Fallout 3 Game of the Year keeps crashing when starting up a new game

Menelaun

(Dont know if this is the right place mods please move it if it isnt)So as the thread would Imply fallout three keeps crashing every time I try to start a new game on steam I've re installed, verified it, tried writing in the game file inumhw thing and still no joy.Its extremely frustrating any ideas at all would be greatly appreciated

I'm playing on a laptop so it might be the machine but it runs newer games like Fallout new vegas and darksiders 2 perfectly fine.
Here the specs

Operating System
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU
Intel Core i5 2450M @ 2.50GHz 49 °C
Sandy Bridge 32nm Technology
RAM
4.00 GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 798MHz (11-11-11-28)
Motherboard
Hewlett-Packard 1841 (U3E1)
Graphics
Generic PnP Monitor (1280x768@60Hz)
Intel HD Graphics Family
Hard Drives
466GB Hitachi HTS547550A9E384 (SATA)
Optical Drives
hp DVD A DS8A8SH
Audio
IDT High Definition Audio CODEC
I'm not great with computers but I think they should be up to spec for the game

MitchKoobski

Had this exact problem, found a solution but I'm in work at the moment and can't remember the page I had bookmarked.

It had to do with a missing file IIRC.

MitchKoobski

Pretty sure this was the fix I used. http://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Fallout_3#Game_Crashes_Randomly

D3D9.dll Replacement

1. Start the installer in compatibility mode for Windows XP SP3 and as an Administrator.
2. Download D3D9.dll from MediaFire or a similar source.
3. Place D3D9.dll in the directory that contains Fallout3.exe.

hooradiation

Menelaun wrote: »

(Dont know if this is the right place mods please move it if it isnt)So as the thread would Imply fallout three keeps crashing every time I try to start a new game on steam I've re installed, verified it, tried writing in the game file inumhw thing and still no joy.Its extremely frustrating any ideas at all would be greatly appreciated

I'm playing on a laptop so it might be the machine but it runs newer games like Fallout new vegas and darksiders 2 perfectly fine.
Here the specs

Operating System
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU
Intel Core i5 2450M @ 2.50GHz 49 °C
Sandy Bridge 32nm Technology
RAM
4.00 GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 798MHz (11-11-11-28)
Motherboard
Hewlett-Packard 1841 (U3E1)
Graphics
Generic PnP Monitor (1280x768@60Hz)
Intel HD Graphics Family
Hard Drives
466GB Hitachi HTS547550A9E384 (SATA)
Optical Drives
hp DVD A DS8A8SH
Audio
IDT High Definition Audio CODEC
I'm not great with computers but I think they should be up to spec for the game

Giving the details of the error message, if any, would be a good idea as would digging into the error log and seeing what is written there.

Menelaun

hooradiation wrote: »

Giving the details of the error message, if any, would be a good idea as would digging into the error log and seeing what is written there.

I actually cant find anything there all it said from memory is fallout3.exe has stopped working
I couldnt start the game at all so I dont have any logs and its currently uninstalled
Sorry I dont really know how to help or is there something i'm missing?

hooradiation

Menelaun wrote: »

I actually cant find anything there all it said from memory is fallout3.exe has stopped working
I couldnt start the game at all so I dont have any logs and its currently uninstalled
Sorry I dont really know how to help or is there something i'm missing?

When the game is installed (so you'll have to reinstall it to debug this, unsurprisingly) the error log should have *something* in it that'll give hints as to why it's falling over and shitting itself

That said the D3D9 fix that MitchKoobski posted is probably a good first port of call.

Pixelbastardo

OP, if you didnt already, then try. Right click on game in steam list > Properties > Local files > and click "Verify integrity of game cache"

It might fix it, it might do sweat f all,... worth a try though.

Menelaun

Pixelbastardo wrote: »

OP, if you didnt already, then try. Right click on game in steam list > Properties > Local files > and click "Verify integrity of game cache"

It might fix it, it might do sweat f all,... worth a try though.

I did this before I uninstalled it but to no joy thanks for the suggestion all the same

I only glanced over the replies but didnt see it mentioned.

But Fallout 3 doesn't work with Windows 7, as stated on the game details page of Steam.

SB2013

gilberto_eire wrote: »

I only glanced over the replies but didnt see it mentioned.

But Fallout 3 doesn't work with Windows 7, as stated on the game details page of Steam.

Works on mine

Adyx

SB2013 wrote: »

Works on mine

Works on mine too, well Win8 but still. I think I did have to jump through a few hoops to get it to work though. Possibly Mitch's solution - that does sound familiar.

SB2013

Have you made sure all your drivers are up to date and tried running it with background programs, including antivirus, turned off.

EDIT: Wouldn't be a bad idea to clean up your hard drive and defragment it too. Just to be sure your laptop is running as well as it can.

degrassinoel

I had an issue with the goty edition on steam crashing everytime i tried to load a new game. I figured it just didnt like Liam Neeson, but apparently it was something else.. i found a .ini fix for it, it had something to do with dual and multi core processors not being supported by the games engine. Found the fix on the steam forums for fallout3.

here tis

Open up the fallout.ini file in: My Documents\My Games\Fallout3
Find the line:
bUseThreadedAI=0
change it to:
bUseThreadedAI=1
Add another line after it and insert:
iNumHWThreads=2
This will limit the game to 2 cores and prevent the engine bug from causing the game to freeze.

This worked for me, using a dual core processor, if it doesnt work try altering the line iNumHWThreads=2 by changinf the number 2 at the end to however many cores your machine has.

Menelaun

Would not registering it have an affect on the game I just coped that there now

degrassinoel

are you using a pirate copy or did ye pay for it?

Either way I've no idea about registering it as i never needed to on steam.

SeantheMan

Does anyone have a save file from the start of the game that they could give him to try ?

I don't have it installed , else I'd start a game for you and send you the file to try

Polar101

I had this issue too, I think the fix was to start the game .exe file from Windows, so it didn't go through the launcher. Can't test now as I'm not at the PC where I have it installed.

Menelaun

degrassinoel wrote: »

are you using a pirate copy or did ye pay for it?

Either way I've no idea about registering it as i never needed to on steam.

I got it as a gift on steam
I dont know if its a steam bought copy as I was only given the code for it not the digital copy so I'm not entirely certain if its even for steam themselves or another third party company like gamersgate or something

NotInventedHere

gilberto_eire wrote: »

I only glanced over the replies but didnt see it mentioned.

But Fallout 3 doesn't work with Windows 7, as stated on the game details page of Steam.

Works on mine too

Menelaun

Polar101 wrote: »

I had this issue too, I think the fix was to start the game .exe file from Windows, so it didn't go through the launcher. Can't test now as I'm not at the PC where I have it installed.

I'll give it a go

SeantheMan

You could also try finding the .exe , right clicking and setting the "compatibility mode" for a previous version of windows such as XP Pro SP3 , and run in Administrator mode also.

Dave_The_Sheep

You could try getting the Mod Manager for Fallout, FOSE (Fallout Script Extender) and launching it from that. I had the same problem you had before, but I also remember it working with the Manager and FOSE. I can't swear that is what fixed it, but it's worth a shot.

http://fallout3.nexusmods.com/mods/modmanager/

http://fose.silverlock.org/

Menelaun

SeantheMan wrote: »

You could also try finding the .exe , right clicking and setting the "compatibility mode" for a previous version of windows such as XP Pro SP3 , and run in Administrator mode also.

I attempted this earlier to but nothing happened cant find the compatibility tab anywhere and the option to run in previous windows versions isnt worth sh1te on my computer

Menelaun

Still no joy with any of the fixes. I would like to thank all of you who chipped in with ideas but it seems my laptop just doesn't like Liam Neeson or post apocalyptic america.
(It probably doesnt have the power to run it )