Game freezing repeatedly

[RuaDragonheart]

So after playing this game for some time on an underpowered, Vista-loaded computer, I built a new computer from the ground up to play it at max settings without trouble. I did, however, have some concerns about playing the game using Windows 7, which is the only OS you can buy these days.

 

The problem now is that the game seems to be even more unstable than before, regardless of what graphic setting I put it at, be it Low, Medium, High, or Ultra High. After a random amount of time that rarely ever exceeds an hour, my game will freeze and I'm forced to use the Task Manager to shut it down. Compatibility mode for the different XP and Vista modes does not seem to help whatsoever. It could be five minutes before it freezes, it could be half an hour, but it ultimately ends when it freezes.

 

Furthermore, the game can only be played in Windowed mode--when loaded with my graphics card, the game will start up, but not appear on the screen despite the music playing in the background. If I use Intel® HD Graphics Family, the game will start up but promptly crash upon starting a new game or loading up a save file.

 

Finally, in a recent playthrough when I finally got to the Mall from the Museum Station, I soon came upon an error--the light sources seem to invert, becoming spheres of blackness in select areas in the underground and presumably the entire overworld (was not able to get through the Super Mutants to check its range). A couple loads back and forth between the overworld and the tunnel seem to resolve this, but another problem had appeared--time had frozen; the game clock had gotten stuck and was a list of two separate times, both hour and minute starting with a single digit followed by a decimal, followed by 10 to 12 more digits.

 

My processor is an Intel Core i5 2300 @ 2.80 GHz.

My graphics card is a 1024 MB GeForce GTX 580 Ti (EVGA).

My motherboard is a Gigabyte Technology Z68P-DS3 (Socket 1155).

My RAM is 4 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz.

My operating system is Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit.

 

Can anyone figure out my problem based on this information? I don't want to have to give up this game.

[prensa]

RuaDragonheart - Hello!

 

I can't help with the odd light issue but the freezing sounds like the Fallout 3 multi core bug.

 

Does the game freeze mainly in small interiors, locking up & then CTDing?

 

Fallout 3 has trouble with multi core computers, mainly with ones that have more than two cores & use hyperthreading.

 

You say you've got an i5? That's at least a 2 core.

 

The reason you didn't get freezing on the older weaker computer was because it probably wasn't multi core.

 

There is a fix, you need to edit your Fallout 3 .ini file.

 

The one you want to change is:

 

For XP:

 

My Documents\My Games\Fallout3\

 

For Vista & Win7:

 

Documents\My Games\Fallout3

 

The file you want will be called:

 

FALLOUT.ini

 

Open the .ini with Notepad & change this line:

 

bUseThreadedAI=0

 

to:

 

bUseThreadedAI=1

 

& insert this line under it:

 

iNumHWThreads=2

 

Save & close your ini.

 

Don't worry about running on Win7, I run it fine on a Win7 64 bit setup. :)

 

Hope this helps!

 

Prensa

Edited December 24, 2011 by prensa

[RuaDragonheart]

I've since learned of the multi-core bug and have taken care of it with the .ini edits, and the game is much more stable now. Still freezes on occasion, particularly during heavy combat or so, but not every 10 minutes.

 

It did not, however, take care of my full-screen problem. I still can't run the game outside of windowed mode.

[prensa]

RuaDragonheart - Hello!

 

Not sure why you can only run windowed.

 

Since you built your own computer I'm going to assume you've got the latest drivers for your graphics card. :)

 

I have seen many people say they have to run Fallout 3 windowed in order for it to be stable.

 

So much so that there are several mods to make it more pleasing to live with that way like:

 

Fake Fullscreen Mode Windowed - Alt Tab Fix

 

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16001

 

You may find that of use.

 

If you are getting micro stutters, looks a bit like film "jumping" frames, then this will fix that:

 

http://fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=8886

 

I use it, never needed it on my old dual core but it's a must on my newer quad core. Really smoothes the game out. :)

 

I'd recommend the FSR_4-0-7 rather than the update because that's the one I use.

 

It does require FOSE:

 

http://fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=8606

 

Hope this helps!

 

Prensa