I have the full collection of gog's classic fallout series and i'm quite new to it. Started playing fallout 1 a week ago and am already in love with it. Its nice to play the original fallout with how things were way before fallout 3 and NV. I just can't wait to complete fallout and move to fallout 2. I would also like to try fallout tactics cause i got it out of sheer interest as it really piqued my curiosity. From what i've read about it, it is non-canonical to the original fallout series and not technically an rpg. So is it any good playing it? From the artworks, the character/object designs seem way over the top and sometimes look flawed and unrealistic. The brotherhood armor looks more like the enclave armor. That said, is it any similar to fallout 1/2 in terms of gameplay and mechanics?

You have to judge Fallout Tactics on what it is, and what it is, is NOT Fallout 1 or 2. So, it's a different game, played differently. Now having said that, I actually like it but for one VERY annoying thing, that I cannot cure no matter what supposed 'fix' I have tried, and that is the absolutely ridiculous -- and I do mean ridiculous -- random encounter rate when moving on the map, with today's modern computers. What's so bad about that, you might ask? Well, when you get a random encounter every 1 or 2 squares (literally), it makes the game completely unplayable. I've seen threads where people quote this fix, or that fix, and I (in desperation) have tried them all, and none work for me... for me, that is. Your mileage may vary, so give it a try. You have nothing to lose.

Hmm is this a confirmed bug, the random encounter rate many times the normal amount? What kind of random encounters do u get?Always involving hostiles? Cause i read random encounters depend on ur luck and outdoorsman skill (at least in fallout 1 which i'm currently playing). The lesser ur outdoorsman skill, the more hostile encounters u'll get. Having really low luck will make it even worse..But i'm not sure about it being the same in FO tactics..

It's not a bug. It's just a fact that modern machines process at such a rate, compared to when this game was made, that wilderness encounters happen at an alarming rate. Again, it is NOT a bug.

The encounters are just as you would expect (mostly hostile, but not all), and having high Luck and Outdoorsman makes very little difference, for me and many others. As I said, I like the game but find it unplayable because of the hassle of actually getting anywhere. Some people say they don't notice it, so the only way to find out if you are one of the luck ones is to actually play the game.

If it is related to processing speed (and I can't confirm this as I've still not gotten around to playing Fallout: Tactics myself), have you thought about trying a CPU throttling program to slow your machine down whilst running the game?

I tried FPS Limiter from this thread about the same issue, but it won't work on Win 7 64Bit. I should add that I have tried all of the solutions in that link, and nothing works for me.

Hmm, okay, that seems not so good regarding the official fix of upgrading outdoorsman.

Thinking about what hasn't been mentioned there, have you tried using DirectDraw wrappers? For instance, running the game via ddwrapper or ddfix or similar? If I remember right, some allow for implementing or faking a vsync or max framerate which might resolve it. Some can also be used to run the game in a window which might actually cause your machine to use more resources possibly dropping the framerate in the game anyway which might solve it (for now at least until machines get even faster).

Just an idea though, no idea if it would work.

Yes. It's a pretty good game. It's not a "greatest ever" type game like Fallout 1 and Fallout 2, but it's pretty good. Just realize it's not a sequel and not fully canon.

For the random encounter problem and many other general fixes, I recommend Endocore's Tactics Redux mod:

http://nma-fallout.com/forum/dload.php?action=file&file_id=1382

It's still being worked on so it can't be considered 100% complete, but I've used it extensively and IMO it makes the whole game better.

To be honest, I don't feel inclined to jump through any more hoops for this game, not knowing if it will help or not -- I probably lost a few hairs on the occasions that I have tried playing it already. :-) Still being worked on?
"Last Updated: Wed May 09, 2012"

Hmm, even so, I might just download it so it's there if I do ever go back to this game. Thanks for the link.

I find it the strangest thing a problem in a game could be related to CPU processing speed. Its almost like imagining an old game running at too fast and unplayable framrates on an ultra modern pc! But that of course never happens.They always have a limitter. Guess i will have to try out tactics myself then.

Was this problem addressed in the FO tactics mods sticky?

No.

Endocore posted on the NMA forum a few days ago and said he's been busy but he's still working on it. Besides, a "last updated" from a year ago isn't bad for a game as old as Tactics.

When I say it's still being worked on, I don't mean to say it's half complete or anything like that; just that there are more things Endocore plans to do that he hasn't done yet. The mod does change a few things, so it's a matter of preference whether or not you like it. Personally I think every change the mod makes is for the better, and I wouldn't go back to vanilla.

Maybe a custom power plan will help you. In the advanced settings of the plan there is an entry called something like 'processor energy management'. There you can set the maximum 'power state' of your processor to 50% or even lower. This is quite equal to underclocking your cpu. I am sorry if the category names are not accurate, i am using a german windows version.

This might not work for older processors though.