Problems creating reflective water in FO3 GECK and other troubles

[RaffTheSweetling]

Hi Prensa

 

How's everything going?

 

Thanks a lot for your last reply (awesome as usual - I am going far from your help)

 

I have a question, and this one is very much connected to our first discussion on lit water / reflections etc.

 

I am finding it pretty arduous and tedious manually setting reflections and refractions for large complex sections of environments/objects and have tried using the "-" key when selecting objects in groups, then from the "-" screen it doesn't really give you the option of selecting all the water tiles en mass, it only lets you select one, then you must manually highlight all objects again, do the "-" thing again, choose another water tile and repeat ad nauseum. Which is a pain in the ass.

Well hopefully my comment made sense, but in any event, do you know how the developers would batch assign reflections/refractions to batches of water tiles?? :P

 

EDIT -

 

I have also had SERIOUS trouble with NPC's in my mod :(

I won't go into how many failed attempts there have been, sufficed to say that at the moment I would like just ONE to behave the way I want. sigh.

 

So I have a subway station in my mod. Massive terminal area, entrance, backdoors, tunnels galore, lots and lots of work gone into this. I like to focus on one small point at a time, cluttering, lighting, fx, room marker optimizing, navmeshing, then adding the NPC enemies and characters.

 

I have a vagrant who lives in the subway, he has a dog too. So I have created them, placed them, worked on good clean navmeshes for the area they occupy, added some idle markers. At first XMarker headings and a patrol. Which I removed later. So now I just want this vagrant to sandbox. Just walk around anyway he wants, occasionally idle marker referencing, the same as his dog. And they both do just about nothing. Standing perfectly still, doing a few default idles, the dog moves a few feet and sits down. The man, even when I move him around the room to different points because at first I could see he wanted to walk, but got stuck in strange places, (I will check navmesh again). He now, still, does not walk around, idling, transitioning, just like a regular NPC should.

Could really use your help here too Prensa. :psyduck:

 

Thanks Prensa

 

Regards

 

Griffin

Edited July 18, 2012 by RaffTheSweetling

[prensa]

Griffin - Hello!

 

"but in any event, do you know how the developers would batch assign reflections/refractions to batches of water tiles??"

 

I've not needed to use the batch (- key) to often but as far as I know it only wokrs on multiple selcted items to set one thing on them at a time & not multiples.

 

I've been lucky so far in that my placed water has been only one object.

 

However, depending on what you need each piece of water to reflect/refract, you can batch set the refractions on the water item THEN copy it. When you copy something like water that has things set to reflect/refract a box comes up asking you if you want to also keep the same reflect/refract lists.

 

That would save having to set them all again BUT it's only useful if you want the copied piece to reflect/refract the same things as the original. So not sure how helpful that is to you. :)

 

As for the vagrant, have you definitely got the navmesh done correctly?

 

No navemesh results in stuck NPC's as they don't know where they can walk.

 

Since you say you've navmeshed the area, did you remember to finalize the navmesh?

 

After making a navmesh you should always click on "Find cover edges for current cell" then "Finalize current cell's navmeshes" (the red tick in the navmesh bar).

 

Finalize is important to complete a navmesh, it also registers any teleport doors.

 

Also using Flood fill (select a navmesh trianlge & press F or select it from the navmesh bar) is a good quick way to make sure your navmesh is all connected as it should be & not seperate islands.

 

All connected areas will turn green, anything left red is it's own unconnected island.

 

If the navmesh checks out, time to look at your NPC's packages.

 

I love the sandbox package, it's a great way to allow NPC's to move about seemingly freely without rigid timetable constraints. :)

 

Unles you need osme special conditons in there, just use a default package.

 

You'd go to the NPC's AI Packages & select say:

 

DefaultSandboxCurrentLocation1024

 

The 1024 at the end represents the radius the NPC will wander about, there are tighter Default ones if you want the NPC to wnader in a tighter area.

 

Don't forget, it you want to edit that Default package, give it a new name so you don't mess up others who are using the same package.

 

If you're leaving it alone then there's no need to make it a new package.

 

As long as they have that Sandbox package & a decent navmesh they will wander about & use any furniture or idle markers you have placed.

 

Note, if they have any other packages like patrol that have them locked into markers they will ignore the sanbox & execute those first.

 

If the marked patrol has them in a permanent loop they will never use the Sandbox.

 

They will also divert from the sandbox if you've scheduled packages.

 

For instance I have an NPC that has a DefaultSandboxCurrentLocation1024, so that NPC wanders around freely. They also have a scheduled patrol package set to 20 (8 o'clock) so at that time they leave the Sandboxing & head to the marker linked to that patrol & execute that. Once finished, they return to the Sandbox package.

 

So make sure your NPC has no packages clashing.

 

If in doubt, remove other custom packages & just leave the DefaultSandboxCurrentLocation1024 in & see what happens.

 

If they work with just that in but not with all your packages, you'll know you've got packages clashing.

 

I sometimes find it handy to drop in another NPC who's just got a Sandbox package to test locations.

 

Another possibility is a very low energy setting in the NPC's AI Data tab.

 

The Energy setting there (1-100) determins how much moving about they'll do though that shouldn't make them stuck in place.

 

Low settings tend to sit, eat & sleep more while high enrgy tend to do idles & move about a bit more.

 

There's a great page on Sandboxes here:

 

http://geck.bethsoft.com/index.php/Sandbox_Package

 

EDIT: I should also mention that .esp's have a known issue with new navmeshes, sometimes they act very strange. This can manifest itself in the form of the new navmesh working correctly on first entering the room but seemingly becoming "jumbled" when you re-enter.

 

Creatures in such an affected room will pool up in one place when you re-enter too, a sure sign of this bug.

 

It does not always occur but can be perplexing if you haven't heard of the problem (it was to me when I very first started navmeshing :) ).

 

The solution is to make any mod that adds navmeshed areas an .esm.

 

The .esm files don't seem to have any issues with navmeshes.

 

Of course you need to keep your mod a .esp for as long as you are working on it in GECK so just bear it in mind if the problem crops up. You can always make an .esm version of your mod to test, just to make sure all is well.

 

Prensa

Edited July 19, 2012 by prensa

[RaffTheSweetling]

Hi Prensa. Big thanks for replying :D

 

"However, depending on what you need each piece of water to reflect/refract, you can batch set the refractions on the water item THEN copy it."

 

Great suggestion! Right at the moment, for the area I am trying to finish up, this might not come in handy, but for sure there will be smaller rooms of water where this technique will be very useful! Thanks a lot!

 

"As for the vagrant, have you definitely got the navmesh done correctly?

Since you say you've navmeshed the area, did you remember to finalize the navmesh?"

 

That was the problem. Doh! Thanks for reminding me. Aigh, I was getting ahead of myself instead of checking more carefully on the tutorials. :P You're the best, Prensa!

 

 

So, OK, when I do some navmeshing of an area, I really should do an error check, (and/or) then a navmesh sweep, (though sometimes this removes otherwise working navmesh, because the program doesn't think they should be there, so I am loath to use this), then I must check for cover edges, then I must finalize the whole area's navmesh, right? Without doing this, the npc's won't register use of the navmesh, and obviously this is a bad thing, BUT, I am going to assume that finalizing your navmesh isn't final, right?

I have done some fairly extensive modification of navmesh in the wasteland and it occurs to me that as I have changed the navmesh for that area, which was once finalized, and now I finalize it again, it must mean that finalizing it, is not permanent, it is just kind of like activating it.

So this means I can work on a small area, say the area of my subway, with the vagrant, finalize it, then add more navmesh later, for testing purposes, instead of wanting to complete the entire cell's navmesh just to test one NPC's navmesh.

 

At the moment, I have not tried. I instead just make a backup save of my .esp then finalize, then save, then test, then copy that backup save over the last save and go on. Out of caution.

 

Apart from that, and from my early testing, the navmesh works pretty well. Few errors so far. My raiders move around. (I feel they need more idles). However, I got my brother-in-law to test a massive fight for me. And he went into it in sniper mode (with Marksman's Dream rifle :S), which immediately highlighted a problem.

My raider enemies in this area, of which there are many, (Think Evergreen Mills many - but w/o the Behemoth) are all leveled, posted all over the area in different spots, a variety of weapons, (none have patrols yet), there is a semi-boss type with an AA Enhanced missile launcher who is there to really make the fight hard, the others are carrying a plethora of weapon types (generic), and when I watched my Bro do it, he simply sat in one spot, out of range of sight, and head-shot them all.

That's fine, no worries, his prerogative, yet not one raider reacted to seeing another die. None was alerted by the massacre taking place. One and only one walked close enough to notice the PC and attacked. All the others simply walked around, did their sandbox routine, casually observing (or perhaps not) the deaths of their fellow-raider scum, until the last one in a crow's nest died. Yet no one reacted to the shooting going on.

Not one single raider fired against the PC. And this for me was a bit incredible.

 

How can I make this much harder?

I will add foot patrol sweeps of the area with dogs, in a patrol that should bring them up behind the PC while he/she is doing their sniping. I will put some traps (though this won't hinder a good sniper) but apart from that, not sure what to do.

 

"The solution is to make any mod that adds navmeshed areas an .esm."

 

I head heard about that, and definitely I will go down that road. I might also make a .bsa to pack in all the meshes and textures that will be needed for my mod to work. I seriously don't want to make folders and then check the directories are right for every single object in my mod. Yikes.

 

Hey I added a couple of sneak peak images of my mod to this site. I will be adding more every now and then. I want to say too that you have been absolutely instrumental in my mod's creation thus far and I really appreciate all your help. Prensa :)

 

Griffin

[prensa]

Griffin - Hello!

 

"That was the problem. Doh!"

 

Glad it's sorted. :)

 

"So, OK, when I do some navmeshing of an area, I really should do an error check"

 

Yes, the error check's a good thing though GECK normally throws a fit & won't let you save if there's a navmesh error.

 

That is the plus side with navmeshes, anything seriously wrong & GECK will complain. :)

 

"then a navmesh sweep, (though sometimes this removes otherwise working navmesh, because the program doesn't think they should be there, so I am loath to use this)"

 

Balance for Optimization? Yes, that's best used early on in your navmesh, before you do the fiddly bits. As you say, it often removes pieces that should be there on more complex sections. I've gotten so proficient with navmeshing now that I tend not to use it anymore.

 

More often than not, I don't get any errors first time around too.

 

Except with caves, they are damn tricky. Mainly due to the floor not being flat & tricky crevices.

 

" then I must check for cover edges, then I must finalize the whole area's navmesh, right? Without doing this, the npc's won't register use of the navmesh, and obviously this is a bad thing"

 

Cover edges, Finalize always. Cover edges gives the NPC's & creatures more info on their surroundings (where to take cover etc.) & adds a bit of realism to their interaction in a location.

 

Finalize is the really important one, that "sets" the navmesh & does things like identifying tleport doors.

 

"BUT, I am going to assume that finalizing your navmesh isn't final, right?"

 

No it's not final, you can use the Cover edges & Finalize many times. I often do it so I can go in game to see how the navmesh is coming along.

 

You can continue editing it after you've used Finalize.

 

You must always update with Finalize when you've changed some navmeshing though.

 

"I have done some fairly extensive modification of navmesh in the wasteland and it occurs to me that as I have changed the navmesh for that area, which was once finalized, and now I finalize it again, it must mean that finalizing it, is not permanent, it is just kind of like activating it. "

 

That's it, think of it like Finalize is saving your new changes.

 

"So this means I can work on a small area, say the area of my subway, with the vagrant, finalize it, then add more navmesh later, for testing purposes, instead of wanting to complete the entire cell's navmesh just to test one NPC's navmesh."

 

That's correct.

 

I often drop in NPC's into a navmeshed area to see how they cope. Followers are handy too as you can lead them around & see if they are behaving themselves. :)

 

"Apart from that, and from my early testing, the navmesh works pretty well. Few errors so far. My raiders move around. (I feel they need more idles). "

 

You can always place in idle markers, rather fun actually.

 

"That's fine, no worries, his prerogative, yet not one raider reacted to seeing another die. None was alerted by the massacre taking place. One and only one walked close enough to notice the PC and attacked. All the others simply walked around, did their sandbox routine, casually observing (or perhaps not) the deaths of their fellow-raider scum, until the last one in a crow's nest died. Yet no one reacted to the shooting going on."

 

If you're out of sight with good cover & low light you can pick off a group.

 

You can use patrol markers & set some raiders to patrol & guard the area as a real gang would. Set them to wander around the likely sneak spots.

 

Don't forget traps, use these as the Raiders would. Remember where your brother-in-law sat to snipe your Raiders & conceal mines there or other booby traps like trip wires & grenade bunches:

 

http://geck.bethsoft.com/index.php/Bethsoft_Tutorial_Traps

 

I found it added a whole new element of fun, both for you the disigner & the player. :)

 

A big bang of a hidden mine or other booby trap will give the player a shock & alert the Raiders to them. Set the mines to being owned by Raiders so you don't blow them up too.

 

Also consider giving the Raiders a guard dog or two, they have a better chance of picking up the presence of an intruder. These are all things that will make it harder for your Raider band to get punked & challenge whoever plays your mod.

 

Begin to think like the NPC's you're placing would, would you cluster around one area with no guards or traps if you lived in a post apocalyptic world?

 

A handy thing for traps, in case you're not familliar with setting up some of the more complex ones, is that there's a special cell included in the GECK with the traps set up ready to be copied & pasted.

 

Look in the Cell View window - Interiors & look for the Editor ID:

 

Warehouse Traps

 

Can save a lot of time.

 

There's a couple of other Warehouse cells, including one for toilets (amazing how many toilets I've had to do!).

 

Simillar to those & equally time saving are the Kit cells:

 

KitMetro

KitOffice

KitVault

 

They have prefabricated building spaces that you can copy & paste into your cell to give yourself a head start.

 

I wouldn't suggest just cutting & pasting everything, you want to give things your own touch, but these things can be customised & still save much wrestling with kit pieces.

 

"I will add foot patrol sweeps of the area with dogs, in a patrol that should bring them up behind the PC while he/she is doing their sniping. I will put some traps (though this won't hinder a good sniper) but apart from that, not sure what to do."

 

Ha, I see you already came to the sam conclusion. :)

 

"though this won't hinder a good sniper"

 

Be sneaky, make your traps a little better concealed than the vanilla game.

 

I find the vanilla game made a lot of traps to obvious. Conceal them more. Make some obvious so that the Player thinks they are smart only to find the path they have diverted to is the real trap.

 

"Hey I added a couple of sneak peak images of my mod to this site. "

 

Where, which section, I'll take a look.

 

"I want to say too that you have been absolutely instrumental in my mod's creation thus far and I really appreciate all your help. Prensa"

 

I'm glad to have helped! :)

 

As I said before, I'm still learning the GECK myself & I've learnt loads from these forums & people who've taken the time to write things out. Seems only fair to help others when possible.

 

I'm hoping to post my mod but there always seems to be something else to add. :)

 

Prensa

[RaffTheSweetling]

Hi again Prensa.

 

So sorry for not responding sooner after you took the trouble of writing back to me last time. Been pretty hectic here in newborn town.

 

So yeah, tried out a lot of the things you suggested to me recently, and have had some great results overall, and a few mixed results.

 

The navmesh problems - all gone. thanks a lot for your tips.

 

The vagrant in the subway still behaves strangely. He now runs away from me. His dog stands still and does nothing. I am going to start again from scratch with that situation.

 

The raiders in my outdoor location all behave really well. I created a new faction, more or less copied the default raider faction to get the allegiances/ enemies / nuetralities stuff the same, but it gives me more leeway to change their appearances and clothing and weap choices as well as having sub-faction squabbling and so on.

The traps and patrols seem to be working. Though I don't know how close mines need to be spread apart to prevent them setting themselves off. Same with beartraps when close to other objects. But trial and error will teach that stuff.

 

I have tried to remove those pesky unwanted masters, but still, I am unsure of a few things. If I used an asset from that master, do I need to remove that asset use through FO3Edit, and then remove the master which the asset came from, or can I leave the asset, and remove the master from the list. I don't really know how this works. Like when I use a customs mesh or texture, I don't need an .esm. So can I keep the asset from the unwanted .esm's on my master list If i no longer want that .esm on the list, as discussed earlier..? Hope that makes sense.

 

EDIT - I pretty much sussed out that the renaming of an asset with a unique I.D. - thus creating a new form, meant you were no longer drawing information from the .esm/.esp but instead were utilizing data from mesh or texture or sound, so if I were to rename every item I copied from an .esm, and then removed that .esm from the master list, but still kept access to the data files for each asset, would this work? and make the .esm no longer required?

God, I sound like I am rambling now. Sorry Prensa

 

 

I also have trouble with old FOMM adding mod packages "Fomod"s. I try to do it exactly as described. But so far I get an odd error every time. (A problem has occurred - "Boolean System.Threading.WaitHandle.WaitOne(Int32") - this mod has not been installed) So for this reason, I cannot add any body mods, at least those dependent on fomod installation. I have no idea what this means.

 

You should be able to view my pics from my profile page,

 

http://fallout3.nexusmods.com/users/4511480

 

where my picture posts are, though I posted them in the Nexus picture page. I have released 8 sneak peaks so far.

 

I will release more, with teaser info about the mod itself.

 

I am curious about your mod now, could you tell me a little about it?

 

Regards

 

Griffin

Edited August 3, 2012 by RaffTheSweetling

[prensa]

Griffin - Hello!

 

"So sorry for not responding sooner after you took the trouble of writing back to me last time.

 

Been pretty hectic here in newborn town."

 

Been busy here myself, no nappies involved though. :)

 

Glad to hear the Raiders are working out.

 

"EDIT - I pretty much sussed out that the renaming of an asset with a unique I.D. - thus

 

creating a new form, meant you were no longer drawing information from the .esm/.esp but

 

instead were utilizing data from mesh or texture or sound, so if I were to rename every item I

 

copied from an .esm, and then removed that .esm from the master list, but still kept access to

 

the data files for each asset, would this work? and make the .esm no longer required?

God, I sound like I am rambling now. Sorry Prensa"

 

Yes, like you've got it. :) It does get a little confusing trying to describe these things.

 

Giving it a unique ID makes it an item within your mod rather than a borrowed asset.

 

as long as it's not relying on scripts or other side things from the other mod.

 

I've never had to remove a master from a mod so you're in territory that I've only read about &

 

done tests with.

 

If it's not actually used, remove it.

 

As far as I know removing items first is best then the unhook the Master, though it's really only

 

a problem if you tried to load up the mod with the items still in place but the master removed.

 

Obviously, back up your mod before doing this type of thing as it's very easy to destroy a mod

 

with a bad edit. :)

 

"I also have trouble with old FOMM adding mod packages "Fomod"s. I try to do it exactly as

 

described. But so far I get an odd error every time. (A problem has occurred - "Boolean

 

System.Threading.WaitHandle.WaitOne(Int32") - this mod has not been installed) So for this

 

reason, I cannot add any body mods, at least those dependent on fomod installation. I have no

 

idea what this means."

 

Found some people with the same problem here:

 

http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/247461-mod-error-while-using-fomm/

 

Seems like a net framework issue (not up to date) or possible version of FOMM used.

 

By the way, about that mass stting of reflections/refractions you mentioned earlier, I had to do

 

a whole load just recently & found a handy trick.

 

I went to the Cell View window & was able to select whole chunks that I needed on there

 

using shift & left click to highlight, then click on the Render window (the top frame not inside

 

the Render window) & pressed the - key to set the reflections/refractions.

 

It certainly saved a lot of time & meant I didn't have to pain stakingly select each item (some

 

are in tricky spots).

 

I'd not thought of doing this before. :)

 

"You should be able to view my pics from my profile page"

 

I've checked them out now, doing interiors? Fun isn't it. :)

 

I've done some big pipe work too. :)

 

Fun looking through GECK to find obscure pieces to use.

 

"I am curious about your mod now, could you tell me a little about it?"

 

Started off more as a fun project to teach myself how to use GECK but has grown.

 

I'm always finding something new to add, hoping to release eventually. Let's just say interiors are involved with some fun extras. ;)

 

PS Is that Avatar Insidious?

 

Prensa

Edited August 5, 2012 by prensa

[RaffTheSweetling]

Hello Prensa

 

Phew..A Long Long Long overdue reply here.

 

I owe you another apology for that. Stuff going on has knocked me around a bit. My computer died. So my mod got put on the backburner.

Still need to buy a new PC.

 

I have been more and more using my wife's brother's computer. His FOMM allows me to use FOMODS, so I finally went with the Breeze FOMOD and it worked perfectly.

I am sorry to question you and question you and then go all silent. It's not very considerate of me. I sincerely appreciate the help you gave.

 

I reinstalled FO3 and went with NMC texture pack. It is stunning, but too many stutters. I am not sure if the number of followers is the reason. (4) or if the textures themselves are the reason. I removed those texture, and it stutters a little, but doesn't lock up anymore. I might get the Large Address Enabler. Can you recommend that?

 

I am going through the doldums with my mod (been using the in-law's computer) it is going well, but still can't seem to reduce those required masters. I got rid of most of them, but still, my Apocalypse Armory weapons disappeared, even with this mod still active. I have no idea why.

 

Reflections on water, yes, your method is a good one. But I noticed that too many objects, and lights cause flickering on the water texture, so I have one piece of water that flickers, and I can't seem to change it back now. Removed all lit surface links, and most reflections, but at this point it is tiring, so I have left it to flicker.

 

One thing you seem to know a lot about is making merged patches on FO3Edit. I like using small mods, like clothing addons, mods that let me get followers without Karma requisites, or for example, the Firelance Quest activator mod, these are such small mods though, that it would be cool to combine them. Like all outfits by "Fizz", into one merged patch for "Fizz_Outfits" etc, for personal use. How would I go about doing such a thing?

 

You asked about my Avatar, spot on! Insidious it is. :)

 

I have uploaded more pics of my mod. Check em' out and give me any feedback you wish, good or bad.

 

Do you by any chance know how to create the pop-up message when you start a new mod? like at the start of A Quest For Heaven, the message appears and you know where to go to start the mod, based on that message.. any idea how to do this?

 

Anyway, hoping you are doing well.

Wish you all the best, Prensa

 

:) My daughter Josie sends you a smile and a baby talk hello :D

 

Griffin

[prensa]

Griffin - Hello!

 

"I owe you another apology for that. Stuff going on has knocked me around a bit."

 

No apology needed, I check in the help forums from time to time to see what's going on. :)

 

"My computer died"

 

Sorry to hear that. :(

 

"I reinstalled FO3 and went with NMC texture pack. It is stunning, but too many stutters. I am not sure if the number of followers is the reason. (4) or if the textures themselves are the reason."

 

Multiple followers won't help, added AI.

 

But it will be the addition of NMC, any high-res texture pack will cause trouble even on powerful rigs. The bigger textures having to be displayed & shifted about by your computer are going to eat into your graphics card's memory. Too many high res textures at once will slow you down & cause stuttering.

 

That's why Bethesda shipped the game with textures that are big enough for detail but not super high.

 

I've always been satisfied with the vanilla games textures. To be fair when actually playing the game you aren't paying much attention to minor texture details. :)

 

NMC does offer LITE (which seems to be what most who use NMC go for) & even Performance packs as alternatives to the biggest version.

 

"I might get the Large Address Enabler. Can you recommend that?"

 

I use the Large Address Aware Enabler for FO3:

 

http://fallout3.nexusmods.com/mods/6510

 

As I have a 64bit set up with tons of memory (12GB) & it gives Fallout 3 more memry to work with.

 

It's easy to use with instructions (slightly more detailed & up to date on the Description page rather than the Readme that comes with it).

 

Seems to help, been so long using it that it's hard to compare without. :)

 

As far as I understand it, it's worth doing even for 32 bit set ups as long as you havet plenty of memory to take advantage of.

 

" I got rid of most of them, but still, my Apocalypse Armory weapons disappeared, even with this mod still active. I have no idea why."

 

If you mean the placed Apocalypse Armory weapons in your mod disappeared when you removed Apocalypse Armory as a master, that would be normal.

 

If you're wanting to use Apocalypse Armory content in your mod, Apocalypse Armory would be a master to it.

 

The best thing to do would be to make a plugin (.esp) that adds the Apocalypse Armory content to your mod. That way Apocalypse Armory is only a master to that plugin & people that want to use your mod but don't have Apocalypse Armory can choose not to use the plugin.

 

Note that you can only have an .esp modify a .esm soy you should make the Apocalypse Armory content plugin after converting your main mod into a .esm (when you're all done).

 

Unless of course you're happy to have Apocalypse Armory as a master to your main mod.

 

"and lights cause flickering on the water texture, so I have one piece of water that flickers, and I can't seem to change it "

 

I've seen that happen, make sure you've not go mist or some other effect like that set to reflect or refract on the water.

 

If you need to clear everythin on a piece of water, you can delete it & place a new one to start afresh.

 

"One thing you seem to know a lot about is making merged patches on FO3Edit. I like using small mods, like clothing addons, mods that let me get followers without Karma requisites, or for example, the Firelance Quest activator mod, these are such small mods though, that it would be cool to combine them. Like all outfits by "Fizz", into one merged patch for "Fizz_Outfits" etc, for personal use. How would I go about doing such a thing?"

 

Not so much a Merged Patch as merging mods you mean?

 

Yes, that's quite easy. I've done it with several clothing mods that added single pieces to cut down on my .esp's.

 

You can do it in FO3Edit but I use FO3 Plugin Utility by ScripterRon:

 

http://fallout3.nexusmods.com/mods/5104

 

It's quick & easy for this sort of task.

 

Go to File - Open & choose the first mod you want to start with.

 

Then go to File - Merge Plugins & choose the mod you want to combine with the first.

 

Now go to File - Save As & give the combined mod a name & save.

 

All done!

 

Obviously you can combine more than two mods.

 

Worth noting that by combining mods you would stop using the originals & the combined one takes over. This will act as though theses items are different to the originals & means that if you'll need to re get the items added. In the case of most one off clothing mods this normally means having to collect the item again from where it was placed in the world.

 

New characters who hadn't collected the items would be unaffected.

 

I tend to combine simillar mods, like clothing with clothing & weapons with weapons.

 

I also avoid combining complex mods in case of unforseen consequences.

 

I've had no trouble with this method, though it's worth pointing out some people have mentioned some records being lost on more complex mods. I've not experienced that & like I say, I stick to combining simple mods to save .esp slots & reduce clutter & have had no problems at all.

 

"I have uploaded more pics of my mod. Check em' out and give me any feedback you wish, good or bad. "

 

I'll take a look!

 

"Do you by any chance know how to create the pop-up message when you start a new mod? like at the start of A Quest For Heaven, the message appears and you know where to go to start the mod, based on that message.. any idea how to do this?"

 

I've not had to do that yet. :)

 

You could use a script with the ShowMessage command to pop up a Message you've set up:

 

http://geck.bethsoft.com/index.php/ShowMessage

 

Depending on what you're doing you could also use a simple quest to start as soon as the mod is installed that plays the message & has info in the quests section. This could then be completed when the player arrives at the mod location.

 

"My daughter Josie sends you a smile and a baby talk hello"

 

& a big Hello! to Josie too! You need to get her working on modding as soon as possible. ;)

 

Prensa

[RaffTheSweetling]

Hi Prensa. Little emergency in the GECK - (I know I know, I am late to reply again. I am so sorry) - I have tried to fix this, by uninstalling, reinstalling, going back to a previous save. EVERYTHING. checking the .ini files. everything.

 

I can't get the mouse to select when I left-click. The single left-click should select the object. but it doesn't. double left-click selects and opens the object properties window. Yet the single left-click, in the render window pane, does NOTHING! HELP HELP HELP.

 

So again, render window, selecting an object, to move, or move the camera around, single click of the left mouse - NOTHING.

Same object, double left click. Works. What the hell!!??

 

Prensa, any ideas? Checked on my brother-in-laws computer. It works fine. No problem.

Resetting/removing the .ini files so GECK makes fresh ones, did not change this.

Different mouse. Did not change this.

 

:(

[prensa]

Griffin - Hello!

 

"I can't get the mouse to select when I left-click. The single left-click should select the object. but it doesn't. double left-click selects and opens the object properties window. Yet the single left-click, in the render window pane, does NOTHING! HELP HELP HELP."

 

How odd.

 

So you can left click on items in the Object Window?

 

The only thing that comes to mind is the special selection options in the Edit pull down at the top.

 

Edit - Render Window Picking Preferences, select that & up pops a window with:

 

Water

Marker

Statics

 

they each will have the option to "Pick Only" or "Exclude". This is for when you are doing fiddly work & you don't want to select those types of items because they are in the way.

 

Make sure none of those boxes are ticked, particularly the Exclude ones as that would tell the Render window to ignore normal left click selects.

 

They should all be unticked by defaulr.

 

You may have accidentally selected that, many settings have keyboard shortcuts & can be toggled on by pressing the wrong key combination.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Prensa

Edited September 10, 2012 by prensa