Looks like you got hit by the Jefferson Bug too, major bummer that one. Only three "fixes" for this one and you're not going to be overjoyed with any of them.

1: load up an earlier save and hope for the best, you might get lucky.
2: start again and pray you don't get the same bug again. The bug appears to be totally random and isn't restricted to any one area, I had the same problem on a random patch of the wasteland near a Mirelurk nesting ground, statistics are on your side here, it's very unlikely you'll get it at the Jefferson two games in a row.
3: ignore the main quest and do everything else instead. You won't be able to complete the main story this time round but at least you'll get your trophies and won't have to repeat some of the more tedious sidequests when you do start again.

There is a fourth option too, put the game back on the shelf and keep an eye on the boards and/or blog for a patch announcement. Personally I'm doubtful as to whether or not the game will get another patch, I hope I'm wrong and that once they get this DLC out of the way they'll take another look at the core game and fix it, but until they come out and say that there's going to be a patch I'll remain skeptical.

one more bugs to report:

1. While at Bethesda ruins I became assulted by multipile 2 to 10 second long freezes these were contuines, I would move two steps then the game would freeze for the length mentioned(how long was random but no shorter than 2 and no longer then 10), then resume, move two more steps then freeze, this was only happening in the outside area of bethesda and not when I entered any of the buildings, those were normal but once I reached the outside the problems resumed and no the raiders were all dead, and yes I had fast traveled to Bethesda ruins.

Edit: I forgot to mention that I had only been playing for four or five minutes when this happened, and my PS3 wasn't used or on before hand either.

Are we talking about a total freeze or frame rate reduced to that of a slideshow? Also is it repeatable after quitting your game and returning there?

No I can honestly say no it's not a drop in frame rate like those that happen at Rivet city's market place and that room at Robco (but that does happen as well), as my charecter wouldn't move during those moments and obviously the controller was unresponsive even the ps xbm button. So yeah they were consecutive short total freezes.
As for if it still happens at that location yes and no I tested it out and this happens 75% to 80% of the time, 80% if I fast traveled, 75% if I had walked there. I'm going to see if it happens when I play as another charecter.

I've had that exact same issue in the wasteland on one of my games. If you draw a straight line between Megaton and the Bethesda Offices I had a random spawn Enclave Science camp and a mirelurk nesting ground, around the outskirts of the nesting ground I got slideshows, multiple second temporary lockups, glitched textures you name it, go deeper into the nest (easy to do with the glitched textures blocking your vision) and it would always result in an unrecoverable lockup. I suspect that somewhere near the Bethesda Offices you will find a small area that produces the same effect.

I believe it's the same issue as the Jefferson and Rivet City crashes, only you're lucky in that yours is outside and not in a "must go" area. I didn't encounter it again on my subsequent playthrough so when you start your next game you shouldn't have any problems.

I kinda figured that I might not have that happen again in another playthough, but I had to be sure. It's intresting in a way how the location of those dead zones differ from new game to new game but generally affects a single part of the map and remain there till you start a new game. Case in point in one playthrough you may be unable to ever enter Evergreen mills, while in your next game you can enter evergreen mills but not Tenpenny tower, and so forth. I wonder what causes this, it would be one thing and less intresting if it happened in the same place every game, but this is diffrent as the location it affects differs one game to the next, I wonder if Bethesda figured this out yet?

What's to figure out though? There seems to be nothing in common at all across this particular issue. The boards are almost inundated with reports of this happening at Jefferson Memorial, so many in fact that we've named the bug after it, but is Jefferson Memorial actually more common, or is it just a guaranteed find when it happens because the MQ takes you there? You have an area somewhere near the Bethesda Offices, I had a large area by the river between Bethesda and Megaton, a few get Evergreen Mills or whatever. For all anyone knows this bug affects 100% of all games played, but because the area is small an unfixed many people don't stray into their dead zone and hence don't experience the issue.

Fixing the slideshow when you enter the Robco Cafeteria is one thing, that's a 100% certain to happen glitch, but this, this is a different beast entirely, I suspect this particular glitch is likely here to stay.

I was saying that if it is indeed what I think it is: a dead zone glitch that changes the area it effects with each new game as opposed to one tied to a speficic area like Jefferson(which i never had this happen in yet even after two playthroughs), then the fix would logically repair the problem for all the map and not just the memorial. Just saying.

Which is also what I'm saying, as the problem isn't static it's going to be a [censored] to track down. With the obvious potential to be a gamebreaker it would have received a lot of attention pre-release, the fact that it is present in the release version can only be down to one of two reasons, 1: they couldn't find the cause/effect relationship prior to the GOTY Nomination deadline but are working on it and or 2: a conscious decision was made to release without fixing it. I'd like to think it's number 1, but given that it wasn't fixed or addressed in the 1.10 patch I'm thinking that it will likely remain unfixed on the consoles while some of the more skilled modders try to track it down and fix it themselves with the FOCK.

Another aspect to the problem that is likely causing some difficulty is that there are some reports of people accessing their "dead zones" as normal and then experiencing the glitch when returning later. For example they may have accessed Jefferson just fine when they were looking for the holotapes but it's a dead zone when they come back with Dad to look at the purifier. So not only does the glitch seem to strike a random area, but can also occur during the game as opposed to being bugged from the start.


Might be worth speaking to someone who has the PC version to take a look in the FOCK and see if the Wasteland map is split up cells, could be that the data that handles the population for that cell is becoming corrupted that is what causes the crash. As each indoor area is a different cell to the open wasteland it would explain why mot people getting this problem at Jefferson crash on the loading screen but everything seems fine outside the door.

Funny you should mention that one of my old freinds from back in collage who was in my computer programing class is doing just that, It will be intresting to see if he finds anything.

Getting back to to glitch reporting:

For my last three play throughs I've been have to deal with the Regulators at their hq running around as though a hostile enemy had appeared they don't attack they just run aroun the building and sometimes out the door, which has made turning in my fingers a major pain, at first I thought that it may have been the two rad scorpions that spawn outside and kill the Braumin the 9 out of 10 times I fast travel there, but I kill them before entering and they still run around like chickens with there heads cut off, same with the one in ten times that the scorpions don't appear when I arrive. It's funny but annoying.

I'm also getting random crashing on my PS3. And it's not the PS3 - I've had no problems with any other game. Is there any word on whether Bethesda have actually said they're doing another patch? I'm not all that fussed about the lack of the DLC. What is bugging me is how much this game crashes.

Bethesda dont seem to announce when patches are coming, only announcing them when they are out. If they had any sense they would announce a patch when they are making it like every other game developer...

Agreed patch development shouldn't be a big secret it's not like making a new expansion or getting questioned why your snubbing a part of your customer base.

Annoucing that bugs and issues are being worked on is actually is a benifical thing as it sets peoples(at least the reasonable ones) mind at ease it's not a admition of a screw up things happen and issues slip through.
But it's Bethesda and it seems everything needs to be a big secret with them.

Note the bold. It's a shame that detailing patch development isn't like admitting to a screw up, Howard said in his DICE presentation that admitting to one's mistakes is important, though I doubt he'll actually make good on those words and admit to anything with regard to the PS3.


I don't play the game anymore but I've been reading everyone's reports, got a new insight on one our issues that has come up a couple times. There's been couple of new reports recently that deleting game data but not saved data is actually causing more problems with freezing/stuttering. Can't think of a reason for why that is it but it would seem to suggest that there's something more at work causing these problems than the confirmed memory leak. In theory if it were just a memory leak then deleting the game data (which is really little more than a cache file) should improve performance, at least temporarily. The only reason I can think of is as to why it isn't is that the saved games are tied to the cache file in some way, possibly by way of reference and the game is having to rewrite these links after the loss of the cache. The problem with this theory is that it makes no sense whatsoever as clearing cache files is near the top of the list when it comes to basic troubleshooting of any software, so the question becomes why would anyone create software which flouts standard troubleshooting practice and actually becomes more broken when you try to resolve a problem?

The answer is of course that nobody would. But if it is true that saved games are referencing the cache in some way (impossible to prove without an SDK) then it would technically make this a production decision (or side effect of) like our graphics issues (lack of AA) and our low frame rates (because VSync is locked)


I deleted my cache not so long ago so I'm going to try loading up some of my saves from early, mid and late game and see how bad they are. I'll report back if they're noticeably worse than my usual average for freezing/crashing.

I can say that I'm starting to do the same I'm just getting tired of getting into the game after a short ammount of playtime only to have to that experianced ruined by slowdowns, frezzes, and other game breaking glitches it's not that I stoped entirely it's just I find thaf I now have to fight myself to actually put the game in and play which is a shame it's a amazing game if it played right, oh well at least it frees up more time for me to play Killzone 2, which I'll pick up tommorow as I won't have a chance today as I'm going to see Disturbed in concert, as well as some other titles like the genesis collection which I got because my Genesis finally died after years of faithfull service,Street Fighter 4, Uncharted, Bioshock and others, hell I may even get around to finishing Ratchet and Clank again and may get HOD: overkill for my Wii, honestly there are too many great games out right now that actually run right, maybe by then Bethesda will release a real patch, maybe not,till then I only play for short burst when the mood strikes.

Yeah I know what you mean, FO3 is a great game one of the best ever, until the game starts glitching up on you, then that joy easily turns into frustration. I have KZ2 on Amazon Preorder, with super saver shipping, so I expect it sometime next week, hopefully Monday or Tuesday barring any unforeseen delays. I started Metal Gear Solid 4. It was an x-mas gift, but I got FO3 early December, so I've been holding off on it until I got FO3 out of my system. Since I gave up FO3 cold turkey for Lent, MGS4 has proven to be an equally addictive title. I decided to play though the 1st chapter again when I read there are special bonuses associated with a "no kill" and "no alert" run, I had to play it through again. Needless to say, the replay value is as good if not better than past installments of the series.

Hopefully by the time my 40 day hiatus from FO3 is over, there will be a patch for some of the more serious issues detailed in this thread, and I can go back to enjoying FO3 without the frustration.

Hopefully....

That is the most important line in this whole thread... How awesome is Disturbed!!!!

I rocked on with them 2 nights in a row here in Australia, damn sore neck for a week, but it was soooooo worth it..

Last Wednesday night I got the ultimate pleasure of seeing ALICE IN CHAINS play here in Sydney!, OMG Rob Duvall is kik-ass with all due respect to Layne.

Anyways, yeh, I have been playing on and off, Probably 60-65hrs now.
I am up to the last mission ready to go join the Lyons Pride and end the game. I have been putting it off, going around collecting the Bobbleheads (2left) getting the keller family tapes to enter the room in the National Guard .
I have had a few unrecoverable freezes.. but starting to pre-empt them. I only once had the glitch where the game tries to load a room and wont go any further..
My system freezes, start like you other guys described... it will do a few 2-5 second freezes, then, if I try to use VATS to kill something.. it will ALWAYS lock-up and not recover... so when it starts to do this, I try and end the fight without VATS.
Then save the game on a new slot. then I it usually keeps going without problem.

There is so many random game glitches that it will never end. There will almost likely NEVER be another PS3 patch, probably only pure luck they bought it out on this platform, as there is no support and no reply from those lame-asses in bethesda.
I get pleasure from going into Bethesda ruins and shouting at all the freaks there while I'm mowing them down with the minigun or combat shotty.... pretending they are the game programmers...

SO AWESOME PEOPLE ACTUALLY DIE DURING CONCERTS, THEY CAN'T HANDLE THE AWESOMENESS!

It's looking quite unlikely there'll be another proper patch for any system period, unless of course next month the patch notes for 1.40 suddenly increase in length by a factor of 10 as they did for 1.10. Am I the only one that find the jump from 1.10.0035 straight to 1.40 a little strange considering that the only difference is achievements and other set up for The Pitt DLC?

As for "pure luck" for us getting a version, nonsense. They needed the money from the sales of the PS3 version to fund the DLCs, MS don't pay their exclusivity bills until delivery or after so core game sales (including ours) have been used to fund the DLCs, in essence we have subsidised the development of the 360 and PC expansions, that's one of the reasons why many PS3 users are pissed about the DLC, but that's not what this topic is about.

I have got Fawkes for a long time, but suddenly I got a problem.

When i try to start a dialogue with Fawkes, I only get his reply such as;

"Something troubling you my friend?"

"You got something to say?"

But I don't hear his voice, and I'm just stock there, and I have to reload. I have tried if it works with an older savegame, and it does, but I don't know why im stock there, and I don't wan't to start over the last couple of quests.

My biggest one (patched 80gb ps3) is many times when I go into vats mode it zooms in but freezes for several second before the green "bodypart selection grid" appears and I can select my target.

Meanwhile, every morning the sky has massive graphical rings for the first few hours of game time. These go away later in the morning and reappear when the sun goes down. I don't know what the technical term is but it really does kill the immersion factor.

I get the occasional random crash, cause unknown.

Oh, and when doing significant explosive damage, the agme occasionally hangs. Like having six raiders on screen and releasing a mini-nuke (or 8).

VATS freezes were fixed in the patch if you believe the changelog, there have been many reports to the contrary but unfortunately other than GStaff's promise that the reports are being passed to the dev team we have heard nothing more on the matter. Personally I think it's about time we got an update on the issue, but after reading GStaffs latest update to the "VATS is still broken" thread in PC issues, it doesn't look like he'll have anything new to tell us.

Graphics corruption is pretty uncommon, I wouldn't say rare, seen the game fail to load floor and wall textures a couple times, never noticed one in the sky though. This is one of those issues that would be much easier to show if developers made full use of the PS3 features, the PS3 can take screenshots of games and has been able to do so since the 1.80 update to the SDK last summer (enabled in 2.50 firmware update to consumers) a screenshot of a VATS target with no selection menu or a graphics corruption issue would be most helpful to Bethesda for troubleshooting purposes.

I've noticed that if a lot of stuff is exploding the frame rate will often drop to single figures, which is one of the reasons I limit my use of explosives, especially if there are cars nearby. For me this particular issue would have been a deal breaker as I'm not overly keen on major bugs limiting my strategic combat options.

The ghoul where youre supposed to be able to buy themes for your tenpenny house after you help the ghouls in cant be found anywhere. A dead Gary clone constantly flies around the vault with an arm about 6 ft long. Those are the only things ive really noticed so far.

The only real problems I've had, none major (apart from a couple of freezes, but a reload fixed them) were:

* In the Mission where you get the Declaration of Independence, Sydney didn't come down into the building with me, she stayed at the top of the lift. (Come to think of it, that may have been my fault, I seem to recall I told her to wait there!, just remembered that) - so scrub that out.

* In the final mission (no spoilers) when you accompany the Brotherhood, with all the action going on, the sound got extremely choppy and then when you got into you know where and talked to the army guy the sound system had obviously got corrupted and he didn't speak the words, the dialog simply flashed through what he was going to say, too fast to read it. A reload didn't fix it, I had to restart the console and reload the game, this naturally fixed it as the corruption of the sound system was gone.

* The latest one is as I'm exploring around a deathhand appears to fly through the ground, flying upwards at a million miles an hour on a loop. If you wait long enough he comes back again and flies off into the sky. Its almost as if his Z axis has become unstuck! I even tried laying a few mines where he comes through the ground but he was too high by the time they exploded!

Other than that its been pretty much glitch free.

It does, any fission battery will do it.