Getting Fallout 3 to run

[Samuel]

And before you ask Bethesda was surprisingly unhelpful
http://support.bethsoft.com/eng/faqs.as ... =Windows+7

Anyway, I have the latest low quality laptop and whenever I hit the new game button the game stops working. Lowest quality graphics doesn't seem to help although windowed makes it takes longer before dying. "A problem has caused the program to stop working".

Is my computer to slow or is there something else wrong?

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

What do you mean by "low quality laptop"? That can mean a lot of things. Of chief concern is that could very likely mean you don't even have a proper graphics card, which is needed to run most games.

[Starglider]

If it's a trashy netbook it might not be able to run modern games at all. Why do people start these threads without giving details that could actually diagnose the problem (i.e. what laptop model/spec/operating system).

[Feil]

First recourse should always be reinstalling the game and reinstalling DirectX.

Strike that, first thing you do is identify your computer, its hardware, and a comparison of that hardware to the minimum requirements printed on the box - if your PC doesn't meet minimum spec, it's probably not going to run the game, and there's nothing you can do about it.

My guess in the absence of further evidence: your laptop has no dedicated graphics card and your integrated graphics does not support pixil shader 3+; the software looks for it when it tries to render the first scene, can't find it, gives up, and says, "screw you, a problem has caused this program to stop working."

[General Zod]

Without a discrete graphics chip you just might be screwed. I wouldn't even think about trying to run FO3 on shared video memory, no matter that your other specs match.

[Samuel]

The cheapest one they had at Fry's last month. Lenovo Win7 PC

For graphics I have "Desktop performance for Windows Aero". This is what you mean, right?

If it's a trashy netbook it might not be able to run modern games at all. Why do people start these threads without giving details that could actually diagnose the problem (i.e. what laptop model/spec/operating system).

Sorry. Oblivian runs perfectly fine so I don't think it is my graphics card and I didn't give specs because I'm imcompetant when it comes to dealing with computers.

[Stark]

There is no way Fallout 3 requires pixel shader 3 to even work.

Fallout 3 is far more demanding than 'Oblivian' however. The box has a list of criteria your system has to neet and it's likely 'the cheapest laptop' doesn't do so.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Was it this?

If so, then the system is pitifully inadequate. These kinds of systems are great for typing memos and checking email. They are not for games.

[Steel]

I had this exact problem on my top of the range desktop with vastly above the necessary specs.

As far as I could tell the problem is the starting cutscene, the game uses some shitty 'thing' that makes it impossible to run on certain systems. Even if you change all the drivers everyone suggests theres no guarantee it will work.

My solution was to play it on my much lower spec laptop for the first 5 minutes and then load the save on the desktop and bypass the starting bit.

[Samuel]

Was it this?

If so, then the system is pitifully inadequate. These kinds of systems are great for typing memos and checking email. They are not for games.

No, I have a laptop, not a notebook.

I had this exact problem on my top of the range desktop with vastly above the necessary specs.

As far as I could tell the problem is the starting cutscene, the game uses some shitty 'thing' that makes it impossible to run on certain systems. Even if you change all the drivers everyone suggests theres no guarantee it will work.

My solution was to play it on my much lower spec laptop for the first 5 minutes and then load the save on the desktop and bypass the starting bit.

Thanks. I'll see if I can do that.

[General Zod]

No, I have a laptop, not a notebook.

You mean netbook. Let's make it simpler. What's the serial # on your laptop?

[Gramzamber]

There is no way Fallout 3 requires pixel shader 3 to even work.

Fallout 3 is far more demanding than 'Oblivian' however. The box has a list of criteria your system has to neet and it's likely 'the cheapest laptop' doesn't do so.

No it isn't. Or you can explain to me why Fallout 3 runs at 60fps (down to 35 in the most crowded areas) with max settings for me, while Oblivion chugs along at 35-25fps at low settings.

[Stark]

Grass density.

[Gramzamber]

Grass density.

I turn off the grass and get the same poor performance.
I've determined, more or less, that Oblivion's distant land is extremely inefficient and more demanding of resources. Turning it off or reducing visible cells in the .ini improves performance but makes the game look like shit.
Fallout 3 doesn't have this problem. Still distant land problems aside I see no reason why a system that can run Oblivion can't run Fallout 3.

[Stark]

Except it obviously can't?

I can't get Oblivion's performance to drop at all, but all the post on F3 give a wide range of performance. Thus, F3 is more demanding.

ANECDOTES. Since he can start Oblivion and can't startk F3, I'm curious to see how you expect to win this point.

[Gramzamber]

That there's obviously another factor involved here.
There are a wide amount of things that'll make the gamebryo engine commit seppuku, mainly due to it being crap. An .ini setting for instance or driver incompatibility.

[Stark]

Yeah, like F3 being more demanding due to its greater modernity. Isn't Oblivion pre pixel shader?

Whoops, you're just wrong. Grow smarter!

[Gramzamber]

Yeah, like F3 being more demanding due to its greater modernity. Isn't Oblivion pre pixel shader?

Whoops, you're just wrong. Grow smarter!

Or Oblivion being more demanding due to lesser optimization. Again, for me, Oblivion performs poorly on low settings, Fallout 3 performs great on max. I'm not the only one who experiences this and the general consensus is Oblivion is just coded poorly and hence more demanding.
In any case, Fallout 3 is not THAT much more modern than Oblivion that it'd not work at all on a system that can run Oblivion fine.

[Stark]

Yes, Oblivion is more demanding, which is why it runs on machines that won't even start F3.

Keep trying! Repeat those anecdotes! Framerate is even irrelevant since this guy can't even start the engine, but don't let that stop you.

PS when Sam says Oblivion works I seriously doubt he means 'works fine'.

[Gramzamber]

Yes, Oblivion is more demanding, which is why it runs on machines that won't even start F3.

Keep trying! Repeat those anecdotes! Framerate is even irrelevant since this guy can't even start the engine, but don't let that stop you.

Again, any number of factors can stop Fallout 3 (or Oblivion) from working.
Sometimes it requires going through the .ini and fiddling with the various settings (looking at Fallout.ini tweak guides online is helpful).

By the way both Oblivion and Fallout 3 require pixel shader 2.0

PS when Sam says Oblivion works I seriously doubt he means 'works fine'.

Sorry. Oblivian runs perfectly fine

[Ryan Thunder]

And before you ask Bethesda was surprisingly unhelpful
http://support.bethsoft.com/eng/faqs.as ... =Windows+7

Anyway, I have the latest low quality laptop and whenever I hit the new game button the game stops working. Lowest quality graphics doesn't seem to help although windowed makes it takes longer before dying. "A problem has caused the program to stop working".

Is my computer to slow or is there something else wrong?

As respectfully as possible, Sam; you really need to check your PC specs and the game's system requirements before you buy one of these games. If it says it needs video RAM and your computer has shared graphics RAM, it probably won't work at all. I have been burned by this before (and yeah, it was rather stupid of me and I shoulda known better, but I digress.)

Most games just pretend you don't have any graphics capability at all and just refuse to run, I find.

[Stark]

Oh man this is great; it'll work (based on nothing, since you don't even know his specs) because you can totally INI HACK!

Regardless, if F3 doesn't have older fallbacks (ps, games that say 'PS2' often still work on older stuff, this is less common these days) he's screwed. Your claim that anything that can run Oblivion can run F3 is obviously not the case, unless he's too stupid to drop his video options before complaining it crashes.

[Gramzamber]

No, because I know from experience that differing .ini settings and such can cause these games to crash on a new game, crash on load and generally crash if you so much as sneeze at the wrong time.

[Enigma]

This might sound silly but is the game fully patched? I know that before patching the game F3 was complete crap, stability-wise. Just looking at it funny would cause it to crash. After patching the game it ran well. I do not recall it crashing afterwards.

[General Zod]

This might sound silly but is the game fully patched? I know that before patching the game F3 was complete crap, stability-wise. Just looking at it funny would cause it to crash. After patching the game it ran well. I do not recall it crashing afterwards.

I've never had any crashing problems unless I was trying to do something weird like make the PC 50 foot tall through the console. Then again I have hardware that doesn't suck.