Fallout New Vegas constantly crashing with Mods

[Jav3lin75]

So I started modding New Vegas, looking up several video tutorials how to set everything up. I installed NVSE already, along with the 4GB patch and running it vanilla with those it runs fine. As soon as I start adding a mod like the FCO or texture mods the game will have stutters, and either crash on the map or after I go into a building. I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing wrong at this point, I found a patch for FCO to help load some textures and it worked, even have 2 anti crash mods that some have recommended in videos and I have LOOT to load my mods. I'm really stuck on trying to figure out how to get this thing to run.

Edited February 25, 2018 by Jav3lin75

[dubiousintent]

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 on how to copy it's list for posting are in the "How to ask for help" article, and "Checklist Item #11' entry in the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide.

All of the following may not apply to your specific situation, but are worth repeating anyway.

* Be aware that one error may mask a number of other errors, which will not appear until those masking them have been resolved. Building a stable game consists of resolving each problem individually until none remain, and then realizing that every change you make thereafter (including updates to mods already installed) run the risk of introducing new problems. Be prepared to revert to a previous save if you do so.

* Did you install Steam to it's default location? If so, 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. Please see the 'Restoring to "Vanilla"' section of the wiki "FNV General Mod Use Advice" article as well.

If you did move Steam out of the default location, then likely any access privilege problem is one of "File and Folder permissions" on the parent "root" folder under which you installed the games. If this is not set correctly to allow at least "System", "Administrators", and "Users" to have "Full Control" then you can't overwrite other files or make changes. You then need to enable the "Properties | Security | Advanced | Change Permissions" setting of the parent folder to enable the box: "Replace all child object permissions with inheritable permissions from this object", so those changes get applied to the existing files and sub-folders.

* Are you running Win10? Did you get the "Fall Creator's Update" (FCU aka "RedStone 3")? Do you have "New Vegas Stutter Remover" (NVSR) installed? If all three are "true", then please see the 'Issue: Recent (post-Win10 FCU) CTDs after 10-20 minutes of play' (and other "heap size") entries in the 'Solutions to Performance problems' section in the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide.

The FCU update was released in mid-November 2017, so a "brand new" system probably did not come with it installed. However, the default configuration is usually to have OS updates automatically installed. (Those usually start being distributed on the second Tuesday of each month, but may take a week or more to get to everyone.) See the MS "Get the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update" article for how to check your version release and manually pull down the update if necessary. It is important to keep your OS always "up to date" to prevent malware infections.

Please see the 'Issue: NVSE - fails to load after update KB4058043 to Win10 FCU (v1709)' entry in the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide, where it talks about configuring for an application in the "Windows Defender Exploit Guard (WDEG)".

* Are you using the 4GB Patcher? If not, please see the 'Maximizing use of memory' section of the wiki "FNV General Mod Use Advice" article.

* If you are using the full 4GB of memory, most likely your CTD problem (now or in the future) is the default "heap size" is too small. Please see the 'Solutions to "Crash To Desktop" (CTD) problems' section in the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide.

* Move any "inactive" plugins out of the game "Data" folder. They count against the "plugin cap" because they get loaded by the game engine if found, and can cause "Missing Master" problems. Please see the wiki "Missing Masters" article if you get that error message.

* "Compatibility patches" to make one mod work with another need to be placed after (as in "physically lower, higher numbered") in the "load order" than both of the plugins they are designed to make compatible. ESMs should always be placed at the top (lowest numbered) positions in the "load order", followed by the related ESPs though they can be separated from their ESMs by other plugins. "LOOT" does a good job of determining those basic orders. Getting the "load order" incorrect will cause "Missing Master" errors as well.

* Don't install compatibility patches for mods you do not have installed/active (e.g. get rid of any "TTW" patches if you aren't running TTW).

* Don't install every optional file for a mod. Read the install instructions carefully. Optional files need to be selected on a "case by case" basis. For example: with any mod you usually only need one ESP (and possibly one ESM) "base" file depending upon whether you have all the DLCs active or not. Only if you don't have them all active do you need to install any specific DLC versions if there is an "Ultimate Edition/All/Merged DLC" version.

* 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 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 paragraph about "auto-saves" under the 'Essentials for Getting Started' section of the wiki "FNV General Mod Use Advice" article. If you have been using the built-in "auto-save" feature and you get the endless "roulette wheel" when loading a save game, then your current save game file is corrupted and you will have to either go back to a save before the corruption occurred (hard to tell) or start over.

-Dubious-