fallout3 broken steel, no data option

[jojo69]

found physical media for broken steel today, ran the patch, ran the installer, per the instructions

now I am supposed to have a "data" option in the launch menu where I need to check boxes...but it is not there, just the normal "resume, load, settings"etc

the .bsa and .esm files are present in the data folder of my fallout install directory

anybody know what is going on?

 

[Skripka]

You enable the DLC and other mods in the game launcher/configuration dealio. Not inside the game itself. IIRC.

 

[jojo69]

where do I find that?

edit/ nvm, I found it thanks!, had to launch off the original CD not an exe on the harddrive

 

[polonyc2]

found physical media for broken steel today, ran the patch, ran the installer, per the instructions

now I am supposed to have a "data" option in the launch menu where I need to check boxes...but it is not there, just the normal "resume, load, settings"etc

the .bsa and .esm files are present in the data folder of my fallout install directory

anybody know what is going on?

in the Fallout 3 launcher there should be an option for 'Data Files'...Broken Steel is there and has a check mark next to it (along with any other DLC)...the Data Files option is there from the beginning of the install regardless if you have any add-ons installed

you could also just wander around the Wasteland a bit and you'll get a message that your level cap has been increased to 30...that tells you Broken Steel is installed

 

[Skripka]

where do I find that?

Now that I think about it. WARNING: IIRC, you ONLY want to enable Broken Steel after you've beaten the Main Quest up until you enter the final building. If I remember right, doing otherwise can break things for the world/character. I could tell you exactly where/when/how but it is a plot spoiler.


Like so:

Remember to load through the Fallout 3 launcher then click on "Data Files" and check the box next to the add-on names before running the game. Keep in mind that this workaround is not officially supported.

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout_3_add-ons

 

[polonyc2]

Now that I think about it. WARNING: IIRC, you ONLY want to enable Broken Steel after you've beaten the Main Quest up until you enter the final building. If I remember right, doing otherwise can break things for the world/character

I've been playing Fallout 3 for the past week and installed Broken Steel/Point Lookout about halfway through...didn't seem to break anything...what does it break if installed early (you can put in in spoilers if you want)?

I thought it only changes the ending where you can continue your game and increases your level cap

 

[Skripka]

I've been playing Fallout 3 for the past week and installed Broken Steel/Point Lookout about halfway through...didn't seem to break anything...what does it break if installed early (you can put in in spoilers if you want)?

I thought it only changes the ending where you can continue your game and increases your level cap

Things like GNR content-wise are biffed. I think some character dialogue also gets biffed, and treats your PC as if you've beaten the MQ. I'm operating on memory here, it has been forever since I played the game. Great game, but buggy as hell.

Windows ME was less buggy than Fallout3 even on a bad day. It was badly coded to start with, and none of the memory exceptions and shoddy coding mistakes even in the retail DVD that were originally sold at RTM release were ever fixed.

 

[polonyc2]

Things like GNR content-wise are biffed. I think some character dialogue also gets biffed, and treats your PC as if you've beaten the MQ. I'm operating on memory here, it has been forever since I played the game. Great game, but buggy as hell.

Windows ME was less buggy than Fallout3 even on a bad day. It was badly coded to start with, and none of the memory exceptions and shoddy coding mistakes even in the retail DVD that were originally sold at RTM release were ever fixed.

maybe all that was true on first release but the game is perfectly stable now...no crashes or game-breaking bugs at all for me...I'm almost at the end of the main story and have also completed most of the side missions as well with no issues...I installed Operation Anchorage and The Pitt right from the beginning and Broken Steel/Point Lookout about halfway through

I do know that the GNR stuff can be borked if you find Vault 87 too early...meaning you can bypass the entire few early GNR missions if you explore the Vault too soon...not sure that's a bug though but more of a story exploit

 

[Skripka]

maybe all that was true on first release but the game is perfectly stable now...no crashes or game-breaking bugs at all for me...I'm almost at the end of the main story and have also completed most of the side missions as well with no issues...I installed Operation Anchorage and The Pitt right from the beginning and Broken Steel/Point Lookout about halfway through

I do know that the GNR stuff can be borked if you find Vault 87 too early...meaning you can bypass the entire few early GNR missions if you explore the Vault too soon...not sure that's a bug though but more of a story exploit

Heh. "Perfectly stable" and FO3 do not belong in the same sentence. I remember when I first upgraded to Win7 x64 coming from XP SP3 which ran FO3 acceptably (read CTDs every 1-2 hours). FO3 on a new install would crash to desktop before the game menu fully loaded. The game was never patched to fix it rather only patched to add in new content, and never was really bug tested before release. There's a reason you go on Fallout 3 Nexus, and there's several monolithic bug-fix compilations made by fans. Because there were 100s or 1000s of plot/dialogue/item bugs that were never fixed. I read about a guy who gave his High School comp sci students each a fully-patched vopy of FO3 and were told to find bugs...even high school comp sci kids spotted dozens of memory leaks and exceptions in an hour.

Hell, I remember watching the hilarity of the release of the Operation Anchorage DLC...when they first posted it to GFWL, the DLC would permanently brick your game install. They had to pull the DLC within hours of release, and frantically patched it and re-released it a few days later.


Like I said. Fun game. And I spent probably a few hundred hours in it. But was like pulling teeth with CTDs and bugs.

 

[polonyc2]

Heh. "Perfectly stable" and FO3 do not belong in the same sentence. I remember when I first upgraded to Win7 x64 coming from XP SP3 which ran FO3 acceptably (read CTDs every 1-2 hours). FO3 on a new install would crash to desktop before the game menu fully loaded. The game was never patched to fix it rather only patched to add in new content, and never was really bug tested before release. There's a reason you go on Fallout 3 Nexus, and there's several monolithic bug-fix compilations made by fans. Because there were 100s or 1000s of plot/dialogue/item bugs that were never fixed. I read about a guy who gave his High School comp sci students each a fully-patched vopy of FO3 and were told to find bugs...even high school comp sci kids spotted dozens of memory leaks and exceptions in an hour.

Hell, I remember watching the hilarity of the release of the Operation Anchorage DLC...when they first posted it to GFWL, the DLC would permanently brick your game install. They had to pull the DLC within hours of release, and frantically patched it and re-released it a few days later.

Like I said. Fun game. And I spent probably a few hundred hours in it. But was like pulling teeth with CTDs and bugs.

but you just admitted that it's been 'forever' since you played the game right?...I'm using the retail disc version without any mods and the game is perfectly stable for me...I remember the game having issues at launch and with the Broken Steel DLC but that was when it was first released...the game is 5 years old now...it's also supposedly not optimized for Windows 7 but it's running fine for me (W7-64 bit)

 

[Skripka]

but you just admitted that it's been 'forever' since you played the game right?...I'm using the retail disc version without any mods and the game is perfectly stable for me

It has been forever.

But since Mothership Zeta (read the last DLC relesease), there have been ZERO updates to the game officially.

 

[polonyc2]

It has been forever.

But since Mothership Zeta (read the last DLC relesease), there have been ZERO updates to the game officially.

I think you need to give the game another go before complaining about bugs that may have been fixed...I've been playing Fallout 3 for the past week so my experiences are more recent compared to what it might have been like 3-4 years ago...I recall New Vegas being far more buggy then F3 at launch

 

[jojo69]

I actually have not been noticing any big bugs, nothing that effects gameplay

been playing it off of GFWL physical media (complete with vault boy poster ) that I found at half price books, there was a patch on the bethesda site that I installed

been looking at the HD texture packs on Nexus, but haven't taken the mod plunge yet

 

[polonyc2]

I actually have not been noticing any big bugs, nothing that effects gameplay

been playing it off of GFWL physical media (complete with vault boy poster ) that I found at half price books, there was a patch on the bethesda site that I installed

same here...the 1.7 patch is mandatory if you plan on playing all the DLC...I also have that poster...I wish they would have included a world map instead

 

[Brahmzy]

I'm ready for FO4.

 

[Comixbooks]