Hi, I just got myself a gaming pc and picked up a copy of Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas to play them on. I read the faq thing and checked out the nexus site and had a few questions that I'm hoping you all can help with. Most of these questions are probably going to leave people facepalming (thats why I put "I'm brand new" in the title ) Anyway here goes:

1) How can I figure out what order to load up mods in?

2) When loading mods is it advisable to add one at a time and then check the game to see if things are working out or should I just add them all at once? How important is it to only add mods to a "fresh" game? In other words am I going to have to restart the game over and over again at the begining?

3) I dont know if it worked this way on the pc or not but on the 360 when I added in DLC like "The Pitt" all those fancy new raider armors were only used by raiders in "The Pitt" and didn't spawn on raiders outside in the regular wasteland. Will mods be like that? I saw a neat one called armagheddon (or something like that - yeah my spelling is bad lol) armory on nexus and from the description it sounded like the new guns were going to be everywhere. Is that how it works?

4) Those mods where they change the way npcs in the game look are pretty neat but all of them seem to be a bunch of naked people. Im not a prude or anything but it would be neat to be able to have some mods that made characters in the game look better without the game turning into a cinimax skin flick. Are there mods like that floating around somewhere? I saw one called fallout beautification or something like that but I didn't see any noticable (im my opinion anyway) improvement over the vanilla game.

Sorry for the text wall up there. If anybody can think of any other advice to give that would be great. Once I find out in what order I need to install everything I'm going to get working on it and hopefully get to play my new games this weekend! Thanks in advance.

I will try to take your questions in order.
1. Before you start to mod your game, download and install B.O.S.S. This is Better Obilivion Sorting Software. I know, you asked about Fallout 3, but this is the go to program for sorting and placing your mods in correct load order. Load order is very important to the proper operation of your mods. You will also need, F.O.S.E., Fallout Script Extender. It can be obtained from fose.silverlock.org. Another program is FO3Edit, obtainable at fallout3 nexus. Make sure you get the instruction manual. It is a seperate download. You will definitely need F.O.M.M., Fallout Mod Manager. This used to install and manager your mods. Another program would be 7Zip, to unpackage comperssed files. You might get advice to use NMM, Nexus Mod Manager. However, this is still in beta testing and not as stable as FOMM.

2. When you are ready to load your mods, make sure you can run the unmodded game first and make a good save. Than add one mod at a time to make sure it will run properly and than make a save. You should do this for each mod you add. This will eliminate having a large load order and having an unknown problem and the only way to find out what is wrong is to uninstall your mods and than add them one at a time. You do not have to add most mods on a fresh game. However, some are better to start with on a fresh game.

3. The unique armors in the Pitt and Point Lookout do not show up in the main game. However, any mods you add will show up in the wasteland. This is the area that you are adding the mods to and you need additional files to add to the DLCs.

4. The naked bodies are mods to change the default body and make it more attractive. You do not have to use them if you don't want to. There are a lot of mods that make the NPCs more attractive without adding the nvde body. And there are some that require a body replacer. The nvde bodies will only show up if you strip the armor off a dead NPC if you have used a nvde body replacer. I use a couple myself for asthetic purposes, not just to have a nvde body after the armor is taken.

I recommend that you set up an accout at Fallout3 Nexus and avail yourself of the incredable resources for mods and mod help. It is a great group of people from around the world. It has strict guidelines that must be followed, but it is the best resource for mods and modding help.

Before adding any mods to your game, be sure to read the ReadMe and description page for the mod. This will eliminate a lot of heartache later on. If you feel unsure about having the ability to properly load a mod, it is best to pass on it.

Welcome to the world of Fallout3 Mods. You will be soon kicking yourself for not doing it earlier. I sure did.

Just to add to the post above, because it can't be said often enough - make sure you read the readme files for any mod you're interested in installing. These should include installation (and uninstallation, in case you don't like the mod or can't get it to work) instructions, known compatibility issues with other popular mods, other files required to run the mod and possibly load order tips. Definitely install a one or a handful at a time, sort them with BOSS and then launch the game to make sure everything works okay. If it does, then add a couple more and retry the game. Keep doing this until you have all the mods you want loaded.

The most common mistake new mod users make is to download and install a bunch of mods that look cool without bothering to read the documentation, and then wonder why things aren't working the way they should be, or why their game instantly CTDs when they try to launch it. By taking it slow and doing your homework, you'll save yourself hours of frustration and sheer misery.

WRT the body replacers, most of the really good custom armors and outfits added by mods require them, but most of the replacer authors include versions with underwear as well as nvde versions. Check the files section on the Nexus page for these. Note that to access any "advlt" mods, or files larger than a certain size, you'll have to set up an account at the Nexus site. It doesn't cost anything, and the same login will work on the Nexus sites for other games such as Fallout: New Vegas and the TES series, so you may as well go ahead and set one up.

If you do get into trouble with mods, don't hesitate to post a Help! thread on the mods forum. Chances are other people here have had the same issue at one time that you're having, and they'll be able to help you out.

Have fun!

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FOSE=Fallout Script Extender, is absolutely necessary for some mods to work. And it is incompatible with GFWL in that it disables GFWL. I have never used GFWL and never will. FO3Edit= Fallout 3 Editor. You use this to check for conflicts between your mods, clean the mods and create a merged patch. There is a manual available as a seperate download. Get it and read it before you try to use it. BOSS=Better Oblivion Software, you use this to sort your mods. Make sure you read and understand the ReadMe before you use it. Before adding any mods, read the ReadMe and description page for the mod. Your questions about the mod will be answered. If you still have questions about a particular mod, contact the mod author through the comments section of the mod page.

/snip

There is a mod to disable GFWL, you can get it here: http://fallout3.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=1086.

If you keep your modding simple , only use a few and the ones that have a FOIP (I forget what that stands for) But a FOIP is basically a peice of software that acts as an interface between 2 other peices of software. For example : the Mod "FWE" and "MMM" have a "FOIP" you would download just like another mod.

So basically Im saying in this way you do not need FO3 edit and its 147 page instructions.

Use the GFWL disabler. But after that if you want saves you have , then youll have to move them to the default location.

Mydocuments\Mygames\Fallout 3\Saves

/snip

You will need FO3Edit to clean mods and create a Merged Patch for mods that will need it. If you plan on using FWE and MMM together you'll need to create a patch, FOIP just handles the compatibility between the two. Merged Patches are required for merging leveled lists and form lists which FWE and MMM alter a lot of.

So in the FO3Edit manual, pay close attention to merged patch creation and mod cleaning, the two most important functions.

/snip

It's certainly quite a lot of heavy mods for a first-time mod user. Lucky for you utilities like FO3Edit and BOSS can make the process a little easier. It's been a while since I've used such a setup but your load order might look something like this:


You could use this as a road map for getting these mods setup. BOSS should pretty much handle this load order for you however.

There's also an update http://www.4shared.com/archive/bfDu5-CB/file.html for EVE .97 and FWE 6.03. Includes a fix for pulse weapons as well.

/snip

The one on the FWE page is a little outdated and there's mods listed there that aren't needed or ones that are missing. Mine is more up-to-date.

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Well good luck on getting it working, like I said before that's a heavy load order for a first-time mod user.

That CRAFT - Activation Perk.esp? That's my goof for not removing it from that list, it's not needed.

/snip

What does your load order look like now? I use Wrye Bash for a bashed patch instead of a merged patch.


Just so you know, in my experience MMM is very demanding. I had to lower my NMC textures to Lite with Minimum Bump maps just to make MMM not abuse my Skyrim capable system.

You're going to need FOIP for the following:

FO3 Wanderer's Edition - Project Beauty.esp
FO3 Wanderer's Edition - Project Beauty (Followers Enhanced).esp - If you are using that feature
Mart's Mutant Mod - Project Beauty.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod - FWE Master Release.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod - FWE Master Release + Project Beauty.esp

/snip

Mart's Mutant Mod - FWE Master Release + Project Beauty.esp is found in the download FOIP - Marts Mutant Mod and FWE of the FOIP page. You'll also need the other two .esps in that file as well, Mart's Mutant Mod - FWE Master Release.esp and Mart's Mutant Mod - FWE Master Release + DLCs.esp

With Mart's Mutant Mod - FWE Master Release.esp you won't need the following .esps...

Mart's Mutant Mod - Zones Respawn.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod - Tougher Traders.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod - Natural Selection.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod - Master Menu Module.esp

...as they are included in the patch.

/snip

Yes you can decide to just not activate them or just remove/delete them from the Data folder.

Actually you'll want to install the FOIP patches last after installing FWE, MMM, EVE and WMK as the patches will overwrite the original .esps. Although it should be safe to install the needed FOIP patches with just FWE and MMM installed then after adding EVE or WMK installing those needed FOIP patches.

From the load order I posted earlier I labeled some .esps so you can see which ones ultimately come from FOIP.

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