Not the usual CTD?

[Synaptiq]

Okay, so a fresh Fallout 3 install here, literally less than 6 hours old, I'm getting nothing but repeated lockups during the 'baby' scene at the start of it all, have not been able to get past it yet, its not locking up at any one part either, its basically random by all means.

 

I've gone through pretty much the 'Common list' of issues and fixes I've found, which include (In order done);

 

Excluding Fallout3.exe in both the audio and video FFDShow filters

Completely uninstalling my K-Lite codec suite

Setting compatibility to Windows 2000 mode (In WinXP)

'Reset' the graphics settings

Putting water multi-sampling at low

Reinstalling .NET because it supposedly installs a beta version

Reinstalling Windows Live Games to the latest

 

The only thing I've not done yet, because I had the latest drivers anyways, was update my GPU drivers, I am however at this specific moment downloading beta ones to see if it does anything, if not then I'll rollback a couple versions and check.

 

I've also attempted to attach Visual Studio to it, to try and catch exactly where the issue occurs, but apparently the DRM kicks in or something because Fallout3 tosses a -fit- the moment I do it, and brings down Fallout3 and VS attached, lol.

 

Outside of the list of attempts above, anyone else know any way or is there a log saved somewhere with specific crash details? I've not found any yet.

 

Edit: Forgot to state some system spec info for those curious, though pretty sure its in no way the problem

 

CPU: E8400 Core 2 Duo (Clocked to 3.8GHz)

RAM: 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2

GPU: EVGA nVidia GeForce 9800GTX+ 512MB

Mobo: EVGA 132-CK-NF78 (Nb/Sb: nForce 780i)

Sound is an emulated TekMotion headset driver.

 

Edit Edit:

I've also seen a lot of people refer to similar issues between this and Oblivion, and I'd note right now I've never ever had -any- issues with Oblivion at all in all the time I played it, not even with FFDShow or anything.

 

Edit Edit Edit:

Beta nVidia drivers did not work, nor did rolling back, I even tried adding the multi-threaded stuff to the ini.

 

Still random crash during the initial scene, lol, I'm clueless at this point without a way to get a crash log or attach VS without the app freaking out, so I am officially going to sleep for a bit and be back later to see if anyone has any ideas :P

[csb]

If you haven't, get Timeslip's Fallout Mod Manager (FOMM). In addition to being a great mod managing tool, it also has utilities to disable xlive.dll and toggle invalidation (though the later is only really an issue if you have mods installed other than the DLCs).

 

If you DLed the DLC or Fallout3 rather than install from DVD, you'll want the utility (or do it manaually) that moves that content from its Windows Live directory into the install Data directory for Fallout3.

 

Check TweakGuides.com for the Fallout3 Tweak Guide, as well as the links to video issues for games in general. If you don't have a codec utility, get K-Lite (not so much for the "utility" part of it) to disable fddshow. If you are consistently having problems at the birth scene, that may fix the problem, if not, you can always re-enable fddshow later.

 

If you installed to the default directory (Program Files), it will save you a ton of problems if it is installed elsewhere (Vista/Windows 7 UAC security issues and others). C:\Games\Fallout3 seems to be a popular choice ... and a good choice for all your games.

 

The Tweak Guide also addresses nVidia driver issues (ATI issues too). Even though the latest 191.07 driver is listed as stable (and is certified), most seem to have better luck with 186.17 (or close to that, the Tweak Guide points you to it).

 

.NET 3.5 should work perfectly fine, same with the GPU drivers.

 

Out of all of this, I suspect fddshow first, then perhaps the nVidia driver second.

 

Hope this helps.

[Synaptiq]

I'm pretty much vanilla, no DLC's, just the stock disk install, the main issue is I'm not getting any errors on the CTD, just Visual Studio's debugger pops up saying the app crashed and can be debugged, which does no good obviously.

 

Lke I noted, I even at one point completely uninstalled K-Lite codec pack, along with all its codecs and filters, FFDShow included, and its not installed to the default directory, its installed to my Z:\Games directory, where all my games go (its pretty much my games dedicated disk), and I'm also on WinXP so UAC isn't an issue.

 

I'm guessing though there's no native error system or even logging that I can use to find a specific crash point with?

 

I will however get FOMM and give its features a shot.

[Synaptiq]

FOMM did something to fix it, no more crashes at all after several a couple of gameplay, sadly though I see Fallout 3 has the same dislike for alt tabbing as Oblivion did, and locks up if you do it too much, lol

 

Thanks much, I guess it was either Windows Live (Guessing it was prob that, that things been a nightmare for me in the past too) or the invalidation toggler thing.

[csb]

Windows (Barely) Live causes problems for many people. FOMM has a check box (click the Tweaks button) that allows you to disable xlive.dll.

 

As you get more mods, you'll also want ElminsterAU's FO3Edit. It's a must-have utility to find and fix mod conflicts. You'll want Miax's great FO3Edit Guide - Web-enized to learn how to use it to its full potential in troubleshooting your mods.

 

Hope it all keeps going well for you! :)

[Synaptiq]

On a late note, yeah I already downloaded that, as I was familiar with the general aspect to Fallout 3 from playing Oblivion for a long time (As there's the mod tool for Oblivion exactly like FOMM). And just to confirm, I get these random issues for some reason where, when I load saves sometimes, any time I go to save again or walk through a door somewhere (and the autosave attempts to kick in) it crashes again, is this a normal issue/bug with the game in general? Its rather random really, can't figure it out but it completely makes the game unplayable basically, if I wait a few hours and try again suddenly it'll work fine, lol

 

Edit:

See here's my main issue, I even went back to a save I had before, which I made before this all happened, and even that one locks up when I go through a door or whatever, I can't even really begin to figure out what could be doing it, didn't change a thing :/