So whenever I play fallout or oblivion, I'm always running in weapons blazing and murdering everyone. I thought that in New Vegas, I might try to take the exact opposite approach and play as a stealthy character on my first playthrough (hardcore mode). I'm a little worried that I might get 10 hours in and realize that I made a stupid decision and regret putting so much into being a stealthy character that it might make the game not fun. So here's my crack at what I might have my character focus on:
 
SPECIAL 
put most into agility, strength and intelligence
 
Skills
sneak, melee/unarmed (which one is generally better?), guns, science, speech
 
If anybody has played as a sneaky character and would like to fill me in on any tricks of the trade, that would be greatly appreciated.

I dunno how viable a stealth character is in New Vegas but sneak is a very good skill in FO 3 since you can get sneak crit hits (both in melee and with guns) and avoid stuff.
edit: I liked to focus on Small guns, sneak, lock picking, science, repair and speech.

yeah playing stealth should be totally viable I also played FO3 as a stealth and just poped dudes in the head with the rifle most of the game esp with the perk that increases the sneak crit dmg, probably gona play F:NV stealthy on HC also you migth want to collect as many different faction suits cus it makes it so easy to kill dudes I killed about 5 camps of the escaped cons by walking up to them and vatsing head shots =P

Until they release a Chinese Steal Suit or equivalent (either perk or armor) I'd say no (but keep in mind I don't own the game). I didn't find Stealth to be all that easy to pull off in FO3 without that DLC Suit just because you'd still get seen and for obvious reasons you don't get enough Stealth Boys to really cover an entire playthrough.

" Until they release a Chinese Steal Suit or equivalent (either perk or armor) I'd say no (but keep in mind I don't own the game). I didn't find Stealth to be all that easy to pull off in FO3 without that DLC Suit just because you'd still get seen and for obvious reasons you don't get enough Stealth Boys to really cover an entire playthrough. "

If you like planting C4/Dynamite/Grenades/Mines in people's pockets and snickering manically as you run away, you'd wanna play a stealth-based character. Also, playing thief doesn't hurt when it comes to making bank/getting items early on.

Playing a "sniper" crit build with Sneak, Guns, Repair. Focused on Luck, Agility and Perception.  
 
I'm sneaking around everywhere and every opening shot is a critical. It's just a shame all the sniper rifles are so rare, so mostly just using rifles modded with a scope. Sneaking works fine for my build but not sure how well it would go for getting in close.

Sneaking is pretty overpowered in Fallout. You do insane damage, and it comes in really handy with a lot of quests. 

Stealth characters can be very fun, but you have to enjoy that particular pace.  It might take a while for you to adjust to that style of play, so it's more than likely you won't like it for a while.  I hated my first stealth character in FO3, till I got the sneak attack crit perk.  That perk along with the one that refills your VATS meter when you kill an opponent are key to killing a lot of foes quickly with that kind of build.  I still prefer to hang back with a sniper rifle and clean up with a submachine gun up close though.  

Sneaking is almost essential in hardcore mode, as your companions can die.  Generally, companions won't engage enemies as long as you aren't in danger.  So, you want to be able to take out as many enemies as possible before that happens.  There are also a lot of quests and items which can be completed or gathered by pickpocketing and sneak lockpicking chests.

I've just started my second character and she's a stealth-orientated evil character. It's great for getting bigger, better weapons into the casinos on the strip, something that comes infinitely useful depending on just what antics you plan to partake in on the strip :3

" Playing a "sniper" crit build with Sneak, Guns, Repair. Focused on Luck, Agility and Perception.   I'm sneaking around everywhere and every opening shot is a critical. It's just a shame all the sniper rifles are so rare, so mostly just using rifles modded with a scope. Sneaking works fine for my build but not sure how well it would go for getting in close. "

It's pretty powerful. You can get a a few sniper rifles from the omerta quest line. I think you can do it either with high speech/barter or just giving up 300 caps. Then you can buy a silencer from the gun runners (around 700 i think). Once you have both down, you'll can clear most open areas without anyone knowing you were there. 
 
Less pretty explosions, more feeling like a badass assassin.

I find that high perception is essential for a good stealth character.

Stealth characters are the second most viable build imo. You must also add perception on that list as well. The best build is probably something with speech since it makes questing so easy. Stealth is a lot of fun though.

" Until they release a Chinese Steal Suit or equivalent (either perk or armor) I'd say no (but keep in mind I don't own the game). I didn't find Stealth to be all that easy to pull off in FO3 without that DLC Suit just because you'd still get seen and for obvious reasons you don't get enough Stealth Boys to really cover an entire playthrough. "

" SPECIAL  put most into agility, strength and intelligence  Skills sneak, melee/unarmed (which one is generally better?), guns, science, speech. "  

Wait, there's ways to play the game other than being stealthy?

" Wait, there's ways to play the game other than being stealthy? "

If only someone wrote a guide about playing a melee-based character in Fallout.  Wait a minute, *I* wrote a guide about playing a melee-based character in Fallout! 
 
It won't translate 100% to New Vegas, but hopefully will give you some pointers.  If you're thinking of fighting up close, which it sounds like from your post, you'll need to have a high sneak score.  Sneaking is super effective, almost to the point of it being unfair.

From experience if you are playing a melee character then stealth goes very well together with it.
Mele is even more powerful in F:NV

However if you are just planning on sniping from stealth then you don't really need to put points into it. As long as you have high weapons skill and crouch you can headshot enemies from miles away, at that point your stealth stops matering as you are too far anyway. I've been going through F:NV sniping Deathclaws in broad daylight with Power armor on.
 
There are some quests and situations where stealth is very useful, however these can all be covered by the amount of stealth-boys you find in the game.

I have 2 characters I am playing.
 
First is Guns, lockpick, medicial and energy weapons and some stealth.
 
Second is Melee, explosives, lockpick.
 
So far I like my first character better, I just love using guns. Melee is ok but its not the same.

Its sounds odd but I set my charisma to 1 and just tag speech. Since there's no extra effect on charisma other then skill benefits and no checks that use it you don't really need it. what you could use is more strength for carry weight or agility for AP. What I found though is even with 100% sneak,a silencer,and distance b/t me and my target I still get seen every now and then.  

" Its sounds odd but I set my charisma to 1 and just tag speech. Since there's no extra effect on charisma other then skill benefits and no checks that use it you don't really need it. what you could use is more strength for carry weight or agility for AP. What I found though is even with 100% sneak,a silencer,and distance b/t me and my target I still get seen every now and then.   "