I wrote in a previous post how I periodically replay Fallout: New Vegas but I realized I hadn't revisited Fallout 3 since the PS3 days. I looked up how to setup the game on PC with modern QOL fixes and apparently the accepted convention is to use the Tale of Two Wastelands mod to merge the two games together. However I felt like deviating from that to just play 3 as a stand alone experience, here was how I did it. For the record my setup uses the GOTY edition of Fallout 3 on Steam.

Anniversary Patcher

• Launch the game once to generate necessary ini files

In 2021 an anniversary patch for Fallout 3 was released which broke some backwards compatibility with existing mod conventions. The Fallout Anniversary Patcher downgrades the game and adds several fixes like the 4GB patch and removing Games for Windows Live.

• Download the patcher and extract its contents to the game directory. The location can be accessed by right clicking the game on steam > Manage > Browse local files. By default this should be C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Fallout 3 goty\Data.
• Run Patcher.exe

FOSE

Next FOSE is a script extender. The stable version is v1.2 b2 but I used v1.3 b2 because it was the required version for some mods.

• Extract 1.3 FOSE files and place them in the same directory

Now you can run the game from Fallout3.exe. You can either create a shortcut of Fallout3.exe but alternatively, rename it to Fallout3Launcher.exe to allow Steam to launch it when clicking play. There should already be a Fallout3Launcher.exe so rename the original to something like Fallout3Launcher-original.exe.

Unofficial Patch

The next step is to install the Updated Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch which fixes a bunch of bugs, improves performance and restores some cut content. This patch in turn requires

• Unofficial Fallout 3 ESM Patcher
• ButcherPete FOSE
• Command Extender
• FOSE: installed above

Download and run the Unofficial Fallout 3 ESM Patcher.exe anywhere. It should point to two locations which should both be the aforementioned directory with the game files. The next two mods should be installed using Vortex.

Vortex

Vortex is an open source mod manager. A lot of people seem to swear by Mod Organizer 2 instead by I honestly haven't run into any problems with Vortex with the size of my minimal mod list.

• In Vortex go to Settings (the icon which looks like a cog) > Workarounds > Archive Invalidation> Bsa redirection and turn it on. This is a requirement for the unofficial patch and some other mods.
• Install ButcherPete FOSE and Command Extender with Vortex. If you log in to both Nexusmods and Vortex, clicking the Vortex download button on the site should lead to a seamless flow that installs the mods.

Mod List

The rest are vanilla friendly, quality of life mods which I installed using Vortex.

Sprint mod: Adds a sprint button which makes traversal way less tedious without breaking balance since sprinting uses AP.

Fellout: Removes the disgusting green tint so you can actually see color in the environment.

OneTweak but Really Updated: Allows alt-tabbing out of the game.

Stewie Tweaks: This is a huge list of opinionated tweaks. The same mod for Fallout: NV has an in-game UI to toggle the tweaks but unfortunately the variant for 3 doesn't, so you have to edit the text file the good'ol fashioned way.

To do so, install Stewie Tweaks with vortex and launch the game once. Then navigate to the following directory: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Fallout 3 goty\Data\fose\plugins. There should be a file called stewie_tweaks.ini here which you can edit with any text editor.

The big list of variables under [Tweaks] are set to 0 to indicate all tweaks are turned off by default. Tweaks are turned on by editing the 0 to a 1; Some tweaks have further associated options at the bottom of the file.

Iron Sights Plus: A mod that can be used if you activate bSightingNodeSupport = 1 in Stewie Tweaks. Allows you to use iron sights when aiming down.

ActorCause Save Bloat Fix: Reduces save size and save speed.