First time with Fallout 1 & Fallout 2

[Uber Morpth]

So I seen both Fallout 1 and Fallout 2 are super cheap on GOG right now like 3$ each so 6$ in total, I never played them or any other turn based rpg before but I always have been interested in them from the gameplay, story and the role-playing they have to offer. For any veteran's here how would I as a new fallout fan should go about playing them and any common pitfalls or traps to avoid so my experience can be enjoyable?

 

[Atomic Postman]

First off. Read the manuals. Secondly, if you're really feeling lost then look up Per Jorner's guides.

 

[Brunzer]

For any veteran's here how would I as a new fallout fan should go about playing them and any common pitfalls or traps to avoid so my experience can be enjoyable?

Try not to ask for advice online the moment you're stuck. Try to figure it out, try to find a workaround, try to accept a less than ideal outcome. Maybe your mistakes inspire you to do a second playthrough where you'll do everything different. Play the game. It's what we did back then.

 

[Gizmojunk]

Do the Bethesda versions fix the [black] screen refresh bug?

*If not... if your screen suddenly goes black, and only refreshes where you move the mouse... the quick fix for this when it happens is to press the F1 key twice; it refreshes the whole screen at once.

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Recruitable Party NPC's were an afterthought for Fallout 1... so their AI is kind of fudged via scripting, rather than with full engine support.
The downside of this is that the party NPC's cannot take the position of friendlies into account during combat —DO NOT— stand your PC in between them and their targets if they are armed with ranged weapons; especially explosives, semi, or full automatic fire.... They will shoot through your PC.

Same problem exits with NPCs following your PC around. They can follow them into a tight corner, and leave no space to walk around them; trapping the PC. They can do this with doorways too. Fallout 1 has no means of politely moving your NPCs; Fallout 2 does, and it spends their APs to do it.

Sneak Attacks: You can use Sneak skill to investigate shelves and containers while their (uncooperative) owners are present in the room. If you attack while sneaking, and kill the target during the very first turn... IIRC nobody notices.

It is possible to plant live (ticking) explosives on the unsuspecting target.

Animal AI is different from regular enemies. I think they might skip a turn... It is often possible to simply walk away from them (past their movement range for their turn), activate Sneak, and end combat.

Fallout 2 begins with a temple map that is filled with mutant ants. People seem to hate it for some reason. Yet it is totally possible to just walk away from the ant during your turn, and end combat.