Yo all,

I've finally made up my mind to play Fallout 3 again after getting slightly bored playing the vanilla release last year (I'd barely scratched the surface of the game). Now I've discovered the mod community!

So I've read all the info on mods and how to install them, but I want to make sure I'm doing it right. Here's what I've done so far:

1. Install 1.5 patch
2. Install all official expansions
3. Install FOSE
4. Unpack FO3Edit
5. Duplicate and rename FO3Edit.exe to FO3MasterRestore.exe
6. Activate ArchiveInvalidation Invalidated!

Now, I've read streetstar5's detailed load order guide, but it's a little complicated for a first time mod-user, so I'd like to be totally sure and ask on the forums directly!

Here's a list of recommended mods and mods that sound good to me:

Recommended

FOOK2 (Fallout Overhaul Kit)
FWE (Fallout Wanderers Edition)
WMK (Weapon Mod Kits)
XFO (Fallout 3 Balance Overhaul)
MMM (Mart's Mutant Mod)
EVE (Energy Visuals Enhancement)
CFW (Classic Fallout Weapons)
CALIBR + CRAFT


Other

Fellout Weather Mod - Greener Grass
Megaton Lighting Overhaul
Fallout Street Lights
Wasteland Street Lights
10 inch Desert Eagle
ZL-ACR (Adds Customisable ACR)
Quantum Convergence Mod V3
Pipboy Readius
RH Iron Sights
Warhammer 40k Space Marine Armor


So now I'm slightly hesitant to start because it seems as though it's a very convoluted process in which so much can go wrong! There's also the matter of custom setups in the bigger mods, which have too many variations (e.g. MMM, XFO)!

Please help

If you use FWE, you can leave out Classic Fallout Weapons; it is integrated into FWE. FWE also installs CRAFT and CALIBR, so you don't need to download those separately either. The http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1083717-relz-fwe-fo3-wanderers-edition-%2336/ opening post also has a detailed load order template on how to make FWE, WMK, EVE, MMM and Project Beauty to work together, if you choose FWE as the main overhaul, that should prove useful.

FOOK2 just had a new version, and as far as i know it's compatibility patches aren't all updated yet. You should check the http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1084126-relz-fook2-v11-beta/ for it's status, but including it in the load order now could be difficult.

If you use MMM with FWE, you can ignore all plugins expect the main esm and esp and DLC esps, you can control MMM's settings from FWE itself.

XFO i've no experience with, but FWE does quite a lot balance tweaks itself, all of which are configurable, so i don't know if that's even needed. I think there is a compatibility patch for XFO and FWE though, so it should be possible.

You might alos want to include http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=3808, there are a lot of bugs remaining in Fallout 3 even after all official patches, that should help resolve many of them.

All these compatibility patches can be downloaded from http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=4968 page, also there's a http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1027321-relz-fallout-interoperability-program-%232/ here. You'll need them to make these mods work together nicely. Their Readme's should also contain information about which order you need to load these mods in.

As for FO3Edit, make two copies; name one as MasterRestore.exe as you wrote, and the other MasterUpdate.exe. Masterupdating helps to resolve some bugs left in Fallout 3, MasterRestore undoes what MasterUpdate does.

Also you'll need to make a merged patch with FO3Edit once your load order is sorted. Start FO3Edit, wait for it to finish loading (it'll say "Backroundloader: finished" on the right side), right-click on the mod list and choose "Create Merged Patch", name it what ever you will, put it last in you load order and run MasterUpdate.

I don't know if this'll help or confuse more, it is a lot of work to make an extensive load order, but once you get it working it is worth it

Wasn't 1.5 the horrible crappy patch that broke everyrthing?

I see no reason to not patch to 1.7 - http://fallout.gamesas.com/eng/downloads/updates.html

Also, I personally, wouldn't recommend using the Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch - it seems to cause more problems than it solves. Or rather, what it fixes, you wouldn't notice anyway - and it just seems like a lot of extra bloat that'll get in the way, and it hasn't been updated for a long time (ie, the more recent DLC).

As for your list of recommendeds - there's a few big overhauls that won't play nicely unless you give special attention to them - namely FOOK and FWE - i think ToJKa has put you on the right path there.

MMM is a must - though can, potentially, cause instabilities.
CALIBR + CRAFT / WMK - shouldn't cause any problems.
I've never tried EVE so I can't comment, but CFW and XFO (to some extent), is integrated with FWE.

Your list of Others shouldn't cause any problems.

One thing I might add, which is common mod usage practice, is to take your time when installing them, adding only one mod at a time and to read the readme's thoroughly (doing further research on these forums if needs be - there's a lot of info here). Then after you're confident the game is stable, start applying the next mod(s).

Good Luck!

:)


P.S. *cough* sig *cough*

As far as i know it's only the Broken Steel patch that causes issues, the rest should be good. And it fixes a bug that would kill you when using FWE, the premature Enclave troopers.

Which is propably part of the BS patch, though :hehe:

Oh and that weather mod that he 'subtly' pointed out is really good, check it out too.

So there is no way (currently) to get the latest versions of FOOK2 and FWE to work together nicely?

Just getting into some of these large overhauls (for FO3, that is) - would love to use the lot, basically, if possible...

Thanks guys. Your posts were very informative.

After a couple of botched installs I did some deeper reading and yes, it seems as though FWE and FOOK2 are best left separate. Also, FOOK2's compatibility list is very limited and doesn't work with MMM or WMK.

I am getting your weather mods Xepha. They look sick!