Are the Fallout games turn-based only? Or can they be configured to play in real-time?

Fallout 1 and 2 are turnbased. Tactics is realtime, more or less(It uses actions points for shooting). But you can set it to entirely turnbased.

He means 2, fallout 1 and 2 are entirely turnbased.
Fallout 3 is for the most part real time, but the V.A.T.S. system is turnbased.

Yes, didn't notice that. Unfortunately 3 is rather close to 2..

No, VATS is just a pause modus.

It has been described on official developer blog as being turn based during V.A.T.S. targeting..

With the system lacking any concept of "turns", AP only being used to determine when you can make use of called shots, not really. Heck, mechanics-wise, even real-time with pause is a slightly misleading classification, with most of those games not having real-time action as their core. Deus Ex with pause, or Red Steel with stats, then?

Please, let's avoid such a silly discussion in a thread where it does not belong.

ok fellas. Thanks for the feedback. I think I'll give the whole series a miss then.......Shame really.

I know people say this a lot on forums, but give them a chance. They feel really slow and clunky at first, but are really good, in my opinion the best computer rpg. (1 and 2)

You should still give the series a go, I wasn't a fan of turn based either until I played fallout and it plays really well. It isn't like 'you are allowed one action per turn or you may move' it's more like 'you have 8 action points per turn, use 3 points to shoot, 1 point to move and then end your turn'

don't forget that you can speed up the turn-based combat in preferences. honestly, i think fallout 1 and 2 would be really difficult to control in real-time, especially when you have a dozen or more enemies targeting you at once.
if you want to "ease" your way into the turn-based mechanics, start with tactics (as others have mentioned). the CTS (continuous turn-based system) works well, but tactics is heavy on combat and light on story/RPG.
alternatively, you can set up a character in the fallout games to be able to avoid almost all confrontations, meaning that you'd rarely have to enter into the turn-based combat.

Keep in mind that only combat is turn based. The rest of the game, i.e., exploring, doing stuff, is realtime. Once a hostile creature/person comes into view the game pauses and goes into turn based mode. You'd have a hard time beating this game in real time anyway, you'd probably get slaughtered.

I'm a major Quake FPS fan -- high speed, intense, real-time action. Fallout 1 and 2 are very intense in their own way. I recommend that you try it anyhow. You might be surprised on how fun it is. Don't let the 'turn-based' prevent you from a great gaming experience. :)