Talk:Fallout 3 FAQ/Archive 1

What's this in the FAQ about PS3 players being able to level past 20? I can't find any info about this anywhere else, so can someone confirm this works or delete it from the article if it doesn't?

I think you can continue the game after you finish the main story. It would be very unpractical....and different to oblivion / morrowind.
 * No, you can't continue. Ausir 09:40, 14 October 2008 (UTC)

Ive heard that there is a safety filter on the xbox 360 version. is this true? 03:10, 3 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Define safety filter?

Game of the Year Edition Running of Windows 7 64bit
I am having problems INSTALLING on windows 7 64bit. It keeps saying that the program is incompatible. And I have tried both the compatibility mode and running as admin.

Are you sure you can run it on Win7?82.36.34.239 12:24, February 27, 2010 (UTC)

Reguarding intelligence and conversation options
"Are there special dialogue options for dumb characters?No, unlike previous Fallout games, there are no dialogue options available only to low intelligence characters. In Fallout 3, characters with low intelligence speak as intelligibly as the intelligent ones."

This is incorrect, twice today I ran into situations where my character was given an "[Intelligence]" conversation option, when my intel was 3, all of them relating to how unintelligent my character really was. Once was in a school, talking to a robot, who remarked that I was a child with "special needs". Another was attempting to use a screwdriver to help a slave break free of his slave-colar.
 * Well, it's still not comparable to Fallout 1 and 2, where low-intelligence characters had a totally separate dialogue tree for each conversation. Ausir
 * Yes, I definatly agree :)

High karma, low karma, perks, high stats, low stats, high skills, probably low skills, and speech %(modified by difficulty of the check) all give dialog options. Only speech checks have a % chance of success, the rest, you got it or you don't. Even some apparel affects conversation options (ashur's power armor, superhuman gambit outfits).

As far as I know, none of the options you would get with 5-6 in all stats, no skills of note, and no perks disappear... all of the above is just to get extra options...

... but the number of result altering stats/skills/etc. you have is probably higher than fallout 1

more to change view for xbox 360
change view so you can see your self then click and hold the left bumper then move the right stick up for zoom in then down for zoom out

i just figured this one out

im a beginner at fallout three and cant get to the outside world

re-entering vault 101
Can anyone tell me if you are able to re-enter vault 101 and if so how do you do it?

see Trouble on the Homefront--Extremofire 15:53, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

In-Game Time Limit
Is there a time limit to complete the game, like in fallout 1 or 2? Im currently in November 2277.

No, there is no timelimit in the game. However without Broken Steel the game will end after the main quest --MercZ 18:36, 12 May 2009 (UTC)

Updating for Broken Steel
Some parts of this FAQ still reflects a pre-Broken Steel time. I suggest we update these to make it more current. I'm going to go through and edit the obvious ones --MercZ 18:40, 12 May 2009 (UTC)

PC requirements
The minimum requirements listed are a joke. It says the minimum acceptable video card is a 6800 with 256MB VRAM or equivalent. I have a 6600GT with half that VRAM, yet the game still runs fine. So much for MINIMUM requirements...--Amitakartok 22:21, 18 May 2009 (UTC)


 * And yet, I have a 7600GT with 256MB and Fallout 3 is, at times, (such as, oh, most of Operation Anchorage, but also intermittently all over the Capital Wasteland, indoors or outdoors) absolutely unplayable. The question is, what's your CPU and what's your RAM? They may be propping up your performance. For comparison's sake, I'm limping along on an Athlon64 3500+, (single-core) and 1GB of DDR400-type memory. - DaWrecka 00:42, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

Dear above user, A 7600 is NOT the same an 8600. In fact, a 7900 is a little worse than an 8600 (in the same way that an 8600 is a little worse than an 9500 and a 9800 is a lot better than a 8800 (like the same performance as 2 of the older cards in SLI) )

An 8600 with 256 runs the game fine for me.

86.16.153.191 00:13, 23 July 2009 (UTC)


 * Seeing as the original poster was talking about the 6800, not the 8600, I don't see what the relevance of the 8600 and 9600 is. - DaWrecka 00:47, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

Glitches
Does anybody know if the shop glitch has been fixed (selling and rebuying for 100% repair and/or profit)? Cheers

Springvale Basement
There is a burned down house in springvale that has a basement that requires a key ot open. Anyone know where the key is or is it inaccessable? U can't pick the lock!

Start the holy water quest from scribe bigsly at the purifier about megaton's water.74.61.98.91 17:13, 9 June 2009 (UTC)


 * This is with Broken Steel only.ThePog 11:59, January 6, 2010 (UTC)

Video Card Supports
I use the ATI HD 3200 and i can play fallout 3 fine, so i guess its supported?

Alt+Tab Switching
I'd like to state for the record that Alt+Tab switching actually works perfectly fine in Fallout 3, despite what this wiki says. --ToxicClay 07:25, 6 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Just because it works for you, doesn't mean it works fine for everyone. Ausir(talk) 07:30, 6 July 2009 (UTC)
 * No, of course not, but I'd be interested to know under what circumstances the mechanism fails to work. I run what might be considered a typical install of XP, and I'm confused as to what might cause it to fail. --ToxicClay 07:33, 6 July 2009 (UTC)
 * I'd like to chime in here and point out that Alt-Tab switching has been schizophrenic for me. More often than not switching back to Fallout 3 fails miserably - it will throw up a title bar about 3/4s of the way down my screen, the music will play, and...nothing. But every so often (1 time in 5 so far, or thereabouts - I've not been keeping score) it works. I'm yet to identify a pattern. - DaWrecka 00:42, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

-- Hmm.. Very Interesting. Seems like ALT tabbing USED to work for me. It's only when you update Fallout 3 to patch 1.1 or newer do you start to see issues with ALT tabbing. If you open the Task Manager (CTRL+ALT+DEL OR CTRL+SHIFT+ESC) beforehand, then ALT tabbing should work without any problems.

Mind you the only reason why ALT tabbing doesn't work anymore is because there is no way to ALT tab out without having Fallout 3 minimized. Once minimized, it can't go back.

I'm sure Bethesda will fix this in the next patch.

help
Im having problems with the last part of the main quest and sarah lyons just keeps saying make sure this area is locked down but everything is already dead. 360 version i really need help with this so i can go on to broken steel
 * Khaos : are you just wrapping up Take It Back and entered the Jefferson Memorial Gift Shop? Wipe out all the Enclave soldiers, then enter the Rotunda. --ToxicClay 05:50, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

yea i did that before i went in.
 * After you deal with Colonel Autumn, ascend the stairs to the Project Purity Control Room. That should trigger the endgame. --ToxicClay 06:01, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

na thats when it glitches ae
 * Do you mean that Sentinel Lyons does not contact Doctor Li over the intercom to trigger the endgame sequence? Does Doctor Li's voice come over it at all? PS, please sign your posts with four tildes ~, and use colons to indent and organize response trees. --ToxicClay 06:22, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Same thing happened to me when i got Broken Steel. I tried everything and it still didn't work and i was like WTF? that's GREAT! so then i just played The Pitt which i also downloaded at the same time as Broken Steel and then i read that a patch released fixes the problem. So just make ur game up to date and Broken Steel should work fine. Silent.Killa78 06:42, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

In other news, I'm having a similar, though unrelated, problem. My issue is that Broken Steel doesn't work. I have it downloaded from GFWL and FO3 is patched, but FO3 refuses to recognize its existence. Is there a fix for that particular bug? --ToxicClay 06:50, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

-"mine works its just that im having problems with lyons on the mission take it back is there an update to fix this?
 * Khaos, how can Broken Steel be working if you cannot access it? --68.49.208.160 10:36, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

-There is a glitch in the patch that will not let me pass the main questline which means i cant even get into the Broken Steel part of the game.

-this is nuts i cant get it going. --Khaos1983 01:21, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

Using a controller with Fallout 3 PC
For those of you thinking about using Fallout 3 PC with a controller, stop and ask yourself the following question:

Is my controller an Xbox 360 controller, and am I using the Microsoft drivers for it?

If the answer to this question is NO, then you cannot use it with Fallout 3. Not directly at least. There exists an Xbox 360 Controller Emulator, but without that your controller will NOT function in Fallout 3, and presumably any other Games for Windows game. This is clearly either an intentional limitation by Bethesda or, more likely, a limitation imposed on them by Microsoft for using the Games for Windows thing. Reassigning controller buttons will work on the options screen, but the controller will not actually have any effect on the game beyond that. I'm not sure who it was wrote the Frequently Asked Question covering this subject on the article, but I want to beat them with a brick for lying. Technically the response is true, but the omission of important details means the implication is that you can use it with any controller, an obvious falsehood, and that makes it very, very slimy in my book. - DaWrecka 00:42, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

I would like to know why i couldn't see the rest of opening cinematic of the game?!..., Because the scene(and the game of course) stucked exactly after the chlld was born... ., Though i have a Geforce 9500 GT graphic card with 1 GB of video ram....

Can it run on...
I'm unsure if my computer can run Fallout 3. I have:

2.26 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo

4 GB memory

NVIDIA GeForce 9400M Graphics

120 GB Hard drive

8x Double-layer Superdrive

I'm also running this on a mac mini using the bootcamp application. I may be missing a few details, but is it compatible?

You should be able to run it just fine. Although I'd recommend you keep the Mac mini in a nice cool spot xD Have an AC on or something so that it won't overheat. My brother plays Fallout 3 on MID/HIGH on his Unibody Macbook and I could play HIGH on my Unibody Macbook Pro. You really shouldn't have much of a issue playing as you actually have more RAM then my brother has xD Although for the ultimate experience, get on your Gaming Rig. Mine plays just fine MAX with 16xMSAA and 16xAF.

Thanks for the help. I hope when I'm using it it doesn't explode. O_o

Is it really necessary that the FAQ contain spoilers!? (Xuanlong Assault Rifle, perhaps others. I stopped reading.) No. No it is not! I have read this site for about 15 mins and I have found excessive spoilering on every page, probably because all u little pedants want to prove how knowledgeable you are! I am so proud! /sarc

Fallout 3 Patches Question
say if i downloaded the newest (v1.7) patch and run it, does it include all the previous patches that have been released up to date as well? or do i have to track down every single one of them and apply them in order?

1.7 patch will patch any previous (unaltered) version to 1.7. It should be noted that it will NOT work on hacked/altered files past somewhere in the 1.3 to 1.5 range, even with fixes. My advice, should you be in this position is ... buy it. The game is worth it, particularly with the GOTY verison.

A question about the lone wanderer...
Is the lone wanderer anyway related to the chosen one? This has been bugging me for a while. If so, then through which parent? James or Catherine?
 * There is no known relation between the characters. Ausir(talk) 02:14, October 5, 2009 (UTC)

Alt-Tab
I have a system that is barely meeting the system requirements to play. What this means is if I max actor sight range and increase a couple of things above minimum and run it full screen at 1280x1024 (all of this has game significance, since it allows for more accurate sniping and long range shots), I get occasional unloaded textures... so ya, borderline.

With such a system, my alt-tab experience is this. 1)If I hit "Live" and go to IE that way, IE works fine and it tabs back fine (so long as I don't leave it for like an hour minimized). 2)If I play on 1024x768, WINDOWED mode and ALREADY have another program open (say, firefox), it will only hang if left there for a long time. It will also automatically go into the (Esc) menu. 3)If I switch out of the game by any means when there is NOT another task running, the game will not resume properly, period. 4)If I switch out of full screen, even with another app running, it will hang.

Opening new apps while the game is in background can be a little shaky also.

Much of this is likely dependent on the graphics card, but I wanted to give full info with a borderline system (as I suspect better systems handle more). Kind of the "low bar".

Nonetheless, if you want to see the wiki or your text file with how high you want to take your skills or anything like that... run those FIRST, minimize them, and run your game in windowed mode, one resolution level lower... or just copy/print what you need onto that funky pay-par stuff that all burned up in the great war.


 * For what it's worth, this is precisely, word-for-word my own experience with alt-tabbing on this game. I run Windows 7, so if I press Ctrl-Alt-Delete, it brings up the menu where I can choose to start the task manager; if I click that option, the task manager (slowly) starts. Once it's running I can use it to alt-tab. When returning to the game after starting the task manager, I find the (Esc) menu has appeared.

I never play full-screen mode because the game crashes significantly more, and it's also harder to recover from a crash because you usually can't alt-tab. Mods exacerbate the crashing problem. 74.44.14.248 03:23, December 31, 2009 (UTC)

Books
How do I read the books in PC version?Reddy4it 23:29, November 6, 2009 (UTC)
 * Do you have a player or something that instructs you repeatedly to keep breathing? You click on the books in your inventory screen, just like you use stimpacks or equip armour. http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/fallout/images/thumb/4/4a/Naglowaa_se.gif/11px-Naglowaa_se.gif Tagaziel (call!) 00:30, November 7, 2009 (UTC)
 * This isn't for all books though! For instance you can't read any of the scorched books or pre-war books, only the ones that appear in the 'Aid' section of your Pip-Boy 3000. ThePog 12:03, January 6, 2010 (UTC)

Moving things like a body
I have seen, in videos, the player moving things like crates and bodies/skeletons. Is this possible in all versions? What button(s) or key(s) do you use?
 * No idea for PC, but you click the right joystick on PS3 and Xbox. Nitty Tok. 02:55, January 9, 2010 (UTC)

Found it (by acccident). You press the Z key on PC. LepricahnsGold 16:43, January 16, 2010 (UTC)

Canon
is Fallout 3 considered canon? i was reading the new vegas info and it said new vegas had nothing to do with fallout 3. Fallout 3 also had nothing to do with Fallout and Fallout 2 so i just wanted to make sure it was still canon.
 * See Canon. Also, please sign your posts.--Gothemasticator 03:15, February 28, 2010 (UTC)