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Digital Gaming => Computer Gaming => Topic started by: airboy on August 13, 2018, 05:01:26 PM

Title: ?Fallout 3 - Actually Playable Again?
Post by: airboy on August 13, 2018, 05:01:26 PM
Fallout 3 has been unplayable without a huge headache for a while.  I have the boxed edition and some of the DLCs. 

GoG supposedly has the game of the year version for $20 that is playable again on the PC without the DRM crap.

You can see at:
https://www.gog.com/game/fallout_3_game_of_the_year_edition

Anyone here played this and can verify that it works again?
Title: Re: ?Fallout 3 - Actually Playable Again?
Post by: bbmike on August 13, 2018, 07:58:00 PM
What was wrong with it?
Title: Re: ?Fallout 3 - Actually Playable Again?
Post by: BanzaiCat on August 13, 2018, 09:02:01 PM
Mine worked fine on my old rig, but on this new one it would not play. A lot of sources said you had to connect it to Microsoft Play, but as I was stubborn I refused to mess with that. It worked before, so why not again, without having another damned download shell to run it through?

I had to go register a free account at nexusmods and downloaded a couple of items. Can't recall what they were exactly but I could go back and find out. Once installed the game ran with no problems.
Title: Re: ?Fallout 3 - Actually Playable Again?
Post by: airboy on August 13, 2018, 11:01:34 PM
Banzicat I had similar issues.  It once worked fine and on the new rig it was not functional.  This is the only game in the fallout series that will not work on my rig.  Others on gog had the same issue but say the gog version works fine.
Title: Re: ?Fallout 3 - Actually Playable Again?
Post by: BanzaiCat on August 14, 2018, 05:56:14 AM
If you have Intel graphics, this is the first mod you need - the Intel HD Graphics Bypass Package.

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout3/mods/17209

Apparently Fallout 3 has issues with Intel graphics, so this mod somehow spoofs Fallout 3 into thinking you're using nVidia. No idea how it works exactly, but as I said, Fallout 3 works fine on my rig now.

You'll also want the Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch:

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout3/mods/19122

For this one, you need to have all the DLC for Fallout 3 (Anchorage, Pitt, etc.). It fixes a lot of bugs and errors; a full list is at the link.


Title: Re: ?Fallout 3 - Actually Playable Again?
Post by: Gusington on August 14, 2018, 06:26:47 AM
I never bought any of the dlc for Fallout 3 - I really loved the base game. You guys recommend the dlc?
Title: Re: ?Fallout 3 - Actually Playable Again?
Post by: BanzaiCat on August 14, 2018, 06:35:50 AM
Quote from: Gusington on August 14, 2018, 06:26:47 AM
I never bought any of the dlc for Fallout 3 - I really loved the base game. You guys recommend the dlc?

Yes, wholeheartedly. But buy them when they're on sale - I wouldn't do it full price.

IMO, the DLC for Fallout 3 is much more enjoyable than Fallout: New Vegas. Some of the F:NV DLC is frustrating and annoying; Fallout 3's DLC are great for powering up your character quickly and are a lot of fun.
Title: Re: ?Fallout 3 - Actually Playable Again?
Post by: Gusington on August 14, 2018, 06:39:42 AM
Well how about that.
Title: Re: ?Fallout 3 - Actually Playable Again?
Post by: BanzaiCat on August 14, 2018, 06:50:12 AM
I just made my way through the Anchorage DLC, which is a sim you go through for the Brotherhood of Steel to open a weapons cache; you are put in as a Special Forces soldier helping retake Anchorage from the invading Chinese. Lots of combat and you come out of it with some very nice toys.

Mothership Zeta is probably my favorite - you get kidnapped by aliens (yes, really), but given this Fallout universe it's not really that implausible. You get a ton of awesome energy weapons in it, and the storyline is great too.

Broken Steel significantly changes the ending of Fallout 3.

Point Lookout is just frigging weird, but it's a different experience (you're fighting inbred hillbillies instead of Ghouls and Super-Mutants).

The Pitt is pretty good, too.

The DLC really aren't that expensive to begin with (I think they're $2.99 each right now, on sale from $4.99). You can get the full GOTY edition for $9.99. On Steam there's a warning that it's not optimized for Windows 7 or later, but the fixes above should make it run - if you have Intel graphics, of course. Not sure what the fix would be if you have nVidia already. Maybe the Unofficial Patch can help with that?
Title: Re: ?Fallout 3 - Actually Playable Again?
Post by: BanzaiCat on August 14, 2018, 06:51:55 AM
Quote from: airboy on August 13, 2018, 11:01:34 PM
Banzicat I had similar issues.  It once worked fine and on the new rig it was not functional.  This is the only game in the fallout series that will not work on my rig.  Others on gog had the same issue but say the gog version works fine.

I'd buy it on GOG, then, if they have newer systems and it's not giving them trouble. One thing I really like about GOG's efforts is in making these old games work fine on new systems. Granted, it's DosBox doing most of the heavy lifting, but still...
Title: Re: ?Fallout 3 - Actually Playable Again?
Post by: Gusington on August 14, 2018, 09:05:56 AM
Sounds like I should re-buy it on GOG. My copy is old - I reviewed the base game for WG years ago. I want to understand the issue though - isn't the graphics problem with Intel, not NVidia? And GOG has the GOTY edition that runs better on Windows 7 or later?
Title: Re: ?Fallout 3 - Actually Playable Again?
Post by: BanzaiCat on August 14, 2018, 09:13:55 AM
I dunno about the GOG version - mine's Steam, and I'm running Intel graphics, unfortunately. If you have nVidia and buy it on GOG, I imagine it would run fine on your PC.
Title: Re: ?Fallout 3 - Actually Playable Again?
Post by: Gusington on August 14, 2018, 09:16:12 AM
I love when old games that I had totally forgotten about come roaring back again!

Ok so in the mod package you posted above, are there any graphics updates?

I imagine that there have to be some graphics modernization packs floating around out there somewhere.
Title: Re: ?Fallout 3 - Actually Playable Again?
Post by: BanzaiCat on August 14, 2018, 09:27:31 AM
Yeah, the link above goes directly to the page and it lists all the changes it makes to the game. You might need an account to view that page, though. If you don't have one you do not need to pay, though it will ask you to get a paid account - just FYI.
Title: Re: ?Fallout 3 - Actually Playable Again?
Post by: Gusington on August 14, 2018, 02:11:22 PM
Cool thank you.
Title: Re: ?Fallout 3 - Actually Playable Again?
Post by: airboy on August 18, 2018, 10:29:37 AM
On sale this weekend at gog for $9.99.
Title: Re: ?Fallout 3 - Actually Playable Again?
Post by: Gusington on August 18, 2018, 02:38:46 PM
Downloading now :)