How To Run Modded Fallout 3 In Windows 11

So right now Epic Games is giving Fallout 3 GOTY away for free, and will be doing so until 10/27.  You can grab it here: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/fallout-3-game-of-the-year-edition

Now you're reading this and thinking, why would I want Fallout 3?  It's a 15-year-old game that was kind of ramshackle to start with and represented Bethesda's first stumbling attempt at hacking their way into Fallout. The AI never worked right, it was prone to crashing, the graphics were pretty antiquated even then, and the story didn't altogether make sense. And the whole damned thing is green.

And my answer is: because there's an ocean of mods available that fix nearly all of those problems and can turn it into a pretty cool game. You also need FO3 GOTY (along with FNV GOTY) to build the excellent Tale of Two Wastelands mod, which right there makes it more than worth grabbing a free download.

Making It Work

This last summer I decided to figure out if modded FO3 could be run stable on Windows 11. I'd heard several people suggest that it couldn't, that it was simply too old.  However, those people were wrong, and I did indeed manage to do it.

These instructions are for the latest Steam release, but from what I've read they should also work with the Epic Games release.  

So if you want to experience Fallout 3 - and if you're a Fallout fan, you should - go grab the download while you can. And then do this:

1.  Install the latest version of Fallout 3 GOTY (currently free from Epic Games). Grab Mod Organizer 2 and create a new portable instance to be dedicated to this project.

I set compatibility mode on the two Fallout 3 executables to Windows XP (Service Pack 2), and also did the following: https://gameplay.tips/guides/fallout-3-instant-crash-fix.html 

Before moving on, make sure that you can get the vanilla game running.

2.  Download the Fallout 3 Anniversary Patcher. This tool repatches Fallout3.exe back to the last FOSE-supported version, plus it gets rid of Windows Live, adds the 4GB address aware patch and fixes a few engine bugs.  

3.  Grab the last available version of the Fallout Script Extender (FOSE)  I'm using the 1.3 beta. Unpack it into the FO3 install directory as you would normal.  

Now this part is important! Normally you would use the fose_loader.exe executable to start the game with FOSE, but because you just patched the engine, that loader no longer works. Anniversary Patcher, however, makes the game check for and load FOSE itself, without the need for an external loader. So just set MO2 to launch using Fallout3.exe - it'll find and use FOSE just fine.

At this point you should be good to play. You should be able to install almost anything from the Fallout 3 section of Nexus and mod to your heart's content.

Setting Up A Mod Dev Environment

If you want to develop Fallout 3 mods yourself, you will also need to get a version of GECK that works with the last released version of FOSE.

4.  The Steam version of GECK will NOT work with FOSE. Download legacy GECK with the 1.5 update patch and install it in your FO3 install directory.

5.  Grab the GECK Extender and its FOSE Patcher. Run the patcher to make GECK automatically load FOSE (because you can't use fose_loader.exe anymore due to the Anniversary downgrade). Install GECK Extender in your Data directory.  

Everything now should be the usual assortment of INIs and tweaks. But you should have a full build and FOSE-enabled dev environment ready to go for Fallout 3.