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Fallout 3 removes Games for Windows Live, works well on Linux with Proton

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Fallout 3 from Bethesda Game Studios received a surprise update recently where the developer finally removed Games for Windows Live which is great news.

Released back in 2008, Fallout 3 is something of a classic and a game I thoroughly enjoyed before making the switch fully to Linux. Thanks to Steam Play Proton, you can play Fallout 3 easily on Linux and with this update no workarounds are needed - at all.

Testing out Fallout 3 myself today with Proton Experimental, it worked right out of the box. No launch options required, and where previously some needed to mess around with a dll file - it just works. Even the in-game radio stations appear to now work correctly too which were problematic before.

If you need me I shall once again be exploring the wasteland…

You can buy it on Steam.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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31 comments
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robvv Oct 14, 2021
Quoting: ArehandoroWithout Goldberg Emulator after a giving time you wouldn't be able to log in to Steam, and not all games work directly with the executable without Steam. Not counting all the features integrated that games have that rely on Steam.

I was responding to your assertion that the games "would not work". Goldberg Emulator doesn't let you log into Steam, but it allows you to run Steam games either offline or (in some cases) multiplayer.

My point was that as long as your games are downloaded, most will work just fine with a bit of tinkering. Yes, you will not have the social features of Steam or be able to make any further downloads, but at least you can still play the games you have installed.
Arehandoro Oct 14, 2021
Quoting: robvv
Quoting: ArehandoroWithout Goldberg Emulator after a giving time you wouldn't be able to log in to Steam, and not all games work directly with the executable without Steam. Not counting all the features integrated that games have that rely on Steam.

I was responding to your assertion that the games "would not work". Goldberg Emulator doesn't let you log into Steam, but it allows you to run Steam games either offline or (in some cases) multiplayer.

My point was that as long as your games are downloaded, most will work just fine with a bit of tinkering. Yes, you will not have the social features of Steam or be able to make any further downloads, but at least you can still play the games you have installed.

My point was that with tinkering, cracks, or the help of the community it's the exact same case with GfWL.
slaapliedje Oct 14, 2021
Quoting: robvv
Quoting: ArehandoroWithout Goldberg Emulator after a giving time you wouldn't be able to log in to Steam, and not all games work directly with the executable without Steam. Not counting all the features integrated that games have that rely on Steam.

I was responding to your assertion that the games "would not work". Goldberg Emulator doesn't let you log into Steam, but it allows you to run Steam games either offline or (in some cases) multiplayer.

My point was that as long as your games are downloaded, most will work just fine with a bit of tinkering. Yes, you will not have the social features of Steam or be able to make any further downloads, but at least you can still play the games you have installed.
I believe they have stated in the past that if they ever went away, they would basically flip a switch and let people download their game collection with the steam requirement removed. Might be interesting for someone with some clout (maybe Liam) to try to ask Valve about such a thing?
Ehvis Oct 14, 2021
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Quoting: slaapliedjeI believe they have stated in the past that if they ever went away, they would basically flip a switch and let people download their game collection with the steam requirement removed.

That may be the intention, but that only really applies if they decided to stop with Steam, which is very unlikely. It would be a whole different ballgame if they went bankrupt (also not too likely at this point) because then the user base would be the primary source of value and likely be sold as an asset.
Purple Library Guy Oct 14, 2021
Quoting: ArehandoroTo play Steam games offline, even if we were to have ALL games on our HDDs, we would need Goldberg Emulator, which to me is nothing more than another crack to bypass the online features of Steam.

Therefore, saving the difference in features, and not counting all the things Valve have done for the gaming community, etc, requiring Steam to play a game is not different as requiring GfWL.
Maybe I have all the wrong Steam games? Every time I've tried to play a Steam game when I didn't have internet access, it popped up a thing bitching about not being able to contact Steam and asked me if I wanted to play in offline mode; I said yes and played the game. I didn't need a crack or an emulator or whatever. So as far as I can tell, what you're saying just isn't the case.
Nasra Oct 14, 2021
Quoting: Liam Dawe
Quoting: NasraFallout 3 is broken now... :/
https://imgur.com/a/Z9XcG8x
You can ignore that it just carries on.

Yes and... game ignore me ! :D
Arehandoro Oct 14, 2021
Quoting: Purple Library Guy
Quoting: ArehandoroTo play Steam games offline, even if we were to have ALL games on our HDDs, we would need Goldberg Emulator, which to me is nothing more than another crack to bypass the online features of Steam.

Therefore, saving the difference in features, and not counting all the things Valve have done for the gaming community, etc, requiring Steam to play a game is not different as requiring GfWL.
Maybe I have all the wrong Steam games? Every time I've tried to play a Steam game when I didn't have internet access, it popped up a thing bitching about not being able to contact Steam and asked me if I wanted to play in offline mode; I said yes and played the game. I didn't need a crack or an emulator or whatever. So as far as I can tell, what you're saying just isn't the case.

It doesn't last indefinitely for all the games: https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/0/1744483505475893224/
Purple Library Guy Oct 14, 2021
Quoting: Arehandoro
Quoting: Purple Library Guy
Quoting: ArehandoroTo play Steam games offline, even if we were to have ALL games on our HDDs, we would need Goldberg Emulator, which to me is nothing more than another crack to bypass the online features of Steam.

Therefore, saving the difference in features, and not counting all the things Valve have done for the gaming community, etc, requiring Steam to play a game is not different as requiring GfWL.
Maybe I have all the wrong Steam games? Every time I've tried to play a Steam game when I didn't have internet access, it popped up a thing bitching about not being able to contact Steam and asked me if I wanted to play in offline mode; I said yes and played the game. I didn't need a crack or an emulator or whatever. So as far as I can tell, what you're saying just isn't the case.

It doesn't last indefinitely for all the games: https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/0/1744483505475893224/
According to that thread, if a game doesn't have separate non-Steam DRM such as Denuvo, offline mode works indefinitely as long as Steam has no new patches for the game (if you're offline, how does it tell?).

Two things seem to follow:
1. If the game refuses to work offline because of other DRM, that's not actually Steam causing the problem.
2. If Valve goes under and there is no Steam, Steam would have no new patches for the game, so . . . no problem.
Nasra Oct 16, 2021
Quoting: Nasra
Quoting: Liam Dawe
Quoting: NasraFallout 3 is broken now... :/
https://imgur.com/a/Z9XcG8x
You can ignore that it just carries on.

Yes and... game ignore me ! :D

Error message :
FileNotFoundError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/home/nasra/.steam/debian-installation/steamapps/compatdata/22370/pfx/drive_c/windows/syswow64/xlive.dll'

Is it really suppressed from the requierements ? :D


Last edited by Nasra on 21 August 2023 at 8:19 am UTC
slaapliedje Oct 16, 2021
Quoting: Purple Library Guy
Quoting: ArehandoroTo play Steam games offline, even if we were to have ALL games on our HDDs, we would need Goldberg Emulator, which to me is nothing more than another crack to bypass the online features of Steam.

Therefore, saving the difference in features, and not counting all the things Valve have done for the gaming community, etc, requiring Steam to play a game is not different as requiring GfWL.
Maybe I have all the wrong Steam games? Every time I've tried to play a Steam game when I didn't have internet access, it popped up a thing bitching about not being able to contact Steam and asked me if I wanted to play in offline mode; I said yes and played the game. I didn't need a crack or an emulator or whatever. So as far as I can tell, what you're saying just isn't the case.
It does bitch too. :P The crap thing is when you actually wanted to play something online :P Granted I think something like Valheim would have been fine, but it caused character sync issues last time Steam went down, and I lost all my equipment :(
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