Fallout

I'd definitely give Fallout 1 a run first, it has its own charm, and I think sets you up to appreciate Fallout 2 a lot more. Fallout 2 is much, much larger.

Something important I didn't mention is to take high agility. I usually go 9-10. It's a difference of shooting once per turn and shooting 2-3 times per turn. Also, keep an eye out for dialogue above peoples' heads, even your own character can make important remarks that are easy to miss.

When it comes to Fallout 2, potential pitfalls with character generation are that there are a lot of interesting followers, and a low charisma will lower the maximum amount you can have at a time. A low intelligence will change your dialogue for the entire game, although this is often very funny. Some perks have minimum SPECIAL requirements, so be careful dropping stats that don't seem immediately helpful.

Another release I wouldn't sleep on is Fallout Tactics. It's a really fun and unique spin on the traditional Fallout gameplay and has a lot of its own flavor of soul packed into it.

Fallout 2 is more expansive and adds in every way to the first game. However the first game has both a bleakness and a focus to it that is worth playing.

The first game is not overly long. It’s very much worth playing.

For tips to actually playing the game, since you’ve mostly gotten technical tips to make it run, I’ve got some. When building a character you should probably focus on one combat skill and two utility skills. For me, small guns is an ideal beginner’s skill choice. You can use small guns viably all the way up until the end game if you wish, or at least use them until you decide to get big guns or energy weapons. Utility skills like speech, lockpick, repair, or science are some of the best all-rounders to pick from. In the first game the Charisma attribute it utterly useless, set it to 1 and put points elsewhere.

You should be mindful of the water chip timer, but don’t become paralyzed with anxiety about it. If you take the route that game signposts for you, you’ll get it with plenty of time to go. Don’t go off track doing caravan guard jobs or wandering randomly in the desert. That can happen after you have turned in the chip.

Speaking of caravan guard jobs. They are a decent way to make some cash, however the threat to the caravan is sometimes too great. If you find yourself facing down and overwhelming number of raiders, you can just run. You’ll forfeit you paycheck but you keep your life. You can take new caravan jobs after.

The Glow is radioactive. Just telling you now so you don’t waste your time having to backtrack back to buy anti-radiation items. When you go, bring both Rad-X and RadAway. Stop a couple of squares outside and down some Rad-X. Keep taking it and/or RadAway as needed.

Deathclaws are tough. This isn’t a modern fallout where they are kinda hard but manageable. You need to be geared up to fight them.

They do have some good quests though, I wouldn't say to not do any companions. Unless it's just F2 that has companions with quests, I don't remember.