Str1gas

Holy good lord. I mean come on, seriously I want to see someone look at those screenshots and try and tell me that they believe the game came out in 09. It looks like a next gen game to me for sure. It is insane how much work these modders have put into the new artwork/textures/meshes and the results are absolutely breathtaking! I have my fingers crossed that my game will look close to those results! I am running an msi overclocked r9 290 so it can handle quite a bit, but man just looking at those graphics you would assume you need dual titan z's

Haha I'll download a stopwatch app and be ready to go! Right meow I am actually in the process of making sure that absolutely everything from my old mods are cleaned out, and then reinstalled since I wasn't using MO the first time around, definitely makes it a whole lot harder without it from what I have been reading so far, just yet another improvement I now know about, so this next mod session will go much more smoothly! I just wanna make sure to start out on the right foot and know for certain there isn't any old files left over that may screw things up, if that makes any sense. I already went through and removed the mods via the manager and restored the files that were overwritten after I went through and checked everything that the readme's told me to remove for "uninstalling" but still, the hash that I made of the directory before I installed the mods doesn't match up, so I figured its best to clean it all out in order to really install fresh again. And I did look at your screenshots in your signature, back when you first started helping me, and I was blown away by how great they look and my first thought was "Man I hope I can get my game looking like that!" I will keep checking this thread tomorrow after I have the game reinstalled, so anytime you are free and wanna teach I'll be here for sure!

Okay, seriously thank you so much Kitty. I just finished installing all of the tools you linked me, and I gotta admit it is nice knowing that I have the right versions of all the tools now, because so many guides had different answers (most conflicting each other) and eventually I just felt like I had to just choose one and go with it, alas I chose wrong lol. But now? Now I have all the tools to actually start fresh and get the stuff all installed right. I hope you know how much I personally appreciate all the time you both took out of your day to repeatedly try and help me figure all of these problems out, and help get me back on track. The community is so lucky to have great people like you two still involved in it!

Thanks a ton M48A5, I have the first one bookmarked already but I hadn't seen the second one, going through it right now. Hope you had a great weekend! So one of the things that those posts mentioned was that it was best to not install any mods until after you have left the vault and spent a few hours in the game, but I have always installed the mods prior to character creation, some because obviously you have to have it in there from the beginning for alternate story lines or character model improvements, but I also installed them previously because every post that I have read has said that once you have a save for a character you can't change your mods around or it will corrupt the save. So I am a bit lost as far as this goes. Is it only that you can't remove a mod rather than add/remove?

So I am totally having a bit of information overload right this second, but I can honestly say that right now it really looks like pretty much every mod is messed up in some way shape or form lol. I know it isn't really every mod, but at this point it is starting to feel like it, that's for sure. So I know that you said I need to reinstall FWE, and have it be the last thing installed, but would it be better if I go ahead and restart from scratch and clear it all out, so that I can try and make sure that there are no conflicts as far as assets go? The reason I am thinking about it being a good idea is simply because of my lack of knowledge about some of the mods. Case in Point; I didn't know that Alton included all of those changes, which weren't something that I wanted anyway, I had installed it because while going through hundreds of load order threads I saw it in quite a few of them, so I thought I'd check it out, and it turned out to look pretty intricate so I decided to check it out. But because I didn't know that it made the changes you pointed out, rather than helping or simply not hindering and just increased the quality of my gaming experience, it instead has ended up making things even worse and breaking more stuff. /sigh. So maybe I just need to get rid of all of that other stuff that I added and perhaps break it down to just a couple mods to start with, since I am having a hard time figuring out what all I should change in regards to all of the amazing data you gave me. I know I already tore down my mods and went from over the 100 mark down to what I have now, but maybe I just bit off more than I could chew. I really appreciate you both trying to help me get this figured out, I used to run a fully modded version of fo3 with 100+ mods just a few years ago and was able to have it up and running in just a few hours, but now when you add chemobrain into the mix it is all infinitely harder for me to grasp the whole scope of what each mod is changing and how it affects other mods, especially when so many mods change things that they don't list in the description or readme, all of which seems to have led to this hot mess <3 If you could give me a concrete starting point on where to begin it would be amazing. Edit, sorry I didn't see your post a half an hour ago, I was sitting here reading the data over and over again and didn't refresh the page lol fail

Okay, first off, thank you for the awesome explanation, I completely understand now because you explain it perfectly for me. Not only do I have a ton of medical experience but also I have several computer science degrees, and have worked in networking and tech support for so long that hearing the "some times a user asks questions when they have no idea what is involved" totally 100% rings true because most of the tech support calls throughout the years started with them asking about something completely unrelated to the problem I eventually fixed lol. So it makes sense to me that you actually want to see what is going on rather than third person type deal, because admittedly my degrees are all focused on networking and the only thing that is really related to both is the need for patience, other than that, all of this is Greek to me. So I am convinced that for all I know I could have done something so blatantly wrong that I deserve to have a broken game, and not even know it, I just don't have the knowledge, so I'm lucky you do! I included my save from right outside the vault, problem is I already deactivated the files that M48A5 suggested, but I don't have a save for outside the vault post changes. Although I know they were changes to compatibility rather than content, I don't know if the save would help you any. I will go and run through the vault again in the morning and make a new save, I just can't bring myself to do it right now seeing as I am exhausted + run 200 through the vault doesn't sound exciting enough to keep me awake at the moment =P So tomorrow I'll put a new link up with the other version unless I hear differently. Thanks again for both the help, and the explanations, you have both been amazing about explaining things in a simple way so that I can understand the thought and logic behind the changes, without making me feel "simple" and that is freaking priceless, because I know for a fact that it is far from easy to do all the time heh. http://www.filedropper.com/mergedforthemeowmeow http://www.filedropper.com/save65-strigasthecapitalwasteland040450 Edit: Forgot the actual links, cuz I'm awesome like that, and edit because I wanted to add a thank you for the link to the better fomm version, just installed it!

First off thank you both for responding already... admittedly, I am super excited to have you two being the ones who are helping me, seeing as how I've been reading hundreds of your replies to people's load order posts for the past few weeks while I have been trying to get this working, and it's nice to have some experts taking a look for me, makes me feel like I might finally have a working game soon! /fannboy off Okay, Purr4me do you just want me to make a merged patch of everything I am running, including my current merge patch, and the blackened patches that I am not including in my merge file, (not including them because those were the directions I read on the blackened forum, but if that's wrong please let me know) which would basically just be sending you a copy of my merged patch I suppose. Sorry, just want to make sure that I send you the right thing and don't waste your time. I guess I'll just send you both versions so next time you get a minute and you see this thread you'll be able to take a look. But if there was another way I was supposed to do it, just say the word. As for the xlive tweak, I was originally running an xlive disabled mod, but it was one of the things I cut back while trying to weed out the issue. So now I am using the one in FOMM under Tools/Install Tweaker/ Use Fake Xlive.dll and have tried it with D3DX code optimization and have tried SSE4, SSE3, and off, but haven't seen any improvement, any suggestions on what to set that to for the best stability? Right now I am using the FOMM fork, since the original fomm wouldn't allow me to click on the settings menu without crashing. I am running version 0.14.11.13 . Would it be more stable if I found a way to get the original running? I've been contemplating just switching Mod Organizer instead to see if that works any better. M48A5- I just checked the FWE-Alternate Travel mod and it does say that its file header marks it as an esm. So I will try and move that right now and see if I have any luck. Good catch man, thanks for the heads up, hopefully it will have a positive effect! As for the two tracer mods in all honesty I didn't even notice it before you mentioned it, because when I installed FWE it asked which version I wanted to do and I chose one, no clue why it would have gone and installed both. Guessing so you can change it later through the menu if you want? But even though it installed it itself, should I go ahead and remove one? I'll try it along with the movement of alternative travel. As for the two RH_Ironsight - FWE patches, I installed the bridges from the original ironsights page simply because that it what the Paradox nexus page told me to do, and in all honesty after reading your post I am feeling kinda stupid. I didn't even realize that if you are running the blackened patch then you don't need the bridges. /sigh Is it better to run the bridges or the blackened patch for compatibility? I can try running either or if no one knows and see if it changes anything and report back. I am really glad that I posted here because I have been working on this for so long now that I am missing issues that you guys spotted right off the bat because of your experience. Seriously thank you two. I really hope that we can get this running smoothly. Thanks in advance for the future feedback!

So I have literally read hundreds upon hundreds of posts, guides, lists, load orders, install orders, mod configurations, merged mods, and compatibility changes and in all honestly I have failed over and over again so much that I am just about at the end of my rope. I have been avoiding posting here for this, partially out of my own stubbornness, and mostly because I know that you guys get so many people constantly asking for loadout help and so often it seems like the people simply don't want to bother learning for themselves, and inevitably they haven't even ran a single load order assist program when they post. I guess I just didn't want to be one of "those guys" lol. I have gotten through various parts of the game depending on the install but currently I can play through the entire vault beginning, and then load outside the door, set up all the various settings for FWE once I get access to the menu etc, but once I start walking out into the capital wasteland it crashes either right away or within a few minutes/fights. This is obviously an improvement over when I first started and couldn't see the start menu, or got a CTD minutes in. But now it is just to the point that I have to admit that I can't figure out what is wrong, and I could really REALLY use some help if anyone gets a chance. At this point I'd be willing to trade a body part, or perhaps my neighbors first born if someone can lend some insight into where I am going wrong. I have installed / fully uninstalled / & tried both cleaned and dirty versions of my FO3 mods and re-downloaded the game to verify integrity, all just more times than I can honestly remember. All in order to try various install orders, (currently mods follow the S.T.E.P install order, but I have also tried every other install & load order that I could find) I originally had about double the mods as compared to what I am currently trying to run, but I have also been trying to weed down the list and I just keep getting rid of stuff to try and narrow down the issue, and my desire for fixing more mods has obviously been waning lol. But I have also ended up adding other mods simply because someone else had posted that they had gotten theirs working and they had several mods I didn't and so I figured I'd install them and see if it helped lol. I am running the Blackened patches right now, I didn't included them as part of the merged file (This time anyway, tried that too), and have attempted loading both before and after the merged patch, and stuff like including the EVE Bridge even though the STEP guide says it isn't needed anymore for any version apparently, but I'm just trying anything at the point now. Also I have ran my mods through Boss/Loot, tried masterupdate, tried using a bashed file rather than a merged using wrye instead, and edited the bash tags to follow suit, but when I had the same issue I restored the previous versions. Right now I am running it through FOMM, using Fose, version is the steam goty edition, which is installed outside of any UAC protected folders. Trying to think of anything else that I should list but I have tried so many different things that have been mentioned throughout the forums all the way back to about release lol. Whatever other info I should have posted please just let me know and I'll provide the info. Thanks in advance for any help, and for taking the time to attempt and help drag me back towards sanity because I know I must be missing something stupid and simple but I just can't see it. The latest load order: [X] Fallout3.esm[X] Anchorage.esm[X] ThePitt.esm[X] StreetLights.esm[X] BrokenSteel.esm[X] PointLookout.esm[X] Zeta.esm[X] Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch.esm[X] Inventory Access.esm[X] CRAFT.esm[X] CALIBR.esm[X] xCALIBR.esm[X] Project Beauty.esm[X] TheInstitute.esm[X] Vault 101 Revisited.esm[X] CubeExperimental (EN).esm[X] Alton, IL.esm[X] EVE.esm[X] RH_IRONSIGHTS.esm[X] FO3 Wanderers Edition - Main File.esm[X] Mart's Mutant Mod.esm[X] DCInteriors_ComboEdition.esm[X] Abbreviated Effects.esm[X] Project Beauty- Point Lookout.esp[X] Project Beauty- Broken Steel.esp[X] DarNifiedUIF3.esp[X] CASM.esp[X] GNR Enhanced.esp[X] UPP - Pack 1.esp[X] UPP - Pack 2.esp[X] UPP - Experience Perks.esp[X] UPP - Quest Perks.esp[X] UPP - Beverage Perks.esp[X] Dree Perks.esp[X] HeirApparent.esp[X] IntoTheDeepWoods.esp[X] NotSoFast.esp[X] PLweightadjust.esp[X] PLFewerItems.esp[X] BlackWolf Backpack.esp[X] BlackWolf Backpack - Vanilla Big Guns Fix.esp[X] BlackWolf Backpack - Anchorage Gauss Rifle Fix.esp[X] BlackWolf Backpack - Zeta Drone Cannon Fix.esp[X] BlackWolf Backpack - Blank's Container Patch.esp[X] Expanded Megaton House V3.esp[X] Expanded Megaton House V3-No Stove.esp[X] Megaton Walkway.esp[X] megalight.esp[X] Rivet City Merchants.esp[X] Rivet City Merchants With Point Lookout.esp[X] FO3 Wanderers Edition - Main File.esp[X] FO3 Wanderers Edition - DLC Anchorage.esp[X] FO3 Wanderers Edition - DLC The Pitt.esp[X] FO3 Wanderers Edition - DLC Broken Steel.esp[X] FO3 Wanderers Edition - DLC Point Lookout.esp[X] FO3 Wanderers Edition - DLC Mothership Zeta.esp[X] FO3 Wanderers Edition - Alternate Travel.esp[X] FO3 Wanderers Edition - Followers Enhanced (BrokenSteel).esp[X] FO3 Wanderers Edition - Optional Restore Tracers.esp[X] FO3 Wanderers Edition - Optional VATS Realtime.esp[X] FO3 Wanderers Edition - Optional Restore Tracers (automatics only).esp[X] RH_FWE_Bridge.esp[X] WeaponModKits.esp[X] WeaponModKits - FWE Master Release.esp[X] WeaponModKits - OperationAnchorage.esp[X] WeaponModKits - ThePitt.esp[X] WeaponModKits - BrokenSteel.esp[X] WeaponModKits - PointLookout.esp[X] WeaponModKits - Zeta.esp[X] Item Descriptions Img.esp[X] FasterMorePowerfulMines.esp[X] Fellout-pipboylight.esp[X] Fellout-Full.esp[X] Realistic Interior Lighting.esp[X] Realistic Interior Lighting - BS.esp[X] Realistic Interior Lighting - OA.esp[X] Realistic Interior Lighting - PL.esp[X] xCALIBRammo_FWE.esp[X] CALIBRv14 Ammunition Schematics for FWE-WMK-CRAFT-V1_3-18639.esp[X] Item_Descriptions_Img.esp[X] Project Beauty- Vault 101 Revisited.esp[X] AltonAddon.esp[X] MyMegaton-AmmoPress-Calibr-Plus-Unlocked_v1_21_18605.esp[X] RH_WMK_Bridge.esp[X] Blackened FWE + MMM + EVE + Project Beauty.esp[X] Blackened RH + FWE + EVE.esp[X] My Latest Merged Patch.esp