Launcher not working for Windows 10

[jruhland]

Hey guys, I'm sure this question has been asked a lot, but I can't get Fallout 3 to work on my Windows 10 PC. I looked around and found a guide on the Steam forums that has helped a lot of people get the game to run, but I can't follow the guide because the first step isn't working. When I hit play in Steam, it starts the launcher which immediately fails and pops up the "Fallout 3 launcher has stopped working" message. I tried setting it to run in compatibility mode for both Windows XP and Vista, and neither worked. Does anyone have other suggestions I could try? Thanks for your help.

[Deleted25063449User]

I'm having the exact same issue. When I try to run fallout 3, the initial loading screen appears and then crashes almost immediately. If I run fallout 3 as administrator, the game works fine, but then I cannot access my previous save files.

 

I've tried adding the d3d9.dll file, disabled GFWL, edited my fallout.ini file, all to no avail.

 

On a side note, Fallout NV works fine, so this seems to be a Fallout 3 only issue.

 

Any help?

[Billy1969]

I launch Fallout 3 with the FOSE launcher no problem, the regular launcher doesn't work I think, windows 10 complains about Fallout 3 being not compatible when you install it also, so I guess you need FOSE, I run it with Fose + 4gbpatch + ENB no problem

[Deleted25063449User]

Well, I tried downloading FOSE and launching through FOMM, but I still crashed right on start up. I'll try it again with the 4 Gb patch, but I don't know what about it could actually fix the crash.

 

It is worth noting that the game ran fine when I ran it as an administrator, so there could be something else at hand other than basic compatibility issues.

 

Any more ideas? Any help appreciated.

[Billy1969]

Well, I tried downloading FOSE and launching through FOMM, but I still crashed right on start up. I'll try it again with the 4 Gb patch, but I don't know what about it could actually fix the crash.

 

It is worth noting that the game ran fine when I ran it as an administrator, so there could be something else at hand other than basic compatibility issues.

 

Any more ideas? Any help appreciated.

 

You have to create a shortcut for fose_loader.exe on your desktop and in the options you have to enable it to always run as an administrator, do this with the shortcut and the .exe itself, same thing for the fallout.exe, the 4gb patch modifies the game executable to be able to address memory above the normal range, which helps with stability and makes it possible to load more mods into memory, the fose_loader.exe shortcut should work with or without the 4gb patch though.

Edited October 4, 2015 by Billy1969

[acelogan]

My game was running fine in Win 10 - other than some frame rate issues and occasional freeze - until this past Friday (Oct 2), and now it crashes at loading screen no matter how I launch it. I think a Windows update possibly changed something that effected it, because there was an update that day prior - and I had been playing the night before. After the update it initially would launch but my menu at the starting screen was blank. I thought maybe a mod went wonky on me, but after force quitting and trying to load again - without mods - it gave me the "Games for Windows Live" message. I think I fixed that with the GfWL Disabler, but it's still failing to launch (CTD @ Loading). I tried all the usual steps to get it working, short of completely uninstalling - but nothing worked. Looks like I'm going to have to try reinstalling, tho. If that doesn't work I might consider dual booting Win 7...

 

This is massively frustrating.

Edited October 5, 2015 by acelogan

[HansPHS]

Have been trying everything to get Fallout 3 to work with Windows 10, Coming up with all sorts of dll file errors, finally after a week of experimenting I got it working. Here is what I had to do:

 

Replace existing d3d9.dll file in the fallout folder with a newer version.

Update Windowslive with gfwlivesetup.exe

update Fallout 3 with 1.7 patch version 9.02

then updated Fallout 3 with the Unofficial patch

 

Everything seems to be working just fine. Hopes this helps someone.

[Deleted25063449User]

Damn, I've tried everything you guys wrote, but it still doesn't work.

 

Interestingly enough, my game doesn't even work when I run it as administrator too, even though it used to.

[acelogan]

I got mine working again; I have Fallout 3 goty on Steam

 

 

First: Back up everything in your Fallout 3 folder! It's just smart.

 

I uninstalled Fallout 3 and deleted everything in the folder - this makes sure it's a clean install.

I force uninstalled 'Games for Windows Live' using an uninstall program (Revo Uninstaller) because neither the Windows 10 'Programs and Features' software nor the start menu listed it.

(I also uninstalled a recent Win10 system update that occurred right before my game started crashing, but that appears to have just be circumstantial - as uninstalling it didn't fix the issue.)

I reinstalled Fallout 3, and then I copy/placed the xlive.dll file from my backup folder.

After this, I tested the game and it launched just fine.

 

Once I had it loading, I replaced the Data folder with my backup copy - as well as the Mod Organizer and Mopy (WryeFlash) folders - to get back all my mods and such.

I reinstalled FOSE.

I redid the 4GB handler.

I used the GfWL disabler to get rid of that pesky menu item.

Added the 'fINIp 3 (Fallout INI Project 3)' to replace my INI files with a more stable version.

Installed the FalloutLauncher Replacer for Steam.

 

Notice I DID NO reinstall GfWL - interesting.

I also did not set anything to 'compatibility mode' - also interesting - though it does look like both Fallout3.exe and fose_loader.exe are set to 'Run as Admin'

 

 

So far, it's still launching.

Edited October 11, 2015 by acelogan