I wonder which cosmetic mods you guys recommend. I've searched the forum but I didn't find much. At the moment I'm using Luchaire's Type V Body Replacer plus the face texture replacer. Exnem's seem to have more armor/clothes mods made for it, but I didn't like the texture much. Are there any alternate textures (besides the one by Divinex)?

Also, the only hair mods I've found are conversions of Oblivion ones. Are there any others?

Plus any recommendations you have otherwise.

Maybe not quite what you meant, but the http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=9741 lets you ditch that rusty hunk of metal on your arm.

"Type 3" (and its variants) is the most popular female body replacer because it has been around much longer and it is more compatible with default clothing than Exnem. Exnem for FO3 does not have many outfits yet. In fact, last I checked, Exnem for FO3 did not have conversions for all the DLCs yet (Type 3 does). It most certainly does not have conversions for non-official mods (eg. MMM's female tattooed raiders), which Type 3 does. The other one I used before I switched to Type 3 was BABE. It has conversions for DLCs and MMM.



I use http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=6843. It's a close equivalent to BG's RBP for Oblivion, in that it compiles most of the major hair/eyes cosmetic mods, makes them available to players, and also has an optional plugin (for v2, not the v3 beta) that will add custom hair/eyes to npcs. You will need to make a merged patch with FO3Edit if using the optional npc plugin in order to make it compatible with any other mod that changes npc records (eg. FOOK2, follower mods, etc.). Most of the hairs are conversions from Oblivion.

Also, some 'essentials":

Quarn's Unofficial Fallout Patch
http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=3729
Skyranger's http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=8886

You're probably going to install MMM as well. You might consider FOOK2 + hotfixes and Antistar's http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=3388 These are all what I was consider to be "overhaul mods." The caviat is that with Oblivion, we had Streamline, Windem's crash prevention system, and Bashed Patch to ensure that I could have an almost CTD-free experience with 200 mods in my load order. I am running 150 mods in Fallout and the game is far less stable. You'll need http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=4968 patches to make the overhauls run nicely with each other, as well as using FO3Edit to create a merged patch (or use one that has been uploaded by someone else which fits the overhaul mods you are using), and even then you'll eventually find that personal edits are necessary in the absence of a Bashed Patch in order to iron out the quirks.

Thanks for the tips and info! I http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1066302 that I need the unofficial patch... Downloading Type3 and the others as we speak.

Won't be using any overhauls this time around as I want to experience the vanilla game first. Pretty sure I'll use MMM and/or FWE if I replay it, though.

not sure if it's too late but here are a few links. http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=738 is what i use for faces ( makeup). also for hair mods i use http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5462 , but you should install http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1146 i have been quite pleased with them so far, most hair and face mods i have not liked for one reason or another.

CASM really is essential, but the UFP has issues together with some mods. Use it if you want, but be aware of it if you run into problems.

Good choice on FWE, I suggest skipping vanilla Fallout entirely though. You can turn down some of the more extreme tweaks like eating if you want a less complicated first playthrough.
MMM is definitely recommended, it doesn't change the gameplay much if you use the "No X"-mods to turn off the new monsters and some of the features. It's also very easy to install using FOMM due to a good installer script.

I personally use "Mez's Merged Patch - FWE-WMK-MMM.esp" to get FWE/WMK/MMM and all the DLC's to play nice together,

Not too late at all. Thanks for the tips. The hairs seem to be included in FACE, though (if I understand it correctly).




Thanks. The UFP saved the game for me already - but I'll keep that in mind. I really want to play vanilla a while - if nothing else so I can appreciate the additions/changes in the overhauls when I use them.

Yes, I tried to do that too Given that level scaling was "sort of" addressed (one of my biggest beefs with Oblivion), I didn't think I'd need many mods in my first run through. But some of Oblivions' annoying things resurfaced in FO3. Remember breezing through vanilla Oblivion and encountering only 3 skeletons? Yeah....I quickly found MMM's increased spawn to be necessary. The side-effect is that it subsequently increased the rate at which my character gained levels and imbalanced the game (something not relevant to Oblivion), so I had to download another mod that reduce XP gain....

The hair mod barretsfloyd listed is already included in FACE2. As for facial textures, rather than pick individual mods, I recommend you go with the hi-rez textures provided for whichever body mod you are using, so as to reduce the "neck seam" head/body discolouration (much like the case with Oblivion). Luchaire never made a seam reducer mod for Fallout to my knowledge, but his head/body textures for Type 3 are meant to work with each other. There is also a few mods that add "necklaces" to the game which will address the seam issue.

On a sidenote, I've had no problems with UFP. Much like UOP for Oblivion, it's the only essential 'mod.'

Thanks for the help so far. I've got Type 3, armor/clothes replacer, CASM. I must be doing something wrong when adding FACE2, though. I thought it should be like this:

FACE2.esm
FACE2 -1- [Riven's Eyescapes] Eyelashes.esp (if wanting eyelashes and Eyescapes)
FACE2 -4- NPCS.esp (if wanting NPC changes)

My issue is that I can access the hair, but the eyes have missing textures. I installed Riven's Eyescapes, but am unsure if I should use its esp or not. But even if using it (loading before FACE2 -1- [Riven's Eyescapes] Eyelashes.esp), I have the same issue.

Not sure what went wrong. Should I use FACE2 -1- Basic Eyelashes.esp?

I recommend http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5718, as it combines Ashara's hairpack, Joseph Grey's Kozaburo, Saram's hairpack, Yoshikinakota's hairpack, Yoshikinakota's eyes, and Throttlekitty's eyelashes so they all work together.

And most of the FormIDs are the same for compatibility with other mods.

Are you using archive invalidation? It's necessary for texture mods to work. Fallout Mod Manager is one way to get it, and it's what I'd recommend.

Thanks for starting this thread. I'm just arriving to FO3 myself and this thread is just what I needed. I have down loaded a lot of mods that I am anxious to try out, but like you said, I have to see the vanilla game first. I think Beth did a terrific job on this game so far.

The potential for save game corruption; is that what makes CASM essential or is there something else I am missing?

Khugan

In part, yes, but also just because it means you can forget about saving. It helps prevent the relatively common situation of "Oh no something went wrong and I only have one save!" by ensuring that you always have plenty of saves to fall back on.

One thing that I'll mention, which is relevant whether you use CASM or not, is that you should only ever load from the main menu. This is because Fallout 3 takes a lot of ugly shortcuts if you load from in-game, resulting in some very bad bugs such as items that can't be interacted with.

P.S.

Nice to see you here Arkngt!

Cipscis

Yes, I'm using archive invalidation invalidated. The game CTD's when trying to change eyes with A Good Hair Day. I'll get back on this at a later date.

Are you using any other mods that modify the race records like hairpack.esm or DIMONIZED races? i had to remove those or changing anything in showracemenu would cause a CTD.

Sorry, this thread got pushed down too quickly and I didn't see your followup question. I don't use the Riven plugin for my setup, so my load order for FACE2 is:

FACE2 -2- [DLC PL+Riven's Eyescapes] Eyelashes.esp
FACE2 -3- NO Naruto Eyes.esp
FACE2 -4- NPCS.esp

Plus a merged patch that retains NPC records since I am using the FACE2 NPC optional plugin.

Just want to say thanks for the help. For some reason I can choose eyes as well w/o issues now. Might have been load order or something. Anyway, http://i49.tinypic.com/2drtj5h.jpg.

You might also take a look at Project Beauty. The "HD" version of the mod also provides custom hair/eyes that the player can use AND is given to various NPC's. We're developing compatiblity patches for PB for use with MMM and FWE, which will be released in the not too distant future.