Freeze on exit problem this time.

[wfandrews]

I just bought a new computer with Windows 10 Home OS and have been playing oldrim and SSE with no problems. I cannot seem to get FNV to play however. I will try to explain what is happening.

 

My process when starting a new game is to go through the opening tutorial with no mods, or just the game patches and then make three or four saves and keep those saves to start new games with. Of course this is only effective if you are starting with a vanilla game, in this case you don't get much more vanilla as I was downloading my games from Steam for the first time on this machine.

 

For FNV, the tutorial ,as you know, is the Sunny play through; this does not suit my purpose so I make my first save right after the first auto-save when Doc. Mitchell takes you over to the machine to add to your specials. I then added nvse, the 4GB patch, YUP, the unofficial patch, better game performance , MTUI, NVSR, and the Mod Configuration Menu and launched with the default launcher, FalloutNV.exe. Everything worked great so I thought "I'm on my way". I started adding mods about 4 or 5 at a time and launching the game, playing for a minute or so, quitting, adding etcetera. About the third time my game would not start so I tried to see what went wrong, found I had installed the wrong WRP file to work with WMX, I had also changed NVSR.ini according to Roy Batterians advice to make it run with Windows10. I did not think that was the problem but that the wrong WRP file could be. Anyway I eventually had to uninstall FNV and start from scratch.

 

This time I loaded all my beginning mods once more except for NVSR, just in case, and if I got stutter I could always install it then. Everything launched and played with no problems so I quit and installed the mods that added items to Doc. Mitchells house mainly three guns, a M14 sniper rifle, a PKM, and an AK47 also a starters kit that AWOP puts in the house. I then went through everything until Doc Mitchell leaves you at the door and then saved. Started adding mods once again, added about ten mods and the third or fourth time, I had added the "more perks" and "more traits" mods when I quit the game froze. I went to alt+ctrl+delete but I could not use "control panel" I had to sign out.

 

I uninstalled the mods I had installed just before that happened and tried again, same thing. I then started the game from the auto-save right at the beginning, same thing. I then deleted my ini files in Documents\My Games\FalloutNV and launched from Steam, I hit play and put in the Settings I use and hit "Exit", game froze. This is, while not the same kind of crash as last time, the same result. The only way I know how to get the game to run again is to uninstall and reinstall it, nothing else seems to fix the problem

 

I do not think it is a mod conflict problem as the mods I had just installed were different then the mods I had just installed last time when it just would not load. Although in one instance the game would not load and in the other the game froze upon quitting I do think they are related and it has something to do with my computer. My problem is I do not even know how to find out what the problem is, let alone fix it.

 

I would appreciate any advice someone would give me,even if it is a way I could find out what the problem is. If I knew what was causing this it would go a long way towards fixing it.

 

I did put in paragraphs but when I submitted it there were none.

[dubiousintent]

First of all, there are some mods we (the community) consider "essential" even for a vanilla game. They fix known issues and are often called "unofficial patches". (You are probably familiar with the concept, but I prefer trying not to "assume" things.)

 

Please see the 'Vanilla "Load Order"' entry in the 'First Timer Advice' section; and the 'Common Game Problems' section of the wiki "FNV General Mod Use Advice" article.

If the problem persists, then see either the 'Solutions to Starting the game problems' or the 'Solutions to "Crash To Desktop" (CTD) problems' sections 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.

Do not load a "save game" which contained plugins you have since removed from the "load order". That will cause problems up to and including "freezing". I would suggest you stick with "vanilla" and only the "essentials" and "stability" mods while in Doc Mitchell's. Exit and save. Then add mods one at a time, and TEST each one. (There is a section on "Testing" in that article.) DON'T save those tests, unless you are prepared to delete those save files when done testing. You can always go back into Doc's to get items placed there by mods.

 

Trying to quickly install a bunch of mods is the most common mistake new players to this game make. Believe the collected experience of this community that slow and careful is actually much quicker than blindly assuming (there is that word again) that just because some one tells you a given list of mods works for THEM, that they will work the same for your system. Take your time and you can play without any major problems from day one. Between the article above and those it links, we have pretty much every common problem covered. (Though we still turn up unique ones occasionally.)

 

-Dubious-

[wfandrews]

Thank you Dubious for your reply. Let me see if I can simplify my problem for you.

 

I have been playing and modding FNV for over five years now. It has always been on a Windows 7 computer. I recently bought a much more powerful Windows 10 computer and relegated my Windows 7 to just playing non-Steam games, I completely uninstalled Steam on that computer and am presently playing TTW3.2 with gog FNV and gog Fallout3 on that computer.

 

If you will read the second paragraph of my post you will see that I have down loaded and installed the performance enhancing tools most people consider essential for FNV before I launched FNV and started a new game. I had launched FNV with the Steam Launcher after I had first installed the game thru Steam to create my ini files. I did not start a new game then just configured my settings and quit.

 

I would ask that you read my original post more thoroughly and perhaps you will get a better understanding of my problem. I am well familiar with the problems associated with installing or uninstalling mods mid play-through and have not done that. Although I cannot say with 100% confidence I am 98% sure that this is not a mod conflict problem. The only thing that I can think of that is the same with both of the problems that made my game unplayable is the time element; I installed four or five mods at a time and then launched the game and it was after the third or fourth time I did this that a problem occurred, and the OS which is Windows10.

 

As I said in my original post the first time the game would not load and after I had completely uninstalled the game, which was the only thing that worked, I started from scratch again. The second time it just froze when I quit the game. Now even when I launch the game with no mods at all through the Steam launcher and then quit the game freezes. If I use Alt+Ctrl+Delete I can only sign out not go to :Control Panel: to stop the program. I have had no CTDs, actually no problems at all once I am actually playing the game. As I have said the first problem was that I could not load the game and the second time it freezes when I quit the game.

 

Any constructive advice would be helpful I will look through the sites you have linked to see if they have any guides for configuring Windows10. The only advice I have seen for Windows 10 was Roy Batty's for configuring NVSR ini to run with Windows 10.

[dubiousintent]

You did not mention "New Vegas AntiCrash (NVAC)", which is considered an "essential" because it catches and prevents many errors that otherwise will crash (or freeze) the game even without mods. I use "boilerplate" responses because my memory is less reliable than it used to be, and they avoid my forgetting things. (Also because I repeat the same responses to so many questions even on a daily basis.) Consequently you get things like "see the essentials section". All it takes is missing just one thing, like NVAC. (Hanging on exit is a classic "NVAC fix".)

 

* 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.

The primary problem I determine from your report is "it worked and then it doesn't". The thing about computers is given the exact same inputs, they do the same thing over and over until something changes. Then you have to identify what changed. In your case you re-installed and things were not the same with the vanilla game the next time around. One major change is that you went from Win7 to Win10 at some point in that process. Exactly when that occurred doesn't matter. The current situation is what we have to cope with now.

 

When you are able to play the game past exiting Doc Mitchell's and moving around "Goodsprings", and then it suddenly freezes without having changed anything (such as adding/removing mods or altering the "load order" or loading a different save than previously), then it is usually a mod conflict manifesting in particular circumstances (typically as a CTD or "freeze") or a problem with memory leakage. Most of those can be mitigated by configuration changes. The "Common Problems" section of the "General Mod Use Advice" article describe them.

 

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'

Finally, you are using "Better Game Performance". This is mentioned in the "Stability" section. If you are still having problems after going through the above, try without it.

 

-Dubious-

[wfandrews]

I believe I have fixed the problem, as I suspected it had nothing to do with mods.

 

I googled "configure Windows10 for Fallout New Vegas" and got a link to a post about making Windows10 compatible to run FNV. Followed the instructions and have been installing mods and playing with no issues so far. I am using FOMM to install my mods although that probably does not make a difference.

 

I appreciate your replies and have bookmarked the site your links went to. From now on the first thing I will do when I have a problem is head to that site as it seems a really comprehensive guide to resolving issues with FNV.

 

Thank you again for your time in helping me with my problem.