Advice Requested, STABLE Fallout 3, Minimal Modding

[FearlessFelix]

'lo. I'm looking at setting up a stable, pro-performance run of Fallout 3 on the PC. I've reviewed quite a bit of information on the Fallout Wiki, general internet chatter & videos (most recent thanks to Gophers Vids for modding FO3), and BenWah's "ULTIMATE Fallout 3 Setup Guide READ THIS!" on the Steam boards. As a note before going too far, I will be using a disc install of Fallout 3, GotY.

 

To accomplish the idea, I've got most of the steps I plan to take mapped out in my head, but there's 1 or 2 area's I thought I'd petition the Forums advice on. Let me give you the run down (apologies in advanced for overly exhaustive detail)

 

1. Install Fallout 3 Game of the Year edition Disc 1, and do not bother running the game at this point

2. Install Fallout 3 Game of the Year edition Disc 2 (DLC) disc. Eject and replace with Fallout 3 Disc 1

3. Fallout 3 Play Disc runs, detecting video card and for whatever reason setting my game to 'Medium' settings. At this point, I upgrade the settings to 'Ultra,' with HDR and all else. Only 'Fallout 3 esm' is checkmarked in the DLC/Add-ons area, no changes made. I press play and edit the in game settings so that auto saving on Wait, Sleep, & Travel are off; increase mouse to 3 ticks, and change my HUD to blue. Exit game

4. Confirm the updating of Games for Windows Live

5. Disable Games for Windows LIve via the pretty much same-titled mod

6. Update Fallout 3 to 1.7 by the official patch

7. Confirm Microsoft .Net Framework is at 4.5 and fully updated

8. Go to Computer > Libraries > MyDocuments > MyGames > Fallout 3 > Fallout 3.ini

9. Edit the Fallout 3 ini to change 'bUseThreadeAI=0' to 'bUseThreadedAI=1', & add beneath, 'iNumHWThreads=2' Also edit 'iConsoleVisibleLines=15' to 25, and iConsoleVisibleHistory' from 50 to 500. I plan on using some batch files for the caravans and a self described 'LoneWandererPack'

10. I use CFF Explorer to allow Fallout 3 to use a full 4GB of RAM from the max 2GB preset in the executable (running Windows 7 Professional x64 with 8 GB of Corsair Platinum 1600). Thanks to Gopher for the tip!

11. Now at this point in time I'm thinking of downloading & installing, in order, 'New FOMM' in the Fallout 3 Nexus files, 'FOSE', and than running the game, with load order of: Fallout 3 esm, Operation: Anchorage, and The Pitt.

 

Which brings my 3 questions.

 

My first question would be if in that process somewhere I should have used the ArchiveInvalidation Invalidated mod, and if so, where? And second, also I have a question on the UPDATED Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch: I really want to get the Alien Blaster without having to go through Mothership Zeta first. Can I add the UPDATED Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch to an existing game, most likely after I've gone through Operation:Anchorage and been up and around to get the blaster? Or can I get the blaster without doing the Zeta DLC?

 

Also, was there anything else there I missed doing for best results/performance (recommendation towards the Stutter Remover, Fake Full Screen Windowed Mode, or FO3edit?)

 

Thanks for any and all answers that put me on the way to a better game, and I apologize for the extremely detailed steps.

[prensa]

FearlessFelix - Hello!

I can answer some of this. :)

"6. Update Fallout 3 to 1.7 by the official patch"

There's no need for the official patch if you've got the Game Of The Year (GOTY), that's already the latest version 1.7.0.3.

You can see Fallout 3's version by going to the main menu, selecting Settings - Display & it will be in the bottom left corner.

"5. Disable Games for Windows LIve via the pretty much same-titled mod"

This can also be done through Fallout Mod Manager (FOMM) if you use that as your mod manager, Tools - Install Tweaker - Use Fake XLive.dll.

I use Old FOMM so I can't say for certain if New FOMM has that option too.

"9. Edit the Fallout 3 ini to change 'bUseThreadeAI=0' to 'bUseThreadedAI=1', & add beneath, 'iNumHWThreads=2'"

That's crucial if you've got a multi core computer as it fixes the very annoying random freezing caused by the Fallout multi core bug.

Just make sure it's the FALLOUT.ini in your documents folder that you change & not the Fallout_default.ini that's in the Fallout folder as that's a common mistake to make.

"My first question would be if in that process somewhere I should have used the ArchiveInvalidation Invalidated mod, and if so, where? "

Archive invalidation refers to a bug where new mod added loose textures are ignored in favour of the original ones packed in the .bsa. Untreated this results in strange changing chameleon like textures on mod added objects in game.

It's easily fixed with either the stand alone ArchiveInvalidation Invalidated or a built in version in your mod manager.

FOMM has a built in archive invalidation tool that does the same job as the stand alone ArchiveInvalidation Invalidated.

However, FOMM's version (as well as NMM) often needs to be toggled off & then back on again after installing new mods.

ArchiveInvalidation Invalidated is the best option for taking care of archive invalidation as it is Activated once & then never has to be messed with again, no toggling like the FOMM or NMM versions. I've not had to do anything with mine since installing it years ago.

I have seen instances of people that find the stand alone ArchiveInvalidation Invalidated does not work for them, in which case use the built in mod manager version instead.

Just don't use both version together as that can cancel each other out.

"I really want to get the Alien Blaster without having to go through Mothership Zeta first."

The Alien Blaster at the crash site is actually part of the vanilla game rather than Zeta:

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Alien_crash_site

As long as Mothership Zeta is not active you can visit the Alien Crash site & get the Blaster without starting the quest.

Just leave Mothership Zeta .esm unticked as well as any Zeta related plugins like the Unofficial Zeta Patch before going to the crash site to collect the Blaster.

"Can I add the UPDATED Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch to an existing game"

I use the original UF3P rather than the Updated so can't say for certain for the Updated version but it's fine to add the UF3P into an existing game. I'd assume the Updated version would be fine too.

Hope this helps!

Prensa

[camycamera]

yes, you can add the UPDATED unofficial fallout 3 patch into an existing game.

[FearlessFelix]

Hey, thanks prensa, camycamera! Had that feeling the post would linger for a while untouched until someone checked page 6 :blush:

I guess one thing I'm curious about is the Fallout 3 Official Patch for 1.7. I could have sworn I'd read somewhere that the patch issued with(in) the Fallout 3 GotY was problematic with issues beyond just GFWL or the .Net issue. Guess I'll need to look into that. Also good to know about the Unofficial Patch as it's got a ton of fixes that I want running, especially the issue where by Three Dogs announcements and the wasteland encounters it seemed the game practically assumed you would have already finished Take It Back! before loading Broken Steel. I read how I can pick up the alien blast & cells via Dogmeat, but I kind of like being able to investigate the ship without immediately triggering the 'beam me up scotty'

effect.

 

And the only reason I'm going with the New FoMM is that it's compatible with Vegas too & I've only just picked up the Ultimate edition. Not really planning on running both side by side, but things change and I know that there are definitely mod's I'll be adding to that game, as it seems kind of dry - :dry: :ermm: without.

[SpartanISW108]

FOSE only allows for 2GB, even if patched with CFF.

The base game .exe allows for 4GB but fose_loader.exe does not, unfortunately

[blove]

FOSE only allows for 2GB, even if patched with CFF.

 

The base game .exe allows for 4GB but fose_loader.exe does not, unfortunately

 

This is the second post that I have read today concerning FOSE and LAA. Where is this mis-information coming from? And just to be fair, I did set my ugrids to 11 and load up outside Megaton with my full load order. Memory usage was 2,404,896 KB.

[FearlessFelix]

I'm going to admit I hadn't heard or considered that one of the main aspects for modding fallout 3 (FOSE) would restrict the mem usage. I'll have to look into that further. Not to much of any immediate concern, as I was mostly just wanting FO3 in the New FoMM with the UUFO3 patch, but FOSE does kind of seem integral if I was to up the dose on mods as I fully intend to in New Vegas (well, FOSE's NV version, I mean).

Edited September 7, 2013 by FearlessFelix

[M48A5]

 

FOSE only allows for 2GB, even if patched with CFF.

 

The base game .exe allows for 4GB but fose_loader.exe does not, unfortunately

 

This is the second post that I have read today concerning FOSE and LAA. Where is this mis-information coming from? And just to be fair, I did set my ugrids to 11 and load up outside Megaton with my full load order. Memory usage was 2,404,896 KB.

 

The mis-information is coming from a misunderstanding of this line from the fose-loader.log: clearing large-address-aware flag. People to not understand that FOSE has checked and cleared (allowed) the process to continue. It does not mean the large-adddress-aware has been stopped.

Edited September 7, 2013 by M48A5

[FearlessFelix]

Going to admit, that's good to know.