Serious help required!

[SoupDiddly]

RIGHT. So here I am, completely new to modding, and I've found quite a few mods I'd like to start using, but I'm stuck. Question time!

 

NOTE: I have a severe processing problem which is what is making me so dang confused, it jumbles up everything in my head so much that I cant think straight and I feel as if my brain is physically being strained, it sucks. /wrist. If it weren't for this I wouldn't be posting a thread :). (this problem affects everything to do with my thought, so you might find that my questions might not make much sense, but it doesn't affect how I take in information, so don't talk to me like I'm a retard :P.)

 

- I have the latest official patch released by Bethesda (English 1.7) but not the unofficial patch 1.2.0 so I am guessing I should download that.

- Another thing about FOSE, I have about 30 mods I want to download and some require FOSE and others need FOMM? (Yay for more confusion.) How am I meant to use all these mods if I'm required to access half of them through FOSE and the other through FOMM. Example: I need to open Hairday.esm through FOMM. (or do I?) I know I've got this all wrong, so if someone can give me some information to help me understand how to use the Fallout Script Editor and Fallout Mod Manager. Maybe FOMM is just the program that sets things up, so that if you go and launch FO3 from fose_loader.exe everything would work out fine. I dunno :3 (In green for an easier read)

- How would I know how to set up my load order in FOMM, I know that ESMs go before ESPs and all of the DLCs go before everything else (except for the original FO3) **Has been answered*

 

Heres a list of the mods I wish to apply to my game:

- DarNified UI F3

- Marts Mutant Mod - This one i REALLY, REALLY want. But I'm quite confused about it because it seems to have many different modules... If someone could inform me about this because the description @ http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=3211 seems to be very vague. (at least for me >.<)**EDIT: I've worked out most of this now.**

- Color Hi-Detailed Map and Icon

- Pipboy Item Descriptions

- Karma Revamp Mod

- Book Perks

- FF Interactive Bobbleheads

- Dogmeat Husky

- Face_Me

- 10mm Pistol Replacer

- Fallout 3 Re-Animated

- Fellout - The Fallout 3 Weather Overhaul

- Retextured Clutter Collection

- Books Debunked

- Better HiRes Skill Books

- Companion Behaviour Overhaul

- Dogmeat Never Dies

- Explosive Entry

- Modified handgun Holster animations

- Real Injuries

- RI - Primary Needs

- Real Injuries Patch

- Better Living Through Chems

- Changing The Timescale

- Auto Aim Fix - Headshot Deluxe Edition

- EVE - Energy Visuals Enhanced - Would love this, but its not compatable with the "Fallout 3 Re-Animated" mod, and I've had problems with it in the past

- GNR Radio Fixed

- A Note Easily Missed

- An Evening With Mister Manchester

- Sound Overhaul Mixtape

- Rune Immersion Sound Modification

 

 

Kay... heres my... "few" mods I've been wanting to get.... Not sure why I decided to put em all down but what the heck, may as well. I got these all from Arwen's list of mods @ Arwen's Fallout 3 Journal

About a week ago before I'd even known how much modding can actually do, (Newb Be I) I was thinking about things that could be improved in this game to make it more realistic, and I'd been searching for a game that could provide this realism, so stumbling across Nexus (Leading to the discovery of Arwen) was a dream come true for me. Arwen obviously has great taste with her mods.

 

Also just a confirmation regarding ArchiveInvalidation Invalidated; All I have to do is "Activate" it and leave it on and it will automatically switch bInvalidateOlderFiles to 1 (What ever these are... pssht...) So basically, I should never "Deactivate" ArchiveInvalidation Invalidated, right? I'll start downloading these tonight and hopefully my post will be noticed by the morning. If not... well... I'm used to not being noticed. **has been answered**

 

Explanation of my weirdness: I am a 14 year old kid who is very different(?).... explanation enuf? **Edited foolishness out*

[Tony the Wookie]

explanation of my weirdness: I am a 14 year old kid... who is weirder than other 14 year old kids... explanation enuf?

 

 

Not that I care whether you are weird or not, but just so you know

 

being weird is not an explanation for being weird...

 

 

and I know you were probly trying to be funny with your title, but really, it just came off as quite rude

 

telling people to post in your thread or die is not funny, and just makes you look foolish...

 

 

 

 

But anyways, first and foremost download FOMM, it is pretty much the centerpeice for getting mods to work.

 

After that, all you have to do is go to each mod you want and read the instructions for installing, and then when you load up FOMM to play the game, you click on the esm/esp that you want to activate (this turns on the mods)

 

Most mods just require you to put the esp or esm file in the data folder and sometimes put textures in the textures folder and meshes in the meshes folder. Really, it is all quite simple. All you have to do is read and follow directions.

[Sabat9]

here's a few answers for some of the stuff I feel comfortable answering...

 

1. Archive Invalidation: yes, you only have to activate it once. don't deactivate it. I "think" the .exe should live in your Data folder. I don't know if this is necessary, but after i've set up a new slew of mods that have alot of new textures, I tend to turn it off and then back on again, but this might just be something that makes me feel better, without actually doing anything.

 

2. FOMM and FOSE: (you are also going to want FO3Edit to complete the triumvirate of utility apps)

 

These apps all do different things, but work together very well to manage a large number of mods.

 

FOMM is what you use to set up your load order and activate the mods you want to run.

 

FOSE is used by mods that have scripting that goes beyond the vanilla capabilities.

 

When lauching the game from FOMM, if you have FOSE installed properly, it will launch the game with FOSE enabled.

 

FO3Edit is a utility that will create a "merged patch" which greatly helps eliminate conflicts between mods, and will really help keep your game from crashing.

 

There are really good instructions out there for the proper use of fO3 edit, be sure to read them CAREFULLY.

(here's one set: http://www.fookunity.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2058)

 

 

You'll have to do your own research on the proper way to set up load orders, it can be a complicated subject. My advice is to read the README files of all the mods you are going to install...most of the time there is really good info there pertaining to the proper load orders for this mod vs. that mod. Especially in MMM and Arwen's mods, the README files are invaluable. It should start to become clearer the more reading and testing that you do.

 

If you are new to using mods, my advice is to not try to really get into playing the game until you are sure all your mods are working properly. You don't want to end up with a few hours of playtime under yer belt, only to discover that one of yer mods is conflicting with another. Also, keep in mind that most of the bigger overhaul mods include ALOT of the features from other individual mods...such as FWE including most of the Real Injuries/Primary Needs mods.

 

The best advice is DO YOUR RESEARCH, read all the README files, and make sure everything is working the way it should before you sink yer teeth into a new character.

 

good luck, have fun!

[SoupDiddly]

Not that I care whether you are weird or not, but just so you know

 

being weird is not an explanation for being weird...

 

 

and I know you were probly trying to be funny with your title, but really, it just came off as quite rude

 

telling people to post in your thread or die is not funny, and just makes you look foolish...

 

Righto... I'll change that I guess, and about the weird part about me being weird and all, I dunno, I'm really tired its like 1:00 here and so my thinking is all fuzzy :P...

 

I have been trying to follow along with the FOMM and mesh/texture folders, and so far every mod I've installed is working just fine (about 4 so far) What I'm worried about is what is going to happen when i try implement these 30 mods together, I mean if Arwen did it, I can but still. I don't want to mess up.

 

@ Sabat9 - very useful information there, point 1 and 2 cleared it up a lot for me, thanks. Well I got my character up to 24 before realizing what the game was turning into so I came back and put in Arwen's Realism Tweaks and the ReduceXPR tweaks, and am now lvl 5 with 10 hours gameplay, and I have no interest AT ALL of starting again xD So thats why I'm being cautious here.

[SoupDiddly]

MMM In the "Files" section, there are two options; the Marts Mutant Mod 1-RC5 and the Mutant Mod 1-RC5 FOMOD.

What is the difference, and what is this FOMOD?

[Lurker101]

The FOMOD version is built specifically to be used with FOMM. In most cases, FOMODs take the hassle out of choosing and selecting the various .esps within a package.

[SoupDiddly]

The FOMOD version is built specifically to be used with FOMM. In most cases, FOMODs take the hassle out of choosing and selecting the various .esps within a package.

 

Thanks a bunch. So it's recommended I should go with the FOMOD file?

[BadPenney]

The FOMOD version is built specifically to be used with FOMM. In most cases, FOMODs take the hassle out of choosing and selecting the various .esps within a package.

 

Thanks a bunch. So it's recommended I should go with the FOMOD file?

Yes. An advantage to installing FOMODs with FOMM is that it will place all of the support files in the proper subdirectories so that the mod works properly to begin with, and it will also make removing a mod very easy if you decide that you don't want it anymore. Without using FOMM and FOMODs you must hunt down and delete any supporting files yourself if you want to uninstall a mod. Using FOMM to uninstall FOMODs does all of that work for you.

 

I didn't post because of your threat. I'm already dead.

[SoupDiddly]

The FOMOD version is built specifically to be used with FOMM. In most cases, FOMODs take the hassle out of choosing and selecting the various .esps within a package.

 

Thanks a bunch. So it's recommended I should go with the FOMOD file?

Yes. An advantage to installing FOMODs with FOMM is that it will place all of the support files in the proper subdirectories so that the mod works properly to begin with, and it will also make removing a mod very easy if you decide that you don't want it anymore. Without using FOMM and FOMODs you must hunt down and delete any supporting files yourself if you want to uninstall a mod. Using FOMM to uninstall FOMODs does all of that work for you.

 

I didn't post because of your threat. I'm already dead.

 

Haw haw haw.... ._.

 

Anyway, awesome, I think I'm finally getting all this.

[SoupDiddly]

Okay, another big chunk of confusion has landed on me. Im now downloading all 31 of those mods previously stated, and extracting them directly to my desktop. I've noticed that some of the files from the various mods i'm downloading are automatically combining with the Textures/Meshes folders putting ALL the mods texture/mesh thingies together. I don't know what to do now...