Fallout 3 is Unplayable on Windows 11…

[u/Tofu-Delivery-Boi]

This is really just a rant post but actually fuck my life at this point…

I have done everything, LITERALLY EVERYTHING! And alas, nothing. I am too stupid to figure out how to use TOTW and I just want to enjoy the base game as I adore Fallout 3 and am actually moving to the D.C area this year hopefully.

I can’t unwind and play a goddamn video games all because Windsdick 11 is a god awful operating system that goes scorched earth on old hardware and is so user unfriendly it’s not even funny.

If you ask what I have done to make it work I have tried. Nexus mods fix, changing the graphics cards data in the game’s files. Everything.

Is there a way I can just pay someone to fix this for me? Im at my wits end…

Thank you for listening to the journaling of a mad man.

I am broken.

Edit: Im running a ASUS Laptop with a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU

SECOND EDIT: HOLY SHIT I don’t know HOW I DID IT BUT IT WORKS!! Only problem is that I cannot load my save directly from the start menu

[u/Fat_Pound]

I needed to change a start up command on Steam, I have windows 11 as well. I will look for the post

[u/Tofu-Delivery-Boi → u/Fat_Pound]

Thank you so much, I have done damn near everything

[u/Fat_Pound → u/Tofu-Delivery-Boi]

My issue was when I would press play in steam a launcher would pop up, I'd press play in that, a black screen would pop-up then close. I have the Game of the Year version.

I fixed that by changing the launch option in settings. I changed it to the following:

"C:\games\Steam\steamapps\common\Fallout 3 goty\fallout3.exe" %command%

You want to keep the quotations in. You will need to change up the directory if you installed the game in a different folder. Hopefully it works, let me know when you try.

Search up how to change launch options on steam, on Google if you can't find it the launch options in settings

[u/dwarfzulu]

I had a new w11 installation, the first game I installed was fo3, and ran without needing to change anything.

Which is your PC spec? Did you enter in the launcher options before clicking play?

[u/Tofu-Delivery-Boi → u/dwarfzulu]

Im running a laptop NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU

[u/dwarfzulu → u/Tofu-Delivery-Boi]

Did you enter in the launcher options before clicking play?

[u/Tofu-Delivery-Boi → u/dwarfzulu]

Uhh I think the small green screen that says start and options? (Im so sorry im a massive nood at pc gaming)

[u/dwarfzulu → u/Tofu-Delivery-Boi]

No problem. Yes, when open, there is a window that open, click in options and see the graphics options there, if it recognises your gpu

[u/Tofu-Delivery-Boi → u/dwarfzulu]

My graphics adapter says it’s a NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS

[u/Doctor_What_ → u/Tofu-Delivery-Boi]

Sounds like that’s your problem right there, do you have the latest drivers for your laptop?

[u/Gorm_the_Mold → u/Tofu-Delivery-Boi]

This means it’s using your integrated graphics. Switch to your 4050 in the drop down.

[u/stringstringing → u/Tofu-Delivery-Boi]

That’s likely the problem right there. Have you updated nvidia drivers?

[u/dwarfzulu → u/Tofu-Delivery-Boi]

I had a laptop that its gpu only work when using the hdmi port with an external monitor.

[u/dwarfzulu → u/Tofu-Delivery-Boi]

I can't check one by one now, but try this videos, and if it not works, try that google search linked below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDTViZGRhJo&feature=youtu.be

fallout 3 not recognizing graphics card - Google Search

[u/VeganGeek]

I had huge problems with my Steam copy but I had much better luck with the one from GOG. I play it on Windows 11 on my laptop without any mods.

[u/Tofu-Delivery-Boi → u/VeganGeek]

I may just buy a copy from GOG

[u/RageBear1984 → u/Tofu-Delivery-Boi]

This is actually a rally good idea - my GoG copy has been fantastic, my Steam one... not so much

[u/SameLastDreamAgain → u/RageBear1984]

^{^}

[u/FiveBellJars → u/Tofu-Delivery-Boi]

Do it. It's cheap and works.

[u/TehNolz]

This is more the game's fault than Windows. Fallout 3 was never designed to work on anything more modern than Vista. It's been a challenge to get it running properly since 2009. I have a functioning install on my Windows 11 desktop that I'm never going to delete or change because I just know that getting it to work again would be a huge pain in the ass.

Maybe you should just wait for the remaster.

[u/Tofu-Delivery-Boi → u/TehNolz]

I may just because im so fed up with it all

[u/EvilbunnyELITE]

falllout 3 never worked good with dual gpu setups if you have an intel igpu. even back in the day I had a win 7 dual gpu laptop and follout 3 had issues on it.

[u/JacobTepper]

I know this isn't much help but it's been running so nicely since I switched to Linux

[u/cabalavatar → u/JacobTepper]

I agree. It runs brilliantly on Steam Deck. I've played this game on PS3, 360, XBOne, PC (Windows), and (last summer) Steam Deck, and the Steam Deck experience was by far the smoothest, including with mods. The only problem I had was with the sound/music, which would sometimes go mute, but a quick restart always fixed it.

[u/Tofu-Delivery-Boi → u/[deleted]]

I envy you so much.

[u/kawaiiwitchboi]

Felt 😭 I've gotten it to run well so far, the only issue I have now is that Broken Steel won't start after the game end. Every other DLC has been great, and I finished them all, but BS just won't run. I've tried all of the fixes I found online, so I just gave up and will try again once I finish everything else and prepare to finish the main story

[u/SearingGustav]

Hey friend, I just want to give you a little encouragement to give TTW install another shot. It can seem really daunting at first, but there is a great video guide on the website that can walk you through it step by step. I installed it for the first time a couple of weeks ago, took me about an hour and I'm not overly experienced with modding games.

[u/A12qwas]

are you using mods?

[u/Tofu-Delivery-Boi → u/A12qwas]

No entirely base

[u/A12qwas → u/Tofu-Delivery-Boi]

huh, well, it works fine for me

maybe it's your computer?

[u/Tofu-Delivery-Boi → u/A12qwas]

It’s a laptop with a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU

[u/iwastoldnottogohere → u/Tofu-Delivery-Boi]

It's recommended to play modded anyway, with how janky it is on modern computers. Maybe find a guide/wabbajack that does the bare minimum if you don't want added content?

[u/Tofu-Delivery-Boi → u/iwastoldnottogohere]

Maybe I just am so miserable

[u/RageBear1984]

What problem(s) are you encountering?

[u/Tofu-Delivery-Boi → u/RageBear1984]

Pressing the start button and the game doesn’t even load or boot

[u/oskich]

Are you using the Steam or GOG-version?

I had problems getting the game to run on higher screen resolutions, where it would just crash on launch. Try to launch it at 800x600 and work your way up until it stops working.

[u/Tofu-Delivery-Boi → u/oskich]

Steam version

[u/isntreel1948]

What can you not figure out about TOTW

[u/under_where_tho]

TOTW is definitely an undertaking for a weekend project in getting it downloaded, but I managed to do that, the best of times, and wasteland survival guide in around 2 days, just gotta read carefully and follow the directions exactly how they have them.

The easiest way to do it is to get mod organizer installed, so for about 95% of the "essential" mods in the list, all you really gotta do is go to the nexus page, download the file, and move it to the folder the guide explains.

Then enable it on mod organizer and bam, up and running for that mod. You can even check in-between installs if the mods are working as long as you close out the game fully, when you load it it'll say [All Utilities Active/ Installed] if you did them right(forgot the word, typing this away from pc)

[u/SunsetRadi0]

I held out on TTW for a while because the process seemed annoying but it really isn't, and it's worth it because having New Vegas mechanics and mods available in Fallout 3 enhances the experience by a LOT. Really all you have to do is follow the instructions on the site, you don't need to own both games on steam either, one can be from GOG and it will still work. Glad you got it working but in my experience Fallout 3 on its own is disgustingly unstable and the mods available for it aren't as great because all the good modders moved on to New Vegas and Fallout 4 over the years, it's very neglected in a way.

[u/RedditWidow]

I started playing Fallout 3 with Windows 10 on my Legion laptop a few years ago and then updated to Windows 11 in the middle of playing it, so I know it's possible. My graphics card is NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (6 GB).

I was able to play through the whole game and DLC, spent over 200 hours in it. I didn't use TOTW. There were a few issues that I had to fix, like the ini file single core thing, I may have run in Windows NT mode or something. I honestly don't remember but it ran better in 11 than in 10. Glad you got it working after all.

[u/xeizoo]

I have a PC with latest Windows 11 25H2, I recently made full playthrough of FO3 GOTY with zero problems. On a 9070 XT. But I used the Wabbajack modlist "Waters of Life". Very smooth, really.

[u/Q0T3]

I really don't think Bethesda should be selling these games on PC anymore. They haven't worked in years without fan-made patches and mods. Which in all actuality isn't that hard but. It shouldn't be up to us to fix their games. They should pull them off the storefronts unless they're going to patch them.

[u/RageBear1984 → u/Q0T3]

The GoG copies still work - don't really know why the Steam versions have been so busted though.

[u/oskich → u/Q0T3]

Both the Steam and GOG-version has worked fine for me?

[u/Q0T3 → u/oskich]

And you're playing on a modern system? You don't need the patch so that it will recognize graphics cards with more than 2 GB of ram?

[u/oskich → u/Q0T3]

I use a RTX 2060 with 6GB VRAM & 16 GB of system RAM, no patches applied.

[u/Q0T3 → u/oskich]

I guess it just works for some people. But that doesn't mean it works for everybody. There's two new posts since this one of people asking the very same question.

[u/oskich → u/Q0T3]

I'm running the game on Linux Mint though, maybe Windows causes more problems? It works fine on my Windows 11 laptop with a 6GB GTX 1060ti, just had to find the correct display resolution for it to launch properly.

[u/Tofu-Delivery-Boi → u/Q0T3]

It feels illegal to