Can not enter Citidal Courtyard

[Akadai]

Well up till now, I've been one of the very few people who was able to play completely bug free, even with v1.5. Finally being able to play Broken Steel, I went back to the Citidal to do the "Take it back!" quest. Every single time I click to enter, it begins to load, then the game simply goes to a black screen for an instant and suddenly I'm looking a my desktop with no errors

 

I have about like... 8 different saves of this character, and on every single one of them (even really older ones) it does the same thing on enter. It is the ONLY area it seems I can't enter. I was able to load a save the game made before you go to the purifier, and I was able to enter the citidal on that save (though no one was there, cause they were out fighting the Enclave)

 

I continued on with that save just to see what would happen, and activated the purifier. Everything went smoothly. I didn't get any of the bugs other people reported about being stuck or anything. It worked exactly the way it was supposed to. After some conversations, I was on my way out into the wasteland again. But, of course, the only way to leave is to go through the courtyard. Which, once again, crashed straight to the desktop

 

Any ideas? I have no mod at all that modifies the area, or anything near it. No mod that should modify the BoS. As far as I know, it is the only area I have come across that does this (I've played a many good hours with 1.5 with no problems whatsoever, not even save crashes)

 

Edit: Just tested this on a completely different character, and same thing happens. So I don't think it's save game related. I doubt it's mod related (deactivated them and still happened, and I don't use many mods, no major game altering ones). My only guess is it could be a 1.5 bug... the ONLY bug I'm experiencing

[Akadai]

Solved the problem after extensive testing and 3 reinstalls. Turns out it was a single folder with some meshes from the UF3 Armor replacers mod (folder bosunderarmor). Not sure how it was conflicting or why it was causing problems, but after all my testing, I determined that was the soul problem of my citedal crashes. After removing it, I could finally once again enter without it crashing to desktop, and am once again playing bug free (for the time being)

 

I'd probably have to take a look at it in the GECK to determine why it was causing problems, but I've spent enough time solving my crash issues as it is and would like to simply get back to playing my game

[LOLFLUB]

I just got broken steel and now I get the same problem.

 

I have no idea why this dosen't work.

[Akadai]

Are you using the same mod I was? The UF3 Armor mod was the one causing the problem for me, or atleast, 1 part of it was

[SnakeTheFox]

I'm having the same issue, although from my experimenting, I can't enter Megaton either.

 

But the same thing happens to me, and I don't have the Underarmor installed AFAIK, unless it was included with FOOK or something.

 

Care to show the path yours takes (e.g. Data>Textures>etc>etcetc>etc>underarmor) so that I can see if I have it?

[Akadai]

Wasn't a texture actually, it was a mesh

 

In Data>meshes>armor>bosunderarmor

 

That was my issue. But here's the kicker. It doesn't matter if the mod was activated or not. Even if the mod was not activated through FOMM, it still crashed. Until I deleted that bosunderarmor folder. Then it worked completely fine

 

I found this out through a series of tests

 

I reinstalled FO3 on a completely different drive, with no save game data. I had suspected it had something to do with the UF3 armor mod already. What I did first though, was apply 1.5 patch after a clean install. I then placed 1 save game into the save folder (the save the game makes before you exit the vault for the first time). This save was from the original version (1.0, or whatever). I then cheated to get all land marks and quick traveled to Citedal, and cheated again to clip through the gate to get to the front door (wasn't sure that was going to work, but it did). Entered the Citedal with no problems

 

I then applied each DLC one at a time and repeated the same process, just to make sure none of the DLCs them selves were breaking it for me. Worked for all 3. I then installed UF3 armor mod and tested again. And crashed. Lucky for me, I only used a couple of the armor replacements and not all of them. So I started to delete 1 armor mesh at a time to figure out which one was causing the problem. After I deleted the bosunderarmor folder, the crashes stopped. The strange thing though, even if the mod was not activated, as long as that mesh folder was in there, it continued to crash

 

So people who think they can turn off a mod to see if it's causing a problem or not, might not actually work. You mostly likely need to remove the mod completely and all of it's files

 

I then reinstalled the game back into it's original drive with all my mods installed. Deleted that one folder, and it fixed my crashes. I've been playing completely bug free ever since (and yes, with 1.5 installed)

[SnakeTheFox]

Well strangely enough I did have the bosunderarmor folder, but even after deleting it, my game still crashes when I enter Megaton/The Citadel.

[Akadai]

Maybe check your other armor meshes if you have custom ones. The "bosunderarmor" shouldn't effect anyone in megaton, cause no one there wears powerarmor. You could backup the entire meshes folder, and then delete the sub folders one by one until it stops crashing

 

Though I'm not saying this will completely fix your problem. This simply solved the problem I was having, and it 'might' be linked to other people's problems. But because I don't know the full list of mods everyone else is using, I can't really say anything for sure

 

I did forget to test if that bosunderarmor folder would crash my game on a fresh install with no patch, so I don't know if it's really a 1.5 issue, or simply an issue with the mesh. Without knowing that, it could have been a simple mod bug that could have effected me no matter what version I was running

 

For best testing results, you can do what I did. Uninstall the game, reinstall it in a different location (that way all your mods are still installed in your previous location). From there, update your fresh new install and see if megaton still crashes (with no mods installed). If it works, chances are it's one of the mods you have. At that point, install the mods you suspect (one at a time) and test them out until it crashes again. After you figure things out, uninstall it again, reinstall back to the original location, get rid of the mod effecting you. All your other mods should still be in the rightful locations so it'll be less hassle to reinstall them

 

Though depending on how many mods you have, it could be likely that more than 1 is effecting crashes. So would be up to you to continue checking out each one before reinstalling to it's original location

[Craigsters]

Don't forgot to edit the plugin ini file located in Documents and Settings/username/Local Settings/Application Data/Fallout3

 

The Local Settings and Application Data folder might be hidden, so un-hide it or make sure hidden files is dotted or checked on your PC to show!..

 

You can also change the load order in the plugin ini file if Fomm isn't organizing your mods like it should!..

 

My esm mods and DLC's where out of wake in Fomm and I manually changed it in the plugin ini

 

here's my plugin ini load order now, the load order is different in Fomm they'll

 

The pitt esm kept wonting to load near the very bottom in fomm and broken steel esm wanted to load near the bottom almost meddle as well in Fomm!..

 

I have Windows XP Media Center Edition SP3 on my PC

 

My plugin ini load order

 

Fallout3.esm

Anchorage.esm

ThePitt.esm

BrokenSteel.esm

CALIBR.esm

COMM.esm

Remove That Glove.esp

Essential Walter.esp

DTOMRC3.esp

3EFhelmlessstealthsuit.esp

OutFits.esp

3EFwandererGear.esp

1alexscorpionsnipergear.esp

1jeansandshirt.esp

All Anchorage Armors Usable.esp

All Perks Unlocked Level 3 Broken Steel.esp

All Perks Unlocked.esp

AllUniquesAdded.esp

Ancorage Skip Male.esp

AndragornsApocalypticArmoury.esp

AnyArmorWeaponFollowers.esp

bald.esp

Better Companions Ess.esp

EssentialFollowers+Caravans.esp

FleshBurningPlasma.esp

FollowersHire.esp

FollowersHire_SkipCount.esp

FollowersRelax.esp

GalaxyNewsRadio20[M].esp

Ghouls Cohabitate but Tenpenny kicks it.esp

JHouseholdBladesCOMM.esp

JKageBushi.esp

JMixedToysForAdultsVol1V10.esp

kikaiEquipment.esp

LevelersTruckTrailer.esp

Mark and recall.esp

Mesmetron Works on Everyone.esp

NoLockTopic.esp

norepairneededv2.esp

NoStupidExplosiveCars.esp

NoTheftComments.esp

PersonalTerminal.esp

player150%.esp

Skeleton_Key.esp

SpeedMod.esp

stimpakreplacement.esp

sunglassescollection.esp

SuperJump10x.esp

SuperJumpWater5x.esp

Tactical Vest CIRAS.esp

The Undressinator and Inventorifier.esp

Trader100%Repair.esp

Tribal Power Helmet.esp

[C4rn463]

for me it works fine if u wait till 12:00 am, other times i get crash