Cant launch Fallout 2

Hi ladz.

All attempts to run F2 are not working on steam and GOG.
When trying F2HD nothing happens. When running F2 error msg states "This program requires win 95 or with Direct x 3.0a or later etc."
Tried lots of compatibility changed with lots of graphic changes and run as admin and all the easy stuff.
Re installed Direct x, installed direct x June2010, updated drivers on graphics card, bios, other things.
Reinstalled game , verified files, sfc /scannow no irregularities. Fallout 1 and Fallout Tactics work.
Does "D3D9 Overlay: Not Supported" in dxdiag matter? End of Dxdiag has some F2 crash info.

Any assistance or thoughts on direction to try would be appreciated. Played Fallout 2 in the 90s I think and really want to head back for more
Cheers

NeedthatWastelandHit said:

Hi ladz.

All attempts to run F2 are not working on steam and GOG.
When trying F2HD nothing happens. When running F2 error msg states "This program requires win 95 or with Direct x 3.0a or later etc."
Tried lots of compatibility changed with lots of graphic changes and run as admin and all the easy stuff.
Re installed Direct x, installed direct x June2010, updated drivers on graphics card, bios, other things.
Reinstalled game , verified files, sfc /scannow no irregularities. Fallout 1 and Fallout Tactics work.
Does "D3D9 Overlay: Not Supported" in dxdiag matter? End of Dxdiag has some F2 crash info.

Any assistance or thoughts on direction to try would be appreciated. Played Fallout 2 in the 90s I think and really want to head back for more
Cheers

Click to expand...

Is the Steam version doing the same thing? Or is it crashing in a different way?

Dr. Sep said:

Is the Steam version doing the same thing? Or is it crashing in a different way?

Click to expand...

They both crash with the same messages from launching in their respective fallout directories. The steam version does bring up the launcher though when run in steam before pressing play on the launcher fails to run.

NeedthatWastelandHit said:

They both crash with the same messages from launching in their respective fallout directories. The steam version does bring up the launcher though when run in steam before pressing play on the launcher fails to run.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure how GOG works but have you tried validating your files or a reinstall for Steam? Also, what version of windows?

Yeah I've validated on both platforms when Ive tried them and did multiple re-installs on different drives. Windows 10 Home 64-bit

Hi all, thanks for having a look. It seems to be working now. I changed settings in windows defender: ASLR (force randomization of images) . But seems to fix a problem with both Fallout2 not running and Fallout New Vegas. Maybe this will help someone else. Will try and recreate issue and confirm.

NeedthatWastelandHit said:

Hi all, thanks for having a look. It seems to be working now. I changed settings in windows defender: ASLR (force randomization of images) . But seems to fix a problem with both Fallout2 not running and Fallout New Vegas. Maybe this will help someone else. Will try and recreate issue and confirm.

Click to expand...

Glad you figured it out. I also have Windows 10 and us Windows Defender so I don't know why I've never encountered this.

Yeah I was actually trying also to fix FNV as it also was not running. Found the following post and that ALSR thing seemed to be stopping FNV as well. Here's original post. So if people have issues in other old games may be the culprit too.

Possible Crash Fix for New Vegas on Windows 10 and/or 11​

Fallout: New Vegas


If you are on Windows 10 or 11 and New Vegas won't launch for unknown reasons and you've tried all the regular fixes to no success, try this because I couldn't launch NV for months and this fixed it. Credit to Exobine on the Viva New Vegas Discord server for somehow finding this. This works for Windows, and I am not sure if there's an equivalent for other operating systems.

To fix New Vegas not starting up for unclear reasons, do this:

1. Open Windows Security
2. Open App and Browser Control
3. Open Exploit Protection
4. Open Exploit Protection Settings
5. Under the system settings tab, under "Force randomization for images (Mandatory ASLR)," select "Off by default."

I hope this helps in case your game stopped launching for whatever reason(s).

Edit: Credit to u/Recessio_ for discovering this fix.

My 2 cents:

I believe you could manually add Fallout 2's executable, in the "Program settings" tab found within Exploit Protection menu, to specifically allow Fallout 2 to run without applying certain Windows Defender's Exploit Protection mitigations to it, NeedthatWastelandHit. So while the detailed fix solved the issue for you, it's not the definitive method of launching the game for modern OSes.
Since you could run the original Fallout just fine, you'd just need to add both Fallout 2 & Fallout: New Vegas into it, to play them unbothered. A targeted exclusion like this should resolve the issue without unnecessarily compromising your system's security. It's worth considering.
Personally, I'd avoid turning off security settings that are active by default, NeedthatWastelandHit.