How to Install Fallout 1.5: Resurrection on Steam Deck

Another day, another classic Fallout mod for the Steam Deck. This one is entirely the internet’s fault. I did a run through Fallout 1.5: Resurrection a while back and I genuinely had a great time with it. I then promptly filed it away in ‘completed, would recommend‘ to then immediately forget about it, as is tradition. Then I stumbled across a Reddit post from someone having trouble getting it to launch on their Steam Deck and I couldn’t just scroll past it. Clearly the only sensible thing to do was to get it running from scratch, document the steps and turn someone else’s frustration into a guide. So, here we are.

What is Fallout 1.5: Resurrection?

Fallout 1.5: Resurrection is a fan-made total conversion mod for Fallout 2. It was released in 2013 and an English translation arrived in 2016. The story is set in 2170 in the remnants of New Mexico and our protagonist wakes up in a rat-infested cave with amnesia. Escaping the cave, they start to piece together their past with only a mysterious talisman to go on. Coming across an equally mysterious pack of ghouls who seemingly know the protagonist, the ghouls attempt to kill them. We eventually come across Thomas, who says he was our best friend. Thomas fills us in about the Cult of the Rebirth who is led by someone only known as ‘The Saviour’. The cult has a machine that can turn ghouls into humans, but the catch is they’ll eventually decompose and die. It’s revealed that is our fate, along with the leader of the cult. We’re given a choice: re-join the cult and continue their evil deeds or destroy it and take The Saviour down with it. The story was decent and I just can’t say no to more classic Fallout.

Install Fallout 1.5: Resurrection on Steam Deck

Do a fresh install of Fallout 2 on your Steam Deck.
Swap into Desktop Mode on your Steam Deck.
Download the mod from Fallout 1.5: Resurrection’s ModDB page.
Run the Installer.

I have WINE installed and just execute the .exe. Otherwise, you can add the installer to Steam as a non-Steam game and run with Proton or install it via Lutris.
Change the install path to: ‘Z:\home\deck\.steam\steam\steamapps\common\Fallout 2’ and follow the install prompts.

Don’t launch it before clicking finish. You can, it just won’t work.
Head to the above path, open the ‘Resurrection’ folder and run ‘fores_config.exe’
Enter your resolution in the top-right section, then in the ‘Mode’ drop-down, choose ‘DirectX 9 – 32bit’ and select ‘Save and Quit’.

The resolution I’m using is 960x600 as it doesn’t make my eyes bleed.
Add ‘fores.exe’ to Steam as a non-Steam game.
Head back into Gaming Mode into non-Steam Games, select ‘fores.exe’ and head into ‘Properties’.

In the shortcut tab, you can name the shortcut whatever you like.
Still in the Shortcut tab, add the following Launch Option without quotation marks:

“WINEDLLOVERRIDES=‘ddraw.dll=n,b’ %command%”
Head into the Compatibility tab and tick ‘Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool’.

Some form of Proton is needed for the game to run, I’m currently using GE-Pronton10-34.

Fallout 1.5: Resurrection is now ready to be launched.

Further Notes:
– If you don’t want to use ‘fores_config.exe’ for whatever reason, you can edit the .ini files manually. I found it easier to not overcomplicate things, but nonetheless the settings to update are:

f2_res.ini:
[MAIN]
GRAPHICS_MODE=2 SCR_WIDTH=960 SCR_HEIGHT=600

ddraw.ini:
[Graphics] Mode=0 GraphicsWidth=960 GraphicsHeight=600

You’ll need the widths and heights to match in each file. Again, I went with 960x600 as I like how that scales for the Steam Deck’s screen and doesn’t make my eyes bleed.

– For best results, as with any mod, start with a clean install of Fallout 2. The fewer extras you have in your Fallout 2 folder, the less likely something is to go wrong.

– Fallout 2 is notoriously buggy. Crashes can and will happen. Stick to the time tested method: save early, save often. Also, use multiple slots.

– Do NOT toggle Scaling X2 on at any point. You can if you like, I’m not a cop. But in my experience, it causes the game to crash or prevents it from launching.