Fallout 3 mods

Pighardia · 17 Jul 2011 at 00:17

Here are some useful mods which you can use tto change your progress during the game. Ther is a level cap of 30 and a skill cap of 100. To increase this, you will need to add a mod. There are many mods that do the same thing, but here is what i use-

Level cap workaround allows you to level up after reaching level 30

This is a pretty simple mod. All it does is run a script whenever you enter a menu (like, say, the level-up menu).

The script checks your current level, and compares it to the game's normal maximum level (Vanilla/O:A/Pitt - 20, Broken Steel - 30).

If your current level exceeds the maximum level, the script kicks into gear, setting your level to the allowed maximum. It does this because exceeding the maximum level causes some issues with the game. Since the script kicks in as part of the level-up menu, you spend no actual time at the new level. The game never really thinks you're anything other than what the script claims you to be. Since you're not leveled too high, there's no problem.

Level cap skill increaser - No eps, just drop it into your data folder

This is a tweaked XML file for the level-up screen. You can now assign points past 100 and avoid using the console to exit the level-up screen.

No values past 100 are shown but the game does store the higher values. I set the level to 255. This is not meant to change the skill caps but let you use the level-up screen without needing the console when you max your skills using higher level mods.

This allows you to see your skill points above 100

These are just cosmetic though in a way. If you want skills over 100 to actually improve you then you will need to use this- Wasteland Mastery

This mod gives you benefits for having skills past 100. You can therefore now become a true "Wasteland Master", and feel very powerful at higher levels. There is finally a point to adding skill points when using the Level Cap Increaser! The new skill effects are capped out at 250 (compared to 100 in the original game). Currently the skills effected are: Small Guns, Big Guns, Energy Weapons, Explosives, Melee Weapons, Unarmed, Barter, Medicine, Repair, and Sneak.

More Hoykeys is handy if you want to use more than the standard 8 hotkeys that you can assign in vanilla

If maxing your skills isn't your thing then you can slow down your levelling and decrease you skill points with these-

Less Skill points

This mod changes the amount of skill points recieved on level up to 5 + intelligence (vanilla was 10 + intelligence).

Reduced Skill Bobblehead effects

Reduces the skill increases provided by the skill Bobbleheads to 4 (from 10)

Alternate Level Perks - A per every 2 levels

Pighardia · 18 Jul 2011 at 10:54

daninthemix said:
I've managed to get rid of the crash on exit by using FOSE.

However MMM was causing a lot of instability and terrible frame-rate drops. Is that par for the course?

Not really. Some mods will cause frame-rate drops, but MMM shouldn't be one of them. MMM is actually very stable considering how big it is.

My framerate is awful atm as i have increased the view distance too much.

Check the page FOIP to see if you need a compatability patch for MMM or Project Beauty. I'm not sure as i don't use PB.

Have you got CASM running now? It really is essential, as if you get a crash the most progress that you can lose is 3 minutes if you set it to save like that, or even 1 minute if you like.

Also, use FO3edit to create a merged patch to try and increase stability. At the very least, FO3edit will tell you if you have any mods badly in the wrong order too

Pighardia · 18 Jul 2011 at 12:32

There are some really great quest mods for Fallout 3. Here are 2 of the best ones imo. I have just started Project Genesis and am loving it so far.

You don't get many conflicts with these as they mainly add to the game instead of modifying existing content.

Project Genesis

WARNING!!!: If you like to play through a quest and be 100% guided the entire time, and never have to think, this is not the mod for you. This mod requires some thinking, it has a few mild 'puzzle' type things, and cannot not be done mindlessly. Play this if you want challanging story centric gameplay, a fantastic story, and some of the best cutscenes in any Fallout 3 mod.

The Story

The mod starts when you get a radio message (I know, how original. I didn't have any DLC when I made that part ) beckoning you to a mans house. After following some clues around, you find out a scientist named Christopher O'Neil went missing just before the Great War. You following an entailing story and find out what happened to him, and more importatantly, his partner, Gerard Bishop.

How to start it.

The mod is started by listening to a radio signal. You will be in range in the mid-wasteland. (e.g. if your in megaton) The quest won't start until your a little bit into the story, so the very start is unmarked.

The Institute is a fully voiced quest mod, it is very long as well.

Features

Over 300 lines of fully voiced, lip synced dialogue.

A cover-up to be unraveled through exploration, investigation and interrogation.

Many ways to meet your objectives and multiple endings.

Conflicting choices to be made and an experience that is unique to your character's stats, skills, style and choices.

Custom perks, characters, cells, weapons, armor, clothing, items, clutter, and of course: dialogue.

The story begins with the discovery of a dead body, dressed in an unusual radiation suit, just outside the Chryslus Building. The information you find on the corpse will lead you to one of The Institute's remote clinics (or IRCs) where you'll uncover a layered conspiracy and be faced with the decision of what to do about it.

I actually installed this mod and then completely forgot about it, and then juat randomly stumbled across it and the quests started.

Pighardia · 18 Jul 2011 at 19:45

I have just started playing bits of this mod- The Refuge. It is a quest mod which adds a new shop to Cantebury Commons. So far after entering and talking to a few people i have 3 new quests open in my Pipboy!

The quests have had me travelling quite a bit and they do seem to be very well varied so far

In the description it says that it is not compatible with CC Embiggened, but i am using both and haven't had any problems.

Description: A dangerous clan of raiders known as the Bloody Reavers is expanding west into the DC wasteland. They are highly organized and have armor that is resistant to energy weapons. The Reavers are a threat to all of the free peoples of the area and must be stopped. Fleeing before the raider onslaught comes the people of Chesapeake Beach who are seeking refuge. A mysterious wanderer from Chesapeake Beach has come to Canterbury Commons and set up a shop there. Seek him out and he will guide you to those that need your help.

Goal of this project: to provide interesting quest lines that enhance the existing lore of the Capitol Wasteland and will present a challenge to midgame and endgame characters.

I can't believe how much i have still to do in this game. I am 140 hours in and i still have 26 unfinnished quests still open in my pipboy and i have only done one of the dlc's (Anchorage). I haven't even started any of the others yet, and i still have loads of quests and quest mods still to find. Plus there are still dozens of locations i haven't explored :eek:

Pighardia · 18 Jul 2011 at 20:11

no_1_dave said:
Is there a way to steady the scope a little more with the zoomable weapons mod?

Don't know how you mean?
It is your small guns skill that determines your accuracy with a sniper rifle. Also, the Ultimate Perk Pack has some great perks specifically for snipers.

Are you finding that the zoomable scopes mod has decreased accurcy then?

Pighardia · 18 Jul 2011 at 22:24

I'm sorry, i don't know what to suggest other than the things i have already mentioned:

Quad-core fix
Ram boost
ffdshow fix
merghed patch and master update. (i think master update is recommended specifically for this issue)

Ther is also this-

Purge cell buffers.

I really hope you get it sorted mate. I know it can be a nightmare at times.

Pighardia · 19 Jul 2011 at 12:13

Yeah, you can use an axe, but i prefer the Perferator

You don't need many weapons when a BOS patrol is near

Here i came across a massive battle between The Enclave and a load of Radscorpions. I just hid in an abandoned diner and watched

Pighardia · 19 Jul 2011 at 12:57

Andy__C said:
Whats that building in the background of the last shot? I don't remember that from anywhere....

A mod or a cool looking place that i've managed to miss?

The Manchester Estate. From the mod "An Evening With Mister Manchester". A great quest mod. I linked it on page 2 i think.

Pighardia · 19 Jul 2011 at 13:00

Fred said:
I'd use a minigun if only I had the ammo lol. Not that much drops, and its really expensive at traders. Having to do a lot of sniping just so I can conserve ammo. I'll have to tweek my setting a bit more so I can go on a rampage

I actually have too mch minigun ammo because **** changes the ammo in the game so that pretty much every gun uses a different type of ammo and a lot of people drop 5mm and a minigun is the only weapon to use it.

I also have it so that ammo has no weight. Not realistic, but otherwise it is far too easy to go over

Pighardia · 19 Jul 2011 at 17:53

Mlingard said:
How many people use the FNNCQ slavery overhaul i think it works really good and i love to slave raiders & talons so npc's that are bad and i like how there health is increased when fully trained to fight with you , but there are some many exellent mods to choose from that even after the game has been out this long its still worth playing .

I am not sure if i tried that specifically, but i did try the quest mod FNN (freindly new neighbours) which i think is tied in with it. It is just a few quests that involve freeing slaves and slavery, but i don't think i downloaded the actual slavery overhaul.

As you say, there are so many mods, and i have so many installed atm that i have to sacrifice some

I might give it a try now that i have a stable game though (but where do you stop!! i have over 150 plugins atm)

Pighardia · 19 Jul 2011 at 17:56

Purdy said:
Okay i've just had the time to start playing this, after coming out of megaton and going to the super-duper mart or whatever its called, there is like 20 raiders, how am i supposed to take them out in FWE when they all notice you after you kill one D;

I did warn everyone that FWE can make it very hard

tbh, that's why i don't use it. I think it makes it too hard at early levels.

Also, try stealth kills enabled. http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=8050

Basically makes it so that if you kill someone without being seen, you don't draw the attention of everyone

Pighardia · 19 Jul 2011 at 18:33

Purdy said:
Cheers

I do like the food/thirst and stuff things in FWE though.

I know, a needs mod really is a must. There are other standalone needs mods. Earlier i linked to RI_Primary needs which is the one that i use.

Pighardia · 20 Jul 2011 at 08:48

uExterior Cell Buffer=72
uInterior Cell Buffer=6
iPreloadSizeLimit=26214400

I definitely found master update to be the biggest difference in stability.

I had one ctd last night, but it was probably my first in around 20 game hours. And, as usual it was completely random, when i least expected it :rolleyes:

Perge cell buffers has also made my menus load quicker and the game just run a little bit smoother too

Pighardia · 20 Jul 2011 at 22:34

No method is guaranteed for everyone, but Master update was like a "magic Bullet" for me.

It involves using FO3edit to create a merged patch, which will help avoid conflicts (same principal as in Oblivion). You then rename FO3edit to FO3Masterupdate, then all you have to do is run it and it does something technical which can result in a much more stable game.

Here is FO3edit

Here is an explanation on how to use it to reduce crashes

http://modsreloaded.com/how-to-reduce-crashing-using-fo3edit-t2473.html

I would recommend just copy/pasting fo3edit and then renaming it as opposed to renaming it every time you use it.

Also, my INI is one that i downloaded from Fallout Nexus that was supposed to be well optimized. I then tweaked it a bit myself to improve graphics using this guide.

Pighardia · 20 Jul 2011 at 22:40

no_1_dave said:
Mine kept doing this.
I found it was because of the massive texture pack & bump mapping. Once removed everything was good. Once added again it would crash when going inside houses in the waste or going into cities like megaton. I found allowing over 2GB of ram, the purge cell mod and installing FOSE fixed it (oh & also disabled auto saving & installing the save mod linked in the first few posts of this thread).

I have never had such a love/hate relationship with a game as this

It can be so infuriating at times, and i have felt like giving up on more than one occasion, but work on it for a bit and do all of the fixes and it is spectacular.

Pighardia · 21 Jul 2011 at 09:38

Not sure really. Enabling the dlc shouldn't really make much difference i would have thought. Found this though, if it's any help

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-1924301.html

I would load all of the dlc first.

Pighardia · 21 Jul 2011 at 14:55

That does look a bit funny. Not really sure which setting would change that( i just follow guide when it comes to the INI file). Water reflections maybe?

Looks great otherwise, do you have NMC's installed?

I played around with my INI a bit more earlier. I think the problem was with my file(a 0 missing in iPreloadSizeLimit= rather than you having one too many

)

Pighardia · 21 Jul 2011 at 18:23

daninthemix said:
No I don't think you're right - I think I had a 0 too many (which I've now removed)!

Yes I have NMCs installed. But all options are set to High so not sure why the water reflections suck.

Did a merged patch and master update do any good?

I just tweaked my INI a bit more according to that guide and the game runs much more smoothly.

Did you look at the guide, this might be the setting?

iWaterReflectWidth=1024
iWaterReflectHeight=1024

The above variables control the width and height (i.e. the resolution) of water reflections. The higher the value for each, the more crisp and detailed reflections will be; the lower the value, the lower the detail. For example setting both of these to =256 will greatly reduce reflection detail in return for a boost in FPS around water areas. Conversely, you can raise these values to something like =2048 for an increase in reflection quality above the maximum normally possible using the in-game settings, however there will be a very sharp drop in performance around water (FalloutPrefs.ini).

http://www.tweakguides.com/Fallout3_10.html

Pighardia · 21 Jul 2011 at 18:39

Here is the weapon that i really like at the moment. It is the FN FAL ACOG from Frederyck Tactical Weapons.

You can't beat the Gauss Rifle though

Something going down here. I love it when you just come across random things like this

Pighardia · 21 Jul 2011 at 22:29

Just done a quest where i had to get from Rivet City to Paradise Falls. Should be a nice walk, no problems..............

Oh yeah, i increased spawns by quite a bit

That was close, i'll be on my way now. Hold on, whats that up ahead?

6 Supermutants, 3 of them with miniguns!!
They killed me. I might reload and avoid them, but where's the fun in that!!

EDIT- Didn't work

Got one in the face

Just too many of them, plus my great tactics of charging them didn't help