Anyone else's game crash specifically like this?

[theatrical cat]

I keep seeing threads and patches to fix crashing on startup or quitting to the desktop but no one seems to have the specific crash I'm having.

Occasionally, at no set intervals and at seemingly random times (there's no common action I'm taking that causes it) the game just freezes on me. I still see the last frame it before it froze and the sound effects still work, so music, character's lines, etc. all play out like normal but the game is totally locked up. I can't alt+tab away and alt+f4 doesn't do anything. I can ctrl+alt+del to the blue screen the says Lock, Switch User, etc. (I'm using Windows 10) but launching the task manager doesn't work because the screen still only shows the game and doesn't register anything else. (Switching user doesn't work either, it still just shows the frozen game when I come back.) The only way I've found to actually shut down the game is to log out of my account and force all programs to shut down.

Does this type of thing happen to anyone else? And/or can someone recommend a specific fix/patch/mod to help? I'm okay with the game crashing every so often, it's a Bethesda game so of course it's gonna and I save often, but having to restart everything after every single crash is too much.

[drainbamage51]

Had all most the same problems , Found out for me it was poor internet router. Hope this helps

[theatrical cat]

Originally posted by drainbamage51:

Had all most the same problems , Found out for me it was poor internet router. Hope this helps

Huh. Unfortunately I'm not in a position to swap out or alter the settings on the router I'm using, various IRL problems. Do you know what it was about your router that was the issue?

[CursedPanther]

Do you have any mods installed?

Originally posted by drainbamage51:

Had all most the same problems , Found out for me it was poor internet router. Hope this helps

Not even sure how a 'router problem' can affect a singleplayer game...

[theatrical cat]

Originally posted by CursedPanther:

Do you have any mods installed?

Nope, just the plain old GOTY edition.

[Snake Oil]

I don't have a solution for your crash problem sadly but as an answer to the question in your title, I have had one crash just like you discribed and my only solution was to restart my PC with a physical restart button on my case.

[Halcyform]

Most of my freezes come from zoning. Occasionally, I'll get "anytime" freezes" or once in awhile when entering pipboy menu. Overally, they don't happen too often. Sometimes close together but mostly after long stretches of continous play.

This has happened on my original physical discs and steam version. Problem is FO3 is like most other Bethesda games - buggy. There may or may not be stability mods. I never looked for any.

Only solution to recover from a freeze is to Control+alt+delete and then hit restart.

Save often when out in the world.

[Rivery Jerald]

Originally posted by theatrical cat:

I can't alt+tab away and alt+f4 doesn't do anything. I can ctrl+alt+del to the blue screen the says Lock, Switch User, etc. (I'm using Windows 10) but launching the task manager doesn't work because the screen still only shows the game and doesn't register anything else.

Repeatedly hit Alt-Tab till the windows flashes, wen you land on task manager use up and down arrows till you find fallout 3 and hit delete button

[Umbanda]

It is not that uncommon. Happens much more often with New Vegas than fallout 3. It probably comes from the gamebryo engine. Fallouts (3 and NV) push it to it's limits but no one can say for certain what is wrong. I don't trust stability mods, the game runs well without any if properly installed and configured.
You can try to load a codec pack. it should greatly help.
And don't forget to apply the fixes mentionned in the pinned thread, specially the 3GB patch

[DukeoftheAges]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=474556591 maybe something in this guide will help?

[theatrical cat]

Originally posted by DukeoftheAges:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=474556591 maybe something in this guide will help?

Okay, I think the multicore fix of altering the fallout.ini helped, I did what the guide said and haven't had any crashes so far. Hopefully this is permanent fix! Thanks for the help everyone.