Just started crashing while going to certain parts of the map

[MichaelTorr]

I'm having a really big problem. Fallout New Vegas is crashing constantly.
The thing that sets it off is walking towards New Vegas. You know how you can see The Lucky 38 from half the way across the map. If I head north towards it, it crashes the game.
The distance I can get to it is approximately where good spring cemetery is. What I mean is, draw a line east to west where the cemetery is, try crossing that line while headed north, game crashes.

I can cross that line from the other direction headed south.
I can stand on the good springs cemetery, and it's fine, the moment I cross where that “keep out” sign is, that's the distance it takes to crash.

I tried using different saves, and I tried restarting my computer, just to get rid of any bugs that might be in memory.

Also, I was able to approach the cemetery from the north (headed south) and I walked through where the scorpions were, and I got to the top of the cemetery. I wondered what would happen if I headed back toward north, but didn't turn around. I started walking backward (north) and the moment I crossed that line it crashed.

Like I said, imagine an equator line going east to west where good springs cemetery is, cross it headed south, and your fine. Cross it headed north, it's a crash. Spawn well above that line, and I can head north then, no problem. And this happens when I head north from Nell's Shack, or when I spawn in Black Mountain. (all of which is approximately parallel to Good Springs Cemetery.)

I can get a little further north if I go around the cemetery, where the cazadors are. But a little past that, it crashes. So it has to be when a certain chunk of long distance terrain is being loaded. Or something like that.

Well common sense says if things used to work, and now they don't, what's changed?
Well I decided to undo one mod at a time. The game worked a few weeks ago, I've undone mods that go back to 6 months ago.

The only new or newish mods I can't fully undo is a hat, clothing, and sunglasses mod, because I merged the textures with my game's data folder. I unchecked the mod so that they won't load, but technically those textures are still floating around in my data folder, even though not on screen and not on my character.

What has also changed is: I updated Java (I don't think that has anything to do with FNV) Xvid, and Steam.
I don't think there is a way to roll back Steam. However, this Xvid thing. It may have updated ffdshow video decoder. Which pops up in my task bar every time the game crashes, and goes away when I shut down the game.

I should mention, when I say “the game crashes”, technically according to task manager, the game is running, and so is a component called active movie window.
What happens is, as I walk to an area that is guaranteed to crash the game, my full screen game, for a half second gets a boarder, like a maximized window, and then quickly re-sizes to a small window in my upper left corner, and it's just a rainbow-like color pallet. No sound, no motion. And that's the “active movie window”. I can maximize it, but it's just a motionless, soundless, color pallet.

I thought maybe I could check the date and roll back ffdshow video decoder. However, when I go to properties, it says Created, Modified, and Accessed, back in 2013 when I built this computer.
So I don't know, maybe it hasn't updated, maybe I don't know what I am looking at, and I have no idea how to roll back codecs and stuff.

I'm really upset because I am doing a Lets Play for my YouTube channel. And while I'm only 4 episodes in, I've just done so much editing, I'd really hate to have to completely uninstall this game, start with the vanilla game and slowly introduce all the old mods back in.

If you guys need a crash log, tell me how to provide one, and I can crash this game a million times, it is a perfectly repeatable crash. But then again, it might not be technically a crash, the game doesn't actually stop, I have to stop it from task manager.

[dubiousintent]

In general, if you haven't changed anything about your game and it suddenly stops working correctly you need to look to other causes: such as software updates to Windows, programming libraries such as ".Net", or hardware drivers. Older games eventually get dropped from product testing.

Sounds like you are having a problem with a "cut scene" (not that I recall one at that location, but don't think I have taken that route either). However, the nature of your "crash" (the change in display of your "full screen game") suggests other issues. So to start with I'm going to suggest you review this:

 

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' (NVSR related)
* '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'

* 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 aren't sure if it was installed or working, just re-run the Patcher again. Make sure it's 4GB Patcher. Won't hurt and it will tell you if it is already patched. (If the Windows ("Task Manager" | Processes) tab entry for the game process has more than 2GB (2,097,152KB) "Memory(Private Working Set)" used, then the 4GB patch is definitely in effect. But being below that threshold doesn't mean it isn't.)

Do you have "New Vegas Stutter Remover" (NVSR) installed? If so, 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 that is not sufficient, then we REALLY need to see your sorted "load order" as produced by "LOOT"; to include the main game and DLC files. With modded games its the sequence, not merely the list of mods, which is the cause of many problems. LOOT's sort gives a good first approximation, correcting the most obvious issues and is sufficient for most players. You can make minor adjustments to the order and tell LOOT how to remember them. It's in the on-line documentation under "Metadata". Instructions on how to copy it's list for posting are in the "How to ask for help" article, and "Checklist Item #11' entry in the wiki "Fallout NV Mod Conflict Troubleshooting" guide.

 

I recommend anyone 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.

-Dubious-

[MichaelTorr]

Thank you for the links and the effort dubiousintent.

I found the problem, and I fixed it.

The tl;dr is

Uninstall DivX.

 

The long explanation is.

The window named “ActiveMovie Window” that kept forcing new vegas to be minimized, while ffdshow video decoder appeared in my tray, are related to each other. And if you shut down ActiveMovie window, it shuts down New Vegas (or whatever program pulled it up).

It was something with the DivX update that did something wonky with codecs.

 

The protocol for ffdshow / activemovie window is scripted into the C++ of most, if not all, games written for Direct X. When everything runs smooth, it is a background operation.

 

Unfortunately I had to completely uninstall New Vegas and reinstall it, to rule out mods or corrupt files in the game.

But fortunately I backed up the New Vegas folder, and the new vegas folder under my documents/my games, which is where the saves and configuration files are.

So I got my game working smooth again, good as new, all my saves and mods right where I left them.

What I've learned: Create a restore point in windows, and never update anything LOL. It has been my experience that updating things has done more to break a system than anything else :D

[dubiousintent]

Thanks for reporting back with your solution. I'll make note of the DivX update issue.

 

-Dubious-