# How to access Fallout 3 DLC? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 12, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-access-fallout-3-dlc/502781 "2009-07-12T19:38:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-access-fallout-3-dlc/502781/1 "2009-07-12T19:38:17Z")
So I finally got around to getting the Fallout 3 DLC (Broken Steel, Pitt and Point Lookout) today. I beat the game last year and am downloading those packs as we speak (360). How do I access the content? Will I just pop up at the water plant where I finished? Will I still have all my loot? Do I have to walk to those locations or are their indicators that point you towards that content? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Darkhold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@Darkhold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkhold)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-access-fallout-3-dlc/502781/2 "2009-07-12T20:07:10Z")
For Broken Steel you have to load a game just before the ending and play through the ending again. You’ll wake up at a med center and that quest chain will start (I’ve heard if you have Charon or Falkes in your party at that last moment they’ve changed the dialogue so they will go in and turn on the water plant instead of you if you ask them, alas the only save I have at that point doesn’t have them in my party). You keep all your loot. I’m not sure about the others. I’m guessing you’ll get radio transmissions like in Operation Anchorage. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-access-fallout-3-dlc/502781/3 "2009-07-12T20:57:55Z")
> [@Darkhold](#): > > For Broken Steel you have to load a game just before the ending and play through the ending again. Just a note for those of us who play on PC: this method will not work if you were playing the game outside Windows Live. Saved games from outside Windows Live aren’t compatible with any DLC. ---
**Author:** ![Darkhold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@Darkhold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkhold)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-access-fallout-3-dlc/502781/4 "2009-07-12T21:20:14Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Just a note for those of us who play on PC: this method will not work if you were playing the game outside Windows Live. Saved games from outside Windows Live aren’t compatible with any DLC. I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t have windows live and I do play Fallout 3 on the PC. I played through Anchorage with an old save and I started Broken Steel with an old save. I loaded it up now and got a note about some boat docking for Point Lookout. Maybe it’s some regional difference? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-access-fallout-3-dlc/502781/5 "2009-07-12T22:52:05Z")
> [@Darkhold](#): > > I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t have windows live and I do play Fallout 3 on the PC. I’m guessing you got the expansions from somewhere other than Windows Live then. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-access-fallout-3-dlc/502781/6 "2009-07-12T22:56:33Z")
I got them working. Here was the problem in case you were wondering. I got into my last save and it was WAY too close to the time out when the plant exploded. What was happening was that I couldn’t get to the panel to type the code in before the plant exploded, thereby killing my character and the wasteland. In order to use the Broken Steel pack you MUST save the wasteland, whether it’s you or your lacky you send in. If you don’t it just ends straight up. I tried this a few times to verify. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2009, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-access-fallout-3-dlc/502781/7 "2009-07-12T23:10:20Z")
Never mind. Apparently I was experiencing a bug in 1.5.