Fallout 3 Console Commands "For Dummies"?

[MatSpikeYinsen]

I'm a very novice user of console commands, and I can't seem to figure them out on more than the most basic level.  Is there a straighforward, no-jargon, no-fancy-programming-logic walkthrough of how to get the various console commands listed on the wiki to actually work in each specific situation?

(My immediate problem is with fixing the bug in Head of State where you kill Leroy Walker and then the game thinks the slavers are still alive forever; I put in "setstage 123 80" (where 123 was the ID for HoS) and "CompleteAllObjectives 123" and neither one worked.)

[JimboUK]

I haven't used setstage in a while but I think you need the editor ID for the quest so 123 would be MS06, try setstage MS06 80

You can get the IDs from the wiki, look under "technical" https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Head_of_State 

[MatSpikeYinsen]

  On 3/31/2025 at 11:42 PM, JimboUK said:

I haven't used setstage in a while but I think you need the editor ID for the quest so 123 would be MS06, try setstage MS06 80

You can get the IDs from the wiki, look under "technical" https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Head_of_State 

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"SCRIPS: Script 'SysWindowCompileAndRun', line 1: Item 'ms06' not found for parameter Quest.  Compiled script not saved!"

[JimboUK]

Try 00014E99 instead, so setstage 00014E99 80 

[MatSpikeYinsen]

  On 4/6/2025 at 10:47 PM, JimboUK said:

Try 00014E99 instead, so setstage 00014E99 80 

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This code was successfully entered, but had no apparent effect.  movetoqt still brings me to Silas's corpse (or maybe Leroy's, I'm not sure which since it's just an ash pile), and Hannibal's party continues to not be at the Mall Northwest station.  I also tried CompleteAllObjectives 00014E99, which did mark the quest steps as being done, but still didn't cause Hannibal to recognize that the slavers are dead.  (This is a known bug on Fallout Wiki, but there's no information provided about how to solve it, as they don't even explain the basics of how to use console commands.)

Since this thread is supposed to be about console commands in general, here's another example of them not working right.  I used Resurrect on Dogmeat, and he did come back to life, but then he started walking off in a straight line and I couldn't talk to him.  This and numerous other attempts at using console commands in complicated way have always failed; I can use TCL, Player.additem, and other such simple commands, but the ones that require any real amount of syntax seem to have complexities that I don't understand.

[JimboUK]

For Dogmeat try opening the console, clicking on him and entering disable and then enable, don't click away until you've re-enabled him. If that doesn't work use the kill command on him and try spawning a new one, you can do that by entering player.placeatme 0006a772 1 into the console, then when you've got him enter setessential 0006a772 1 which will make him essential so he doesn't die again.  

[MatSpikeYinsen]

So how about my main question?  How do I unbork this quest so that Hannibal will go to the memorial and I get XP for completion?

[JimboUK]

I don't know what else to suggest, if it's a known bug then you could try setstage 00014e99 100 just to finish the quest. 

[MatSpikeYinsen]

It is a known bug, but based on what I've seen so far, I fully expect that doing that will only cause the quest to be marked as totally complete in the quest log, while not giving me any experience points and not affecting Hannibal or the Lincoln Memorial in any way.  What I need is for someone who actually understands how to write in this FO3/NV console command language to come and look at my problem and give me an actually effectual solution.  Could you maybe poke a friend or two who might be more knowledgeable about these details than yourself (not trying to be disrespectful, by your own admission you're out of ideas on the topic, I'm just saying let's add additional brains to the think tank that's tackling this problem).

[JimboUK]

Try posting here, they're more likely to remember that quest and what could go wrong, I haven't done that quest for well over ten years. Bear in mind that the console isn't a programming tool, it's a debug tool with a limited set of commands, commands that can break as much as they can fix.

In your shoes I would load a save from before that quest started and try again to see if that bug is still triggered.