I installed Fallout Classic (Fallout 1) on Windows 10 Pro, and the launcher is a total mess. Screenshot attached.

I haven't found any useful information about this online, and the GOG Support section didn't go anywhere. I'm hoping someone in the game forum may recognize this and have a suggestion!

I tried launching in compatibility mode (Vista, Win 7, Win 8) but the launcher looks the same. The game is installed on a dedicated Games folder on the D drive so there's not a "program files" permissions issue at play.

Let me know if this rings any bells. Fallout ran fine via GOG on my previous Windows 7 computer, which suggests an OS issue, but I just can't find any fixes.

Is the game also like that or just the launcher ? If it's just the launcher I guess that's not a big problem
But maybe the high resolution patch/ unofficial patch could help, not sure

Yes, the buttons work and the game looks okay. It's just the launcher.

Must be a quirk in my set up, otherwise I'm sure everyone else running FO1 on Win 10 would be howling about this. Thanks for the tip, I'll check out patches.

I have this problem with a launcher too. And I'm on Windows 7.

Don't try too use 'Classic engine' option from this installer as well. Mentioned engine has v1.1 while the game itself is v1.2. That may result in strange bugs and game progress loss.

Good idea, maybe I'll try reinstalling it and use the other installer (I don't remember specifically picking 'classic' installer but that's what my game says).

As an aside, I also tried the Fallout Fixt mod. It includes a lot of patches, adds cut content, improves the graphics and screen dimensions, etc. Unfortunately it also totally breaks doing the caravan runs -- which is a great early source of experience and equipment upgrades via looting.

Dang.. I guess it's a bit much to have an old game work as effortlessly as it used to... but I'll keep trying!

Edit: I should add, The screenshot I posted above is how the GOG Fallout launcher looks out-of-the-box. The launcher when using Fallout Fixt is fine.

Yes, my experience is that it doesn't work on anything except Windows XP, but I removed it from my XP machine a long time ago since you can patch it and run the game on almost anything. The DVD copy I also own has the same problem.

And that is very strange. Because, AFAIK, has nothing to do with GOG's custom launcher. Setting shortcut's compatibility mode looks more real as a solution. I doubt that can help unless you use some non-GOG distribution. 'Classic engine' is just an additional icon in the 'Fallout' start menu group.

Thanks for the suggestions. I tried switching compatibility mode to each options, saved and booted up the launcher. But the launcher looks the same as the screenshot each time.

I suspect it has something to do with having Fallout Fixt installed, also, even though the GOG launcher and the Fixt game launcher path to different files.

At least the game plays. I'll post an update if I ever do find a fix. Thanks all.

我也一样， 试了一下在WIN7是可以正常显示的。
应该是Win10系统的问题， 我也是强迫症，想修复，但水平不行。
谢谢你让我知道了有 Fallout Fixt 这个好东西。

Hey all, I stumbled upon the solution to fix the distortion for the Fallout 1 and 2 launcher for GOG. On Windows (I'm using Windows 11), you go to Windows Start Menu, then Settings, the Display. Under the Scale and Layout section, you change the Scale - "change the size of the text, apps, and other items" setting from the default (125%) to 100%. That should get rid of the distortion for your launchers.

Or experiment with full screen optimisation and DPI scaling in exe proeprties.

Also, shouldnt be any laucnhers in real Classic version. if there is them in first 3 Fallout (Classic) games - go to p2p and find older GOG releases. Unfortunatly it seems no links alive for any previous, but there is links\seeders for very first installers - no build number digits, and unfortunatly no digital signs in such old installers. Its on your risk to download them.

GOG Galaxy is definettly updated almost to same version as non-Classic edition.
If it still available - download previous version from Galaxy.

Thank you for this!

I just got a new Windows 11 (mini) PC and expected it would run these old Fallout games at least... was shocked the launcher was screwed up so much out of the box!

Your fix (changing scaling) solves the issue. It also makes text hard to read as it also "fixes" enlarging fonts and desktop items so I have reverted to the previous scaling that messes up the launcher BUT I can live with that now knowing exactly what caused the issue. I was thinking I had graphic driver issues, so knowing it was just this setting I can change if needed (I don''t use the launcher anyway normally) makes a big difference.

I changed the main Fallout shortcut to point to "falloutwHR.exe" instead of "FalloutLauncher.exe" so hopefully this works the same and just skips the Play/Readme/Tech Support options. Presumably the launcher just runs the HR exe anyway when you click Play?

Searched the whole internet for this, so really appreciate you posting the reason - and solution - here!

My pleasure! I am glad my reply helped someone. I have noticed that sometimes when you change the scaling, it doesn't work right away. You may also need to do a restart. But the flip side to that if you ever encounter that issue, is that you can also change the scaling back to 125% after the restart and your launcher menu will not be distorted until you restart again.

As for the HRexe, yeah the launcher seems to be tied to that version. If you ever wanted to get rid of the HR patch, you can temporarily rename your falloutw/fallout2 exe to anything else, then remove the HR from the falloutHR/fallout2HR exe. Once you do that, you can use the HR configuration exe to disable the patch. Once you rename our exe's back, the launcher will launch the depatched falloutHR exe.

Not many people know this, but the reason why you cannot disable force fields in the late game Military Base location, is because the HR patch. The force field gets disabled in a fraction of a second before turning back on again. But if you play without the HR patch, the force fields stay down for a lot longer as intended.

That's interesting. I don't play with the HR version so had no idea it also introduced a bug with the forcefields!

The launcher seems pointless to me... it's just one extra step. I made shortcuts to both the original and HR exes and just run that.

I know it's a long time thread, however may help others in the future. My Windows is also using 125% scale and yes, changing it to 100% fix it however to fix it without changing the scale you need to right-click the "TacticsLauncher.exe", go to the Compatibility Tab, Change Settings for All Users and then click on "Change high DPI Settings". At the bottom, under High DPI scaling override choose System (Enhanced). That option will be grayed out if you're not trying it under ALL USERS.

Hope that helps.