I am rather new to the older Fallouts and in need of some help getting into it. Can anyone give me some basic pointers as to how to get startedé According my Pipboy, I am limited on time in F1, seeing as I have to help my Vault. That is rather discouraging, because I don`t like rushing things. Where should I begin firsté I traveled to a random place and it was full of Ghouls and I am surrounded, not cool What are some important people I should know, weapons etcé

If someone could help me start that would be great.

As you begin you'll have been given a location to the East. You'll run into civilisation on the way, they'll give you pointers to some important places.

and Steal EVERYTHING that isnt Bolted down

That is pretty lucky if you ask me that you traveled to the place you did... I think you'll understand why one day... I don't want to spoil why that place is a lucky place to randomly travel to on your first playthrough. My advise focus on finding that water chip! You want to find the water chip as fast as you can so you can enjoy and take your time with the side quests. My other advise is try to do every quest humanly possible quickest way to get exp.

Not really lucky for me mind you, I'm getting slaughtered by Ghouls and I am not quite familiar with the combat system yet >_>

I heard that in these games, lower SPECIAL stats really hurt you, such as INT. Is there much truth to it?

Mak10z:Isn't that an evil way of trying to survive? I'd probably get mowed down

its not evil. Just opportunist of you. survival of the fittest and all that

Yes there is truth to it. INT is probably one that well affect you the most. INT and agility I don't recomend tampering with unless you're a veteran! I recomend having a high agility it really helps with combat as it effects how many action points you have. You can run passed them, heres a hint run past the ghouls and go down one of the manholes. You don't have to fight in this game, in fact this is one of the few games you can can make a character with no combat ability and still be able to beat the game! There is nothing wrong with running away. Trust me on this run past the ghouls and find a manhole and check the sewers thoroughly. You can always come back later at a higher level when you have some better weapons and slaughtered them all if you choose.

Try not to play Fallout 1 or 2, but especially 1, like any of the other Fallout games you might have played.

Playing with an int of 1 is quite fun, but veterans only.

What should my combat stats be? I went with small guns at the start, but I have no idea what is best for the long run.

Press F1 if you're not too familiar with the controls.

But the most important advice I can give you is SAVE frequently before important actions are taken like engaging in dialog or leaving a town. Also, spread your saves over all slots (keep one slot for quick save). That way if something does go wrong you can reload a previous point.

small guns is always a good thing.

Big Guns is always a good thing too

I stay away from Electric weapons.

Unless of course you get the

Thanks for the advice.

On a side note, at the main menu and credits and such, I get color problems.Things turn green and purple and makes me feel like I'm watching the weather network. It hasn't been plaguing me in game, but at the menus. Is it like this for anyone else?( I use Steam)


It could be due to the fact the game is old though.

Yup, these games are old or vista/windows7 are just stubborn, I get this problem with a lot of other oldies. Been having issues with Baldur's Gate 1 lately, same crap and the beautiful thing is vista/win7 doesn't allow me to tweak the hardware acceleration like XP did. It can be done but it svcks!

Anyway, you'll need the high resolutions patch.

FO1: http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/dload.php?action=file&file_id=1273

FO2: http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/dload.php?action=file&file_id=1325

Paste in game directory -> install -> run game -> go to options -> scrn -> set to 16bit -> restart Fallout.


However, you can install Killap's unofficial patch for FO2, it includes the high-resolution patch & much more.

Link: http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/dload.php?action=category&cat_id=16


*Edit* For a basic character setup follow Per's advice:

FO1: http://user.tninet.se/~jyg699a/fallout.html

FO2: http://user.tninet.se/~jyg699a/fallout2.html

Don't scroll too far down to the walkthrough section if you want to avoid spoilers, though.


In essence for first-timers it's best to pick a combat-oriented character while also investing points in abilities such as intelligence, speech, lockpick (if you like goodies), science, etc. To profit from both sides (combat versus diplomacy). But that's just my opinion you can create whatever you want of course, although it will determine your advantages and disadvantages. Keep in mind unlike FO3 not all skills/stats will be maximized so putting careful consideration into your char isn't a bad idea by either creating a specialist or someone who's more versatile. Also, some stats, perks and skills are connected, for example: perception/luck/finesse/better criticals & small arms for snipers.

Hope it helps. Happy hunting, Cheers!

Thanks for the links. I think until I get a hang of the game, I'm going combat mostly.

I hear a lot of people using Gifted and Talented or whatever, are those the best overall traits>?

Theyre often accused of being Overpowered, but beware they do have significant drawbacks.

Gifted is a nice trait, personally I love it. But what agent c said: it has its drawbacks. You can see that on the char creation screen when tagged, it will grand you more stat points but the drawback is you'll receive less overall skill points. It's up to you to decide. Traits I would avoid or doubt their usefulness are: Bloody Mess, Kamikaze, Night Person, Fast Metabolism and Skilled to name a few. Furthermore it's not mandatory, it's just an option.