A challenge to any FO3 fix experts!!!

[Bazerk83]

Ok, this is going to be a bit of a read but I hope there is someone here who is willing to undertake the challenge I'm about to set out.

 

I've been trying my absolute most to get Fallout 3 to run as smoothly as I possibly can, with minimal success. I'm practically at a dead end now as to any further steps I can take. So here it is, I'll start from the top.

 

My PC specifications

 

Motherboard: ASUS M4N82 Deluxe

CPU: AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.80 GHz

Memory: x2 2GB DDR3

Graphics Card: Nvidia GEforce GTX 260 (Gainward)

Sound: Creative Labs SoundBlaster X-Fi Fatal1ty Xtreme Gamer

OS: Windows 7 Professional 32-bit

 

Now for the steps I took installing Fallout 3. This was on a fresh install of Windows. I'll bullet point to make it easier to read.

 

- Closed all visibly running applications

 

- Uninstalled Graphics & Sound card drivers

- Rebooted and ran Driver sweeper to remove registry files of Graphics & Audio (executed 3 times for thoroughness)

- Installed latest Graphics card drivers (Website) & Installed Sound Card drivers from disc supplied (better than latest on website)

- Installed latest GPU driver package for NCore. (Nvidia)

- Installed Directx11 and Directx11 update

- Uninstalled .net framework 3.5

- Rebooted, Installed .net Framework 4.0 & Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 x86

- Uninstalled and Reinstalled OpenAL

- Installed Latest Creative ALchemy (loaded Fallout 3 later via registry address and added FOMM folder)

- Ran Setup and Installed Fallout 3 (GOTY edition) (via run as admin) to non-windows installation hard drive.

- Installed disc 2 expansions (via safe mode & run as admin)

- Downloaded latest Games for Windows Live and installed (to correct xlive.dll glitch)

- Installed and ran Games4Windows Live remover

- Ran Fallout 3 (to load .ini files)

- Exited Fallout 3 and edited .ini files using TweakGuides (was sure not to input values too high)

- Rebooted, Defragemented Hard Disks.

- Installed Archive Invalidation Invalidated, FOMM and FOSE loader.

- Installed mods (list and loadout below)

- Installed K-Lite codec pack and added Fallout 3 AND FOMM to sound and video list

- Installed RivaTuner but did not touch settings or overclock whatsoever. (Installed merely to use D3Doverrider

- Added Fallout 3 to D3DOverrider and forced vSync off.

- Added Fallout 3 and forced Vsync off in Nvidia Control Panel

- Installed FO3edit and added FO3 MasterUpdate

- Applied and arranged loadout and ran FO3edit. Checked for errors. None. Created Merged Patch. Waited for errors. None.

- Applied ArchiveInvalidation

- Checked MergedPatch in FOMM

- Ran FO3 MasterUpdate. No errors. Saved.

- Installed and edited Maximised Window.

- Removed "read-only" to Fallout 3 folder and subfolders.

- Applied compatability to Fallout3.exe and FOMM.exe to run as Windows Vista SP2

- Applied Full permissions to Fallout3.exe for admin AND Baz-Pc (Baz being me, lol)

- When playing, loaded Maximised Window (via right-click run as admin) then same for FOMM and hit "run FOSE"

 

Sorry for the long drawn out list but I wanted to include every step. I MAY have forgotten a few things that I've done but if I did it's because I've literally tried every tip I've found. So I may have forgotten certain things. Feel free to ask me about them.

 

Now for my loadout

 

----------------------

 

Fallout3.esm

Anchorage.esm

ThePitt.esm

BrokenSteel.esm

PointLookout.esm

Zeta.esm

CrossModData.esm

CALIBR.esm

Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch.esm

Mart's Mutant Mod.esm

FOOK2 - Main.esm

FOOK2 - [*censored*] World And Neighbourhood Kit.esm

FOOK2 - [DIK] DLC Improvement Kit.esm

20th Century Weapons.esm

Animy_prostitution.esm

Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch - Operation Anchorage.esp

Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch - The Pitt.esp

Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch - Broken Steel.esp

Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch - Point Lookout.esp

Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch - Mothership Zeta.esp

FOOK2 - Main.esp

FOOK2 - [DIK] DLC Improvement Kit.esp

FOOK2 - Mothership Zeta.esp

FOOK2 - [EVE] Energy Visuals Enhanced.esp

FOOK2_NPCs_on_Jet_Fix.esp

FOOK Ammo fix.esp

UPP - Pack 1.esp

UPP - Pack 2.esp

UPP - Original Perks.esp

UPP - Quest Perks.esp

Overhead3PCamera.esp

BlackWolf Backpack.esp

BlackWolf Backpack - Vendor Script Replenish.esp

BlackWolf Backpack - Blank's Container Patch.esp

BlackWolf Backpack - Vanilla Big Guns Fix.esp

BlackWolf Backpack - Anchorage Gauss Rifle Fix.esp

BlackWolf Backpack - Zeta Drone Cannon Fix.esp

RealAmmo.esp

stash3.esp

P94-95.esp

[DIK]_DLC_Transition_Hotfix.esp

TL_Freeze.esp

2nd Home at Tenpennys [Engl].esp

Sally Fix 2.1.esp

Simms' Ammo.esp

EVE.esp

EVE Operation Anchorage.esp

norepairneededv2.esp

Owned!.esp

KillableKidsOptional.esp

bzBodySuits.esp

bzArmour.esp

Mart's Mutant Mod.esp

Mart's Mutant Mod - DLC Anchorage.esp

Mart's Mutant Mod - DLC The Pitt.esp

Mart's Mutant Mod - DLC Broken Steel.esp

Mart's Mutant Mod - DLC Point Lookout.esp

Mart's Mutant Mod - DLC Zeta.esp

Mart's Mutant Mod - Hunting & Looting.esp

Mart's Mutant Mod - Natural Selection.esp

Mart's Mutant Mod - Zones Respawn.esp

Mart's Mutant Mod - No Wanamingos.esp

Mart's Mutant Mod - No Floaters.esp

Mart's Mutant Mod - No Skeleton Decay.esp

Merged.esp

 

and FOMM recommended loadout:

 

fallout3.esm

anchorage.esm

thepitt.esm

brokensteel.esm

pointlookout.esm

zeta.esm

unofficial fallout 3 patch.esm

calibr.esm

fook2 - main.esm

fook2 - [*censored*] world and neighbourhood kit.esm

fook2 - [dik] dlc improvement kit.esm

20th century weapons.esm

mart's mutant mod.esm

crossmoddata.esm

animy_prostitution.esm

unofficial fallout 3 patch - operation anchorage.esp

unofficial fallout 3 patch - the pitt.esp

unofficial fallout 3 patch - broken steel.esp

unofficial fallout 3 patch - point lookout.esp

unofficial fallout 3 patch - mothership zeta.esp

norepairneededv2.esp

upp - pack 1.esp

upp - pack 2.esp

upp - original perks.esp

upp - quest perks.esp

overhead3pcamera.esp

blackwolf backpack.esp

blackwolf backpack - vendor script replenish.esp

blackwolf backpack - blank's container patch.esp

blackwolf backpack - vanilla big guns fix.esp

blackwolf backpack - anchorage gauss rifle fix.esp

blackwolf backpack - zeta drone cannon fix.esp

realammo.esp

stash3.esp

fook2 - main.esp

fook2 - [eve] energy visuals enhanced.esp

fook2_npcs_on_jet_fix.esp

fook ammo fix.esp

fook2 - [dik] dlc improvement kit.esp

fook2 - mothership zeta.esp

p94-95.esp

[dik]_dlc_transition_hotfix.esp

tl_freeze.esp

2nd home at tenpennys [engl].esp

sally fix 2.1.esp

simms' ammo.esp

eve.esp

eve operation anchorage.esp

mart's mutant mod.esp

mart's mutant mod - dlc anchorage.esp

mart's mutant mod - dlc the pitt.esp

mart's mutant mod - dlc broken steel.esp

mart's mutant mod - dlc point lookout.esp

mart's mutant mod - dlc zeta.esp

mart's mutant mod - no floaters.esp

mart's mutant mod - no skeleton decay.esp

mart's mutant mod - no wanamingos.esp

mart's mutant mod - hunting & looting.esp

mart's mutant mod - natural selection.esp

mart's mutant mod - zones respawn.esp

killablekidsoptional.esp

bzbodysuits.esp

bzarmour.esp

owned!.esp

Merged.esp

 

After doing all of this, my game is still crashing every 30 minutes to an hour. These will be at random times and events, inside buildings and outside buildings. Whilst looting, fighting, exploring or even just walking through the wastelands to an undiscovered marker and it's sometimes when nowhere near water. Today it's been crashing every 5 - 15 minutes but I believe that's because I installed a newer version of a couple of mods and overwrote old textures with new ones because of the red triangle glitch. I still followed the golden rules regarding archive invalidation and FO3edit & masterupdate. Having then tested them in a saved game I got the expected warning that comes with using new/updated mods in a saved game, which is fine. The update cured the problems but I know that it's always best to start a new game after (which I will)

 

My problem is I know I'll still be crashing every half hour or so on a new saved game and other than a couple of things, I've tried almost everything.

 

I know some people recommend the pagefile tweak, I'm good with computers so I'm pretty sure I'll know what I'm doing if I did it but.... does it really help?

 

Also, there's advanced editing using FO3 edit but I really don't want to go into that for fear of screwing it up and having to completely start again.

 

SO....

 

My challenge to anyone who feels up to it (and if you've come this far you're clearly committed! lol) is to see if they can offer a possible solution. There are things in my process above that I am curious about. For example....

 

Is my loadout bad?

does turning off all save features really help? (tried it on previous installation and made no difference)

should I uninstall OpenAL for possible conflicting with ALchemy?

do I need to have FOMM in the K-lite list? or the D3Doverrider list?

is c++ 2010 the wrong version? (too new?)

should I have installed the official update before the unofficial update? (although it does say the unofficial update is for Fallout3 1.0)

 

 

I KNOW Fallout 3 will NEVER be crash free, but I've seen people on here claming they have ran the game without a crash for 4 hours+. If I could get mine running the same I'd be VERY HAPPY and would definately settle for that!

 

Lastly, I have a MASSIVE and highly recommended GPU heatsink fan installed onto my Graphics card and the fan is a very high end one. I also have high end fans installed on the side case and a huge turbine fan on the cases front with an outtake fan in the back. I'm positive my PC is not overheating.

 

Ok, I'll shut up now. If you HAVE read all of this (and I doubt many have) I'd like to thank you immensely, just for that. If you go further, I really do appreciate it.

 

If you can provide a real fix that reduces my crashes to every 3-4 hours or more....there may just be a reward :) (No, seriously).

 

Thank you again for reading all of this. You've got serious patience.

 

 

and good luck ;)

[falloutperson416]

Alright... i'm going to try to help you as best I can. I had the same problems in the past, exept I could'nt play for 5 minutes without a fail, so. Let's get started.

 

First of all. Your CPU... is it a quad core processor, duo, single, what is it?

 

The second thing I noticed is that you have Windows 7. Now, as I tell all of the people who say they have Windows 7, 7 has parts of it that are'nt compatible with Fallout. You have a 32 bit system. I, on the other hand, have a x64 bit. The reason that this matters is, with a 32 bit you can change the compatability. You can change it to operate with Fallout. With a x64 bit, you cant do that.

 

So, once you answer my CPU question, I might be able to solve your issue, as I did mine.

 

- Falloutperson416

[Bazerk83]

Thanks for the replly :)

 

It's a tri-core. Also an update. I did a little more research and discovered my PC was only running on one core. Which I've now changed to run on two cores.

 

I know FO3 doesn't like multi-core processors though, although I've only read that it doesn't like running on four. Should I revert back to one or keep it on 2?

 

Also. I swapped the pagefile to my other hard disk but lost patience with how slow the computer ran and have since switched back and am now waiting for my PC to start running at normal speed again.

 

Yeah I know, Against my better judgement, I should've just left it alone.

[redwes]

Keep it on 2. 2 is the max you can do with out Fallout 3. :) I run it on 2(...and mine never crashes. :confused:).

[Bazerk83]

2.2 what? cores or pagefile gigs?

[reisack]

2.2 what? cores or pagefile gigs?

 

 

yeah i think he's talking about cores.

 

By the way i almost use the same number of mods... but instead of FOOK, i use FWE.

 

Well speaking of your problem... to be honest i can play for many hours and my PC specs are a little bit under yours. But when i'm on areas with too many details.. sometimes my game freeze and crash. By the way i recommend u this page to tweak the amount of ram used by FO3. http://www.tweakguides.com/Fallout3_8.html. That's page 8 of the Tweakguide for F3, where it begins talking about the INI file. I think the only value I've changed is the "iPreloadSizeLimit=26214400" value, and I changed it to the author's recommended value for my memory.

 

This is the only help i can give u for now. Hope it works :thumbsup:

[anokii]

Methinks you also have some load problems and looking at your load order I suspect that's where the majority of your problems are coming from;

 

- Your using an older version of FOOK2 - known to be extremely buggy and caused the exact problem your referring to. If you want to use it grab the latest at; http://www.yourfook.com/downloads/

be sure to read the documentation as it is very important you get the install right

.

- Unofficial Patch - Broken Steel does have some problems and reportedly causes higher rate of CTD's - I personally don't use it anymore.

 

- your using several mods which are already in FOOK2 - (e.g. EVE, Owned, etc) mod duplication can cause problems like CTD.

 

- your using mods that have known compatiblity issues with FOOK2 (e.g. Animy_prostitution.esm)

 

I'm running the latest FOOK2 along with about 35 other mods and I can get 3-4 hours without a crash no problem. Personal experience is that outside the initial tweaks (mulit-core, ini tweaks, etc) it's the load order that will cause you the most problems and the incompatibilities between mods.

 

One last thing - you keep mentioning Archive Invalidation several times and I can't tell if your turning it off then back on then off then on........ You only need to do this once.

 

hope this helps.

[fap6000]

Nevermind, I'm not welcome here...

 

 

[fap6000]

Nevermind, I'm not welcome here...

 

 

[falloutperson416]

Methinks you also have some load problems and looking at your load order I suspect that's where the majority of your problems are coming from;

 

- Your using an older version of FOOK2 - known to be extremely buggy and caused the exact problem your referring to. If you want to use it grab the latest at; http://www.yourfook.com/downloads/

be sure to read the documentation as it is very important you get the install right

.

- Unofficial Patch - Broken Steel does have some problems and reportedly causes higher rate of CTD's - I personally don't use it anymore.

 

- your using several mods which are already in FOOK2 - (e.g. EVE, Owned, etc) mod duplication can cause problems like CTD.

 

- your using mods that have known compatiblity issues with FOOK2 (e.g. Animy_prostitution.esm)

 

I'm running the latest FOOK2 along with about 35 other mods and I can get 3-4 hours without a crash no problem. Personal experience is that outside the initial tweaks (mulit-core, ini tweaks, etc) it's the load order that will cause you the most problems and the incompatibilities between mods.

 

One last thing - you keep mentioning Archive Invalidation several times and I can't tell if your turning it off then back on then off then on........ You only need to do this once.

 

hope this helps.

 

Ahhhhhh! CAPS letters!