I tend to use only one save slot per character. I've heard that some people use up all ten slots. Is there any point to using more than one save slot? How many do you actually use during the game?

I prefer to have lots of save points. For fallout 1 & 2, I keep the last slot for quicksaves (I actually name it "Quicksave").

You never know when you might want to redo a choice or a game bug/glitch occurs and need to revert to an older save slot. Never hurts to have multiple saves, unless you're hardcore about no backtracking on choices.
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how often should you start a new save slot? And wouldn't you need to delete all those saved slots when you start a new character. I've already made directories to store all of my characters save games before they tackle the final parts of the game, sorting them out depending on the type of build, karma path, whether or not they are Gifted or Stupid, gender, going solo or having a party in the second game.

I often save when entering new locations for the first time and when exiting (after completing as many quests as I can).

All slots are overwritten eventually, though to keep track of the saves I start each save name as "000-whatever name (000-New Game-Female-Ranged, 001-Klamath-Arrival, etc) so I don't lose track of the save order. (Though there's the date stamp of of save, but I don't like relying on that) This helps me stay organized, between entering and exiting the area and I tend to designated the last slot as the "Quickslot" slot. It's typically my temp save slot, which I will overwrite constantly.

If it's a game with a lot of unpatched bugs, then I will back up those save slot folders to another location before I overwrite the current ones affter I reach my max slots. I didn't find myself doing that in Fallout 1 & 2 though and I don't think Fallout 3 had though limits (haven't played FO: NV, so no comment).

As to different character builds/playthroughs, I move all the slot folders to a backup location and swap back if I want to play that particular build. I hardly ever swap during a playthough, but if I do, I'll keep a notepad file to keep a detailed record of it so I don't have to rely on my faulty memory lol.
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I was pretty sure FO1 & FO2 were both 10 actual slots.

When do run out, I either overwrite the oldest slot. So, if slot 10 is my most recent, my next save overwrite would be slot 1. If I want to keep slot 1 for whatever reason, I'll make a copy of it to another folder.

Typically I would create a folder in a Documents\PC Games\Fallout 1 folder and a subfolder within. (example subfolder names for me would be - Saves-01 (02-JUL-22) and next subfolder would be Saves-02 (02-JUIL-22), since the first folder may already contain a "Slot 1" folder if I did it overwrote multiple times)

Everyone has their own methods, and I prefer mine to be systematic and/or chronological. Whatever makes it easier for me to keep track of it, in the event I need to revert back.

I'll have to check tonight. I'll try to reply back tomorrow.
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What about 3 and NV? How often should you save your game outside of quicksaves and autosaves?

+1 to this comment. Entering new scenarios, or arriving to a forking point in the history. Or doing a bet like "I can cross all the map in less than the 20 days remaining for my vault to die)


I however, tend to limit it to 3 saves. Overriding older one at least I'm doing a "bet". That way I can have some slots available for new characters. At least in very old games where the slots are finite.

FO1 & FO2 are for sure 10 slots. Make sure to name each slot distinctly to identify newest save to oldest. I usually start with numbers, followed by the location name (or critical choice type, kill an NPC or save NPC type choice, etc).

FO 3 and NV, as far as I know, there are no limits (unless there's a cap such as 99 or 999 etc) and it may be possible to see any limits in the settings or config file. Some games do that, but I don't recall if these two do.

I always disable Autosave in any game that allows it. Why? Because it almost always does it during a transition from one location to another or from major cutscenes (the cutscene one may be ok, if there's a seperate option). The reason being for me, sometimes they glitch out in some games. If any saves have corrupted for me in the past, it was these types.

I use Quicksaves quite often in many games as a habit. A quick press of the good old F5 key (typically) never hurt. Manual saves for the permanent saves.

As Belsirk mentioned, you can also limit saves if you want to keep it simple. I recall I had to use a mod for Dragon's Dogma DA to have multple saves, since that game only had ONE slot. That was too simple lol.

But for me, multiple saves are for my peace of mind. Why? I may want to revisit an older area to refresh my memory of an event or NPC conversation, if something is the current save spot stumps me.

TBH, just do what makes you feel comfortable. There's only a few things that can limit you: low HDD or SSD free space or some games have HUGH save files ( and may cache some? wierd right?) and affect load times. I don't recall which game it was, but one game I played seemed to load a lot slower because of too many save files.

That's all I can think of on the subject, not sure what else I can add. Hope that helps. :)
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I'm not running out of save slots, because I'm using ExtraSaveSlots=1 option in sfall. :]

^ I forgot, sfall is now part of the GOG version right? Or at least I think I saw that. I'll have to remember this tip if it is.
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Won't having so many save slots for backup use up a lot of memory space? I've got ten saves so far and found that they use a total of 14.4 MB.

So, virtually nothing. :)
My saves for Fallout 2 + Restoration Project use slightly more place, i.e. 941 MB. :] Of course these are for several characters and multiple playthroughs.

But all that space could add up and eat away at your computer's free space. Is there even a point to keeping every backup save for a character?

I don't know. If you think you need them, keep 'em, if you think you don't, then don't keep 'em. :> It's your disk space, use it as you wish. :)