Fallout NV Troubleshooting guide

By: Whiskeyshots

Overview

While Fallout: New Vegas is an excellent game; it is also right with bugs, glitches, and performance issues. Since you're here, that probably means that you are the victim of one or more of these afflictions. There are fixes however, and this guide will help you in getting the most out of your Fallout game.

• This article does not cover mod troubleshooting and it is recommended that, before you start to use any of the methods listed here, you disable all of your mods and create a new savegame.

• This article is the first edition and as such, is probably missing many fixes. If you have any solutions or suggestions that aren't listed here than if you could kindly post in the comments box you, would be credited and I would be very grateful.

• I highly recommend that you backup all files that you change during your troubleshooting.

• I take no responsibility for any and all damages caused to you by attempting the methods in this guide.

Before you begin

Some steps to take before you attempt any fixes.

• Update your drivers.

• Clean your registry and defrag your hard drive.

• Compare your system with the system requirements of Fallout: New Vegas. An excellent method of doing this is a tool you can find here.
• Verify integrity of game cache:

1. Load Steam
2. From the My Games tab right-click on the game and select Properties from the menu.
3. Select the Local files tab and click the Verify integrity of game cache... button.
4. Steam will verify the game cache files (GCF's) - this process may take several minutes.
5. Once the process is completed, the Check Window will automatically exit. Source

Fixes for issues starting the game

1. Run the game in compatibility mode for Windows XP SP3. Afterwards, if you install the game through steam revalidate the game files.
2. Select the game in steam and Start it from there.
3. Uninstall the game>Run a Regcleaner>Reinstall

Fixes for crashing

• Open up the fallout.ini file in: Documents\My Games\Fallout New Vegas:

1. Find the line: bUseThreadedAI=0
2. Change it to: bUseThreadedAI=1
3. Add another line after it and insert: iNumHWThreads=2

This will prevent the game from using more than two cores. Multi-cores cause crashes in the Gamebyro Engine. If the game still crashes change to: iNumHWThreads=1

Fixes for stutter (Lag)

1. Turn on V-sync in the launcher settings. Then open up your Fallout.ini. Find ifpsclamp=0 and change to your refresh rate (usually 60). If you experience slow-motion during game then change to 30 I.e. iFPSclamp=60
2. Click your Game shortcut and select properties. Click the compatibility tab and check “Disable Visual Themes”
3. Even after the patch, many people report that using the d3d9 fix still helped improve game performance. To get this fix, download the appropriate file here, and put it in your fallout game directory.
4. Turn off v-sync

Fixes for audio issues

1. Uninstall the FFDshow codec, or add Fallout NV to its list of exceptions

2. Open your audio settings and set your sound configuration to 2.1.

3.

• Go to Start -> Run -- type in dxdiag and hit OK
• Click the "Sound" tab and then click "Test DirectSound" and allow all of the tests to complete
• If you any errors occur, use the slider to turn off Hardware Sound Acceleration by dragging it all the way to the left so it's labeled as "No Acceleration" Source

4. Update your sound card through the method listed in “Pre-fix”.

Misc fixes

• Jerky Mouse Controls

Mouse acceleration fix: Open your FalloutPrefs.ini in documents>mygames>FalloutNV

Scroll down until you find the “controls” heading. Scroll down to the bottom of that section, and add: fForegroundMouseAccelBase=0 fForegroundMouseAccelTop=0

fForegroundMouseBase=0 fForegroundMouseMult=0

That’s it for now but as I said earlier there are many more fixes out there and I will continue searching, but if you have and suggestions/ solutions then add a comment. I’ll gladly credit you and I’d be extremely grateful. If there are any issues with this article, then by all means PM me or leave a comment. I attempted to follow all of the Nexus rules I was aware of.

If your issue is not fixed after going through this article then search through the Technical Support Nexus forums. If you still can’t find an answer then you can make a thread with your problem, System specs (Can be found by running DxDiag in the search bar of your start menu, or by using the run utility), mods that you’ve run, and a detailed description of your problem.

Thanks to the Nexus Community.