i5- 8500h
GTX 1050 ti
plenty of space
8 GB of ram

Once I launch the game, I changed the options for 1080p, v-sync, and windowed, but once I hit play, a black screen pops up then immediately shuts down. I've reinstalled it multiple times and even tried reinstalling GOG multiple times but nothing, always the same result. I have vortex, but that's for new vegas, of which I have that one on steam, but I saw that this version of Fallout 3 worked right out of the box. Please, if anyone knows anything, please help me, I just wanna play this and download mods.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, it worked. I don't know how though, I've tried that before and it never worked but after reading your message and trying it one more time, it auto-selected the options, which had not happened, then I changed them then it worked. Thank you man, I appreciate your help so much you wouldn't believe.

I somewhat found the problem, or rather what caused it for me. It seems the GOG launcher that automatically goes to your desktop won't open the game. But, like you said, opening either of the launchers in the fallout 3 folder does work, you just have to make sure to either backup and /or delete the files in the my games folder. Again though, thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping.

No thanks needed. What I found is the files made by Steam do not like to work with GOG for whatever reason. Also sometimes when the launcher makes the *.ini files they might be made incomplete so you just have to delete & try again.

Another thing that I sorta stumbled upon: if you do the following, you should be able to play it via GOG Galaxy instead of having to go to the Program Files (x86) folder:

1. Go to your Fallout 3 page in your GOG Galaxy 2.0 library (not sure how it is in GOG Galaxy 1.0, so just wanted to be clear).

2. Click on the Configure icon—the one with two dots, each connected to a horizontal line.

3. Go to Manage Installation > Configure, and checkmark "Custom executables / arguments" and make a new argument.

4. Under File 4, select C:/.../Fallout3.exe.

5. Click on "Default executable".

Now GOG Galaxy should open up Fallout3.exe instead of FalloutLauncher.exe when you click "Play".

Not sure if this will help anyone; all I know is that it made it work for me, in addition to the solutions stated before this comment.

Good luck, everyone!

Bumping cause this fixed my game as well, thank god for this thread lol

Hi! I am having the exact same issue and this fix didn't work for me. GOG Galaxy is closed, and it told me that it recognized the deleted INI files. Anything else I could try?

Did you delete the Fallout3 folder in the My Games folder? What do you mean it recognized the deleted .ini files?

I deleted it from the My Games folder, its in Documents right? Or is it in AppData Documents?
It popped up with "No INI Files detected, please reinstall Fallout 3", but it did reinstall the INI Files that were deleted in the "Fallout 3" folder in My Games.

After you delete the Fallout3 folder from Documents > My Games, are you starting the game for the first time from FalloutLauncher.exe or Fallout3.exe? Launching the game with FalloutLauncher.exe and choosing your settings should create a new Fallout3 folder with newly generated .ini files.

What are your system specs?

I am having the same problem, even after I delete the Fallout 3 folder in My Games and launch the game from the FalloutLauncher.exe it closes as soon as I select the options for the game. My specs are Intel core i7 -10700 CPU 2.9ghz dual processor GeForce RTX 2060 Graphics card. I also have tons of free storage. Do you know of any possible solution? Thanks

Are you using a fresh installation from GOG or are you using one that was from Steam originally?

I'm not using GOG just Steam

Dude I've been having this problem and I wanted you to know I found this thread and what you said worked for me, I love you stranger