Downloaded & installed Broken Steel but not visible in Fallout 3 (PC version)

The Game Room
1

I would be happy to get an answer here but would be just as happy to be referred to a game site where the audience might be more focused on a question like this. I’m not really a gamer so I’m not familiar with all the available resources.

Quick description: I have Fallout 3 for PC, running on Vista 64x. I downloaded the Broken Steel add-on, waited for it to install, and now status is “installed.” It’s supposed to show up in the game as a quest but never does. There is no comprehensive description of exactly how this is supposed to work beginning to end so I don’t know how to troubleshoot it.

I figure one or more of these is happening:

  1. I am not doing whatever is supposed to happen in the game to trigger the new quest :frowning:
  2. The install process did not complete correctly :dubious:
  3. Microsoft LIVE is bullshit :rolleyes:

More detail for them what likes details: The way you buy this by download is through Microsoft LIVE. I created a “gamer tag” (i.e., userid), and made the purchase by credit card for the Broken Steel add-on. The Microsoft LIVE client managed a lengthy download. Then I started the game; there is a Download option available on the main menu but it was grayed out so I thought there might be a problem. I logged into LIVE through the game (also a main menu option) and as best I remember started the install from there. It seemed to take a long time (>15 minutes) and finally finished, with no particular message. Now when I log into LIVE it lists my downloads and shows this one as “installed.” When I play the game, Broken Steel is supposed to become available as a new Quest, but never shows up.

Now when I try to enter LIVE, it prompts me for an install key for the game, which I don’t seem to have. I bought the game originally as a download from Best Buy and am scouring my records trying to find an install key. I don’t know if that means there is some additional step I need to take to complete the installation of Broken Steel. There was no install key provided for it, so I assume it wants the original install key for Fallout.

(I also have the game on the Xbox 360, installed from disk, and Broken Steel, as well as the other add-ons, shows up early in the game as additional quests, so I have some idea of what is supposed to happen.)

(There is another, older well-documented problem with this add-on that appears to have been resolved a while back, which is an error occurring on install. This is not what happened to me. The install looks successful for all appearances, it just seems to have no effect.)

2

Have you rebooted Project Purity yet? If not, you won’t see the Broken Steel quests yet. What you will see are new beasts, like Albino Radscorpions and Super Mutant Masters, and the increased level cap.

3

I just recently bought the Game of the Year edition off Steam. When I load the game it comes up with a splash screen and a few menu options, one of which is Data Files. When I click on it, it shows me a list of the DLCs plus the core game, and I can check and uncheck them to load them as I choose. Do you have that ability?

Barring that, I noticed that when I got into the game (I’m still very early into it, I haven’t gone to Galaxy News Radio yet), all the DLCs gave me immediate quests to go check out, but Broken Steel only showed me a pop-up saying the level cap has been raised to 30. Like Lute says, the quest doesn’t actually show up yet. If you got that pop-up, it should be correctly installed.

4

If you get tired of Three-Dog’s limited playlist, there’s a mod at Fallout Nexus that increases his playlist by 100 tracks. Now he plays everything from Leadbelly to Roger Miller in my game.

5

What do you mean by “rebooted Project Purity”? I have completed the main quest, which means the game is over (IIR it’s call Take It Back!). Then I restarted the game to an earlier save, stuff like that. No dice.

There is a “Downloads” item in the main menu that is grayed out.

When I log into LIVE from the game, the game shows something like “Loading Content” but it seems to hang, I let it run 30 minutes before giving up. So maybe downloading and installing are the first two steps, and the game loading it happens when you start the game.

On my Xbox version, which shipped with all the add-ons, I get the same “Loading Content” message when I start the game but it only lasts for a few seconds.

6

This is almost exactly my issue. I completed “Project Purity” without realizing that it meant end-of-game. So I reloaded an earlier saved game, and have been happily wandering around the zones explorin’ and killin’ baddies.

But I did buy the first add-on; (Alaska and Steel City?), but just like CookingWithGas, I’m not seeing those quests appear. According to the brochure that came with the DVD, they’re supposed to appear as new radio channels on my Pip-Boy, but so far, nothing. Data Files on the startup menu is greyed out, so I must have done something wrong…

7

Come to think of it, I also had trouble with Broken Steel. LIVE installed it to the wrong folder.

8

Even ignoring added radio broadcasts, installing Broken Steel should result in a popup message saying “level cap raised to 30” when you load up your save or exit the Vault. If you don’t see it, something’s borked.

9

Update: I copied the files for the Broken Steel install into the Fallout executable directory, and then they show up in my Data Files list on game startup. (This is the same procedure used to load custom content devloped with the GECK package.) After playing for a couple of minutes, it tells me Broken Steel is loaded and my level cap is raised to 30, but it never adds the new quest. So I’m not quite there yet.

Can anyone refer me to a discussion board that is more specific to games, or even this particular game?

10

I believe that to “load the quest” you simply have to complete the final vanilla quest again. Instead of dying, you’ll wake up at the Citadel and there’ll be a bunch of speeches and then you’ll have the Broken Steel quests available.

11

That’s exactly it, thanks. I’m off onto my next quest. :slight_smile:

12

I bought the Fallout3 DVD a few years ago, and have been playing. I never connected to Windows live, by entering my DVD key and subscribing. When I bought Broken Steel, it installed, but didn’t initialize until I filled out the Windows Live Product key (on the DVD box), and entered my Windows Live account info.
Once I did that, broken steel started up.

13

Thanks for the contribution, although you will note by the post above yours that this problem was resolved over a year ago. Have fun playing! I have gone through the game three times, using vastly different characters each time.