Load order blues

[FlyingHigh10000000]

Alright, for once I'm not actually asking for help. I'm giving aid to those that need it, and anyone else is welcome to contribute some advice, conflict-free load orders, or whatever else helps people.

 

First, we'll start with some general load order tips.

 

You'll need FOMM for this, if you don't already have it, for some reason.

 

1 - BOSS, FOMM's auto-sort tool, works great for SMALL load orders. Once you get around, oh, 70 or more plugins, BOSS stops being as effective, because for the most part, it leaves mods it doesn't recognize where they are, leading to conflicts, because it didn't actually sort your load order. Moral of the story, don't use BOSS unless you have a small load order, 50 or less.

 

2 - Categorize your mods. This is probably the single best bit of advice I can give anyone. My current load order consists of 215 plugins, not including master files. Put anything that modifies or creates armor together. Same for weapons. Leave those two groups at the TOP of your load list. Remember, the lower a mod is on the list, the more "important" it is to New Vegas. It will overwrite stuff above, and if you have a lot of mods, the last thing you want is a weapon mod that wasn't properly cleaned up screwing with something it doesn't have any business touching. Under those two categories, put your regular gameplay changes/fixes. This includes dialogue tweaks, interface stuff, quest fixes, unofficial patches, whatever. As long as they're not /really/ far-reaching in what they do, they belong here. Even stuff like Advanced Recon Gear goes here.

 

3 - At the very bottom of your load order, place all of the "big" or far-reaching mods. This means Real-Time Settler, Nevada Skies, armor replacers, plugins that add new locations or really work over existing ones. Basically, if it seems like it does a lot, and isn't just adding new weapons and armor, but NPCs, whatever, put it down here.

 

4 - Manage your ESMs too. Master files get overlooked, and BOSS sometimes sticks them where they don't belong. Have all ESM files, aka master files, at the TOP of your list, to get rid of any really silly conflicts that could occur because Advanced Recon Resources is below Advanced Recon Gear. FalloutNV.ESM is ALWAYS the first on the list. Trust me, it works. After that, put all official plugins, like the DLC packs. After those, put the other stuff.

 

Important note for anyone that makes companions using the RR Vault mod: Place your created companion master files after RR Companions Vault. I haven't tried it the other way, but this seems to work, so I would do it.

 

 

Now, recheck your ENTIRE load order. I can't stress this enough. Even if you're positive you got everything right, check it again. If you have any doubts after that, check it AGAIN. Make sure you are 100% sure you put everything where it should be.

 

Once that's done, export your load order using the convenient "Export" tab under the load order menu in FOMM. Name your file "loadorder.txt" or something, and put it in your main NV folder, where the regular launcher and game .exe are. Now, every time you update your mod list, or add a new one, re-export it, so it stays up-to-date in the case of some sort of bizarre tragedy involving zombies and your FOMM install.

 

Lastly, get FNVedit, the New Vegas version of FO3edit, and load every single plugin you have in your list, including master files. Just right-click, and use "Select All" in the initial menu. Wait for it to load, and then right-click on the left pane, where your mods are all located. It doesn't matter if you select all of the plugins beforehand, since it automatically does that for you when you right-click. Select "Create Merged Patch" and name it something unique. I tend to go with this formula: "(username) MP (month) (day)" Exit, confirm that you want to save your merged patch, and load up FOMM again. Check your merged patch, and make sure it's at the BOTTOM of your load order. It has every mod that messes with the same stuff as other mods as a master, so this is important as hell. Start up your game, load a save or start a new one, and you should be okay. If you still get conflicts, you likely:

 

1 - Have too many mods. The limit for me seems to stretch anywhere from 215 to 250 active plugins. At a certain point, the game just gives up and stops loading resources. It's annoying, but probably in place to prevent massive conflicts and memory usage that would crash a system or burn out the RAM.

 

2 - You have two mods that are too alike to work together, ever. In this case, which is quite rare, you'll have to say "adios" to one of your mods. Check out what seems to not appear, or bugs out the game, and load up the affected plugin, and anything else that could possibly conflict with it, in FNVedit. Search through the modified lists, under File Header, for each plugin, and see if any of them modify the same thing. If it's something like a vendor list, it's no big deal, as a merged patch fixes that. If it's something like a gun's model, again, it shouldn't be a big deal. I really don't have any experience with this, since I make a point to avoid having two mods at any time that mess with the same thing, excluding weapon mods and ammo types. They tend to overwrite each other anyway.

 

3 - Your load order is bugged somewhere. Check it again, and once more to be sure, then delete your merged patch, and create a new one.

 

Every time you make a new merged patch, I advice starting the game up without any merged patches loaded, saving, exiting, then making your new merged patch. This is referred to as "cleaning" the save. It keeps any fragments from the old merged patch from sticking in the save.

 

One more thing. If all of this fails, and you still get problems, start a new game. Saves have a habit of getting bugged in New Vegas, from the smallest things. Sometimes a fresh start will fix everything. I know how annoying it can be to have to restart, and do every single thing over again. Download a quick-start save, with no dependencies, and you won't have to sit through Doc Mitchell's annoying little speech about how awesome it was digging through your brain to pull bullet fragments out.

 

I seriously hope this helps folks with the same problems I seem to keep having when I get a new mod. This little guide was researched, thought of, and written, by me, so don't even think about claiming that I stole your guide or something. I did this on a whim after realizing that I'm probably not the only person who's ever had a ****ed up load list.