Posted November 16, 2023
Hey guys, just wanted to share a fix for my installation of Fallout 3 GOTY via GOG Galaxy that kept crashing upon start up. I installed it through GOG Galaxy, and was able to open the Fallout 3 Launcher and adjust my display settings, BUT once I clicked "Play Game" or tried launching the "Fallout3.exe" itself, it kept crashing almost immediately. Specifically, I would see the menu for a couple frames, and the mouse cursor appeared, but it would then crash, always at the exact same moment.
Things I tried before:
1. Removing all mods. The first time this issue arised was after I downloaded a few mods (FOSE, Unofficial Fallout 3 patch, etc.) and THEN tried starting the game for the first time (I had not tested it without mods first). So I figured maybe some mod must have affected it, but even after clearing out all of my mods and their folders, the same issue kept occuring.
2. Reinstalling. After deleting the GOG GAMES folder and "My Games -> Fallout 3" folders, I thought a fresh install could fix the problem. This was not the case, crash on start up at the same moment as before.
2. Reinstalling left me with the same issue, so I found some forum topics about deleting .ini files and letting them be replaced/recreated by opening the launcher again. This did nothing for me and left me without .ini files, they never got replaced even after I tried to run the game again and it would crash at the exact same time. So that was a moot point
3. Downloading the offline installer for Fallout 3 and commencing installation that way. THIS IS THE FIX! It must have something to do with GOG Galaxy installing something wonky, because the offline installer did it properly. I can open the game via my folder and clicking "Fallout3.exe", I can open the game via "Falloutlauncher.exe", adjust my settings to 1440p and turn on antialiasing, anisotropic filtering, etc. I can even open the game through GOG Galaxy now, as it recognized that Fallout 3 was installed since I told the offline installer to put it in my GOG Games folder. Galaxy is smart enough to mark it as installed.
4. For even further confirmation it was properly installed, I can even rename the fose_loader.exe (Fallout Script Extender) to "FalloutLauncher.exe", and change the original "FalloutLauncher.exe" to something like "FalloutLauncher_backup.exe", which basically is telling GOG Galaxy that the FOSE application is what should be opened when I click "Play Game". Now I get the benefit of running my game through FOSE (which is what is required for most mods) AND can access the GOG Galaxy overlay ingame.
Things I tried before:
1. Removing all mods. The first time this issue arised was after I downloaded a few mods (FOSE, Unofficial Fallout 3 patch, etc.) and THEN tried starting the game for the first time (I had not tested it without mods first). So I figured maybe some mod must have affected it, but even after clearing out all of my mods and their folders, the same issue kept occuring.
2. Reinstalling. After deleting the GOG GAMES folder and "My Games -> Fallout 3" folders, I thought a fresh install could fix the problem. This was not the case, crash on start up at the same moment as before.
2. Reinstalling left me with the same issue, so I found some forum topics about deleting .ini files and letting them be replaced/recreated by opening the launcher again. This did nothing for me and left me without .ini files, they never got replaced even after I tried to run the game again and it would crash at the exact same time. So that was a moot point
3. Downloading the offline installer for Fallout 3 and commencing installation that way. THIS IS THE FIX! It must have something to do with GOG Galaxy installing something wonky, because the offline installer did it properly. I can open the game via my folder and clicking "Fallout3.exe", I can open the game via "Falloutlauncher.exe", adjust my settings to 1440p and turn on antialiasing, anisotropic filtering, etc. I can even open the game through GOG Galaxy now, as it recognized that Fallout 3 was installed since I told the offline installer to put it in my GOG Games folder. Galaxy is smart enough to mark it as installed.
4. For even further confirmation it was properly installed, I can even rename the fose_loader.exe (Fallout Script Extender) to "FalloutLauncher.exe", and change the original "FalloutLauncher.exe" to something like "FalloutLauncher_backup.exe", which basically is telling GOG Galaxy that the FOSE application is what should be opened when I click "Play Game". Now I get the benefit of running my game through FOSE (which is what is required for most mods) AND can access the GOG Galaxy overlay ingame.
