Fallout 1

[Muz]

So seeing as I've been impressed with the (p)reviews of Fallout 3, I figure I'll be getting it eventually. The completist in me has decided to first pick up Fallout 1 and 2.

I've played 1 a little now (just got to The Hub), and I've got a few questions for those of you who've played:

1) Are NPCs absolutely necessary? Ian got ripped to shreds by radscorpions, and I didn't reload it. I assume there's no way to bring a dead NPC back to life, but the idea of shepherding party members I can't actually control bothers me, so my inclination is to try to go it alone.

2) As far as I can tell, there's no quest journal. Is that correct? I can deal with that if it's the case, but I want to make sure I'm not missing anything.

3) The water chip deadline has me in a rather rushed mindset as I run around looking for leads rather than exploring the world. (I suspect I'm at The Hub sooner than I should be, in fact.) Is that a deadline that's going to possibly be missed if I'm not utterly focused?

4) Is there any point to stopping in random map squares with nothing interesting visible in them during travel? (I'm guessing no, but wondering if I could be missing stuff.)

All done now. :smallbiggrin:

[Maxymiuk]

So seeing as I've been impressed with the (p)reviews of Fallout 3, I figure I'll be getting it eventually. The completist in me has decided to first pick up Fallout 1 and 2.

I've played 1 a little now (just got to The Hub), and I've got a few questions for those of you who've played:

1) Are NPCs absolutely necessary? Ian got ripped to shreds by radscorpions, and I didn't reload it. I assume there's no way to bring a dead NPC back to life, but the idea of shepherding party members I can't actually control bothers me, so my inclination is to try to go it alone.

Not absolutely necessary, but make things way, way easier later on, both because two guns are better than one, and because a party member is another body to take bullets instead of you.


2) As far as I can tell, there's no quest journal. Is that correct? I can deal with that if it's the case, but I want to make sure I'm not missing anything.

Your PIP Boy holds relevant quest data (and more!).

http://i517.photobucket.com/albums/u340/Maxymiuk/fallout1.gif


3) The water chip deadline has me in a rather rushed mindset as I run around looking for leads rather than exploring the world. (I suspect I'm at The Hub sooner than I should be, in fact.) Is that a deadline that's going to possibly be missed if I'm not utterly focused?

You have 150 days. On my first run, without too much rushing, but also without being OCD about exploring, I completed the waterchip objective in under 50.


4) Is there any point to stopping in random map squares with nothing interesting visible in them during travel? (I'm guessing no, but wondering if I could be missing stuff.)

All done now. :smallbiggrin:

When you travel you have a chance of triggering secret encounters - this can happen anywhere, but extending travel time by faffing about the map can only help.

[Erloas]

You can go it alone if you want, the NPCs just make things a little easier, if for no other reason then absorbing some damage that would otherwise go to you.

The Pipboy has quest information on it, its been a while since I've played though so I forget exactly what it has on there. I think it has the quest and it might have the chat text for it as well.

The waterchip deadline isn't something I ever had a problem with. There are multiple ways to get the chip and even some things you can do to extend your time, so not getting to the right place as quickly as possible is not really an issue. The only time you might have a problem is if you just wander the map aimlessly because that eats a lot of time. The only time you will find anything in the open map is with a random encounter, simply stopping and going to the normal view will never lead to anything (at least that I've found or heard of). You can find points on the map that way even if you haven't been told where they are, but it will show up as a circle and be fairly obvious.

[2xSlick]

The only thing I've ever found when stopping in empty squares (not ones that give an encounter) were a couple rocks and maybe one pistol clip. Don't bother. As everyone else has said, the waterchip deadline is just to get you moving, I've never heard of anyone failing it without doing something drastic like playing a 1 inteligence character and getting both legs crippled by rats before you make it out of your vault's doorway.

Sucks about Ian because I bet it cost most of your early quest rewards to afford him. Be sure to head to Junktown next. Not only is the sheriff MacGyver, but you can pick up two awesome companions as well. Speaking of companions, you can equip them by using the pickpocket skill on them and planting items. Your pickpocket skill can be 1% and it will still be successful since they are allies. Rember that they can only use more powerful versions of weapons they use. For instance, Ian likes that starter pistol, but if you give him a .44 revolver, he'll actually kill something with it. He won't use rifles though. I'm not sure if they'll wear armor.

[Muz]

That was O'Neill?? I THOUGHT his voice sounded familiar. :smallbiggrin:

I've been to Junktown, but it was mostly a side-trip when I was looking for ammo or cash to save Tandi. (I did help him out with the casino guy, though, but left soon after, since I needed to save Tandi ASAP and then continue to search for any leads on a water chip.) :smallsmile:

And thanks for the info on the PipBoy; I could've sworn I looked in there for a quest journal, but couldn't find it. I'll look again.

[Mordokai]

Since I have this thread at hand...

Is there something wrong with Fallout 1 not starting on Win XP? I put in CD and try to install it, but is says Sorry, this product is not supported by this version of Windows. So, what am I to do?

[JMobius]

Compatability mode would be my first guess.

[Fri]

Huh? Never had that kind of problem. Maybe, you could try turning the compatibility mode? Running it as windows 2000 or something?

[Mordokai]

That would probably work, if only I remembered it sooner :smalltongue: Meh, not too late yet.

[Helgraf]

That was O'Neill?? I THOUGHT his voice sounded familiar. :smallbiggrin:

I've been to Junktown, but it was mostly a side-trip when I was looking for ammo or cash to save Tandi. (I did help him out with the casino guy, though, but left soon after, since I needed to save Tandi ASAP and then continue to search for any leads on a water chip.) :smallsmile:

And thanks for the info on the PipBoy; I could've sworn I looked in there for a quest journal, but couldn't find it. I'll look again.

When in the PipBoy view, click Archives. Then click a location name and all the quests you've collected in that location will be shown; ones you've completed will be strikethroughed.

[Poison_Fish]

I've started playing fallout 2 again.

I'd be back to 3 and other game goodness, but right now I can't use my left hand thanks to a giant metal pot landing on my hand.

So, 2 is sufficing since it's been a long time since I played. All the good feelings are coming back.

it's like playing Deus Ex again, except I really don't care about the graphics.

[Brewdude]

No you don't need to keep the npcs. In fact, one of the challenges people made is to try and finish the game with a live dogmeat. (usually he dies)

[Muz]

Thanks for all the info! I've restarted my game with a better character build (choosing "gifted" this time), and I'm actually running around with Ian now and doing a LOT better than before. (Cleared out the radscorpion cave without having to go back to town to heal, for instance.)

Another question, though: Is there any way you can tell NPCs to use their weaker weapon? (I see an option to tell them to use their strongest one, but I figure that's the gun, and I don't want him wasting our ammo on rats.) :smallannoyed:

[Maxymiuk]

I may be getting Fallout 1 and 2 confused here, but I think there should be an option to tell him to holster his weapon. Once he does that, just pickpocket it off him, leaving him the one you want him to use.

[Muz]

I did pickpocket him and take his ammo (leaving him the gun), but all that seems to do is make him switch to unarmed combat despite him having a knife in his inventory--which he claims he's good with.

...Though it just occurred to me that maybe he does more damage in unarmed fighting?

[mangosta71]

I never had problems keeping my NPCs fully loaded with ammo. Also, it's easier to just talk to them, hit trade (don't have to balance things for your NPCs like you do when bartering) and hand them whatever you want them to have. I know that you can tell them to use their best armor in Fallout 2, and I seem to recall having that option in 1 as well. Their rendering still shows them as they were when you found them, but they get the armor benefits (ie, Ian will always look like he's wearing a leather jacket, even if he's in power armor).

[Philistine]

Hmmph. I generally tried to keep my NPCs at a nice remove from any actual fighting that might be going on. For my safety (there's nothing like getting sprayed by a full magazine of 10mm at point-blank range because Ian got a happy), and for theirs (they're too useful as mules to risk letting them get shot up).

And AFAIK, it's not possible to get your NPC companions in Fallout1 to wear better armor.

[Tom_Violence]

I never had problems keeping my NPCs fully loaded with ammo. Also, it's easier to just talk to them, hit trade (don't have to balance things for your NPCs like you do when bartering) and hand them whatever you want them to have. I know that you can tell them to use their best armor in Fallout 2, and I seem to recall having that option in 1 as well. Their rendering still shows them as they were when you found them, but they get the armor benefits (ie, Ian will always look like he's wearing a leather jacket, even if he's in power armor).

There's a pretty damn decent mod for Numero Dos that not only gets the game to show companions in their new armour, but even makes it still look distinctly like them at the same time. I'll have to see if I can find a link...

[Brewdude]

Note: do not ever, under any circumstances, give your NPC an automatic weapon. :smallbiggrin:

[Myatar_Panwar]

After playing Fallout 3 for a bit, and just loving the atmosphere, I decided to give the previous games a go. Starting with 1 and getting 2 if I enjoyed 1, all via GOG.

I'm at the character creation screen right now. Anything I should know about anything before making a character? Important stats/ traits or anything?

[MattR]

Gifted and Finesse traits

Str 5
Per 8
int 6
agi 9
luck 8

are a safe bet for a starting toon.

[Triaxx]

Sulik in 2 has a notoriously horrid aim. I prefer not to stand in front of any Fallout NPC with a gun.

[Myatar_Panwar]

Gifted and Finesse traits

Str 5
Per 8
int 6
agi 9
luck 8

are a safe bet for a starting toon.

Gifted? Really? I know I don't really know much about the game, having not even started yet, but is the - on skill points really worth it? -10 on all initially and 5 less every level seems pretty significant.

[Selrahc]

I'm at the character creation screen right now. Anything I should know about anything before making a character? Important stats/ traits or anything?

High intelligence opens up dialogue options, and gives skill points.

Either small guns or melee/unarmed at the start. Leave big guns and energy weapons until the end.

Charisma is nearly useless.

A high luck greatly speeds up the process of finding the special events, which all give you cool stuff.

Books can get your First Aid, Doctor, Science, Outdoor and um... Engineering? Skills up. You never need to take any points in them.

Skill point traits are a bit lame. I was swimming in skill points by the middle of the game.

Stamina doesn't need to be too high. It's only in the early stages that the amount of life you have matters, when one lucky hit can kill you even if you maxed stamina.

Strength can go up a lot over the game, thanks to power armour and surgery. You don't need more than 5.

Hardened power armour and a turbo plasma rifle turn you into a god.



Alternatively, just make someone you think is fun. You shouldn't be too badly off.

EDIT:


Gifted? Really? I know I don't really know much about the game, having not even started yet, but is the - on skill points really worth it? -10 on all initially and 5 less every level seems pretty significant.

Easily worth it. Gifted is by far the best trait. In fact it is probably too good.

[Myatar_Panwar]

Aww really? Charisma useless? Is speech in itself still good?

[revolver kobold]

I don't know about Fallout, but in Fallout 2, if you drop your charisma too low, everyone comments on how ugly you are.

[Brewdude]

chr opens up options. Also your max allies at a time is chr/2.

Time your reading of books to one point below the "trick points," so that you get the full skill value of the book at the lower skill up rate. (i.e. at 94, because points cost 2 at 95 or some such....)

Same goes for skill perks.

If you can time your leveling, do it while on mentats and buffout for skills and hps.

In fallout 2 playing a skilled char with max int leads to interesting things.

[Winthur]

Also your max allies at a time is chr/2

It's not true in F1. This "max allies" limit is set only in F2. So if you want to do talk, you don't need any Charisma, just Speech skill.

[Selrahc]

Is speech in itself still good?

Speech is very good. But since you're going to want to boost it up to the point where you never fail, Charisma is not a real factor.

The chief thing Charisma does is reduce shop prices for you. By the end of the game you'll be swimming in bottlecaps anyway, so the only thing Charisma does is help you for the very early parts of the story.

It does open up a few dialogue options. About two or three throughout the entire story? Something incredibly insignificant.


Worth it in Fallout 2, since you get more allies with more charisma, and there seem to be more high charisma dialogue stuff. In fallout one it's just a junk stat.

[Rayzin]

Sulik in 2 has a notoriously horrid aim. I prefer not to stand in front of any Fallout NPC with a gun.

Never give NPC's a burst weapon. They keeps on killing the dog!

[Philistine]

Well, of course I know that now. But as a new player, I seem to recall some bit of in-game text to the effect of "Ian + SMG = Win." It might have been in a dialogue with Ian; or I might just be crazy, whatever. Anyway, the point is that my first time through Fallout, I really thought that was the way to go. Briefly.

[tyckspoon]

Well, of course I know that now. But as a new player, I seem to recall some bit of in-game text to the effect of "Ian + SMG = Win." It might have been in a dialogue with Ian; or I might just be crazy, whatever. Anyway, the point is that my first time through Fallout, I really thought that was the way to go. Briefly.

Let's be fair, here; giving the NPCs fully automatic weapons is a really good way to tear through more poorly-armored enemies (and armored ones, if you aren't using any mods that change a few of the more eccentric things about Fallout's damage formulas.) They just don't know when not to use burst fire, so they'll pop off bursts at enemies that are so far away they only get hit with one bullet anyway.. or while you or another NPC are standing next to or behind their target.. or they somehow manage to tag you with part of the burst while they're standing right in front of the target and you are four hexes to the right of the firer. I don't know how that last one happens.

[Shikton]

I would rank both the super sledgehammer and the sniper rifle just as high as the plasma rifle, really. 10 str and Slayer perk with the hammer or high perception+sniper rifle+sniper perk...awesome.

I ususally had the NPCs with me as mules. They hardly ever did anything useful in combat, and by the end game they're only an annoyance. You'll be a walking one man army, only you and your <insert weapon here> against the world. Awesome :D

[Adumbration]

I am very soon going to get Fallout II, but I have heard that it's extremely buggy. What patches should I download? Does it work on Windows XP?

[Shikton]

I am very soon going to get Fallout II, but I have heard that it's extremely buggy. What patches should I download? Does it work on Windows XP?

You can find a lot of patches and bug fixes on www.nma-fallout.com

[Driderman]

I am very soon going to get Fallout II, but I have heard that it's extremely buggy. What patches should I download? Does it work on Windows XP?

There's an unofficial patch and add-on mod (adds cut content from the game) on No Mutants Allowed. I recommend using that one, and possibly the official patch as well if required.
Still, I played this game on XP not too long ago and it worked without any problems whatsoever

[Philistine]

Ha! Found it! It is in Ian's dialogue. When you ask him what weapons he's good with, his answer is pistols and SMGs.

Also. You know what works better than giving your NPC buddies automatic weapons? Crank your Small Guns through the roof, then go for the eyes, Boo. (Raaaugh!)

Both games run fine on XP, or even Vista. The best defense against the bugs is the old CRPG-players' motto: Save often, and in different slots.

[FMArthur]

Okay, I've just picked up Fallout 2 and have done my best to optimize almost nothing but combat with small guns. I'm in the second town and finally got a gun, getting ridiculous accuracy for even called shots to the eyes. Problem: I have almost no idea how to play a Fallout game. I've never played 1, and for some reason never played Fallout 2 despite owning it for several years. So I figured I might ask a few Fallout vets around here:

Do I have to follow the story, and is there anything I might do that would make it impossible? Is there any penalty for walking into a building and taking everything that isn't nailed down? Is my 2 Charisma the reason children run away in terror? Is there any way to rest or recover your usages of the Doctor skill?

[Adumbration]

Ok, so now I've made it through the temple trial. Got killed by the scorpions three times after optimising luck, int and cha plus getting the Jinxed trait, finally gave up and went for an even character. Right now I'm wondering what to do next - can't find the man with the healing pulvers, in the north there appears to be just two plant creatures that nearly killed me.

Any suggestions? I wouldn't be against trying the Luck again if I knew a way to survive the scorpions.

[Fri]

Okay, I've just picked up Fallout 2 and have done my best to optimize almost nothing but combat with small guns. I'm in the second town and finally got a gun, getting ridiculous accuracy for even called shots to the eyes. Problem: I have almost no idea how to play a Fallout game. I've never played 1, and for some reason never played Fallout 2 despite owning it for several years. So I figured I might ask a few Fallout vets around here:

Do I have to follow the story, and is there anything I might do that would make it impossible? Is there any penalty for walking into a building and taking everything that isn't nailed down? Is my 2 Charisma the reason children run away in terror? Is there any way to rest or recover your usages of the Doctor skill?

Well, if you steal something in front of someone's eye they'll turn hostile. Try to sneak and don't be seen.

in fallout 2, charisma give you dialog bonus (like, you can be a porn star later), and it deals with how many goon mule NPC that you can recruit. NPC in fallout 2 works much better than fallout 1.

[RPGuru1331]

Any suggestions? I wouldn't be against trying the Luck again if I knew a way to survive the scorpions.

Unless I'm mistaken, you can stab them with your spear, then move back, and they won't be able to attack you. It's slow, when you don't lead them over traps, but it does work.

[Triaxx]

Incidentally the spear reaches two hexes. So you can stab them from a space away and make them move even if you're low on AP.

[Shikton]

My favourite Fallout character would be:


S 6
P 8
E 5
C 6
I 8
A 10
L 5

Tag small guns, science and speech/something else. I just like speech.
Gifted+fast shot.

No aimed shots for this char, but you use 1 less AP per shot though. Good enough for me. Exchange fast shot for something else if you want aimed shots. This character will be able to get the sniper perk later on, which is awesome. This is pretty much a well rounded character that'll make your first playthrough quite pleasant. :)

[FMArthur]

[Fallout 2]
This is the character I am using with right now, after trying three others beforehand to limited success:

S 4
P 10
E 4
C 3
I 8
A 10
L 8

Gifted, One-Hander

Tagged Small guns, Doctor and Sneak

He did okay in the Temple, thanks to his massive perception granting him two rounds before an enemy action and his equally massive agility providing full action points. Then he got hold of a gun. Epicness ensued. At level 3 he gets 95 to hit things in the eyes. :smallbiggrin:

[Myatar_Panwar]

Uhh so I haven't gotten a chance to play much in the past couple days, but now that I am back to it, I'm already stuck.

VERY early spoiler (fallout 1)
Soo I'm fresh out of the vault and not sure where else to go,so I head to the next vault in search of water like I was told to do. Only when I get there, and after opening the two lockers and investigating everything else, I can't find any rope to go down the elevator. I fell like I've missed something, or I need to get rope somewhere else?

[Brewdude]

Uhh so I haven't gotten a chance to play much in the past couple days, but now that I am back to it, I'm already stuck.

VERY early spoiler (fallout 1)
Soo I'm fresh out of the vault and not sure where else to go,so I head to the next vault in search of water like I was told to do. Only when I get there, and after opening the two lockers and investigating everything else, I can't find any rope to go down the elevator. I fell like I've missed something, or I need to get rope somewhere else?


Maybe you should investigate shady sands first :)

[Kane]

I've heard such great things about the fallout games, but don't have the cash to get Fallout 3 yet. Plus, I'd like to play 1 and 2 before 3.

Any suggestions on where to get 1&2? (minus bittorrent.)

[Myatar_Panwar]

GOG (good old games) is where I got my FO1. 5.99 per game.

http://www.gog.com/en/frontpage/

[tyckspoon]

I would rank both the super sledgehammer and the sniper rifle just as high as the plasma rifle, really. 10 str and Slayer perk with the hammer or high perception+sniper rifle+sniper perk...awesome.


Well, yeah, but.. it doesn't really matter what weapons you use at that point. Sniper/Slayer makes you kill everything regardless, especially if you remembered to pick up Better Criticals along the way. The Sniper Rifle in particular is probably not the best weapon to use with Sniper, since it takes so many AP to fire (still good for blowing monster's eyes out from across the map, at least.) Try anything with a base 4 AP fire cost (reduce to 3 with Faster Shot perk, 2 with Fast Shot trait..) or Burst weapons, since those inflict multiple individual hits at once- a 12-shot burst with basic 24mm JHP can do a lot of damage when 8 of them are triple-damage through-armor crits.



Do I have to follow the story, and is there anything I might do that would make it impossible? Is there any penalty for walking into a building and taking everything that isn't nailed down? Is my 2 Charisma the reason children run away in terror? Is there any way to rest or recover your usages of the Doctor skill?

You can usually get away with just wandering around and doing whatever you want. There are a couple of points where you can get screwed, but they're mostly the results of bugs and not the intended design; save a lot, using multiple slots. For everything else, events may not turn out how you want, but you'll be able to continue the game (or maybe not- "not how you want" often means 'kill everybody who gets in your way until things calm down again', which can be a game-stopper if you can't actually handle the fight.)

[Adumbration]

[Fallout 2]
This is the character I am using with right now, after trying three others beforehand to limited success:

S 4
P 10
E 4
C 3
I 8
A 10
L 8

Gifted, One-Hander

Tagged Small guns, Doctor and Sneak

He did okay in the Temple, thanks to his massive perception granting him two rounds before an enemy action and his equally massive agility providing full action points. Then he got hold of a gun. Epicness ensued. At level 3 he gets 95 to hit things in the eyes. :smallbiggrin:

Replace a few stats around, namely lower luck, change preferances to Lock Pick and Unarmed Combat, and you've got my character.

I'm level 6 and currently butchering my way down from the Bishop casino. Some lady lured me upstairs, I robbed their safes, killed the Bishop and went downstairs. Just before that I used the cash I got for killing the Slavers in Den plus some phat lewt I got to buy Mark II Metal Armor, which I believe is the main reason I'm alive. I'm using the Grease Gun currently, shooting twice a round.

The blue-suited Bishop men were surprisingly easy.

What is the usual level you're supposed to enter the New Reno? I'm just sort of stumbling around.