Since I got a new PC a year ago I am encountering a very strange and rare phenomenon playing Fallout 3: My player character glides occasionally. I was searching the ground thoroughly if there was any ice to slip on, but guess what, there wasnt any. So I found out its all random when I hit any movement key, no matter if it's on keyboard or mouse, my char may take an extra step after releasing the key.

I tried everything that came to my mind to fix the issue: installing new drivers, reinstalling the game without any patch, tweaking the INI files, tweaking the 3D settings in my graphic card control panel, but in vain. So I kinda gave up...

Then New Vegas was released and I was really full of hope that it wouldnt inherit the mentioned bug from its "ancestor". Again, without avail. So I came to the conclusion that it must be engine related.

I know, this isnt a serious, game-breaking bug. The game IS playable, no doubt about that, but there is a big "but" nonetheless. Apart from the feeling not to have fully control over your game character it is really, I mean really, annnoying when you choose to play a stealthy character, want to sneak on someone hostile (maybe around a corner), and suddenly you slide around it, alarming the creature. This isnt supposed to be a slapstick game, is it?

So please, if you got any time, check this bug out. Maybe you find a fix for Fallout 3 too.

What i do know about the bug is:
- It happens when moving forward/backward/left/right with the mouse OR the keyboard
- It happens both on Windows 7 64bit and Windows XP 32bit (got a dual boot system)
- It happens in Fallout 3 patched and unpatched
- It happens in Fallout NV patched and unpatched
- It happens using different NVidia Driver Versions
- It happens with default ingame graphic settings
- It happens with default and tweaked 3D graphic card settings
- It happens with default and modified bios settings
- It happens with untouched and modified key-repeatrates in keyboard setup / control panel
- It happens with audio enabled and disabled in the INI.
- It DOES NOT happen in any other game (havent tested Oblivion yet, though)


My specs:
- NVidia GTX295
- Intel Quad-Core 3Ghz
- 8 GB RAM
- Windows 7 Professional 64bit
- Avira Antivir Personal
- Agnitum Outpost Firewall
- Microsoft Lycosa Keyboard
- Logitech G5 Mouse
- (still have to check mainboard type)
- Onboard sound


Thanks in advance.

i noticed the same thing.
to be honest, i haven't noticed it in fallout 3 or oblivion, but in new vegas it's a really prominent bug.

i like keeping a polite distance between my character and the character she's speaking to. just RPing. but the additional step that happens from time to time makes my character bump into the other one.
it's kind of odd.


i tried to force the additional step in 3rd person view to see if it maybe is an animation going rogue. like a loop not finished and pulling the character along.
but i wasn't able to get the additional step while in 3rd person. maybe it's a first person only thing?

i just tried for a few minutes, since i like to play in first person. =)

So do I.

I will try the 3rd person thing out, although it wont be a solution for me and I remember seeing a video on youtube where a guy had the same bug and was demonstrating it in 3rd person view.

Well yes it's the Engine, been there off an on depending what sad company that can't make their own engine since Oblivion, the periodic crashes to desktop been there ever since the Engine's creation (Morrowind)

Enjoy !


The engine also love messing with Mouse acceleration in and out of the game... can be real fun at times.

Any updates on this bug yet?

Maybe all people who encountered this problem can post their specs here. Perhaps we will find a hard- or software component we all have in common.

Still happening to me. Just an extra side step upon stopping. Hasn't caused me to die yet so I put up with it under the assumption that it's something in the code. Saw it in FO3 as well.

Is what the OP is describing only this additional step upon stopping? This is something I had since Oblivion, but it did never really bother me.

What OP describes sounds more severe though.

Please, post your specs here. I suspect it may be graphic card or mainboard related, cause not everyone is having this issue. As soon as I got time, I will replace my graphics card with the one I had when I hadnt got this problem yet. Its just a shot in the dark, but I havent given up yet.

Thinking about it, it seems like inertia to me...

Anyway, my specs (I sometimes get about one small additional step when stopping): C2D 4600 (on a MSI P31 Neo), NVidia 9600GT, 4Gig Ram, Win7 64bit

Win 7 64-bit
AMD Phenom II x4 965 processor
4 GB ram
NVIDIA GForce 9800 GT
Realtek onboard sound

BUT this is the 2nd build on my machine since Oblivion. I don't remember what I was using for FO3 either. This build was within the last year.