Hey. Before this week, the last time I had played was about a year ago. -Application version 1.4.0.6. Here is my last load order...

Fallout3.esm
Anchorage.esm
ThePitt.esm
CALIBR.esm
CRAFT.esm
FOOK.esm
Mart's Mutant Mod.esm
CALIBRxMerchant.esp
CRAFT - Activation Perk.esp
CALIBR Ammo Schematics - CRAFT.esp
HouseholdWaterPurifier.esp
RANGER STEALTH ARMOR.esp
FOOK.esp
FOOK - Anchorage.esp
FOOK - The Pitt.esp
FOOK - No Requirements for Miniguns, Gatlings, 20mm Flak.esp
FOOK - Tougher Enemies.esp
FOOK - Additional Power Armor Training.esp
FOOK - Free Play After MQ.esp
FOOK - Owned!.esp
DarNifiedUIF3.esp
GalaxyNewsRadio100[M].esp
DTOMRC3.esp
MrSlackPants-DecentPipBoyLight.esp
Gauss_clip_size_AP_10.esp
Repairable Gauss Rifle - Clipsize.esp
WeaponModKits.esp
WMKAA12Shotgun.esp
WeaponModKits - FOOK.esp
WMKAA12Shotgun - FOOK.esp
muzzle with no lightening.esp
No Blur Effect.esp
EssentialFollowers+Caravans.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod - Increased Spawns.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod - Natural Selection.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod - No Geckos.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod - No Corpse Flies.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod - FOOK.esp

Today I bought the Broken Steel + Point Lookout DLC, so I'm going to have to patch my game to play them. After doing some research it seems like I won't have to update many of the smaller mods, but I should update the bigger packages. Do all of these packages still play nicely together? -I'll be updating to the latest MMM-RC5, DarnUi w/ HotFix, WMK w/ DLC patches, Calibr w/ schematics, and FOOK2 v1.0. I'll also be using newer versions of FOSE, FOMM, FOIPs, etc. as needed. Will there be all kinds of left over "stuff" from previous versions I should be worried about? -Is copy/paste style updating even safe? And my biggest question of all...after I follow all of the directions, it seems I'll be able to play my old character/s. -Is there anything I should know or be careful about though?

Also, the FAQ mentioned how 1.5 messed with a lot of mods. -Is the fix still needed? If there is anything at all I may be missing, please fill me in.

Thanks for all of your help and info.

For the update procedures of individual mods best see the readme included with them-usually they mention if you need to follow a special procedure when upgrading from an earlier version.

As far as I can tell the most recent patch for FO3 doesn't have the issues introduced with 1.5.
Only thing that still happens is a small delay when entering VATS,but thats only a minor inconvenience.

Yeah, I'll definitely be reading the readme docs. It's good to know that the 1.5 issues seem to be cleared up too. -I forgot all about the VATS delay. I think there was an unofficial patch or mod that fixed that...now I'll be looking. -Thank you.

I just avoided mods between 1.4 and 1.6 so I've been relatively untouched by the problems. There was one mod I was making during update 1.5 (Big Blue House) where there were some issues reported, but I just made sure to flag the few exterior items as 'persistent' and the problems went away. Just make sure you've got the latest versions of any mods on your list and you should be OK - most modders will have updated any affected mods by now.

Very cool. It seems like I'm pretty set then. Thanks for the reassurance.