[FO1] - Unable to start the game (Refresh rate problem)

[No45]

Right, I've searched the forum and the relevant stickies (As well as looking through the README and doing some Googling) and I can't find any indication that this has been covered.

I've just installed the GSP version of the original Fallout (With no patches... yet). All installs fine, but when I launch the game I get a completely blank screen (Music plays in the background and to all intents and purposes it seems as though the game is starting up fine). Blank that is, except for a warning on my monitors UI stating that it's gone out of frequency!

Now, as this is an LCD screen it obviously has limited refresh rate support and I can only assume it's launching at something other than 60hz. Now there's not a menu option to set the graphics configuration and I can't see anything in the \fallout.cfg file that suggests it would change that setting (I don't get into the game, so can't check it from there). So, long story short, is there a way I can force a resolution/refresh rate by editing some file?

For the record, I'm running Vista on a Dell Inspiron 9400 laptop (2GB RAM, Dual Core, Radeon X1400 GPU) with a 20" Belinea LCD attached through DVI. I've tried all sorts of compatibility modes as well as running it as an Administrator, but no dice.

I've been meaning to play these two games for some time now, so I'd appreciate any help you can give.

Hopefully I haven't missed anything or trodden on anyones' toes, apologies if that's the case.

 

[Sander]

Have you tried any kind of compatibility mode, disabling hardware acceleration, tinkering with DirectX options?

 

[No45]

I've tried Windows 95, 98/ME and XP compatibility on the falloutw.exe file, yes. Same outcome regardless of which I use.

I'm using the standard ATI driver that comes with Windows at the moment (Because ATI thoughtfully don't provide reference drivers for mobile devices and Omega Drivers (Which I've often used in the past) don't seem to have updated for Vista yet). I could always go to Dell *shudder* for whatever the latest driver version they have is. Obviously until I get a better driver I have most of the options within the card locked.

I probably should have done this before posting actually. It's a complete rebuild so I've been trying to keep it all as tidy as possible. I'll go get either the driver from Dell or see if I can find a way to persuade the reference drivers to install on this laptop.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll update when I've tried them.

 

[No45]

Some further Googling and I've found a way to get the ATI reference driver onto a Mobility chipset and now the game launches fine.

Booted it up, started a new game, opened the character creation screen... realised I need to read the manual! I'm coming into the game cold so I don't know anything at all about how it plays or how the character creation works.

So now I'm in reading mode.

Thanks again for your help.