Slashdot Mirror
Fallout 3 DLC and Games For Windows Live Woes
A reader writes with news that the Operation Anchorage downloadable content for Fallout 3 has been released. Rock, Paper, Shotgun details the extensive difficulties encountered by users of Games for Windows Live while trying to locate and install the new content. This is the first in a series of three DLC releases, and they are exclusive to the PC and Xbox 360. The last, Broken Steel, will allow players to continue within the game once the main story is finished. Unfortunately, Bethesda apparently doesn't plan to patch that ability into the PS3 version.
According to one of the comments in linked article, the manager for Games for windows has been recently fired.
Im glad to see someone taking the fallout for such a mess!
Sorry, Ill go back to my corner now.
Make sure that hidden files are shown in Windows Explorer, check the settings! Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Xlive\DLC Vista: C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Microsoft\XLive\DLC Copy the files to: C:\Program Files\Bethesda Softworks\Fallout 3\Data (change the drive letter if necessary) You have to use the launcher to select the mod: click on "DATA FILES" and check the box next to Anchorage.esm.
Since it actually states in the manual that the games does END, I won't consider it a spoiler to say that in Fallout 3... Well, alright, for those of you who haven't played it yet:
SPOILER ALERT
\/\/\/\/\/\/
At the end of Fallout 3 your character is literally vaporized, and this patch is going to let you "continue" after you've finished the main quest? That's just patently ridiculous. It sounds like it's just an attempt to appease Oblivion fans who bought the game thinking they could perpetually level up their character forever. What's wrong with a game having an ending in it, particularly if it's a well-composed one?
Firefox 3.1 decided to post HTML formatted even if I chose Plain Old Text, so here it goes, again... Make sure that hidden files are shown in Windows Explorer, check the settings! Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Xlive\DLC Vista: C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Microsoft\XLive\DLC Copy the files to: C:\Program Files\Bethesda Softworks\Fallout 3\Data (change the drive letter if necessary) You have to use the launcher to select the mod: click on "DATA FILES" and check the box next to Anchorage.esm.
That's what it boils down to. Personally I prefer Steam, although I can apreciate the cost savings and ease of use that would atract games developers to Live.
I've tried both platforms, and right now its clear that slashdot opinion aside, Live has the upper hand in tutorial support and ease of use.
I've decided to go with Steam for my project, but it was by no means an easy choice. In spite of the reflex 'omg microsoft are teh evils!!!111one' reaction, Microsoft make pretty good game development tools.
A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' - D. Adams
Not-so-long list of countries where F3 addons will be available (and nowhere else EVER):
* Australia: International English
* Austria: German
* Belgium: Dutch, French
* Canada: English, French
* Denmark: Danish
* Finland: Finnish, Swedish
* France: French
* Germany: German
* Hong Kong: Traditional Chinese, English
* India: International English
* Ireland: International English
* Italy: Italian
* Japan: Japanese
* Korea: Korean
* Mexico: Spanish
* Netherlands: Dutch
* New Zealand: International English
* Norway: Norwegian
* Portugal: Portuguese
* Singapore: International English
* Spain: Spanish
* Sweden: Swedish
* Switzerland: German, French, Italian
* Taiwan: Traditional Chinese
* United Kingdom: International English
* United States: English
Huh... Rapidshared copy works everywhere...
I'm starting to be a bit tired of all the "games for windows", "rockstar whatever club", "funny happy spend-five-minutes-filling-info superfun club".
It's starting to ressemble the forced trailers in movies, the "don't copy or I kill you" warnings, and all the other crap that only pushes people more and more towards downloading movies and cracking games.
The school of thought based on countering the flaw "people won't like it" with "fuck'em they'll buy anyway" must die, now that "they won't necessarily buy".
I'm starting to be a bit tired of all the "games for windows", "rockstar whatever club", "funny happy spend-five-minutes-filling-info superfun club".
Absolutely. This kind of bullshit, combined with aggressive DRM, is turning the first twenty, thirty, or more minutes of 'gaming' on the PC into an experience equivalent to filing tax returns.
All the top dogs in the industry are barking on about piracy being their biggest problem. Their biggest problem is that if you take the FUN out of an entertainment product, it fails, utterly, in its most crucial objective. The clue is in the word entertainment.
You can remove enjoyment from a product in a number of ways: directly, by making mediocre games or by forcing you to jump through hoops before you can play them... but also indirectly: by acting like such an asshole that nobody can relax long enough to get into your game.
Seriously... if you went out to the local bowling alley, and the guy on the desk said 'You're a fucking thief, and a liar, and we'll be watching you. Here's your shoes and have fun!' ... I would not be having fun at the bowling alley.
Even on the off chance that I didn't leave immediately, I'd spend eight frames thinking 'What a fucking asshole' instead of getting into the bowling.
If you have DRM that makes my purchase into a rental, you don't get my money. That's a given. But there's a bigger problem than that:
I no longer care enough to pirate most of these games. They're the work of assholes.
If they can't be bothered fixing obvious bugs in the original game, why would I want to add further complications and bugs on top of that?
... and then they built the supercollider.
DLC Fallout 3 Operation Anchorage
http://www.mininova.org/get/2226613
Downloadable content is now mainstream. That means I'll get to pay for patches to my PC games that I would have gotten for free a few years ago. Thanks, XBOX LIVE!!! I swear if I have to BUY the alternate costumes for Street Fighter 4, I'm going to kill sombody.
No more F3 content please! I haven't slept properly for nearly 4 weeks now!
Despite such obvious bugs, many people loved the Fallout 3 and would gladly pay for more.
This is like Linux or DRM-free games or non-Internet Explorer browsers, etc - enough people don't care that many companies can go on just fine ignoring those markets.
"A witty saying proves nothing." - Voltaire
Seriously... if you went out to the local bowling alley, and the guy on the desk said 'You're a fucking thief, and a liar, and we'll be watching you. Here's your shoes and have fun!' ... I would not be having fun at the bowling alley.
The guy at the desk also have to tell you to wait 20-30 mins, even though all the lanes are free, because that's how long it takes to fire up a lane.
Seriously... if you went out to the local bowling alley, and the guy on the desk said 'You're a fucking thief, and a liar, and we'll be watching you. Here's your shoes and have fun!' ... I would not be having fun at the bowling alley.
The guy at the desk also have to tell you to wait 20-30 mins, even though all the lanes are free, because that's how long it takes to fire up a lane.
And then he says 'Yeah, we're just rigging security cameras to make sure you don't play more than ten frames, or get any redos, or let a friend share your go... (whispers) or bring their own shoes. We know you're a fucking cheat, and a liar, see. This is for your own good. If we didn't spend millions on our high tech security system, and pass the cost directly on to our customers, whilst simultaneously alienating them, and disenfranchising them from the whole bowling experience... well... if we didn't do that we might go out of business.'
This is not about Windows Live! and not Fallout 3, but still somewhat on topic.
All the games I had for the Amiga 500 were, of course, pirated (I did not even know you could actually BUY games). Then I switched to PC and started to buy my first games (Tie Fighter was the first one, I think).
For years the I played a lot of pirated games and some bought ones (as my money allowed; you could say noone lost anything since I could not afford more than I had already bought).
Then came the time of 10Mbit-Ethernet-LAN Parties and basically everything I had was "for free" but as years went, I started to get less and less copied music, movies, and games. Up to the point where I for over half a decade only had bought and no copied games. I was happy with that but then came DRM.
I bought Mass Effect, even if it caused some pain in my stomach, I also bought Fallout 3, which I felt a bit bad about. Each time I thought "Why am I supporting it". I would have bought GTA 4 quite some time ago... but the DRM and other crap scared me away.
Now, after nearly a decade of "basically no pirating" and some five years of "virtually no pirating at all" I'm back at the point where I really consider just downloading some cracked version of GTA 4.
Great achievement, large publishers. It's a bit like I'm 12 again and sit in front of my Amiga, asking myself why anyone could even think of spending the saved pocket money on games... it's not that I could not find other industries which will gladly take *the amount of cash I have available to spend on fun-stuff*.
Last games I tried on my computer - Civilization which brought with it some sort of DRM that has screwed up my computer since. Sins of a Solar Empire that wouldn't update or register for me, I get through to customer service and they tell me I need to do the Stardock thing, no thanks. Plenty of games I've wanted to buy but DRM and being treated like a criminal - no thanks and screw you guys too.
Enjoy your Karma, after all you earned it. Feel your Karma Joe, feel it burn.
I'll wait for them to release all 3 DLC modules on a single disc that I can pick up for 10-20 bucks. I realize it means I won't get to play them for another year, but that also means that the numerous bugs and problems people have been encountering should be ironed out. I thoroughly enjoyed the original game, and I still fire it up every few days to run around and discover new things, but taking a break from it for a while isn't such a bad thing...
This guy's the limit!
I have the Xbox 360 version and on Tuesday I bought the first DLC. I then spent nearly two hours trying to find the stupid thing because what I read online said to go west from the factory when in fact I only needed to go a short distance south. Had I not read that, I would have probably found it on my own in five or ten minutes.
That said, I've been more than happy with both the original game and the expansion. I don't feel that the expansion does the game justice as it's too linear and doesn't quite have the same feel, but I feel like they pull it off because it's a simulation of something else so it still fits. I've had the game lockup a few times and I've gotten stuck three times. The last time I was stuck happened within the expansion and it was when I cut the corner on a walkway and stepped off the beaten path. My character could turn around but could not jump nor move in any direction. I reloaded from my last save and all was fine. I've learned when playing Fallout 3 you need to save early and often and I do just that.
I realize from reading a lot of material concerning the game that there is literally a shitload of bugs in this game but I wonder if that has anything to do with the sheer size of the game. I've never played anything else that allows you so much freedom. Games like HL2 are nice and long but very linear. It has to be easier to test a linear game. In Fallout you have so many options, so many ways you can do things. Do you follow the guidebook and do things in order or do you just wander all over the place? And is there even really an order to it at all? You have so many sidequests and encounters that a huge number of variables need to be considered when testing the game.
Honestly I think the game rocks. It's immensely fun to play and I've logged close to 40 hours in game thus far. Are there bugs and problems? Sure. But don't you find that in nearly every game these days? Can Bethesda really be expected to find every single bug? They worked on this for years. It's massive. At some point they need to turn a profit to stay in business. How many testers and how many hours would it take to test every possible scenario? To do so would be crazy. They test most of it and hope they get all of the major bugs.
How is it that one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?
As an aside, we went bowling with a couple of my wife's friends a month ago. The first time I'd been bowling for quite some time, mostly due to bowling alleys being big smoker havens.
Anyway, it took 3 or 4 tries to get the neeto keen graphics scorekeeper up. It kept blue screening. Once we got playing, all the flashing disco lights kept us from enjoying the game. When the lights bailed (they had to reboot the server again), we got some pretty good bowling in until the lights came back on.
Yea, we won't be going back.
[John]
Shit better not happen!
Sins of a Solar Empire doesn't need to be registered to play. Just update. It's also DRM free. The registration/regular updates are the benefit to purchasing.
And if Civilization screwed up your machine, why are you blaming Sins of a Solar Empire / Stardock?
Fallout 3 is on Steam, why isn't the DLC on it?
Sorry, I don't understand this 'bowling'. Can you please frame your analogy in terms of cars? Thanks.
If I paid for the PS3 version of Fallout 3 only to find out I'm not going to get the same treatment as those who own it on PC or 360, I'd be suing the living shit out of Bethesda for anti-competitive practices and bait-and-switch. Note that the *MICROSOFT* systems get the Broken Steel DLC the *SONY* system will not.
This is BULLSHIT.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
I don't have a 360, so it would have had to be PS3 or PC for me.
Sounds like they focused mostly on the 360 version to the detriment of the other platforms. I never played the old Fallouts, so no big loss for me!
(-1, Raw and Uncut is the only way to read)
Are we going to see full massive expanions, or just these three pieces of DLC? I love Fallout, but I'm thinking of waiting to see if they release a Game of the Year edition like Morrowind and Oblivion.
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
I am a diehard PC gamer, and I wholeheartedly agree.
I now read reviews first and foremost to find out what manner of fucktard-inspired DRM and compulsory tracking/on-line registration is involved. I also return games which contain these things but do not say that they do on the box (e.g. I recently returned Company of Heroes because if it detects an Internet connection it phones home to Relic to let them know you're playing... no, not ok).
I only wish reviewers included specific and exhaustive details of the DRM and on-line 'features' of every game they reviewed. It is more important than whether they give it an 8.0 or an 8.5.
If you haven't already, check out Good Old Games: DRM-free PC classics, re-released with XP and Vista compatibility.
Read Pynchon.
Now that's perseverance and dedication to completing the mission!! :-) *absolutely no offense intended*
And yes, I agree that something as simple as posting a comment on /. can be trying on occasion.
Oh yes, and many thanks for the info!
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
I now read reviews first and foremost to find out what manner of fucktard-inspired DRM and compulsory tracking/on-line registration is involved.
I only wish reviewers included specific and exhaustive details of the DRM and on-line 'features' of every game they reviewed.
Along those lines, here's something I've been wondering about lately. With all the bitching that people do about DRM on PC games (and I've done my share of it, too), why isn't there some kind of site that lets you search for a game, and it'll tell you what kind of DRM/copy protection/other crap is included with it?
Before I buy games, I want to know if they have version x.y of SecuROM or StarForce or just require a SN be entered or a disc check or have a code wheel or make you look up the fourteenth word of the third paragraph of the twenty-ninth page of appendix H of the manual or install a keylogger that reports all your credit card data back to EA or whatever other crap might come along with it. I'd also like to be able to easily find out if a game doesn't have those things, like stuff from Stardock, and if there's a crack or patch to remove it (or preferably not install it in the first place) for ones that do, whether through GameCopyWorld or the developers, or maybe the Greatest Hits version doesn't include it in the first place. Not links to cracks or torrents of the games or even reviews or anything, just a quick and easy way to find out whether the publisher is evil or not.
Basically, it seems obvious to me that something like this should/would exist and be useful to a lot of people, judging by a lot of comments I see on here, but if it does, I can't find it, and if it doesn't, I'm not sure why. I would say I'd do it myself, but I don't have enough of the relevant data to start anything useful, and I don't trust my rather rusty web fu to do it right myself at the moment...
Anyone? Bueller?
FO3 is a fun game, but the thing is a buggy mess. I too wanted to purchase the DLC, which required me to do the following:
1. Install crap software.
2. Get a hotmail account.
3. Get tie the hotmail account to a "gamer tag".
4. Select between incredibly 13 year old boy avatars such as a dinosaur or a soccerball.
5. Purchase "microsoft points"
6. Wait for Micorosoft points to hit my account.
7. Enjoy horrific download speeds to get new content.
Look, if I want to give some jag bag 10 bucks for a few quests in a game, I should be able to just swipe my card and be done with it, not fill out enough paper work for the feds to do a background check on me.
But it's worse: I installed the patch to find out that some core features of the game were now inexplicably broken (those of you play: Vats accuracy way down, no rendering of body parts in vats, mouse twitchiness). And then, I went to the support forums for bethseda where they have some eurotard troll to tell me "UR COMPUTER ISN"T L33T ENOUGH".
Dumb fuck: the computer was plenty to run the thing before the patch, so obviously the problem ain't the box.
I actually really like Bethesda's games. I've tolerated the buggy disasters that they've put out since Daggerfall. But this windows live shit just treats those of us with the patience to deal with this shit like crap.
Thanks!
This site has a good list of securom games - not sure about other forms of DRM though.
Read Pynchon.
Thanks. That's a useful start, and it's interesting to see who uses it on how many games. EA is apparently the worst, to no one's surprise. The link to this page on there is good, too, which includes a bunch of StarForce and SafeDisc stuff, among other things.