Fallout 2 Community Edition

Fallout 2 Community Edition is a fully working re-implementation of Fallout 2, with the same original gameplay, engine bugfixes, and some quality of life improvements, that works (mostly) hassle-free on multiple platforms, such as Windows, Linux, MacOS, iOS and Android.

Features

Fallout 2 Community Edition is based on code from the Fallout 2 Reference Edition project, which is a complete reverse-engineering and decompilation of the original game's executable back into functioning C code. The Community Edition offers identical gameplay to the original, as well as engine bugfixes and quality of life improvements. It supports various operating systems, such as Windows, Linux, macOS, Android and iOS.

Install

The original game must be owned in order to play, which can be obtained from platforms such as GOG or Steam.
Download latest release or build from source, optionally check the latest debug build intended for testers.

Windows

Download and copy fallout2-ce.exe to the Fallout2 folder. It serves as a drop-in replacement for fallout2.exe.

Linux

Use Windows installation as a base - it contains data assets needed to play. Copy Fallout2 folder somewhere, for example /home/john/Desktop/Fallout2.
Download and copy fallout2-ce to this folder.
Install SDL2: $ sudo apt install libsdl2-2.0-0
Run ./fallout2-ce.

macOS

NOTE: macOS 10.11 (El Capitan) or higher is required. Runs natively on Intel-based Macs and Apple Silicon.

Use Windows installation as a base - it contains data assets needed to play. Copy Fallout2 folder somewhere, for example /Applications/Fallout2.
Alternatively, use Fallout 2 from Macplay/The Omni Group as a base - you need to extract game assets from the original bundle. Mount CD/DMG, right click Fallout 2 -> Show Package Contents, navigate to Contents/Resources. Copy GameData folder somewhere, for example /Applications/Fallout2.
Download and copy fallout2-ce.app to this folder.
Run fallout2-ce.app.

Android

NOTE: Fallout 2 was designed with mouse in mind. There are many controls that require precise cursor positioning, which is not possible with fingers. When playing on Android you'll use fingers to move mouse cursor, not a character, or a map. Double tap to "click" left mouse button in the current cursor position, triple tap to "click" right mouse button. It might feel awkward at first, but it's super handy - you can play with just a thumb. This is not set in stone and might change in the future.

NOTE: From Android standpoint release and debug builds are different apps. Both apps require their own copy of game assets and have their own savegames. This is intentional. As a gamer just stick with release version and check for updates.

Use Windows installation as a base - it contains data assets needed to play. Copy Fallout2 folder to the device, for example to Downloads. The master.dat, critter.dat, patch000.dat, and data folders are required. Watch for file names - keep (or make) them lowercased (see Configuration).
Download fallout2-ce.apk and copy it to the device. Open it with file explorer, follow instructions (install from unknown source).
Running the game for the first time, it will immediately present file picker. Select the folder from the first step. Wait until this data is copied. A loading dialog will appear, just wait for about 30 seconds. If installing a total conversion mod or localized version with a large number of unpacked resources in data folder, it can take up to 20 minutes. Once copied, the game will start automatically.

iOS

NOTE: See Android note on controls.

Download fallout2-ce.ipa. Use sideloading applications (AltStore or Sideloadly) to install it to the device. Alternatively, it is always possible to build from source with an own signing certificate.
Run the game once and see the error message "Couldn't find/load text fonts". This step is needed for iOS to expose the game via File Sharing feature.
Use Finder (macOS Catalina and later) or iTunes (Windows and macOS Mojave or earlier) to copy master.dat, critter.dat, patch000.dat, and data folder to "Fallout 2" app (how-to). Watch for file names - keep (or make) them lowercased (see Configuration).

Configuration

The main configuration file is fallout2.cfg. There are several important settings that might be needed to adjust for your installation. Depending on the Fallout distribution, main game assets master.dat, critter.dat, patch000.dat, and data folder might be either all lowercased, or all uppercased. Either update master_dat, critter_dat, master_patches and critter_patches settings to match the file names, or rename files to match entries in the fallout2.cfg.

The sound folder (with music folder inside) might be located either in data folder, or be in the Fallout folder. Update music_path1 setting to match the hierarchy, usually it is data/sound/music/ or sound/music/. Make sure it matches the path exactly (so it might be SOUND/MUSIC/ if Fallout was installed from CD). Music files themselves (with ACM extension) should be all uppercased, regardless of sound and music folders.

The second configuration file is f2_res.ini. Use it to change game window size and enable/disable fullscreen mode.

[MAIN]
SCR_WIDTH=1280
SCR_HEIGHT=720
WINDOWED=1

Recommendations:

Desktops: Use any size.
Tablets: Set these values to logical resolution of the device, for example iPad Pro 11 is 1668x2388 (pixels), but its logical resolution is 834x1194 (points).
Mobile phones: Set height to 480, calculate width according to the device's screen (aspect) ratio, for example Samsung S21 is a 20:9 device, so the width should be 480 * 20 / 9 = 1067.

In time this stuff will receive an in-game interface, right now it needs to be done manually.

The third configuration file is ddraw.ini (part of Sfall). There are dozens of options that adjust or override engine behavior and gameplay mechanics. This file is intended for modders and advanced users. Currently, only a small subset of these settings are actually implemented.

Attribution

This article uses content under fair use. It uses material from the Github readme page for Fallout 2 Community Edition.