Fallout New Vegas has just been released and already, they are many who are facing game-breaking issues. Errors, crashes, freezes, low performance on the game, Fallout New Vegas save bug, and lot of other issues that are needed to be addressed by the developer, Obsidian.
While the developers are busy with the big game launch, and before they release a patch to resolve all these issues, you can refer to the Fallout New Vegas Guide below for workarounds to all these issues.
Fallout New Vegas Troubleshooting Guide
2# Fallout New Vegas, Game Runs Very Choppy, Lags, Random Freezes
Some of the issues that have been reported in the reviews, which most probably will be fixed in the future patch releases. For time being, turn down view distance, and fade distance. Also disable water multi sync, it will help the cause.
3# Fallout New Vegas Stuttering and Poor Framerates
It may be due to the game hasn’t been optimized to run in DirectX 11, as most of the people that should be running the game max out with no problem are having performance issues. Update your video card drivers, the last update was released yesterday, 18th Oct, which will most probably fix these issues.
4# Fallout New Vegas Frame Skipping/Stuttering Fix
This fix will make game smoother, fps and stuttering will be reduced to a bearable level. If you are to try this tweak, make sure you have vsync on.
You need to edit your “FALLOUT.ini”, but before you proceed to edit it, make sure you back it up.
Windows Vista/ Windows 7
C:\Users\[your username]\Documents\My Games\Fallout New Vegas\FALLOUT.ini
and change iFPSClamp=0 to iFPSClamp=60
Windows XP
C:\Documents and settings\[your username]\My Documents\My Games\Fallout New Vegas\FALLOUT.ini”
and change iFPSClamp=0 to iFPSClamp=60
Share your results after applying this tweak.
5# Fallout New Vegas Quick/Auto Saves Fix
If you save your progress using autosave/quicksave, the game may revert you back to first quicksave when you restart the game, resulting in loss of all the game progress. Steam cloud may be the problem as there is no fix yet, and disabling steam cloud would disable the achievements.
Though, Steam has come out themselves to disable the Steam cloud for this game, and they are investigating these issues. Meanwhile, use the ESC/Save to save the game manually then using quick save hotkey to save instantly and save a lot. When you start the game again, you may notice that continue starts the game from the quick save so better load the game.
You can speed up the save process by using the console key to save the game. Here’s how:
- Hit the ~ key.
- Type save “save_mission or zone” and hit enter.
- When you need to save the game, press ~ console key and press up arrow to get the previous save name, you can either overwrite this save or rename the save file for a different mission or zone.
- Now when you need to load your saved game, hit the ~ key and type in load “save_mission or zone”.
How to Recover Your Saved Progress/Saves in Fallout New Vegas
via Steam Forums
- Locate the save files folder, My Documents\My Games\FalloutNV\Saves.
- Find files that have a *.bak extension. Rename the files with a .bak extension some other extension like .txt for simplicity. Now rename these files as old .bak extensions. Now try quick saving, hopefully it won’t revert back to previous saves.
- If you don’t have any saves in there, try:
- Navigate to your Fallout.ini in the FalloutNV folder and un-check Read-Only.
- Open the file and search for “SLocalSavePath”.
- In the SlocalSavePath= make sure the folder exists. If it isn’t, create the folder with the same name in the specified path.
- Now, change “iSaveGameBackupCount=1” to “iSaveGameBackupCount=0”.
Update. Quick Patch has been released for the game, make sure you have the game updated.
6# Fallout New Vegas NPC/Audio Bug Fix
NPC audio stuttering caused by FFDSHOW codec. Now, in order to fix this you will have to remove this codec entirely from your system and restart. It will fix NPC/Audio bug. Or
You can configure directshow menu, how you can do that; Go to audio configure options, select the directshow menu, and add the New Vegas executable (in steamapps/common/fallout directory) to the exclusion list. Be sure to do it for both the 64 and 32 bit versions if you have both installed.
7# How to Register Your Retail Game on Steam Exit
Go to the Start button and select Run (XP) or type Run in the Search box and choose Run from the list (Vista).
In the Run window type:
C:\Program Files\Steam\Steam.exe” -install E:
Replace E: with the CD/DVD drive you are installing from if is not correct.
Replace C:\Program Files\Steam if your Steam installation is not in the default location.
Press OK. Your installation should continue from the disc.
8# Fallout New Vegas Blackscreen Fix
9# Fallout New Vegas Crashes Fix
If your facing consistent game crashes after 20-30 minutes into the game, try disabling Steam Cloud Sync, it may resolve this issue.
10# Artifacts, Screen Tearing, Black Boxes
Update your video card drivers. (18th Oct. Release)
Disable Steam Cloud Sync.
11# Fallout New Vegas PC Bugs List
Here is a list of Fallout New Bugs that are in-game software, I mean, something that only developers can fix. Check them out here.
12# Steam Error
Can’t download the game from Steam ? Dear friend, millions are downloading, crippling the Steam servers, be patient.
13# Fallout New Vegas Launcher has Stopped Working ‘Crash to Desktop’
Launch the game in compatibility mode, right click on game executable, hit properties and under Compatibility, set it to either Windows Vista SP2 or Windows XP SP3 compatibility. Re-validate the game files if you have installed the game through Steam.
14# Game Crashes After First Intro Video
Verify the integrity of the game files.
Or
It may all be happening due to a dll file missing, you can refer to the tutorial below to fix it, exact same problem was with Fallout 3.
- Download d3d9.dll.
- Once its done downloading, drag/drop in to your Fallout New Vegas folder.
- My Games/ Fallout New Vegas/
- Start the game and it should work!
If the game still doesn’t work after placing the dll file, you can refer to the steps below.
- Open “fallout.ini” or fallout_default.ini” and
- Press “Ctrl+F” and type in: SMainMenuMovieIntro=
- Delete: SMainMenuMovieIntro= , SIntroSequence=, sIntroMovie=Fallout INTRO Vsk.bik
- Save and Exit “fallout.ini” or “fallout_default.ini”.
- Go to “data” in your fallout new vegas folder, then videos.
- Find “Fallout INTRO Vsk.bik”, delete and back it up somewhere.
- Play Fallout New Vegas.
You can follow a video walkthrough on how you can do that here with further tips to resolve these issues.
Note. This was for Fallout 3, but works for Fallout New Vegas also, same game engine.
15# Fallout New Vegas Freezes and Crashes Fix
Open up the fallout.ini file in
My Documents\My Games\Fallout New Vegas
Find the line:
bUseThreadedAI=0
Change it to:
bUseThreadedAI=1
Add another line after it and insert:
iNumHWThreads=2
This will limit the game to 2 cores and prevent the engine bug from causing the game to freeze.
Note. If the game still crashes write this “iNumHWThreads=1”.
16# Fallout New Vegas Performance Issues, NPC Lag, Audio Bugs
Update your video card drivers, and remove FFDSHOW from your system.
17# How to Reduce Mouse Acceleration in Fallout New Vegas
Go to my documents, My Games/Fallout New Vegas and add this to the ‘controls’ part of the FalloutPrefs.ini file.
fForegroundMouseAccelBase=0
fForegroundMouseAccelTop=0
fForegroundMouseBase=0
fForegroundMouseMult=0
Now go to
Steam\steamapps\common\fallout new vegas\
called Fallout_default.ini
or if you don’t have steam installation, just open “Fallout_default.ini” and edit/add these lines into this file also so that it doesn’t changes the FalloutPrefs.ini, to make the changes to stick.
18# Steam Error Game Not Available
Restart Steam.
19# Xbox 360 Fallout New Vegas Crashes
It seems PC is not the only platform this game is causing crashes, if you are experiencing crashes on Xbox 360. You know, there is nothing much we can do then wait, for a fix to be released.
20# Xbox 360 Fallout New Vegas Freezes
Clear the game cache. Run the game directly from DVD, the loading will be slower but the game will run smoothly.
How to Clear Xbox 360 Cache
1. On your Xbox 360 console, go to My Xbox, and then select System Settings.
2. Select Memory.
3. Highlight any storage device, and then press Y on your controller.
Important. Do not press the A button.
Note. It doesn’t matter which storage device you select, the cache is cleared for all storage devices.
4. Select Clear System Cache.
5. If Clear System Cache is not available, use the following controller button sequence to clear the system cache:
- Press the X button.
- Press the X button.
- Press the left bumper.
- Press the right bumper.
- Press the X button.
- Press the X button.
Note. If you don’t see a system maintenance prompt on the screen, try pressing the button sequence again.
6. Select Yes at the following prompt:
This will perform maintenance on your Xbox 360 Storage Device. Do you want to continue?
7. The following message appears while your cache is being cleared:
Performance Maintenance. Please do not turn off your console.
Xbox 360 Cache Cleared.
21#”Fallout: New Vegas Language Selection Issue”
If you are enable to change language in Fallout New Vegas, or you chose different language but the game still runs in native english, you can try the following workaround while this issue is being fixed by Steam.
Select the language you wish to use for the game.
Close Steam.
Restart Steam.
22# Fallout New Vegas nVidia Graphics Optimization, Lag and Stutter Fix
Go to My Computer -> Control Panel -> NVIDIA Control Panel and in “Manage 3D Settings”. Add a custom nVidia game profile for “Fallout: New Vegas”.
Now, change the “Power Management Mode” from “Adaptive” to “Max Performance” for this profile.
How to Activate Fallout New Vegas DLC and Bonus Content
via Steam Support
- Double click the Fallout: New Vegas entry in your Steam library.
- Select “Data Files” in the game launcher menu.
- Select the game content accordingly that you wish to have available.
Update. There has been two patches released via Steam for Fallout New Vegas, Make sure you have them installed.
Update Download Fallout New Vegas Community Bug Fix Patch to fix any issues that remain.
If you face any other issues, write in comments and we will try to help you out.
