FALLOUT 3 CONFIGATOR
by Rudolf Enberg - Version 1.26

Contents
1.0 - The Basics
1.1 -  Changing Variables
1.2 - The Presets in a Closeup
2.0 - Customizing the Configator
2.1 - Configators Configurations
2.2 - The Data Files
3.0 - Troubleshooting / FAQ
4.0 - Disclaimer


1.0 - The Basics
Fallout 3 Configator allows players and mod-makers take the most out of Fallout 3's configuration variables. Trough Configator's simple and clean user-interface it's very easy to configure any aspects of Fallout 3. The users can also make several different configuration presets and switch between them in seconds.

1.1 - Changing Variables
To get started, open up the Fallout 3 Configator. The program will start and you'll see the main window with a few buttons in it's left side. From up to down, the first four buttons let you browse different categories which all include different variables that you can change. The next two buttons - Import and Export - will let you export your configurations in a preset and load them later on. The last button is the Save button. When you've changed the variables to your liking simply click the Save button. You'll see the "Saving settings" -message for few seconds. After it's disappeared you can close the program and start Fallout 3 - now it'll start with it's new settings.

The weird-looking square button in the upper-right corner is the ActionButton. You can configure it ie. to save the settings and start Fallout 3 automatically. The possibilities aren't endless but there are more than one at least.

1.2 - The Presets in a Closeup
The Presets can save you a lot of time when optimizing or debugging Fallout 3's configurations. A preset is a set of files that include all of Fallout 3's settings. You can have many Presets with different configurations in them and load any of them trough Configator.

When you'll start the Configator for the first time it'll automatically create one preset for you: "Default Settings". Click on the Import button in the sidebar and you should see this preset in a list which is probably pretty empty right now. If you'll click on the "Default Settings" preset Fallout 3 will be configured to the way it was when you started Configator for the first time. Pretty handy if you'll accidentally change something that you cannot fix.

The true fun starts when you have many different configuration presets. Creating one is not a hard - simply set all the variables to your liking and click Export in the sidebar. You'll be asked to type in a name for the preset. When you're done press enter and the preset is saved. Now you can access the preset any time from the Import menu.

If you hold down CTRL while importing a preset, the preset will be activated and the program will be closed immediatelly. This makes importing presets incredibely fast.

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2.0 - Customizing the Configator
Configator is pretty customizable itself. You can edit the data files and add new variables that you can change trough Configator or play around with the settings file which let's you customize the way the Configator looks and acts.

2.1 - Configators Configurations
Open up the "Settings.ini" file which is located in the same folder as the "FO3 Configator.exe". It's advisable you make a backup of this file before anything else. The different variables and their effects are listed below.

Variable Effect
Width   (640 - ) The width of the user-interface in pixels. Higher values make the window wider.
Height    (480 - ) The height of the user-interface in pixels. Higher values make the window higher.
UpdateInterval    (15 - 30) Specifies the delay between the main loop updates. Higher values cause the program to update itself less often and there'll be lots of lag - lower values more often and it'll run smoothly but consume more processing power. This variable should be changed only if run into performance problems.
RenderInterval    (100 - 1000) Specifies the maximum time that can be waited between the UI renderings. Lower values cause the program to render the UI more frequently and higher values less frequently. This value should never be lowered as it causes the program to render the UI even when it isn't necessary (ie. when nothing has changed). Higher values save CPU usage when the program isn't in active use.
Color 1-7 These variables define the colors of the UI. The RGB -standard is used.
ConfigPath This variable defines the path to the Fallout.ini file. If the path is incorrect the program can't load the variables or change them and it won't even start. Example of a correct path: C:\Documents and Settings\<Username>\My Documents\My Games\Fallout3\
ActivateImportedPreset   (0 / 1) When you'll import a configuration preset it will be automatically activated so you don't need to click Save to use the settings. Setting this variable to 0 will disable this behaviour. (You can also temporarily disable this by pressing down the shift key while selecting a preset)
FastPresetActivation   (0 / 1) When you'll import a preset it's first loaded into the program, then saved to the FO3 configuration files. You can make the latter process 99% faster by settings this variable to 1. Instead of analyzing the configuration file and changing the variables one at a time the preset file will simply be copied over the configuration file. It's way faster but if the preset file is corrupted the configuration files will break too.
LineHeight    (0.8 - 1.5) Defines the spacing between the lines in the variable list. Higher values cause there to be more empty space between the entries.
TextSize    (0.8 - 1.5) Defines the size of the text. Higher values cause text to be bigger.
HighlightChanged    (0 - 2)) When set to 1, values that you've changed will be highlighted. The value of 2 does the same thing but also displays the original value after the current one. The value of 0 will disable this feature entirely.
ActionB_Run When the ActionButton is clicked the file or program in this path will be executed. If you specify a sound it will be automatically played trough the Configator. The path must be "quoted" if it has any spaces in it.
ActionB_Save, Minimize, Exit   (0 / 1) These variables define the actions that take place when the ActionButton is pressed.

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2.2 - The Data Files
The variables that Configator can change are listed in the data files that are found in the Data folder. Tweaking them is pretty simple.

Categories
The different categories for the variables are listed in the "Categories.ini" file. You can change the order and the names of the categories and even add new ones. Just remember to rename the actual data files as well.

Data
The variables are listed in the data files, "Audio.txt" and "Graphics.txt" for example. All of these data files include a list of different variables, their names, their descriptions etc. Adding a new variable is pretty straight-forward. Find an empty line and type in these lines:

Name = Name of this variable
Config = The configuration name for this variable. This one will be found from the "Fallout.ini" file.
Format = The format of this variable. This can be ONOFF, VALUE, VALUE2 or DECIM. More about this later.
Range = If the variable isn't just a simple ON/OFF variable you can define a range for it, the minimum value and the maximum value.  OPTIONAL
Image = You can define an image that will be displayed with this variable. The image should be in the "Data\Images" folder. Example: MyPicture.jpg  OPTIONAL
#After you've defined the name and the format etc. you can give the variable a nice description that tells what it does. The description will start with # and can have multiple lines.  OPTIONAL

The format is either ONOFF, VALUE, VALUE2 or DECIM.
ONOFF means the variable must always be 0 or 1.
VALUE can be anything between -99999 and 99999
VALUE2 must be a value in the power of 2, ie. 128, 256, 512, 1024 and so on.
DECIM is like value but it has decimals. -99999.0 - 99999.0

If the format is something else than ONOFF you can define a "step" value for it. The step value must be separated from the format with the < : > mark.
Example: Format =DECIM:2.5
The step value in the example is 2.5. This means that when you're using Configator you can change this value with buttons < and >. Every time you click a button the value will increase or decrease by 2.5.

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3.0 - Troubleshooting / FAQ

Q: The program gives me an error message and refuses to start.
 
A: This problem is almost always related to the program not finding the "Fallout3.ini" -file. Start up Fallout 3 and it'll automatically create the file. Then re-start Fallout 3 Configator to see if the program will detect the file. If after a couple of tries the problem still occures please open the "Settings.ini" -file (located in the same folder as Fallout 3 Configator) and change the ConfigPath -variable so that it points to the folder containing "Fallout3.ini", ie. C:\Users\<UserName>\Documents\My Games\Fallout3\


Q: I get a "Memory Access Violation" error.
 
A: This error is a tricky one, haven't fully fixed it yet. Please try the solution above, it has reportedly fixed the problem.


Q: I've changed some variables and Fallout 3 isn't working anymore!
 
A: You've probably enabled a setting that your system can't handle or something similiar. You can restore your original settings by clicking Import and then Default Settings.


Q: My problem isn't listed here / I still have a problem, what next?
 
A: Please contact me in the comments or via PM at fallout3nexus.com. My username is Ruuttu.

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4.0 - DISCLAIMER

I take no responsibility of any harm(s) the use of this program may or may not cause. The program comes with no warranties: You'll use the program on your own risk!
This program may be freely distributed as long as the program and the data files with it stay intact. Any file or part of the program may not be modified or changed in any way.

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