Downloading Fallout 1, 2, and Tactics on my laptop from Steam.

Does anybody have advice or suggestions for a first-timer to the original Fallout game?

Doesn't the Steam version require tweaking for it to work on newer OS?

I think only the GOG versions have the required patches to make Fallout 1 and 2 work properly on newer OS's. The main problem is that you'll have color corruption, everything will be in "rainbow" color.

Grab the Hi-Res patches from NMA:

http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/dload.php?action=file&file_id=1426
http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/dload.php?action=file&file_id=1427

Tactics should work fine without a Hi-Res patch.

I was planning to use GOG, but GOG is based in Europe and my bank won't allow international transactions, so I decided to just go with steam instead. Thanks for the links!

But any advice on what I might want to do while actually playing the game? I'm definitely open to suggestions.

If you run into giant mantises right after departing from Vault 13 in the beginning of Fallout 1, run, run like hell. That is the exact way I first died in the game when I played it for the first time. Other than that... hmmm... put points into energy weapons in Fallout 1, it pays off.... Do the quests in Shady Sands, you'll need the XP.... There are water merchants in the Hub who can prolong the time limit with the water chip quest..... And well, that's all I can say off the top of my head.

Oh yeah, and have fun!

SAVE OFTEN. And in multiple slots too. It's pretty easy to get yourself into a spot where you have a low chance of victory. This is especially true for the first game, as you are placed under a time limit for the first half of the game.

Also, don't tag First Aid or Doctor, the only real use you can get out of them is free experience every time you use them. And even then, they're not really worth it in my opinion. Any health you may have lost during a random encounter can easily be obtained again via just walking across the map.

Finally, if you need to use stimpacks, simply access the inventory, right click on them, and select the use to use them. You can do this multiple times so long as you don't leave the inventory screen. When I first started the game, I thought I had to place stimpacks in my weapons slots and use them that way. Turns out that only made things harder than they needed to be.

Sounds like good advice. Thanks guys!