I can't start a new game on Fallout 3 (windows 7)

[Frustrated and flustered]

I've installed fallout 3 onto my windows 7 laptop, and the launcher and main menu function perfectly, but when I try to start a new game it crashes. Any idea why?

 

[jaguarskx]

Are you playing with integrated graphics?

Fallout 3 does not recognize integrated graphic cores like the old Intel GMA 4500 graphics core, and the current Intel HD 2000 / HD 3000 graphics core in their Sandy Bridge Core i CPUs. There's a work around, but I'm kinda tired and need to go to sleep now.

You need install a D3D9.dll file into your Fallout 3 directory. It was originally developed for the Oldblivion project. I see if I can find it later...

List your system specs.

 

[Frustrated and flustered]

it's an Inspiron N5010,
intel core i3 cpu (m370 @ 2.40GHz, I dunno what that means)
4 gb of RAM

I'm kind of a console gamer, so I'm not well versed in this kind of stuff.

 

[dai_katana]

it's an Inspiron N5010,
intel core i3 cpu (m370 @ 2.40GHz, I dunno what that means)
4 gb of RAM

I'm kind of a console gamer, so I'm not well versed in this kind of stuff.

By looking at your laptop model, it seems you have an intel HD integrated graphics card. as jaguarskx mentioned, there is a way you can get it to work. You need to download a d3d9.dll to here the fallout 3 is installed (the fallout 3 directory) where your fallout 3.exe file is located.

You can find the full steps here... hope that helps...

 

[Frustrated and flustered]

No dice, man. the modded driver wouldn't install

 

[Frustrated and flustered]

I also have no idea where to find the fallout 3.exe.

 

[Gman450]

Don't you know where you've installed the game?

 

[Frustrated and flustered]

I've tried Documents, but no other place I looked had files that I could look through

 

[FunSurfer]

I've installed fallout 3 onto my windows 7 laptop, and the launcher and main menu function perfectly, but when I try to start a new game it crashes. Any idea why?

Did you try running the game using Vista compatibility mode?

 

[Frustrated and flustered]

yep. Nothing. Just a "Fallout 3 has stopped working" and a crash

 

[jaguarskx]

Use the search bar to find where you installed Fallout 3.

Warning!!! The Search feature is moronic at best in Win 7. Way to go Microsoft advance the OS a little bit overall, but take 3 steps back in some basic features....

Type Fallout3.exe in the Search bar. Click the Windows logo in the lower left corner. Win 7 will give you "No items match your search". Click "See more results".

A window will open up to allow you to "search again in....", click Computer. Fallout3.exe should now show up and it will also tell you the path to where the file is located. Go to the game directory, then drop in the D3D9.dll file in there. Be warned though, people have complained about performance with the GMA 4500.

Microsoft... yer a dumbass...

 

[Frustrated and flustered]

I can't find out where I need to drop the d3d9.dll file. I opened fallout3.exe and it won't let me put it there

 

[jaguarskx]

Put D3D9.dll in the same directory as Fallout3.exe.

Follow the steps above to find out where you installed Fallout 3 to.

 

[Frustrated and flustered]

Damn. The game starts now, but it crashes soon after it leaves the intro and goes to the game

 

[Frustrated and flustered]

it gets partway through character creation, freezes, and then two error messages, "The specified module could not be found. LoadLibrary(pythondll) failed" and "C:/Program Files (x86)/Uniblue/DriverScanner/PYTHON26.DLL" pop up.

 

[Frustrated and flustered]

stupid emoticons, well, you get that it's :, and / not that face, right

 

[jaguarskx]

I suggest you go to the link that dai_katana and register at OldBlivion t0 try and get help since that thread is specifically for getting Fallout 3 to run on a laptop with an Intel GMA 4500 graphics core.

Here's the link again...

http://www.oldblivion.com/sm/index.php?topic=5825.0;prev_next=next#new

 

[Gman450]

PS Where did you get the game from?

 

[Frustrated and flustered]

I have the disc form. It's not downloaded

 

[Frustrated and flustered]

By the way I really appreciate all the help. This is my first time tinkering with game files so I don't understand a lot of the concepts (why did I have to major in geology? why?)

 

[Wamphryi]

OK here is what you do. Download Windows Live Disabler and Disable Windows Live.

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1086

Then right click on your Fallout 3 Icon and choose properties then compatibility Select XP Service Pack 3 mode.

Also make sure Fallout 3 is patched.

http://fallout.bethsoft.com/eng/downloads/updates.html

 

[Frustrated and flustered]

Do I need to keep the d3d9.dll file in?

 

[Frustrated and flustered]

alright, forget the last one. It plays now, but only for a few minutes at a time before crashing. Any way I can fix that?

 

[Wamphryi]

Fallout 3 is well known for its bugs which puts a dampener on what is a great game. I suspect it is running out of memory on your limited GPU. See if there is a way of assigning more system RAM to the GPU. If you cant you may well have to abandon all hope.

 

[Frustrated and flustered]

Ok, so I found a thread that solved the problem, so... case closed. It works fine now. Thanks to all that helped and F*ck Microsoft!