prensa

Griffin - Hello! "OK, so I tried the FO3Edit technique and I did not go according to plan. I did make a backup" Don't wory, that's what backups are for. :) No need to worry if the one you tweaked's gone south, just replace with the backup. "My Parent Master list, as it stood, and like I said, it had a lot of unwanted Parent Master .esm files in it; was as follows:" Good grief! That's a lot of masters. :) In FO3Edit, you clicked on the word "Remove" right? Not just Deleted the Master's name with the edit function? "When I checked the data file list while GECK was running, and looked at what Parent Master Files were currently active, all the files in the list shown above were still active, including the ones I had removed." They are ticked in the Data list in GECK? All files will show but only those ticked are in use by your mod. Go back to your backup & try a different method to remove the masters. Again, make a backup of your mod before doing this. Run GECK, if you are on Vista or Win7 you will need to Run as Administrator for this to work. Go to File - Data & left click on your mod. In the box that says Parent Masters click on the master you want to remove & press the Delete button. Repeat with the other unwanted masters. See how this turns out. :) If it's goofed up still, go back to your Backup. Check through your mod in FO3Edit (having Backed it up first) & make sure there are no items/references from those unwanted Masters in there. Be thorough, expand all details. Even if you just moved an item slightly while you had the unwanted plugin listed as a master it will now count as a genuine master. You have to remove those kind of things before removing the unwanted masters. You can quickly spot things unique to your mod as they will begin with the two characters lested to the left of your mods name in FO3Edit. example: [75] MyMod.esp All your unique records will start with 70. Anything from Fallout will be 00. check the numbers for the mods you know to be genuine master so you can ignore them as you go through your mod. Look out for numbers from mods you believe are not meant to be masters. When you find any of those, make sure it's not something you want to keep, then Remove. When you've cleaned you mod, go back to my instructions in my last post to try & rmove those unwanted masters with FO3Edit. "Next problem, as mentioned earlier, is FOMM still won't load up. So I can only boot up FO3 by using FOSE at the moment, and this means I can't manage my mods at all. I uninstalled it and reinstalled it about 5 times. In the past I have had troubles when turning off my computer to find FOMM wouldn't load, or took longer to load and appear. This problem always solved be quickly reinstalling it. This time It won't work at all. " This has me stumped, I've never had FOMM stop working. Have you tried running it straight from the folder? Fallout 3\fomm Click on the Fomm.exe Have you tried uninstalling FOMM before reinstalling? There's an uninstaller for it in it's folder here: Fallout 3\fomm\uninstall Or in the Star Menu under Fallout Mod Manager. You may want to back up the "mods" & "overwrites" folders in: Fallout 3\fomm In case it wipes them when you uninstall. Hope this helps! Prensa

nugghuffa89 - Hello! Crash on starting up with Fallout 3 & mods is almost always due to a missing master, in other words you're using an .esp without another file that it needs. Make sure you're not using any of the RH_Ironsights DLC plugins unless you have the DLC they are intended for. For instance, don't use RH_IronSights_PL_NewItems.esp unless you have Point Lookout or it will crash your game. If you're using FOMM to install your mods you can left click on the plugins listed & their Masters will be listed in at the bottom, you must have all the masters listed or else using that plugin will crash the game on start up. Hope this helps! Prensa

Griffin - Hello! "So I think from this nifskope technique I can always check why textures aren't working and also how to customize their filepath directories this way. Which is awesome." That is correct. It's very handy to know both for fixing other mods & custom work for your mod. "But how would I for example be able to extract a texture from another modder's .esp?" Well textures won't be in a .esp or .esm. They are either loose, packaged in a custom .bsa for the mod or are vanilla textures being referenced in the vanilla .bsa's. Now apart from the method of texturing meshes through Nifskope that you just used (which is the traditional method), there is another way to retexture that completely skips the model's .nif. It's called Texture Sets, they can be found in Geck's Object Window under Miscellaneous. You can use existing ones or make your own. When you add an object in GECK & select the model you want you will see a box below the Model Filename browser labeled "Alternate Texture". Clicking in the box below that will allow you to select a Texture Set to use on the model. This is mainly useful for retexturing a model that uses the same mesh but needs a different texture. For example, go to Object Window - Items - Armor & type: Jumpsuit Into the filter box. Click on OutfitJumpsuitRedRacer. Notice it's model is listed as the RobcoJumpsuit & if you looked at that .nif it would look like the Robco Jumpsuit. Click on the Edit next to that model & you'll see in that "Alternate Texture" box I mentioned that it's been set to the RedRacerJumpsuit Texture Set. OutfitJumpsuitTLHandyman is doing the same thing with another Texture set. So you have only one model, RobcoJumpsuit, being retextured by Texture Sets into 3 different outfits. It's a handy way to save space, it really only works for objects that are simillar & use the same UV map though. "In a similar vein, When I first started modding, I opened EVERYTHING in the data list, and this includes of course all master files (.esm) so when I saved my mod back in those early days, I guess this meant that by having those mods turned on, it told the GECK that those .esp master files are to be used each time I using GECK with my own plugin as active file. In some cases the mod was never even used, or viewed, but by selecting it, it now appears in the "masters" list and automatically gets selected each time I work on my mod. Obvious problem with this being that without those mods being available in someone's computer, I believe my mod won't work properly. Is it possible to 'unselect' some of them? I need the Fallout .esm, all five DLC .esm, and a few others like Apocalypse Armory etc, but others I really don't want to be included as required master .esm files in my mod." Yes, a common problem, multiple unused masters. :) The problem is exactly as you say, anyone using such a mod would need all those masters. The fix is very simple using FO3Edit, provided you have definitely not used any objects from these other files listed as masters. That would require rmoving those references first. Assuming you have nothing from those unwanted masters, BACKUP your mod BEFORE trying this, just to be safe. :) Open FO3Edit & wait for it to finish loading. Go to your mod, expand it's details by left clicking on the + next to it. Left Click on the top branch called "File Header". Details will come up in the right window, at the bottom will be listed all the Master Files your plugin has set. Obviously Fallout3.esm will be there, go through & for any that are not meant to be used right click on the empty space that lines up with the words "Master File" above the name of the Master File you want to remove. The option to "Remove" will come up, click on that. When you've removed all the masters that you want rid of, close FO3Edit. It will ask you to save changes to your mod, click OK. If any other mod shows up, untick it BEFORE closing FO3Edit. As I say, simple as long as you are not using anything from that unwanted master. If you have made accidental use of those mods, remember that cleaning method I mentioned before of going through your mod in FO3Edit & removing unwanted edits? "Also I cant change the mod file details, such as author's name, description of the plugin etc. Was this something I needed to have set in the very first moment of starting a new plugin?" In GECK, go to File - Data & left click on your mod. The "Default" in the Created by box should go from greyed out to black. You can now type in the authors name (yours!) & fill out the summary box underneath. Click OK when you're done. Now Win7 & probably Vista users may have GECK throw a fit trying to do this. In that case, when you start GECK, simply right click on the GECK icon & "Run as administrator". You should be allowed to edit those details as above now. You can also use FO3Edit & go to the File Header section mentioned above & edit the Author & Description in there. "EDIT - One last question - Regarding things like FX sounds, When I place then in the cell, they can more or less be heard all over the cell. Even when I optimize the cell and use room markers and portals, the sounds don't become confined to their respective quarters, so I am hearing a mix and mash of sounds, which I obviously don't want. Do you know how to isolate sounds so they are only heard when in a particular room marker / room?" You can modify a sound markers settings to reduce how far away it can be heard, best to change it's ID obviously & make it a new object unique to your mod as normal. Open up the Sound object (green flared disk), change ID, then: Minimum Attenuation Distance = how close you have to be to hear the sound at it's loudest. Maximum Attenuation Distance = how far awy you are for the sound to be at it's quietest before cutting out completely. There's other settings to, list of those can be found here: http://geck.bethsoft.com/index.php/Sound Phew. Covered a lot. :) "Have you played the Skyrim DLC yet?" Not got Skyrim yet, I always hold out for the GOTY versions of Bethesda games. STEAM is putting me right off too. :( If I buy a game, I like to physically have that game without strings attached. I might give in some day. Prensa

TheLine - Hello! Sounds like the Fallout 3 multi core bug. Fallout 3 has trouble with multi core computers, mainly with ones that have more than two cores & use hyperthreading. It causes the game to freeze, so if you have a multi core, this could be the problem. There is a fix, you need to edit your Fallout 3 .ini file. The one you want to change is: For XP: My Documents\My Games\Fallout3\ For Vista & Win7: Documents\My Games\Fallout3 The file you want will be called: FALLOUT.ini Open the .ini with Notepad & change this line: bUseThreadedAI=0 to: bUseThreadedAI=1 & insert this line under it: iNumHWThreads=2 Save & close your ini. Hope this helps! Prensa

rockygohard18 - Hello! Fallout 3 crashing on startup is almost always due to a missing master. In other words one of your mods is missing an .esm or .esp it needs to work. Untick the mods you added in & see what happens. If Fallout 3 & the DLC's run fine with your mods unticked that will pretty much confirm this. If that's the case left click on your mods in NMM, at the bottom should be listed that mod's Masters. Make sure you have all the Masters listed or that mod will crash your game on startup. For instance, many mods must have CALIBR in order to work, failure to have that would result in a crash on startup. Hope this helps! Prensa

EveryNameIsTaken0876 - Hello! You could try: SetAlly 0001b2a4 000179ea That's the PlayerFaction & the TenpennyTowerResidentsFaction. You can find any Faction code you want by using FO3Edit: http://fallout3.nexusmods.com/mods/637 & looking under Fallout 3.esm - Faction. Hope this helps! Prensa

RyanLP - Hello! Did you at any time change the Fallout_default.ini that's in your Fallout folder as opposed to the Fallout.ini in your Documents/My Games? Try moving that out of the Fallout folder & removing the other .ini from the Documents/My Games & start Fallout 3 (it will remake the .ini from scratch then). See if Fallout runs fine then. If it still crashes on startup, & you definitely have no other mods ticked (as a missing master is the most frequent cause of startup CTD's) make sure you've completely removed DarnUI as I think without it's .ini changes it will cause Fallout 3 to crash. In particular ensure that it's files in Menus have been removed. That's about all I can think of. Hope this helps! Prensa

Griffin - Hello! "I didn't say thanks in my last message, and I am sorry for that. Big thanks once again for your help." You are most welcome! :) "The "Acid Grenade" should look like a bottle with a label that says "warning - corrosive" on it. Right?" That's it! These are quite fun models, I had not come across them before. It's a good way to learn about texture paths too, if you make or customise models this will be used a lot. "(You are really good at this stuff you know, I am guessing that you work for the nexus site.. sorry to presume.. hope you don't take offense if I'm wrong)" I don't take offense. :) But I'm not a memeber of the Nexus team, just an ordinary member. :) "I want to add some of these weapons as static objects in my armory, but if the original submitter does not reply, how do I get permission? " There's a little tab, under "Unique Downloads" & next to the disc symbol for Required files that is Credits and distribution permission on all mod's pages. New schematic weapons - modders resource by FatmanMagister has this listed: Modification permission: You are allowed to modify my files and release bug fixes or improve on the features so long as you credit me as the original creator Asset use permission: You are allowed to use the assets in this file without permission as long as you credit me So you're safe to use those as long as you give credit to fatmanmagister. The boeing 707 destroyed pieces by harryluck Credits and distribution permission has not been updated since this feature was brought into operation so they are set to default settings & may not truely represent the modder's wishes. Looking through harryluck's other mods & they seem to be modder's resources with some listed explicitly as such. To play it 100% safe you'd need to contact harryluck by pm. My guess is they are intended to be used in mods with the appropriate credit given. Prensa

Griffin - Hello! "How do I restore the default display on Nifskope to show those panes? " If Block List or Block Details are missing when you open Nifskope, go to View at the top of Nifskope & make sure Block List & Block Details are both ticked. Those two windows can also be dragged around to bolt into other locations as desired but I find it's best to leave them in the default positions. Prensa

Griffin - Hello! "Baby is fine" Glad to here it! :) "Yet I still have a very nasty full system crash when I play and then quit the game. Up until I quit, nothing is wrong. Then opt to quit, Freeze, and no response from my system. Requiring a full computer restart." That is very odd. Crash on exit is a common thing for moded Fallout, as it was with Oblivion before it & Morrowind before that. But normally it's a minor irritation, just a warning that Fallout crashed that you click on & move on. Speculation is it's caused by dirty mods (mods with bad edits etc.) but I've had it happen occasionally seemingly dependent on what you were doing just before exiting. Is this a full Blue Screen Of Death? Or is it a warning box that says Fallout has crashed or some such that you just cannot click on? On Win7, for some reason, the mouse pointer often disappears after this kind of crash meaning you may appear stuck. That can be simply got around by pressing CTRL ALT Delete togehter & bringing up the Task Manager, that will restore the mouse pointer & allow you to close the Fallout crash warning box & resume normal services. As I say, a crash on exit of Fallout every so often is something I kind of expect but not a serious one. "the Level 99 Cap, Wasteland Mastery, And the UPP mods (all of them). and These do run fine, but I suspect are causing the quit/freeze. Any advice?" Completely remove the suspect mods including Ling's & see how it goes. If all is well then reinstall those Level 99 Cap, Wasteland Mastery, And the UPP mods & see what happens. I've used them for a long time with no trouble at all. I don't use Ling's so can't comment personally though I know many us it. "Finally, if it is really no trouble, could you try out these two mods for me please? They are resource files for modders, and the submitters do not reply to their comments anymore. I am having trouble with textures that dont display. On both of these mods. And I don't know what I am doing wrong." For the plane wreckage resource, it does not matter where the models/meshes go but the textures must be in your: Fallout 3\Data\Textures\vehicles You see the models/meshes have the path to the textures set in them so unless you redirect them to a new place they will look for their textures there. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New schematic weapons - modders resource These model's texture paths are wrong. The way it is set now means the custom textures would have to be in a folder called "nweps" that sits outside of the main Textures folder. Which would work, once you create a new folder called "nweps" & placed the custom textures in it, but is considered bad form. Much tidier to place that inside the Textures folder. Also some of the models like the Chipper are using textures from the vanilla game, these paths are also missing "textures\" at the begining of their paths. Simple to fix though. First create a new folder called: nweps Place the acid grenade, chipper, coilgun, Icons, laser saber, plate thrower & solar schorcher folders into that nweps folder. Place the nweps folder into your: Fallout 3\Data\Textures\ You now need to correct the paths in the meshes. For example I'll use the Acid Grenade mesh. Open the acid_grenade mesh in Nifskope, in the Block List window expand the details of the first node by clicking on the arrow next to it. Under the BhkCollisionObject (Block 6) you will see Block 7, expand it's details by clicking on the arrow. You'll now see a Block 9 listed, expand that. You'll now see a Block 10, left click on it & it's info will be displayed down in the Block Details window at the bottom. You'll see "Textures" listed down there, expand that & you'll see where the texture paths are. If you click on the little purple flower symbol you can navigate to where your textures are. In this case though all we need to do is add textures\ to the begining of both listed textures here. Double clicking on the Texture path allows it to be edited. You just need to copy & paste: textures\ To the begining of the diffuse & normal map textures in the meshes. So the paths: clutter\junk\sodabottleclosed01.dds & clutter\junk\sodabottleclosed01_n.dds Should become: textures\clutter\junk\sodabottleclosed01.dds textures\clutter\junk\sodabottleclosed01_n.dds There are two more blocks using textures in here, Block 12 & Block 17 expand them to locate the textures & change them by addin that textures\ in the same way as above. When you are done the model will now be showing the correct texture. A fast method for getting to the texture block is to left click on the part you want in the Render window & the Blocks will open in the Block list. The Textures are always in the BSShaderPPLightingProperty Block. REMEMBER to save the .nif after making the changes. You need to repeat this for the other models. Make sure to correct the texture path for each part of a model, some models only have one set of textures but others have multiple sections. You can see if something has the wrong path as the model in the render window will have no texture. Prensa

Griffin - Hello! "but the last stage, using the first light as the parent activator for the other lights, that was the missing ingredient in mama's soul ketchup." Glad it helped! "On a side note, and to explain why I have not replied sooner, My wife just gave birth to our first child. A little baby girl we named Josie Simone" Congratulations!! :thumbsup: "she is a mixed ethnicity baby (the very best kind I think)" Certainly is, best of both worlds. :) "and she looks like me" I'll take your word for it that's a good thing. ;) "Life is pretty wonderful sometimes." It is indeed, just remember you said that when she's keeping you up at nights. :) Best wishes! Prensa

Iameggman - Hello! Sounds like the Fallout 3 multi core bug. Fallout 3 has trouble with multi core computers, mainly with ones that have more than two cores & use hyperthreading. So if you've got a multi core computer, that could be your problem. There is a fix, you need to edit your Fallout 3 .ini file. The one you want to change is: For XP: My Documents\My Games\Fallout3\ For Vista & Win7: Documents\My Games\Fallout3 The file you want will be called: FALLOUT.ini Open the .ini with Notepad & change this line: bUseThreadedAI=0 to: bUseThreadedAI=1 & insert this line under it: iNumHWThreads=2 Save & close your ini. Hope this helps! Prensa

Griffin - Hello! You mean a light switch that will turn on several lights all at once? That's easy & looks really nifty. :) You need to write a simple script for on/off. Click on the Scripts button in GECK (the little pencil near the top). In that click Script - New. Now copy the below script & paste it in: ScriptName yourmod'snameLightSwitchScript ref light Begin OnActivate if light == 0 set light to GetLinkedRef endif if light.GetDisabled light.Enable else light.Disable endif Activate End You can't use the normal copy/paste dialogue box so use CTRL V to paste the script in. Then click Script - Save. Now go to the Activators in the Object Window & filter: ElectricalSwitch Double click on the ElectricalSwitch, in the box that comes up make it a new object by renaming it's ID, something like ElectricalSwitchLightOnOff. In the Script box, just below the Name, browse that to the "yourmod'snameLightSwitchScript" you made above & select OK. Now all you have to do is place the switch & lights. Place the lights as normal around the light fittings. Place that ElectricalSwitchLightOnOff you made wherever you want. Choose the light that's nearest the switch & double click on it (that's the actual light not the bulb or lamp etc.), tick the Persistent Reference at the bottom (so it can be used as a reference) & tick the initially Disabled (so it starts the game off). Now select the ElectricalSwitchLightOnOff, in it's details click on "Linked Reference" then "Select Reference in Render Window" & select the light you set as Persistent, click OK. Now in game that light should come on when the switch is activated & off when activated again. To link other lights to this same switch is easy, click on the light you want tied into this switch, tick the initially Disabled then select "Enable Parent" & "Select Reference in Render Window" & connect it to that first light you made Persistent. Do this for any other light to be linked into this switch. You can save time by selecting all the lights you want linked to the master one & press the - key to batch set their Enable Parent. You can also link in any light effects that need to go off with the light (like shafts or fills) by linking them in the same way. I think I covered it all. :) Prensa

leot486 - Hello! "do you have to do the blender part it showed in the first one???" No, that first video also covers some advanced techniques as well. :) I was worried it might make it look more complewx than it is. :) The second one covers the steps with GIMP. With Paint.net all I do is take a texture, use the Normal map plugin which makes that purple version of your texture & save the new version of the image as whatever you named the texture but with a _n after it: Original texture: ExampleTexture.dds What you save your Normal map as: ExampleTexture_n.dds You then set your model to use it either in your model in Nifskope. In Nifskope the second listed texture is your Normal map. Hope this helps! Prensa

tetradite - Hello! I remember someone having a simillar problem a while back with the textures in FWE. The problem sounded like classic archive invalidation issues (as does yours) except they had taken care of that (as have you). BlackRampage got to the bottom of it by finding this link: http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/249837-textures-are-bad/page__view__findpost__p__2494941 Seems it's easy to not unpack all the textures properly, could be the trouble you are having as the only textures acting up are your FWE ones. Hope this helps! Prensa

BamaThunder316 - Hello! Archive invalidation should not cause that kind of trouble. It does seem likely that it's some remnant of the 10mm mod you were using that's causing the problem. Check your: Fallout 3\Data\Meshes\Weapons\1handpistol If there's a: 10mmpistol.nif Remove it & see if your 10mm pistol goes back to normal. Also check your: Fallout 3\Data\textures\weapons\1handpistol\ If there's: 10mmPistol.dds 10mmPistol_N.dds Remove them. Also make sure there wasn't an .esp that went with the 10mm mod that is still ticked in your Data files. Also if you installed the 10mm mod manually & are not sure you've now removed everything, look at the files in the original download zip. That way you can see exactly what was installed so you can remove it. Hope this helps! Prensa

leot486 - Hello! "but I don't really know how to make a normal map so I didn't try that. Know any guides for GIMP?" Very Detailed guide for creating Normal maps & where to get the plugin for GIMP here: http://cs.elderscrolls.com/index.php/GIMP:_Quality_Normal_Maps Youtube video guides here: Also: If that makes Normal maps seem complex, don't worry! They are really easy as most of it is automated. In Paint.net, with the Normal Map plugin I can click the button & convert the texture into a normal in seconds. More often then not that will work great without tweaking. Good luck with your model! Prensa

coprofago - Hello! Not seen one for Fallout 3, there was one for Oblivion: http://oblivion.nexusmods.com/mods/28089/ I think its a relativley simple invisible chair object that's able to be picked up & placed. I imagine it'd be the scripting once it's dropped that would be the trickiest part. Hope this helps! Prensa

beanspan - Hello! "So, if anyone can help me understand the process of Blender/Nifskoping a new projectile into the game, I'd be very grateful. Thanks." I've not had a lot of experience with projectiles, though I have played around with lots of other meshes. There's quite a lot of variety in BhkCollisionObject settings depending on what your mesh is used for (Clutter,Static,Weapon, etc.). Get those wrong & all sorts of odd things can happen including the new object crashing your game as soon as the new mesh loads up. :) The best advice I can give is to find a vanilla object simillar to what you are trying to achieve, in this case try the vanilla missile projectile, & paste your model over that in Nifskope. Use the "Copy Branch" on your new projectile .Nif & "Paste Branch" to place your .Nif into the Vanilla Missile .Nif then "Copy" your mesh & "Paste Over" the Missile Mesh, rename the .Nif & save. Remember to remove any surplus blocks (Blocks left ovr that are no longer connected to the main node. It's the best way to ensure all the settings are correct. Hope this helps! Prensa

Griffin - Hello! Glad you got your mod back on track. :) "I would really really like to know how they can be made/scripted, pretty much exactly along the lines of Danthegeek's amazing Mannequins in his Underground Hideout" I've never used the Mannequin mods so I've little knowledge of them I'm afraid. I see Underground Hideout by danthegeek uses Mannequins by AndyW1384: http://fallout3.nexusmods.com/mods/2060 That Mannequin mod is very kindly listed as free to use by AndyW1384. Since that's used as the base for all the other Mannequins that seem to be out there, seems best to use that. So you could merge it with yours (giving thanks to AndyW1384 in your credits), I use FO3 Plugin Utility to merge mods as it's very simple to use & a great tool: http://fallout3.nexusmods.com/mods/5104 Type3 and Breeze Mannequins by SemiJames mod is using AndyW1384 as a base too but with Type 3 & Breeze compatiblity added. So you'd need permission to use that in your mod. Prensa

Griffin - Hello! "Thanks for setting up that download for me there. I got it and it works fine. Really appreciate you doing that." No problem at all! Glad it worked. :) "I did a few more hours work today and when I loaded my plugin just now, I noticed for some reason that another mod was at the bottom of my list in the data files selection of GECK." That's perfectly normal, when you first run GECK & go to set the DATA files it will list ALL plugins in your DATA folder. They will be listed in date order with the newest one listed at the bottom (with masters/.esm files sorted first). Normally your current work in progress file will be at the bottom as it's the latest created mod however, if you move mods under your work in progress mod or make changes to another mod they will be listed last. For instance, with GECK off, got to FOMM & move a mod .esp under your work in progress mod. Now when you open GECK & go to the DATA files you will see that mod listed under your mod. It does no harm except you may set the bottom mod as the active without realising it's not your mod. :) Just use FOMM to move your work in progress back to the bottom. "There I see that GECK has made backup copies called "Underground Hideout". And it has made at least five of these. Despite the fact that I am absolutely positive I have never set The Underground Hideout as my active mod, or made any changes in it." Sunds like you accidentally selected Underground Hideout as the active file, probably because it was at the bottom where you expected your mod to be. "There I see that GECK has made backup copies called "Underground Hideout". And it has made at least five of these." Right, the multiple Backups, are they in the Data folder mixed in with the plugins? If they are they are made by FO3Edit. FO3Edit makes backups whenever you make a change with it & sticks something like: .backup.2012_05_26_13_42_46 On the end of it. The more you use FO3Edit the more these can build up, just carefully clean out the Backups from time to time (I use the search filter to make sure to only remove the backups). Don't confuse FO3Edit's backups with GECK's. GECK's Backups are made everytime you save your mod & will be in a folder called Backup in your Data folder: Fallout 3\Data\Backup You should have several backups in there to choose from (they'll be dated so choose one before this hitch). Hope this helps! Prensa

leot486 - Hello! I'm sorry but the couple of times I've tried Blender it made blood come from my ears. :) I do all my custom model work through Nifskope. There is a really detailed guide to Blender here: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Blender_3D:_Noob_to_Pro In case someone does not know how to help you here. "so far all I was able to do successfully was stretch the barrel out, couldn't figure out how to give it a threaded appearance." "I have been trying to make vertices to edit to give the appearance of the barrel having threads," You mean the threads for a silencer? To be honest I wouldnt bother making it really threaded, more work than is needed for such a small detail. You can easily achieve that threaded look with the texture & a normal map. I have all kinds of details on custom models that look like they are raised or grooved but in reality are flat all thanks to normal maps. I've got books where in game you can see all the in & outs as if there were individual pages due to the normal map but the model is actually smooth there. If you've extended the barrel just add threads to the texture & then make a normal map to go with it. For editing textures I use Paint.net as it's really easy to use (it's also free!): http://www.getpaint.net/download.html The Normal Map plugin is incredibly easy to use & can be found, under Optional files, here: http://oblivion.nexusmods.com/mods/11909 You want Normal Map Plus 1_0 Instructions on how to install are included. You could use GIMP or any other program you prefer too, it's just that I know Paint.net & it's so user friendly. :) Hope this helps! Prensa

Griffin - Hello! "The worst loss so far has been to lose a good three solid days of work because I had no more recently backed up copy of my plugin than that. I couldn't even tell you what the problem was. Just kept getting a "the memory cant be written" message accompanied by a CTD each time I tried to load it. Damn shame." Ouch! That's annoying. Did you know, GECK makes a backup copy of your plugin for you every time you save? It's placed into: Fallout 3\Data\Backup It'll have an extra bit on the end like: YourMod.esp.1.bak If you ever need it you just copy it into your data folder & delete that: .1.bak Off the end. It can save your skin if things go bad. :) "OK, just tried this. Got a big scary warning, something in along the lines of "Enter at ye peril. Ye have been warned!" when I opted to remove the item I had altered. But I have backed up my save and I am checking if I did it correctly right now." I should have warned you about that message, it is rather intimidating isn't it? :) It's just to warn the unwarry, as long as you make a backup before making changes all is well. "As I speak, it worked!!!!!!!" Great! FO3Edit is a bit scary at first because of all the numbers & such but it so handy. It's so much easier to see all your mods changes then it is in GECK. "I unfortunately don't get mediafire.com here. Here being China (I work here) because it, like just about everything else, is blocked here. Through a proxy server I see your download, but can't download it. " At least you can download from the Nexus, it's not all bad. :) I've uploaded the file to the Nexus as an additional on one of my small fixes mods. You can find it here: http://fallout3.nexusmods.com/mods/16573 It's in the files section under Miscellaneous & is called: vdnwallwindow01Collision It's zip packed & very tiny of course. I've only just uploaded it so you will probably have to wait an hour or so for it to reach the servers. "(never did find Ripley's Rifle you know :s ) " I'll send you a pm here with the exact location. Prensa

Griffin - Hello! "I usually make a new static object by typing static into the object window 'filter' box. and then grabbing and dragging the topmost object into the render window, then just changing the filepath directory setting with a different mesh/texture and renaming it, thus creating a unique item." Yes, always create your own version when changing items, you just need to change it's ID name, then when you click OK GECK asks if you want to create a new form. Otherwise you can mess up other things that are using the original object. :) "I thought I had then cancelled the operation, but actually I must have clicked 'OK" because now that object, which is from Mothership Zeta I think - 00MSBookStatic01 - is a big red broken airplane part." It's easy to make accidental changes in GECK. FO3Edit is very handy to check for & correct these unintentional changes. Before doing so though, MAKE A BACKUP COPY of your mod! Nothing worse than making a mistake & finding hours of your work go down the drain. ;) Run FO3Edit with your mod ticked & once it's loaded up go to your mod on the list. You can expand it's details by clicking on the + next to it. There will be many sub headings like Weapon. Say you accidentally made a change to the Samurai's Sword from Mother Ship Zeta when you made your mod, you'd locate that in your mod details in Weapon & simply right click on it & select Remove. Close FO3Edit & it will ask you to save changes to your mod, click OK. If any other mod is listed when it asks you to save changes untick it BEFORE closing FO3Edit. No more unintended changes to that object. Additionaly changed items that are in use elsewhere will show up in colors. As you become mor accostomed to FO3Edit there are even ways to automate some of this sort of thing but I find manual checking to be the safest. You can generally see if something is shown as edited in your mod & you think "I never meant to change that!". :) "It is, hopefully not forever, replaced by that airplane part now. I just lack the knowhow to fix i" The above can be used to fix things like that, though if you did not save the changes to your mod in GECK they will not show up in game. "today, with the new tool you showed me, I opened the .bsa for meshes and found a genericbook01.nif. then moved that into meshes\clutter\books and did the same with the textures according to the filepath director for those files. But when I tried to change it back into a book, it only showed a section of flat ground as the mesh, and the textures dont appear in the list of available textures at all. Crazy bloody confusing." Not sure what you mean here. By moving the book out & putting it in the same path as the .BSA version, you'd be changing the base object. In the case of those water noise textures that's what you wanted to do but not if you want to change the book. If you want your own book, rename the mesh & put the book mesh into your own mods folder. You can then go into GECK & create a new book object by renaming a vanilla one & pointing it's model to the newly placed book. If I've got the wrong end of the stick there let me know what you're trying to set up. :) "Yes, it is VDnWallWindow01. From the vanilla .bsa. Always fall through it over an over, no matter what I try." I've checked out that piece in GECK & in game, it has no collision. You can see this in GECK by selecting View at the top & ticking Collision Geometry. On objects with collision you'll now see a red wireframe showing the collision, there's none on that piece you mention. Right clciking on that piece in the Object window & selecting "Use Info" (that's a handy way to find where an item is used in the vanilla game & see how Bethesda worked it) shows this is an unused bit of architecture. Perhaps that's why it never got collision added. I've looked at it in Nifskope & it's definitely got no collision. There is a corner version that's got collision: VDnWallEndCorInWinL01 If that's of no use to you because of the corner, I've knocked up a VDnWallWindow01 with collison by using the ordinary wall & window piece (the only difference between the two was that checker flooring). http://www.mediafire.com/?1fxpwl1v69kawd1 This piece should work fine, I've called it vdnwallwindow01Collision. Take that file & place it in your mods files in the data folder, in Geck call up VDnWallWindow01 & change it's name to create a new object, click on Edit Model & point it to that new vdnwallwindow01Collision piece. You can now use as normal. "Can I post more issues or questions here? You really know a hell of a lot, and if you are happy to reply, I certainly could benefit from your knowledge. " I'm still learning quite a lot myself but if I can help I will! :) Prensa

Griffin - Hello! "Big, Big thanks for your comment, and for taking the time to do that." Glad to help! :) "Re: Using the .bsa unpacker tool in FOMM. again, Brilliant. I never even knew it was there." A lot of people don't realise FOMM has several really useful tools other than it's mod manager functions. :) It's even got a .BSA Creator to make your own .BSA's. "all this time I have been scratching my head over locked up files that I cant edit from the vanilla engine." I did the same until I found that tool, now I use it all the time. :) "One little question - I found BSA Browser, but no BSA Unpacker, in FOMM > Tools. I am presuming they are the same." I'm using "Old" FOMM & it's listed as "BSA Unpacker" under tools, maybe you're using "New" FOMM? Possible name change in "New" FOMM? However the actual tool, when opened, is called BSA Browser so you are indeed using the same thing. :) "(I searched for the texture paths you gave and then dragged the water noise textures into my Data\Textures\Water folder to use from there in GECK along with any others that were there.) Is that the usual method. ? " Yes, drag or use the "Extract" button. As long as you place it in the same folder structure location, it will be treated as the vanilla file. "Can I also do this with .esm files the same way?" No to .esm's or .esp's. An .esm is a Master & an .esp is a Plugin file, basically all the code changes made to Fallout's main structure, added NPC, created interiors, modifications to weapons settings are all things you find in .esm's or .esp's. You open them with GECK, of FO3Edit: http://fallout3.nexusmods.com/mods/637 FO3Edit is a very useful .esm/.esp editor & allows you to see the changes made by your's & other's plugins much better than can be viewed in GECK. It's very handy for making tweaks & finding any accidental changes you may have made in GECK to object you did not want to edit. .BSA's are simply Bethesda's custom archives, they contain the meshes, textures & sounds all packed up in one tidy bundle. You can use BSA Browser to open any of the .BSA's, "Fallout - Meshes.BSA" would be the one you want if you're after changing vanilla models. You'd extract the desired model/mesh just as you did those textures. "Like to make static objects of anything from meshes in the vanilla engine?" To modify meshes you'd use Nifskope: http://niftools.sourceforge.net/wiki/NifSkope Handy place to learn about Nifskope & meshes: http://cs.elderscrolls.com/index.php/NifSkope_Comprehensive_Guide Nifskope can seem daunting at first but it can be used to manipulate vanilla meshes in all kinds of fun ways, it's a lot easier than learning Blender anyway. :) "from here is where I learned the first steps for placing water and adding reflections. Was very useful for a beginner" The geck.bethsoft.com site is invaluable, lots to read & learn plus it's pretty easy to follow. "If I could ask for another thing I need help with now, if you don't mind; I am making a diner, and have noticed that one particular piece, a mid wall with a connecting window, does not allow me to stand on the floor." Does the piece have a floor connected to it? Some pieces are just walls & you need to use them with floor pieces. What's the exact name of the piece causing you trouble? I'll check it out in GECK. Hope this helps! Prensa