FAQ

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions, many coming from the Official Bethesda GECK Forums.

• This is not a place to ask questions. New questions should go to the Forums.
• For questions with answers that are already present on the Wiki, link to the existing page. Do not answer it again here.
• Only questions with short answers should be here on this page.
• Questions with new in-depth answers should have their own page created, and then the question on this page should link to the answer page (see examples below).

General Modding Questions

Why are there no Modding Tools for consoles?

• This has to do with licenses and restrictions by the makers of the consoles.

Where do I find Modeling or Texturing tutorials?

• Many general, though some Oblivion specific, tutorials for Modeling can be found here, including links to the tools themselves.
• Here are the Oblivion CS Wiki Texturing Portal and Texturing Tutorials.
• A texturing tutorial of paticular interest to Fallout is this Hard Surface Texture Painting tutorial which essentially explains how to give your textures that old, weathered and beat up look.

GECK Questions

How do I name my mod?

• See How_to_name_your_Mod.

How do I run the GECK if I have the Steam version of Fallout 3?

• The GECK must be installed in the correct Fallout 3 directory, see the GECK Setup Tutorial for details.

Why can't I find the cells in the Cell window for the Tutorial?

• When the GECK first starts, it doesn't load any information. You need to load Fallout3.esm from the main menu to access those cells. See Creating Your Plugin.

How do I access the mesh, texture & icon files referenced in items?

• These files are packed in BSA archives. See BSA Files for how to extract and use them.

How do I make a copy of an item in the Object Window?

• Changing the EditorID of an item will usually prompt you to ask if you want to create a new form. See the Object Window page for details.

How Do I Add a Custom Effect to an Armor or Weapon Piece?

• First, create a new Object Effect by copying an existing one under Game Effects -> Object Effects
• Set the Type to either Weapon or Armor, and add the Base Effects you want.
• Double click the Weapon or Armor you want to change, and select the Object Effect from the Object Effect dropdown menu.

Where can I edit exterior cells like Megaton or Canterbury Commons?

• These cells are in categories beneath the Interiors category in the Cell View World Space dropdown menu.
• Megaton has it's own world space called MegatonWorld, while Canterbury Commons is located in the Wasteland world space.
• Many nondescript wasteland cells do not have specific names, and can only be found using a grid (reference?).

How do I lock items in place, or toggle their visibility in the Render Window?

• You can't lock them in place, but you can select certain object types to be not visible/selectable in the View > Show/Hide Window.
• You can also toggle whether items are selectable or visible: select the items either in the Render Window or in the Cell View window (you can also use the Filter for this), then with the Render Window active, click "1" once to make your selection not selectable and twice for not visible. You can revert this by selecting the items in light blue in the Cell View window.

How do I connect a door to a control panel?

• Make sure the placed door is a persistent reference, and giving it an identifiable Reference ID can make this easier.
• In the Linked Ref tab of the control panel, you can select the door via dropdown menus (first the cell, then the door), or by clicking the Select Reference in Render Window button and then double clicking on the door with the red cross hair.

How do I add items to an existing vendor's inventory without conflicts?

• See the Adding items to vendors page under Solutions

How do I add a new topic for a dialog?

• After performing a right click on a list of topics and choosing the "Add Topic" option, the Select Topic window will open. Now, right click in the list that appears, choose New and enter unique Editor ID of your new topic.

How do I get rid of this annoying race bug?

I'm making a new african female npc for a mod and it was going great untill I noticed her body was white while her head was black:(. No changes to skin tint or shade affect her body, only her head. What am I doing wrong/how can I fix this?