Problem with Frost

[greenhornet59]

Hi, I was wondering if someone can let me know what I am doing wrong with Frost, I downloaded frost along with the save files "Frost Start Female.FOS and the Male one, I started the game through the male start and got killed virtually within 5 minutes which sent me back to the beginning, so I thought I would carry on with my normal game and come back to it later.

 

The save file in my normal game is where I am using the Outcasts and Remanants Mod along with Fusion city and I am at the stage where I get time travelled back to kill Hitler, anyway teleporting back to the Raiders den I found that there was a feral ghoul in the raiders den and everyone was attacking it and when I went to shoot it it came up with a pop up box to send the ghoul to a settlement as if it was a companion who I had wronged, so then I thought what the hell is going on here, so I fast travelled out of there and went back to Diamond City where the ghoul turned up again and everyone in diamond city started firing at me and the ghoul, the ghoul attacked the residents and it all went pear shaped there on in.

 

So I quit the game and deleted all the saves of Frost, because all this went haywire after I had put these new mods in and then went back into the game at a earlier save and everything was then fine, I want to have a go at Frost but it says not to start a new game but use the save files but it seems to me by having these in the save file directory with the rest of the normal files it somehow transposes itself into the vanilla game and affects that, do you think that to be the case!!!! and how can I start Frost without this happening again.

[greenhornet59]

Just further to the above post, I know no one has replied but at this stage as I said in the first post I would like to start playing Frost but I am a little bit concerned considering what happened with my existing mods, I have looked at quite a bit of information to do with installing Frost and I don't think I did anything wrong from that aspect but someone was saying it is best to un tick the mods in Mod Organizer and just leave the mods which relate to Frost and then I suppose if I wanted to go back to the vanilla game then I re tick the vanilla mods and un tick the Frost mods.

 

Is there a way to create a second lot of saves so the Frost saves (male and female)l can be attached to that so any saves then made through playing frost will not impact on the vanilla saves. Any advice will be appreciated.

[MissingMeshTV]

If you’re using Mod Organizer (MO2 more specifically) you should really be making a separate profile for FROST and using it when you want to play it. Then switch back to your default profile for playing the vanilla game. MO2 does a far better job with profile switching then NMM and is well suited for this sort of thing. In the FROST profile just activate FROST itself plus any mods you want to use with it. Then you can switch back and forth between profiles without needing to manually activate/deactivate things and run the risk of missing something.

There really isn’t any harm in keeping the FROST saves mixed with your vanilla saves. But I actually prefer to keep them separate to prevent the Saves folder from getting too bloated. Plus, I don’t have to sort through my various vanilla characters when looking for my FROST characters

You can easily set up a second Saves folder for FROST use only. Just make a new folder in your Documents\My Games\Fallout4 folder (same one as your vanilla Saves folder), name it Saves-FROST...or something like that. Put the FROST start saves in it. Now when you want to play FROST, rename the folder with your vanilla saves (to something like Saves-MAIN for example). Then rename Saves-FROST to just Saves. Start the game...it will read the Saves folder with the FROST files. When you want to play the vanilla gave again just reverse the process.

I actually have an additional install of FO4 used exclusively for FROST. If you use MO2 it might be overkill if you use the profiles functions, but I just prefer to keep huge overhauls like FROST totally separate and isolated from my vanilla game. I started doing a second install when I was using NMM because its profile switching is so clunky and unpredictable. I’ve seen several FROST Let’s Plays where the game eventually breaks because certain mods didn’t get deactivated when the player switched profiles...Survivors were showing up as Raiders and Gunners for starters. After seeing that I decided FROST should live in its own install. It't the most trouble-free solution for any overhaul mod if you still have a vanilla game you want to play. Again, it might be overkill when using MO2 profile switching...just a matter or preference.

[greenhornet59]

Thanks RedRocketTV, now that there is what I call an answer, that is probably the best answer I have got to a query to date, thanks very much, I will try and do what you have mentioned, do you know if there is a youtube video or something that can visually walk me through especially the last part of the answer about the second install.

 

If not then I will attempt to do what you have mentioned.

[MissingMeshTV]

Making a second install isn't hard, it just takes a little planning and thinking ahead. I actually have three installs: one for gameplay, one for mod making/testing and one for FROST. I don’t know of any tutorials so here’s the Readers’ Digest version of how I’ve done mine.

There are actually two options. Both methods involve doing the folder renaming routine I mentioned earlier with the Saves folder when you want to switch installations. The end goal is to have two separate installs with a dedicated Saves folder for each.

The easy and quick way is to just duplicate your current FO4 install folder...copy and paste it. Windows will add “- Copy” to the end of the folder name. Once it finishes copying rename it “Fallout 4-FROST”. That will be your FROST install. When you are ready to give FROST a shot, you’ll just need to rename your “main” vanilla install folder to “Fallout 4-MAIN” (or anything you want) and rename the FROST install to just “Fallout 4.” If you don’t already have FROST installed in the FROST game folder, you’ll need to install it of course. The only real problem with doing it this way is that you end up copying all the mods and such from your vanilla game, most of which you may not want to use for FROST so you’ll want to go and take the time to uninstall them.

The second method (and the one I recommend) takes longer but is worth the time. This way will give you a fresh install of FO4. First, rename your game install folder (Fallout 4-MAIN….anything. Just make sure the name gets changed. The reason being is you DON’T want Steam to find it ) Next, open Steam and have it verify your FO4 game files. Since you’ve renamed your game folder, Steam can’t find anything to verify so it will download the files it thinks are missing...as in all of them...so you’ll get a full new install of FO4. This will become your FROST game folder.

Once Steam gets done installing your new copy, install Mod Organizer. Then install FROST and all the mods you want to use with it. Then you can do the folder renaming shuffle (along with your Saves folder) as previously mentioned. That’s pretty much it.

One other thing I like about MO2 is that you can do a “portable” install and have it install right in the game folder along with all its files and you rmods. It makes backing up your game folder or moving it to another drive a piece o’ cake.

I seem to recall someone posting a batch file that will automatically swap the game folder names...you might take a look in the Modders Resource section for it. That would make life easier if it works. I never tried it because I think it only worked if there were two folders were on the same drive, and I have three installs spread across two drives. But it might make things easier if you can track it down.

One last tidbit about the Saves folder. I actually went a step further and made separate Fallout 4 folders in Documents\My Games for each of my installs. Within each one I have have a Saves folder, the .ini files, etc. I just copied my “main” vanilla folder, cleared out the Saves folder(s) and do the same rename shuffle for the one I want to use. I got sick of having to drill down into the Saves level to make the name change. So instead of changing the Saves folder like I mentioned earlier, I have my duplicates up a level in the file path.

So I have in my Documents\My Games:

Fallout 4 (which is my “main” folder for mod dev/testing)

Fallout 4-NEW (which is my “new” install for my current gameplay)

Fallout 4-FROST (which is for, you guessed...FROST)

I rename the one I want similar to how I described doing with the Saves folder. It's just quicker for me to get to since I've pinned My Games to the Quick Access in the file browser.

I hope that all makes sense. It’s easier to just “do” this stuff than it is to explain it sometimes. :laugh:

Anyway, hope it helps. FROST has been 100% problem free for me by giving it its own install. If I were to ever try another huge overhaul like Horizon or Immersive Gameplay I’d do the same thing.

Edit for clarity: Since this all might sound a little jumbled, here's a TLDR on the folder name change shuffle...

1. You'll end up with two game folders: Fallout 4 and Fallout 4-FROST

2. You'll end up with two Saves folders: Saves and Saves-FROST (unless you rename the Fallout 4 folder at the My Games level as I mentioned above)

3. When you want to play FROST, rename the Fallout 4 folder to Fallout 4-MAIN (just for example) and the FROST folder to just Fallout 4.

4. Do the same thing for your Saves folder.

5. Reverse the process when you want to go back to the vanilla game.

Hope that makes it simpler!

[greenhornet59]

Thanks very much for the advice, much appreciated.