I got my new PC yesterday, got Fallout GOTY installed to it and running very nicely. I set it up in a folder called c:\games\fallout3, as I had read that accepting the default Program Files destination can cause problems with some mods.

Tonight, I decided to start playing with some mods. I got the latest version of FOMM installed, and used it to install Summer 2.5 and the latest version of Fellout, plus the DLC support file for Fellout. Launched the game and was completely blown away by how much better it looked. But...

Looking closer, I noticed big black patches on the ground in areas where grass doesn't grow, and also in some of the holes in the street as I was passing through Springvale. I took this screen grab just outside of Megaton to show you what I'm talking about.

http://i42.tinypic.com/9jhkbs.jpg

I accepted the load order that FOMM suggested, which placed the Pip Boy flashlight mod ahead of Summer, then loaded Summer, and then the rest of Fellout (all of these after Fallout and the DLCs). I tried running it with all of Fellout disabled - still the same black patches. Then I disabled Summer and loaded Fellout - the black patches were gone. So it's definitely something with Summer.

Also, those little brown scrubby plants in the foreground change appearance as you move closer to them, and eventually disappear altogether when you're right on top of them.

Is this normal behavior for this mod, or is there a tweak or something I need to make it work right? Even cranking up the brightness didn't change those black patches one bit - neither did waiting for the light to change.

Thanks for any help anyone can provide.

No, it definitely shouldn't look like that. Summer comes in an .esm so it should be loaded at the top of your load order after the DLCs. I had ground and water texture issues with the newest versions of Fellout without Summer but the previous version worked with Summer just fine.

It looks as if some of your trees are missing too. Are you sure it's installed correctly? Make sure you don't have it accidentally installed to an extra Data folder inside your normal Fallout 3/Data folder.

I'm using the newest version of Fellout without an issue, so I wouldn't think Fellout would be the problem here.

Would this possibly be an issue of archive invalidation? I believe I had to turn it off and then turn it back on again, after installing this mod. don't remember why though...

That did it - swapped the Fellout Pipboy flashlight mod with Summer and hit the Toggle Invalidation button in FOMM (Missed that one the first time through :blush:).

Results are below, from the same spot. That's just beautiful. Time to change my desktop image.

http://i40.tinypic.com/nyfx5h.jpg

Thanks very much for the quick responses, Ghouls and Gary. I'm going to take this modding business in baby steps until I get more comfortable with it. Looks like I've got a lot to learn.

Cool. Glad it's working now.

Ditto

Don't be afraid to mod, once you get a few mods going good, next thing you know you've got well over 100 plug-ins loading.

Best advice I can give you from experience. Whenever you add a mod that contains textures or meshes, toggle invalidation in FOMM off then toggle it back on.

Thanks for all the tips and advice, folks.

Time to get a few more mods going ...