GUIDE General Feedback

[nameerf]

Hi all, it's been a long time since my last login :)

Anyway, I decided to replay FO3 before FO4 comes out and I found this great guide.
First of all, a big thanks to Kelmych and anyone else who's involved in the guide!

I want to give some feedback from my recent installation.
So here it goes:

-Latest ENB version = 0.267 (vs 0.263 in the guide)

-Clean the Bethesda ESMs section:
Right-click Update.esm => Right-click Anchorage.esm

Fixes section:
- MAybe add a note for "FWE Talon Loot Crash Fix" to not enable yet (for those who want to do some testing) cause of missing masters.

User Interface section:
-"Smaller Crosshair" (which has only one texture file) is overwritten by "Better High Detail Maps and icons". Is this normal?

- "RH_IronSights FWE- WMK compatible" mod: remove optimize flag, file has only 2 esps.

- "Blackened" mod: there is a cleaning warning but there is no cleaning flag. ?

- "20th Century Wpns -Plus- Reborn for FWE 603" : intallation instructions are confusing... Specifically:
During the instalaltion of the main file it says, we must install only the "20th Century Weapons -Plus- Reborn FWE-WMK-Calibr14_V1_70RC_18668.esp" plugin (with either way, install only or move to optional esps). Next it says to install the update, which contains the above plugin which will overwrite the first one but also contains the "20th Century Weapons -Plus- Reborn v1_70RC-18668-ALIVE (TEST Container).esp", which was also contained in the main file and moved to optional esps (or didn't install at all), do we keep this one?

Also in the next paragraph, it says that for those who also installed the "RH Ironsights" mod, after installation, to move the "20th Century Weapons -Plus- Reborn FWE-WMK-Calibr14_V1_70RC_18668.esp" to optional esps, which is the exact same plugin as the above one (which we must intall). The actual plugin that is contained in the "RH Ironsights" mod is named: "20th_Century_Weapons -Plus- Reborn_v1_70RC-18668_Ironsights_v1_1.esp".

Regarding LOOT and cleaning:
- The following mods are actually clean (I've double checked them but I might did someting wrong)
    -Zealotlee Adaptive Combat Rifle Script Bugfix - already clean
    -Paradox Ignition presents More Perks - already clean, also latest version is 1.2 (1 November 2014)
    -T3TForFWE - already clean

Regarding Bashed Batch :
What I understood from the guide is that currently Wrye Flash can't import automatically LOOT's tags so we must mannually add them, right? Do we have to also remove any tags that don't show up in LOOT? (BrokenSteel.esm IIRC had one bash tag that wasn't reported by LOOT).

Also in the section with the recommended options to leave unchecked, in the Bashed Patch menu there is an option "Import Roads" which doesn't exist in the menu (I think it's a FONV one), closest one is Relations. ?

Regarding FO3LODGen:
-The guide in the begging says to make sure that we have "Have MO manage archives" unchecked, but there is no indicator as to what to do after the lod generation, leave it as is, recheck it.. what?

And two bad links:
- Brahmin Variant Redux - it point to "K9 Breeds" mod.
- Acoraito HD Textures Pack - correct one is "https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout3/mods/21305".

Now, I know that many of the above are obvious to "solve" for most of the experienced users, but for the new (to modding) users may be somewhat confusing.

Sorry for the long post but there were may things I wanted to point out and also sorry for my English, it's not my native language.

 

Edit: I just realized that I may have posted to the wrong topic, and I must have posted to the "original support topic" one. I don't know how to move my post so any moderator feel free to do this.

Edited June 16, 2015 by nameerf

[Kelmych]

Well, the original Calibr.esm exists from FWE, ofc. The problem I mentioned is that there is no Calibr.esm in the xcalibr installed mod, only xcalibr.esm. But since you say that I can keep xcalibr.esm in place, next to calibr.esm from FWE, then everything is clear now. Thank you

Apparently the most recent fomod has the extra Calibr.esm in one of the two overide options in the fomod that don't get installed. I'll change the guide to correct this.

[Kelmych]

Does anyone know of a decent rule of thumb for balancing weapons/armor with FWE? Is there a guide somewhere? Or is it all best guess?

FWE itself and the compatibility mods for FWE try to do this; that's partly why there are multiple compatibility mods. There is no guide for it. I started working on identifying the records that typically need changing and some approximate rules for determining what to use but I haven't had time to finish this. I expect it the same will be needed even in Fallout 4 so when I finish this it will still be useful. The best way to do is for now to use FO3Edit to look at what the compatibility mods have added/changed iin the weapon and armor objects, particularly the more recent compatibility mods.

[dreamer1986]

Okay, I managed to reach the end of the guide, I thought everything was going to be all right, but once I started up the game at the end I got "Fallout 3 has stopped working". I thought that maybe a mod is to blame, so I started disabling mods in groups of ten. But I reached the end of all the mods and the game still doesn't start. I don't get it... it worked after the first test. Now it doesn't work even if I try to run the game without any mods .

 

Can you please help me? I have no idea what to do ...

Maybe I found a sort of clue, but I'm not sure. In MO I use three profiles: Default, which was there before starting with the modding, Vanilla Fallout which has the optimized textures, and Clear and Present Danger which has all mods.

 

Of these three, with Default I can start the game. And it seems to work fine. Can this help me in some way?

 

 

Edit: Solved it!!! It seems that MO got all the profiles corrupted except Default, somehow. Starting from Default, I made new profiles, activated the mods, and now it works!

 

Thank you very much for the awesome guide, Kelmych! I was worried that I wouldn't get the chance to play it, but it seems I was lucky

 

 

Edit 2:

 

Okay, it seems I can play normally, with few problems noticed so far, like invisible hands when wearing certain suits. That's not necesarily a big problem.

 

My biggest problem is that I can't see the compass/health/ap, no matter how I try to set up ahud and ihud

Edited June 17, 2015 by dreamer1986

[nameerf]

I don't know if anyone who's involved with the guide saw my post above, but I'd like some answers to some of the confusing parts/questions, as described above (e.g. which esp(s) we must keep in "20th Century Wpns -Plus- Reborn for FWE 603").

 

Thanks

 

Edit: typo

Edited June 18, 2015 by nameerf

[Kelmych]

I wanted to mention again that this particular thread isn't for problems with using the guide, it is for general questions and suggestions for the guide. It would help if support questions were put in the Clear and Present Danger Support forum, preferably as a new topic or, if the topic is already present, as an addition to an existing topic. It's a lot easier for forum participants to identify questions they can help with if this is done. We haven't been as vigilant in moving the relevant posts to the Support forums, but we'll try to be better about this.

[Kelmych]

Hi all, it's been a long time since my last login :)

 

Anyway, I decided to replay FO3 before FO4 comes out and I found this great guide.

First of all, a big thanks to Kelmych and anyone else who's involved in the guide!

 

I want to give some feedback from my recent installation.

So here it goes:

 

-Latest ENB version = 0.267 (vs 0.263 in the guide)

fixed in next guide update. The versions number sometimes fall behing; forum participants can change thse if they want. In this case there hasn't been time to verify that the new version works properly, but it likely does.

-Clean the Bethesda ESMs section:

Right-click Update.esm => Right-click Anchorage.esm

fixed in next guide update

Fixes section:

- MAybe add a note for "FWE Talon Loot Crash Fix" to not enable yet (for those who want to do some testing) cause of missing masters.

I'll move this to be after WMK in the next guide update

 

User Interface section:

-"Smaller Crosshair" (which has only one texture file) is overwritten by "Better High Detail Maps and icons". Is this normal?

It should be after "no more dots"; must have gotten accidentally reverted. fixed in next guide update

 

- "RH_IronSights FWE- WMK compatible" mod: remove optimize flag, file has only 2 esps.

fixed in next guide update

 

- "Blackened" mod: there is a cleaning warning but there is no cleaning flag. ?

Correct. Cleaning flags are for mods that need cleaning. the cleaning warning in this case says what should NOT be cleaned even though LOOT and FO3Edit will report that it needs cleaning.

 

- "20th Century Wpns -Plus- Reborn for FWE 603" : intallation instructions are confusing... Specifically:

During the instalaltion of the main file it says, we must install only the "20th Century Weapons -Plus- Reborn FWE-WMK-Calibr14_V1_70RC_18668.esp" plugin (with either way, install only or move to optional esps). Next it says to install the update, which contains the above plugin which will overwrite the first one but also contains the "20th Century Weapons -Plus- Reborn v1_70RC-18668-ALIVE (TEST Container).esp", which was also contained in the main file and moved to optional esps (or didn't install at all), do we keep this one?

 

Also in the next paragraph, it says that for those who also installed the "RH Ironsights" mod, after installation, to move the "20th Century Weapons -Plus- Reborn FWE-WMK-Calibr14_V1_70RC_18668.esp" to optional esps, which is the exact same plugin as the above one (which we must intall). The actual plugin that is contained in the "RH Ironsights" mod is named: "20th_Century_Weapons -Plus- Reborn_v1_70RC-18668_Ironsights_v1_1.esp".

I'll post on this soon with details.

Regarding LOOT and cleaning:

- The following mods are actually clean (I've double checked them but I might did someting wrong)

    -Zealotlee Adaptive Combat Rifle Script Bugfix - already clean

    -Paradox Ignition presents More Perks - already clean, also latest version is 1.2 (1 November 2014)

used to be dirty; apparently it isn't any more

    -T3TForFWE - already clean

I'll check the other two

 

Regarding Bashed Batch :

What I understood from the guide is that currently Wrye Flash can't import automatically LOOT's tags so we must mannually add them, right? Do we have to also remove any tags that don't show up in LOOT? (BrokenSteel.esm IIRC had one bash tag that wasn't reported by LOOT).

No; LOOT isn't always correct on bash tags.

 

Also in the section with the recommended options to leave unchecked, in the Bashed Patch menu there is an option "Import Roads" which doesn't exist in the menu (I think it's a FONV one), closest one is Relations. ?

Relations should be used, roads aren't available.

 

Regarding FO3LODGen:

-The guide in the begging says to make sure that we have "Have MO manage archives" unchecked, but there is no indicator as to what to do after the lod generation, leave it as is, recheck it.. what?

Leave it checked.

 

And two bad links:

- Brahmin Variant Redux - it point to "K9 Breeds" mod.

- Acoraito HD Textures Pack - correct one is "https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout3/mods/21305".

fixed in next update. It was correct at one point  .

Now, I know that many of the above are obvious to "solve" for most of the experienced users, but for the new (to modding) users may be somewhat confusing.

 

Sorry for the long post but there were may things I wanted to point out and also sorry for my English, it's not my native language.

 

Edit: I just realized that I may have posted to the wrong topic, and I must have posted to the "original support topic" one. I don't know how to move my post so any moderator feel free to do this.

[nameerf]

I wanted to mention again that this particular thread isn't for problems with using the guide, it is for general questions and suggestions for the guide. It would help if support questions were put in the Clear and Present Danger Support forum, preferably as a new topic or, if the topic is already present, as an addition to an existing topic. It's a lot easier for forum participants to identify questions they can help with if this is done. We haven't been as vigilant in moving the relevant posts to the Support forums, but we'll try to be better about this.

I was aware of this but I must have been not careful when I finally posted. I realized it soon after and made the edit. Anyway sorry for that.

 

Also thank you for the response (above).

 

One final question: are you planning on any big number of changes (mod additions/removals etc.) anytime soon? Because I want to start a new playthrough (to the end this time) and I want to know if I should wait or not?

 

Thanks again

[Adonis_VII]

Kelymch, I've updated instructions for Acoraito's pack as he has release optimized (1k) versions for the clutter which is of a more appropriate size.  I think with these new texture sizes the optional tag can be removed, but I'll leave that decision to you.

[Kelmych]

I'll remove the optional designation,it was there only because the textures were so big and these were clutter items. I'm using the larger size ones ones myself since my system is sufficiently capable.

 

I expect as users start getting ready for Fallout 4 we will see more users having systems capable of handling larger textures such as these.

 

I noticed some other new additions to the TTW guide that aren't in the FO3 guide that might be useful to add. Have you any suggestions on this? By the way, I didn't remove all the individual retextured weapons that are in the WEP since there are some texture files that weren't included in WEP. Should these weapons be removed anyway?

[Kelmych]

I was aware of this but I must have been not careful when I finally posted. I realized it soon after and made the edit. Anyway sorry for that.

Actually your post was in the right place since it included suggested guide additions and changes along with the problems you mentioned. I was referring to other posts, and to let new participants know about the how the support topics are typically organized on STEP. 

 

Also thank you for the response (above).

 

One final question: are you planning on any big number of changes (mod additions/removals etc.) anytime soon? Because I want to start a new playthrough (to the end this time) and I want to know if I should wait or not?

All the planned changes are incremental. EssArrBee and I have tried to keep the Fallout guides as evolving documents, especially since the games have been out a long time.

Thanks again

[Adonis_VII]

I know I stopped using the Laser Pistol and Laser Rifle Retextures.  I felt that keeping Cabal's texture for the normal Laser Pistol and Laser Rifle made Chris' uniques stand out more (especially the pistols).  I'll have to have another look at WEP.

 

I know Emerald Reign's release of Cabal's updated Outcast armor was an improvement, though there is only a 4k option so some people may have to reduce.  I'll try getting screenshot compares.

 

I've been distracted lately as I've been making new LOD: Full Model, New LOD, Old LOD

->->

[Kelmych]

I wasn't clear in my comments. With four of Christopher Wallace's individual weapon replacements, especially with the EVE weapons, there are a few textures in the individual weapon mods that aren't in the WEP mod. For example, in the US Assault Rifle Hi-res retexture there are is a "1stpersonAssaultRifle.dds" and "1stpersonassaultrifleclip.dds" (and the normal maps for these) that aren't in WEP. Should these still be used?

[Adonis_VII]

I just downloaded the US Assault Rifle v1.1 and I count 8 files, all of which are also in WEP

 

• textures/weapons/2handautomatic/1stpersong3assaultrifle.dds
• textures/weapons/2handautomatic/1stpersong3assaultrifle_n.dds
• textures/weapons/2handautomatic/1stpersong3assaultrifleclip.dds
• textures/weapons/2handautomatic/1stpersong3assaultrifleclip_n.dds
• textures/weapons/2handautomatic/g3assaultrifle.dds
• textures/weapons/2handautomatic/g3assaultrifle_n.dds
• textures/weapons/2handautomatic/g3assaultrifleclip.dds
• textures/weapons/2handautomatic/g3assaultrifleclip_n.dds

Maybe he added extra textures in the first release which he's removed since? I'm in the middle of moving house so I can't check the meshes atm.

Edited June 20, 2015 by Adonis_VII

[nameerf]

 

I was aware of this but I must have been not careful when I finally posted. I realized it soon after and made the edit. Anyway sorry for that.

Actually your post was in the right place since it included suggested guide additions and changes along with the problems you mentioned. I was referring to other posts, and to let new participants know about the how the support topics are typically organized on STEP. 

 

Also thank you for the response (above).

 

One final question: are you planning on any big number of changes (mod additions/removals etc.) anytime soon? Because I want to start a new playthrough (to the end this time) and I want to know if I should wait or not?

All the planned changes are incremental. EssArrBee and I have tried to keep the Fallout guides as evolving documents, especially since the games have been out a long time.

Thanks again

 

OK, thanks for the clarifications.