No luck with mods

[rougie29]

So I just started modding my Fallout 4 today after a long and happy relationship with skyrim modding (well uh.. love-hate...) I made all of the recommended .ini edits that are required for some reason in Fallout 4, and checked that there were asterisks next to my plugins in the appdata folder. After installing my mods and running with skse, I can get into the game but none of my mods appear to be having an effect on the game. Hair mods show up invisible, body mod not showing up, etc. I'm totally clueless on what the problem is and I'm not finding anything about it that I haven't seen before. I made sure the mods showed up as active in the in-game mods menu as well. Help!

[Gilibran]

Invisible does sound like misplaced files same as mods not showing up at all. A few things to double check.

 

Check the FO4 steam folder are the esp files visible?

 

Are you using the Nexus mod manager?

 

Everything on the same disk, FO4 and NMM?

 

Did you start on a fresh installation of FO4 and ran the game at least once for the correct ini files to be generated? Though you can use .ini files from prior installations it's not recommended.

 

Double and triple check you modified the Fallout4Custom.ini file in mygames not the fallout4.ini with:

 

[Archive]

bInvalidateOlderFiles=1

sResourceDataDirsFinal=

 

Latest version of F4SE and run it as admin?

 

Reset archive invalidation through NMM, invisible means the meshes are there but the textures are not showing up.

 

Verify local files through steam?

[Moksha8088]

Rougie, like Gilibran asked, are you using NMM to install and activate the mods? That helps remove any user error.

[rougie29]

Alrighty... So I've got a new problem now that comes before mods are even involved. I've done a clean install (wiped the fallout 4 documents/my games folder, and the steamapps folder). The game CTD on startup now... I have a software that edits the ini files for me to enable modding, and after running that the game will start up once. After closing for the first time, it will ctd every startup after that. So I'm rage quitting for a few hours and playing skyrim.. But if I do manage to fix that with another clean install, yes I have been using NMM to install and activate all but one mod (modern weapons). I had the latest version of f4se and ran it as admin. I think there might be some very little detail that is off here, but the fact that my game is crashing vanilla now is confusing me.

[Gilibran]

After closing for the first time, it will ctd every startup after that.

 

Is that with or without mods?

 

 

Here's what you need to do:

 

1. a Uninstall any mods through NMM

1. b Delete everything again > My games and the FO4 steam folder.

1. c Go to you local appdata folder (C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Fallout4)

 

( http://www.solveyourtech.com/how-to-find-the-appdata-folder-in-windows-7/ )

 

and delete everything but these two lines in the Plugins.text document:

 

# This file is used by the game to keep track of your downloaded content.

# Please do not modify this file. (> ignore this for now :-) )

 

2. Re-install the game

 

3. After installation, do nothing else and backup the entire FO4 steam folder

 

4. Run the game without any mods once, choose the graphic settings you want, and play through the intro until just before you leave the vault and make a hard save (before you step on the elevator)

 

5. Leave the vault and make another hard save

 

6. Quit and go to your Mygames folder

 

7. Backup the 2 hard saves and the newly generated un-modified INI files.

 

-Fallout4

-Fallout4Custom

-Fallout4Prefs

 

8. Open up Fallout4Custom.ini and manually add:

 

[Archive]
bInvalidateOlderFiles=1
sResourceDataDirsFinal=

 

Forget about that software that edits your INI file.

 

9. Backup the modifed Fallout4Custom.ini

 

10. Install the latest version of F4SE manually ( http://f4se.silverlock.org/ ) and make sure you add the F4SE launcher through the custom command line. (click the gear in NMM > Fallout 4 Tab > add the location of F4SE, should look something like this Command: C:\Steam\SteamApps\common\Fallout 4\f4se_loader

 

10a. Start up Fallout 4 by selecting "Launch F4SE" and check it runs with both saves, use the first to check if everything works by changing your character and exit the vault. Load the second and go see Codsworth as a test.

 

11. Make sure you have the latest version of NMM and it is correctly installed with all the correct folder paths.

 

11a. Install LOOT http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/5310/?

 

Once that works you can start activating mods one by one.

 

12. Use the NMM feature "Add mod from file" and select the Modern firearms archive to add it to NMM, no need to manualy install it. FInd a download for the latest version or install it through Bethesda.net

 

Make absolutely sure you meet all the requirements for every mod you install by reading the mod page. If you miss a requirement the game will look for that file on startup and when it does not find it, instant CTD. Also check for incompatibilities, find a compatlibility patch or choose which of the 2 conflicting mods you want and delete the other.

 

You can install mods in batches of 5-10, standalone weapons and armor are usually safe that way. Use the console to Toggle God Mode (TGM) and build workshops in Sanctuary to see if they all show up.

 

If you get a CTD deactivate the mods you installed last one by one to find the one that causes the CTD. When you find it go to the modpage using the NMM link and look for incompatibility with any of your other installed mods. (a good indication is the Plugin tab in NMM and any red line you see there)

 

Bigger mods install those one at a time and after each install startup the game and verify it works.

 

Once you have all the mods you want activated run LOOT and let it set your loadorder. Watch for any messages LOOT gives you and check for any solution if neccesary.

 

Now if you ever mess up your game again or run into trouble from a mod and fixes like verifying cache through Steam or any other fixes do not work. Simply use the NMM uninstall all active mods feature and delete everything again, use the backup you created to quickly install the game again.

 

 

I hope this helps, i have'nt had coffee yet but i don't think i forgot something.

 

Good luck

[rougie29]

Thank you for such detailed feedback. Unfortunately I'm still having problems. I have no mods installed, the game is completely vanilla. I deleted everything, documents, appdata, and steamapps folders, then reinstalled. I did what you said, running the game once and playing the beginning through with hard saves. I edited the custom.ini, installed f4se, and the game crashed before the logo screen. I tried verifying files and running again, running f4se as administrator, no luck. This means it has something to do with either the ini files or the appdata folder but I don't know what.

[Gilibran]

Ok, so you can play just as long as you do not edit the ini files or install F4SE, that is weird.

 

Do you launch trhough Nexus Mod Manager, and did you make sure you installed that 100% correct with the right folder paths? If you launch through NMM, a faulty installation is the only other thing i can come up with.

 

Use this to set up NMM:

 

http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/news/12660/?

 

 

Go back 2 steps

 

place the custom ini backup without the edits back

 

Uninstall F4SE

 

Verify the game startsup again.

 

Then only do the ini edit and verify the game launches, if it does not it's the ini edit, but that seems highly unlikely to me.

 

if it runs, reinstall F4SE using this guide:

 

http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/videos/230/?

 

Try again, there is no reason it should not work with just the ini edit and F4SE and NMM installed correctly and no mods active.

[AbleOne]

I had this problem. Go to your anti virus software and make sure that Fallout.exe and F$SE are on your exemption list!

[snapper69]

Make sure that the version of F4SE is compatible with the game version that you are using.

[Moksha8088]

Have you checked to make sure you have the windows files which Fallout 4 needs such a Framework, DX11, etc...?