Bad load order, or computer

[sykodiamond]

I started a new game recently because i've had constant crashes that nothing seems to be working on. I just did a complete uninstall and reinstall, and started up the game. I didn't even escape the vault before it crashed. I removed a bunch of the mods i was using to see if it would stop the crashes, apparently not.

So I was wondering if you guys could give me some advice on my load order.

 

 

[X] Fallout3.esm

[X] sc_lovers_resource.esm

[X] sc_wasteland_pimp.esm

[X] sc_saving_nova_dep.esm

[X] CALIBR.esm

[X] Anchorage.esm

[X] ThePitt.esm

[X] CRAFT.esm

[X] Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch.esp

[X] Fellout-Full.esp

[X] FWO-DLC-Anchorage.esp

[X] MaxLevelWorkaround-HP.esp

[X] AnimalFriend-Insects-Exclusions.esp

[X] MissingUniqueArmorClothing-Enhanced.esp

[X] sc_wp_arefu.esp

[X] sc_wp_captives.esp

[X] sc_wp_luring_lucy.esp

[X] sc_acquiring_mei.esp

[X] sc_blackmailing_silver.esp

[X] sc_cajoling_reilly.esp

[X] sc_toying_with_angela.esp

[X] sc_wp_saving_nova_bridge.esp

[X] Weapon Master.esp

[X] firelance-quest.esp

[X] MegatonContracts.esp

[X] WastelandMastery.esp

[X] WeaponModKits.esp

[X] Reilly's.esp

[X] NotSoFast.esp

[X] Wasteland Gigolo.esp

[X] SeducingWomen.esp

[X] YearlingsGlasses.esp

[X] EssentialFollowers+Caravans.esp

[X] Trophies - Megaton.esp

[X] SD Theme Swap.esp

[X] TacticalGear.esp

[X] CRAFT - Activation Perk.esp

[X] WeaponModKits-Unique.esp

[X] Stealthboy Recon Armor - CRAFT.esp

[X] CALIBR Ammo Schematics - CRAFT.esp

[X] Caravan Tracking.esp

[X] FriendsTornApartMegaton.esp

 

All the mods are the latest versions. Any help would be appreciated.

[TGBlank]

Could be your pc playing tricks on you.

 

Google around a bit for ways to:

1) turn off antivirus while playing

2) making w/e codec pack you use treat fallout3 as an exception

3) eliminate unnecessary processes

4) turn off UAC if on vista

5) defragmenting the drive you have fallout on.

[Spiney4]

If its very repeatable to get your crash, why don't you disable all the mods. and give it a try, if it doesn't crash, add a mod or few, and try again. When it crashes again, back off again and try to pin point which mod is causing problems. If you using FOMM, be suspicious of any mods that FOMM reports a warning about.

[TGBlank]

I'd have to say, possibly both.

 

Let's take a look at the computer first:

Fallout have deceiving looks, it doesn't look like it haves the greatest graphics ever or gives any hint it's a heavyweight for the pc, but in truth, it haves a not-so optimized engine and haves mod support and in general, haves far more trinkets running and loading at the same time than what you'd find in your average game.

Sum all that, and you get a game that can push your computer in different ways than your average game.

In general, fallout is heavy for the processor, the ram, and harddrive.

 

So, you want to reduce the amount of programs running while fallout is running: antivirus, vista's toys, UAC, itunes, msn, explorer or firefox or w/e windows, random processes, etc. The less stuff eating ram and processor and accessing to disk, the better.

You also want to find w/e codec pack you use, and add fallout 3 as an exception. This is fairly important.

 

Once that's done, you have to understand another concept: file fragmentation.

Whenever your computer saves a file, if it finds a "hole" but it's smaller than the file, it puts part of the file there, and then continues to put the rest elsewhere. Meaning that files can be split into many many pieces. Such files are slower to read than files that are "whole". Because the pc haves to look all over the disk for the little parts to read one lousy file.

The more files you add and remove and add and remove and etc, the worse the fragmentation gets.

 

Wise pc users defragment their drives after they install or uninstall big things, and then every now and then, to keep their computer working at it's best. After uninstalling and installing the game and then the mods, i'd say it's a good time to defrag your drive.

[sykodiamond]

Thanks for the suggestions. As far as your suggestion Spiney4, The only problem i have with doing that is that there is no pattern. It crashes at diffeferent times, and if I the save before a crash, it doesn't crash the second time, thus my reluctance to start a game and just leave it playing for a few hours.

As for yours, TGBlank, I tried shutting everything not necessary down, and it seems to run ok now. I tried it for a little bit with my mods on, and it didn't crash in places it usually did before. I'll keep trying to get it to crash, and if it does, i'll post again.

 

OK, i got it to crash. When it did, the screen resolution dropped to the lowest my monitor had, and then my my monitor blanked out. Any idea what could cause that?

[TGBlank]

Seems to me that yep, fallout, after some time running will eventually push your machine beyond it's limits and crash it.

Could be memory flood, or videocard overheat.

For the former, program cleanup and such, for the later, both cleanup and making sure your videocard gets a better ventilation.

Leaving your pc defraging your drive next time you go to sleep/school will help in either case.

[sykodiamond]

I know it's not my videocard overheating, because i already dealt with that issue. At no point does it ever get above around 40 degrees celsius. I worked on that problem early on.

[TGBlank]

Then it's the game running out of ram. It's a fairly common problem mind you. Fallout doesn't handle ram very well.

[sykodiamond]

Thanks for all the help. I think i got it working. I put it in windowed mode, and so far, it seems fine. Thanks for the help.