Lost some SFX

[Darlos9D]

As the description states, I installed some of the more major mods (MMMF3, FWE, FOOK, WMK, CRAFT, various CRAFT and CALIBR related things) and made an effort to get them all to work together, using FOIP and its suggested setup in FOMM. Before all this, I updated to the latest patch for FO3. After doing everything, now some of the sounds, such as footsteps and the sound effects of some guns, don't work. Furthermore, dialog with NPCs doesn't seem to have the voices anymore either. Many other sounds work though, such as the sound when you land from jumping, objects colliding, bullets striking surfaces, and so on.

 

Now here's the kicker: if I go into FOMM and deactivate everything except Fallout3.esm, the sounds still don't work. I can even deactivate ArchiveInvalidation Invalidated and run the game with the regular Fallout3.exe (as opposed to FOSE through the FOMM) and the sounds STILL don't work. Apparently, dumping all those mod files in my Data folder somehow screwed up my sound permanently, and I don't know how or why.

 

I'm running Vista 32 bit, and I have the game installed directly to my C drive rather than in Program Files, since I read somewhere that having it in Program Files can cause problems. I'm not sure what other info I can give to help this make more sense, since I don't really know if a specific mod cause this or not. Maybe I should compile an exact list of all the mods I have and how they're arranged in FOMM. Also, should I post my fallout.ini contents? I want to ask first since it's really big.

[Riddleofsteel]

Hi Darlos,

 

Did you check the folder structure in the off chance that your sounds got buried somewhere else? Also, there are several sound overhaul mods on this site that might fix the problem. If you need a link let me know. Good luck.

[Darlos9D]

Well, I took a look in the data folder. There's a sound folder, and in that I have a WPN folder that seems to have all the sounds for weapons. They do seem... different, though. FOOK claims to change the vanilla sound effects, but if they've been overwritten, then they aren't being read for some reason. Does anyone know how the basic sounds in vanilla FO3 are supposed to be arranged? Because, uh... I forgot. I suppose I could try to figure it out by backing up my current data folder and then re-installing FO3... AGAIN.

 

I searched the nexus archives for sound mods, but I'm not sure what might fix my problem and what might just exacerbate it. If you have any particular suggestions, go for it.

 

Oh, the UI sounds seem to be gone too.

 

EDIT: Okay, so I re-installed Fallout 3. Comparing my old Data folder to the new one turns up some things. Seems there isn't ever any "sounds" folder to begin with. Just Music, Shaders, and Video, all three of which were untouched by mods. The only other things are Credits.txt, Fallout3.esm, and a bunch of .bsa files where I suspect the problem would actually lie, if it were anywhere. They are as follows:

 

Fallout - MenuVoices.bsa

Fallout - Meshes.bsa

Fallout - Misc.bsa

Fallout - Sound.bsa

Fallout - Textures.bsa

Fallout - Voices.bsa

 

I don't seem to recall any of these being directly affected when I was installing the mods. If something happens to them when you turn on the mods through FOMM and run the game, I have no idea.

 

I guess all I can do is gradually add mods and features back in until the problem arises again.

 

EDIT AGAIN: ohay, guess what: I uninstalled FO3 and re-installed it completely, then installed the latest official patch. I didn't do anything further, and the sounds are STILL not playing. I guess this issue is more basic than mods. I was sort've suspecting this...

 

Okay, time to try it withOUT the patch.

 

EDIT AGAIN AGAIN: Alright, a clean re-install and I still have the same problem. It becomes most immediately obvious when you first talk to Amata in the normal game: her mouth moves but there's no voices. Now I'm completely baffled, as I've played all the way through an un-modded, un-patched FO3 in the past without any missing sounds. This is ridiculous.

 

I went to Bethesda's technical help site, and they say - get this - that I need to associate .ogg with Windows Media Player to get voices to work. Well, I did that and it didn't fix it.

 

Why can't things just work... though I guess the good news is that if I figure this problem out, the mods will probably work fine, since this has been my only problem even when I had them all loaded. But its kinda lame without sounds.

 

PROBABLY FINAL EDIT: Okay, so the problem apparently lies in a problem with my 5.1 speaker system. When I run the windows speaker test, no sound comes out of my center speaker or subwoofer in 5.1. But when I switch to stereo using just the left and right speakers, it works fine. So I go into FO3 like this and, lo and behold, the voices and other sound effects work in stereo. Whatever is keeping the center speaker and subwoofer from working in the 5.1 sound test is also keeping them from working in FO3, and I'm not hearing dialog voices and certain effects because they're all using the center speaker exclusively. Strangely, the center speaker and subwoofer work fine when I'm playing music in winamp or something.

 

So, now I have to pretty much figure out how to fix a more general Windows problem, which is beyond the scope of this board.

 

DEFINITELY FINAL EDIT: Note to everyone with 5.1 systems: if it has a matrix mode, TURN IT OFF. It deactivates the center speaker.

 

God, what a stupid thing to get stumbled up on.

[mrmysery]

Im having the same issues with the npc speech sounds but im using simple 3.5mm jack headphones and no virtualization or anything. Just stereo. I have the latest FO3 patch and updated Live to version 3. I have an armor mod, the good hair day pack mod, the always exploding body parts mod, and the major body mesh overhauls. Seriously, i have no idea whats going on, but i would really really appreciate any help with this guys.