Fallout 3: GOTY Edition

[sanzen07]

I'm thinking about picking this up for PC. For people who have played it, will I be able to run it at 1920x1080 with high settings on? If not, I may pick it up for PS3...

 

[WildW]

I played on high settings quite happily with a 9800GTX+ .. . your graphics card is not much different, so it should be fine. Make sure you get it patched up though because it was very crash happy for me with nVidia cards. It was more stable on my HD4670, but ran like treacle.

 

[Elcs]

Probably get away with a mix of Medium/High settings.

My rig (in Sig) did 1920x1080 with a mix of settings which I cannot remember precisely but it looked good and better than it did on a 360.

 

[DaveSimmons]

On the PS3 it will be 720p, low framerate, lower image quality. If you find one of the image quality comparisons there is a huge difference. Also, no mods.

You'd be much better off just lowering the resolution to something like 14x8 on the PC if you have to.

 

[Mike Gayner]

You won't be able to turn everything to high - my system is nearly identical to yours and I run on medium/high. It will still look 100x better than the PS3.

 

[shortylickens]

first system I played it on had a radeon 4870. Now I've got a Radeon 4890. I have no issues, but who can say for you? I recommend trying it out. If it doest work you can always cut back the resolution and as other have said, it will almost always look better than the PS3.
Plus, there are mods which can not only enhance the graphics, but not drop your performance as well.
Just reinstalled, fun game but now it crashes more than it used to. Dunno why.

 

[zerocool84]

You should be able to run it on high setting with little or no AA on. I ran it on high everything on 4xAA 1280x1024 and it ran fine but the game did crash from time to time. It really wasn't even that stable. Lots of artifacts and such.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I had about the same amount of crashing in FO3 with a 4870 as I did in Oblivion with an nv 7900GTX. I think Bethesda + Gamebryo engine = crashes.

You just need to remember to save using multiple slots (not just quicksave) and to exit out of the program every couple of hours to fix the memory & resource leaks.

 

[OCNewbie]

Don't forget about the usethreadedAI=1, and numhardwarethreads=2, or something like that. You have to edit the FALLOUT.INI file in your mydocs/games/fallout 3 folder. I was having non-stop crashes inside houses and other buildings until I added that fix. Since adding that I've had many many hours of crash-free play.

Definitely get it for the PC. MUCH superior graphics, even if at non-maximum detail levels, compared to the 360 or PS3.

 

[mmntech]

Don't forget about the usethreadedAI=1, and numhardwarethreads=2, or something like that. You have to edit the FALLOUT.INI file in your mydocs/games/fallout 3 folder. I was having non-stop crashes inside houses and other buildings until I added that fix. Since adding that I've had many many hours of crash-free play.

Yep, Fallout 3 doesn't seem to like triple and quad core CPUs that much. I had the same freezing issues until I did this.

I had it playing at 1080i on my TV at high settings. Ran a bit slow but still consistently smooth. My HD3850 is getting a bit long in the tooth. Sad that it's not even that old.

 

[ahenkel]

Oh one more reason for the PC is all the Mods you can get for it.

 

[shortylickens]

I dunno why I let my ass get kicked by this game, I should have just gone here:
http://www.tweakguides.com/Fallout3_8.html
These guys always have the best tips. They are sometimes risky, but usually worth looking at.

 

[NoSoup4You]

My rig was similar to yours when I played FO3, same vid card but E8400 cpu. I'm pretty sure I played at max settings but I'm not certain. Was still gaming at 1600x1200 back then...

 

[The Boston Dangler]

I dunno why I let my ass get kicked by this game, I should have just gone here:
http://www.tweakguides.com/Fallout3_8.html
These guys always have the best tips. They are sometimes risky, but usually worth looking at.

agreed. i don't need most of their tweaking, but it helped with a few games.

 

[jonks]

So what are the recommended mods? I just got this game (better nate than lever.) btw, I hated it for the first 8-10 hours, but now am starting to love it.

 

[shortylickens]

So what are the recommended mods? I just got this game (better nate than lever.) btw, I hated it for the first 8-10 hours, but now am starting to love it.

Do a search for the 100+ threads we have already.
Most important (to me) is any mod that seriously increases carrying capacity. Also, if you do lots of stuff, you will hit level 20 long before the end of the game. Get a mod that lets you go past level 20.

 

[jonks]

Do a search for the 100+ threads we have already.
Most important (to me) is any mod that seriously increases carrying capacity. Also, if you do lots of stuff, you will hit level 20 long before the end of the game. Get a mod that lets you go past level 20.

Well I took the Strong Back perk for an extra 50lbs of carrying capacity and use Repair to cut down on weapons I hold, so I'm fine with weight. I got the GoTY edition and one of the DLC's auto-increases level cap to 30.

 

[Munky]

You could run it at that rez, but most likely without AA. The game does have a number of gameplay-affecting bugs, which are easier to fix on the PC than the consoles, not to mention better graphics on the PC.

 

[Qbah]

I have both the PC and Xbox360 version and the game is a lot of fun without mods. Really.

Do Operation Anchorage ASAP. If you play it normally you will get a Power Armor at the end together with training (long before visiting the Citadel) - plus this Power Armor is nearly indestructible. Also plenty of other guns (like a regular Gauss Rifle - the gun is awesome ).

Now, the game is fun in general, with no glitches - they're a lot of fun for a 2nd or 3rd playthrough to fool around. Just don't hurry with the main story line and always look around - there are so many hidden things in the game, small stories for most places you visit, it's really giving the game a Fallout-feel.

As for the addons... I'd say Point Lookout and Broken Steel are the best. Then it's Operation Anchorage (it's more of a shooter - you get health replenish and almost infinite ammo and just plow through the Chinese enemies). The Pitt and Mothership Zeta as the last ones (even though they're fun - just the least fun).

Finally, there's also another glitch with the Operation ANchorage add-on: all the items inside the simulator are indestructible and there's a way for you to "pull them" out to the "real" world. There are walkthroughs on Youtube. Also, when almost at the end, steal a minigun from one of the US soldiers, go back to your camp, drop everything but the minigun and ask for more ammo - you will get some ammo for your minigun (even though you can't get it normally). Now, drop the ammo you got and ask for more... drop the ammo again and ask again - and so on until you're satisfied (I got like 150k rounds when I got bored ). Use the glitch to get an indestructible Minigun and Gauss Rifle with A LOT of ammo for the Minigun (Gauss Rifle ammo is easy to get). Use to glitch and you will have an indestructible Minigun and/or Gauss Rifle plus the "normally" indestructible Power Armor Now the fun begins

Edit - as for the looks, sure, the PC version looks better but the game is so much fun you don't notice it, really. I can't even tell you what looked better on the PC (I had a HD4870 when I ran it - at 1920x1080 with AAx2). I guess the world/textures were a bit sharper and the framerate a bit better. But nothing to really shout about. Now usually I laugh at people who say the consoles can offer a similar level of graphics to a modern PC but this game isn't new in the first place and it wasn't beyond incredibly looking to begin with. The PC looks better but it's still fun on the Xbox. Can't tell you about the PS3 version - though I remember reading it did look worse than on the Xbox (and that's why it may be more noticeable).

 

[nitromullet]

I have both the PC and Xbox360 version and the game is a lot of fun without mods. Really.

Do Operation Anchorage ASAP. If you play it normally you will get a Power Armor at the end together with training (long before visiting the Citadel) - plus this Power Armor is nearly indestructible. Also plenty of other guns (like a regular Gauss Rifle - the gun is awesome ).

Agreed that the game is fun as it is, and that it looks good on both Xbox 360 and PC. It's one of the few games I've bought and completed on both platforms (the other being HL2).

That being said, I actually don't recommend players hit Op Anchorage too early on in the first play through. IMO, the OA rewards are over powered and remove too much of the challenge from the game. I was playing a stealth character and after the getting the Chinese Stealth Armor I was virtually undetectable, which made the game too easy. Of course, it depends on what you consider fun, but first run through players should be aware that you can make the game too easy by pursuing certain things too early on.

 

[Qbah]

Agreed that the game is fun as it is, and that it looks good on both Xbox 360 and PC. It's one of the few games I've bought and completed on both platforms (the other being HL2).

That being said, I actually don't recommend players hit Op Anchorage too early on in the first play through. IMO, the OA rewards are over powered and remove too much of the challenge from the game. I was playing a stealth character and after the getting the Chinese Stealth Armor I was virtually undetectable, which made the game too easy. Of course, it depends on what you consider fun, but first run through players should be aware that you can make the game too easy by pursuing certain things too early on.

Ahh yes, skipping OA until lvl10+ might be a good idea. Even a few more. But...

Spoiler

Remember, that you get Mutant Overlords now. And those Albino Scorpions... and Ghoul Reavers. All from Broken Steel. If you don't follow your levels with gear, you will get wasted so hard, it's not funny... I actually met 3 Overlords in front of Galaxy News Radio... Now THAT was a battle - the muties were ripping BoS peeps to shreds I had an endless stream of the unkillable ones going unconscious all the time A Behemoth is cake compared to an Overlord... The nukes you find are actually very useful now. I was using them up as I went with the game

So doing Anchorage might be better after level 10 in the end. You will get quite a few levels in there, get awesome gear -

Spoiler

and you will actually stand a chance against the Overlords that will start to show up. Cause otherwise a salvo from a Tri-Beam Laser from one Overlord and you're toast - literally

Always wanted to use the spoiler tag Not really spoilers, but what enemies you meet later in the game

 

[JackSpadesSI]

Once you beat the original game do enemies regenerate? I recently picked up all the expansion packs (Xbox 360) and I'm playing after finishing the original game.

Obviously, the expansion-only areas have new enemies (Point Lookout, The Pitt) but I don't see many when walking around the Capital Wasteland. The only enemies I now encounter in the Capital Wasteland are radscorpions and Talon mercenaries.

I don't know how to do the spoiler-black, so I won't say it, but I REALLY want to see those late-game enemies you mentioned (I'm level 25)!!!

 

[Qbah]

Yeah, enemies respawn - though not the scripted ones. But you will meet them repeatedly in the Wasteland. Ghouls can be found underground, for the most part. And plenty of them in Point Lookout DLC. No idea why you haven't met an Overlord at 25... Did you go to the Vault with GECK already? Your level determines what type of a particular enemy spawns (so you wonj't meet a Master or Overlord when you're lvl5 for example). But at 25 I'm pretty sure you should be well accustomed to Overlords. Try the "battleground" in front of Jefferson's Memorial - next to Undercity and those museums. The same area where there's the obelisk monument with BoS guards. Muties spawn there regularly as far as I remember.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

On the PS3 it will be 720p, low framerate, lower image quality. If you find one of the image quality comparisons there is a huge difference. Also, no mods.

You'd be much better off just lowering the resolution to something like 14x8 on the PC if you have to.

Doesn't the PC GOTY version come with all the expansions which you would have to buy seperately for the PS3?

 

[OCNewbie]

Doesn't the PC GOTY version come with all the expansions which you would have to buy seperately for the PS3?

There is a GOTY edition out for Xbox 360, and I think PS3 too now? not sure about PS3.