I have the original (non GOTY) Fallout 3. What is the correct order to install the game, DLCs, and patches to get good mod compatibility? As best I can gather it's

-install vanilla game
-install DLC (which causes game to be patched)
-uninstall vanilla game, keeping the DLC
-reinstall vanilla game to have it back to original version
-patch it to ???? version of official patch (this is where I'm not sure what to use)
-install unofficial patch
-install fake patch

Do I have all this right? Any help is appreciated. I run crashless Oblivion games with 200+ mods so I know the importance of getting everything perfect from the start. Haven't dabbled in FO3 much since I don't like the setting but I got the CE of New Vegas on sale so I guess it's time to finally go through the original.

The last official patch is 1.7. I'd be shocked if the GOTY was not already patched to that. I very much doubt that the DLCs of the GOTY have anything at all to do with what official patch it has. So no need to uninstall/reinstall - seems convoluted.

If you are installing to 1.7 (as should be native with GOTY once again) then no need for the fake patch (totally forgot about that thing been so long).

The unofficial patch many consider optional - some swear by it some don't. You may need to search for the Broken Steel replacement UFP patch - as it is advised not to use the one on the download site. The UFP is not seen as essential as the UOP - and often it covers more cosmetic fixes than actual game play fixes like the UOP does.

Now if mods have issues with the DLC then they likely already have patches for the DLC. So overhauls like FWE will have an esp for each DLC and mods like Dynamic Weather will too - as needed.

If you use Wrye Bash for Oblivion - http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1102449-relz-garybash-thread-2/ and fully functional for Fallout3.

Thanks, but I in fact have the original NON GOTY Fallout, probably easy to miss since the "non" was lower-case in the OP. So from my research I do believe installing the DLC does cause the game to be patched.

You seem to be saying to just go with 1.7 though? I thought a patch prior to that broke a ton of mods.

Patch 1.5 broke a lot of things and some just could not wait for 1.6 fior things to be fixed and so was implemented the idea of master update. 1.5 required all plugins be esm format. Masterupdate flipped the switch so that all esp would be read as esm.

This was mostly (99%) fixed in patch 1.6 and on to 1.7. The areas that I recall not being fixed was characters who had dark skinned heads still had light skinned arms and pathgriding for companions (Tarrant of Phalanx module did the most research on this).

The MasterUpdate thing was a hack to get mods to work - some still swear by it stating it fixes all crashing. Whenever I had crashing and tried it it didn't fix anything. What did help is looking for conflicts and cleaning mods - just like with Oblivion.

The fake Patch from what I remember was even an attempt to make certin game play mechanics function like in the early patches (1.2 etc), but it has been a while - I could be wrong.

The DLC are mods and have nothing to do with the official patches - nothing except requiring the official patches. So I think Zeta is the only one that requires 1.7. To be on the safe side stick with 1.7 as that is what most mods made today and updated within the last year and half are going to be geared for anyway.

So install order:
Game
Patch to 1.7
DLC
mods

GOTY is patched to 1.7 and the DLC is on a separate disc.

Unless you simply must have a mod that was never updated after 1.6/1.7, and was effected by the 1.5 changes, there is no reason to not use 1.7. Best to move on and find something more recent though.

Go with 1.7. As Psymon said, most mods coming out today are geared towards it, so there's really no reason not to use it.