FNV crashes or freezes when loading

[HomeLAN]

Hello. I have recently tried to mod New Vegas in an attempt to make the game look more recent. I downloaded all of the preexisting fixes I could find, but the game continously crashes or freezes up. This usually happens either when starting the game, when loading my save, or when entering the world (interiors seem fine but exteriors freeze the game). My load order is:

 

Fallout NV
DeadMoney

HonestHearts

OldWorldBlues

LoneSomeRoad

GunRunnersArsenal

ClassicPack

MercenaryPack

TribalPack

CaravanPack

Yup - Base Game + All DLC

Nevada Skies

FCOMaster

Yup - NPC Fixes

Vurt's WFO

NukaCola-Ojo

Zan_AutoPurge_SmartAgro

TheLegionWillRyse

NCROverhaul

Nevada Skies - Ultimate DLC Edition

FCO GlowingOne

FCO OHSB NPC Edits

FCO NPC Changes

 

I also have the NMC texture pack Large, although I don't know where in the order this falls.

 

I have tried the following fixes (and probably a few more I forgot): Fixing the ThreadedAI; downloading script extender, anti crash, and the 4gb patcher/executable; adding in a nvse_config ini file to find a crash report, undoing each mod individually, doing a fresh install, reinstalling my mods.

 

In doing this, I have found that it seems to be the addition of FCO that causes the error. Previously, I have had the game give me memory errors, but in my most recent installation it just seems to crash or freeze without telling me why. I would sincerely appreciate any help. Thanks!

[dubiousintent]

Without your hardware specs, we can't know for certain, but for the moment let us assume you have a recent, decent machine with more than 4GB of System RAM and a video card with more than 2GB of VRAM (not an integrated chip on the motherboard; e.g. a laptop). (Please take a look at the "How to ask for help" wiki article for future reference. That is basic info that applies anywhere you need to ask for help. Without it, you are just delaying getting the correct response while people ask for it and wait.)

 

A CTD always causes Windows to log an error. Please see the "Windows Error Messages" section of the wiki "How to read most Bethesda game error logs" article.

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.

* Are you running Win10? Did you get the "Fall Creator's Update" of 2017 (FCU aka "RedStone 3") or did this problem start after a more recent similar update? Do you have "New Vegas Stutter Remover" (NVSR) installed? If all three are "true", then please see the 'Issue: CTD after 10-20 minutes of play (post-Win10 2017 FCU)' and 'Issue: CTD without warning, "Out of Memory error", or stops responding after the Main Menu' entries in the 'Solutions to "Crash To Desktop" (CTD) problems' section in the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide.

* If you are suddenly having a "slowdown" or lag; or a lack of sound; or problems getting NVSE to load, or really anything new unexpectedly, 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. This may be due to a Windows Update for the "Meltdown and Spectre Vulnerabilities".

* 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. It's so common you might as well deal with it now. Please see the 'Issue: CTD without warning, "Out of Memory error", or stops responding after the Main Menu') entry in 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 all 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.

FYI: The "pre-order packs" (Caravan, Classic, Mercenary, and Tribal; available now in the "Courier's Stash" addon), are not considered "DLCs" by most mods and "compatibility patches". So their absence should not deter you from using "All DLC Merged" plugins. When in doubt, follow the process in the wiki "Missing Masters" article to confirm they are not "master files" for that plugin.

* 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).

* 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.

* If you have more than one mod that makes any change to the same record or set of records in the vanilla game, then you really need to use a "Merge Patch File" with that collection of mods. Please see the 'Third Rule: The Rule of One' and 'Merge Patch File' sections of the wiki "FNV General Mod Use Advice" article.

(This applies to you. Those separate FCO plugins require a "Merged Patch" file.)

 

* "Texture packs" don't usually show up in the "load order". (They are replacing vanilla assets; thus they overwrite existing files.) And the issue with them is what size/resolution of the images you are using. Larger/"hi-rez" textures require more pixels, and larger screen display monitors multiply that requirement in a non-linear way. While your hardware may technically be able to handle it, the game was published in late 2010, designed for Windows Vista with maximum screen displays of 1920x1080, with default image sizes of 512x512 pixels. The game engine texture cache tends to be the bottleneck: "leaking memory" and causing "stutter".

Because "Texture/Mesh" replacement mods replace vanilla versions of those files, you absolutely have to toggle "ArchiveInvalidation" off-and-then-on again after installing or removing one of them so it recognizes that there are loose files (added by the mod) which have to be used in place of the vanilla files in the BSA files or are no longer there and the BSA files should be used instead. That failure to toggle is the most common reason behind most "not working problems". This is usually evidenced by red "!" icon for missing meshes, and solid colors for missing textures. Please see the 'ArchiveInvalidation (by Manager)' section and also see the 'Checklist Item #15 & 16' entries in the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide.

Re: Using more than one texture pack.

Image size matters. A 4096 x 4096 image with 16 bit color resolution is 32 MB of data. If your screen is displaying 100 different models with textures that size, that's 3.2 GB of data just for the textures. Since a 32 bit program can only address up to 4 GB of data in total, you can see how trying to display a lot of high resolution models is going to run the game out of memory very quickly. (Thank you for the perspective madmongo.) Now, VRAM is not directly addressed by the program; it's controlled by the video card and can hide the actual addressing from the program, but you get the idea.

Another thing to consider is that larger images take longer to pass through the video pipeline. When such larger sizes were not considered in the game design (and they weren't at the time), bottlenecks are to be expected.

Strongly suggest you get a basic modded stable game (no problems) before you start adding in texture packs. Apply them one at a time and test their impact on your game performance before adding another. That way you will quickly know when you have added one too many.

 

* If you add any VWD/LOD textures, please see the 'Checklist Item #15 & 16' entries in the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide regarding the need to run both TES4LL and FNVLODGen.

-Dubious-

[HomeLAN]

I appreciate the help. I ended up wiping everything and doing a fresh install using NMM instead of manual, and it seems to be working.