What is Fallout (for Mac OS 7-9)?

Considered one of the first true cRPGs, Fallout is one of the most iconic video games of all time.

In a bleak post-apocalyptic world, humanity has been confined to a network of underground bunkers. You, the protagonist, must venture out into the radioactive wilderness to find vital spare parts and repair your bunker's failing water supply system.

You must choose how you wish to complete your mission. Are you a diplomat, a warrior, or a stealthy insurgent?

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You squint through the blinding sunlight to get a better view of the makeshift encampment of tents and half-wrecked buildings. There are at least a dozen rough men armed to the teeth stationed in numerous locations around (he perimeter, plus more near the central building. Your mind wanders back to the words of the overseer: The 200 people back in the vault will die unless you find a new water chip. This camp is as good a place as any to start looking.

Such is one situation in Fallout. The setting is a postapocalyptic alternate reality where the world’s superpowers simultaneously pushed the Red Button,
Many of the survivors live in underground, self-sufficient bomb shelters called vaults. Unfortunately, your vault’s water chip — the only source of water — is defective. Find a new chip and get water, or the vault dwellers will die in a few months.
Designing your own character is one of Fallout’s best aspects. Using a stock character is an option but not nearly as fim. The character system is similar to the GURPS (Generic Universal Role Playing System) model Jackson of Steve Jackson Games, The development team was smart to use a simplified version of this already proven system, which allows for unlimited character variation. The game uses a point system to “buy” skills for each character. For instance, if a character starts life as a big, burly fighter, he can later learn to pick locks. Just invest points in a skill (there are 18) as you get them (new points are gained whenever you go up a level) .

The Fallout world has numerous paths of progression, which hinge on decisions made during the game. Talking to people and saying the right thing at the right time are important parts of the game. A character’s karma attribute determines how others in the game react to her or him. A character who commits evil acts, such as gunning down innocent civilians, suffers a drop in karma and is perceived as evil; vice versa for acts of kindness.

Times to use force come up more or less often depending on the type of character played. The combat system takes into account all of a character’s attributes to resolve combat actions. A particularly nice (or nasty) feature is the ability to target a specific part of an opponent’s body in an attempt to maim or kill him in a specific way.

You acquire myriad weapons and other usefiil objects by bartering or buying them outright in shops or from other people. Bottle caps are the accepted form of currency in the postapocalyptic era.

Unfortunately, Fallout is a direct port from the PC. It lacks anything Mac-like, but it still works because the interface was well designed from the beginning. Another small annoyance is that the game is very slow if you don’t perform at least the standard install of about 95MB. A full install reaches 500MB.

In these days of 3D, first-person, multiplayer, shoot-everything-and-ask-questions-later gaming, it’s nice to know a solid role-playing game can still be put together. Fallout is more than that. MacPlay combines a masterful story, a robust role-playing system, and an enormous and superbly rendered milieu to explore.

Albright, Wade. (February 1998). Fallout. MacAddict. (pg. 68).

Download Fallout (for Mac OS 7-9) for Mac

Architecture

IBM PowerPC

System Requirements

From Mac OS 7.5 up to Mac OS 9.2

Compatibility notes

Minimum:

• PowerPC 80 MHz
• 16 MB RAM
• 95 MB HDD space
• 2x CD-ROM drive
• 640x480 color monitor

Recommended:

• PowerPC 120 MHz (w/ 256K L2 cache)
• 32 MB RAM
• 180 MB HDD space
• 4x CD-ROM drive

System 7.5 - Mac OS 9.2.2

See also the 2002 version for Mac OS X

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This is the original, unmodified Fallout 1 for Macintosh System 7.5 to 9.* — with all the unpatched idiosyncrasies and bugs.

* Not the later OmniGroup port to OS X and 
* Not the GoG's WINE-wrapped PC-2-IntelMac version

Best played on 800*600 CRT display fullscreen — if you can get one.

Emulating this? It could probably run under: SheepShaver