So as the title says I am crashing when I make a bashed patch. I recently have gotten back into FO3 after a long stint with Skyrim. I downloaded Wyre Flash (This is the fallout 3 one correct?) as Wyre Bash doesn't work for FO3. Once I created the patch the start up screen will start not let me click anything and once the BOS guy comes up no options will appear on the screen. I alt tab and it crashes. If I deactivate the bashed patch all is well and my saves are PURPLE on wyre flash so I know I am good and its something with the Bashed Patch. I was trying to create a Bashed Patch the same way I did 100 times in Skyrim with Wyre Bash. I couldn't really find a direct tutorial on creating a bashed patch for FO3 and saw that Wyre Flash is a bit different....

Basically I went to create the patch and it told me that a few of the mods (automatic tracers FWE and my Merged Patch) could be safely deactivated and merged with the bashed patch. So I said yes to the deactivation. I then see a column to the left on what items I want to import...as I am not a modder I am not exactly sure..I did see a video that said to check off all the boxes and import everything (the only vid I could find on Wyre Flash and bashed patches.). I am assuming my process is wrong somewhere along this line as the guy or people who make Wyre bash are incredibly intelligent. Can someone help? Is there a video on how to create a bashed patch specifically with FO3?

PS Maybe I downloaded the wrong Wyre? I went to skyrim nexus and downloaded Wyre Flash for FO3...

PS PS the only mod I am running is FWE.

PS PS PS When I run FO3edit and LOOT with the Bashed Patch activated it says nothing about the bashed patch. Fo3 wont stop running when it scans and make a comment about the bashed patch and loot says nothing at all about it. Just places it directly at the bottom of my load order (as it should).

OK, the only reason to deactivate a mod and fold it into the Bashed Patch is if your coming up against the limit on the number of mods you have (technically it is 254, but I think the real world limit is about 130 but not sure exactly). Otherwise, you don't have to deactivate them. I never deactivate any mod or patch and fold it into the bashed patch.

As for the patch, not everything has to go into it. For example, mods that dont' change a leveled list or the same cell as another mod don't have to be in it. But, it does not hurt to put all the mods in it, usually.

So, this leaves us with your patch and what you included in it. As you select each box on the left, there are things on the right that are suggested to be included in the patch. This comes from something called Bash Tags. Mod authors add the tags to the mod to facilitate making the patch. Here is the thing, not everything on the right needs to be or should be included in the patch. For example, an optional part of a mod that you don't have installed might have a tag entry. And, sometimes things just should not be included. For example on New Vegas, I can't inlcude the graphics from the Unofficial Patch that I use, it crashes the game. Don't know why, don't care why, the game works if I leave it out.

If there is nothing on the right side, then you don't' want to check the box on the left side, unless it is the Leveled Lists box.

So, first, make sure your load order is sorted using BOSS or LOOT. Then create the patch again, but this time add in one thing at time from the right side and try to launch the game each time. You can probably shortcut this by putting in several things and trying, but try to do this in a way that makes logical sense as you are looking for the part that is causing the crash. It could only be one mod that is doing this.

Two areas that tend to cause the most crashing are Race mods (these are mods that give NPCs new bodies and faces, not just new races so Project Beauty for example) and Graphics, so concentrate on those areas first. Do this by bulding the patch leaving them out. If the game launches, then add in part of the Race and Graphics mods until it pukes.

Note if you have a race mod, you may have issues with the last part of the MQ that triggers Broken Steel. If so, there is a mod that gets around this. Me, I fixed it by tweaking the patch and leaving out a race mod from it.

I suggest using Boss for Fallout since Loot still has a few issues with placing mods in the correct location. Boss even though it is no longer being updated most of the mods for Fallout 3 are old and not being updated anymore. There are still new mods being made but not as many as it is in Skyrim.

I will likely try loot again on my next playthrough to see if it does place mods in a proper location.

I have not used Wyre flash for Fallout 3 or New Vegas but then again I usually only have a few mods running with each new character I play. I do not even use FO3 edit since I rarely get any crashes playing with mods. I think I have only had a couple of crashes in the last few hundred hours of game play and I think that was more with me playing for 12+ hours straight in one session. I can see FO3Edit being very useful in dealing with a lot of mods and trying to make them all play as nice as possible.

@ CCNA. Thank you I appreciate the help. I will do exactly as you say and give it a shot. With the small amount of mods that I am running do you believe Wyre Flash is necessary? I am only running FWE, Robco Cert and Nitro Companion (Outcast Companion for my Outcast PC).

@ Erz. I was thinking of doing the same. I seldom crash as I only run a few mods at a time. I will download BOSS and compare. Thank you.

You are likely fine with a small amount of mods but it could still have issues depending on the mods and what they do.