "

"Furthermore the performance impact seems minimal at best, and certainly is nowhere near as high as the uGridsToLoad variable which does something similar"

Hope this helps!

Prensa

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NemesisTheWarlock - Hello!

Hey cool, a 2000AD reference!

Even a Tomás de Torquemada quote. :)

Prensa

Edited February 28, 2013 by prensa

[Purr4me]

 

create a mod of your own in the geck, prior to loading the mod in the data windows as set active, above, the main settings for the games overall appearance is set to a default 800 x 600 very low settings. you need to set this twice, once before loading your project, and once at the moment of saving it.

 

http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/2685/ugridviewsettings.jpg

[NemesisTheWarlock]

@prensa, Hey Prensa, always good to meet another fan :thumbsup: