Wasn't sure where this would go but yeah decided to put it here

So where to start, the first Fallout game I've played was FO3 and shortly after I bought NV. Long story short, after lurking around the forums for a while I decided it was time to play the originals.

Yesterday, I bought Fallout on GOG and I have yet to fully play it, only managing to get my character up and running and shortly after that found myself being attacked by giant rats when I left the vault. lol. It took me a while to understand the combat which still, I'll be honest, I'm still not so sure. Tips are definitely appreciated, and anything else I should know before starting venturing further?

Fallout 1 (without the patch) has a constant deadline you need to meet or else you fail the game, though the deadline is quite fair. If you get the patch then the second deadline will disappear and you can take your time doing whatever you please.

I always thought that was too bad too, I wished they would have left well enough alone.
If Tim had had his way, he'd have removed the waterchip timer as well; (he's said so).

was not aware of this! Is the patch included in the download? And should I get this said patch? lol