Hope this is the right place to ask this kind of thing as i've looked and tried to get this working but to no avail, my problem is im running fallout 3 on a laptop (no hating >.<) it runs flawlessly and im enjoying the game quite abit, but my problem is zooming in and out seeing as it doesn't pick up the signal from my touchpad and i'm not particularly wanting to invest in a mouse just for one game as I prefer gaming with a touchpad.

I had this exact same problem in Skyrim, but managed to work around it with the help of a mod that allowed me to hotkey the zoom in/out to any key I wanted.

Both games run well, just this slight hiccup with the mouse wheel, as it kinda breaks immersion for me if I can't zoom in and out of the world map or change the view distance from my fallout character, so my question is, is there some way to through a mod or external program (tried autohotkey already and doesn't work) to simulate or bind the zoom mechanic to another key?

I've also tried the normal, goto into options, devices then reassigned the camera to another key but the just does the same as holding down f for the vanity camera and not changing the distance.

I appreciate any help

What shows up as your second device when going to "Options\controls\action mapping. then clicking device at bottom right screen?

Have a look in your fallout.prefs found with your save files. Mydocuments\Mygames\Fallout 3\FalloutPrefs.ini

See what the [controls] section says.

this is what mine says useing a 2 button mouse with wheel.

[Controls]
Forward=0011FF13
Back=001FFF14
Slide Left=001EFF17
Slide Right=0020FF16
Use=00FF0011
Activate=0012FF0A
Block=00380110
Ready Item=0013FF0C
Crouch/Sneak=001DFF08
Run=002AFFFF
Always Run=003AFFFF
Auto Move=0010FFFF
Jump=0039FF0D
Toggle POV=0021020F
Menu Mode=000FFF0B
Rest=0014FF07
Vats=002FFF0E
Hotkey1=0002FFFF
Hotkey2=0003FFFF
Hotkey3=0004FFFF
Hotkey4=0005FFFF
Hotkey5=0006FFFF
Hotkey6=0007FFFF
Hotkey7=0008FFFF
Hotkey8=0009FFFF
QuickSave=003FFFFF
QuickLoad=0043FFFF
Grab=002CFF09
fXenonVertLookSpeed=1200.0000
fXenonHorizLookSpeed=1500.0000
bGamePadRumble=1
bInvertYValues=0
fMouseSensitivity=0.0020

The second device shows up as "Mouse" and everything is as the default.

Under the [controls] bit this is what mine says:

[Controls]
bAlwaysRunByDefault=1
bBackground Mouse=0
bBackground Keyboard=1
Forward=0011FF13
Back=001FFF14
Slide Left=001EFF17
Slide Right=0020FF16
Use=00FF0011
Activate=0012FF0A
Block=00380110
Ready Item=0013FF0C
Crouch/Sneak=001DFF08
Run=002AFFFF
Always Run=003AFFFF
Auto Move=0010FFFF
Jump=0039FF0D
Toggle POV=0021020F
Menu Mode=000FFF0B
Rest=0014FF07
Vats=002FFF0E
Hotkey1=0002FFFF
Hotkey2=0003FFFF
Hotkey3=0004FFFF
Hotkey4=0005FFFF
Hotkey5=0006FFFF
Hotkey6=0007FFFF
Hotkey7=0008FFFF
Hotkey8=0009FFFF
QuickSave=003FFFFF
QuickLoad=0043FFFF
Grab=002CFF09
fXenonVertLookSpeed=1200.0000
fXenonHorizLookSpeed=1500.0000
bGamePadRumble=1
bInvertYValues=0
fMouseSensitivity=0.0070

So when you had your second device up did you scroll down to change camera veiw? mine says wheel , just wondering if that was the key you tried changeing , instead of the F key in keyboard control.
And just wondering what keys show up as your attack and block button in mouse controls?

you might try changeing this line in your FalloutPrefs.ini "bBackground Mouse=0" change it to "bBackground Mouse=1"
Edit to add: this did nothing for me.

Im gona run a quick test to see what happens when I assighn my left or right mouse button to that function. brb

Edit to add: Ya that button isnt refering to the wheel function , just pushing the wheel as a button. So like you said it does just the same as the F key.

There's probably some line in one of the ini files that has something to do with zooming , I just cant find it.

Sorry , good luck.