Your Guide to Modding Fallout3!

[SenitaL]

Your Guide to Modding:

I had completely forgotten! With Fallout New Vegas on the horizon i thought id would be appropriate to do a guide on Modding Fallout 3 (the 2 games will share alot in terms of mechanics so im guessing this might even help prepare you for moding Vegas?).

Modding Fallout 3 is very simple, theres not much to it, so Ill only imput tips and pointers. Alot of this is just to show you whats out there, but again ill only cover the basics such as Graphics and gameplay enhancements, else i'd die of old age going through EVERY mod there is out there http://www.Fallout3nexus.com is the goto site when it comes to FO3 mods so thats where all the links will be from. By the end of this guide you should have a vastly improved copy of fallout 3. Ill also Have a list of recommended mods and User profiles for you to visit at the end so you can expand on whats done here.

 

First, (asuming you have a clean install) make sure you're all up to date with the latest patch (currently v1.7), and while your there Grab the GECK and its 1.5 update as this will be needed further down the road. http://fallout.bethsoft.com/eng/downloads/updates.html

 

The Essentials: (which should set you on the path)

 

RAM Boost (By Default FO3 only uses 2GB of RAM, this will enable the game utilise any Extra RAM you have for a nice performance boost)

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=12031

 

Fallout Script Extender (AKA FOSE) Extends the scripting capabilities of fallout 3 without modifying Fallout3.exe or the GECK files. (choose the latest Stable version)

http://fose.silverlock.org/

 

Fallout MOD Manager (AKA FOMM) This is a must have, it makes managing and organising mods so much simpler. It's far superior to the one built into the fallout launcher.

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=640

 

ArchiveInvalidation Invalidated (this program is GOLD! it cuts out all the tedious script editing you'd otherwise have to do when Modding, and automates it all with the click of a button)

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=944

 

Install the above, along with the GECK and you should be good to go! ..

Installing your First MOD!

In General When you have downloaded and Extracted a Mod, it should be placed straight into the "Data" folder inside Fallout 3's main directory.

 

 

Small Tweaks:

 

Auto Aim Fix - does what it says on the tin

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5606

 

Hacking terminals Made easier:

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2333

 

Megaton/Rivet City gates open & Close:

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5670

 

Power Armor Training - annoying that by the time you can use Power armor its too late or just not worth it? This should spruce things up!

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1413

 

Lighting Enhancements:

 

Fellout (Tired of that horrible Green Sephia effect? this is what you're looking for!)

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2672

 

Street Lights (adds lighting to the DC Ruins where its missing! I.E at night why aren't any of the damn lamp-posts working?!)

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=8069

Street lights for wasteland Addon:

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10045

 

Megaton Lighting Overhaul:

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=7875

 

Game Enhancements:

 

= Project Beauty HD = This isn't just a retexture job, a-lot of effort has gone into making each (of the nearly 500) character(s!) "fit the part" Also for those of you that like customising things, you'll be able to edit or choose stuff such as hair styles for each character using the GECK. I practically changed all of the main female npc hairs in my game, to better suit their character. There are very detailed instructions in the ReadMe on how to install and customise everything, I Highly recommend this mod as it Vastly improves on those vanilla models. http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=6341

 

= Ultimate Perk Pack = Adds over 70 perks to the world of Fallout 3! Includes custom Icons for them too. http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1409

 

= Marts Mutant Mod (AKA MMM) Fantastic mod which adds loads of new and freaky creatures to fallout 3. http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=3211

The Mutant Gargantuan looks hilarious! also theres marts mutant increased spawns, so if you like a greater challenge then you can give that a go too.

 

GNR - More where that came from

"If you're tired of hearing "Let's Go Sunning," this is the mod for you. It adds between 20 and 100 new songs to Three Dog's Playlist!"

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1418

 

= Fallout 3 Re-Annimated = I got sick of seeing the same inaccurate poses and animations in the game, they just didn't look right, so i went on the hunt and found this great mod:

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=7670

 

EVE (Energy Visuals Enhanced) Simply put, if you didn't use energy Weapons before, You will now!

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=8340

 

CUBE Experimental: *gibbers* Words.. cannot.. express.. Watch Trailer: ................. RTS (Real Time Settler) Some of you might really like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N03wKXmffZc ....... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0bJ7CbTm0w

...................TRY IT! http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=6270 ............................................ Try it out: http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=7070

 

Mod Lod orders/Mix and match:

Often you'll come across a mod which you really like, but it replaces a certain part or is completely incompatible with another mod your using. In these cases you just have to decide on which version you like more and replace the respective files. That should work fine with things like Textures but when you start mixing mods which are known to have (in)competibility issues don't run crying to the head mistress saying "Senital's ruined my game!"

 

Also you should start looking at your Lod order in Fallout Mod Manager (FOMM) the higher up things are the more important! Sometimes when you add a new mod and select it in FOMM, its lod number will appear to randomly jump, this means it should be higher or lower than something else you have in your mod list. To keep things organised i like to drag these particular mods up/down to the corresponding place their number(s) insist on being.

 

Keeping this in mind you should be able to install multiple Weapon Texture mods for example. Just order the most important one Lower and the others above it (i think.. dont bash my head in if i have it the wrong way, play around with the order to find out!), this should filter out the individual textures (or whatever) you don't like. This method is a Pain up the Butthole though so i recommend you just install the main pack you want and individually replace the respective files instead of messing around with lod orders and getting probable conflicts.

 

Texture Enhancements: (.dds files)

 

Enhanced Night Sky

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=442

If you've already installed Fellout this mod should replace "skystars.dds" (perfect example of what i was saying about mix and match!)

 

Krzymar's High Res moon (Replaces that dull vanilla moon. Personally i like the "dark" version more as "bright" is too bright!)

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=538

 

NMC's Texture Pack (The Big Daddy! includes all his previous work [shown below] + more!)

↑__//===

http://a.imageshack.us/img39/248/nmc02.jpg ===\\__↑

\\=== http://a.imageshack.us/img63/6687/nmc03.jpg ===//

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=12056

Best Tex mod around, I have so much respect for Neil's work because.. well his efforts speak for themselves! you'll need to select the appropriate Texture and BumpMap packs to suit your System (Full + Max Bumpmaps FTW!)

 

Using ArchiveInvalidation Invalidated:

You should already have this extracted to the main directory of Fallout 3. It's Good practice to run the program after each time you install (or make any changes to) a mod. Earlier on i said it cuts out all the scripting work needed, what did i mean you ask? Well say for example you've just installed NMC's texture pack. in the early days you had to use a txt file called ArchiveInvalidation.txt and update it constantly with each mod you installed, regestering any added .dds files for instance. This as you can imagine was tedious work (what if you wanted to remove 1 particular mod or start editing stuff? NIGHTMARE!) so now we use this awesome little program which basically does it all for us so dont forget to click that Activate button!

 

 

I guess thats all, sorry it wasn't much of an actual guide but its just so easy to mod fallout 3 there was only so much i could say! hopefully though i've helped you see whats out there for the game. If you have any questions about modding or otherwise, or additions you'd like to make Feel free to post!

Recommended Mods you should check out!

Destroyable Environments - http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1904

New Shops all over the Wasteland! - http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5573

Repair Robots & have them as companions - http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=712

Tired of companions/npc's dying? - http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=8495

Megaton house Overhaul - http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1434

Lots of armour accessories - http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5424

 

Recommended Profiles to check out!

(Mostly Textures, Scroll down to view submissions)

BEST Supermutant / Armour Retextures & more! - http://www.fallout3nexus.com/modules/members/index.php?id=1001644

Great Cigarette retextures and Better Booze - http://www.fallout3nexus.com/modules/members/index.php?id=225951

BEST retextures for Books and Clutter/Junk - http://www.fallout3nexus.com/modules/members/index.php?id=544496

Sweet Retextures for Ghouls & Radscorpion - http://www.fallout3nexus.com/modules/members/index.php?id=908674

 

Other Cool Texture Mods!

Better Pip-Boy Map - http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=998

Lincoln's Repeater - http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=897

Deathclaw Gauntlet - http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2705

Historical Documents - http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=3394

[Bosco]

Damn did you do this?

 

If so very nice.

 

This needs to be a guide not stuck in just the forums

[bp9801]

Damn did you do this?

 

If so very nice.

 

This needs to be a guide not stuck in just the forums

 

+1. Totally agree.

 

I had no idea about the RAM boost.. totally going to grab that so it can actually use the 4GB I have.

 

 

Btw, its 'your' and not 'you're'

[SenitaL]

Damn did you do this?

 

If so very nice.

 

This needs to be a guide not stuck in just the forums

Thanks Boss yeah i spent all of last night doing it, went to bed (leaving the computer to hibernate) so i could finish it today

 

Btw, its 'your' and not 'you're'

 

Urgh thanks bp.. i always get confused where to put the damn hyphen, especially when im this tired (and hungry)

[bp9801]

No worries dude. Its like what.. 6am for you? Go to bed!

 

Btw, is the Neil's texture mod you posted an updated version or the same that's been out for a while?

 

Oh, and is Project Beauty just of the characters?

[SenitaL]

Yeah its quater past 6 in the morning here

 

-NMC's texture mod is an updated version of what was up before. If you remember last time you had to download the Megaton, Rivet city and Terrain+Rocks packs, this crams them all into one and adds new textures (which you can see by visiting the "pictures" tab).

-Project beauty is only for npc characters yes, its a fantastic mod, easily in my top 10. Some of the vanilla npc faces i came across were just shockingly bad, this just cleaned them all up and you can even edit them yourself if you feel the need

 

There are also body mesh replacer's for both male and female which i HIGHLY recommend as the default FO3 models especially for female just Aren't convincing. ({ Nudity Warning ! })

Heres a link for Female: http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=4280

And Male: http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=4719

 

Just keep in mind that your male characters don't actually have to wear G-strings, their optional!

dimon99 Also has a mod for smaller more feminine hands, which is great because otherwise girls still have great big manly hands

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5355

[bp9801]

I think I have the updated NMC pack then as I just had to download one thing for it.

 

Project Beauty sounds like a good addition so I'll nab that.

 

I already have a body mesh replacer.. plus one other mod that I can't find the download file for that replaces the clothing on female characters so it actually looks like a female is wearing it.

 

The hand one seems to be good though, I may have to get that.

[Deathmineral]

While I'm not a big fan of Fallout 3, this is an awesome guide, and if I ever decide to play the game again I'll be sure to try some of this stuff out.

[IVIYTH0S]

Damn now I know what I'll be reinstalling now, I have 8GB of ram and never knew about that RAM BOOST

Not to mention I've been meaning to try the texture pack and fellout, I absolutely went bonkers after putting a similar texture pack on oblivion

[bp9801]

I always thought everyone nabbed the HD textures for Oblivion and Fallout 3 as soon as you could...

 

Nothing quite like going from 256x256 or 512x512 images to 4096x4096. Or 2048x2048 if your video card wasn't up to snuff.

[SenitaL]

Just did a quick update and replaced a link which id mixed up in the recommended mods list. for the support everyone, makes it all worth it!

 

With regards to the RAM boost program, it would be a nice addition if someone posted benches to show even IF there are any performance gains and by how much

[CowKing]

The RAM boost thing is interesting, but don't 32-bit OSes have a bug where they can only utilize 2GB for a single program? if not than this is freaking awesome