Community:Speedrunning/Fallout 3

Speedrunning is the act of beating a video game, or segment of a game, as quickly as possible while adhering to a set of rules which have been established by the game's individual community. Information regarding speedrunning in Fallout 3 is found below.

Due to similarities between the game's engines, many of the glitches for Fallout 3 will work for Fallout: New Vegas.

Categories
Current Leaderboard

Quicksave/Quickload glitches
While these glitches can be executed using the default F5-F9 keys, it is recommended to rebind them to LMB and RMB or any easy to reach combination.

Pre game setup
Ensure you are running on the latest patch, 1.7.0.4 for PC on either the steam or gog version.

If needed support for the gamepass, anniversary patch or epic games versions can be added to the load remover.

In the games launcher, go to settings and ensure that HDR is enabled. This allows you to see during a fade to white such as exiting the vault.

Any Video settings are allowed.

In data files, make sure all DLCs are unticked unless you are doing a dlc specific run.

Since Fallout 3 has fps bound physics, it is required to limit and show your fps during a run. This is often done through 3rd party tools like RTSS or dxtory, tutorials on how to use these can be found online. Runners do not often use Vsync to cap their framerate due to high refreshrate monitors.

It is not permitted to cap your frame rate using Nvidia or AMD driver tools, this is because it affects the game differently to the aforementioned tools and makes the player far faster than intended.

To make the game more stable, some ini edits are allowed. The Fallout.ini is located in "Documents/My Games/Fallout3"

Open this file and go the bottom of [General], there you should find the line "bUseThreadedAI=0". Change this to 1

Under this line add "iNumHWThreads=2".

Optionally, you can add these lines under controls to remove mouse acceleration.


 * "fForegroundMouseAccelBase=0"
 * "fForegroundMouseAccelTop=0"
 * "fForegroundMouseBase=0"
 * "fForegroundMouseMult=0"

Lastly, you can change "iPresentInterval=1" to 0 to disable Vsync, which combined with a 3rd party FPS limiter may reduce input lag.

Timer
While any timer can be used, it is advised to use livesplit on pc which will remove load times from the run.

To setup livesplit, download the latest version and launch it. Once launched you can right click the window and go to edit splits. This allows you to enter a game name, which in this case is Fallout 3. You can then optionally add a category which will help organise your splits.

After the game name has been entered, a line should appear saying "Load Removal is available. (By Radioactiv)" followed by an activate button. Make sure that the button is activated.

The load remover, also comes equipped with a quest counter and an almost working speedometer. To enable this, go to edit splits and press the settings button next to where you activated the load remover. Upon the games next load the tools will appear on your timer.

Timer Troubleshooting
If the timer does not pause during a load screen, make sure you are running the latest patch on steam or gog.

Right click the window and go to "Compare Against" and make sure this is set to game time.

If this fails, right click the window and go to edit layout then double click the timer button and make sure the timing method is set to game time.

If the above methods do not work, join the speedrun discord and ask for help.

In game setup
*Note if the game does not load, you may need to verify game files or disable your antivirus.

Once the game has loaded, go to settings and then gameplay. Here you can change the difficulty to Very Easy.

Go Back into settings and go to Controls then Action Mapping. You can choose any key bindings you want however, I would recommend binding block to a key as we are going to unbind it from the mouse.

Once keyboard bindings are done, press device in the bottom right corner, this allows you to set mouse binds.

For the mouse bind Quick save to LMB and quick load to RMB. This means you will need to bind shoot to either side mouse buttons or set a keybind for it.

While it is possible to not have quick save and load bound to the mouse, it makes it far harder to do most strats.

To get ready for speedruns, either download this save or make a new game and make a save the moment you gain controls as a baby.

Any%
Vault

Load your start save and start your timer(by default numpad 1)

Immediately walk towards dad, when he starts talking quicksave quickload(hereby known as qsql) twice.

Dad will then walk out of the pen and start talking again, there is no need to qsql here.

Once player controls are enabled, walk towards the special book spamming 'the interact key' to open the pen door as fast as possible.

Open the special book and spam up arrow until 10 strength and then press 'a' to close the book.

Truckpush - This is the first major trick done. To do truck push grab the Nuka-Cola truck off the top shelf and press it up against the bottom of the door that dad walked through. When dad opens the door, move the truck under him and qsql twice. You can then move the truck(dad will move with it) to the photo frame which has the revalations quote on it. Now go through the door that leads to the corridor and once he starts to talk, qsql 4 times. If done correctly, once you reach the corridor the screen will fade to white.

* If failed, you can simply wait for dad to reach the photo frame by himself and then qsql past his dialogue like normal.

During the fade to white, you need to listen out for the line "teacher's pet gonna cry" from this point you can qsql.

qsql 5 times until you can hear dad say "If only your mother" wait a second, then qsql another 5 times. You should now gain player control, if not it is because you did not wait long enough for the overseer to open the door at the end of the room. Simply reload the autosave and try again.

Once player controls are gained, hold left and spam qsql, this if done with the correct timing, should let you clip through the door.

Once clipped, take a left and then a right down the stairs and talk to Jonas and then go back to the stairs to talk to dad.(It does not matter what dialogue you pick).

After getting the BB gun, go towards the door to the left of Jonas and as you open the door, shoot Jonas to skip some dialogue.

Walk towards the targets at the back of the room and shoot them 3 times to spawn a radroach, this radroach is often 1 shot on very easy but can sometimes take 2 shots.

When it is killed, walk towards dad and let him talk to you. After this, you need to walk into which makes him move towards the next trigger faster.

Once dad stops, stand next to him and turn around so that Jonas can take a photo, qsql to skip his smile dialogue, another fade to white ensues.

After the fade to white, qsql when dad starts to talk to you and then when in actual dialogue with him, scroll to the bottom option to leave the conversation instantly.

COC - Now that player controls are regained we can now exit the vault, skipping the rest of the intro sequence. To do this you need to go out of bounds(OOB) and fall to the COC plane which teleports you to the exit sequence.

To clip, hold right and jump onto the short end of the table, now spam qsql and pray that you eventually go out of bounds. This is a difficult clip so may take some time.

It is worth noting that clips can be mostly consistent if you set them up, so look at a spot on the wall and if you do clip, it should work next run.

Once you have COC'ed look North West(NW) and follow the corridor around and up the stairs, then go straight forward into the atrium.

Upon loading in the atrium, we will utilise the games load screen to move before we have actually loaded in. To do this simply hold forward and right while loading. This places you near an open door into the atrium, from here head to the South East(SE) door which is jammed open and walk half way up the stairs.

Next, you are going to qsql once as you hit the wall and you should clip through it. Once OOB qsql again to fall slower and you should have enough time to reach the vault 101 enterance door infront of you. You may notice that you interacted with the door from behind, this is a common property of doors we will use through out the run.

Once loaded in, run towards the corner of the wall, on the opposite side of the door to the switch and qsql. This is also a diffuclt clip but is consistent with practice and good timing. Once you COC you can leave vault 101

Speedcripple
Beginner loses ~15 seconds: Missile Cripple - Run towards Megaton and trade with Lucky Harith, if he doesn't spawn you will need to make a new save. When in his inventory, move an item with more than 6 in its stack to your inventory then move something which has a value of 30 or higher to your inventory. In your inventory press on the stacked item and press take all 'a' just after it. If done correctly, both the stacked item and the item with value should be gone from your inventory. Simply scroll down in Harith's inventory and buy a missile launcher and a missile, press 'a' to buy then 'x' to exit. Find a bit of flat ground often to the left of the Megaton door and look straight down. Make a quicksave and then fire the missile launcher, quick loading the instant before the explosion appears. Upon reloading you may have 50% extra speed if not retry around 10 times. If you do not get it then you need to relaunch the game before trying again. Once the speed is obtained, quick load again to make sure its persistent. Guide on Duping

Advanced: Cliff Cripple - After leaving the vault, climb the rocks to the right of you and make a quick save at the edge of them. Walk of the rocks and quick load just before you hit the ground. The timing is very tight making it a very difficult trick. If done correctly, you will gain 50% extra speed. Make sure to quick load again after obtaining the speed to make sure its persistent.

Citadel

Walk South East(SE) towards the town of Grayditch. Upon reaching the road with a bridge across it. Walk across the road and jump up the rocks that lead into the ruined building, Continuing South East until you see Marigold Metro. Walk into the door to the right of the metro entrance(the door is boarded up). Qsql while walking into the corner of the door frame and you should clip through it. Continue South East after you clip and then clip again on the hill when you reach the invisible wall. After this clip, go inbetween the pieces of rubble that are almost South East, you may need to qsql to get over some small pieces of rubble. An open plane will then be revealed which is the empty space of the Citadel. Walk towards the door of the Citadel which is to the East until you get the fast travel.

Little Lamplight

Fast travel to Vault 101, climb the rocks infront of you and head West, just to the right of the water tower in the distance. Once you reach the water tower, continue North North West over the hill in the distance, past the ruined buildings near Fort Bannister. Once over the hill enter Little Lamplight and while loading in hold back and right and qsql when you are loaded.

Eventually you will clip out of bounds and when you COC jump and hold right. Once the player lands, you can qsql and you should clip out landing in water.

Void Swimming

By swimming just past where the water texture ends, you will be in some invisible water. Make a quick save in this invisible water and then swim back into the visible water and quick load. If done correctly you should be able to swim North, following the cave pressing jump periodically so that you do not drown. If you are on low textures, the o2 meter will not show.

After swimming long enough you should see a door and conviently have just enough height to open it from below.

Immediately take a left after entering Murder pass and fall down into the main area, then follow the wooden ramps going up to the north.

Take a left just after the barrel and follow the corridor taking the right path. It is important to minimize air time, as falling large heights causes the player stagger, which over the course of a run adds up a lot.

Follow the path going through the doors, clipping through the 2nd one before entering the Reactor chamber.

Vault 87

Follow the cave and clip through the first door and on the left should be a set of stairs. Get yourself inbetween the top of the stairs and the railing and clip through it, trying to land on top of the corridor. Stairs clips are hard to learn but become very easy once you learn what to do.

When ontop of the corridor jump up the rock to the right making sure to not qsql and you will get stuck in the rock. If you cannot climb the rock make sure to move around to the back of the rock as you jump. At the peak of the rock, lies a door to the Living Quarters.

In the living quarters, run up the stairs and take a right in the atrium to another set of of stairs. Here you can do another stair clip and get ontop of the corriddor. Turn around and try to jump on the raised part of the atrium, you may need to qsql. Once up there, the floor will be invisible, but rest west until you are past the strut beams and then jump. You will land on another corridor and above you is the door to the Test Labs, you will have to jump to interact with it.

Loading into the Test labs, hold backwards and qsql until you coc, then head east following the corridor to the last door on the right to activate the fire alarm. Walk inbetween the terminal and the bit of wall sticking out, and clip out again, while you are out of bounds you can qsql again to stop the player getting staggered.

Upon being teleported, head west and follow the corridor until you reach the second set of stairs, stair clip ontop of the corridor and turn around. From here you can see where the geck is stored. To get the geck, walk towards it and line yourself up with the edge of a wall. As you fall, qsql into the wall of the geck room, slightly shaking your mouse as you do it. If done correctly, you will clip into the room, if not you will COC back the start and need to try again. For this reason, new runners may make saves to save time if they fail the clip.

Inside the geck room, you have limited time due to the high amount of radiation. Walk up to the geck container (The giant cylinder in the middle of the room) and go into third person while looking into the middde of it, then hold MMB and turn your camera, if done properly, you can interact with the geck and a pick it up using the message box.

Since this strat is hard, you can simply open the geck container and wait in the corner of the room where there is no radiation to get it.

After picking up the geck, you need to clip out of the room and coc. However, this is difficult as there are no easy clips that work for everyone. For this reason, it is worth experimenting with these setups. You may find a different clip entirely works better for you though.

Once you have COC'ed head west again and follow the corridor to just before the second set of stairs. This is the room where Colonel Autumn will capture the player. The easiest strat is to just walk into the trigger on the right side of the room and let the cutscene play out as intended.

However to save 15 seconds, you can bug this cutscene by staying on the left side of the room, dropping your vault 101 jumpsuit, grabbing it and doing a qsql, which centres your grip.

Hold this item up against the door opposite the one you entered from.

Walk to the right side of the door, look down and as you look up interact with the door to open it.

Then line yourself up with the right edge of the door and point the armour towards the pipes in the right side of the other room.

Guide

If done correctly, Autumn's path finding becomes broken and triggers a failsafe, which cause the soldiers and Autumn to talk over each other.

When the cutscene ends, the player is transported to Raven Rock.

Raven Rock

For Autumn's dialogue, do all top options. When the dialogue ends, wait until Autumn turns around before doing 4 qsqls

As the President is talking to the player qsql waiting ~2seconds between each one for him to start talking. This takes 6 qsql total.

Once player controls are regained, walk into the left side of the locker and while holding forward, look at the dark gray line next to the light gray line and qsql, this should be a 100% consistent setup to get you to clip. After COC'ing head through the door to the North West andd follow the stairs into Level 2.

Go through the door on the right, qsql'ing as the door is almost open, to go through it quicker. Then left through a closed door and follow the corridor to the bigger door. After this door, go up the stairs in the room to the right, ignoring the Enclave soldiers and head into the Control room.

In the Control Room, you can clip on the door frame(If you end up on top of it simply jump into the wall while trying to clip) to get into the other room, or just wait for the Sentry bots to kill the Soldiers, which causes the door to open. Follow the stairs up to the president and do his middle 7 dialogue options then scroll down to the bottom to end the conversation. Interact with the Zax panel andd then go to Level 1. Upon Loading hold backwards and lock slightly left andd try to clip, if you clip run right until the room bends, to hit a trigger then turn around and run towards the exit. If the clip does not work(most times it won't) just follow the corridor along until the exit.

Just before the exit, there is a soldier that can spawn with a Missile launcher, if this happens qsql and pray that he does not fire it. Getting crippledd removes the speedcripple effect, essentially killing the run.

End Game

After exiting Raven Rock, fast travel to the citadel and head South East towards Jefferson Memorial, swimming across the river.

When on the bridge to Jefferson, as you reach the energy field, you will get the fast travel. Fast travel to Jefferson and then enter the building, following it to the Rotunda.

In the Rotunda your aim is to get into the main chamber, which is locked. This can be done by COC'ing through a clip or by clipping into the room directly. It is best to experiment to see what works for you. Once inside the chamber, talk to Autumn doing his top dialogue to cause him to aggro and then head to the keypad. It is essential to line yourself up with the middle of the keypad as pressing the buttons cannot be done easily at an angle. Enter 2-1-6 and on pressing the Enter key, the timer ends.

The current record for this run is 14:06 Largely due to the new Colonel Autumn skip. Before this Both LMW and Elongated_Musketgun had been in a fierce fight for months lowering the record to 14:15 with both runners ending the grind in a tie which stood for 2 years.

All Quests
Vault

Starting in the Vault it is the same as Any% with loading a premade save starting as a baby. Going up to the S.P.E.C.I.A.L book it goes, 1 Strength, 8 Perception, 4 Endurance, 10 Charisma, 6 Intelligence, 1 Agility, and 10 Luck. Truck push Dad (James) like you would in Any% and exit to the Birthday scene. QSQL to skip the dialogue, clip through the door, stophop down towards Jonas to talk to him, talk to dad and get the BB gun, shoot Jonas to skip a dialogue line from him, shoot the targets and the radroach, talk to Dad again, push him to the trigger for the picture, and finally QSQL to skip the picture. Once in Dad's office this is where it changes from Ant%. Tell dad you're not sick and clip through the door to go to Edwin Brotch, pick bottom and then top dialogue, tag Lockpick, Repair, and Speech; then leave the room for the fade to white. Amata will wake you up, pick all the middle dialogue then clip out in the corner just on the other side of the door. This will COC you near Butch so face North and walk away as fast as possible and start stophopping. Continue upwards towards the atrium of the Vault then go towards the open staircase, clip through the stairs and interact with the door while out of bounds. Do the final clip through the door way on the left side, COC, and exit the Vault by selecting the bottom option.

Megaton

Make your way towards Megaton by stophopping and a level up will happen to which level Explosives to 25 and the rest into Speech. Once reaching Megaton, allow the door to begin to open and turn around to see the traders and wait by one hour until Lucky Harith appears. Go to trade with him and use Ghost Duping to have enough caps to buy the missile launcher and 2 missile (if he only has one just buy one). Turn around and go towards Megaton with hotkeying the 10mm Pistol and the missile launcher on whatever hotkey is preferred. Right before entering Megaton, do missile cripple to get speedcripple. Enter Megaton, disarm the Nuke in the middle of town, and go up the stairs towards Craterside Supply. Talk to Moria Brown and pick the top dialogue options until after the dialogue line talking about Dad then leave the conversation. QS before talking to her again and pick, bottom, bottom, top, bottom, top (last one being a speech check) and if the speech check is passed pick up the holotape next to the door and leave (if the speech check fails, just QL and try again). FT back to Megaton, Lucas Simms will talk to you and give you a key for disarming the bomb, a level up will appear where everything goes into Lockpick and leave Megaton.

Super Duper Mart

Go towards the Super Duper Mart, which is off to the right. Go to the front on the left side and check the Nuka-Cola machine for a Nuka-Cola Quantum. If there are no Quantums in the front two, QS before entering the Super Duper Mart by the far door and check the machine for the Quantum. If there are none, QL and continue to enter and QL until there is one inside and leave by just exiting (do not QL).

Jefferson

Go straight ahead towards Farragut West Metro station then up the stairs and move towards Dukov's Place. Enter Dukov's Place and kill Dukov and either Cherry or Fantasia to ensure that the Karma is low enough. Pick up at least 30 empty whisky bottles on the table and take everything off of Dukov. Leave Dukov's Place and go right towards Jefferson Memorial. Once getting towards Jefferson Memorial there are dark colored lines on the bridge that you will look for, halfway through the bridge the lines will disappear and reappear closer to the Memorial. At the second line is where the FT will appear, turn around for a second to be able to FT to Vault 101.

Arefu

Walk towards Big Town and QS by the mailbox next to Big Town. Jump onto the mailbox to get ontop of the house to enter Big Town (if you miss the jump just QL and try again). Walk across the bridge to leave Big Town and Dusty will talk to you, pick the top two dialogue and leave. Walk past the Fordham Flash Memorial Field towards Arefu. Before the explosion at Arefu, timestop to skip it and talk to Evan King tell him you'll help then go to the Ewer residence, top two dialogue and leave, then the Schenzy residence, top dialogue and leave, and finally the West residence, enter and look down at the dead body and interact and leave. Talk to Even King, top two dialogue and leave.

Minefield

Jump off the bridge at Arefu towards Northwest Seneca Station to get the FT. Walk towards Paradise Falls and talk to Grouse, pick top, middle, top. Make your way towards Germantown to get the FT and the Minefield (with speedcripple getting past the mines shouldn't be a problem). Go to the top of the mound and kill Arkansas, go up the stairs and out the window.

Oasis

Make your way to the Alien crash site get the Alien blaster and ammo (DLCs should not be enabled for this category or it will bring you up into the Zeta DLC). Drop the 10mm weapons and hotkey the Alien blaster. Move to Vault 92 to get the FT and move towards the mountain next to Oasis. Clip into the mountain and navigate through the invisible walls go get the Oasis FT. FT to Vault 92.

Vault 92

In Vault 92, grab a fission battery on the table, go through the doors to go deeper into the vault, do a stair clip and interact with the door out of bounds. Do another stair clip to get on top of the interior and jump towards the Soil Stradivarius, get in between the walls, third person, QSQL to fall down, and pick up the violin. Enter the door from the COC, backwards clip, and leave the vault.

Dave

Walk towards the Republic of Dave past Old Olney with the Deathclaws, just run past them (if the Deathclaws are giving you trouble you can shoot them with the Alien blaster). Get next to the mound where the transformer is and jump into Dave into his house. Kill Dave and loot him (only need his key). Left of the house jump through the fencing and spam wait until you can then FT to the Minefield.

Super Human Gambit

There will be a level up around this time so put everything into Lockpick. Walk towards the Temple of the Union, get on a mound to see Hannibal Hamlin, kill him, and walk towards Canterbury Commons. At Canterbury Commons, kill one of the protectrons, and talk to Uncle Roe in Uncle Roe's house. Tell him you'll help then go outside and kill the Mechanist and the other protectron. Go back in Uncle Roe's house then leave and talk to Uncle Roe to turn into the quest. FT to Super Duper Mart.

Those!

Dupe the quantum with the empty whiskey bottles. Walk towards Greyditch and enter Marigold Station. COC into the corner and open the door off to the right. Go down the tunnel, kill Lesko, loot Lesko's portable terminal access, and open the hatchery. Go into the hatchery to get to the bottom where the Queen Ant is and use the terminal to send the inhibiter pulse kiling all of the ants. Clip into the wall, into the water to swim forwards to COC to exit the hatchery. COC again to exit to Arlington Cemetery but clip to the front right to FT back to Marigold Station. Talk to Bryan Wilks and pick all the middle dialogue. FT to Jefferson.

Jefferson 2

Enter Jefferson Memorial and kill all the Super Mutants inside. There are a total of 8 up top and 6 in the basement that have to be killed. Using the Alien Blaster allows each of them to be one shot. The route for this is straight down the hall, take the first right, then take a left into the rotunda, kill the two inside the rotunda, kill the two outside the rotunda, go to the basement, do a stair clip to COC and face south, kill the two below, straight ahead until you can take a right, kill the alone Super Mutant, make your way back upstairs and kill the one on the stairs, leave the basement and clip into the light off to the right after leaving the basement, and COC to exit Jefferson Memorial. There is a level up here to that you should put everything into Speech.

Downtown DC

After leaving Jefferson Memorial make your way to Rivet City on the catwalk just outside of Jefferson. Once getting the Rivet City FT, make your way into Anacostia Crossing. Once inside, go forwards to open the bathroom door with the rubble inside for an easier clip later and continue down towards the Museum Station. Continue going straight in the metro and go up the escalator on the right side to exit towards the Mall. Once leaving the Museum of Technology should be directly ahead.

Enter the Museum of Technology and there are multiple different routes to go here. The main route is doing a stairclip on the right side to COC OOB which will put you into the fake vault where you will continue going forwards to enter the West Wing. Jump down to go into the Planetarium and unlock the door by QSing and forcing the lock and QLing until the door is opened. Go down the hall opening both the doors on your right and straight ahead. Pick up the Satellite Dish off of the Virgo II and go back to the other door you opened and do a stairclip that will COC you back into the Planetarium. Exit back to the Atrium and leave the Museum.

Once in the Mall, walk towards the Washington Monument to get the FT. After that walk next to the Reflective Pool and go towards the Lincoln Memorial. Jump in between the rock and the barricade to enter the lower part of the Lincoln Memorial to talk to Leroy Walker and do the speech check to let him know that Hannibal Hamlin is dead. Leave and FT towards the Washington Monument.

Turn towards the Museum of History and get the FT. Now walk towards the National Archives to retrieve the Declaration of Independence, while on the way kill the Super Mutant. Once inside the Archives make your way down towards the sub-basement through the door front right. Walk down to the locked door and force the lock. Continue downwards to the room filled with gas and continually QSQL to make the Super Mutants reset so you don't catch on fire. Now enter the West Wing and go into another locked door which you'll have to force. Continue towards the stairs with the protectron and do a stairclip into the wall to put you onto of the celling. Keep going straight until you hit the strongroom. Kill Button Gwinnett, loot all, open all doors on the terminal, steal the Declaration of Independence, and leave through the open hallway. There is a desk next to a blacked out window to clip into and COC to exit the National Archives. After leaving FT to Northwest Seneca Station.

Blood Ties

Other Categories
Guides