Game crashes upon selecting New Game

[Bakahallow]

Not to sound like a complete know nothing, but that's precisely what I am. I've loaded whatever mods I wanted to start with in .esm first and then .esp files.

 

I attempted to start the game up first with no mods (a la vanilla), to run into the same problem that I unsurprisingly ended up with when using mods as well. Both "version" attempts have ended with the game abruptly crashing (sometimes with the error message that it ran into a problem and needed to close, sometimes not).

 

As the title suggests, it crashes when I click the "new" game option. Every other option works, and I let the menu cycle through its background screens for about five minutes to see if it was a time issue thing.

 

I've updated some of my drivers (video specifically), but I guess I'm more wondering what might be the problem (s) that plague and prevent my gaming experience.

 

To illustrate, the first image is of the error message that I get when it crashes....something to do with fallout3.exe?

http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l483/Nnemonic/Problem%20Screenshots/problems.jpg

 

and secondly (for possible reference/information)

http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l483/Nnemonic/Problem%20Screenshots/FOMMscreen.jpg

 

Screenshots I've taken of them in the hopes they can be of use in helping to diagnose this problem.

 

Thank you for any and all responses. (:

 

EDIT 10/12/2010: I also can't seem to find where my fallout3.ini file. (Where would it be?) I've read that deleting it and then running the game restores program files that might be missing (I think. Not sure) Could this also be a problem?

[anokii]

Howdy and welcome,

 

Start up CTD's are usually the easiest to fix but there are some basics you'll need to look at first:

 

1.) A brief hardware and OS decsription would help - there are known issues with some OS's (namely Vista / Win7) that if proper precautions are taken will work properly

 

2.) Posting a copy of your load order would help as well - you can export it quite easily using FOMM (you are using FOMM yeah?)

 

3.) Depending on that information you may be asked for a DxDiag report as well.

 

Basics;

 

- If your running Vista / Win7 the game will default install to C:\Program Files....... This is a problem as UAC can interfere with the setup of mods in the future. If you haven't got a game running right suggest you uninstall and reinstall to a different directory (something like C:\Games). Uninstalling has it's own issues and you should search the forum here as there are already a couple of good guides for that. (I think someone posted a 'utility' on nexus that does it in one hit but can't find it at the moment)

 

- Make sure you patch the game to 1.7 (latest FO3 patch)

 

- Update your drivers - however be aware that some versions of drivers can introduce problems as well (e.g. NVidia - there a couple of versions that caused more problems than fixed).

 

- Update or remove G4WL (Games for Windows Live) - Personally I remove it and you don't really need it, see this: http://fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1086

 

- Check out this guide for great tips: http://www.tweakguides.com/Fallout3_1.html in there you can find the 'multi-core CPU' fix which is a must if your running a multi-core CPU

 

- make sure to use FOMM to help manage your mods and you may need FOSE as well for some mods, if they need it they should state in the readme file.

 

That should get you started for the moment. Let us know if you still can't start after you work your way through some of that.

 

PS: Your Fallout.ini file should be in C:\Users\%username%\My Games\Fallout3 folder if your running Win7 - sorry can't remember where for the other OS's at the moment but I know it's in that tweak guide.

[Bakahallow]

Anokii: Thank you for your response, firstly. (:

 

In response to written inquiries, I post what information I can readily garner.

 

1) Hardware - Dell Inspiron 1525, running Win XP pro sp3 (I don't know a ton more of what else might be useful here, sorry D: )

 

2) I'm terribly sorry my links I provided didn't work. DX I didn't realize I could use FOMM to export a copy of my load order (I screencapped it instead. o.o)

http://http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l483/Nnemonic/Problem%20Screenshots/FOMMscreen.jpg

 

(And I am still a moron, because it saved it as a .txt, and I have no idea how to upload that. x{ )

 

3) What's a DxDiag report? I don't know if I've run across one of those before.

 

====================Other Info==============================

 

I did check and saw to it that it's patched to 1.7.0.3 (latest...I think)

[anokii]

No worries,

 

Aha - from memory that's a laptop with integrated graphics (simply means you don't have a dedicated graphics chipset).

 

Sorry to tell you but it won't run on that particular hardware. FO3 is pretty graphic intensive and although a huge beefy video card isn't required you do need a decent one to start and continue running it.

Most laptops don't have a dedicated GPU and you can usually easily tell as there will be a sticker (AMD or NVidia) on the laptop - there also a bit more in price.

 

Again sorry mate but your outta luck on this one.