I've been playing Fallout 2 up until the NCR and Vault 15, and I'm started to get real pissed off. This has to be one of the hardest RPGs in existence. I can't go toe to toe with generics raiders, mainly because I don't have any decent gear. Even basic guns and armor cost an arm and a leg (ergo. over 1000 caps), and I can't get caps because I can't defeat and loot enemies who carry goods worth bartering. It's a catch 22.
Sometimes I'll get a random encounter, and a bunch of supermutants will frag me with a laser gun from 2 screens away before I can even blink. It's like Baldur's Gate I, where your Level 2 party would get surrounded by wyverns or skeleton archers, and it was pretty much game over. I completed Fallout 1 years ago, and I don't remember it being near this level of difficulty. Hell, at least you started out with a gun, and could get a companion in the first area. It doesn't help that the graphics *suck*. You can't see what's a container unless you're right on top of it, and it's hard to differentiate generic people from important NPCs.
I'd take my time and level up slowly, gathering gear and going back and forth between towns to complete quests, but I'm a bit concerned about the time limit. I know the game has a hard limit of 13 years, but I must have received at least 3 warnings to get my ass in gear and find the GECK. All three ways to find Vault 13 require me to level up, which apparently I don't have the time to do.
So, what am I doing wrong? Do Codexers have any tips on how to get some decent gear?