Alright. Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition is done and dusted. I played this many times on console, but this was my first playthrough on PC. And for me, on an unmodded Steam Deck with the current version of Proton, and with no game mods, this ran immaculately.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3224579396

In fact, this may have been one of the best games I've played on the Deck performance wise. Which is crazy to me considering how often the game would freeze stutter and crash when I played it previously (on console). I had one instance of stuttering in Operation: Anchorage during the final push and another instance of stuttering in Mothership Zeta, but beyond that, I literally had zero stability issues and it ran at a consistent 60 FPS on maxed settings with an average of around 25% CPU usage.

It took me forever to get around to buying and playing this on Steam due to its widely reported compatibility issues, but thankfully, those were nonexistent for me. The home screen for some reason wasn't gamepad compatible, but everything else was and the default settings were fine.

So, with that out of the way, I want to talk a bit about the experience itself. For one, this game still looks great. Does it show its age? Yes and no. Things like character models actually look better than they do in Skyrim and Fallout 4 for some reason. But they don't look modern of course. However, the world itself has aged very well. The audio is pretty legendary, and that will never change I'm sure.

The gameplay also holds up to modern games quite well. Gunplay is fun and VATS never disappoints. Early to mid game, I would recommend keeping a Dart Gun on you. It makes fighting things like Deathclaws much easier, especially if you use it to target legs. Once you get the Gauss Rifle though, you won't need the Dart Gun or much else lol. It does great damage AND typically knocks enemies down as well. Nearly game breaking in its OP-ness, but it's also incredibly satisfying.

Btw, special weapons aside, Deathclaws are still panic inducing and terrifying lol. They're the fastest, strongest and meanest things in the game, and they have a sixth sense for being able to find you. You could be forgiven if you scream like a child when one leaps at you.

Exploring the DC Wasteland is quite memorable, and I went into this playthrough with a clear agenda for what I wanted to do and see outside of the main story. Given how well written a lot of the side quests are, there's a lot of good times to be had.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3227056838

As far as the DLC goes, I'd recommend doing Operation: Anchorage first. It's the easiest, and although it lacks any nods to loot ♥♥♥♥♥♥, the final payoff includes the other nearly game breaking piece of gear in the game: the Chinese Stealth Armor. Once you acquire that, the world is your oyster. Especially if you've leveled up your stealth. Takes maybe three hours to complete and is basically set up as a corridor shooter. If it weren't for the armor though, I'd probably skip this DLC.

The Pitt is probably the most heavily reliant on the morality system and the one with the largest grey area in that regard. The actual setting is cool and does feature the best melee weapon in the game should you be playing that way. You can roll through this in three to four hours, but it can also take longer depending on how thorough you are. Fairly easy overall.

Mothership Zeta is the quirkiest DLC. You get abducted by aliens, but you and some other abductees rebel and eventually take over the ship lol. Features some good weapons and some excellent healing/repair items. It's probably the funniest DLC and is moderately challenging. It's also the one that probably takes the longest to complete due to how confusing certain activities can be to complete. I probably spent around six hours here.

Point Lookout is the most difficult DLC, is at least partially inspired by Deliverance and Southern Comfort, has some good next tier versions of weapons you've probably been using a lot. It also has some cool story stuff, including an important item for concluding a Cthulhu story arc in the base game, and is also the largest DLC. You can definitely wrap up the quests in four to five hours, but you could also spend ten to fifteen hours running around seeing and looting everything.

Broken Steel is an endgame DLC, so once you've finished the main story, this one kicks off. I honestly wrapped this up in about two hours, maybe a bit less. But you could potentially get eight-ish hours out of it depending on how you handle certain situations and how much you explore and loot. Personally, I already had more ammo and healing stuff than I'd ever be able to use, so I took a more direct approach with this DLC. It does tie a bow on the Fallout 3 story, and is definitely worth experiencing.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3229333793

So yeah, I was very glad to get one final playthrough in. It was still awesome in this age of gaming, and while not perfect, each individual aspect of this game holds up immaculately.

whenever i tried to start it crashed every single time i tried every tutorial but that didn't work.

I am 32 years old.

My ex-wife and I have a daughter together, and we adopted our son together. Both are now 4 years old.

When we were going through our separation, I felt lost and unhappy. I was self-destructive. One day, I was so angry with everything spiraling out of control that I punched a concrete wall in a moment of overwhelming emotion. This resulted in breaking my fifth metacarpal in my right hand—the hand I worked with, played games with, and used to carry my children to bed—the hand I desperately needed to ensure I could continue providing.

Upon learning the severity of the self-inflicted damage, I became almost suicidal. Keep in mind that just a few months before this, I was the happiest man, with no history of depression or anxiety. I had never experienced anger outbursts, nor was I the type to break down and cry, but I was in a tough situation that truly prevented me from seeing the light on the other side.

With nothing better to do, I looked for a game I could play WITH ONE HAND while recovering. Somehow, I stumbled upon this game and read some of the comments. I decided it was worth a try... I must admit I didn't beat the game, nor did I play as much as some of you. In fact, I may have played this game for only a day or two. That being said, after doing so, I had a new joy and hope for life. I managed to leave behind the pain and suffering that had been thrust upon me. I could experience the joy and happiness of other people. I relaxed for 5 ♥♥♥♥ minutes listening to this music, long enough to realize that I would be okay.

After realizing this, I turned off the game and went back to work. My hand hurt a lot, but I was motivated. I stopped feeling so sorry for myself and became the father I needed to be at that moment, not the weak boy I was behaving like.

Today, I am close friends with the mother of my children. We don't fight, argue, or say hurtful things to each other. We are parents and friends.

Now I have 3 children. My third child is, wait, ALSO 4 YEARS OLD. The woman I am with was going through a very similar situation at the time of my separation, and we just unexpectedly stumbled into each other's lives. We have been dating for a year and are very happy together.

Moral of the story: you never know what life has in store for you, and if I had given up when all odds were against me, I wouldn't be where I am today. This silly little game helped me realize that.

Thank you.