In recent times, I have received complaints from users concerning how to fix Fallout 3 on Windows 10. A lot of users complained that Fallout 3 stopped being compatible with Windows 10.
This post is designed with you in mind if you have not been able to run Fallout 3 on Windows 10. I would be showing you how to run Fallout 3 on Windows 10 shortly.
Created by Bethesda, Fallout 3 is an action open-world game that was released to gamers across the world in the year 2008. The game has proven to be a successful release when taking into consideration some of the giant strides it has taken.
The game led to the idolizing of the Fallout franchise and it is still played by many gamers today even though it was released about 12 years ago.
It is one thing for a game to enjoy appraisals after its release, it is a different ball game entirely for it to stay relevant for years after its release. This is the story of Fallout 3.
Released during the time of Windows 7, Fallout 3 has stayed relevant till this day spanning through the development of Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 9, and Windows 10.
As newer Windows versions other than the one Fallout 3 was originally designed to run on emerged, compatibility became a problem.
To answer the question of whether Fallout 3 is compatible with Windows 10, the truth is that Fallout 3 was not designed to run on Windows 10.
The people who designed the game did not expect it to stay relevant over a decade after they released it. Or even if they did, they did not know that other versions of the Windows operating system would be released and the game would not be compatible with them.
So the classic game began to develop issues as time progressed. Nevertheless, we have mastered subtle ways to get the game working even on Windows 10.
You can install the game on Windows 10 but like many users, you would begin to suffer the consequences of the game’s incompatibility. One of such consequences is the game crashing just before the intro scene plays.
You can go past the hurdle of Fallout 3 crashing when you try to play the game on Windows 10. The steps you are about to read were discovered and have been working without fail to make Fallout 3 work on Windows 10.
Without further ado, allow me to let you in on how to fix Fallout 3 on Windows 10.
Contents
Run The Game As Administrator
I suggest the very first thing you do when Fallout 3 fails to run on your Windows 10 is to run the game as administrator.
This method is easy and the steps are listed below:
- Go to the Fallout 3 folder. You will find the folder in your Steam folder. You will find it in the location as stated below “X:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Fallout 3 goty”
- Right-click on the Fallout 3 exe file. In the menu that pops up, click on Properties.
- Click on the Run Program as Administrator to enable the program to run as an administrator
- Click Ok
Try and launch Fallout 3 to see if the compatibility issue has been fixed. If it has not, continue to the next fix.
Download And Install Games for Windows Live
Games for Windows Live is an important application that must be installed on a Windows computer for games to run on it successfully.
Fallout 3 also required the Games for Windows Live application before it would successfully run on Windows 10.
To download and install Games for Windows Live application, follow the steps below:
- Download the application software
- After the software is downloaded, go to the directory you downloaded it into, double-click on it to launch the app
- When you launch, you would see onscreen instructions, follow them to complete the installation process after which the application will be installed on your computer.
- After installation, run the application and it will automatically download the files Fallout 3 needs for it run on your computer
- When the files are downloaded, close the Games for Windows Live and launch Fallout 3
This should get the game running again. If the game crashes again, try out the next solution.
Edit Falloutprefs.ini File
One of the ways to fix Fallout 3 not working on Windows 10 is to edit the falloutprefs.ini file.
The file is a configuration file that belongs to the Fallout 3 game. To resolve the incompatibility issue with Windows 10, you can get Fallout 3 working again by following the instructions below:
- Go to the file location: My Documents\My Games\Fallout3
- In that file location, look for the falloutprefs.ini file
- Open the file and double-click it to have it rendered in Notepad
- Locate the line having this string: “bUseThreadedAI=0”
- When you locate the string, change “0” to “1”. That is instead of bUseThreadedAI=0 you should have “bUseThreadedAI=1”
- If you don’t find any line containing “bUseThreadedAI=0”, just add “bUseThreadedAI=1” to the file
- After this, go to a new line and add “iNumHWThreads=2”
- Save and close the file
Try to run the game again. Remember to run the game as administrator even after trying this fix.
Run Game in Compatibility Mode
Fallout 3 was released a long time ago and it became incompatible with newer versions of Windows.
You can play Fallout 3 on Windows 10 if you run the game in Compatibility Mode and I am going to show you how.
- Go to the Fallout 3 folder in your Steam folder
- By default, you should find Fallout 3 either in “X:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Fallout 3 goty” or “X:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Fallout 3”
- When you locate the folder, right-click on the Fallout 3 .exe file
- You will see the “Properties” option. Click on it.
- Go to the Compatibility tab and enable this program Run in Compatibility Mode by checking the box located at its side
- In the drop-down menu located just below the Run this program in Compatibility Mode option, you will be asked to select an option. Choose any from the list and apply it
- Try running the game, if it does not work, go and try other options in the drop-down menu from the point above
Conclusion
No doubt you will be able to fix Fallout 3 on Windows 10 with the steps I have outlined above.
A good number of users have adopted them and recorded success. You can as well.
If you encounter any troubles, feel free to let me know in the comment section.