Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition Forum

I followed the 9.1 instructions to install, except I used Steam. It installed fine, I set up my options in launcher, then I tried running it and nothing happened. So I shut down a wineloader with 9mb of memory use and 2 threads. Then I tried running G4WL disable but it says I cannot find the fallout3.ini. And I even tried moving it to the same folder as fallout3 in the bottle's C drive, tried searching my computer for it, too. It seems that the game cannot run long enough to simply create the .ini file. Anyone else tried running on steam?

MacBook Pro 15"
Core 2 Duo 2.8
9600m GT discreet 512mb
4gb RAM.
Snow Leopard with Graphics update(woot!)

Thanks in advance!

I tried running it via the run command option, and it spat this out:

The command "/Users/******/Library/Application Support/CrossOver Games/Bottles/Fallout/drive_c/Program Files/Steam/steamapps/common/fallout 3 goty/Fallout3.exe" returned 53.

StdOut: 

StdErr:

I'm sorry, I don't have any experience with the steam version of Fallout 3. First off, are you getting the first splash gui where it says "Play, Options, Data Files, Tech support and Exit"? Or is it exiting before this happens? Have you tried it in a fresh steam bottle? I would recommend installing the dependencies into the bottle before you install and try to run Fallout 3, I have had many issues with games installing dependencies through steam and them not working properly. ie: .net 2 (or I have heard it works with 3 as well) ,Games for Windows Live, vcrun2005, Direct X runtime - modern. so install them through crossover. I'll try to look into this a bit more for ya and get back to ya. Best of luck.

I installed DirectX, .net2, Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 redistributable, and games for windows live. It is in it's own winxp bottle. The launcher works fine, but as soon as I click play, the launcher closes and my Steam status is set to online(not playing a game), and nothing happens in activity monitor. I am trying to get windows working, but it is the most problematic operating system to install I have ever encountered. I have a copy of XP Corporate x64, but apparently the serial number I was given is wrong. But I digress. Thanks for the help. This is the second game that works for everyone but me, apparently. Bioshock had the same problem.

I have been able to find very little about your actual issue so far, but that hasn't stopped me yet. Perhaps one of the fellow mac users could be of more help. It's true this game is still far from perfect with wine, however with your setup you should be fine for running it. So you said you get the launcher, when it was first launched was there an automatic settings detection? It should have only lasted a few seconds and said that you setting are set for whatever if deems right. If not, this could easily be part of your issue. Try going into settings and auto detect your settings. Or you can play with them a bit to see if it makes any difference. Also, there have been instances of the game not running for people because the game can't control the screen to it's liking. So I would suggest trying to launch in "windowed" either in the launcher settings, or you could change your crossover bottle settings to run in a window. This has helped lots of people over at POL along with wine. Like I said, I'll keep looking.

Also, one other thing I just found out is that G4WL can apparently run under windows 7 bottle. So you could try to change the bottle settings from manage bottles, Control Panel, Wine Configuration, then under windows version, change it to windows 7 and give the game a try. Also try it with re-enabling G4WL.

Well I tried setting game to windowed, don't know how to set the bottle to a window, when I first launched it set settings to ultra high. Tried setting them at every setting and launching, windowed and fullscreen. By trying to make the bottle emulate win7, steam refused to launch at all. G4WL was never disabled because fallout simply never launched, so disabler had nothing to work with. Gosh, I am tired of things working perfectly for everyone else and never for me.

Hmmm. If you had the launcher start up and it detected your settings, it should have created, even if it crashed, the .ini file. I'm pretty stumped on this one. Have you tried, by chance just basic wine and followed the directions on winehq.org? There is also another program (front end) for wine that is mentioned there that I have used before and it worked.

To change your bottle so that it's launched in a bottle: (This is done on linux and I'm assuming the mac version follows the game parameters.)
Go to your crossover directory or menu. Then go to "Manage Bottles"
Select your Fallout 3 bottle (whatever you named it), then click the "Control Panel" tab.
Select "Wine Configuration", then "Launch Selected Item"
A new window should open that is called "Wine Configuration". From there select the "Graphics" tab, then add a check to the box beside "Emulate a virtual desktop". You can change the desktop size right under the box you checked. I would recommend just leaving it as is to see if it will work.
Then click on "OK" and close the "Manage Bottles" window. And try to launch Fallout 3 again.

As an alternative to running the launcher, you can launch the game directly from "Run a Windows Command" under the crossover games directory/menu. Just choose "Run a Windows Command", then make sure your fallout 3 bottle is selected, and browse through the directories to find fallout3.exe. Don't just type in "fallout3.exe" as it will not work.
The directory layout should be something similar to
Program Files -> Steam -> Steamapps -> (your steam login name) -> common -> Fallout3 or Bethesda (not sure) -> fallout3.exe

I really really hope this works. If not, then you can create some debug logs from it, and file a bug report with it. However, I would submit a bug report before making the debug logs cause the fine people that will help you with this and let you know what logs they will need to help you.

I have the SAME EXACT problem.

Dear James,
I have also linux and I installed Fallout 3 with Steam. Now the game is in the game-library in my steam profile. When I want to start, only the launch
appears. I tryed to install the game in a bottle in crossover but no >Fallout 3< bottle apeared. I tryed also to change the wine configuration but the game didnt start. I read a hint from you, with the idea to

"Install in a WinXP bottle. Download and Install the latest patch from Fallout 3 Patch. Download Games For Windows Live Disable and run it in your fallout 3 bottle and disable G4WL."

I am a newcomer in linux, so can you please help me to do/understand that?
Maybe you can help a linux-friend 😊

Hello Michael,
I have a couple questions for ya before I can help you. It seems as though you have the steam version of Fallout 3, right? If this is true then you will not have a separate Fallout 3 bottle, it should run from your "Steam" Bottle. In that bottle make sure you have the requirements. So you will need .net2 or .net3 both should work also vcrun2005 (you can install them from crossover in "Runtime Support Components" be sure to install them in the same bottle you are using, likely your steam bottle). Also, if you have the steam version you should not need to install any extra patches as steam will update your game to the latest version automatically.
Since you are new to linux I gotta ask, what Linux OS are you using? Ubuntu? OpenSuse? Mandriva? Also what version? ie Ubuntu 10.10.
Unfortunately there have been some problems with running Fallout 3 on ubuntu 10.10 at this point, so bad to the point it isn't running. Hopefully this will be fixed soon.

I have Linux Gnome
Version: 2.30.2
Distributor: Ubuntu
My Ubuntu Version is 10.04.

You are right, I run one bottle named "Steam" like the program and Fallout 3 appears.
Where can I find "vcrun2005"/".net2",".net3"?
It is not in the list >Runtime Support Components<

Sorry, they are listed as "Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0" and "Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable". Also what video card are you using and what drivers for it?

video card: NIVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT

NIVIDIA Driver Version:195.36.24

I Installed "Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0","Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0" and "Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable" successfully in the steam bottle, but the game doesnt start...

Ok. When you try to start Fallout 3 are you getting the fallout launcher where it says play, options and exit? Also you might want to think about updating your driver. I'm not sure if that would have anything to do with it, but it's possible. Are you getting any error messages or anything like that when you try trying to start the game? Try to describe what happens when you try to play it or start it.

Note sure if this helps, but I am running successfully on my Mac using this install method in the Tip&Tricks section: CX Games 9 Alternate How-to. Note that my one problem remains that Fallout crashes every 30 minutes or so. Usually there are signs and I can exit the game gracefully and after quicksaving and restart. Annoying, but the game is that good.

Have you tried to disable games for windows live? There is a link in the tips and tricks section.

I'm having the same problem, it seems: I installed the GOTY from Steam and I can open the fallout launcher (where it says play, options, and exit), but when "play" is selected, the launcher disappears and the game fails to launch. No error messages. And the G4WL remover cannot find the fallout3.ini file.

Additionally, I cannot install Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 into the Steam bottle. I receive this error message from Crossover: "The program PresentationFontCache.exe has encountered a serious problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience." DirectX, .net2, Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 redistributable, and games for windows live installed successfully.

I was able to install .NET 3.0 into it's own bottle, but I haven't tried the CX Games 9 Alternate How-to (from the Tips & Tricks) yet because, well, I don't have access to a msan1.dll file, for the obvious reason. Plz plz don't tell me I need to buy a copy of Windows.

Oh lordy, I would like to get this to work. I've been wanting this game for years.

.Net 3 shouldn't be necessary. It's a choice between .net 2 or 3.

Try launching the game through a terminal and see what you get as the output. If you are unsure of how to do that just go to the properties of the fallout 3 shortcut on your desktop (if you have one) and hi-light the entire line from the Command column in the box, then copy and paste it into a terminal. If you don't have a shortcut for it, create one from "Run a Windows Command", be sure to select your fallout 3 bottle and choose "Browse", then find your Fallout3.exe. Choose it, then ok. Then hi-light the Command and paste it into a terminal. Wish they would make that easier...

Let us know what the output is and we'll see if we can help ya a bit more.

Thanks for the advice, James -- but I've actually gotten it mostly working by installing .net 3 into a new bottle, installing (again!) Steam and Fallout into that bottle, and then following the "CX Games 9 Alternate How-To" (with the exception of the msan1.dll steps).

It runs! However, it crashes like crazy. Le sigh.

Glad to hear you got it running. Doing the same thing as I suggested before could also tell you a bit as to why it's crashing. What error message are you getting, if any, when it crashes? Are you running this on mac or linux, also if your running a ATI Radeon video card that could be part of the problem. The best advice I can give is to try lowering your settings to see if that helps with how often it crashes, and save often, especially when out in the wasteland. If your anything like me, I often just wander aimlessly around trying to find new stuff, so as I said, save often.

S. G. Weart wrote:

I cannot install Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 … this error message
from Crossover: "The program PresentationFontCache.exe has
encountered a serious problem and needs to close. We are sorry for
the inconvenience."

http://www.codeweavers.com/support/tickets/browse/?ticket_id=829386 is
Installation of Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 interrupted by PresentationFontCache.exe Program Error

I can't add to my ticket at the moment but when I can, I'll mention:

• this topic
• http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/browse/name/?app_id=8163;forum=1;msg=93811