Noob Question (?) - Game freezes on Pip-Boy screen

[MrNeedles]

Hi!

 

So, I took a longer hiatus from modding FO3 after finally being able to afford a new gaming laptop with Windows 10 and whatnot. Today I decided to start working again on some older stuff. Reinstalled fallout 3, googled left and right for tutorials on how to fix the Windows 10/Games for WIndows Live compatibility. Fired it up, worked alright throughout the vanilla intro.

I then copied all my old resources from the older laptop I used to mod at, in order to be able to further work on my old mods on a laptop which actually had a working keypad. First mod I ported is rather large (overhaul I made explicity for my own enjoyment), uses a lot of outside resources etc.

Got it to work, started up the game.

About five minutes in or so, I open up my pip-boy for the first time, only to have the game freeze and ctd on me almost immediately. Now I dread having to go through all the files I just ported in order to find out what's wrong.

Thing is, it's been so long since I last played the mod that I'm not sure wether I had the same problem before or if this is a new thing. Does anyone know wether this is a vanilla thing, a Windows 10 thing, a porting-old-s#*!-over-without-merging-or-whatever thing, or... well, anything else?

All help would be appreciated!

 

 

 

 

... I did say "thing" a bit too much there, didn't I?

[MrNeedles]

Okay, I think I got it some more useful info. Messed around a bit and realized the Pip-Boy would only crash if entering the Aid section. Moreso, I am pretty sure (although not 100%) that it only crashes if I have a specific aid item with a modded model/texture in it. Could that be possible? And if so, how would I go about fixing it? Tried changing to another model/texture already, but it still crashes the game.

[M48A5]

Please read the Wiki article "How to ask for help" and provide the information that is noted there.

[MrNeedles]

Right-o!

 

So, system specs are as follows.

 

PC is a LAPTOP-P6BMCRQK. Processor is an Intel Core i5-7300HQ CPU @ 2.50 GHz. 8,00 GB RAM on it, of which 7,89 are still useable. Processor is x64-based. Windows 10.

 

Install path is D:/Data/Fallout3 (custom game folder on secondary drive).

 

Game is GOTY version, bought in store (so, not the Steam Version). I am not sure how to look up the exact number.

 

I'm using FOMM and the latest stable version of FOSE, since it helped me with getting the game started on Windows 10. That said, I also used some patches for that which I might look up if needed, but right now can't remember since it took some trial and error.

 

No mods other than those I made myself. Right now, just the one I'm trying to continue with. Contains custom scripts, lots of Nexus resources, custom Voice types and an alternative start, so basically skipping the main quest. If needed, I can provide more detailed information.

 

 

 

 

I hope that's enough to provide useful information. If I missed anything, please let me know!

[M48A5]

You have a lot of things that could be causing problems.

 

Custom untested (on Windows 10) mods, trying to use a laptop to run a PC game, unknown GPU (I'm guessing integrated chip).

 

You say the game is store bought. Did you install Games for Windows Live? Do you have the fake GFWL .dll enabled in FOMM.

 

Did you make the game Large Address Aware so that it uses more than 2GB of RAM?

 

Did you make the changes in the Fallout .ini to limit your CPU to 2 cores?

 

Did the game start and run before you added mods?

[MrNeedles]

Alright, trying to answer this to the best of my knowledge... Here goes...

 

Technically, the mod wasn't untested. It's just that it was one of those things I used to fiddle around in my increasingly scarce free time, so I basically changed/added whatever I felt like doing at the time. I thoroughly tested each new script implemented (most being fairly easy, partially cannibalized from base game scripts, other mods, and peoples advise on the forums here), but I have no idea wether any of them might conflict with each other. The issue described tends to pop up randomly during a save. As I said, I'm now about 98% sure I narrowed it down to one object, a replaced model for the base-game bloodpack. Having it in my inventory crashes the game immediately whenever I go into the pip-boys 'Aid' section. That's the only common thing I found so far.

 

Games for Windows Live came with the installation. I used an Installer to disable it, but I can't for the life of me find any trace of it in the game files, and since I basically tried to hastily fix the game to work on Windows 10, I have no idea what exactly I did there. So - I guess that means complete reinstall? *sigh*

 

And I did make the game 4GB compatible with a mod from Nexus.

 

I changed nothing in the .ini except what was necessary to enable mutliple master files for the GECK, and another thing I read up about making the game compatible with Windows 10, without actually knowing what it meant, because I speak script about as fluently as mandarin chinese... Come to think of it, this might have been the thing you meant, but I simply didn't realize what the use of that change was.

 

I was also completely unaware of the fact that running a PC game on a laptop could cause problems. Furthermore, I had to google what a GPU was, and I still have no idea how to look up which one my Laptop is using...

 

... I feel like a caveman now.

Edited July 19, 2018 by MrNeedles

[M48A5]

I am not at all familiar with Windows 10, but you should have a file called "System Information".

 

What if does is self explanatory.

 

Where did you obtain the game? I have never heard of GFWL coming with the installer.

 

You are saying you made changes to the fallout.ini and you don't remember what you changed?I

 

The problem with running a PC game on a laptop is usually a problem because a laptop does not have a dedicated video card with sufficient VRAM.

 

Since you seem confident that you have found the cause of the problem, the solution would be to remove the offending blood pack.

Edited July 19, 2018 by M48A5

[MrNeedles]

I know where the system information is located, that's where I found the specs I posted before - They're literally copypasted from there, since I wouldn't know any of these by myself. My process of buying this laptop was basically me walking up to the guy at the media store, politely harassing him until he looked up which of his affordable gaming laptops was able to run Fallout 4. I am, as is probably very visible in this post, a hopeless case when it comes to understanding technical information...

 

I bougtht the game five or six years ago in a german media store called Saturn. It says "games for Windows Live" right on the box, and whenever I installed it somewhere before, GFWL used to pop up when loading the game. Maybe because it's an old version...? No clue.

 

Yeah, as I said, I was basically googling around like an idiot for any possible solution to make the game Windows 10 - compatible. I just saw a post on what I think was the Steam forums, where someone explained you had to change the .ini and also add a line. Tried it and it worked, in conjunction with that GFWL disabler I downloaded if I remember correctly.

I backed up the original .ini, though.

 

And yes, I figured it was all because I replaced that bloodpack with a different model/texture, so I tried changing it for another one. Unfortunately, the issue persists. Since I did not just edit in a new item, but instead replaced all blood packs in the game, that leaves me either with the option of manually removing all of them in the GECK, or somehow restoring the original model/texture... I think. So far no clue though how I would go about this, since it does not automatically reset to default when deleting the new one, and the original version is hidden/inaccessible to me.

Edited July 20, 2018 by MrNeedles