Fallout 3 Impressions and Opinions

[Ryan Thunder]

GAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! Why does Bethesda hate their customers so much? At least once every game session, FO3 would crash and shut down my video card!

You know, I hate to ask this, but do you regularly have problems like this?

[Enigma]

GAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! Why does Bethesda hate their customers so much? At least once every game session, FO3 would crash and shut down my video card!

You know, I hate to ask this, but do you regularly have problems like this?

No. I had a vid card error caused by Spaceforce: Captains but updating the drivers seemed to have fixed that problem. Having the vid card turned off is a FO3 event.

[Shinova]

GAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! Why does Bethesda hate their customers so much? At least once every game session, FO3 would crash and shut down my video card! What the hell? The computer is running but the monitor says that there is no signal in other words the video card turned itself off. I reboot and it returns to normal.

Interestingly my FO3 has not crashed once so far. Maybe once all the mods start pouring in it'll be a different story, but for now it's running like a dream.

[Erik von Nein]

I've only experienced Fallout crashing a couple of times. Two of those were at the exact same place. Trying approach Evergreen Mills from the back caused the game to completely freeze at a certain point, both at the same place. I was playing it on the PS3 at the time, but I don't think that's really relevant.

[PREDATOR490]

If leveling up is an issue then getting the 100+ to skills mod is probably a good idea unless you want to start cheating around the issue.
I have had more than a few crashes from this game but I quickly learned to save the game every 5 minutes - had a savegame count of 1500 by the time I reached the end.

Now I am playing it through with a woman avatar (har har) because I never seem to be able to go 'evil' in these games. Although I will admit some of the choices in this one are better than most and have some logical reasoning. Not like others which have the evil actions as being nothing more than the player being a deliberate dick.

Did some playing around with the G.E.C.K editor, made myself an improved Victory Sniper Rifle with a 10 round mag and damage equal to the Firelance. I enjoyed watching the bloody mess of body parts as I cleaned out Megaton
I'm on a personal side mission to try and get all the companions equiped with uber gear just for laughs. Watching the two guys you pick up from Megaton armed with Miniguns was hilarious for the defence part the first time I played it. Getting them suited up in brotherhood power armor and gatling guns should be even more amusing.

[Erik von Nein]

Two guys in Megaton? I thought there was just Jericho.

[PREDATOR490]

Indeed, I should have said Bigtown.
Those two peeps you rescue from the police station can be given gear before you leave them and there is that kid from Lamplight that can be given the same.
On the upside, I altered the Victory Sniper Rifle to shoot railway spikes instead. Hilarity ensued when I started nailing heads to walls in Megaton.

[Erik von Nein]

Oooh, okay. I usually just stripped them of their stuff and then sold it back to them afterwards.

Well, okay, once I gave one of them a rocket launcher. Hilarious results during the Bigtown "siege" that happened afterwards. Poor town guard didn't even see it coming.

[Enigma]

I think I've fixed the video card problem. Browsing their forum I found a fix that involved removing all codecs, used a codec reset utility, installed a K-lite basic codec pack then adjusting the pagepoolsize to 400MB. Nevertheless it seemed to have fixed it. But another glitch has popped up. While playing, I went to save my game but found that all of my saves disappeared.

[Enigma]

I think I've fixed the video card problem. Browsing their forum I found a fix that involved removing all codecs, used a codec reset utility, installed a K-lite basic codec pack then adjusting the pagepoolsize to 400MB. Nevertheless it seemed to have fixed it. But another glitch has popped up. While playing, I went to save my game but found that all of my saves disappeared.

Nevermind, I found where my saves went. Aparently, logging into Live opens up a new folder.

[Enigma]

I think I've fixed the video card problem. Browsing their forum I found a fix that involved removing all codecs, used a codec reset utility, installed a K-lite basic codec pack then adjusting the pagepoolsize to 400MB. Nevertheless it seemed to have fixed it. But another glitch has popped up. While playing, I went to save my game but found that all of my saves disappeared.

Aaaand scratch the fix. It didn't help me at all. Still turns off the vid card. One extra info about the crash is that it turns off after I click off the error box that appears when it crashes.

[MarshalFoch]

I've only experienced Fallout crashing a couple of times. Two of those were at the exact same place. Trying approach Evergreen Mills from the back caused the game to completely freeze at a certain point, both at the same place. I was playing it on the PS3 at the time, but I don't think that's really relevant.

The only freezing problems I've experienced with the PS3 version are in the Ranger Compound. The dialogue always gets really choppy in there and the game will freeze about half the time while exiting the Compound. It was an easy fix though, just save right after I entered the compound then reload, worked fine.

[Stark]

Why would anyone think changing installed codecs would prevent a game crashing when it's not playing video? I don't understand. Has Beth invented new realms of crashing logic?

[Ohma]

Why would anyone think changing installed codecs would prevent a game crashing when it's not playing video? I don't understand. Has Beth invented new realms of crashing logic?

I don't know, last I remember the suggestions that people monkey around with video codecs were to stop the PipBoy radio stuttering.

[Enigma]

Why would anyone think changing installed codecs would prevent a game crashing when it's not playing video? I don't understand. Has Beth invented new realms of crashing logic?

Because some are desperate to try anything for game stability. Browsing their forums, another suggestion is that FO3 chokes on multi core CPUs. Apparently there is a workaround. I've made the changes but I have yet played the game to see if it worked.

[Stark]

Well I've got a multi-core system absolutely chockers with piles of codecs and I didn't get any more crashes than usual for a Beth game - it sounds like you and some others are having some other, more serious problem.

And I remember the radio stuttering, I thought the first patch fixed that?

[Enigma]

Well I've got a multi-core system absolutely chockers with piles of codecs and I didn't get any more crashes than usual for a Beth game - it sounds like you and some others are having some other, more serious problem.

And I remember the radio stuttering, I thought the first patch fixed that?

No the codecs was a separate fix suggestion made at the forum. That did not stop the video card shut down and I'm not the only one with that problem.

I find it funny that the kiddie at the Bethesda forum think you are an idiot if you can't fiddle with game's .ini files when someone mentions that needing to mess with the game to get it to work means that the game is broken.

[Jade Falcon]

I've got a quad core system and while FO3 crashed sometimes, It was very occasionally.

[The Yosemite Bear]

I am happy to report that my crashes are also minimal, and I've got a hell computer.

[PREDATOR490]

Been having a few crashes myself as of late although that may be due to the mods now installed.

Recently the Disc has been fucking up though, keeps telling me that the disc authentication failed in the amount of time. I click retry and then it goes to the launch screen. Something of an irritation when the crashes have been happening quite frequently between using the G.E.C.K to make and test my own modifications.

Walking around in Enclave Shocktrooper Armor that has the Medic Prototype computer is quite fun. Along with making it have a permanant stealthboy / invisible field around it. Add that to my Victory Rifle Spear gun and I'm more than happy. It is just a shame I cannot take the skulls as trophies.

[Stark]

So... crack it. Problem solved. The updater doesn't even check.

[Ohma]

You don't even have to download a crack, just change the shortcut to point to the .exe instead of the launcher.

[Ryan Thunder]

You don't even have to download a crack, just change the shortcut to point to the .exe instead of the launcher.

Brilliant anti-piracy methods they have there, eh?

[Ohma]

Indeed, and that's why the people who created them make the big bucks.

[Typhonis 1]

OK going by the visuals and some of the rational ghoul dialog. Has it been 200 years since Nuclear War or only 20+?