So as title says. I am looking for a definitive guide on which mods to use, where to find them, and install/use them.

I recently bought these games via Steam, having never gotten around to playing FO and played FO2 quite a fair bit. However, I noted when running them on my Windows 7 comp, I got the graphic discolouration. I did some research, but unlike other old games, found I was not getting much clear or concise information on how to work on this. I was under the impression it could be fixed by some mods, but beyond that, the information was not very consistent or clear.

May I ask of this forum to provide me with some clear and concise information? I also recommended these to a friend who bought them, before discovering this issue. So it would maybe help her too.

The color problem is a compatibility issue caused by Windows 7 and its dislike for 256 color applications, which Fallout and Fallout 2 are. Any 256 color application being run under Windows 7 will have this problem. Fortunately the high res mod for the first two Fallout games allows you to increase the color depth to 16 or 32 bit.

For Fallout this is all you need to do to fix your color problems:

1. Download this: http://www.mediafire.com/download/84fgq5co2vc2p7v/Fallout1_High_Resolution_Patch_4.1.7.zip

2. After installing launch the game, go to options, click the SCRN button and switch the color depth to 32 bit.

For Fallout 2:

1. http://www.mediafire.com/download/1d88o0mf817xpp4/Fallout2_High_Resolution_Patch_4.1.7.zip

2. Repeat what you did for Fallout.

Tactics should work fine since it's not a 256 color application.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/247406/how_to_play_fallout_and_fallout_2_in_windows_7.html

http://www.nma-fallout.com/content.php?page=fo-modding

http://falloutmods.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Fallout_mods

http://falloutmods.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout1_Resolution_Patch

http://falloutmods.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout2_High_Resolution_Patch

That should get you going.

http://www.moddb.com/

For Fallout 2 I'd recommend Restoration Project. It covers all the necessary, bugfixing, new/unused content, high res support, etc.