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Yep, it's Bethesda's insidious getRandomCrash(random) function, I tell ya! They have a Fallout3 Daily Crash Quota to meet you know! :D

It is simply an observation ;) A big part of my job involves selling games and stocking games, and I can tell you that I have never once seen a girl buy Fallout 3, but I have sold over 30 copys of the Sims 3 to female buyers. That doesn't mean that no girls play Fallout 3, but from the evidence placed in front of me I can assume that a much higher number of girls perfer to play the Sims over Fallout 3. :D Okay, first point taken about your unique observation. But having raised two kids of my own, I don't need a virtual simulation! I wonder if that "control" group is age-related? Anyway, thanks for the morning chuckle, Tony. Fallout3 I got at Best Buy, the DLCs from Amazon, since they weren't available off-the-shelf.

Make sure when installing Ling's that you also get the (few) resources that must install into the meshes folder (invisible bodies are a mesh issue, missing textures show up with !'s in-game). It's also a great idea to use FO3Edit (and get Miax's great guide on using it). It is a super utility for finding and resolving mod conflict issues.

Even though it isn't really required, any time I install a new mod (or mods), I disable and the re-enable archive invalidation. As a note: from my understanding the included .bsa forces the game to look in the Data folder and subfolders ... and thus find the resources.

Are you using a custom race? If so, you'll need the Broken Steel Custom Race mod. If not ... hmm, dang that's a poser.

Boy, there's seems to be a lot of presumption about women's preferences in game playing. :biggrin: The Sims? Ick! I prefer games that immerse me in a great story (Oblivion and the other Elder Scrolls), Bioware's games overall (Neverwinter Nights1 & 2, Baldur's Gate, etc. -- really looking forward to Dragon Age). I guess a love of reading fantasy/science fiction goes a long way in influencing what games I like to play. My preference are games that are not gender-specific and force me into playing a male character, though there are exceptions like Witcher, and that are customizable to how I like to play ... NWN1 & 2, Oblivion and Fallout3 all excel in this (and how I wish the GECK was as easy as NWN's toolsets! ... but I'm getting there!). As far as online games ... I liked Everquest II for a while and Star Wars Galaxies. But MMOs ultimately tend to be too time-consuming for my tastes. An online version of Tameriel or the Fallout3 universe ... hmm ... I'd definitely have to reconsider. :biggrin: Thankfully, Bethesda has spared me the temptation thus far!

If it's spawns you want, check out mods like MMM (especially with the increased spawns option), increased exterior/interior raiders ... there are many others. Just spend some time looking around Fallout3 Nexus, I'm sure you'll find one (or more) to suit your needs. As for me: I like realism/immersion mods the most and mods that add to the world without upsetting balance. Puce Moose's are great, Arefu Expanded, Shady Sands. DC Interiors is awesome. Fellout and the weather mods, Lighting Overhaul along with the Streetlights mod. All these add immensely to the feel of the Wastelands. There are a host of others, including Arwen's mod for game balance, as well as mods that require eating, sleeping, etc. In all, I have some 130 mods running that makes Fallout3 tailored to the way I want to play. I avoid the "gimme" mods that heap rewards that are not earned. Here's the key to it all, no matter what mods you use: You need FOMM, ArchiveInvalidation Invalidated and FO3Edit (and Miax's guide on using it) to ensure a 100% conflict-free (and thus less crash-prone) game experience.

Editing the registry directly is an extremely dangerous practice, you can literally destroy Windows' operability by tinkering in it. First, where did you re-install your game? Per many, many posts etc., somewhere other than the Program Files default installation is highly recommended. Secondly, did you re-install your utilities after re-installing Fallout3? ArchiveInvalidation Invalidated, FOMM and FO3Edit all rely on the registry (as they should). My previous warning kept in mind, the Windows utility regedit provides a basic registry editor. But I cannot stress enough ... any change you make takes place instantly and can totally hose your system. You really, really don't want to be poking around in there.

I suppose it is a matter of preference and gaming style. I like it to be challenging, so I am an avid user of realism/immersion mods. Those that reduce XP gain are great - it makes the game harder for a longer time. One example of such a balancing approach is Arwens' and there are others -- again, it's a matter of preference. There is even a mod (or maybe more than one) that delevels the leveled list, so you are just as apt to come across a powerful adversary while wandering around as you are a normal Radroach. Boy, that keeps the adrenaline pumping! :) Combined with a game-balancing mods, those that add encounters and types of encounters like MMM greatly ups the challenge. It doesn't take a lot of work to make Fallout3 challenging -- a lot of great modders have made contributions that can enhance your gaming experience to suit your style of play. For those who want hard and real or for those who want to be the uber God of the Wastelands, there's a mod or two for you. For all its faults, Fallout3 -- like Oblivion -- is at least extremely customizable.

Almost every major CTD issue I've had was my fault (points to signature). Every one of the issues I had was fixable and since applying such fixes, the game crashes and freezes a lot less. How many who are having problems, I wonder, bother using FO3Edit to resolve mod conflicts BEFORE starting to play? How many ran FO3Edit in Master Update mode? I didn't and suffered horribly. I'm now a fervent supporter of this utility. I don't use FOSE or those mods that rely on its functionality, in my case it causes an immediate CTD. So now I crash on occasion, but it's usually after an extended length of play. From the school of hard knocks ... read the forums, guides, etc. that are readily available and you are more likely to have good karma in-game :)

Odd, I've not had the BS problem with Shady Sands installed, but then again, I have the BS override linked above installed as well. A great boon in tracking down problems like this is getting FO3Edit by ElminsterAU and Miax's great guide on using it. Most mod conflicts can be resolved with only a few minute's work in FOMM/FO3Edit. Hope this helps.

Two things that come to mind immediately: Do any of the mods you installed require FOSE (Fallout Script Extender)? Is FOSE installed (the FOMM launcher button will read "Start FOSE" instead of "Start Fallout3")? Have you tried unchecking the mods in FOMM and then enabling them one at a time? Finally: get FO3Edit by ElminsterAU and Miax's great FO3Edit Guide. This tool is hugely invaluable for detecting and resolving mod conflicts and is fully compatible with FOMM. Hope this helps.

Also, download and install the K-Lite codecs (it disables ffdshow) for Fallout3 (and Oblivion). Based on new-found understanding (thanks gsmanners! :) ), fddshow and Fallout3 = lots of problems. Ensure the lastest drivers are installed for your video card. Hopefully, this will help resolve the issue (or at least remove these two things from the "possible cause" list).

It could possibly be related to LOD, Fog or FOV settings ... there are several great Tweak Guides for customizing your Fallout3 (or Oblivion) .ini settings. Hope this helps.

Download FO3Edit by ElminsterAU and Miax's Guide on how to use FO3Edit. It is a great tool for conflict resolution and easy to use once you get the hang of it. Almost all mod incompatibilities can be resolved in less than 10 minutes worth of work in FO3Edit. The "floating" head issue is caused by missing resources. Make sure that the required textures/meshes are installed. Get body replacer mods -- Dimon's Type3 is quite common and BABE is good as well (the others are good too, but there's this alpha-channel compatibility thing to deal with) for females and Breeze's male body replacer for males. There are also armor replacers for the above (replaces the default armor meshes to be body-compatible). Specifically, in the case of the Animated Prostitution mod (if I remember right), Breeze's body is used (for men) and it works with Type3/BABE for females. Hope this helps.

As an update: The newest version of K-Lite codecs already has ffdshow disabled for Fallout3 and Oblivion by default (along with a host of other games/applications).

Is it realistic? In the larger sense, no. But the whole idea is to create a world that is viable enough to suspend that belief via immersion. Fallout3 succeeds fairly well at that. With the addition of some realism/immersion mods, it more than succeeds. Insofar as the barter vs. money theory. Yes, in the beginning money would be pretty worthless and direct barter/exchange for goods would be the rule. After 200 years, though, money (or some form of valuation) would have begun to replace direct bartering -- money (caps) are, after all, only a surrogate value system for direct-goods exchange.

A great catch as always, gs :) ... I installed K-Lite way back, but with Windows Live Update constantly "updating" Vista, it's always possible that codecs get over-written. Also, it's been so long since configuring K-Lite, I quite forgot about exclusions :biggrin: Half-heimers time for me, I guess.

I'm installing (yet another!) round of mods. I will look at these seasonal mods and see what -- if any -- resources that might conflict between them. Then, yes, different seasons in the Wasteland would indeed be one FOMM click away!

To disable Games for Windows Live and to migrate your DLC mods (The Pitt, Point Lookout, etc.) to the proper folder you should look at Games for Windows Live Disabler by Quam. Since I didn't use and install my DLCs through Windows Live, I can't vouch fully for it, but it seems highly rated, and his other work is stellar. Also, if you use custom races and want to get Broken Steel working, you'll need Broken Steel Custom Race Override or something similar. Hope this helps

These are some culprits that immediately come to mind (though others may know of more or know more specifically), since I've encountered similar freezes: Your graphics card driver. You can find the latest nVidia drivers here: Official nVidia Drivers page. Your system RAM. While 1Gb is adequate (in theory) to run Fallout3, two or more Gb will help you immeasurably. Upgrade your RAM if you can. Directory of installation. I had innumerable problems when Fallout3 was installed to its default location in C:\Program Files\ ... the freezing problem diminished (though didn't go away entirely) when I reinstalled it to C:\Games\... Many posts/guides recommend this practice (and not just for Fallout3). Optimize your game settings for your system. There are several really good tweak guides for Fallout3's .ini file (in your My Documents\My Games\Fallout3 folder by default). Again, setting some of these manually following the guides helped diminish (but not get rid of) some freezing problems (and I have a high-end graphics card). Avoid mods that overload game-world cells with junk. Many mods give you free armor, weapons and the like, and spawn various containers all over the Wasteland. I've noticed a reduction in freezes since getting rid of most of them. Use various Fallout3 utilities to their fullest. There are some (almost mandatory) utilities to make your in-game experience better. Fallout Mod Manager (FOMM) by Timeslip is one, ArchiveInvalidation Invalidated by Quam is another. Lastly, if you are running more than a handful of mods (and even then, you should), get ElminsterAU's FO3Edit and Miax's FO3Edit Training Manual on using it -- this is an invaluable tool for finding and fixing mod conflicts. I use it religiously now and have zero mod conflicts and far fewer in-game crashes. Send hate mail to Bethesda support. Just kidding, that's counter-productive, though it might make you feel better. :) You could just be a victim of the game's bad behavior. Unknown to many, Fallout3 has a built-in Daily Crash Quota getCrash(random) function. Maybe it's just a run of bad luck! Again, just kidding! :) Hope these suggestions help your problem.

Not sure what you mean by "lost" -- as in in-game? Or doing something in the GECK? If it is the first, you can take a look Urge's Rivet City Bridge Fix. Hope this is of some help.

I use the UPP perks set myself :) ... but regardless of mod preferences, the whole key to getting mods to play nicey-nice with each other is by using utilities such as FO3Edit to resolve mod conflicts. The FOIP (Fallout Interoperability Project) uses FO3Edit (I believe) to create their compatibility patches between mods. Miax's guide shows you how to take the same approach using FO3Edit for your collection of mods.

Since I don't use Games for Windows Live, that is the FOMM option I chose. For those who DLed their DLCs using Games for Windows Live, there is a utility on FO3 Nexus that moves the DLC content from the GWFL folder to the regular Data folder. It also moves the save games, I believe. In addition, I use an achievement disabler since I don't play Live.

Seems like the whole script isn't there (endif without an if start block), but from what is there, perhaps just "Activate" and not "Activate Player" would solve the issue.