How to run: Fallout 3 GOTY

I have played Fallout New Vegas and Fallout 4 and wanted to play Fallout 3 for a long time now. I knew it had a problem and was not running at all (I started it, and it closed itself all the time). Since I had no desire to waste time on an old game without achieving anything else than wasting time, it took a while.

Well, I had time now and looked up some fixes. It was a bit tricky to find a working one (at least for my problem(-s)) and that is why I am sharing it here with a short guide.

First Fix (Intel HD graphics Bypass)

Since this fix did not work for me (if you like you can skip straight to the Second Fix, but this fix might work for you), I will just link a YT tutorial for the installation of the bypass. I still have the changed files of the bypass in my save files though.

Download the Intel HD graphics Bypass here [www.nexusmods.com] and download it manually and yes, you need an account there to do so.

Watch the video till 2:24 and follow the instructions.

Short summary:
1. Download the Bypass via nexus manually.
2. Use 7-zip to extract the files.
3. Read the readme you just downloaded.
4. Place the dll file in the folder where the game is installed (This Pc -> local data (D:) ->
SteamLibrary -> common -> Fallout 3 goty)
5. Place the FALLOUT file in (My Documents -> Fallout3).

(paths are examples and can be different on your PC)

Second Fix (Replace the missing xlive.dll file)

Since the first fix (seemed like the most common one) did not work for me, I looked around for other fixes, but there are simply way too many out there. Some of them take quite a while to accomplish and if it did not work after that, I would have deinstalled Fallout 3 again without playing, bet.

So I tried to close the circle of potential fixes to not waste another afternoon and end up with different dead ends. I randomly tried running the Fallout 3 launcher from the save file location, and it got me an error message that I did not get trying to run the game on steam.

Originally posted by author:

The error code:
https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/2467485715260797249/1E5CECE13644DEAE27FB9F38AEF215C2A3A22FC5/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

For non-German speakers, the error just says that the xlive.dll file is missing. Hooray I found my clue.

Just like you can see in this video, he allready has the missing file and renamed it to xlive.old.dll (do not get confused).

Download the xlive.dll from here [www.dll-files.com]. The most recent is the one at the top, I used it as well.

After downloading paste the file in the save files of Fallout 3 like mentioned in the previous fix and it should work for you.

The guy that made the video wrote about possible crashes due to some achievements getting unlocked (the achievements seem to be the problem, some xbox live ♥♥♥♥ idk and idc). If the game crashes a lot, I might rewrite this and let you know what I did afterward.

Fix "missing" DLCs

Since only one DLC was recognized and activated ingame after leaving the vault, I also looked for a fix to activate all of them. I found this guide and followed it and after RENAMING all possible files and then placing the files from MEGA in my game files foulder. And see there, the DLCs were recognized after playing the prologue again.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=191850075
(Fallout3ng.exe.cat was not visible to me, but when I copy pasted the mega files, it was replaced and not a new file)

Credits/Disclaimer

I did not make the videos linked in this guide. If you see your video and want it unlinked, write me. This guide is just meant to be a short summary of how I got the game running.

And yes, I am surely not the first guy writing a fix about this.

-cheers wastelanders

[¡Viva Mantequilla!]

Tale of Two Wastelands [thebestoftimes.moddinglinked.com] is a great workaround for this issue. Especially if you have not played New Vegas yet (I guess).

But this guide is about getting Fallout 3 goty to work and not about installing a Fallout New Vegas mod. Simple as that.

[Spider-Man]

jus play ttw

[¡Viva Mantequilla!]

Some games run better on older hardware and Fallout 3 even has issues with windows since windows 10.

[Castiglione956]

why do i have this issue using an nvidia 2060?

[bananeyfish]

@CHRISPLAYZ434 That fixed mine! you're a hero ;0;

[Lupox]

[h1] Solution for AMD Cards on Win 10/11 if the game dont start [/h1]

I have an RX 6700 XT on Win 11 i tryed 10 different things including some dlls and mods but nothing worked for me until i downgraded my AMD Driver from a 24.x version to the latest 23.x Version!
Go to: https://www.amd.com/en/support/download/drivers.html
Choose your card and got to >previous drivers< choose your win version and scroll down to the latest 23.x Version.
Download, install it and restart your system. Then it should Work.

AMD knows this. I dont know if they work on a solution for 24.x drivers. It is likely not a high priority.

If you have the latest version of Fallout 3 and installed it recently you dont need any dll for Windows Live!
In the Readme for Version 1.7.0.4 it is written:
"The dependency on Games for Windows Live has been removed."

So if you need the xlive.dll for the game to work you have likely not the latest version or have to deinstall and install it to get the working version.

[Accidentally Awesome]

go into your documents, fallout, and delete every thing in it exept for the ones that wont let you

[Meykuz]

Genial, siempre he querido quitarlo ya que es algo deprimente, y me gustan los juegos mas iluminados. me hacen sentir mas feliz supongo. Muchas gracias por todo, te enviaré un pequeño regalo por la ayuda.

[¡Viva Mantequilla!]

Hope the game runs now and greetings from germany ma man.

The green "filter/tint" can be removed with mods from nexusmods.com but I got used to it during my playthrough.

[Meykuz]

Gracias mi estimado washin, me ayudaste. La verdad hace mucho que habia solucionado pero hace REALMENTE MUCHO y la verdad es que ahora se me habia olvidado y me puso como loco a buscar que fue lo que hice. Saludos desde Costa Rica