Hiya! Getting back into Fallout 3 again, now that I have it for PC, and I wanted to mod it. As I began modding (using the Nexus Modder) I saw that a number of mods required FOSE, so I went and downloaded that while the Nexus Modder was working. I then saw a post that said that installing mods prior to FOSE causes problems, so I went back and deactivated all the mods, finished installing FOSE, and re-activated/re-installed the mods. However, while Fallout startup went swimmingly prior to FOSE (Fose-requiring mods and all), now start-up results in a black screen and a crash, and this is when using FOSE loader or Fallout 3 launcher.


When I installed FOSE, I extracted it to my Fallout 3 directory in Program Files (x86). I run Windows 7. Originally, the Fose folder was in the directory, so I cut all the .dll files and the Fose_loader from the folder and placed them in the Fallout Directory. Then I cut the "src" folder from the Fose download folder, and placed it in the Fallout directory.

What did I do wrong?

The mods I'm running are those under the F03 Wanderer Edition and the Unified HUD.

FOSE won't cause a game crash when it's used. The problem is no doubt being caused by a mod that is now being activated after FOSE starts up. In a crash like you're describing, the usual culprit is a mod that relies on some other mod that doesn't exist in your load order, or one that is loading afterwards. Are you using something like FOMM in order to sort your mods or are you just dumping them in the Data folder and using the game's activator to select them? Load order is important in this game, and having mods load up in the wrong order can cause problems. A good utility to use is BOSS for Fallout, which will automatically sort many of your mods for you.

As for the source folder of FOSE, it's not necessary to use that. It's only there for anyone, with programming skills, who's interested in tinkering with the utility. Also, it doesn't cause any problems adding FOSE after already adding mods. I'm not sure where you got that info, but it's not accurate. It's also not a good idea to install Fallout in your Program Files folder. Because of the security system Microsoft has added since Vista, doing so can cause problems for mods as the game can't find what you've added. You're not actually placing mods in the game's folder, they're being transfered to a virtual folder that the game doesn't always recognize. You're better off installing in a seperate folder outside of Program Files, something like C:\Games\Fallout.

Yeah FOSE won't cause a crash by itself. Try reinstalling to anywhere but the Program Files folder or any of its subfolders. I found that you don't need to reinstall (because I made backup copies of my base unmodded game in different folders, and they all work), though smart computing sense would have to advise against that. Still, you can also try to just copy-paste your entire folder to a new location, just for testing purposes. I personally have Steam (and all my games for that matter) installed on a secondary HDD. Try that first, because it may be all you need.

In any case it's also possible that now that you have FOSE, the game is finally noticing your FOSE-requiring mods, and finding that they have load order or incompatibility issues or something. I don't personally know what happens when you try to run the game without FOSE, because I've had FOSE earlier than I finished downloading the game on Steam. ;D But I think that's a possibility.