FO3 crashing on you?

[PZ]

You might try doing the following which is a quote from a FOOK Senior Game Designer.  I tried it and it seems to be working for me (although I did not have many crashes beforehand)

Creating a Merged Patch and then running Master Update using FO3Edit is a process that preferably all should learn to do, as it can seriously reduce the frequency of crashes and eliminate some crashes altogether. It will increase stability for all mods, not just FOOK2. It will almost definately be needed once people start running lots of overhaul mods when FOOK2 comes out of beta, so its a good idea to learn the process now.

Okay, first up you'll need FO3Edit, which is what this whole process is based on.

Presuming you've manage to install FO3Edit correctly, launch FOMM and check all the mods you want to merge (IE, the mods you want to use), then close it.

Open up FO3Edit and all the mods you just ticked should all be ticked in the list, too. If they're not, either go back into FOMM and retick them, or just tick them in FO3Edit, then click OK. Then the box on the right will start processing a whole list of names, numbers and whatnot. Wait until the box on the right says 'Background Loader: finished', and all your mods' names should appear in the box on the left. If you find reports of errors in the loader list, either resolve them or remove the mod at fault from your mod list. Errors now will potentially cause big problems later.

Once you've checked everything is hunky-dory, and 'Background Loader: finished' has appeared, is time to create our merged patch. To create said patch, right click anywhere on the box on the left (where your mods are) and select 'create merged patch' near the bottom of the list. Give it a name, and click OK.

Once the box on the right has finished whirring and purring, either press Ctrl+S or try and close FO3Edit to be prompted with a Save Changed Files box. Make sure your new Merged Patch is ticked, and press OK.

Next, re-launch FOMM, and tick your Merged Patch, which should be last in your load order. Very last. I dont care what anyone says in their mod descriptions, load your Merged Patch last.

Last step is to run Master Update. To do this, we need to rename your FO3Edit. Not the shortcut, the .exe itself. Rename it to FO3MasterUpdate. FO3Edit, being a clever little program, will recognise its new role in modding society, and should load a little differently. (Note: if you see the file extension ".exe" be sure to change "FO3Edit.exe to "FO3MasterUpdate.exe" - this is only necessary if you have changed your folder view to show estensions).  If it's actually running in the right mode, it's name at the top should be changed to FO3MasterUpdate. Suprise suprise.

Once again, on loading MasterUpdate there should be some whirring and purring, and eventually the box will say '--= All Done =--'. If it doesn't, you're probably running in the wrong mode. Once thats done, close MasterUpdate to save the changes, and launch FOSE (providing you have it, which you should, otherwise normal FO3). Tada! Your game should now run much smoother.

Now, if you want to reverse the Master Update process (the Merged Patch is easy, just untick it in your load order), which you need to do if you want to edit/w@&k on one of the mods that were Master Updated, all you need to do is rename FO3Edit/FO3MasterUpdate to FO3MasterRestore and run the program again. Note you can actually create the copies of the .exe, named FO3Edit FO3MasterUpdate and FO3MasterRestore for ease of use.

For further reading, I highly recommend Miax's Tome of FO3Edit, although thats probably more interesting to modders than mod-users.

[Art Blade]

Thank you for this valuable information, PZ  :) :-X

I'll sum it up briefly:
The above procedure creates a single mod out of all the mods you're running.

There seems to be only one situation (that may occur more than once) that will cause you to redo all of the above mentioned: Updates for mods.

Under normal circumstances, you'll have a collection of mods, and you'd just replace the old mod with an update. If you have packed all mods into one file, you can't... unless you undo and redo the process, so you insert updates and create a new master mod file.

[PZ]

Good followup Art - interestingly, this procedure seemed to clear up a problem I had while exiting the game - FO3 became non-responsive and I had to alt-F4 to avoid having to start the task manager to end the application.  I didn't have problems while playing - only on exit.

[Art Blade]

Cheers :)

Interesting how packing makes a difference, or maybe not packing but making mods a master file. Maybe both.

I reckon the packing into one file includes some house cleaning. Like, removing identical entries that are part of more than one mod. Has to be that way, because there can be no two identical entries inside one mod.

That leads me to believe that some mods you/we use cause the game to load dublets or triplets of similar entries, and it sounds like the game can't get always rid of those on its own. Unless you do the clean-up as apparently being done by the above mentioned process.

[PZ]

I do believe that you're correct, and it has simplified the loading of my game while increasing stability.  When I change or add a mod, it is easy enough to run through the procedure again once I decide that it is a mod that I want to keep forever.  For instance, the fellout mod, enhanced weather, and green world.  I cannot imagine playing the drab, greenish world again after seeing the difference that these mods make on the environment.

[Art Blade]

Maybe that tool allows for a structure of your liking: Create a master with your essentials and perhaps aditionally single collective files that include weapon modifications, hideouts and so on, so you can store them as kind of a quick backup.

What you do sounds like a good idea: Slowly grow your single master mod. Using a master and an additional new mod, delete the new mod if it doesn't please you, else add it into the master.  :-X

[Ricamundo]

Oddly i have a similar prob on exiting the game. The last few days, it has breen very stable, even the stutttering has been rare, but when i save and exit, i get an error msg on my way back to DT. Not a big deal, but a bit annoying.

I dont know if i want to attempt that prcedure, as it looks a bit complicated. I dont want to have to redo it every time i add a mod either. I 'll let it go until the game starts to misbehave, then ill think about it.

[Ricamundo]

A bit of an update, and a troubling one. Today, i installed a couple of new mods  before i fired up FO3. I got the enhanced weather mod, as well as something to increase A.I tactics. They installed ok, and i fired up the game.

Now i was @ Girdershade when i loaded my last save, so i went from there to The Dunwich building, and Charon and i ransacked the place, killing all the ghouls, with nary a care. I quicksaved many times, as i normally do, and we then left the building. At this point i saved and quit. Later on, i reloaded the save, and spotted Tenpenny Tower off in the distance, so off we went. I quicksaved a couple of times, then upon quicksaving again after discovering siome ghouls at an abandoned trainyard within sight of Tenpenny, but that's where the game crashed with an error msg, but i couldnt use my mouse, as i couldnt see the cursor anywhere on my blackened DT. I brought up the Taskmanager, but i couldnt find the cursor anywhere to finish shutting down FO3.
I had to turn off my PC and let it reboot. Is there any command you can type using the KB that can shut down a program?

Anywho, i looked in my FO3 saves folder, and after rearranging the saves by date, i noticed the last 3 or 4 saves looked a bit different than all the previous ones. All my previous saves to the last 3 or 4 had a number(i was up to save 131 or something) as well as my character's name, they are all FOS File type, and the size and time/date saved etc.  But the last few only said autosave.fos, or quicksave.fos. No number, and my character's name was not there  either. At this point, im a little nervous about restarting the game, even tho i went into my FO3 folder and removed all traces of both mods i had just installed today, and ive deleted the odd looking saves, but they keep re appearing later on when i go back to look in the saves folder. Weird.

[PZ]

That is a strange one - have not checked my folders to see if I have the same.  As to losing your cursor, you can ctrl-alt-del to bring up the task manager and then play with the tab key plus the arrow keys to select the application you want to shut down.

One other thing, when you get rid of mods, you might need to load an old save (from before the mod), then do a new save before the mod effects will disappear.

[Art Blade]

Hehe, PZ beat me to it, but I have some additional infos :)


Autosaves as well as quicksaves (.fos and .bak) are normal and don't bear a different name than that. The files you were expecting only bear names when you use the "save" function from the pause menu.

There is a way to use a keyboard-only escape from a program gone rogue, which helps many but not all times, and it works even if you can't see a thing:

Open your taskmanager, click the tab that shows the processes (not the programs). Click on the process column to sort those by name. Click on any process listed, just once, to mark it. That is in preparation for your crash. Now fire up any program, like FO3. When FO3 crashes without locking up the entire operating system, you can now hit ctrl+alt+del to bring up the taskmanager, hit "f" (fallout) and hit alt+p (you should now hear windows go "da-ding!" and then hit enter. What you did then was selecting the first program starting with "f" (fAllout should be on top of the list) and confirmed that you wanted to terminate that process. If you're lucky, your DT will return to normal.

[Ricamundo]

Thx for the suggestions. :) PZ i was playing with the taskmgr as you suggested using the tab and arrow keys, and i could select any process, but how do you actually close it? I couldnt get any of those buttons, like tab or enter to actually close the program.

[PZ]

If you are able to highlight a process, hit tab twice while watching the screen carefully - you should see the End process button receive the focus (you'll see the button slightly change it's appearance).  Then hit the enter key and the process will end.  If you accidentally pass the End process button by hitting tab too often, keep cycling through by pressing tab until you see the button receive focus.

[Art Blade]

Ahh, didn't think of that -- maybe that's a localisation problem... "end process" button. In German, it's Prozess beenden. Just take a close look at that button, one letter should be underlined. Underlined letters can be accessed quickly by hitting ALT plus that letter. In my case, ALT+P, maybe in your case ALT+E.

[Ricamundo]

Thx guys, for the help. ;) I had another session yesterday without incident, and got the error msg only at quitting to DT, but the cursor was fine so no probs closing. If iget up the courage, i may have another look at that patch thingy, especially if it resolves any conflicts, which im sure are happening, the more i add mods. :P

OK, a little update. ;) I took the plunge and tried the FO3Edit thingy, and it told me there was a fatal conflict with the Crowded Cites mod segment of Wasteland Travellers, so i unchecked the optiional 2 mods while keeping Wasteland Travellers, and it cleared up. When i re ran the program, all my mods showed up, so i followed the process and activated the patch.

One small note about the instructions, is that for a relative noob like myself, when i renamed the program to "F)3MaterUpdate" as instructed, it didnt w@&k, that is until i added
.exe to the end of it. I think this should be added to the instructions, as not everyone is a mod expert like Art and others who make all those cool addo       ns.

I did fire up the game for a few minutes, and when i quit, it returned to DT with no issues. 8) I'll reserve full judement for when i have time to go outside and see if it stays smooth and error free. Then perhaps ill re install the changeable weather mod, which i deleted yesterday.

Oh, one more thing, related to posting in this window. When i type script in here, it goes beyond the window edge, so i cant see my full sentence. Is there some setting i can change here to allow me to see every word i type in here?

[PZ]

...Oh, one more thing, related to posting in this window. When i type script in here, it goes beyond the window edge, so i cant see my full sentence. Is there some setting i can change here to allow me to see every word i type in here?

Strange - the posting window should automatically word wrap.  Anyone else having this issue?

[PZ]

...One small note about the instructions, is that for a relative noob like myself, when i renamed the program to "F)3MaterUpdate" as instructed, it didnt w@&k, that is until i added
.exe to the end of it. I think this should be added to the instructions, as not everyone is a mod expert like Art and others who make all those cool addons.

It sounds like you (or someone using your computer) have changed the default folder view settings to show file extensions, which is why you are able to see the .exe in the file name.  Plain vanilla Windows hides extensions by default so all you would see is the name, and not the extension.  We'll add your comment to the instructions just in case anyone else is in the same situation.

[Art Blade]

...Oh, one more thing, related to posting in this window. When i type script in here, it goes beyond the window edge, so i cant see my full sentence. Is there some setting i can change here to allow me to see every word i type in here?

Strange - the posting window should automatically word wrap.  Anyone else having this issue?

Edge could mean upper/lower or left/right. It does adjust to the sides, but you may get the edit window to scroll at least partly out of view. Just click somewhere outside the editor, and scroll up/down so you can see it again.  :)

[Ricamundo]

Not sure about the file extension thingy. I just assumed that the author assumed that we would all know that the word .exe had to be at the end of the newly renamed program, but i didn't think of that right away.

I still cant see quite all of my script. It's no big deal, its only a letter or 2 on some lines. Im thinking its something i did accidently, because i dont remember this until lately. I can drag the size of the box up and down to make it taller, but i cant change the width at all.

Oh, i had a good long session today, and that patch seems to have fixed everything, escept the odd bit of outdoor lag, but i can live with that. One weird thing that happened today in FO3. I happened by the scrapyard, so i thought why not get Dogmeat, so Charon and i would have another companion, but Dogmeat was red, and attacked both of us. We had to get out of there as he kept coming back to life. I guess you cant kill him, even if he's evil. Can you have only 1 buddy at a time?
 

[PZ]

No, you can have more than one companion - I've had dogmeat and Charon.  It was funny though, the first time I found dogmeat he was tagged as an enemy so I reloaded the game at least half a dozen times to see if I could get him to behave but he never did.  I have read somewhere that if you leave and come back at a later time, he might have a change of heart.

[Art Blade]

you could still tell charon to wait somewhere (far) away, then approach dogmeat. Once he's your dog, he'll like Charon, too. I've seen that behaviour when both were with me and I told dogmeat to go to vault 101. After that order charon and he turned at each other quite madly  :D ;D

[PZ]

There appears to be a bit of unpredictability when it comes to that stupid dog - he was with me and Charon the other day and I too told him to wait for me at Vault 101 - he whimpered but did as I asked.  Now any time I go there, he attacks me (his marker is red)

[Art Blade]

Maybe there is a way to fix that. Going to check the ArtMod, see if I can dig up some of the code responsible and tweak it :) Might need a little time though, pretty busy at the moment and happy to just chillax with a round or two of FC2.