You can't activate retail F3 on Steam:https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7480-WUSF-3601

Unless you've meant New Vegas. :)

which can't pass a disc check

Fallout 3 has nothing just backup the DLC mod files after you install and keep the dlc list txt...

watch your data folder and then make an archive after you install them... Fallout 3 was the last game to not use online call home DRM... new vegas is crap... and untill that goes GOTY or collectors with the expansions and super cheap they wont get a penny from me...

you can use the FOMM and a custom gfwldll to bypass everything including the launcher config program.

After installation, you apply a cracked exe. ;)

I'll just wait for a Steam sale, thanks xD

Max Countdown, 2 more months till Summer sale xD

Suit youself. :p

This man has it correct.

The point of activating through Steam is that if I build a new machine, which I inevitably will, I can download and install through Steam. But you can't do that unless you bought the game through Steam. Of course I can get F3 to launch through Steam but there is no advantage in that.

I can also defeat the disc check by launching from the .exe, and I do that. But I still have to install off the disc when I build a new machine.

Let me remind you that F3 was already digital when it was on the disc.

Since there seems to be some confusion here, Fallout 3 itself does NOT have any sort of copy protection scheme of any kind. The superfluous launcher does have a cd-check, but the launcher is totally unnecessary. All five DLCs are also on the disk, so you don't have to worry about any sort of validation there either. You don't even have to be connected to the internet to install it.

If you're running Fallout 3, you really ought to be using something like the Fallout Mod Manager (FOMM) anyway since it will actually let you control the load order of any installed mods, create merge patches, and a variety of other stuff. This helps prevent your mods (DLCs included) from breaking each other.

Thirdly, the GFWL aspect is totally optional. I don't even HAVE a GFWL account and I've never had any problems whatsoever. I don't get any achievements, ohhh darn. Furthermore, if you use the Fallout Script Extender (FOSE) which is required for many mods, the GFWL aspect of the game is completely disabled anyway. For the record, I also haven't had the disk in my drive since the game was installed, again, no problems.

A word in which Fallout 3 is in any way better than New Vegas is a world in which the Pope is a devout Satanist.

Fallout 3 had better DRM (a bypassable disk check). New Vegas is a better actual game, it has worse DRM though.

+1,000

My new best friend.

POKE HIM WITH THE SOFT PILLOWS

Can I pelt him with Poker chips instead?