Script extender crashing

[Rewton1]

Im trying to add some new mods on my next playthrough that require the FO4 SE. In order to avoid any possible mod conflicts, I uninstalled all my mods, started with a fresh install of FO4, to make sure no altered files were left behind, and installed the SE.


To install the SE, I pulled the loader, steam loader and the fse_ file. From there, I archived the data file with 7zip and dropped it in vortex. Then I boot up using the SE loader.

 

FO will boot up just fine, is stable and I can even get confirmation using the console prompt that SE installed correctly. The issue is that if I try starting a new game, it get stuck in loading on the opening screen without playing the intro movie. I also tried loading a save game that I had immediatly after character creation that had no mods on it. Whenever I try loading that, it will transition me to a loading screen, then fight before the game actually loads, it quits to desktop with no error message.

I did some digging and I saw that some people have issues with some ENB's and a DXGI.dll file, but at this point I dont have any mods installed so I dont have that file in my Fallout game folder.

After doing a bit of troubleshooting, I was able to confirm I can still load a file normally if I dont use the SE launcher, and also if I disable the data files in vortex. I can still pull up the confirmation that SE is installed after I've done this, but obviously none of the mod's I intend to use will work since the needed data folder for SE would be missing.

I've been working on this all day, so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[StormWolf01]

Hi Rewton.

Ok, sorry if this is a result of me being tired, and checking in on the forums before I go to bed. But I'm not following you when you say "To install the SE, I pulled the loader, steam loader and the fse_ file. From there, I archived the data file with 7zip and dropped it in vortex."

"Pulled them" Like, removed them from the game folders?

 

Next question on this. Why? if they are already installed, why are you removing them and reinstalling them thru Vortex? I'm honestly NOT trying to insult you or anything when I say this, but that doesn't make any sense.

 

And if you're going to be running the game through f4se anyway, why are you trying to install it with vortex? Don't install ANY other programs with Vortex in this particular game. You'll just end up having to reinstall them manually.

 

Another question is. When you uninstalled all your mods, did you delete the leftovers from out of the vortex folder in the appdata folder on your master (C: ) drive?

If not, then they're not really uninstalled.

 

Did you verify that all the folder structure and the dll files for f4se are correct? I'd ask if you made sure that it's set with admin rights, but if you're getting through TO the game, then that shouldn't be the problem as it won't even load the launcher if it doesn't have them.

 

Also if this is a clean install, have you gone through the fallout4 launcher.exe to set up your game settings? That might be part of why it's not progressing well at the start. You also have to do that so the game will set up some of the folders and files that the launcher creates.

 

If you didn't remove your previous .ini files before reinstalling, that might also be a problem. As maybe you'd made some edits to it, that are for mods, but now those mods aren't there. Well, partially not there, if you didn't clean out the vortex appdata folder.

If you did delete out your previous ini files, have you made the required edits to them, for playing with mods in this game?

I'm kinda thinking part of your .ini files are what's causing it to skip the intro. As the only way that I know of for that to happen, is a .ini edit. or failure in the ini file itself.

 

The other part of the problem, at least in my mind, is that you did this through vortex. Which makes no sense.

I'll also go ahead and mention it, because I know at least a few of the other guys here in the boards will also want to. Vortex. If you really want a clean game? Not vortex.

[Rewton1]

Sorry my last post was a bit vague, it was late and I rushed through it.

When I mentioned "pulling" the SE loader, what I did was download a new copy of the SE file, and then unzipped the file and transferred the loader, steam loader and the fse_ file into my games folder. I didnt remove them from an already working game with them installed.

 

As far as installing through vortex goes, the only thing I have installed through vortex is a zipped copy of the data folder included in the SE download file.

I also recently switched over to Vortex from NMM for this new install, and I noticed yesterday that I still had my NMM mod folder even though I had uninstalled NMM yesterday. So that could be part of the issue, and I may end up uninstalling FO4 and reinstalling it today to make sure none of the leftovers from the past mods I was using are causing this.

Also since I'm starting essentially with a fresh start to my mod manager, what would be a better alternative to vortex? I'm still pretty new to the modding community, and from what I've gleaned from messenger boards is NMM<Vortex, but vortex is still a dumpster file that doesn't always install all the needed folders for mods.

[Guest deleted34304850]

 

Also since I'm starting essentially with a fresh start to my mod manager, what would be a better alternative to vortex? I'm still pretty new to the modding community, and from what I've gleaned from messenger boards is NMM<Vortex, but vortex is still a dumpster file that doesn't always install all the needed folders for mods.

i wouldn't believe that bullshit if i were you.

[StormWolf01]

Heyas Rewton. LOL no, I definitely understand what it is like to post when it's late. Like I said, I was too :wink:

Ok, that does make a lot more sense. Thanks much for that clarification. And if that's all you're doing, I guess that should be ok. Tho I would definitely recommend verifying the files to make sure afterwards.

One thing that I do wanna mention about Vortex tho. And my memory is hazy on this one, so I could be off the mark. But my poor excuse for a memory thinks that Vortex doesn't install most of the files directly to the data folder, but rather it's own folder in the appdata folder. C:\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Local -> Vortex

As for which one is better than the other? All of them have their ups and downs. Some have features that others don't. To be honest, and this is just my opinion. But to me, Vortex has some very advanced features to it, and it's got a bit of a learning curve. Both from a gamer standpoint and a modder's standpoint. In my "opinion" Vortex is a tool that requires some decent knowledge of how to mod the game you're using it with as well as some decent familiarity with the game you're using it with. That's why I don't advise it as a tool for use by gamers that are new to playing with mods.

I do also know that while using vortex, you want to make sure that your installed mods aren't just active, but also deployed. You will also want to verify your load order. I've seen quite a few LO's here from vortex users, where the mods are listed backwards of what they need to be.

patch.esp

required.esp

patch.esp

which won't work, because the patches are listed higher than the required file.

 

Ok, normally, I don't recommend a full reinstall this early on.

But in the case of Bethesda's Fallout4 here's what I'd recommend.

1) Go through and very thoroughly check your files for any remnant files from mods by your previous mod manager, using windows search function. Remove them.

2) Go ahead and make backups of your existing game system files. Those will be in C:\Users\YourUserName\Documents\My Games\Fallout4

and C:\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Local\Fallout4 However, this one, the only really important file in there is your plugins.txt file. Which is the file the game uses for your Load Order (LO) so that file changes whenever you add or remove mods.

3) After you have a completely clean install of your game, after running just the fallout4 launcher.exe to build your files, make a backup copy of that too. I have several backups of every one of my game folders, and that's saved me a LOT of headaches in past.

4) Afterwards, go through the checklist of things that I went over in my original reply. Aside from the launcher, which was just mentioned.

 

Now, if you're going to be using Vortex I would kinda recommend being a lurker over at the vortex forums here on the nexus. https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/forum/4301-vortex/ so that you can learn some of the do's, the don'ts, and how to troubleshoot any problems that you might have with it.

 

Another thing I cannot recommend strongly enough. Do NOT test mods on your current game playthrough. Adding/Removing mods during a playthrough without testing can have some really bad consequences to your game. Largely due to scripts in the mods that bake into your savegame. I've got 3-4 or even 6-7 test characters that I use for testing. Those I can safely delete from the game afterwards.

I also use those for testing my load ORDER to make sure that said "Order" works well and doesn't conflict. Due to the fact that sometimes conflicts can sometimes cause broken scripts. Which again, bake into your save games. If you'd like, I can teach you how to fork your savegames, so that you can make those test characters a lot easier. Just let me know ;)

Edited March 15, 2020 by StormWolf01

[HeyYou]

Just drop the script extender files into the main fallout 4 directory. That's easiest, and works best.