My guide on fixing the Black screen glitch on Vista when using the Full Res patch.
May I now present my Guide to getting the Res patch to work on Vista.
With special thanks to Rainstorm and 404notfound.
1. Install Fallout as normal.
2. Download the Resolution Patch (http://nma-fallout.com/forum/dload.php?action=download&file_id=739)
3. Download the FO1 Engine Fix (http://timeslip.chorrol.com/sfall.html) Its the one for XP/Vista.
4. Install the Resolution Patch following the instructions and then the same for the Engine Fix
5. DO NOT change the graphics part of the DDraw.ini file. You will not be able to do anything at the main screen.
6. Rename the falloutw.exe to something else. (Update shortcuts if necessary)
7. Enjoy!
That should work. Please note that I've not had much time to play after figuring this out so the black out problem could still reoccur. Let me know of it does.

Man, you beat me to it by one 1 minute, matthew.
I was just talking to Timeslip and he says that indeed renaming falloutw.exe fixes the problem. He doesn't know why, except that it is possible that amongst the changes GOG made to Fallout is a compatibility mode flag on falloutw.exe, which would certainly explain how renaming it would circumvent that.
In any case, as long as it works, it works.

Yup, that's what I said around the first post :)

I have the same or a similar problem and gone through the same steps with an ATI AIW x800 on XP. I've installed the high res patch, brought in timeslip's ddraw.dll, and created a barebones profile in Catalyst Control Center... and it does fine until I load a save. Looks fine at first, but as I move my guy it gets all blacked out and glitchy. I get a visible box around my char that flickers as I move him, but nothing else is visible.
Renaming falloutw.exe didn't help. Any other thoughts?
Frankly I don't mind going back to the original res, but I figure I might as well see if I can work it out.
UPDATE: Actually, renaming falloutw.exe without renaming ddraw.dll or installing timeslip's mod works pretty well, as suggested in the second post. Heh.

Is installing the Hi-res pack really worth all the trouble you go through to make it work? I'm running XP with a 19" CRT.
Also, if you install the patch, can you still open your previous saved games?

GoemON, did you find a solution? I am currently stuck in the caves and I saved before realizing... I'm hoping I do not have to start over. I modified the map_edges_F1.ini file and it does nothing... I applied this fix AFTER starting my game though, is that relevant?

I had this issue as well, but I just uninstalled the patch, went through the caves, and then re-installed it.
the previous time i installed the game, though, i remembered to do all this stuff right away (install high res mod, delete ddraw.dll, edit the map edges) and it did work out perfectly.
for whatever reason, it just wouldn't load the new values if i'd been there already.
I'm surprised the mod hasn't been updated with the new values already. the fallout 2 high res mod was updated twice since GOG posted it.

I had the same problem. Just do what people have been doing to fix the sluggishness: rename "ddraw.dll" in the Fallout directory. I just renamed it to "draw.dll".
It works perfectly.

Hi there !
my screen (19" tft) flickers when i play fallout 1 (@1280x1024) with the hi res & timeslip patch installed.
has anyone any idea how i can fix this?
thanks !

renaming ddraw.dll might do it, or renaming the falloutw.exe. both worth a shot. otherwise make sure it isn't an issue with your monitor

thanks for the quick answer!
i tried renaming/deleting both, to no avail.
my monitor is okay, 1280*1024 is also my desktop resolution and it´s not flickering now as i type under windows xp.
ps:
i had to delete ddraw.dll before to even start the game.

Ok, make sure y our video drivers are up to date, also, did it work w/o the mods installed? You may need to edit the ddraw.ini file.

newest nvidia drivers installed. w/o the mods the game runs slow, but without flickering.
okay, i think i will uninstall the patches and try patching a clean FO installation step by step

i am shure now that the hi-res pack causes the screen to flicker. when in hi-res mode, the screen flickers. it does NOT matter, which resolution i choose. 800x600 or 1280x1024 or ..., it all flickers.
i tried using ddraw.dll from timeslip and even deleting the ddraw.dll; it makes no difference... this is so sad..

I have this exact same issue.
If I only install the High-res patch, the program doesn't run up, saying that it failed to initialize video at 640x480. If I install the sfall patch as well then the program runs at a lovely high resolution, but there is a black flicker over the game, even in the menu screens.
It's running at my LCD's native resolution, I cannot work out what's wrong. I've seen an 'unofficial' patch by TeamX, which takes the game to version 1.34 or something. I'm considering applying it to see if it helps.
Rob