Fallout Fallout: Sonora - new Fallout mod from the Fallout: Nevada team

[Ol' Willy]

Pistols are viable choice for the build, you'll get some decent ones eventually

Energy weapons are an all around superior and more flexible choice, the pistols do more damage than the best small guns, the turbo plasma rifle does 10-20 more damage than the rail gun for 2 less ap, the gatling laser does twice as much damage as the best unique miniguns, and you can get a laser emitter in the second town with a repair check (which can be made easier by applying parts) which you can get upgraded there as well. It's not like fallout 1/2 where you're expected to start with a different weapon skill and transition to energy weapons.

https://fallout-sonora.fandom.com/wiki/Weapons.

I wrote nothing about pistols being superior, I wrote "viable". I did a run with pistols and it was alright

 

[Modron]

Everything is "viable" if you're determined enough, you could punch a turret to death with your bare hands just plunking away at 1-5 damage hoping for a critical to the cpu for instant death.

 

[Ol' Willy]

Everything is "viable" if you're determined enough, you could punch a turret to death with your bare hands just plunking away at 1-5 damage hoping for a critical to the cpu for instant death.

Unarmed builds are viable even in original Fallouts, with more skill you unlock more powerful attacks, and when you get Slayer everything is crit

I did unarmed run of Resurrection which is notable for harder encounters than original Fallouts or other mods, though I used power fist later in the game

 

[Nikanuur]

Well, whatever the case, there's still the option of:

Fallout 2 Explorer
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout2/mods/52

 

[Nikanuur]

Okay, it's my pleasure to admit, that the further I explore, the substantially better some of those initially questionable aspects get.
And the rest—the stuff that has been good from the start—stays at least the same quality, or even improves as well.
Noice.
Suffice to say, I can recognize the overarching design now, one which the dev himself has talked about. Keeping things more tightly packed to keep the player on tracks, this time around. Unlike the open semi-sprawl kind of thing that Nevada was.

 

[Sratopotator]

Ugh, setting Sonora+DLC up after a few years of break from Fallout is a bit painful.
Following the instructions from the Sonora page is not possible - F2CE, which you guys say is not even that good, does not run on my W11 machine (intro is laggy, constantly freezes, no sound) [yeah, yeah, my fault for having such a shitty OS].
FSonora.exe runs in a sucky resolution, so decided to use f2res+sfall, but that needs original fallout2.exe. Otherwise, either the resultion is not applied to sonora exe (resolution patch does not detect it), or the exe throws a bunch of errors if used in combo with f2res+sfall dll/ini.


After a bit of trail and error, got the setup to run, but now I have 2 questions:
1. Using original F2 exe causes the new Sonora main screen to not be displayed. Am I safe to continue, or more problems will occur? Looks fine so far.
2. Translation zip has a patch000.dat, and DLC patchDLC.dat file - if using fallout2.exe, does it load both patch000.dat and patchDLC.dat files from the main folder by default, or do I need to point to one of those dat in the config files?


EDIT: Damn, using f2res/sfall for Sonora needs some ini tweaking. f2res.ini needs:
USE_HIRES_IMAGES=0 for Sonora main screen
EDGE_CLIPPING_ON=0 for full map view
IGNORE_MAP_EDGES=1 to even be able to scroll the map in the first area
And who knows what else.

 

[Sratopotator]

Btw, facepalming hard seeing some resolution recommendations in this thread.
Guys, just follow Agris' post. Playing in 960x540/600 with 0 scaling on a modern 16:9/10 display is still the way to go, as far as I'm concerned.
Get those pixels in order!

 

[Jigby]

so decided to use f2res+sfall, but that needs original fallout2.exe.

you can rename fsonora.exe to fallout2.exe, apply the patch. Don't use the original fallout2.exe since that one is missing the bytepatches that fsonora.exe has (such as loading patchdlc.dat instead of patch000.dat). But really, if you want to play with sfall, just use the repack version.

 

[Ol' Willy]

my W11 machine

Serves you right

 

[Sratopotator]

so decided to use f2res+sfall, but that needs original fallout2.exe.

you can rename fsonora.exe to fallout2.exe, apply the patch. Don't use the original fallout2.exe since that one is missing the bytepatches that fsonora.exe has (such as loading patchdlc.dat instead of patch000.dat). But really, if you want to play with sfall, just use the repack version.

Renaming doesn't work with sfall, casue the exe throws CRC errors in pair with that.
Will just use the Foxx repack then, thanks.

 

[Jigby]

so decided to use f2res+sfall, but that needs original fallout2.exe.

you can rename fsonora.exe to fallout2.exe, apply the patch. Don't use the original fallout2.exe since that one is missing the bytepatches that fsonora.exe has (such as loading patchdlc.dat instead of patch000.dat). But really, if you want to play with sfall, just use the repack version.

Renaming doesn't work with sfall, casue the exe throws CRC errors in pair with that.
Will just use the Foxx repack then, thanks.

The checksum check can be bypassed in ddraw.ini, that's how the repack does it as well. But yeah, it's better to just use the repack.

 

[Nikanuur]

Ugh, setting Sonora+DLC up after a few years of break from Fallout is a bit painful.
Following the instructions from the Sonora page is not possible - F2CE, which you guys say is not even that good, does not run on my W11 machine (intro is laggy, constantly freezes, no sound) [yeah, yeah, my fault for having such a shitty OS].
FSonora.exe runs in a sucky resolution, so decided to use f2res+sfall, but that needs original fallout2.exe. Otherwise, either the resultion is not applied to sonora exe (resolution patch does not detect it), or the exe throws a bunch of errors if used in combo with f2res+sfall dll/ini.


After a bit of trail and error, got the setup to run, but now I have 2 questions:
1. Using original F2 exe causes the new Sonora main screen to not be displayed. Am I safe to continue, or more problems will occur? Looks fine so far.
2. Translation zip has a patch000.dat, and DLC patchDLC.dat file - if using fallout2.exe, does it load both patch000.dat and patchDLC.dat files from the main folder by default, or do I need to point to one of those dat in the config files?


EDIT: Damn, using f2res/sfall for Sonora needs some ini tweaking. f2res.ini needs:
USE_HIRES_IMAGES=0 for Sonora main screen
EDGE_CLIPPING_ON=0 for full map view
IGNORE_MAP_EDGES=1 to even be able to scroll the map in the first area
And who knows what else.

Frankly speaking, I was afraid of installing it after having seen all the info here. But somehow it all clicked in the first attempt.

If it's of any help:

1. I made a fresh installation of Fallout 2.
2. Copied Sonora into it.
3. Copied DLC Glow Eng Patch into it, overwritten anything.
4. Installed Fallout CE into it, overwritten anything if asked.

And only then I've started to meddle with the resolution (I play in 1080p).
I am not entirely sure it was the right thing to do, but I've been playing some 15 gameplay hours so far and all seems to be running well. (I experienced a single CTD during that time).

 

[Nikanuur]

Btw does anyone know, is there Dogmeat in this game? I've only very recently procured a third companion Yay, I have my own robot!, and there were lots of dogs running around. Giving them jerky didn't work.
EDIT: Hot damn, he's gone too. Now, there's only two of us again.

 

[Modron]

Btw does anyone know, is there Dogmeat in this game? I've only very recently procured a third companion Yay, I have my own robot!, and there were lots of dogs running around. G giving them jerky didn't work.

No, no animal companions; I think the animal friend perk lets you temporarily tame them id est make them a follower for the screen you are on when you feed them.

https://fallout-sonora.fandom.com/wiki/Characters#Companions, 3 are (plus one more in the post game and one in the dayglow expansion area) full time with 2 others full time if you don't release them at their target destination (even these part time ones can level up). Your bike can only hold 3 people max when fully upgraded so it's not like want too many of them.

 

[Sratopotator]

Ugh, setting Sonora+DLC up after a few years of break from Fallout is a bit painful.
Following the instructions from the Sonora page is not possible - F2CE, which you guys say is not even that good, does not run on my W11 machine (intro is laggy, constantly freezes, no sound) [yeah, yeah, my fault for having such a shitty OS].
FSonora.exe runs in a sucky resolution, so decided to use f2res+sfall, but that needs original fallout2.exe. Otherwise, either the resultion is not applied to sonora exe (resolution patch does not detect it), or the exe throws a bunch of errors if used in combo with f2res+sfall dll/ini.


After a bit of trail and error, got the setup to run, but now I have 2 questions:
1. Using original F2 exe causes the new Sonora main screen to not be displayed. Am I safe to continue, or more problems will occur? Looks fine so far.
2. Translation zip has a patch000.dat, and DLC patchDLC.dat file - if using fallout2.exe, does it load both patch000.dat and patchDLC.dat files from the main folder by default, or do I need to point to one of those dat in the config files?


EDIT: Damn, using f2res/sfall for Sonora needs some ini tweaking. f2res.ini needs:
USE_HIRES_IMAGES=0 for Sonora main screen
EDGE_CLIPPING_ON=0 for full map view
IGNORE_MAP_EDGES=1 to even be able to scroll the map in the first area
And who knows what else.

Frankly speaking, I was afraid of installing it after having seen all the info here. But somehow it all clicked in the first attempt.

If it's of any help:

1. I made a fresh installation of Fallout 2.
2. Copied Sonora into it.
3. Copied DLC Glow Eng Patch into it, overwritten anything.
4. Installed Fallout CE into it, overwritten anything if asked.

And only then I've started to meddle with the resolution (I play in 1080p).
I am not entirely sure it was the right thing to do, but I've been playing some 15 gameplay hours so far and all seems to be running well. (I experienced a single CTD during that time).

Thanks. Fallout CE does not work for me though. Out of curiosity, did you see if CE allows setting custom resolutions? Like, ones not natively supported by your display? (960x540)

If not, then for people with a hard on for pixel perfect output and original looks, I would recommend the Foxx repack + fiddling with the sfall/f2res ini. Worked very nicely for me.

Steps in case someone wants to do that:
DL and install Foxx Sonora repack (you can find it easily), while installer is in RUS you can choose ENG as ingame lang
ddraw.ini -> DebugMode=0, cause configurator has a bug
Launch SF-Configurator -> apply Hi Res patch, either version should be fine
Then just follow this post and edit the inis
If you don't want to see the CRC mismatch on launch, then add your current CRC value (visible in the error, "0xE2137670" for me) to ExtraCRC line in ddraw.ini
You probably want the newest translation, so DL it from the Sonora page (the DLC+ version), place in Mods subfolder, rename to EN_Lang.dat, while removing the original file with that name.

EDIT: edited the steps a bit

 

[Modron]

Thanks. Fallout CE does not work for me though. Out of curiosity, did you see if CE allows setting custom resolutions? Like, ones not natively supported by your display? (960x540)

CE+Sfall worked for me, I just followed the steps here:

I installed the mod last night.

Foolproof steps:

1/ Install Fallout Sonora
2/ Install Sfall (latest release). Unzip all files into the /Sonora folder
3/ Copy the f2_res.ini file from your /Fallout 2 folder to the /Sonora folder. Ideally you've already chosen the resolution you want to play in.
4/ Enjoy.

 

[Nikanuur]

Thanks. Fallout CE does not work for me though. Out of curiosity, did you see if CE allows setting custom resolutions? Like, ones not natively supported by your display? (960x540)

Yeah, not really, just the normal ones. You can always rewrite it manually in f2res.ini, though.
I just did—to test the one you've inquired about.
I report that it's worked. However, qHD is a 16:9 resolution, so I suppose it actually is natively supported by my "normal" wide screen.

 

[Nikanuur]

Btw, I've been trying to locate one of the benches that lets you make ammo. It should be the very first one you encounter. I remember not using it up, I didn't know what it was exactly for by that time.
I can't seem to locate it now.
It must've been somewhere in the first two or three initial areas.
Can someone remember?

Oh, nvm. I've looked in the Wiki Modron shared. It's in the Abandoned District at Flaggstaff. (wow, that wiki is extensive, indeed).

 

[Jigby]

Thanks. Fallout CE does not work for me though. Out of curiosity, did you see if CE allows setting custom resolutions? Like, ones not natively supported by your display? (960x540)

Fallout2-ce has only a very partial sfall implementation, if you want to have full sfall, you have to use the original executable. CE at this point is still very much a WIP project, it's mostly used on nonstandard platforms like Wasm or Apple Silicon. There's not much point in using it if you're on Windows/Linux.

 

[Nikanuur]

So, I've found, that I've actually installed S-Fall, and only then Fallout CE over it. I am running the game with the latter.
I'm 13th level, I've spent well over 20 hours in the game, and everything seems to be running well.
Is this an intended way of things, or have I lucked out, or what is going on?

 

[Modron]

So, I've found, that I've actually installed S-Fall, and only then Fallout CE over it. I am running the game with the latter.
I'm 13th level, I've spent well over 20 hours in the game, and everything seems to be running well.
Is this an intended way of things, or have I lucked out, or what is going on?

Well basically all I did was paste the CE on top of the Dayglow + Sonora + translation install, then pasted SFall on top of that which I don't remember overwriting so yes I guess. Only issue I had was videos playing slowly and that was because I set a blanket fps limit in nVidia's control panel which the community edition doesn't like.

 

[Nikanuur]

So, I've found, that I've actually installed S-Fall, and only then Fallout CE over it. I am running the game with the latter.
I'm 13th level, I've spent well over 20 hours in the game, and everything seems to be running well.
Is this an intended way of things, or have I lucked out, or what is going on?

Well basically all I did was paste the CE on top of the Dayglow + Sonora + translation install, then pasted SFall on top of that which I don't remember overwriting so yes I guess. Only issue I had was videos playing slowly and that was because I set a blanket fps limit in nVidia's control panel which the community edition doesn't like.

Dark humor, indeed.
Some systems and configurations apparently wouldn't allow for "even half of a sane approach", and here we are, playing with just the "just blob everything on top of everything, it'll work, somehow".