How to start again - after 3 years???

[ChiaraFee]

uhhh this is going to be tough.

I played FO3 back in 2009 - with all add ons. did not even know anything about nexus. so no mods installed at all. I joind nexus in 2010 - my dragon age days:-)

now I am somewhat tired of skyrim, having it played for the last 6 month and checked this site out to replay FO3 - heavily modded like da:o and skyrim as I love it.

sooooo many infos.. poor girl me.

is there a forum topic somewhere explaining how a newie should start?

I mean I often read "FOMM mandatory". but we have NMM these days. so do I still need FOMM?

 

if these are stupid questions, than just pm me *lol* no need to write here what everybody else knows. just want to make it right from the start. and yes, not only am I adult, I am also in adult things :-)

 

will wait for a day or two for possible replies before I continue with this. cheers. and not too many bad reps, pleeze?

[Werne]

I mean I often read "FOMM mandatory". but we have NMM these days. so do I still need FOMM?

 

A simple answer, yes. NMM is a handy thing I don't trust but not a very effective mod manager for a game like FO3. Due to a lack of tools it's a poor choice. You need FOMM for sorting with BOSS, it has integrated ArchiveInvalidation (you need that for most mods) and you can take a look exactly which mods you used in which save. It's also handy for modders because it has a BSA Browser/Creator, TESsnip, etc. Heh, I sound like I'm selling the darn thing.

 

Anyway, to get the game running with mods, here's what to do:

Install the game and DLCs

Install 1.7 patch

Start the game with it's launcher without mods to generate the ini files

Install and run FOMM, adjust settings if needed

Run GFWL Disabler if you have Games for Windows Live (don't if you downloaded it through steam)

Activate ArchiveInvalidation (in FOMM, under Tools)

Get FOSE and place it in the folder where your .exe is

 

After all this, you can start adding mods.

 

Also get FO3Edit so you can make merged patches (they make your game run more stabile with mods). If you don't know how to make one, check the spoiler.

 

1. Start FO3Edit

2. Load your mods

3. When everything loads select all your mods, then right-click on the mod list and select Create Merged Patch

4. A small window will pop up asking you to name your patch, write something and click Create

5. Now when exiting FO3Edit another window will pop up named Save Changed Files, click OK

6. When starting FOMM or FO3 Launcher put your patch LAST in the load order and check it

 

And don't worry, these are not dumb questions, it's actually smarter to ask now than ask when it all goes to hell. A dumb question would be "what's with the messed up textures" when all you need is ArchiveInvalidation and that's written 5 times in the file's description, bolded and underlined.

Edited May 25, 2012 by Werne

[ChiaraFee]

uuuuh, tx werne, kudos!

sounds like a great avice. will proceed as suggested on the upcoming long weekend. tx again :-)

[arcanewizard]

i play it on xbox and i just started playing it again after almost 2 years, i loved FO3, its my favorite game of all time easily, i took me a year to really explore all the map the first time i played it....i don't think there's much on the map i haven't seen but a few things still, plus after a long time of not playing it, its kinda fun to revisit the game. i like fighting the enclave and supermutants. Edited June 23, 2012 by arcanewizard