FOSE says I'm using an unknown version despite downgrading + Game crashes on startup.

[Zales]

Hey all. I am having trouble trying to launch the game, and I have no idea what to do. I installed the Anniversary Patcher to downgrade for FOSE, but even after running it, FOSE still says that the version of the game that I am using is an "unknown version." When I try looking this issue up online, it is usually from people who hadn't used the patcher yet, so everyone is telling them to downgrade the game.

When I try running the patcher again, it just says that the game is already patched.

Additionally, the game refuses to run for more than half a second when I try to launch it. It'll show about 2 frames of the launch screen, then promptly crash. I have seen around that the fix is usually to set the graphics settings for the game to High Performance through my system settings, but the problem still persists.

If the solution to either of these issues is a complete reinstall of the game (I have only gone as far as uninstalling and reinstalling through Steam), then that is fine, as I haven't even made it far enough to even try to make a save file.

Edit: I did a complete uninstall of the game and reinstalled Anniversary Patcher and FOSE, and it is still giving me the same issues.

Edit 2: I figured it out. The reason it was crashing was because I had changed some stuff in an .ini file when first setting up mods for the game. I was following a guide on Steam that gave a bunch of .ini tweaks for setting the game up for the first time. I guess I ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up somewhere, as after deleting the .ini files in the Fallout 3 folder in the My Games folder in my documents, the game made it to the menu screen. It also shows that FOSE is working, so that's nice.

[Death Approaches]

you are doing it wrong, and you know it. It's not because of your .ini, your .ini would not make FOSE say that, you are using the fose_loader.exe even though the docs say in 5 separate places not to do that, you still did it_

Just admit it instead of re-editing your post over and over. We know, we've watched dozens of people before you do it too.

Glad you got it working though!

[Zales]

Originally posted by Death Approaches:

you are doing it wrong, and you know it. It's not because of your .ini, your .ini would not make FOSE say that, you are using the fose_loader.exe even though the docs say in 5 separate places not to do that, you still did it_

Just admit it instead of re-editing your post over and over. We know, we've watched dozens of people before you do it too. :radiationsymbol:

Glad you got it working though!

The first thing I tried was exactly what you said. I tried it at least half a dozen times and it didn't work. It was an error in something I tweaked in my .ini files (I probably made a typo somewhere). Why would I lie about that?

[-={LG}=-]

Originally posted by Zales:

Why would I lie about that?

Glad you got it fixed! One of the best features ever devised in gaming is the block feature. :)

[Zales]

Originally posted by -={LG}=-:

Originally posted by Zales:

Why would I lie about that?

Glad you got it fixed! One of the best features ever devised in gaming is the block feature. :)

It's been so long since I've used Steam's community discussions that I didn't even realize that was a feature.

[Death Approaches]

see that's the point, if you were on here more you'd know just how many tech trolls there are, not so much in this one but a lot of them...

I mean WHY would you do something half a dozen times if it wasn't working, there's plenty of technical stuff here, hundreds of IT people and gamers alike... or is that just hyperbole meaning "i tried a few times" ??

What was the .ini directive(s) you did wrong or incompatible with your setup or whatever, so the next guy that comes looking can figure it out? Did you actually discover it, or just wipe your ini and let the game make defaults, then re-tweak? you could compare and contrast.

and yeah block whoever you want, no skin off my c**k.

[KingYeetmeister]

Same problem, don't know what these other r*tards are on about.

[Zales]

Originally posted by KingYeetmeister:

Same problem, don't know what these other r*tards are on about.

Did my solution work for you? Just want to make sure that my fix for the issue a year ago works for others.

[bladerunner97]

The game now works for me on W11 by default. I just had to clear the contents of My Documents\My Games\Fallout3 and accept the .ini settings (Ultra) generated by the launcher. No manual tweaking on my part, except for downgrading to use FOSE, FOMM and some of my favourite mods.

If you have some old saves in the 'Saves' folder you can try them, but you may encounter some stalls and glitches in the old saves. My current new run seems to be progressing flawlessly so far.

Holding off on the main quest, of looking for access to Vault 87 and doing some side quests.

[Zales]

Originally posted by bladerunner97:

The game now works for me on W11 by default. I just had to clear the contents of My Documents\My Games\Fallout3 and accept the .ini settings (Ultra) generated by the launcher. No manual tweaking on my part, except for downgrading to use FOSE, FOMM and some of my favourite mods.

If you have some old saves in the 'Saves' folder you can try them, but you may encounter some stalls and glitches in the old saves. My current new run seems to be progressing flawlessly so far.

Holding off on the main quest, of looking for access to Vault 87 and doing some side quests.

This is pretty much verbatim what I did to fix the issue I was having. It's been a while since I have even touched Fallout 3, but if I had to guess, the game doesn't like it when you downgrade and try to install FOSE after messing with the .ini file, which is kept in the directory you mentioned. I think I had added in an extra setting in the .ini file that either FOSE or the downgrader didn't know how to handle, so when it read the file, it would crash.