CTD with freshly installed vanilla game

[GOsteW]

Hey guys, "kind of" good news: I just finished downloading Fallout 3 on my laptop and... it works :) The "wrong resolution-letterbox" bug occurred, but I deleted the folder inside "My Games" and corrected the resolution on the launcher without problems. I guess this is the final proof of the fact that the game doesn't work on the pc because of its mess...

(just to save time, I'm calling pc the machine with the specs you know, and laptop the new pc I don't use for gaming)

 

I still have a long way to go, regarding the cleaning and ordering process, but I would like to plan things right from the start. This is my current plan regarding Steam games: uninstall Steam and the games (and NMM, BOSS, NifSkope, everything regarding modding) from both pc and laptop, then install all those things on a 500 gb hard drive. This will let me use both machines (laptop for modding, pc for playing) without having a game installed on both machines.

I realize this is getting a little bit off topic, but could you, please, be so kind to confirm if this plan is possible and safe?

[Purr4me]

 

I personally deal with larger drives in tera byte sizes for gaming. small scale's ? if you have that game downloaded and tested to work. this is the stage to image that installation clean into an iso so you have that as a single file which contains known good install as your permanent back up.

why do this?...because you only need 1 installed game once. the registry will retain it as long as you do not uninstall it. the iso image can be placed else where to draw from instead of downloading over and over again.

the directory of install is a format meant for steams download area, put that on the big drive. you actual gaming directory will contain the data yo backed up from the iso in another directory, that directory will not be as you may think if I teach how to isolate and recompile the data. it will be just a starting point with the root files in it, and almost empty data folder as the recompiled data will not reside with in it.

your lap top is you download source? the NEWPC? if so, Keep the old PC and gaming unit off line, DO not configure online servers to attend to your data. let the lap top handle that, keep your data safe. Fallout 3 will never be updated again by any one so steam can be locked out of it on the Old PC unit.

MO, the program. has with in it all you will need to game the heck oft of the machine. But, if you integrate the networks into your Environment, you will not have full control of your data.

I do not allow NCC from the program to access the networks. I am the person in control of updating my files, I am not allowing auto updates to handle it.....sound failure? Microsoft updates can ruin a PC if you allow automation to take over. what if you have Bink software and codecs for an old 2007 vintage game and Microsoft decided to update that codec ? now that game can not converse with the new stuff, because it has no idea what it is. the year is 2014, 7 years ago the code was built. 7 years later redesigned and the old code is obsolete to make it friendly for today's games, not yesterday's games.

Big vicious circle. it is right on topic to fix your machine "CTD with freshly installed vanilla game "

now when you finish cleaning up the rest of it. update the machines data 1rst. make sure you run a gaming test thing to allow it to test graphics. That is if you want too?

suggested set up. D:|steam\Bethesda\games\********\********\ fallout 3.

next. D:\ My (New game) <-- here is where things are going to take place but not stored.

D:\Backup\Fallout3.iso <------ use an mounting software program to extract all it's contents into the above folder

D:\Work folder <--- here is where I will instruct you to place data you will need to compress into 7z ultra files for O to use as a source.

when all of this is completed. work folder and it's contents can be deleted . just gone.

D:\ My (Newgame) will only contain bare minimal data for root functions, it will not have any masters nor plugins in it. it will contains minimal *.bsa too as some will not be there because Mo will be loading them in virtual Environment.

BSA files not to be touched are music and sound + the video folder is also left out of the processes. you only need the main games files.

this process will in fact render archive invalidate useless and unnecessary because Mo can extract all bsa's to loose file form and it does delete left overs, it will give you so much more control over over rights and modding , you will not believe it.

you original game is still there , Mod is NOT .net reliant. how ever fomm is. so if you have a work folder for fomm to point too? heh heh, you can on a whim just copy 1 file to it's make shitf data folder for fomm to be happy. all your tools will work in that folder.

merging programs, tesedit, fomm, tsnip, you name it. steams folder is left untouched and contains uncontaminated data, raw.

oh man this is a lot to take in at once. for give me.

 

http://imageshack.com/a/img36/8384/f58s.jpg

 

http://imageshack.com/a/img607/6443/re9a.jpg

kitty.

Edited February 26, 2014 by Purr4me

[GOsteW]

Let's see if I understood. I will make a backup of my working Fallout 3 in the form of an iso and extract it in a backup folder inside the "portable" hard disk I want to use for gaming and modding. In that same hard disk I will install Steam and its games normally. Then MO, which I will use to manage mods without touching the Steam Fallout 3 folder. Then all other tools for modding (NifSkope, TES5Edit, FO3Edit, BOSS, etc.) in the "My (New game)" folder. I will download and update programs and mods with my laptop (new pc) and manage and play games with the (old) pc. All this after I format and restore the (old) pc (that's what I'll do to clean it up, because it is too messy... well, there's the option to delete the current partition and create a new one though...).

Is that correct?

Edited February 26, 2014 by GOsteW

[Purr4me]

so far so good, yes, correct .dam ! , a full format? the mess was rather (sophisticated) ?

 

your lap top separates you and the game from the networks. Mo. needs to be set as to NOT want to update it's files too. that is not needed as you, the user and future author will decide what and when and if you need updaing anything.

 

if done in this way, anything produced in the form of any mods you might make, will be solid gold to us. you stand a better chance of cleanly made mods.

you also stand a better chance of a crash free Environment too because now, you can turn on and of on a whim any mods you think may be causing you problems.......instead over overwriting and screwing up other mods as well as the main games files.

 

you take control of your game stuff. you can give thanks to Tannin42 for this gift. The power to really get down and dirty, nitty gritty modding.

[GOsteW]

I really like that. I always modded manually. I don't trust NMM, it caused me too many troubles. MO seems exactly the program I was missing :)

 

I wanted to format the pc some time ago already; now I have the perfect excuse to actually do it XD

 

As soon as the whole cleaning process is finished I will get back here. I hope to finish for this weekend, but let's settle that next week I'll be ready. Thank you for everything, kitty. See you soon :)

[GOsteW]

Hello, I'm back! The format is done. Everything's ready: the old PC is clean and empty, Fallout 3 (and Skyrim) is in the laptop (and it works!), the hard drive is ready. There's only a little "problem": I have to let the PC go online, because my parents need it; I guess I'll just need not to go online when installing Steam and not to let MO connect to the network, right?

Anyway, I'm ready when you are :smile:

Edited March 10, 2014 by GOsteW

[Purr4me]

 

I guess I'll just need not to go online when installing Steam

You download steam first. no games. install it, allow it to fully update. Install skyrim. allow steam to fully Update IT. If you use steams version of fallout3 ? do the same but-----you will not be-able to install any updates for the GECK with a steam version of FO3. sorry. that is a totally difficult issue to deal with. but, again, you have a fresh start, and can think clearly, arrange things cleanly.

 

as fot online things. before ever running any games. you have established install and can access steams innner workings and set it up to run off line and tell it to set your games once it's fully updated to be non steam games. this sounds strange but you can do it, the data that updates the game will just be what is in the games steam folder when it runs. you also need to set steam to be off line.

 

now, every 4 days, steam must connect, your games do not need to. MO, here is where we separate the games from the networks.

basic game install, no DLC's you take the bsa archive for main/ mesh and textures only for either game or mod and make a copy of them into a clean folder you are going to compress into your archive.

 

all of this work is done out side of any Environments effected by the networks and the game structure ,these are your source files, fresh clean copies you need to use for Mod Organizer for each Game.

 

now, I am not sure any one actually realizes , you can have two copies of MO installed and running one for each game. you can partition off the game sets on the PC / desktop unit. you leave all current normal data intact and left alone. you actual game directory will be what ever you want it to be in mo. there are several ways you can set things up depending on what you want to do.

 

you must maintain the normal game for updates, frankly , you will never use it any way. your custom made game structure is in virtual ram when it loads and there is NO (dot net) involved. Mo can targets / access the binaries in the steam apps/common folder and use that data directory and all legal assets you need to load these games, but MO, will not be using the data there, it will use your newly created assets that will NEVER be touched by online access controls. Your files will never get corrupted ,the main files may, that I can not help.

not to let MO connect to the network, right?

 

 

Mod does not require for you to use it as a down loader, it has all the NCC data from the nexus NMM built in so NMM is not required. Ncc IS Nmm. just no wrappers. no bells and whistles. and NO .NET. you keep your game your game.

 

you have here in this respect a choice to make. and this is where things are best made because you downloaded mods do not need to be placed inside mo, heck you can store and access them any where. any mods you fabricate using MO can be replaced if not stored in it.

 

mod is just a data directory structure of extracted game files for use organized your way and untouched by outside garbage. IF you allow networks activity into and inside of mo? then your back to where all this started.

 

best thing for you is to stop, wait, study the threads and complaints, please take your time and make your own decision as to how to approach your control over your software. My best advice is to take windows updates as an example of outside interferences.

 

Partitions or segmented hard drives can be used. windows 8 and 8.1 has virtual OS capability and can further Enhancne security, 8.1 is Locked down so out side stuff may have kittens trying to disrupt it. Make no mistakes in 8.1 because it does not have a turnabout in it.

 

D:\game\software\steam\common\Bethesdasoftworks\ game

D:\game\software\steam\common\ ????????

D:\ModOrganizer<--------this can be either game but not both inside of it.

D:\ModOrganizer1<-------This is the same only renamed so you can install a second copy of (ModOrganizer)

D:\ModOrganizer2<------- this is only a demonstration to clarify what is to be seen.

it only takes a second for you to rename the folder and run things. but that is no matter, inside the main foldes contain the executable and you can have as many copies of the same name file on the desktop. you change the copied icon to match that of the repected game it runs.

 

you have many games? well now you can have all your cake and eat it too.

 

you ....can ...not ...do ...this ...with ...nexus mod manager. you can not do this with any other program. only Mo can this be done.

that's the differences.

 

Nmm can install and run all the games within in alone, download and sort and things, a grat deal more bu is tied into the networks, and that there is the default bug source, the main source of file corruptions and corrupted logs, data, files, masters, plugins, an it just keeps on rolling. This is what you asked of me to help you fix.

 

you can make your own choices of how to set things up, you can be led by a leash like an animal, or you can hold that leash like a human and control the animal.

 

April 8th, 2014, windows xp support will be pulled ,65million PCs will be left up fro grabs for all sorts of me-hem . networks controlled software are going to be vulnerable and that means any gaming software currently running will become exposed.

you decide what you want. My best.

kitty

[GOsteW]

Ok, I'll try to summarize the process here, i order to understand if I got it right. Please correct me if I'm wrong. (Sorry for repeating things, but I need to write things down: your english is not very easy to understand) :)

 

I let the PC (which has Window 7) install all updates it needs. When the process is finished, I set Windows not to install any update anymore. Only then I start the process. So I download Steam, install it and update it. I make a .iso of Skyrim and Fallout 3 on my laptop and I install them into the Steam folder, so that they are my vanilla games used by Steam, but not by me (and MO). Or I just download Skyrim and Fallout 3 with Steam from the PC directly?

After Steam, Skyrim and Fallout 3 are installed in the Steam folder inside my portable hard drive, I set Steam not to go online and both games as non-Steam games (where do I have to go in Steam to do that?).

Then I install MO twice, one MO installation per partition of that same hard drive ("E:\" and "F:\" for example). I install the Fallout 3 .iso in one partition, and Skyrim .iso in the other partition, inside directories that are not Steam's. Then I tell MO to use those files in the partition as game's files. Finally, when I want a mod, I download it manually, store it in the same partition as its game's, inside a chosen folder (for example, "E:\Fallout 3 mods").

 

By doing all this, can I just use the hard drive to play on the PC and mod the games on the laptop?

If I set Fallout 3 as non-Steam game, will I be able to use an updated version of the GECK?

 

 

So the final structure would be something like this.

 

Hard drive:

-- D:\ ------>my other stuff

 

-- E:\Fallout 3 mods\ ------> mods stored for MO to use them

-- E:\Fallou3 GOTY\ ------> my custom actual game directory for MO to use

-- E:\Fallout 3 backup\ ------> game's .iso used for installation

-- E:\Steam\SteamApps\common\Fallout3 goty\ ------> Steam's files, they just stay there unused (Fallout 3 will never be updated anymore)

-- E:\Steam\SteamApps\common\Skyrim\ ------> Steam's files, they just stay there unused (Skyrim will never be updated anymore)

 

-- F:\Skyrim mods\ ------> mods stored for MO to use them

-- F:\Skyrim\ ------> my custom actual game directory for MO to use

-- F:\Skyrim backup\ ------> game's .iso used for installation

 

Can I install NifSkope and BOSS in the D: partition?

Edited March 12, 2014 by GOsteW

[Purr4me]

 

I let the PC (which has Window 7) install all updates it needs.
When the process is finished, I set Windows not to install any update anymore
So I download Steam, install it and update it.
I just download Skyrim and Fallout 3 with Steam from the PC directly
After Steam, Skyrim and Fallout 3 are installed in the Steam folder inside my portable hard drive, I set Steam not to go online and both games as non-Steam games.
Then I install MO twice, <---rename install Mo too (a) or (F) as for fo3 and (b) OR (S) as for Skyrim.Example Fallout3 (F) would be Mod Orginiser (F) and Skyrim would be Mod Organizer (S) and install Mo again for your custom works as deemed appropriate to what you want to use it for. MO is a tools, like TESEDIT, OR the GECK, OR the CK only thing is, The CK is An onLine item, that....your on your own, I would rather use the lap top for all instance of online editing and then trans fer the finished product as an installer or packaged for mo on to the New PC Via MO.
I install the Fallout 3 .iso in one partition, and Skyrim .iso in the other partition, inside directories that are not Steam's. Strictly used as a back up to extract /re-extract broken data instead of online downloading, that's the purpose of the ISO, an uncontaminated image.
Then I tell MO to use those files in the partition as game's files NEGATIVE. you have the normal installed games in their respected folders. F:| fallout 3, F:\SKY rim or what ever it needs to be. These are your games root folders, these are for steams use only. Mo is virtual and will only be using the root of the game file structure ,the iso images are your source files so you do not mistakenly delete needed files in the game folders. Mo only needs to point to a binary file, and the tree flows downhill from there as far as dependencies go. Qualifying data for the game to run is there so mo has not the need for all of that. BSa Extraction from mo will be injecting into ram, your virtual drive a fresh , brand new, uncompressed set of game files, games files "YOU NEED TO MAKE" from the source. The games ini files are needed as base instructions for any game to run or be qualified as installed on the system, that being so, in the ini file, the instructions to load any extra data are there, ther ARE no instruction in ANY ini file any where on this planet to extract bsa data when loading, thats done by the engine and lose files over rule this point, so the ini file only needs to see a bsa file name and bsa structured file, it...does not need to be the correct size or have any data at all in them. you make your own blank bsa files because the bsa files from installed data, the downloaded source files are your source, Backed up in an iso image and kept safe from tampering, Skyrim needs to left alone, you have problems with that game, But fallout3 ! oh be, it's a wide open game, same applies to NV except if online? and you update the games? then your again messed up, and have duplicated unneeded games software.
Finally, when I want a mod, I download it manually, store it in the same partition as its game's, inside a chosen folder (for example, "E:\Fallout 3 mods"). <-- your source and nothing points to it, that's your safe folder some mods are packaged wrong so you will need to repackage them for mod, most won't be. Omods and Fomods, ? they are dependent on NCC to work correctly but there are problems with NCC's data stick to the older version of NCC so this won't happen, custom installers that directly inter phase wit the nexus are buggy. nobodies perfect at scripting, so there are mistakes made....come with the territory I guess.
By doing all this, can I just use the hard drive to play on the PC and mod the games on the laptop :yes:
If I set Fallout 3 as non-Steam game, will I be able to use an updated version of the GECK? when the time comes, we'll deal with that.

So the final structure would be something like this.



Hard drive:

-- D:\ ------>my other stuff



-- E:\Fallout 3 mods\ ------> mods stored for MO to use them

-- E:\Fallou3 GOTY\ ------> my custom actual game directory for MO to use

-- E:\Fallout 3 backup\ ------> game's .iso used for installation

-- E:\Steam\SteamApps\common\Fallout3 goty\ ------> Steam's files, they just stay there unused (Fallout 3 will never be updated anymore)

-- E:\Steam\SteamApps\common\Skyrim\ ------> Steam's files, they just stay there unused (Skyrim will never be updated anymore)



-- F:\Skyrim mods\ ------> mods stored for MO to use them

-- F:\Skyrim\ ------> my custom actual game directory for MO to use

-- F:\Skyrim backup\ ------> game's .iso used for installation



Can I install NifSkope and BOSS in the D: partition? :yes: :yes: :dance:

 

http://s26.postimg.org/in9o2k7wp/Example_1.jpg

that\s a start

Kitty

Edited March 13, 2014 by Purr4me

[GOsteW]

Hi, I'm still downloading the games from Steam. I'm having real life issues, so the process is taking more time than expected, sorry. I hope I'll be able to finish soon with MO ready to go :-)