New Vegas Crash on Load (Windows 10, vanilla game)

[TheBoss7777]

Alright, I'm having a handful of different issues involving both crashing and missing hair on NPCs.

To start, my build:

Windows 10 64-bit

AMD Ryzen 7 1800x 8 Core

AMD Radeon RX 580
16 GB RAM

 

Now for the issue:

Unmodded, vanilla NV will crash on load every time. The game will start, proceed to the menu (which is extremely slow and laggy), and when I start a new game, the intro movie will stutter. Audio and video both fail- the video will play for a second, then the upper left corner will freeze, followed by the whole video, and the audio will stutter and pause with it. Once the intro finishes, the loading screen pops up, the game crashes without any error popup, and I cannot play.

Having searched around and tried many fixes, I eventually got to at least Doc Mitchell's house by using NVSE and NVAC, but there was no hair or facial hair on his model or mine, and the game has a terribly low frame rate. Setting the game to run in windowed mode fixes the frame rate, but not the hair.

Eventually, I came across this fix for the hair: https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/50470?tab=description

It was suggested in this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/fnv/comments/8iwnpq/help_thread_for_fallout_new_vegas_crashes/

I also perused a thread on this forum from a user that had a strikingly similar problem: https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/5321720-new-vegas-missing-hair-glitch-alternatives/

Playing in windowed mode with the aforementioned fixes seems to be stable, as the game loads correctly and there are no framerate or hair issues, but it's, well, windowed. Not exactly ideal.

Has anyone encountered all these issues together before and solved them? I keep finding instances of people having one or two of these problems, but never all of them together.

 

EDIT: I should mention- Windows 10 and my video drivers are all up to date.

Edited November 26, 2018 by TheBoss7777

[M48A5]

Please see "How to ask for help" and provide all the information noted there. https://wiki.nexusmods.com/index.php/How_to_ask_for_help

 

Also, it is very important that you provide the full path to the game.

[dubiousintent]

You have a number of different problems. Please 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.

Consequently I am going to propose an number of different things you need to do. Start by getting the vanilla, unmodded game to start correctly. That you got to Doc Mitchell's is somewhat encouraging but not if you are still have the described issues getting that far. The issues with hair etc. are secondary symptoms of other problems. By following the additional info here they should become resolved.

 

* 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. System updates often cause issues with games installed to these folder trees. Please see the 'Restoring to "Vanilla"' section of the wiki "FNV General Mod Use Advice" article as well.

* 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. 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.

If that isn't enough to smoothly get you to Doc's, then read the 'Solutions to Starting the game problems' section of the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide.

 

I recommend you read the entire "FNV General Mod Use Advice" article to understand the differences between this game and others you may have experience with; especially if this is your first attempt to mod FNV or it's been more than a year since you last did so. That collects the general information from threads all over the web, and covers the most common causes of problems getting started. It also links to the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" article which has collected specific solutions for all the problems people bring here.

The following entries in the wiki 'Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting' guide specifically address known Win10 problems:
* 'Issue: NVSE - fails to load after update KB4058043 to Win10 FCU (v1709)'
* 'Issue: Incomplete save game load' (NVSR related)
* 'Issue: Vanilla game Hangs on startup'; specifically "Cause-1" regarding DirectX9 drivers.
* 'Issue: "Full screen mode" exhibits CTDs and stutters or micro-stutters'
* 'Issue: Recent (post-Win10 FCU) CTDs after 10-20 minutes of play'
* 'Issue: Lag or "micro stutters" even with "New Vegas Stutter Remover" installed (or not)'. In particular "Cause-4" regarding video card settings. The latest video drivers may not be the best suited to an older game like FNV. All vendors drop testing of old games at some point. Backwards compatibility is never guaranteed, much less "optimization".
Also, "Cause-7" regarding "Superfetch" and "File search indexing". Windows updates will often reset these back on.
* 'Issue: Win10 Screen tearing in "Borderless Windowed Mode"'
* 'Issue: ENB Support for Windows versions later than Win7'
* 'Issue: Problems using ENB/SweetFx on Windows 10'

If, once you have worked through all of that but you still have problems, please provide ALL the information requested in the wiki "How to ask for help" article. Don't forget to identify things that do not appear in the "load order", such as if you are using the FNV4GB Patch, NVSE and it's related plugins; replacements for textures (specifically their larger image sizes: 1024x1024, etc.), animations, or "bodies", etc.; and "post-processors" like ENB or SweetFX.

* See "How to markup images (etc) in forum posts and comments" article for how to use "Spoiler tags".

 

I realize this may seem overwhelming, but I assure you it is all necessary.

-Dubious-

 

 

 

 

[TheBoss7777]

1. No, Steam is installed in it's own folder on my D drive, as is the entire game library. Path is (D:) > Steam > steamapps > common > Fallout New Vegas

2. After posting this, I did download the 4GB patcher, but has no noticeable effect on the game while in fullsceen.

3. After reading your comment, I looked over the issues with heaps and downloaded NVSR and enabled Heap Replacement. It has no noticeable effect.

Additionally, the 'Solutions to Starting the game problems' included a bunch of info on DirectX 9. I downloaded the DirectX End-User Runtimes linked to there, but had no luck with those either. No noticeable effect.

That's all I've got time for until Friday (gonna go enjoy a lovely 3 days in the woods at the behest of the Army), so I plan to continue on that section of the Wiki then. I just figured I'd provide this update in case it had any useful information for you.

Thanks for the help, btw. I appreciate it immensely.

[dubiousintent]

There is a specific tip in the list I provided regarding 'Issue: "Full screen mode" exhibits CTDs and stutters or micro-stutters'. Sounds like you had to break off just before that point. Don't worry about the "no apparent effect" of the other fixes. They all help down the road.

 

Have fun "camping without adult supervision". (Been there, got the pension. Better than the T-shirt.)

 

-Dubious-

[TheBoss7777]

Well, oddly enough, the game appears to work now. I haven't changed anything (or even restarted my computer) since before my lovely camping trip, yet the game now runs smoothly in fullscreen, though I admittedly haven't played it beyond Doc Mitchell's house. I'm going to continue playing and I'll obviously report back here if anything goes wrong. Thanks again for the assistance, though.

[luthienanarion]

Alright, I'm having a handful of different issues involving both crashing and missing hair on NPCs.

 

Eventually, I came across this fix for the hair: https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/50470?tab=description

Fix, my ass. Delete that and any other d3d9.dll file you may have installed in your game folder.

 

If hair won't render, it's because the game is selecting a DX8 shader package for your driver which does not support the hair rendering the game uses.

 

Open up <My Documents>\My Games\FalloutNV\RendererInfo.txt and post the contents.

Edited December 3, 2018 by luthienanarion