Loot Bug Making FNV UNPLAYABLE

[madetokill45]

After not playing FNV for 5 months I decided to play today. I started a brand new game and encountered a loot bug. Every single lootable container from lockers to safes to toolboxes and everything in between has the exact same loot. The loot is a collection of the stuff you would find in Doc Mitchell's house at the beginning of the game. This loot bug replaces all loot in all containers in the world with this loot, and even puts the loot in all empty containers despite them still saying <Empty>. This also replaces any quest item that would've been in that container.

I do run some mods but none of them do anything to global loot. The items mods I have do not appear in the repeating loot problems.

FIXES I HAVE TRIED THAT HAVE FAILED: Uninstalling and reinstalling the game AND all mods 6 times, waiting 7 days several times in an attempt to reset loot, restarting the game, restarting my computer, and starting new games.

IMPORTANT UPDATE (also posted in the comments): I decided to once again delete all mods and reinstall the game fresh. I started the game as vanilla ultimate edition with NO mods. The problem still exists. This means the issue is with the game itself and not mods.

EDIT: Adding additional info as required by the comment of 'dubiousintent'.

Computer Desktop Specs as well as questions answered from the How To Ask For Help link:

CPU- Intel i6 Quad Core 3.3 GHz

Graphics- NVIDIA 950 GTX 2GB

RAM- 16 GB

Resolution- 1920x1080

SATA HDD Total Space- 1 TB.

SATA HDD Free Space- 140 GB.

Windows 10 Premium 64 bit.

File Path: C:\Program Files( x86)\steam\steamapps\common\Fallout New Vegas.

Game is run as Administrator.

Unable to find Game Version but it is the latest version that Steam has.

All DLC, Ultimate Edition.

Nexus Mod Manager manages every single mod. None downloaded manually or through another manager.

LOOT is used to manage load order.

I have NOT applied a patch to increase memory.

The game worked since purchase several years ago even until I stopped playing several months ago. However, this problem occurred today after touching the game for the first time since.

I have tried verifying steam files.

I have not renamed or moved any INI files.

I do not have "Hide known file extensions enabled.

Load order provided by LOOT:

0 0 FalloutNV.esm

1 1 DeadMoney.esm

2 2 HonestHearts.esm

3 3 OldWorldBlues.esm

4 4 LonesomeRoad.esm

5 5 GunRunnersArsenal.esm

6 6 ClassicPack.esm

7 7 MercenaryPack.esm

8 8 TribalPack.esm

9 9 CaravanPack.esm

10 a Advanced Recon Tech.esm

11 b War Never Changes.esm

12 c Military Explansion Program.esm

13 d SecretBunker-PlayerHome.esp

14 e Project Nevada - Core.esm

15 f Project Nevada - Equipment.esm

16 10 Project Nevada - Rebalance.esp

17 11 Project Nevada - Cyberware.esp

18 12 NevadaSkies.esm

19 13 SomeguySeries.esm

20 14 AEVegas.esm

21 15 Mission Mojave - Ultimate Edition.esp

22 16 CNR_Beta.esp

23 17 War Never Changes.esp

24 18 Forward Obsever.esp

25 19 The New Bison Steve Hotel.esp

26 1a Advanced Recon Armor.esp

27 1b Advanced Recon Tech.esp

28 1c THOR.esp

29 1d Advanced Recon Gear.esp

30 1e NewVegasBounties.esp

31 1f NewVegasBountiesII.esp

32 20 courierpowerarmor.esp

33 21 NCR_DesertV2.esp

34 22 NekhCFinderFix.esp

35 23 PerkEveryLevel.esp

36 24 EVE FNV - ALL DLC.esp

37 25 The Mod Configuration Menu.esp

38 26 Zan_AutoPurge_SmartAgro_NV.esp

39 27 30mmVladimirGun.esp

40 28 Jswords4freeDMGPlus5.esp

41 29 Jswords4sale.esp

42 2a Jswords4free.esp

43 2b Jswords4saleDMGPlus5.esp

44 2c L96.esp

45 2d m24.esp

46 2e NewVegasBountiesIII.esp

47 2f turrets.esp

48 30 ScanvengerWonder.esp

49 31 HAS Heavy Assault Shotgun.esp

50 32 Donta1979 MK117 Prototype Armor.esp

51 33 HN66FoggierKatanaNV.esp

52 34 AntiMaterialRifleRanger.esp

53 35 CAGE 1.9.3.2.esp

54 36 Kriss.esp

55 37 rocketgatv2.esp

56 38 Scout.esp

57 39 ReaverKleaver.esp

58 3a Advanced Recon Armor-Location Doc Mitchell.esp

59 3b Advanced Recon Armor-Easier Stealth.esp

60 3c MiniNukeRedGlareRockets.esp

61 3d nukesub.esp

62 3e NevadaSkies - Ultimate DLC Edition.esp

Edited October 18, 2017 by madetokill45

[dubiousintent]

Please provide ALL the information requested in the wiki "How to ask for help" article.

We REALLY need to see your sorted "load order" as produced by LOOT; to include the main game and DLC files. With modded games, its the sequence, not merely the list of mods, which is the cause of many problems. LOOT's sort gives a good first approximation, correcting the most obvious issues and is sufficient for most players. Instructions are in the "How to ask for help" article, and "Checklist Item #11' entry in the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide.

Do not use an "Auto-purge" mod for game play. (That was old advice from before we knew better.) They are designed for debugging by mod creator's only, according to the author of the JIP NVSE extensions to NVSE. See the 'Issue: CTD without warning, "Out of Memory error", or stops responding after the Main Menu', "Cause-2", "Solution-3" entry in the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide for the game settings that do the same job.

Please see the 'Vanilla "Load Order"', 'Towards Game Stability', 'Third Rule: The Rule of One', 'Smaller Plugin Cap', and 'Merge Patch file' sections of the wiki "FNV General Mod Use Advice" article.

-Dubious-

[madetokill45]

I have edited the post to provide the information required by your How To Ask Your Help link. Please let me know if you require more info. While I do know the anti crash auto purge is unnecessary, I cannot get rid of it. Whenever I do, I begin to experience periodic unexplained crashes to desktop. When this is in place, the crashes stop entirely. But that is a topic for another day. I only wish to focus on the looting issues.

[madetokill45]

I also am not sure this is a mod issue. I have had the same list of mods for over a year now. I keep them updated and haven't changed them, nor have I deleted/added new mods. Yet suddenly this is happening.

[dubiousintent]

Well, the problem seems to be that the formlists which determine what appears in containers are basically identical. As that is unlikely, it most likely suggests that they are not loading properly. Which in turn suggests a problem with "not enough memory".

 

As you have been updating mods, that is the most likely cause as they can change your memory footprint between then and now. (Most updates tend to require more code.) Consequently I suggest that the easiest, simplest "fix" is to apply the FNV 4GB Patcher. This should only improve things on your system.

 

In addition, there have also been monthly Windows "system updates" over those five months. While you have been able to run the game installed to the "C:\Program Files" tree in the past, MS is constantly updating "security" over it's "special" folders with every update. Each time it resets various security features as a precaution against the constantly evolving malware environment.

 

If the "patcher" alone is not sufficient to resolve your problem, please see the wiki "Installing Games on Windows Vista+" article for why the original default Steam behavior of installing games to the "C:\Program Files" folder tree was bad (they learned better, and don't do that any more); and why "disabling UAC and running as Administrator" is NOT sufficient, with instructions how to move it. This is the single most important thing you can do to fix and protect yourself against problems in the future. As much of a PITA as that is, it's never going to be any easier than now.

 

Your hardware is sufficient to the task (obviously), and other than some mods I am not familiar with, I don't see anything in the load order that raises any flags, EXCEPT the "jswords" plugins. Not familiar with them but they seem like they are optional files you should be choosing between. Might want to recheck their install instructions.

 

As for the "AutoPurge" plugin, if it seems to be essential for your situation then by all means continue to use it.

 

Note that a "merge patch" file might help with the "formlists" issue as well. (I've been tracking the developments in Wrye Bash and have lost track of what was implemented in which versions.)

 

-Dubious-

[madetokill45]

I installed the 4GB patch as instructed. Although it did help the game itself run a bit smoother, it did not fix my current situation.

 

I have moved my FNV game files to the Games folder in my C drive. PITA and it took awhile but it had to be done. No changes to the game or the problem afterwards.

 

The "jswords" plugin is a small-ish plugin that adds a handful of swords to the game like katanas and german longswords that are obtainable via merchants that sell weapons.

 

I will do some digging on merge patches, as well as a plugin-related idea I have and get back to you here.

[madetokill45]

My idea didn't work

[madetokill45]

UPDATE: I decided to once again delete all mods and reinstall the game fresh. I started the game as vanilla ultimate edition with NO mods. The problem still exists. This means the issue is with the game itself.

[dubiousintent]

Almost certainly the problem lies in either your "leftover" INI files or a corrupted game file. There is more involved to reinstalling than just running the "verify local files" process. A true "reinstall" involves removing the previous game using the Windows Control Panel (to include manually removing the INI files in the "Users" folder), rebooting (to remove any DLLs and drivers still running in memory), and downloading/installing from the source (either Steam or GOG).

 

It's easy to overlook a step. Please see the 'Game INI files' and 'Restoring to "Vanilla"' sections of the wiki "FNV General Mod Use Advice" article.

 

-Dubious-

[madetokill45]

After clicking that link, it seemed I had done everything listed in those steps except one INI I missed. I deleted that and did a registry check. I will now begin installing FNV again.