Short version:
The Mac version of Fallout uses Apple's Game Sprocket Technology. The Sprockets will be installed regardless of which size install you take; the "System Install" option installs other extensions you may need to play Fallout.
Almost every problem reported in the Mac version of Fallout comes from a faulty Game Sprocket install. If you're encountering a problem with the game, try installing just the Game Sprockets from the Fallout CD and reboot the machine. These are the sprockets and versions used:
| Sprocket | Version Number |
|---|---|
| Draw Sprocket | 1.1.2 |
Note: Earlier versions of this page
stated that you needed the Input Sprocket when playing Fallout.
I've since received word from Tim Hume that this is not the case. The
installer might install the Input Sprocket, but it is not needed or used
by the game.
PowerMac 9500 and
8600 owners, take note!. A surfer to this page forwarded the
following information to me (thanks, Mike!). Make sure you check the
"Readme" file that comes with Fallout if you own one of these
machines. 9500 owners need to have the QuickTime extensions disabled
before you can play the game successfully. Owners of the 8600 series
machines need to make sure that the QuickTime extensions are turned off
and the Shared Library Manager is turned ON to play the game.
If you ask me, it's still a hell of a lot better than trying to re-install ActiveX...=8^).
Sometimes, the game takes so long to pull files from the hard disk or
the CD-ROM that it will seem like the machine has crashed. Just be
patient.
Don't forget to check out the Fallout Desktop Pictures for MacOS 8 and the Fallout Kaleidoscope Color
Schemes on the CD-ROM.
There is a known bug where strange behavior will occur if you play the
game for more than 5 hours in one sitting. Based on the time spent by my
girlfriend and I the first weekend we had the game, this is not all that
difficult to do =8^). The only weird behavior I've seen made map
scrolling and the mouse cursor leave behind artifacts instead of
redrawing. Saving the game, quitting, and restarting the game seems to
clear up the problems, although the README files suggest rebooting the
machine.
During the game, I lost the speech for some of the "Talking Heads." Specifically, Loxley and Jain of the Hub and the Overseer in Vault 13 (mid-game, not at the end).
When talking to some people in Vault 13, I would get a message saying, "Hi {NAME}ERROR", where {NAME} was the name of my character.
I've received a report that going to the Boneyard and talking to Razor directly will give you a conversation option of "Hi, my name is NAME" instead of "Hi, my name is {NAME}" where {NAME} is the name of your character.
The Interplay pages mention a patch to update the game to v1.1. The Mac version can be downloaded here. I think the major reason to download it is to eliminate the time limits in the game. Most of the fixes that were in the PC version were incorporated into the released Mac version. The Mac version of the game is a model of stability - I have yet to encounter anything (personally or second-hand) more serious than the > 5 hour gameplay bug above. Compare this to the rather large number of messages complaining about bugs in the Windows version on the Fallout message board. Make of this what you will.
Edward C. Liu
edwick@macconnect.com