trouble adding mods

[adimatalon]

can someone pls help me i bought fallout 3 for pc from direct2drive.com and downloaded it form there. im trying to add mods the game is running perfectly but i cant find the folder to put mods in. can someone pls help me find it, or tell me how to make a new one. i would greatly appreciate it.

[mechine]

I can't say D2D is bad, I'd go for the retail disc though

but then I'm old poop

 

 

 

Ums

 

 

Well first off, it's probably better to install it outside of program files in windows

 

 

the default directory is like C:/Programfiles/BethesdaSoftPoop/Fallout3/Data

 

 

Past data is where you put mods, but you put a few things predata

 

I think I have FO3edit, GECK, and FOSE all located in the Bethesda/fallout

 

Making it predata or in the predata file, confused yet?

 

 

Post data, or past the data file, where most mods go

 

It looks like a bunch of .BSA files which are

 

large archive files (compressed together)

 

Using mods follows the same order though

 

You end up with files created in data

 

Like

 

 

Meshes, Textures, Sounds, Music, Other poop.

 

 

 

The good thing about the UltimateLoadOrder Mod for one

 

is that it teaches you a few tricks, but that mod is pretty outdated now

 

even though it's only been around 6 months.

 

 

 

 

Pretty much you wana create a short cut to your data file, and place it on the desk top

Pick a cool icon for it too, because you'll use it alot, a whole lot

 

 

 

I also said it's probably a good idea to install fallout outsides of program files

 

making it look like this C:/Bethesda/fallout3 instead of C:/programfiles/bethesda/fallout

 

Or shoot put it on a different drive from your windows system drive Like D:/ then

 

anything you move from the fallout 3 data file to the desk top will just be a copy of what is in the data file

 

not the actual version, an you can take stuff in an out without worry, for your current project

 

That's just kind of a little bonus.

 

 

 

 

Windows Vista, taking fallout out of program files is kind of required, XP there are only mild benifits.

Vista puts some kind of silly security risk on stuff in program files that will effect Fallout

 

 

 

You're comming into a situation and it's kind of all messed up.

 

 

You can patch to version 1.0.15, maybe being a D2D you may get a verson past this

1.0.15 offers the ability to shoot down grenades thrown at you mid air in VATS,

Also has a few VATS things that got changed later, they say it's more what was intended

But you have to use the Fakepatch mod (which isn't unoffical fallout patch)

The fake patch mod isn't easy, but what it does is update the Fallout.exe to make it look

like you've patched up to date, when really your using 1.0.15 to get the small original things

 

You can patch to 1.0.35 It will work maybe better than 1.4 depending on what you can use

for the most part everyone hates 1.0.35, I used it an it crashed yeah, but not like a whole lot

It did crash more than 1.5 with masterupdate, and even not patched at all fallout

which I don't know because you ran D2D who knows what you have

Also all the patches Past 1.0.35 take advantage of SLI or duel grapics cards

Pretty much making going pre 35 for SLI users sort of a nulled point

To tell the truth though, I never really missed not being able to shoot down grenades

And VATS at longdistance plus VATS MCE, clears up any nurfing of VATS anyway

Leaving a few effected perks that get nerfed, specs of dust

 

 

You can patch to 1.4 and use fake patch to update the .exe (uh why, Idk, never tried it)

 

 

You can patch to 1.5 and use FO3edits master update

Probaby the most easy hands off fix, also pretty smooth running

Besides the many uses for FO3edit, if you create a short cut

to FO3edit then right click open propertys, add a space then -masterupdate

in the target line, after the "poop poop poop.exe" (after the quotes)

but yeah you have to put a space after the quotes, from there

All you do is double click the shortcut to run master update

the program will run, if there is an error then it shuts down

The error's are displayed in the text window, You can even try opening

those esp files that caused the error with the GECK which will sometimes

point out an autofix small stuff with a prompt to do so or not

then rerun master update, Also FO3edit warns you shouldn't try to fix

the mod, but have the maker fix it, but Idk I tried an sometimes it works.

besides that don't waste too much time on the errors, just delete the

mod that caused the error an run Master update until it doesn't error

At which point all you have to do is close it to save it, by clicking the X in the window

each time you add in new mods, you have to run master update

Also you should probably hide the master update short cut

You wouldn't wana click on it when you were just wanting to use

the many many wonderful uses for FO3edit

 

 

 

Now that you have a good install an good patch

 

Download a POOPTON of mods

 

You need Winzip or WinRAR

 

I like WinRaR, I got tired of winzip, They're not free, but free to download an use

it just prompts you to buy, at which point you close an keep using it.

 

 

You should also consider getting

 

FOMM (fallout mod manager) Many tools, for one it allows easy load order manipulation

Also has a BSA unpacker, All those huge BSA files from bethesda, well you can unpack that

selecting what you want then extracting to where you want. Also a rather important

feature of FOMM is toggle archive invalidation, which tells the system to only use

the newest files, say if you have two files both named 10mmpistol, One is the old crappy one

the other is the new Pwnage poop version you downloaded, well the system doesn't know one

from the other, invalidation invalidates the old crap, You can also get a stand alone version

of Archive invalidation invalidated, Another rather useful part of FOMM is it allows

you to copy the current load order to the clip board to post here because you pooped it all up

 

 

FOSE (fallout script extender) Disables Live windows for games or whatever that crap is called

No more Disc check or signing into live in the background. More importantly it allows player created

scripts, which for the most part are the best mods out there, stuff like getting drunk when you drink

or smoking cigs, The Dance mods, Animation mods, Real injurys, primary needs All the really

great mods take advantage of FOSE which is for the most part Full intergration of a mod into

the game world, it's rather unlimited to what can be done with FOSE, But fear not

Most of these mods also offer a non FOSE Version, Which are not that bad, but might be lame

To get the full version you need FOSE. Also FOSE works with FOMM, So You just run FOMM

And it can tell you have FOSE so it will say Launch FOSE instead of Launch Fallout.

 

 

GECK (Poop Poop nightmare) I'm kidding, learning the GECK is hard, the learning curve

Goes straght down from user to toiletnoob. Expect to mess up over an over at first.

Then 3 months later you're still making stupid mistakes. Working for hours an hours

only to have GECK crash, only to fix it by changing some silly mistake. GECK makes .ESP files

Mods pretty much, You can add new stuff to the game via GECK. One important thing

It's kind of hard to figure out, but the active file is the one you plan on saving.

So you create a mod, then save it with a name as a .esp, then the next day you wana

keep working on it right, open it up only this time make it active.

Now all the changes you made yesterday, then what you save today with it active

go into the esp. Also try to name stuff names that nobody will think of, and create your own file

instead of placing your stuff in the same files with the rest. So like in textures/weapons

I have the weapons I made in a file called fullauto731 instead of having them spread out

in either 1 hand melee or 1 hand pistol, two hand automatic ect

For the most part the GECK is funny an hard to use, but after some time you figure it out

at which point it's really fun and addictive/rewarding.

 

 

Read me's holly crap, get used to reading these an not being able to understand a thing

However you should note in there the load order if any and also if there are know conflicts

Also at the end usually it says if you can mod this mod an redistribute it. Also if you write

a read me, for the awesome mod you made, put some silly crazyness in it. LOLZ

 

 

When you dump in mods it will ask you if you wana replace the files

so long as it's just file directorys instead of actual files like say a 10mmpistol

or whatnot then yeah you can say yes replace, but how do you know what it is going

to replace, there may very well be a file in there that will replace a killer texture you

downloaded, or a mesh that works well with something that is not as good.

So it's always better to follow the list down inside the mods zip/rar

See what it has in it then see what is in your data folder for that directory

by that I mean Data\meshes\weapons\1handpistol\10mmpistol.nif

or Data\textures\armor\vaultsuit\vaultsuitpoop.dds

 

 

You don't wana half turkey it either, a messy install is a nightmare

and you'll just have to start all over.

 

 

You don't wana use mods that mod the same stuff, like loot lists and other certian things

You also probably don't wana use mods that use different types of ammo, because

you'll get confused, like say using Calibr ammo an MPammo or whatever

You won't be able to tell which guns use what, but for the most part

if it's just a bare weapon mod like gun or 14 guns, then you can use it

with another mod that has a gun in it, provided that it either uses vanilla ammo

or the mod ammo you picked, Calibr is pretty good. Most of the item mods

Tell if it adds a new item or replaces something, but a lot of these also

change things in the world or loot lists an whatnot, so look out for that

but for the most part these item mods are just little stuff that won't

screw up your system an will work with anything. You have to keep a

keen eye on stuff that mods the same type of things. Also some of the overhawl mods

have stuff in them you don't know about so you end up with two copies of the same thing.

 

 

The mods for the world like buildings an new areas like the GTS mod to open up world travel

Are pretty great, some conflict, also sometimes they get bugged like floating trees, or maybe

that person that made it is crazy an put a 2 ton deathclaw down stairs in the entrance to the

building/home you just downloaded.

 

 

Load orders are hard to figure out, Pretty much MMM goes at the bottom, FOOK at the top, compatablity stuff

after the esp for a mod, ESM loads first, then Esp, The little esp stuff like items an small stuff

doesn't really matter, you can have like 70 of these after the main one in pretty much any order

It's best to organize it, guns with guns, clothing with clothing, poop with poop, main with main

 

 

The DLC's or addon's from bethesda, the pit, OA, Broken Steel an such, it's up to you.

I've had fallout for like 4-6 months an didn't need it, Probably won't buy it, maybe next year.

It's flamed across the net as to the problems it creates using DLC with mods

And in your case using D2D plus DLC's who knows,

However you can always run two versions of the game, which nobody does

one being DLC's the other being BALLS OUT MOD CRAZY

Also if you use DLC's an have a problem it will help you to Put the fact

that you have DLC's in your title to your post on here.

Also in your case I would put D2D in the title too

The reason why is because otherwise you'll get a post

from a poop noob like me that doesn't use that crap an can't help you

But then I'll probably post something in there anyway.

You'll get a specialist though which is what you need for those advanced problems.

 

 

 

I also probably wouldn't auto install mods, it's great yeah.

all you do is install the mod like a game, with a advanced installer that

does all the work, but some people have problems.

I for one install all of the mods the good ole hard manual way

even though I know the other way is more easy

One for the control of manual the other to see just what is in there.

 

 

I wouldn't buy mods, I wouldn't buy DLC's, but that's me

Nexus is great, an all the stuff you need we put here

because it's just great. I'm not saying there are not

other sites you might like, but you'll like this one more probably.

 

 

I'd stay away from cheating, it's way to easy to cheat, which makes it super addictive

and also ruins the game after a few months, rather than it lasting forever

Cheating you get kind of bored, but then you have to cheat a little

Also you have to cheat to test stuff you make, so if you feel like cheating

just make something to test.

 

 

Blender is a program that will create new meshes (3D shapes) you need a Nifscript plug in for it though

it's pretty hard to use, I still haven't figured it out.

 

Nifscope is pretty easy, allows 3D preview, adjustment, fixing, re-skin file path

GECK will re-skin as well but it's more work and messy, You can take stuff away

from a mesh or add stuff in, take stuff from one broken mesh an place it in a new

vanilla mesh, pretty much edit a 3D shape with a few other nice tools, and it's not

really hard to figure out like Blender can be, they are all hard to figure out though.

 

Paintnet allows retextures an stuff, rather nice, nobody uses it, but you don't have to use the DDS converter

The texture files are in a directdrawsurface .dds which for photoshop you have to convert then photoshop it

then convert it back, while with paintnet all you do is save it with bitmaps an bam

 

Gimp is kind of like paintnet only very advanced, many many tools, mostly I think we use it

to create normal maps which are like glow maps sort of the shine on stuff like guns or whatever

I'm still figuring it out, as it's pretty hard.

 

 

You should consider learning some of these programs, as it takes a long time to get going

so the sooner you start the sooner you be at a point where you don't wana pull your hair out

or run out of the house screaming. The tutorials all pretty much suck. It's like a never ending

read me, an we can't even really understand the read me's most of the time. It is a way

although it takes a long time to finish a tutorial, there are some video tutorials a little better

but usually the person move so fast you can't keep up besides not knowing what they are talking

about. You can just jump in an figure it out if you use computers a lot. The last mesh I downloaded

was a great gun but it was a horible mess, when the made it they must have been high, I spent

about 7 hours fixing where they just threw it together. Another time I had a great gun I downloaded

but it would cause a crash, Huh? That never happends. Turns out the mesh was missing a Hammer.

You know that thing on a pistol that you pull back right before you let one go on some buster

You know click the hammer back, the hammer that strikes the firing pin, yeah

tiny small thing, it's not even really animated enough that we see it, but because

this pistol didn't have one, the whole system crashed. Silly huh

now consider the 3Gb of mods you just added, there's no telling

So expect to run into crashes.

With time you work it out as you get better at doing this

 

At which point it pays off.