http://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=17827
Summary: Fallout 3 detects video card capabilities by description Product: Wine Version: 1.1.17 Platform: PC OS/Version: other Status: UNCONFIRMED Severity: major Priority: P2 Component: directx-d3d AssignedTo: wine-bugs@winehq.org ReportedBy: John-Whitlock@ieee.org
Fallout 3 appears to detect video card capabilities by description. The attached patch to 1.1.17 allows the video card description to be read from the registry, and makes the game playable.
Without the patch, the game will run through the intro pages until "New Game" is selected. At that point it will crash, usually blaming it on xlive.dll (see bug #15839). However, this may be a crash handler that is failing.
One work-around is to modify My Documents/My Games/Fallout 3/FALLOUT.INI, to set "bUseFaceGenHeads=0". This allows the "New Game" to continue, but without heads on any characters.
It appears that Fallout 3 uses the video card description to discover shader support. This may be a fallback for an unimplemented function. With the attached patch, the video card description can be added to the registry, and the game will allow "New Game" with character heads.
There may be a deeper issue at work, but this would allow the game to earn the "Gold" status it is currently advertised with.