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43 ratings

How I Fixed my Fallout 3 : GOTY Crash (After Launcher)

By Tabrune

No other guides were working for me, so I decided to make this guide to document what my problem, and then the solution that I found.

This crash was/is occurring on Windows in June of 2022, after I purchased Fallout 3 GOTY from Steam and launched for the first time. I have never had a previous copy or save. I was completely unable to launch the game to the main menu, until I found this fix.

Problem : The game (fallout4.exe) just crashes to desktop (steam) after clicking play on the launcher!

Award

Created by

Tabrune
Online

Category: Achievements, Game Modes, Gameplay Basics, Modding or Configuration, Story or Lore, Walkthroughs

Languages: English

Posted

10 Oct, 2023 @ 9:48pm

3,799	Unique Visitors
64	Current Favorites

Guide Index

Overview

Solution

Comments

Solution

Solution Steps

1. Close the Fallout3 Launcher (If Open),

2 .Navigate to "C:\Users\YOURNAME\Documents\My Games\Fallout3" in your file browser.

3. Then, just delete Fallout.ini, FalloutPrefs.ini, RendererInfo.

4. Launch Fallout3 thru steam, (which will open the launcher)

5. It will detect graphics settings, and you can modify your graphics in the fallout3 launcher at this time.

6. After setting your preferred graphics settings, click play, and Voila, if you had the same problem as me, it should be fixed!

P.S. As I said, this fix may not work for everyone, however, where all the other fixes failed, this is the fix that actually let me play Fallout3 !

Tunnel Snakes Rule

22 Comments

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duke_nuke 16 Jan @ 8:21pm

This from Reddit worked for me.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fallout/comments/s9jy2z/solution_for_fallout_3_launcher_crash_on_windows/

Solution for Fallout 3 Launcher Crash on Windows 11 with Steam
The solution: https://gameplay.tips/guides/fallout-3-instant-crash-fix.html

The context: Always been a trial getting vanilla Fallout 3 to run, for me anyway. But I ran it on Windows 7 and 10 with some effort. When my system upgraded to Windows 11, none of the usual suspects worked.

The linked guide is a few months old, but it's the first I've seen for this particular solution, so thought I'd share it. It involves changing the Windows Display settings and making sure the Fallout3 and Fallout3SteamLancher executables are set to High Performance. Especially relevant if you have dedicated graphics.

clown guts 13 Jan @ 11:39pm

Ive tried every fix Ive found online, the mods, all the options in this guide and other guides even the comment suggestions and nothing works. It just crashes instantly every time on the loading screen. Oh well.

Osmosis 8 Jan @ 6:32pm

Set graphics to High Performance instead of Let Windows Decide. It should eliminate the need to use the Intel HD Graphics.

Right Click on Desktop. Click Display Settings. Select Graphics. Click Browse to add Fallout3 and Fallout 3 Launcher list. Mine are located in D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Fallout3 goty\FalloutLauncherSteam.exe; D\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Fallout3goty\Fallout3.exe.

Left click on Fallout3, select Options, select High Performance and save. Do the same for Fallout 3 Launcher.

Your graphics card will show up in the Fallout 3 startup options.

Codsworth 3 Jan @ 11:55pm

If your game crashes when you press 'New Game' in the main menu then you can try this fix. You can go to Nexus Mods and search and download the zip file 'Intel HD graphics Bypass package'. Extract the zip file and read the 'Readme.txt'. It will tell you to replace two files. If you do that, then it may solve your problem.

Tabrune [author] 3 Jan @ 12:03pm

Glad to hear everybody is finding this guide helpful! Thanks for the awards friends!

LordcumslutthyII 31 Dec, 2023 @ 11:58am

im soooo cute

Wandering Minstrel 30 Dec, 2023 @ 8:47am

Thanks mate! Finally get to take the time to explore the capital wasteland thanks to your help.
(I started late in fallout history, getting new vegas a few years before 4 came out and have stuck to pc so *Shrug*)

Swipe Media 29 Dec, 2023 @ 9:04pm

Thank you so much for this, fixed my issue!

MetreMaidPlayer 23 Dec, 2023 @ 12:52pm

This is the fix? I've been fighting this issue forever, and this was the fix? I'm ecstatic I can play the game again, but this simple fix is what allows me to play this game again? How is this issue still allowed to persist? Also, thank you thank you thank you thank you.

343 Guilty Spark 22 Dec, 2023 @ 11:19am

crashes after clicking new game

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