Fallout 3 bugs

List all known Fallout 3 bugs here, to help other players cope with them and hopefully to help the developers fix them.

All platforms

 * It is possible to get "stuck" between rocks with no way of escaping (jumping, crouching, etc.) User can fast travel to escape (if no baddies near by.)
 * Missing head/face in haircut screen - using the robot in the Megaton house to change appearance, you can still make the change in appearance, but you cannot preview what the change will look like because your face is missing
 * No test on desk during G.O.A.T. test.
 * Unable to proceed past the book when you are a baby. Fathers leg clip into door.
 * During the Big Trouble in Big Town quest, after bringing Red and Shorty back to Big Town, when presented with the option to defend the town by repairing the damaged robots, the game will glitch and the robots will not be in the town. A reload to an earlier save did NOT correct this issue.
 * Related to the previous bug: The robots actually flew through the air and died at my feet as I entered the town for the first time. As such, I didn't know it was a bug that would affect anything... I thought they were just enemy robots.

PC
Technical problems Game play related
 * No games saved when clicking "save". Possibly related to having a roaming user profile.
 * Sudden crash to desktop without a send/don't send error report.
 * Disk unable to be read, viewed or otherwise seen as media on some DVD drives such as a Sony DRU-720A.
 * Game crashing when "New Game" is pressed in the main menu (related to ffdshow - adding fallout3.exe to the exception list off directshow audio/video apparently fixes this, but still remains an issue with others).
 * Game crashing when "Play" is pressed in the launcher splash screen (discuss specific issues/solutions on Talk:Fallout_3_bugs).
 * Memory leak related to excess processes, on-board sound card, and/or SLI.
 * VATS - related severe performance issues.
 * Game sometimes crashes on exiting with a send/don't send error report.
 * Player stuck unable to move, HUD also missing. Possibly due to bumping the ~,which opens the console to input cheats, directly above the TAB.
 * Some sound clips get stuck and loop until very far away from source. - fixed by lowering hardwareacceleration in controlpanel > speaker > advanced [Seemingly related to EAX support]
 * Mouse acceleration/smoothing cannot be disabled, causes mouse lag and strange acceleration
 * Due to an error in installing, certain sound effects (like gun shots/reloading and monster sounds) do not play.
 * Game freezes on loading screen when trying to load saved game.
 * Game crashes more and more frequently without a trigger the more it is played, resulting in a "log in and crash straight back out" effect after only an hour or so of game time.
 * Drop in FPS after playing for an extended period of time. Restarting the game fixes it.
 * Rebinding The Pip-Boy key is only one way. You can open it with your newly bound key, but must close it with Tab. (May not be on all PCs?) (it is on mine... Try this to check on yours: set Pip-Boy to 'I', press 'I', it will show the Pip-Boy. Press 'I' again. Pip-Boy stays on. You actually have to press 'Tab' to close the Pip-Boy again.)
 * Some key bindings are dropped (very rarely) after loading a saved game in midgame.
 * Sometimes when firing full auto or pistols as fast as you can click sound of weapon is silent for a few shots.
 * With 5.1 surround sounds from behind come through front speakers and vice-versa.
 * Streaks, flickers, and graphical corruption on fullscreen with Vista and SLI enabled. Running in Windowed mode solves the problem.
 * When the Pip-Boy's color is changed, the color does not change in third person view. (In other words, if color is changed to amber, then the pip boy remains green until activated)
 * Turning on radio causes graphics to stutter, possible solution: turn down the graphics a bit, if your graphics are walking on the edge, throwing in the sound might be just too much for a few seconds, and cause the stutter.
 * On some configurations, no 16/9 or 16/10 resolutions available in setup
 * Cant exit vault 101 - game crash. Loading imported save dont help - game crash after walking anywhere.
 * After speaking with silver in springvale, cannot find moriarty anywhere *note* may be on balcony area outside of the bar.
 * Sometimes NPCs get stuck on path while advancing toward deployed Frag Mines then instantly appears as though they teleported through it's triggering area. Additionally, Frag Mines have also been observed warping nearby enemies onto the Mine...which then detonates...spectacularly.  No known fix.
 * Sometimes you get stuck in "slow walking mode" -- this was a problem with Elder Scrolls Oblivion, has it been transferred to Fallout 3? What's worse: your SAVE has the 'walk slow bug' saved with it.  SOLUTION: You probably hit the CAPS LOCK, which locks down "run" and is on in the beginning.  You've toggled it off, hit it again. And check if you are not carrying to much.
 * Named NPCs spontaneously die in Megaton, possibly from falling off walkways or rad exposure near the bomb.
 * NPCs appear to float and their head's rotate around.
 * During game play in Rivet City, DogMeat started attacking people seemingly at random - yet, the victims still were able to be "talk activated" -- Rivet City seems to have some other bugs that we can call "plot glitches" -- for instance, they assume you have already paid the bartender in Megaton to hear about your "true birth story" - yet, even if you have not, they'll act like you already know the "secret truth" about your upbringing.
 * Scribe Rothchild can get stuck, making the main quest line impossible to continue
 * VATS - Uses up AP actions even if an obstacle is blocking path between player and target.

PlayStation 3

 * Slow or Jerky Movement while in The Vault. (akin to Lag in an Online game), might be fixed by rebooting your PS3
 * Graphic Glitch - Officer at Birthday Scene has left eye that stretches out for the entire viewable screen and follows head / eye movement
 * Game freezes during GOAT exam, may be circumvented by saving and reloading.
 * At the birthday scene, the door in the back opens up after some dialogue, and if you go through, you will be warped to another part of the vault, with no way back to the birthday scene
 * Jefferson Memorial Freeze - While traveling or approaching the Jefferson memorial during main quest the PS3 freezes.
 * Random objects blocking models both PC and NPC.
 * Dogmeat rocks quickly forward and backward as though his physics are off when standing idle. This seems to be triggered when loading a save where Dogmeat is set to the "Stay" command.  Fast traveling and reboot do not fix it.  Only loading an earlier save will correct the problem.
 * After visiting the GNR building, the player may find themselves permanently locked out the building.
 * Speech Errors - NPC's mouth moves during dialogue but nothing is said. Script/subtitles at the bottom of the screen "fast forward".
 * when playing with notification messages turned on the game may freeze, the game will return to normal after the notification has gone, go to system settings and turn off notification messages to solve the problem.

Xbox 360

 * Cannot read disk during tuning of the "Radio" or any other random event, usually at the beginning of gameplay. The longer you play, the less likely this happens. Restart system fixes.
 * Sometimes while approaching the Jefferson Memorial the game freezes. Clearing cache does not work to fix the issue.
 * Some people have main quest achievement problems.
 * After dying and having the game auto-load, sometimes the primary fire button will get 'stuck.' By this, you cannot fire by pressing the trigger. It will keep firing automatically every few seconds. So far, the only known way to fix this is to completely shut down the console and restart it.
 * After getting into a fight in tenpenny tower and speed traveling away the game locks upon re-entering tenpenny tower. The only fix is to re-start from an earlier save.


 * After completing The Wasteland Survival Guide Mission where you hide an observation device in a Mirelurk Lair, Fast traveling back to Megaton causes an infinite load time. It goes to the load screen but never succeeds in loading Megaton. Restarting the Xbox has not helped.
 * After seeing the Enclave for the first time in the Monument, Dad fills the control room full of radiation. As you try to escape with Doctor Li, load freezes trying to access the next room. Restarting and switching to a friends X-Box has not helped the problem, as well as switching to another disc.
 * After assisting the temple of the union with the Lincoln memorial the refugees never show up if slavers are killed first. The only known solution is to wait until Hannibal asks for help with slavers before eliminating opposition at the memorial.