Fallout 3: Installation
Download either the standard or Game of the Year edition of Fallout 3 from Steam. If you have Windows 7 installed follow the instructions below for making the game play nice, otherwise skip to the next section.
By default, FO3 is not fully compatible with Windows 7 but a simple adjustment can fix this. After downloading and installing the game through Steam follow the steps below.
Click the Fallout Launcher or the Play link in Steam. The launcher will auto-detect your hardware and select optimal graphics settings. Open the Options to make sure the screen resolution and other settings are to your liking. I recommend disabling Antialiasing and Anisotopic Filtering. Antialiasing smooths rough edges which can look good at low resolutions but at high resolutions is virtually pointless. Anisotropic filtering controls the level of detail shown by textures in game. This function you do want but it's better to activate it from your graphic card's controller in the Control Panel section of the Windows Start menu.
Now continue on to the Tweaks section for important settings adjustments to be made prior to modding FO3.
By default, FO3 is not fully compatible with Windows 7 but a simple adjustment can fix this. After downloading and installing the game through Steam follow the steps below.
- Open the Windows Control Panel from the Start Menu and click on "Programs and Features."
- In the upper left corner click on "Turn Windows features on or off." This will generate a list of features.
- Find "Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.1," expand it by clicking the plus icon to the left, select the "Windows Communication Foundation HTTP Activation" option and click OK. Turning this feature on will take several minutes to complete.
- Close all open windows.
Click the Fallout Launcher or the Play link in Steam. The launcher will auto-detect your hardware and select optimal graphics settings. Open the Options to make sure the screen resolution and other settings are to your liking. I recommend disabling Antialiasing and Anisotopic Filtering. Antialiasing smooths rough edges which can look good at low resolutions but at high resolutions is virtually pointless. Anisotropic filtering controls the level of detail shown by textures in game. This function you do want but it's better to activate it from your graphic card's controller in the Control Panel section of the Windows Start menu.
Now continue on to the Tweaks section for important settings adjustments to be made prior to modding FO3.