Ok, so I'm in the raiders camp but I don't want to be spotted. If i press sneak in the skilldex it only seems to last for one step. How do I sneak properly in fallout 1?

No running, don't walk in front of them, and have a high skill. That's about it AFAIK. (I never was the sneaking type.)

It sounds to me like you might have running set to "Allways" - Either change that in the options, or hold down shift when you click to move.

Note that the "Sneak" indicator on your screen just means you are trying to sneak - not if it is working or not.