Fallout Demo

The Fallout Demo is a freely downloadable and playable demonstration of Fallout. It was released on April 22, 1997.

Gameplay
The demo uses the Junktown area map from the retail version of the game (the map is called "JUNKDEMO" in the demo file) instead of a separate one, and it has a different plot with completely different characters (except for Dogmeat and Phil, who tries to get rid of the dog just as in the actual game).

The demo takes places in Scrapheap, a small town in the Core Region dominated by two competing gangs: the Crypts and the Fools. The Crypts are led by a man named Rayze. They rule the city's power generator, are large in numbers, and wear leather armor. The Fools are led by a woman named Baka. They are fewer in numbers and are less formidable opponents because of their armor. The Fools are waiting only for one more member before engaging in war with the Crypts.

One can only play as Max Stone in the demo. While his stats and biography are the same as in the retail version of the game, his traits are different. He starts the demo with a fairly decent inventory of weapons and items, including a H&K MP9 10mm SMG, leather armor and some stimpaks.

Walkthrough
The Fallout Demo can be completed in a number of ways. If the player decides to side with the Crypts, they can help them maintain control of the generator by helping them wipe out the Fools. If they decide to side with the Fools, the player must help them wipe out the Crypts, therefore transferring the rule of the town and the generator. The player character could also just join one gang and wait for them to wipe the other gang (or themselves) out before finishing any gang survivors off, which would rid the town of all crime altogether and leave the power generator in the hands of the people. The fourth and final way to end the demo would be to doom everyone in town by destroying the generator.

Deadline
Though both the demo and full release versions begin on December 5th, the characters in each version are given different deadlines to find a water chip for Vault 13. In the Fallout demo, the player has 120 days to find the chip, while in the full release version of Fallout the player is given 150 days to meet their deadline.

Cut content
In the game files, many unused Vault Boy images can be found, that were primary intended to illustrate the GURPS stats, and but when Interplay made the decision to drop GURPS on February 12, 1997, they were kept in the demo for future use in the final version of Fallout (presumed for new perks and traits). However, they were not included in the actual game and those Vault Boy images are only present in the Fallout demo files.



Note

 * The Sex Appeal Vault Boy of the Fallout demo is used for Strength in-game.
 * The Toughness Vault Boy is used for Endurance in-game.
 * Statistics that didn't have a specific Vault Boy picture used the one for Level.

Bugs

 * The demo will fail to run on newer versions of Windows (including Windows XP), instead producing a black screen with an hourglass cursor, which will never finish loading. The best way to fix this is to right-click on the application (FALLDEMO.EXE), then go to Properties, Compatibility, and then under the "Compatibility mode" header, check the box to run it in compatibility mode for Windows 95. Finally, under the "Display settings" header, check the boxes to run it in 256 colors and 640 x 480 screen resolution. This will allow it to run just fine.