Game freezes, can't make it past "One Year Later"...help?

[TimeLord75]

Hey all. New member here, old FO3 player on Xbox 360 (got the bobblehead to prove it :P). Finally picked up the PC version so I could play around with mods, especially DeMeggy's FOW mod--but I digress.

 

I'm running the GotY version. Successfully installed it, followed by successful installation of the DLC disk. Went ahead & downloaded the official 1.7 patch from Bethesda...and this is where things go screwy. For some reason, when the patch gets to 75% installed, Fallout 3 automatically launches. This is whether the CD is in the drive or not. I checked the version of my Fallout3.exe, and it says version 1.7.01 (or something to that effect), so I /think/ the patch successfully installed...but I don't know that for certain. The aforementioned Fallout Who mod is also installed, but not enabled. None of the DLCs are enabled either.

 

Upon launching the game, I made it through character creation & mom's death, but as soon as the "One Year Later" screen cleared and you see Dad beckoning you toward him--game freeze. Music still playing in the background, but nothing happening--had to CTRL+ALT+DEL to get out of it. Relaunched the game, loaded the Autosave (which I actually didn't know would be there, so bonus), and walked toward Dad. Everything went swimmingly until Dad apologized for leaving me on my own and bent down to shut the playpen door--and bang, game froze again.

 

I'm at my wits' end here. I can't tell if the official patch has successfully installed. I read elsewhere that in Process Manager, you can see precisely when "Fallout3.exe" loads as part of the patch--and that if you're quick, you can disable it--but I'm not that quick, and the patch reaches the critical 75% point FAST. Is this really that massive of a problem? There's GOT to be a way around this. I'm hoping someone has some suggestions. My sincerest apologies if I'm poking for information that's already been dispersed to the community ages ago. Please, someone...help!

 

If it matters, I'm running Windows 7. I'm using an Intel Core i5 CPU @ 3.20 GHz w/ 6 gigs of installed RAM. My video card is a Nvidia GT220, and I'm using driver 8.17.12.6099.

 

Thanks so much!

 

EDIT: Just tried this fix: http://forums.bethsoft.com/index.php?/topic/1147026-fix-for-freezing-try-it-windows-7-quad-core-core-i/page__gopid__16765993#entry16765993

No good, didn't work for me. Blargh.

Edited December 30, 2010 by TimeLord75

[Fonger]

first I'm wonderin why the GOTY version did not already have the 1.7 patch

 

the 1.7 patch has a secret second requirement

--- did you update Games for Windows Live

[TimeLord75]

first I'm wonderin why the GOTY version did not already have the 1.7 patch

 

the 1.7 patch has a secret second requirement

--- did you update Games for Windows Live

 

It's entirely possible that the GotY version did indeed come prepackaged with the patch; I didn't check beforehand. I just assumed, given it was a Bethsoft product, that it would need patching. ;) (Love 'em to death, but...you know...)

 

RE: GFWL...how do I update this? I can't find it in my Start Menu anywhere, and Windows Update comes up empty. It's not in my Games folder...I'll keep searching.

 

As an aside, I /think/ I may have the freezing problem beat (*knocks wood*); I edited my .ini using some multi-core tweak suggested elsewhere. Seems to be working so far...