Can I handle the game and the mods? : Fallout 3

» Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:26 pm

Hello.
I'm planning to play Fallout 3 basic edition with the Add-on Pack #2 (Broken Steel and Point Lookout) and some mods (Some heavy like FWE, MMM and Quest mods. I don't plan to use heavy world texture replacers).
I'd like to know if with my specs I can handle the modded game:

Spoiler

CPU Intel Core 2 Duo 2.53GHz
GPU NVidia GeForce 9600 1.024Mb VRAM
2Gb RAM DDR2 (I will surely upgrade to 4 Gb)
OS Windows Vista Home Basic

The only thing I fear is the CPU, because I had problems in Oblivion with mods wich added lots of NPCs (like CM Partners), but I think that it was bacause Oblivion could not handle multicore CPUs.
Any advice will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

» Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:28 pm

I have almost similar system (Except 512MB GF 9600GT and 4GB RAM) and the game runs fine with all the DLC and some 130 mod plugins, including FWE, MMM, EVE WMK and lots and lots of minor mods. Your RAM seems be a bit low which may cause some lag, but it'll propably run fine.

» Tue Jan 18, 2011 9:47 am

I have almost similar system (Except 512MB GF 9600GT and 4GB RAM) and the game runs fine with all the DLC and some 130 mod plugins, including FWE, MMM, EVE WMK and lots and lots of minor mods. Your RAM seems be a bit low which may cause some lag, but it'll propably run fine.

Thank you very much for the instant answer.
I'll fix the RAM as soon as posssible as I planned months ago. Glad the CPU will work.

Thanks again for the reply

» Tue Jan 18, 2011 2:44 am

fallout 3 is far better optimized than oblivion was, a significantly lower end PC can run a fairly heavily modded fallout 3 with minimal lag. of course the unofficial fallout 3 patch, FOSE and the fallout stutter remover plugin will help immensely regardless of your PC setup

» Tue Jan 18, 2011 9:04 am

My rig:

Spoiler

CPU maker: amd
CPU: Athlon64 X2 4200+ @ stock
Motherboard: Epox 9NPA+SLI
Bios: Bios that comes with board?
GPU maker: nvidia
Graphics Card: XFX 8800GS 384
Memory: 4x1GB G.Skill DDR400 @ stock
Hard Drive: 120GB WD + 1TB WD GP + 320GB WD AAJS
Optical Drive: Mystery DVD-RW
Power Supply: ThermalTake PurePower 500W
Display: ViewSonic P220F CRT + KDS 15" CRT
Case: Rosewill R230-P-BK
Sound Card: Onboard
Speakers: Creative stereo w/ sub placed on top of monitor
Headphones: Yeah, I've got about 5Mil pairs.
Mouse: Wired Optical
Mouse pad: Table. Mouse pads are overrated
Keyboard: $3 Compaq keyboard with pretty aluminum finish
Operating System: Vista Ultimate x64!

My load order:

Spoiler

Fallout3.esm
Anchorage.esm
ThePitt.esm
BrokenSteel.esm
PointLookout.esm
Zeta.esm
CALIBR.esm
xCALIBR.esm
20th Century Weapons.esm
DCInteriors_ComboEdition.esm
Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch.esm
CRAFT.esm
Enhanced Weather - Rain and Snow.esm
Mart's Mutant Mod.esm
The Librarian.esm
LingsFinerThings.esm
Vault 101 Revisited.esm
xCALIBRuniverse.esm
Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch - Operation Anchorage.esp
Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch - The Pitt.esp
Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch - Broken Steel.esp
Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch - Point Lookout.esp
Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch - Mothership Zeta.esp
DarNifiedUIF3.esp
zeta tweaks.esp
20th Century v5 ALIVE (Vendor).esp
20th Century v5 ALIVE (Containers).esp
20th Century v5 ALIVE (NPC_Settler).esp
20th Century v5 ALIVE (Vault 101).esp
20th Century v5 ALIVE (RivetCity).esp
20th Century v5 ALIVE (Raider).esp
20th Century v5 ALIVE (Slaver).esp
20th Century v5 ALIVE (Chinese Ghoul).esp
20th Century v5 ALIVE (SuperMutant).esp
20th Century v5 ALIVE (Talon_Regulator).esp
20th Century v5 ALIVE (Brotherhood_Outcast).esp
20th Century v5 ALIVE (TEST Container).esp
AutoAim_6000_v1.0.esp
Human Catapult.esp
SniperZooming.esp
ARTNightVision-No AP drain.esp
Tailor Maid.esp
Tailor Maid Anchorage.esp
Greenerworld.esp
Tailor Maid ZETA.esp
StarFox.esp
PersonalTerminal.esp
FPS Grenade Hotkey.esp
npc-tracker.esp
KHWeaponscanner.esp
The Groovatron.esp
The Groovatron_DLC_Pitt_Addon.esp
The Groovatron_DLC_PL_Addon.esp
Sprint Mod.esp
AQFH_C_103.esp
2nd Home at Tenpennys [Engl].esp
The Mantis Imperative - Mantis.esp
The Mantis Imperative - Jello.esp
WeightedCompanionCube.esp
Devoured in Darkness.esp
LingsFinerThings.esp
Feng Shui.esp
CrowdedCities_v2.esp
crowbar.esp
FollowersRelax.esp
F3UmpaAnimation.esp
JetPack.esp
NotSoFast.esp
HeirApparent.esp
VendorCapsIncreased1000X.esp
CRAFT - Activation Perk.esp
Manic Green.esp
CS_ LightsaberQuest.esp
CS_LightsaberQuest - Objectives Patch.esp
CS_LightsaberQuest - Throw Saber Patch.esp
Alyx from HL2.esp
Enhanced Weather - Rain and Snow in Fallout.esp
Enhanced Weather - Sneak Bonus during Storms.esp
Enhanced Weather - Weather Sounds in Interiors.esp
KDS Mod Testing Room.esp
PLweightadjust.esp
AnArtGallery.esp
GNR.esp
Fellout-Full.esp
Fellout-PointLookout.esp
Fellout-Anchorage.esp
Fellout-BrokenSteel.esp
Fellout-Zeta.esp
Fellout-pipboylight.esp
PureWater-VeryClearNoRad-.esp
xCALIBR_override.esp
xCALIBR_2CW_CP_Sorted.esp
xCALIBRuniverse.esp
xCALIBRuniverse_ammoLists.esp
BlackWolf Backpack.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod - DLC Anchorage.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod - DLC The Pitt.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod - DLC Broken Steel.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod - DLC Point Lookout.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod - DLC Zeta.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod - No Floaters.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod - Tougher Traders.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod - Zones Respawn.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod - Hunting & Looting.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod - Natural Selection.esp
20th Century V5 tweaks.esp

Total active plugins: 107
Total plugins: 131

You'll be fine. Go have fun, mod your game until it forgets it's name.

» Tue Jan 18, 2011 1:10 am

The biggest impact of the mods you listed will likely come from EVE. I find that some of EVE's visuals can turn my game into a slide show.
So I would suggest not installing EVE until after you make sure that you game runs ok.
[I am not putting down EVE, as it is an excellent mod, and one that I highly recommend using, but for me, it has a greater impact on my FPS than all the texture replacers I'm using.]

My own System:
- Processor: Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core AM2 5200+ Processor at 2.6GHz, 200MHz FSB, 1MB X 2 Cache
- Memory: 4GB Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4 DDR2 800MHz
- Graphics Adapter: (SLI SLOT 1): EV3A GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked 896MB

» Tue Jan 18, 2011 9:47 am

I think I'll have less problems with Fallout than with Oblivion :lol:

Thanks for all replies.
Now I will get everything I can from the modlist in this forum and the Arwen's one (beautyful list... It served me well for Oblivion too

)

Just to save a thrad
I heard about problems with official patches (the 1.5 specifically) and mods, is it solved with the 1.7? And if not how can I avoid?

» Tue Jan 18, 2011 7:19 am

I think I'll have less problems with Fallout than with Oblivion :lol:

Thanks for all replies.
Now I will get everything I can from the modlist in this forum and the Arwen's one (beautyful list... It served me well for Oblivion too

)

Just to save a thrad
I heard about problems with official patches (the 1.5 specifically) and mods, is it solved with the 1.7? And if not how can I avoid?

well there are a few animation bugs such as how NPCs tend to hold weapons oddly and VATS is broke, you used to be able to shoot grenades and missles out of the air. unfortunately many mods and the mothership zeta DLC require the 1.7 patch and bethesda isn't likely to fix the problem since new vegas is coming out

best you can do is use 1.7 and wait until the community figures out a good workaround for DLC and mods to work with patch 1.5

» Tue Jan 18, 2011 7:49 am

Patch 1.7 + Unofficial Patch = My game runs okay. It's still not perfect but at least with Patch 1.7 you don't need to trick it into thinking everything is a master to get it to not crash.

» Tue Jan 18, 2011 12:23 am

Patch 1.7 + Unofficial Patch = My game runs okay. It's still not perfect but at least with Patch 1.7 you don't need to trick it into thinking everything is a master to get it to not crash.

So there is an Unofficial Patch for Fallout.... Sorry for the ignorance, but
In Oblivion I used to run OBMM + Wrye Bash + BOSS... Is there something similar to WB for Fallout?
And can anybody link me the Unofficial Patch?
Thanks for the replies and advices

EDIT: Found the Unofficial Patch... There also was a link in Arwen's list

» Tue Jan 18, 2011 3:41 pm

So there is an Unofficial Patch for Fallout.... Sorry for the ignorance, but
In Oblivion I used to run OBMM + Wrye Bash + BOSS... Is there something similar to WB for Fallout?
And can anybody link me the Unofficial Patch?
Thanks for the replies and advices

EDIT: Found the Unofficial Patch... There also was a link in Arwen's list

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=11336
of the various wrye bash ports for fallout 3 this is currently the best one

» Tue Jan 18, 2011 9:29 am

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=11336
of the various wrye bash ports for fallout 3 this is currently the best one

Even with BAIN.... Thanks for this ^^

» Tue Jan 18, 2011 12:29 pm

There's also a BOSS version for Fallout, though it's not quite as extensive as the Oblivion one is. There's still lots of mods it doesn't recognize. However If you take a look at the Master list you can usually figure out where a mod should go, then you just copy/paste the name in the right location.

» Tue Jan 18, 2011 1:46 pm

There's also a BOSS version for Fallout, though it's not quite as extensive as the Oblivion one is. There's still lots of mods it doesn't recognize. However If you take a look at the Master list you can usually figure out where a mod should go, then you just copy/paste the name in the right location.

garybash comes with boss included, you just need to update the masterlist.txt for it, you can get the absolute latest one here(right click and save link as): http://better-oblivion-sorting-software.googlecode.com/svn/data/boss-fallout/masterlist.txt

» Tue Jan 18, 2011 10:44 am

FO3 is definitely a lot less resource hungry then Oblivion was. (Personally, I think it's due to the lack of lush trees and lush foliage everywhere. Rocks and bare trees take less effort to draw.)

I'm running an old 8800GT 512MB card in 1600x900 full-screen mode, with middle-of-the-road settings and lots of mods. On an AMD Phenom 9850 quad-core 2.5GHz with 3GB of RAM. I get a pretty solid 30-60 FPS. The major lag that I see is due to disk seeks (even with a 10k RPM SATA) or MMM spawning a bunch of mods as a new cell comes into view. But that's only once in a while that I see that lag.

» Tue Jan 18, 2011 9:03 am

EDIT: Found the Unofficial Patch... There also was a link in Arwen's list

Just a warning, the Unofficial Broken Steel patch can cause problems, it may be best to leave it out. There iss fixed version, but i don't know where to find it.

» Tue Jan 18, 2011 6:10 am

Your system is fine for high settings. You don't need to upgrade to 4GB of ram. you only need more ram when you are trying to run a lot of programs along side one another. Just shut down unnecessary things before playing and you are fine.

FO3 is definitely a lot less resource hungry then Oblivion was. (Personally, I think it's due to the lack of lush trees and lush foliage everywhere. Rocks and bare trees take less effort to draw.)

Unfortunately you are WAY wrong. Fallout is much more demanding then Oblivion. Lack of flora is an upside and does reduce the demand on the graphics card, however, the engine is vastly upgraded for better lighting as well as many other things. (It would take forever to dig up and list everything) But in short, Fallout makes Oblivion seem like an empty box.

» Tue Jan 18, 2011 7:48 am

@luna_panshiel: I already knew about the masterlist online, you spared me to search for it xD. Thanks for the link :foodndrink:
@ToJKa: What kind of problem there is with Broken Steel Patch? (Just courious)
@All other guys(:P) : Thanks for all replies. Now I'll try to find an English version of Fallout 3 and the Add-on Pack #2 (Almost impossible in my country, but I don't give up to hope :angel: ). I need the RAM upgrade for other things as well and I think that Fallout can only benefit from this.

Thanks again

» Tue Jan 18, 2011 11:21 am

@luna_panshiel: I already knew about the masterlist online, you spared me to search for it xD. Thanks for the link :foodndrink:
@ToJKa: What kind of problem there is with Broken Steel Patch? (Just courious)
@All other guys(:P) : Thanks for all replies. Now I'll try to find an English version of Fallout 3 and the Add-on Pack #2 (Almost impossible in my country, but I don't give up to hope :angel: ). I need the RAM upgrade for other things as well and I think that Fallout can only benefit from this.

Thanks again

if all else fails you can download it on steam, theres a FOSE version for it and aside from a few quirks you can mod it just as well

Edit: i found a link to the fixed unofficial broken steel patch: http://www.mediafire.com/?z3qmlzyzomy so don't worry about the problems

Unfortunately you are WAY wrong. Fallout is much more demanding then Oblivion. Lack of flora is an upside and does reduce the demand on the graphics card, however, the engine is vastly upgraded for better lighting as well as many other things. (It would take forever to dig up and list everything) But in short, Fallout makes Oblivion seem like an empty box.

actually it is far less demanding on your system

while fallout 3 has significantly better graphical potential than oblivion, it is optimized FAR better and is significantly less of a load on your system in general, a far lower end PC can run fallout 3 than is required to properly run oblivion. my 400$ bargan bin PC is proof enough of this lol

» Tue Jan 18, 2011 5:53 am

Unfortunately you are WAY wrong. Fallout is much more demanding then Oblivion. Lack of flora is an upside and does reduce the demand on the graphics card, however, the engine is vastly upgraded for better lighting as well as many other things. (It would take forever to dig up and list everything) But in short, Fallout makes Oblivion seem like an empty box.

Not even close. I can't run Oblivion with any sort of AA, but I can with Fallout and I still get much better FPS. All the other settings are almost exactly the same between the two, plus I use Streamline for Oblivion to help out.

» Tue Jan 18, 2011 5:28 am

Unfortunately you are WAY wrong. Fallout is much more demanding then Oblivion. Lack of flora is an upside and does reduce the demand on the graphics card, however, the engine is vastly upgraded for better lighting as well as many other things. (It would take forever to dig up and list everything) But in short, Fallout makes Oblivion seem like an empty box.

If this were the case my rig would be unable to play Fallout 3 as well as it does.