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G E N E R A L   Q U E S T I O N S

» What is Tale of Two Wastelands (TTW)?  Is it different from Requiem for the Capital Wasteland (RFCW)?

Tale of Two Wastelands (TTW) is a project that seeks to merge the content from the popular video game Fallout 3 into the more modern game engine of Fallout New Vegas so that both games can be played in the Fallout New Vegas engine.

Tale of Two Wastelands is the successor to the Requiem for the Capital Wasteland (RFCW) project.  Many of the team members are the same, and the goal is the same.  You can't download Requiem for the Capital Wasteland here (nor anywhere else really), and you won't find any discussion of it here.  At this point, Requiem for the Capital Wasteland is outdated anyway, as many improvements have been made in the latest version of Tale of Two Wastelands.

A few important rules for the site forums and chat:

  • We have zero tolerance for piracy, trolling, and bullying. Any of these will result in a ban with no warning.
  • Be kind and courteous, if you disagree, do so respectfully.
  • Criticize constructively. Saying "This sucks!" is unacceptable. Saying "This sucks because..." or "I disagree with this because..." or even "This feels out of place to me because..." IS acceptable.
  • Take criticism gracefully and try to be open-minded about what others have to say. If criticism is presented as an attack upon you, let a moderator know. Otherwise, accept that it is not personal. Anyone on this forum is here because they want Tale Of Two Wastelands to be the best it can be and constructive criticism is the best way to accomplish that.
  • Posts should be well written and thoughtful, suggestions should be backed by logic.

» How do I travel between wastelands?

There is a picture guide here if you have trouble finding the train stations.

  • In the Capital Wasteland, head to the building in downtown DC near Dukov's Place.  Check your local map for new markers.
  • In the Mojave Wasteland, head to the south part of Freeside near the strip entrance.  Check your local map for new markers.

» Why do I have to patch the files myself?  Why can't I just download a fully patched version?

These additional steps are required as copy protection - it assures that you HAVE to own both games.

The easiest way to own both games and all of their expansion packs - if you don't own them already - is to buy Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition and Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition on STEAM.  You can also buy the expansion packs individually.

These games regularly go on sale on STEAM (as much as 75% off), so it may be worth waiting if you find that this is unaffordable at full retail prices.  However, even at full retail prices, the costs are not unreasonable, and the money helps support the development of future Fallout games.

» Is TTW available in other languages?

No, only the English language is supported.  However, you can try to make your own translation if you want - there is a guide for using TTW with other languages - if you do it right, you should be able to play Fallout New Vegas, Fallout 3, and all DLC packs in your language.

» Can I load a Fallout 3 save game with TTW?

No.  There are too many differences between TTW and Fallout 3 for this to ever work.

» HELP! I installed TTW and now I have no main menu, or the game crashes at startup!

These are issues with New Vegas in general, not TTW specifically.  For missing menus, read this thread.  For a full-blown crash at startup, or a crash before you get to the menus, read this thread.

» HELP! I ran the installer and received an error message "System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not find file 'TTWInstaller\TempInstall\lsdata\dtc6dal.dat'"!

If you are running a 64-bit system, there are reports that using the 32-bit BSAOpt can help. To use the 32-bit BSAOpt: go to TTWInstaller\resources and delete BSAOpt_x64.exe then rename BSAOpt_x32.exe to BSAOpt_x64.exe.

 

M O D S   A N D   M O D D I N G

» How do I install mods for Fallout New Vegas? 

Nexus user Gopher also made a great video tutorial series for installing mods in New Vegas.  It is very good material for the totally uninitiated.

Note that we cannot guarantee that all of the mods listed here are 100% compatible with TTW, but most of them should work just fine.

» How do I use Fallout New Vegas mods with TTW?

Because TTW leaves the Fallout New Vegas files untouched, you can use almost any Fallout New Vegas mod with TTW.  There are a few exceptions:

  • DO NOT USE Mission Mojave Ultimate Edition (MMUE) or NVEC Bugfixes or other mods that are "bug fixes" or "unofficial patches" - they delete records from FalloutNV.esm that TTW needs.  At some point we would like to create a compatibility patch for MMUE, but currently none exists.
  • DO NOT USE The 'Official' Pip-boy Readius mod.  It will break the game when you enter simulation chambers in Tranquility Lane and Operation Anchorage.  Instead, use A Familiar Friend - The Pip-boy 2500, which is functionally similar to the Readius mod and is reported to work fine with TTW (thread).  It is also more recently updated and less buggy overall.  If you are having problems with your Readius mod, disable the mod before you enter a simulation chamber, and then re-enable it after you exit the chamber.
  • CUSTOM RACE MODS ARE NOT RECOMMENDED AT THIS TIME.  There is currently no compatibility patch for custom races, and if you use a custom race, you may experience bugs in character generation.  This is because in Fallout 3, your character starts as a child, and most custom races do not come with an associated "child race".  For more on this and how to fix your custom race, see this thread.
  • If you do use a lot of mods, please disable them before reporting a bug in TTW to confirm that the bug is not caused by one of your mods.
  • 4GB Fallout New Vegas is highly recommended - to allow the game to use more system memory to lower the liklihood of memory-related crashes.  This isn't absolutely required unless you are using texture replacers.  High-res textures will show up as solid black if the game is running out of memory - so if you are seeing any black textures, you definitely need this mod.  To use this with NVSE, just install NVSE normally, install the 4GB patch, and launch the game from the FNV4GB.exe file instead of using the nvse_loader.exe file. NVSE will still work, and FNV will be able to address up to 4GB of system memory.

There is an ongoing discussion of Mod Compatibility in the forums.

» How do I use body and armor replacers with TTW?

For bodies and armors, you can get all of the FO3 armors working with body replacers quite nicely.  What you need are body replacers that are available for both games.  Many people use Type 3 for female and Breeze's for male, since those are the most widely supported.  However, the process is the same if you use other replacers. 

  • The basic process: install the Fallout 3 versions of the bodies, including clothing and armor, but only install the meshes and textures folders.  Then install the Fallout: NV bodies, clothing and armor normally, overwriting any conflicts.

You should use FOMM to install this stuff - just create new folders for the meshes and texture packs that you put together, then extract everything you want to use to those folders.  (That way you only have to build these files once, even if you reinstall the game.)  Then in FOMM's package manager choose "Create from folder" so that you can add your mod for Fallout New Vegas.  If you are unfamiliar with installing mods, watch these videos to get started.

FO3 clothes and armors: Extract and install the meshes and textures folders ONLY:

  1. Install all of the FO3 Type 3 armors and clothes (there are a bunch of patches too).
  2. Install any other FO3 Type 3 replacers: Point Lookout and Mothership Zeta and The Pitt; also any other replacers such as Leather armors and Business suits, for example.

FNV clothes and armors: Install these normally.  Make sure to OVERWRITE ALL when installing these.

  1. Install the FNV version of the Type 3 body replacer using FOMM.
  2. Install the Type 3 armor (includes clothes) (get the "armor only" version, don't forget the patches).
  3. Install the Type 3 outfits for the expansions: Dead Money and Old World Blues and Lonesome Road and Honest Hearts
  4. Install any other Type 3 armor and clothing replacements: Business suits, Leather armors, Freelancer Clothes, Sexy Sleepwear, Tribal Armor or anything else.

For males, it's the same idea, but a little less work:

  1. Install all of the FO3 Breeze's armors and clothes in your FNV folder (there are a bunch of patches too).  Extract and install the meshes and textures folders only.  DON'T install the whole mod in FOMM.
  2. Install all of the FNV Breezes files, including the body replacer and all of the patches for the expansion packs.  Install the whole mod (not just meshes and textures) with FOMM.  Make sure to OVERWRITE ALL.

» How do I use Fallout 3 mods with TTW?

See the first post in this thread for instructions on converting Fallout 3 mods to work with TTW version 2.0a and later versions. 

Many Fallout 3 mods have already been converted.  See this forum and this thread, for example.

» How do I get started making my own mods and helping with TTW?

First, you will want a fresh install of New Vegas and all the default expansion packs (i.e. install New Vegas Ultimate Edition).  Configure your video card settings, and run the game once.  Next you'll need to install some modding tools.

First, get Fallout Mod Manager (FOMM) and install it (if you haven't already got it on your computer).  This will allow you to sort your mod list, manage mods, and give you some great modding tools like BSA browser, all built in.

Next, you will want to download the Garden of Eden Creation Kit (GECK) for New Vegas (direct link to file) and install it. 

Next, you'll want to download NVSE and get it installed.

Next, you'll probably want the most recent GECK PowerUp.  Install the file, and follow the instructions so that you are launching the GECK with NVSE. To load the GECK through NVSE, create a new shortcut to nvse-loader.exe and edit the shortcut (right click properties) and add "-editor" on the end of the target, so it reads: ...nvse-loader.exe" -editor

Finally, you'll want to get FNVedit.  The newest version works fine with the current build of TTW.  If you haven't updated FNVedit in a while, get the latest version available.

If you plan on working on Fallout 3 mods as well (for example, adapting them to work with TTW/New Vegas), you'll want to install the Fallout 3 version of the GECK including the update patch.  You also will probably want the EFO3 GECK PowerUp. You can download FO3edit, or you can copy and paste your FNVedit files into your FO3 folder and rename the exe to "FO3edit.exe" - the program is the same, it just loads differently depending on how the EXE is named.

Side note: Scripting Tips

If you get heavily into scripting, there are several external editors available if you don't want to edit scripts directly in the GECK: a standalone editor, a Notepad++ plugin, and a Vim plugin.

The best option is probably Gribbleshnibit8's updated Notepad++ Plugin combined with the free text editor Notepad++.  Once that's installed, go to the language menu and down at the bottom there is an option for "Define your language". Click that, and a new window will pop up with a bunch of tabs and other options. Ignore all that and find the button that says "Import".  Click it and it'll open a dialog, and you just point it at the syntax file Notepadd++ Plugin XML file and that's it. It'll add a new language option to that menu below the "Define your language" option that says GECK NV Script. When you load a file and then select that language it'll apply syntax highlighting to it.  If you save script files, save them with the extension ".gekv", and Notepad++ will recognize the file and apply the proper Syntax highlighting.

If you're scripting with NVSE, or converting FOSE scripts, you may be interested in Gribbleshnibit8's NVSE Command List as well as the original FOSE Command List.  You will also want to load the GECK with NVSE, as described above.

Now before you do ANYTHING else, make a full copy of your entire Fallout: New Vegas directory as a backup.  That way, if you want to start over with a fresh installation, you can just delete the contents of your New Vegas folder (not the folder itself) and copy the clean installation (with modding tools) back into the directory.

It's also very helpful when modding to have shortcuts to frequently-used programs.  For example, I have FOMM, the GECK, FNVedit, Notepad++, and Firefox all pinned to my taskbar in Windows 7 for quick access, which makes work more efficient.

Now that you've got the tools set up, it's time for some tutorials.

The best one to start with is to walk through the My First Vault tutorial series the Bethesda made and any other links on that page, such as the GECK FAQ and the explanation of how the different Fallout data files work together.  It takes some time, but by the end of it you will have a very good working knowledge of the GECK.

There is another good tutorial document on the basics of the GECK on the Nexus.

Nexus user Gopher also made a great video tutorial series for New Vegas, but it mostly involves installing and using mods as opposed to creating them.  However, it is good material for the totally uninitiated, and the Part 5: FNVEdit tutorial is very relevant to creating mods.

 

 

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