Posted May 17, 2020
Hi there!
I'm posting this because I spent around 10 hours over the past couple of days trying out the wide range of solutions between this board and Steam. I was caught in the Launcher loop, regardless of whatever solution I tried. It turns out that the answer was actually pretty straightforward, but it took a significant amount of digging to find out what was actually wrong.
It was Windows Defender.
In order for Fallout 3 to run properly, the game has to build a set of files in your X:/Documents/My Games/Fallout3 folder. Windows Defender (and most Antivirus/Firewall software) can restrict .exe files from making changes to your computer, and this includes Fallout 3.
If you're running into an endless Launcher loop, or your game isn't making it past New Game on the main menu, it may be worth giving the steps below a shot:
1) Go to your /Documents/My Games/Fallout 3 folder and delete it.
2) Search for Windows Security, or pull from your Icon Tray
3) Click on Virus & threat protection from the left menu, and then click on Manage ransomware protection at the bottom of the window
4) Click on Allow an app through Controlled folder access
5) Click on the "plus" symbol next to Add an allowed app, select Recently blocked apps
6) If Defender is preventing FO3 from working properly, you should see both Fallout3.exe and FalloutLauncher.exe in your blocked apps list. If they aren't there, this isn't the solution for you. If they are, click on the "plus" sign next to each
7) Run Fallout 3 through GOG Galaxy as normal, choose your appropriate graphics settings, and click Play.
I have been able to run the game without any additional changes outside of allowing FO3 through my Windows Defender protections. Your flavor of AV/Firewall will obviously have different settings, but I recommend checking to see if that's the issue.
I hope this helps anyone that are at their wits end like I was!
I'm posting this because I spent around 10 hours over the past couple of days trying out the wide range of solutions between this board and Steam. I was caught in the Launcher loop, regardless of whatever solution I tried. It turns out that the answer was actually pretty straightforward, but it took a significant amount of digging to find out what was actually wrong.
It was Windows Defender.
In order for Fallout 3 to run properly, the game has to build a set of files in your X:/Documents/My Games/Fallout3 folder. Windows Defender (and most Antivirus/Firewall software) can restrict .exe files from making changes to your computer, and this includes Fallout 3.
If you're running into an endless Launcher loop, or your game isn't making it past New Game on the main menu, it may be worth giving the steps below a shot:
1) Go to your /Documents/My Games/Fallout 3 folder and delete it.
2) Search for Windows Security, or pull from your Icon Tray
3) Click on Virus & threat protection from the left menu, and then click on Manage ransomware protection at the bottom of the window
4) Click on Allow an app through Controlled folder access
5) Click on the "plus" symbol next to Add an allowed app, select Recently blocked apps
6) If Defender is preventing FO3 from working properly, you should see both Fallout3.exe and FalloutLauncher.exe in your blocked apps list. If they aren't there, this isn't the solution for you. If they are, click on the "plus" sign next to each
7) Run Fallout 3 through GOG Galaxy as normal, choose your appropriate graphics settings, and click Play.
I have been able to run the game without any additional changes outside of allowing FO3 through my Windows Defender protections. Your flavor of AV/Firewall will obviously have different settings, but I recommend checking to see if that's the issue.
I hope this helps anyone that are at their wits end like I was!
