Fallout 3 performance issues

[Hotcod]

Really wish i didn't have to make this thread as i'm sure it will only throw fuel on the fire... as ever... but at lest no one is going to cry about magic PCs heh

But anyway i felt like it would be useful to have a place to talk about issues and common fixes and the like.

This has been inspired by the fact as my game goes on my games performance seems to be dropping to the point that it's getting annoying. At first it was a few slow downs every now and then that left the game being very choppy for a bit (mainly in downtown DC) before clearing up and letting me get on with things but ever since i've gotten to Rivet City not only is that happening more often and needs a restarting of the game to sort out but i'm getting much lower frame rates in areas that i was handling just fine. Seems like some of the old issues with the oblivion engine have come back to haunt the game which is sad.

I've lowered my settings a bit but it's still left me with some slow down in places that i was fine with higher settings... much higher in fact beacuse i've had to turn AA off due to other issues... from the forums and such it seems like it a common issue, i've forced vsysnc off as i've been told that helps on nvida cards but i'm still having problems.

Talking of nvida cards there seems to be a problem with the AA for a lot of people using them. I was having stupid slow down when in vats and when i looked it off i was told turning off AA has worked for a lot of people with nvida cards who where having the same kind of problems. It dose work if it's only a work around rather than a fix as i hate jaggies and could (at lest when starting the game) have it on 4 easily.

It's just kind of annoying that i could run the game very well (better looking than the xbox play i've seen) but i'm being forced to cut down on it beacuse of some stupid buggy issues with nvida hardware and what feels like really rather bad memory leaks.

ho hum... i'd like to know if i'm the only one having the degrading performance issues and if any one has found fixes... i mean i would try updating my drivers but as i'm on a mobile card and nvida still can't seem to take a little extra time to suppourt them it means a lot of messing around with community drivers... bah

[Rogue_hunter]

My system chugs, and will "freeze" for 10 seconds. It's never on a regular basis though. Sometimes it will be within the same room, but other times I can cross the countryside just fine.

Though I have a feeling I know what causes it. I've been using JACT/Eammon to earn points to get free stuff. The program is in beta, and it does a constant update for credits. I think it hitches the game whenever I earn a credit. I'll be testing it soon though by not running Eammon next time I play.

Also, my system is on the extreme low end, the processor barely meets the minimum reqs, and my GFX card isn't even a top end card. That may or may not have something to do with it...though I should be getting a full upgrade soonish.

[iHap]

Would help if you list your pc specs.

[Hotcod]

Woops i forgot to do that

vista 32
intel core2 duo 2.4ghz
3gd of ram
Geforce 8600M GT

not the best of gaming rigs as it wasn't brought to be a gaming machine it was just a nice out come... the card is a bit sucky but still.

I'm now running the game at
1600x1000
4 sample AF
AA off
Vsync off (forced off in nvida control panel)
HDR

with all the other settings based on 'high' but with shadows and a few other things pulled down a bit... i'm getting slow down almost everywhere in DC and rivet city was almost always at a low frame rate... the wastes are much better but there is often slow down when more detail turns up. What is annoying is that early on i was only getting the odd stuttering in DC and i was running on higher settings... AF8 AA4 higher rez shadows up (other than with the vats AA issues the game was running fine)... restarting the computer helps a little (i do have an issue where if a game crashes or some times bugs out the game will stutter on me until i restart the laptop) but at this rate i'm going to have to keep pulling my setting down to keep my frame rate up... which dose imply a memory leek of some kind along the lines of the ones in oblivion... which means unless it's patched there's not much i can do

[jeffbax]

Geforce 8600M isn't going to handle the settings you are trying to play at, its that simple. Lower them and get your framerate up. This isn't really rocket science, you're seriously overestimating the abilities of a 8600M to run at those specs.

[biosc1]

8600GT is a good card.

8600MGT...is a good mobile card. Take off the AF...

Also, what are your other settings at? Have you looked around to see if there are any "tweaking" guides out yet?

[Hotcod]

Geforce 8600M isn't going to handle the settings you are trying to play at, its that simple. Lower them and get your framerate up. This isn't really rocket science, you're seriously overestimating the abilities of a 8600M to run at those specs.

like i said i was running fine at these setting (i was happy with the hits i was taking) with the tweeks i'd made until now... in fact i turned down the games recommended settings beacuse i know the cards really not up to much. The point is it doesn't matter if the settings are to high i'm still getting more stuttering and more slow down the longer i play... Like i said since getting to rivet city i'm getting a hell of a lot more slow down in areas that where playing fine (like megaton) when i started to play the game at these same settings... the settings haven't changed so why should i be getter more slow down as the game goes on? the only reasons there have little to do with my card

[Hotcod]

8600MGT...is a good mobile card. Take off the AF...

not really it's a dx10 card that is no good for dx10 stuff... it's out preformed hugely by equivalent dx9 cards buuut it was the only card the laptop i wanted for my graphics work came with... i play with settings a lot when starting new games to squeeze the best out of it and other than the nvida AA problems i had the game running fine and being more than playable... which is now not being on lower settings

[harle]

I am trying to decide whether to get this for the PC or Xbox360. Overall, I think it will run better on the 360. It will run fine on medium setting for the PC, but who wants that. :rolleyes:

Here are my PC specs:
AMD Operton 180 (Dual core 2.4 Ghz)
eVGA 7800GT
2GB ram
XP Professional 32-bit

[Ten19]

Using a 8800GT on XP w/4GB of RAM and it runs pretty slick on High settings. However, sometimes when I zoom into V.A.T.S. it gets a bit choppy for some reason. Also, I've found a few isolated areas that when I look in that direction, my FPS drops significantly. And there's nothing at all that it's trying to render, it almost seems like there's hidden geometry it's trying to display.

Aside from those nagging bits, performance has been great.

[Libuke]

My problem with fallout three is I have not seen a way to remap keys. To be truthful I've only played my brothers copy for about an hour or two but he hasn't seen the option either. What kind of shit is that? Same for you Far Cry 2!

Sure I might be able to remap in the int file, I haven't looked to see if you can but why can't I normally? I know they were made with the console in mind but that doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to remap my buttons!

Well I am complaining, STALKER give me a prone button dammit! The NPCs are going prone.

[Rogue_hunter]

My problem with fallout three is I have not seen a way to remap keys. To be truthful I've only played my brothers copy for about an hour or two but he hasn't seen the option either. What kind of shit is that? Same for you Far Cry 2!

There is a whole Keyboard options menu, though I haven't really seen the need to remap, as it's all laid out pretty well.



As for my issue, it wasn't Eamonn. I think I figured it out though. It's loading the level geometry and textures on a streaming basis. Because my system is extreme low end for this game, it hitches for 10 seconds while it's loading stuff. I guess I'm just gonna have to wait until I get my system with a high end GFX card and much better processor to be able to play more. :(

[H.Bogard]

Woops i forgot to do that

vista 32
intel core2 duo 2.4ghz
3gd of ram
Geforce 8600M GT

not the best of gaming rigs as it wasn't brought to be a gaming machine it was just a nice out come... the card is a bit sucky but still.

I'm now running the game at
1600x1000
4 sample AF
AA off
Vsync off (forced off in nvida control panel)
HDR

with all the other settings based on 'high' but with shadows and a few other things pulled down a bit... i'm getting slow down almost everywhere in DC and rivet city was almost always at a low frame rate... the wastes are much better but there is often slow down when more detail turns up. What is annoying is that early on i was only getting the odd stuttering in DC and i was running on higher settings... AF8 AA4 higher rez shadows up (other than with the vats AA issues the game was running fine)... restarting the computer helps a little (i do have an issue where if a game crashes or some times bugs out the game will stutter on me until i restart the laptop) but at this rate i'm going to have to keep pulling my setting down to keep my frame rate up... which dose imply a memory leek of some kind along the lines of the ones in oblivion... which means unless it's patched there's not much i can do

And I was thinking that it might've been the game's fault. :rolleyes:

Tone down that resolution to 1280x720 and get rid of the AF. You can't afford that luxury on an 8600M, sorry to break it.

I am trying to decide whether to get this for the PC or Xbox360. Overall, I think it will run better on the 360. It will run fine on medium setting for the PC, but who wants that. :rolleyes:

Here are my PC specs:
AMD Operton 180 (Dual core 2.4 Ghz)
eVGA 7800GT
2GB ram
XP Professional 32-bit

Heh, the texture quality is set to medium on the 360 version. :)
I think a 7800GT can compare to X360-like resolution and quality.

[Wackman3000]

I've had constant crashes since leaving the vault.

After scouring the intranets for a solution, running the game in windowed mode stopped all crashes.

[axion]

Vista 32
8800GT
C2D E8400
4 GB RAM
Not a single crash, running 1680x1050, high settings. Almost always getting 60 (I think it's capped) with the occasional drop into the 45 range, with no apparent reason... I have't tried Ultra settings yet but I might to see how it affects performance.

[KingGorilla]

Mine crashed last night, I was running too much in the background-loading a podcast with FireFTP, Compressing with Audacity, downloading a video podcast, had a dozen windows open. My fault.

But on the subject of AF, I have never either in motion or in stills seen what effect it has on the visual quality of the game. I can notice AA in stills but not motion, at least. The same for Vsync, never saw it do anything but crush my FraPS. I think I have figured out why Fallout starts to chug a bit, corpses stick around, and these train tunnels or buildings tend to have dozens of NPCs to handle.
My 1900 XT, 2.2 Ghz Athlon X2, handles most things on high, limit the shadows and reflections.

Just as an experiment, I went all medium, rather than high. This scales much better than Oblivion, I did not notice much of a difference, some textures got flatter.

[SilentScreams]

I'm running everything maxed out at 1920x1200 resolution.
The only slowdown I'm noticing at the moment is a slight delay after I go into VATS. It takes a second or so for the percentages to come up.
I think that's because I've had to revert back to an old motherboard temporarily though, and my graphics card only works in the 4x PCI-E slot on this board, not the 16x one.

[Mot Wakorb]

I'm running the following:

Windows XP MCE SP3
2.4GHz Core2Duo E6600
3GB RAM
VisionTek ATI Radeon HD4870 1GB

Running it at "Ultra High" settings, 1680x1050.

Most of the time, it's really fast and works great... then all of the sudden, it'll get choppy and start to slow down, and is still playable, but it's like the game is telling me "SAVE NOW!" because within a good 15 minutes of that time, I'm guaranteed to crash. I've gotten saving down to an art due to that issue, but hell, if only it'd go w/o crashing.

[biosc1]

But on the subject of AF, I have never either in motion or in stills seen what effect it has on the visual quality of the game. I can notice AA in stills but not motion, at least.

Only games I have ever really noticed AF on are games with chain-linked fences (like HL2)...otherwise, I think I may just be used to the effect that this is supposed to resolve.


Just as an experiment, I went all medium, rather than high. This scales much better than Oblivion, I did not notice much of a difference, some textures got flatter.

I'm just waiting for the inevitable tweak guide/video card performance guide for the screenshots.

[hunterx280]

I've got the following system:

Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16Ghz
4GB DDR2 RAM
ATI Radeon 4870 512MB

I have run the game at max settings at 1600x1200 with a decent 30-60 FPS. The only time I notice hitches is when the Level of Detail (LoD) doesn't load fast enough. I think this is more the game than anything else because it happens on 1280x1024 as well. I've had a few random crashes and slow downs on loading but that's about it. Once I reload it works just fine.

[Harv]

Using a 8800GT on XP w/4GB of RAM and it runs pretty slick on High settings. However, sometimes when I zoom into V.A.T.S. it gets a bit choppy for some reason. Also, I've found a few isolated areas that when I look in that direction, my FPS drops significantly. And there's nothing at all that it's trying to render, it almost seems like there's hidden geometry it's trying to display.

Aside from those nagging bits, performance has been great.

This is pretty much my experience and my setup though I'm running Vista 64.

Overall performance is very good and sometimes in VATS it slows down right when you zoom in on the guy. It takes a little time to load the targets in there for some reason.

I never have to restart, but sometimes the game will crash when I exit to windows.

I'm running at 1680x1050 with high settings and AA 4 and Anisotropic Filtering 8.

[Hotcod]

And I was thinking that it might've been the game's fault. :rolleyes:

Tone down that resolution to 1280x720 and get rid of the AF. You can't afford that luxury on an 8600M, sorry to break it.


so my little brother playing a new game and getting perfectly good frame rates and only a bit of slow down during fights out side is all in my head?

I know my system and i know the trade off i make, my brother is getting between 20-30 fps while i'm getting 10-20... given that it's below 20 that i find it noticeable this is annoying...

so can you explain to me how with my settings the game runs perfectly fine for my brother and not for me? oh wait, it must be my graphics card getting upset that i've had it on too high settings for too long. :rolleyes:

I will drop off the AF as it's not something i care about that often and i will bring down my rez and a few other things to up the frame rate of my game but this still dose not change the fact that the longer i play the game the worse my performance is getting... i'd rather not have to be playing a 800x600 on low textures by the end

I also may start getting my hands dirty with ini tweeks and see if there's anything from tweaking oblivion that will work

[Hotcod]

well this is odd.... i went back to check the frame rates and i'm now getting the same as my brother was just getting... the only thing that has changed is the laptop was shut off over night... maybe my card really was just mad at me for pushing it hard for to long... i've dropped some settings anyway and i seem to be getting a steady 25-35 fps, will have to check DC and some action but the game seems to running a lot better. I hate magic pcs sometimes ha

[IIntrude]

Mine has ran like a champ since day 1. 0 crashes. 50-90fps max settings
3.4Ghz Intel DC
4GB RAM
Raideon 4870 512MB

[H.Bogard]

so my little brother playing a new game and getting perfectly good frame rates and only a bit of slow down during fights out side is all in my head?

I know my system and i know the trade off i make, my brother is getting between 20-30 fps while i'm getting 10-20... given that it's below 20 that i find it noticeable this is annoying...

so can you explain to me how with my settings the game runs perfectly fine for my brother and not for me? oh wait, it must be my graphics card getting upset that i've had it on too high settings for too long. :rolleyes:

I will drop off the AF as it's not something i care about that often and i will bring down my rez and a few other things to up the frame rate of my game but this still dose not change the fact that the longer i play the game the worse my performance is getting... i'd rather not have to be playing a 800x600 on low textures by the end

I also may start getting my hands dirty with ini tweeks and see if there's anything from tweaking oblivion that will work

Its an open ended game, people have different experiences in each play. It could be that your save file has a lot to load up on your RAM or CPU.

[Hotcod]

There where issues with memory leeks with that stuff in oblivion in fact the expiation had a killer memory leek bug and there seems to be something along the lines of that going on here for me... part of the reason i started the thread was to see if any one here was have that same kind of issue as the tech forums are a bit of a mess at the moment. If other people are having the same problems then it's likely that there's a problem with the game rather than with what i'm doing or my set up.

[SilentScreams]

Well I'm running an Intel Quad Q9550 2.83ghz, 2gb Corsair DDR3 1333 and a Radeon HD 4870 X2 and my frame rate has just taken a nosedive.
At soon as I discovered Rivet City or whatever it's called, my frame rate in all outdoor areas is shockingly low. I don't know the exact number, but it's more than noticeable. I'd guess about 15-20.
Admittedly as I said earlier the graphics card is temporarily running in a 4x PCI-E slot at the moment, but it shouldn't make such a massive difference, especially since it was running perfectly fine before I discovered the city.

[Disgustipated]

Only games I have ever really noticed AF on are games with chain-linked fences (like HL2)...otherwise, I think I may just be used to the effect that this is supposed to resolve.



I'm just waiting for the inevitable tweak guide/video card performance guide for the screenshots.

Well, then you haven't seen it. AF has nothing to do with chain-link fences. That would be Transparency Anti-aliasing.

For those of you with no clue as to what AF does, here's a pic and a guide:

http://images.tweaktown.com/imagebank/AAAF4.jpg

http://www.tweaktown.com/guides/601/2/the_simple_antialiasing_and_anisotropic_guide/

On Fallout 3, most people can comfortably run 8-16x AF with little to no performance hit.

[SilentScreams]

Well, then you haven't seen it. AF has nothing to do with chain-link fences. That would be Transparency Anti-aliasing.

For those of you with no clue as to what AF does, here's a pic and a guide:

http://images.tweaktown.com/imagebank/AAAF4.jpg

http://www.tweaktown.com/guides/601/2/the_simple_antialiasing_and_anisotropic_guide/

On Fallout 3, most people can comfortably run 8-16x AF with little to no performance hit.

Heh, thanks. I always wondered what the hell AF actually did. I knew AA though.
Now I just need to look up Bilinear and Trilinear filtering.

[Disgustipated]

Heh, thanks. I always wondered what the hell AF actually did. I knew AA though.
Now I just need to look up Bilinear and Trilinear filtering.

Goes like this: Bilinear < Trilinear < Anisotropic. Anisotropic is a better form of filtering than either of those two.

[UWCrash]

Some of the people in IRC know this, but I couldn't even get the game to run for the first day. It would consistently crash after attempting to start a new game (basically due to the opening cinematic). The only way I could resolve this was by disabling my audio card (Xonar DX) in the Device Manager and using my USB headset adapter. I'm positive that others here are running the game fine with that exact card, but considering how deeply this game sunk its claws into me once I did get it running, I'm not about to look into it further for awhile.

My other specs:
Core 2 Duo E6600
2GB RAM
XP MCE
Radeon HD4850 512MB

As far as performance, I'm seeing the same behavior as Ten19. Most of the time it runs just fine, then I'll run into random pockets outdoors where the framerate suddenly tanks. I had it get to the point of unplayability (I knew I was moving but my view was no longer changing) which required a full reboot, but I believe something had become corrupt. When I got back into the game loading my quicksave put me outside of Vault 101 at level 1. Fortunately my last autosave wasn't far behind and was just fine.

[biosc1]

Well, then you haven't seen it. AF has nothing to do with chain-link fences. That would be Transparency Anti-aliasing.

For those of you with no clue as to what AF does, here's a pic and a guide:

http://images.tweaktown.com/imagebank/AAAF4.jpg

http://www.tweaktown.com/guides/601/2/the_simple_antialiasing_and_anisotropic_guide/

On Fallout 3, most people can comfortably run 8-16x AF with little to no performance hit.

Hehe.... :o

You are correct...I was getting confused for some reason...I now recall all the screen shots with the brick paved paths...

exture filtering determines how clear textures remain as they fade into the distance - the higher the texture filtering mode used, the clearer distant textures will appear, especially when viewed at sharp angles.

I must have just taken my daily dose of crack...It must have been an AA article I was reading many years ago :(

[Vyzov]

I've had constant crashes since leaving the vault.

After scouring the intranets for a solution, running the game in windowed mode stopped all crashes.

I've had a similar issue. Unfortunately, when I have it in windowed mode, my FPS drops to a point where it's unplayable. :(

[Cit Phil Cit]

I am trying to politely not swear or be rude at total and absolute cocksuckery that is FO3 freezing my system randomly every 2 minutes.

Athlon 64x2 4400
3.184 GB Ram
x1900
SB X-fi

New drivers, clean boot, etc.

Cocksuckery. In every possible descriptive use. I've shut-off the HDR, windows mode, resolutions, AA, all filtering, etc.

[biosc1]

Vista? SB driver issue?

[Cit Phil Cit]

Vista? SB driver issue?

XPsp2. Dropping the hardware acceleration on the sound card allowed it to run stable for almost 10 whole minutes. Not too surprising, never buying a sound card again - until it's worth it.

I'm too old for this shit. I'm going to play Mass Effects until BethSoft can get their head out of their sunshine ass. Mass Effects a game that in +20 hours never once instilled the anti-fun feeling that is not being able to enjoy a game for fear of a lock up. Sure it crashed a couple of times, but I wasn't afraid of it.

[J Arcane]

Runs better than I expected, namely, it runs at all. I was rather skeptical as the first sysreqs I'd seen reported were insanely high. Turned out they'd been misreported, so when SRL said I was roughly in the clear I figured it was worth a shot.

It's definitely clunky on my rig, but that's mainly because of the vidcard. All my other specs are within recommended, but my vidcard is a pokey old 7300LE that's on it's last legs. I'd swap it for the 6600 in my Mac but it's AGP.

I miss my roommate, or rather, the hot shit gaming rig I built for him.

[biosc1]

XPsp2.

I read in another thread on another site that upgrading to XP SP3 helped the issue...but it was mainly a hardware soundcard issue.

[H.Bogard]

Running the game at 1280x1024, 8X Anisotropic filtering, 2X anti-aliasing, transparency anti-aliasing enabled and details set to ultra. The game runs smooth as butter.

I've had only one crash so far, but I'm pretty sure that it was because of my add-on heavy Firefox running in the background (Eats hundreds of megs of RAM). Game never crashed windowed, but my refresh rate in that mode is not as good, so full screen FTW.

[muddi900]

Running the game at 1280x1024, 8X Anisotropic filtering, 2X anti-aliasing, transparency anti-aliasing enabled and details set to ultra. The game runs smooth as butter.

I've had only one crash so far, but I'm pretty sure that it was because of my add-on heavy Firefox running in the background (Eats hundreds of megs of RAM). Game never crashed windowed, but my refresh rate in that mode is not as good, so full screen FTW.

Non-native res on LCD FTL! The last time I tried to play a non-native game on my LCD, it felt like someone puked all over the screen.

[H.Bogard]

Non-native res on LCD FTL! The last time I tried to play a non-native game on my LCD, it felt like someone puked all over the screen.


HAD I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;

Ghareeb admi. No LCD for me. :'(

[muddi900]

Actually as a gamer, you have an advantage.

Of course, paisa ho tau koi gam nahi.:D

[Cit Phil Cit]

I read in another thread on another site that upgrading to XP SP3 helped the issue...but it was mainly a hardware soundcard issue.

Inconclusive. I checked all the official documentation and it doesn't specify a need to go to sp3. I'm not going to break my older titles for one newer one. I'll wait for a patch.

[biosc1]

Inconclusive. I checked all the official documentation and it doesn't specify a need to go to sp3. I'm not going to break my older titles for one newer one. I'll wait for a patch.

Yah, it was just a shot in the dark.

Edit...I guess I'll put this here.

In Vista, if you have the Windows Sidebar on, you will find that you will encounter random flickering along the side of the screen where the sidebar (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=1632&page=3)(first picture) is...so, yah, turn it off before playing if you run into this issue.

[J Arcane]

Inconclusive. I checked all the official documentation and it doesn't specify a need to go to sp3. I'm not going to break my older titles for one newer one. I'll wait for a patch.
Sp3 isn't going to break anything. Mainly because SP3 is mostly a collection of existing updates, but in general, it's harmless.

Try it. It won't hurt anything, and if your lucky, it might actually help.

[Telefrog]

In Vista, if you have the Windows Sidebar on, you will find that you will encounter random flickering along the side of the screen where the sidebar (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=1632&page=3)(first picture) is...so, yah, turn it off before playing if you run into this issue.

I turned the sidebar off a long time ago. I've found two other games that the sidebar screws with. It wasn't like there was anything useful on it anyway.

[Harv]

I turned the sidebar off a long time ago. I've found two other games that the sidebar screws with. It wasn't like there was anything useful on it anyway.

Yeah, that thing got dumped pretty quickly along with all the annoying confirmation warnings everytime I ran something.

[cassiusregicide]

I am trying to politely not swear or be rude at total and absolute cocksuckery that is FO3 freezing my system randomly every 2 minutes.


I've been having the same issues. No frame rate slow down, just crashing every ten minutes or so. Hopefully the patch will make the game playable on my system.

[Wackman3000]

Couple things to those who get random crashes.

If you have an Xfi sound card disable the task called CTHLP or something like that. I've read through forums saying that was a savior for people.

If not, Windowed mode worked for me. However, after bumping my system back to 2GB of ram I haven't had a single issue and I can run the game on ultra settings with full AA and AF and the game wont dip below 40FPS. :)

[Cit Phil Cit]

Couple things to those who get random crashes.

If you have an Xfi sound card disable the task called CTHLP or something like that. I've read through forums saying that was a savior for people.

If not, Windowed mode worked for me. However, after bumping my system back to 2GB of ram I haven't had a single issue and I can run the game on ultra settings with full AA and AF and the game wont dip below 40FPS. :)

The most stable configuration I have found (and I haven't even loaded the game since Tuesday) is reducing the hardware acceleration on my x-fi. I wouldn't be shocked if Creative is the root cause.

Maybe I will have some time tonight... no wait. I don't have any free time until.. next week, maybe? :p

[cassiusregicide]

Couple things to those who get random crashes.

If you have an Xfi sound card disable the task called CTHLP or something like that. I've read through forums saying that was a savior for people.

If not, Windowed mode worked for me. However, after bumping my system back to 2GB of ram I haven't had a single issue and I can run the game on ultra settings with full AA and AF and the game wont dip below 40FPS. :)

How do you bump your RAM down to 2GB?

[biosc1]

How do you bump your RAM down to 2GB?

Manually ;)

[cassiusregicide]

Manually ;)

Of course, why didn't I think of that;)

[Cit Phil Cit]

patch release

http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=904096

Looks remarkably unhelpful.

[Disgustipated]

Inconclusive. I checked all the official documentation and it doesn't specify a need to go to sp3. I'm not going to break my older titles for one newer one. I'll wait for a patch.

SP3 doesn't break anything.

[CptTripps]

E6400
8800GT OC'd
3GB DDR2@533
Gateway running Vista 32
No crashes or bugs yet

Since my monitor is native at 1920x1200 that's what I'm running. I cranked it to ultra and turned on AAx2 and AFx16 (Nvidia control panel), I was suprised at how well it ran. A couple instances did slow it down a bit so I turned it back to high yet raised all the distance sliders, kept AAx2 and switched to AFx8. Last but not least, turned off the transparency AA. Suprisingly this runs very well for me and I don't feel bogged down even when taking aim during larger firefights.

Now... I hate to say this, but I rented the game first to see if I would really enjoy it and have since purchased it on steam. While playing on KB/M it felt really odd after playing on 360 for 5 days. My hands felt confused jumping around the KB and I am now using the 360 controller. This is the first time in my history to prefer a controller over the KB/M. Maybe these last couple years of console gaming have changed me, or maybe Fallout3 just has a great control scheme, but I think I may have been converted.

[SilentScreams]

Consoles lead to the dark side.
Just sayin'.

But I do love my 360

[H.Bogard]

E6400
8800GT OC'd
3GB DDR2@533
Gateway running Vista 32
No crashes or bugs yet

Since my monitor is native at 1920x1200 that's what I'm running. I cranked it to ultra and turned on AAx2 and AFx16 (Nvidia control panel), I was suprised at how well it ran. A couple instances did slow it down a bit so I turned it back to high yet raised all the distance sliders, kept AAx2 and switched to AFx8. Last but not least, turned off the transparency AA. Suprisingly this runs very well for me and I don't feel bogged down even when taking aim during larger firefights.

Now... I hate to say this, but I rented the game first to see if I would really enjoy it and have since purchased it on steam. While playing on KB/M it felt really odd after playing on 360 for 5 days. My hands felt confused jumping around the KB and I am now using the 360 controller. This is the first time in my history to prefer a controller over the KB/M. Maybe these last couple years of console gaming have changed me, or maybe Fallout3 just has a great control scheme, but I think I may have been converted.

I play with the gamepad when I'm exploring the big areas but switch to mouse/KB whenever I enter combat.
Both are competent options but the mouse is definitely helpful when it comes to aiming for headshots.

Oh and, thanks Bethesda once again for not making the UI unoptimized for mouse/Keyboard.

[Scaryfaced]

Has anyone else been experiencing new crashes since the patch?

I bought the game on Steam and I'm beginning to regret my decision. I'd had a few issues when opening the game, but learned to work around them and enjoy my experience. For some reason, since the new patch, everything's gone to shit. All of sudden the game likes to freeze while opening my Pipboy. I've noticed it only happens when loading my original character and I hate the idea that starting a new one has cost me a good 30 hours of play. I'd experienced a rare crash when zoning previously, but this new one is killing the game for me.
________
Ferrari 637 Specifications (http://www.ferrari-wiki.com/wiki/Ferrari_637)

[tacitus]

Has anyone else been experiencing new crashes since the patch?

I bought the game on Steam and I'm beginning to regret my decision. I'd had a few issues when opening the game, but learned to work around them and enjoy my experience. For some reason, since the new patch, everything's gone to shit. All of sudden the game likes to freeze while opening my Pipboy. I've noticed it only happens when loading my original character and I hate the idea that starting a new one has cost me a good 30 hours of play. I'd experienced a rare crash when zoning previously, but this new one is killing the game for me.
Is the patch on steam yet? Often it takes a couple of days or so to be on steam. If you are using the patch (from Bethesda) on your steam game that will probably cause problems. If not nevermind...

[Rogue_hunter]

Is the patch on steam yet? Often it takes a couple of days or so to be on steam. If you are using the patch (from Bethesda) on your steam game that will probably cause problems. If not nevermind...

Since the game is part of Games for Windows Live, the update is downloaded automatically through Live. Steam really has nothing to do with it in this case.

[Scaryfaced]

Since the game is part of Games for Windows Live, the update is downloaded automatically through Live. Steam really has nothing to do with it in this case.

Actually, while loading the game late last night, Steam applied the update automatically. I can't actually tell if the game has a problem with new characters corrupting the save files of old ones or if it's a problem directly related to patching. All I know is that when i play my new game, the Pipboy works fine. When I load my old game, bringing up the Pipboy blacks out the screen and freezes my computer.
________
Coach handbags (http://icoachhandbags.com/)

[tacitus]

Actually, while loading the game late last night, Steam applied the update automatically. I can't actually tell if the game has a problem with new characters corrupting the save files of old ones or if it's a problem directly related to patching. All I know is that when i play my new game, the Pipboy works fine. When I load my old game, bringing up the Pipboy blacks out the screen and freezes my computer.
Also you can download the patch for bethsoft if you don't care to do the windows live thing or steam thing. The reason I mentioned this - it that in the past poeple have appplied the "normal" patch to steam version and bad things happened.

Crap - I hope its not save game corruption. I have not applied the patch yet myself.

[Cit Phil Cit]

I've uninstalled the game, I'll play it when they make a patch that fixes something. My fallout 3 experience is much like my original fallout 2 experience: plagued with problems.

[cassiusregicide]

Is there any word about an actual gameplay patch soon? I've had to side line Fallout which is just painful.

[biosc1]

I've been having the same issues. No frame rate slow down, just crashing every ten minutes or so. Hopefully the patch will make the game playable on my system.

Is your computer going to sleep/hibernate or some sort of power saving after 10 minutes? Any tasks scheduled to start after 10 minutes of inactivity?

[cassiusregicide]

Is your computer going to sleep/hibernate or some sort of power saving after 10 minutes? Any tasks scheduled to start after 10 minutes of inactivity?

No, and it's kind of a moot point since the ctd's don't always take a full 10 min.

[tacitus]

Is your computer going to sleep/hibernate or some sort of power saving after 10 minutes? Any tasks scheduled to start after 10 minutes of inactivity?
I lot of people on the official forums are having the same crashes; myself I have been having hanging in small rooms problems (about every 30 minutes) and the music on the radio sounds like crap. I tried using creative alchemy - music now sound great for all of 30 seconds and then it hangs as well. Interestingly enough my small-room freezes startted happening after I applied the new patch.

[Khrymsyn]

Am I the only one that's had no problems?


E6420 (OC'ed to 3.2Ghz)
4G Ram (DDR3200)
8800GTS 320
Razer Barracuda AC-1
Vista x64
Steam version.

Running 1920x1080, on High detail with a few tweaks (such as increasing Object LOD), no AA and 8x AF.

[biosc1]

Am I the only one that's had no problems?


No...I technically have no problems either, just a crash when I return to desktop...but that may be because I'm executing from Steam (DVD version) and all my Steam games crash on return to the desktop.

Otherwise, it plays beautifully in 1920*1200 glory. It's just the nature of pc games. I think we could all list our parts and not one of us would have the same system.

[Khrymsyn]

No...I technically have no problems either, just a crash when I return to desktop...but that may be because I'm executing from Steam (DVD version) and all my Steam games crash on return to the desktop..

Hahah, you know what? Now that you mention it. I've got the exact same problem. I get an error on exiting steam. ALL my steam games give me an error on exiting the game. Same as you, so I guess I'm so used to it (and since it doesn't affect gameplay any) I just kind of never thought about it.

[biosc1]

I'm thinking it's a Vista permission thing...haven't bothered investigating it because it doesn't affect me, just an extra box to click when I'm done.

[tacitus]

If you are having weird problems and running a multi-core try this (I have a quad core and I have tried both "iNumHWThreads=2" and "iNumHWThreads=4" successfully)

UseThreadedAI=1
iNumHWThreads=2 *set to 2 for Dual-Core, 4 for Quad-Core. This setting doesn't normally exist and must be added to the ini. Using a setting higher than the actual number of cores will cause crashes (or setting it at 0 lol).

in FALLOUT.INI in the [General] Section

from:
http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=904778&st=0&p=13166637&#entry13166637

It seemed to solve my random freezing/hanging inside buildings. I am using Q6700 with Vista-64

[Cit Phil Cit]

i have reinstalled, it still crashes. However, I've had long running periods of stability and I can say that it is a great game in the spirit of Fallout and is not like Oblivion with Guns as I feared it would be.

I am very happy - I would have enjoyed more of the peculiar Fallout architecture, but a minor quip at best.

[KingGorilla]

Am I the only one that's had no problems?
E6420 (OC'ed to 3.2Ghz)
4G Ram (DDR3200)
8800GTS 320
Razer Barracuda AC-1
Vista x64
Steam version.


On V64 and Steam? I am pretty sure you are the only one in the world not having a problem.

Fallout 3 is disappointing in many respects, but for me the fact that the game is so much less reliable than Oblivion takes the cake. I came to accept that by sheer virtue of polygons and colors the Elven Gardens would be a slideshow. But with Fallout, and I shit you not, it has crashed for me many more times than the Witcher ever did. It is almost guaranteed to happen if I load a new area like a new town like Paradise Falls or the Citadel.

[Rogue_hunter]

Alright, after having my new PC for less than a week, all of my issues have been solved. Turns out my old desktop was that fraction above minimum requirements, meaning that it was pretty much impossible for it to be actually playable for more than 5 minutes at a time while it loaded textures.

Now, running a C2D E8500 3.16 GHz, 4GB of RAM (DDR2-1066), HD4780 1GB, integrated Realtek audio (ugh, gonna get an actual card this week) and Vista x64, 60 FPS constant, everything cranked.

Only had one issue, and that had more to do with GFW Live than the actual game. When I first installed the game and ran it, GFWL had to do the update to the newest version. Did that, but then I couldn't log into my account after that. Live kept saying that my account was in a region that does not support Live. Poking through the menus, I noticed that the game version was still the original release, not the latest update. Since Live couldn't sign in, it couldn't download the latest patch. Found the patch, installed it, ran the game, and was able to log in and reload my old save.

[Khrymsyn]

On V64 and Steam? I am pretty sure you are the only one in the world not having a problem.

Well... I guess I have to feel special then. =)

...But with Fallout, and I shit you not, it has crashed for me many more times than the Witcher ever did...

Wait... you have problems with the Witcher too? Can't think of the last time that crashed, either pre- or post- EE patch.

I did experience my first F3 crash last night actually. Entered a salvage yard, and entered the vault underneath. Once it loaded the new area it crashed. I started F3 back up, reloaded, and was fine for the next 90 minutes or so...
Like I said, maybe I'm lucky. Hope that luck continues when I replace my 8800.