[RELz] Arwen's Realism Tweaks [Thread #4]

Post » Tue Feb 09, 2010 3:00 am

Arwen's Realism Tweaks:

Thread #4 [previous thread http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1054783

Updated Jan 15, 2010): Version 3.3 - This is another pretty extensive update. Here are the major changes (and fixes):
- The player's Agility stat is now an even greater factor in determining how many Action Points they receive(5 times greater factor than default).
- Made a LOT of adjustments to balance my Smarter AI module with all my other recent changes (in the past few released versions) . . . The NPCs now feel "smarter" than ever, making combat even harder and a little faster paced.
- Stealth tweaks: you'll now be detected when you're a bit further away from NPCs/Creatures; and sleeping actors will sleep even sounder now (will not wake up as easy when you are sneaking).
- Weapon deterioration for Guns, Energy Weapons, and Launcher Weapons, will now deteriorate 33% slower than the default rate (this is slightly faster then what I was using in the last few releases, which made these weapons a bit too durable)
- Fixed the bug that caused the actors' movement speed to slow way down when wearing Leather Armor (or its variants).
- Increased the Armor Encumbrance Penalty (from v.3.2). Wearing 50-pound armor will now slow the actor's movement speed down to 67-75% (of speed without any armor).
- Made changes in my Object Effects (PushAway, Whack, and Blast), so that loss of Perception and loss of Agility will only last about half as long.
- My Skills module [new for v.3.2] received a LOT of new changes/additions:
- Fixed a couple of bugs, where the information that was displayed for a couple of the perks was wrong, and some of the text was not being displayed.
- Overhauled Bobbleheads AND SPECIAL (both totally new for v.3.3)
- Now the 13 Skill Bobbleheads will only reward you +3 points (default was 10, which really unbalanced my other Skill changes).
- You now receive 5 less initial points to distribute in your SPECIALs (from default 40 to 35).
- So now you begin the game with an average amount of stat points (5 points/stat). This will also help to balance out gaining +7 points later in the game for finding all 7 SPECIAL Bobbleheads (which are unchanged from the default game).
- I modified the Derived Skill points from v.3.2(increase a bit, to balance out having 5 less points for SPECIAL)
- Reduced many of the Perk requirements (due to reduction of SPECIAL points].
- Reduced the value of "Read" Skill Books (from 30 to 25 caps, which is half their unread value).

IMPORTANT!!! This mod works best with a new game . . . but a new game is not required, as long as you carefully follow my Update/Install (and Uninstall) procedures.
  • At the VERY least make a backup of your latest save before installing my mod, so that you can restore your previous game.
  • My mod REQUIRES that you follow my Update/Install procedures ... due to changes in Object Effects and my new scripts (see Installation section). If you do not follow these procedures, you can mess up you character's stats.
  • My Skill module is best used in a new game. If you use this module in an existing game, your skills are going to take a major hit and some of my other skill changes might cause problems (it would depend on what perks, bobbleheads, and skill books you have used). If you're above Level 2 (or 3 at most), and you don't want to start a new game, you should not use my Skills module.

Why I Created this Mod:
My Realism Tweaks are my efforts to make game play more immersive, challenging, and more balanced. These are changes that I originally created just for my own game, which were designed to compliment the other mods that I am using (which are all covered at: http://amito.freehostia.com/Fallout/FO.htm). From the first time I played Fallout, there were a number of things that did not feel right to me. I found mods that fixed many things, but there were still a LOT of things that were still not quite right, so I decided to see if I could make my own mod. My Realism Tweaks are the result of those efforts. Oh, before you get the wrong idea, I need to explain what I mean by "realism." For me, a RPG is more realistic when I can role-play without having to work at it. My Realism Tweaks are my efforts to make FO3 more immersive and more realistic within the context of Fallout's alternate reality (which is a place where radiation causes mutations as often as death, and where crippled limbs can be healed with a stimpack injection). Since FO3 is actually supposed to be a RPG and not a FPS, one of my goals has been to enhance the RPG aspects of the game, where your Skills and Stats are much more important in how your game will play out for you. If you use my Full_Tweaks (which includes my new Skills module), you will discover that your distribution of SPECIAL points is so MUCH more important than it was in the default game. And, when you leave the Vault, you will now find that the Wasteland may actually feel like a harsh wasteland. This mod is deceptively small, so don't be put off by its small size. It actually includes a LOT of code, which changes over 1300 records, and makes some rather dramatic changes to the game.

Warning: Do NOT install this mod unless you want the Wasteland to be a harsher, less forgiving place. If you install my Realism Tweaks, you'll instantly have a game that requires you to use a LOT more strategy . . . just to survive. For the best Hard-Core experience, I highly recommend using my Arwen_Tweaks_FULL.esp along with ALL the mods in my Extreme Realism list. You may also want to try my Reduced XPR mod, which greatly slows down how fast you level up in the game.

My Realism Tweaks are fully modular: my mod now contains 8 different esps. Each module is totally independent, so you can use all 8, just 1, or any combination.
Note: there is also a FULL esp version (included in the download) which contains all the 8 modules, merged into a single esp.

The 8 Modules (esps) - [see my ReadMe and the http://amito.freehostia.com/Fallout/FO-mods04.htm section of my FO3 mod list for more details]:

1.) Main Module (Arwen_Tweaks_Main.esp):
*** The following changes only affect the player character:
- My RunBack effect slows down your player character's speed when running backwards (since you shouldn't be able to run as fast backwards as forward). Speed penalty is determined by your Agility level. If AGL=5 --> 70% as fast; if AGL=1 --> 46% as fast (maximum penalty); if AGL=10 --> 100% as fast (no penalty). My RunBack effect has been carefully balanced with my latest movement speed changes --> so even at the maximum penalty (AGL=1), you will still be able to run backwards 40% faster than you can walk backwards.
- VATS playback delay was cut in half (so your character has a bit more time to make defensive moves).
- While in VATS, your character suffers the same damage as in regular combat (default damage was only 1/10 as much).
- While in VATS your weapons are damaged twice as much as when used in normal combat (default was 5 times as much).
- Agility is a much bigger factor [5 times greater] in determining your total number of Action Points, with a MUCH greater range in points [AG:1-10 = 21-110 (default was only 66-85)]
- Action Points take 4 times as long to recharge, so use them wisely. (But, with a high AGL stat, you will recieve more Action Points, than in the default game.)
- Increased crippled arm penalty in VATS (melee attacks with crippled arms will cause much less damage).
- All merchants now have twice as many caps.
- Doubled the intensity of the PipBoy Light, and light now turns on faster.
*** All the following changes are global . . . they affect your character, and ALL the NPCs, and Creatures:
- Greatly reduces the load that your character can carry (now you'll have to be a LOT more selective in what you pick up).
- Plus Strength is now a much larger factor in how much you can carry; each STR point above 5 adds 15 lbs; and each STR point below 5 subtracts 15 lbs.
- Your character will be injured when falling or jumping more than 14 feet (and there's now a much greater chance of crippling a leg).
- More realistic movement speeds: faster walking, sneaking, turning speeds; slightly slower running speeds; tweaked jump settings.
- Increase holstered weapon bonus (think of your this as a sprint toggle . . . as long as you remember to holster your weapon, you now generally be able to outrun enemy NPCs).
- Modified Crippled Speed Penalties: 40% slower walking/running with one crippled leg and 60% slower with both legs crippled.
- Increased stagger chance when crippled in torso to 90%.
- Adjusted Combat Knockdowns (knockdowns now happen with less damage)
- Tweaked character's jump settings a bit.
- Increased tuning speeds for characters.
- Decreased swimming speed multipliers (due to increased Base Speed)
- Spent shells from bullets will now last 4 game hours before they begin to disappear (instead of only a few seconds).

2.) Smarter AI Module (Arwen_SmarterAI.esp):
- This module totally changes the way NPCs react during combat. If you are used to the default FO3 combat, it will actually feel like the NPCs have suddenly become much smarter. You WILL be surprised at how much tougher combat now is. This module makes changes to a LOT of game settings, so I cannot possibly cover all the individual changes here, but here are some of the major results:
- NPCs are much more likely to take cover during combat, will reload under cover, search for cover while moving towards you, and will often fire from cover.
- NPCs now dodge much more realistically (are much less able to dodge bullets).
- NPCs open ammo boxes and containers to equip themselves with better weapons and explosives. You'll now be competing more with the NPCs, so these items will now be much harder to come by.
- Most NPCs will now attempt to flee/retreat to survive (much less likely to make suicidal attacks). This also applies to mutants, wild dogs and mole rats.
- NPCs are now much less predictable. For example, snipers will now wait up to 35 seconds before firing (increased from an 11 sec. maximum wait in the default game).
- Most NPCs and Creatures are now more likely to stop attacking after their victim is rendered unconscious. Most will now focus more on immediate threats, rather than on unconscious enemies. The exceptions are the Super Mutants Melee, Raider Melee, and Talon Company . . . who are now more likely to attack an unconscious victim.
- Super Mutants are now a bit more aggressive.
- Sneaking is now much more realistic . . . making stealth game play more effective, but also more difficult (especially with low Sneak skills).
- It is now easier to remain hidden in darkness/shadows; and it is now possible to re-hide after being detected (but it is still really difficult, once the enemy locks on to you).
- But is now more difficult to remain undetected when out in the open, during daylight, in lit areas, or if your PipBoy light is on.
- NPCs are more alert to your presence, stay alert longer, will spend more time looking for you, and will search over a much greater area.
- When you are hidden, nearby enemies will detect you if you move, and will not need to get as close to see you.
- NPCs will be a bit more alert to your presence (and stay alert longer), and they will spend more time looking for you.
- NPCs will not need to get as close (they will no longer stand right in front of you without seeing you).
- Doubled the detection of noise that you make while sneaking. When running, you will now make 3 times more noise than when walking (default was only 50% more).
- It is easier to be stealthy when wearing light armor (< 11 pounds); but much more difficult when wearing heavier armor (> 11 pounds).
- If you fire a gun (or make any other noise), anyone nearby will know exactly where you are (no more picking off enemies one at a time, while they all just stand there).
- NPCs will now respond to explosions from much further away (2.5 times the distance in the default game).
- NPCs will sleep a bit sounder - they will not wake up quite as easy when you are nearby.

3.) Survival Module (Arwen_Survival.esp):
- This one will make your game MUCH more challenging, so survival will become much more difficult.
- We all know that the default weapon damage is too low . . . it really shouldn't take 6 bullets to kill a Mole-Rat.
- The solution has usually been to make the individual weapons more powerful, but that can cause compatibility issues with add-on weapons. My solution is different:
- Base Health was reduced for the player character (by ~14% at Level 1); while HPs were increased for NPCs and most creatures (by ~17% for Level 1).
- The Player Character HPs are now based almost entirely on their END (30*END + 10 Base Health).
- The Player Character no longer receives additional HP just for leveling up. But the NPCs/Creature still receive HPs bonuses at higher levels.
- NPC still start out with less HPs . . . but now just 13% less than the PC (default settings gave NPCs ~40% less HPs). But now only the NPCs gain HPs per level (+5 HP/level).
- The net result is that with END 5, the PC and the average NPCs will have roughly equal HPs by level 5; and at level 20, NPCs have ~47% more HPs than PC. This should make higher levels much more challenging.
- Healthier/Tougher NPCs: their combat reduced health will now be restored back to 80% (default was only 60%).
- Increased Low-level NPC base health multiplier (making them much healthier, and harder to kill).
- Includes Class changes . . . for tougher enemies, due to their improved stats.
- Your adversaries are also now much better equipped (their weapons and armor are now in MUCH better condition). This makes the Raiders tougher than before, while Talon Company may now be a bit more than you can handle. (Hey, at least I warned you.)
- Increased Armor DR cap from 85% to 95%.
- Increased Head Crippled penalty (now you'll actually black out for a few seconds).
- Radiation Exposure is now 4 times more deadly (but no radiation increase for consumption of food and water).
- Pain now has greater effect on player . . . you will now feel like you're actually in pain.
- Increase in Poison effects from Scorpion stings . . . much longer duration results in loss of 3 times more HPs.
- Guns, Energy Weapons, and Launcher Weapons and armor now deteriorates about 30% slower.
- Weapon damage has been increased through weapon skills calculations (which affect all weapons globally, including weapons that are added through other mods).
- But I did this in a way that makes the damage increase with higher weapon skills a bonus, instead of making lower skills a penalty. (Even with a Small Gun Skill of only 10, DAM is twice as high as in the default game at this level . . . and this is before factoring my other DAM increases.)
- Increased the Spread Skill Bonus (for guns): Small Guns skill is now a greater factor in how accurate you will be with any ranged weapon.
- Increased the Damage Skill Bonus (applies to all weapons): Skill now has much more impact on how much damage an actor can do with any weapon.
- Reduced the Gun Condition vs. Damage Penalty (bullets from damaged guns do less damage): condition is still a factor, but now a smaller one.
- Reduced the Gun Condition vs. Spread Penalty (spread increases for damaged guns): condition is still a factor, but now a much smaller one.
- Damaged Guns will not fire as fast, are less accurate (more spread when damaged), and have a greater chance of jamming after reloading
- Automatic weapons now take 5 seconds to cool down (default was just 1 sec.).
- Decreased shooting accuracy when arms are crippled (this now also affects NPCs as well as the player).
- Reduced shooting accuracy when walking or running (there was no penalty for either in the default game).
- Strength is now a much greater factor in how much damage a melee weapon does.
- Weapon Condition is now a greater penalty in how much damage a melee weapon does.
- Crippled Arms is now a much greater penalty in how much damage a melee weapon does.
- Block Skill increased by a factor of 2 (to add balance to Melee and Unarmed combat changes).
- Unarmed Damage was also greatly increased.
- Reduced damage bonus during sneak attacks (to offset weapon damages increase).
- Destructible vehicles are now much more durable. [You will now have to damage their Health percentage by a LOT more before they will begin to self destruct.]
- Better MMM Compatibility: During combat, MMM can cause lag (and even CTDs). I've adjusted a number of settings that should reduce both considerably (but these changes do not require MMM, since they are done through FO3 settings).
- Immersive visual change: Increased Impact Shader Maximum Distance by 4 times the default distance (from ~234 to ~937 feet), so you will now see bullet damage effects much further away.

4.) Armor Module (Arwen_Armor.esp):
- Increase Damage Resistance for All armor GLOBALLY (armor now absorbs 50% more damage than in the default game) ... this helps to offset reduced HP changes and increased damages from weapons.
- Increased the Armor Encumbrance penalty (the default penalty was hardly noticeable). Wearing 16 pounds of armor will now slow an actor down by 10%; 30 pounds is 20% slower; and 50 pounds is 33% slower.
- Armor wearing bonus: Power Armor will now weigh only about 25% as much when worn, and all other armor will weigh about 50% as much; plus this now applies to most helmets as well (when carried, there is no weight reduction). For instance, Combat Armor (including the Combat Helmet) weighs 23 pounds, but when you are wearing the armor, your carrying capacity will be increased by 11 pounds, meaning that the armor will only add a net of 12 pounds to your load. This is meant to compliment the Main module's reduced carry weight.
- Maintains 8AR/5WT ratio (AR/1.6=WT) for most armor (exceptions are Power Armor, helmets, and non-armor clothing).
- AR*10=value used for most armor/clothing . . . for some price consistency [But some items have higher value, due to rarity and high health (better made), and their bonus effects.]
- Most armor AR values were left at default (But I reduced the AR for most non-armor clothing; increase the AR for most vault clothing; and modified a few pieces of armor that I felt was inconsistently high or low).
- Removed ALL 'enchanted' armor combat skills effects, such as Small Guns, Big Guns, Energy Weapons, Melee Weapons. [Replaced with more logical effects: like increases in Critical Chance, Agility, Charisma, Speech, Perception, Endurance, and Fire Resistance.]
- Removed ALL 'enchanted' bonuses for Science, Medicine, Lockpick, and Luck (exception is for Lucky Shades). [Replaced with more logical effects: like increases in Radiation Resistance, Poison Resistance, and Charisma.]
- Retained default 'enchantments' that increased Repair skill for some Vault Utility Suits and for some Jumpsuits. [Needed to keep repair balanced. Logic was that this was sort of like wearing a tool belt.]
- Improved ability to Repair Armor/Clothing: expanded default armor/clothing repair list.
- Raider armor now gives -5 Charisma and Talon armor now gives -7 Charisma (mostly to mesh with the perk changes in my Skills module).

5.) Weapons Module (Arwen_Weapons.esp):
- Projectile speed increase: most bullets and missiles now travel much faster ... no more dodging bullets.
- No Tracers for most bullets ... exception is with some automatic weapons, like the 10mm Bullet (auto) and the Rifle Bullet (minigun), which now use tracers at a reduced 4:1 ratio.
- Impact force increased ... so that bullets now have a little Havok effect with some objects.
- Reduced ranges for some projectiles, from ~470 ft to ~140 ft [Baseball (trap), Shotgun Shell, BB Pellet, Dart, Rockit Junk, RailSpikeProjectile, Ant Spit]. Range of Bloatfly Dart and Centaur Spit were reduced to ~120 feet.
- Tweaked all explosions in their Force, Radius, ISRadius, and Knockdowns.
- Explosions now have a much larger splash radius (but their damage multiplier remains unchanged from default).
- Improved Grenade physics ... much less bounce and will no longer slide like on ice (increased friction).
- More realistic Death Force physics - this was impossible for me to get exactly right, since different bodies react very differently ... but most bodies should now not fly so unrealistically through the air upon death.
- My Blast effect is now attached to all explosions. Anyone within the splash radius will be knocked off their feet and, if not killed by the blast, rendered unconscious for a while (most victims will remain unconscious for 30 seconds, but Super Mutants will only be knocked out for 10 seconds, and robotic creatures will only be stunned for a moment). The victim will also suffer from a loss of Perception (PER knocked down to 1), which will last for 10 minutes(real time); and a loss of Agility (-4 points) for 5 minutes.
- My Whack Effect is now attached to all non-blade melee weapons and adds ~25% chance that victim will be knocked unconscious (for 20 seconds), but this relies on the player's strength and melee skills (you will only be able to knock out opponents who have no more than 1 point more STR than you; unless your melee skills are at least 25, then you will be able to knock out opponents with up to 2 points more STR than you ... and this works both ways). The effect even works on robots. The victim will also suffer from a loss of Perception (PER knocked down to 1), which will last for 8 minutes; and a loss of Agility (-4 points) for 5 minutes.
- My Push Away Effect is attached to all the default shotguns and to some ranged weapons . . . now a shotgun blast at close range will have ~25% chance of pushing the victim away (knocking them to the ground). The victim will also suffer from a loss of Perception (-5 points), which will last for 3 minutes. My Push Away effect does not work on Super Mutants (you will not be able to knock them down with a shotgun blast). [Note: I tried my best to create a realistic effect, but due to the ways that different bodies react to Havok forces, some bodies will fly through the air unrealistically, while others will just fall to the ground.]
- Increased Weapon Repair Lists: my goal was to make weapon repairs a bit less restrictive, while retaining some logical sense of what might be used to repair each weapon. (But you need to understand that I don't really know much at all about real weapons, so this was done mostly through intuition, rather than any actual specs.)
- Most Weapons were not individually tweaked (I may attempt to do more in future updates): the exceptions are the shotguns, which I increased their projectile count, reduced their spread, and reduced their base damage . . . don't worry, the net effect is still more deadly (Followers' unique weapons were not altered). I also reduced the minimum spread for the assault rifle by about 50%.
- Increased Burning Effects (after you have suffered damage by flames): now lasts for 30 seconds (default was 5), and now actually causes damage to health of -30 HP (-1*30sec).
- Increased Centaur Spit Radiation Damage: from -50 HP (-5*10sec) to -120 HP (-4*30sec)
- Increased Poison from Ant Sting: from -40 HP (-4*10sec) to -60HP (-1*60); now includes a loss of Agility (-3 points) that lasts for 10 minutes.
- Increased Damage from Mirelurk Shriek: from -50 HP to -75 HP (-25*3sec); damage to Perception now lasts for 5 minutes (default was 10 seconds).
- Increase Damage from Glowing One's Radiation Burst: over 3 times the distance, for 50 RADs (default was only 10 Rads)

6.) Localized Damage Module (Arwen_Localized_Damage.esp):
- Changes the localized body damage effects in a way that balances out game play, while making strategic hits more effective (such as crippling shots).
- Tweaks ALL 32 unique body types (affects every body in the original game).
- Super Mutants are now a bit tougher.
- Equalizes the body parts damage effects between the PC and the NPC (in the default game, head shot damage was set twice as high for NPCs).
- Damage to an arm or leg will now decrease your health much less than damage to head or torso. Head shots are now much more deadly.
- The VATS Hit Chance for each body part should now be much more consistent between characters with similar types of body parts.
- Reduced the chance of the PC receiving head shots (the frequency was set way too high in the default game).
- Greatly reduces the probability of exploding body parts (use with my Gore_No_More mod, if you want even less exploding parts).
- Dismemberment chance reduced to 5% (from the default 50%) (use with my Gore_No_More mod, if you want even less dismemberment).
- Robots were also tweaked so that you will now have a greater chance of disabling parts of a robot (now possible to destroy the targeting chip in turrets, which will then target nearby NPCs).

7.) Less_Is_More Module (Arwen_Less_Is_More.esp):
- In the default game, it is way too easy to soon have an abundance of caps . . . to the point that you no longer have to worry about being able to afford more than enough supplies.
- Most food, weapons, and ammo are very easy to come by, as you can literally just pick them up everywhere for free.
- This module makes these items a LOT less abundant in the Wasteland.
- The end result is that there will be less free loot of this type, so you'll have to purchase more of these items from the traders.
- And, when the traders actually have what you need, you'll have to pay a LOT more for it, and you'll get a LOT less for what you trade with them.
- Bartering skills are now a MUCH greater factor in how much you have to pay for items (and in how much you receive in trade).
- But even with Barter=100, you will still have to pay a 30% markup fee to buy anything, and you will never receive more than 80% of what an item is worth.
- You may now find that you have to actually be careful in how much ammo you use.
- If you use a mod like Real Injuries/Primary Needs, trying to find enough food may actually become a bit of a problem.
- Repairs now cost 50% less (from 2.0 multiplier to 1.0), due to my Bartering changes. Intent was to make repairs more affordable than just purchasing a new weapon.

8.) Skills Module (Arwen_Skills.esp):
- Note: this module is best used in a new game. If you use this module in an existing game, your skills are going to take a major hit and I'm not sure what my perk and skill books changes might do (it would depend on what perks and skill books you have used). I'm guessing that if you're above a Level 2 (or 3 at most), and you don't want to start a new game, that you may not want to use my new Skills module.
- My newest module adds much needed balance to skill points. This was done to balance out game play by keeping the game more challenging, even at higher levels.
- You will now begin the game with half as many skill points: Regular skills = linked SPECIAL points * 2 [Example: with 4 Charisma, Barter = 8]; Tagged Skills gain 5 additional points.
- And you now receive roughly half as many skill points to distribute at level up.
- But your tag skills will now increase by 2 points for every skill point you spend on them.
- The net result is that skill points are now more important, and Tagged skills have even greater importance.
- Rebalanced skill books: limited to 5 books/skill (increased to 15 books/skill with Educated Perk; and then to a maximum of 25 books/skill with Comprehension Perk).
- Skill books are no longer consumed when you use them, but are replaced with a "Read" version, with a lower value that you can sell or collect.
- Rebalanced Perks: I've made changes to 95% of the default Level Perks. Perks are now balanced to mesh much better with my Realism Tweaks.
- Perk requirements were raised and/or added, and some perk bonuses can be temporarily lost if minimum skill requirements are not maintained.
- I also added a few new unique perks to fill in some gaps (mostly to help out characters with low stats, who now may not meet my higher perk requirements).
- The 13 Skill Bobbleheads will now only reward you +3 points (default was 10, which really unbalanced my other Skill changes).
- You now receive 5 less initial points to distribute in your SPECIALs (from default 40 to 35).
- So now you begin the game with an average amount of stat points (5 points/stat). This will also help to balance out gaining +7 points later in the game for finding all 7 SPECIAL Bobbleheads (which are unchanged from the default game).
- I also removed Achievements from all Bobbleheads (so my mod would be compatible with mods that remove the Xbox Achievements, such as JustinOther's Achievement Remover). Just make sure that you load my mod LAST.
- My Fallout 3 Journal fully covers all the changes that this module makes, including all the Perk changes (which may be helpful in planning out a new character's stats). I also post any reported bugs (and often fixes) for the current version. Link: http://amito.freehostia.com/Fallout/Arwens_Skills_Module.htm

***Single esp Version (Arwen_FULL_Tweaks.esp):
- Included in the download.
- This is the all-or-nothing esp . . . It contains ALL 8 Modules, Merged into a single esp.
- Do not use this unless you want ALL the tweaks; and use this esp INSTEAD of using ANY of my individual modules.

Compatibility:
- I've attempted to make all my mods are completely compatible with all the mods on my FO3 mod list.
- My Realism Tweaks are fully compatible with MMM (including v.5.0)
- My Realism Tweaks are fully compatible with EVE - Energy Visuals Enhanced.
- My Realism Tweaks are fully compatible with all the DLC, in that they should not cause any conflicts. But there could be some minor balancing issues.
- For more mods that I have personally tested for compatibility, visit http://amito.freehostia.com/Fallout/FO.htm)

Incompatibility:
- My Realism Tweaks will overwrite any mods that make any of the changes I have listed here (which is one reason that I made it modular).
- Other overhauls and most game play balancing mods should NOT be used with my Realism Tweaks mod, as doing so could result in major balancing issues.
- My Armor module is not compatible with most mods that alter the specs of default armor/clothing (but may be compatible with mods that only add cosmetic changes).
- My Weapon module is not compatible with most mods that alter any of the default weapons or default projectile specs (although it is generally totally compatible with mods that only make texture changes to weapons).
- My mod is NOT compatible with FOOK or FWE (even though my SmarterAI module is integrated into FWE).

Load Order:
-In order to insure that all my Tweaks are being applied (and that other mods are not overriding any) put the esps at the end of your load order. If you keep my esps together, the individual load order between them is not important, as they are all independent of each other (the exception is the Arwen_FULL_Tweaks.esp, which should not be used with any of the other esps).

Known Issues or Bugs:
- If you load a game which was saved while your character was unconscious, your character will likely have to endure all sorts of really weird and humiliating graphic effects (such as their body melting, stretching, falling through the game mesh, or being launched through the air). If they somehow manage to survive this ordeal, their body should return to normal. I know of no way to correct this, as it seems to be a game bug. My suggestion is simple: don't load a game that was saved while your character was unconscious.

Credits:
- Bethesda Softworks, for making Fallout 3.
- IAR80 and taylorsd for CombatEnhanced-Package , which my SmartAI module was initially based on.
- ALL the great guys over on the The G.E.C.K. forums . . . who freely gave of their time to guide a clueless, whining, rookie script-writer-wanna-be.

Download link: http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=7565

Other mods by Arwen:
- http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=7674
- http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=7318
- http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=7400
- http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=9558
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Taylor Thompson
 
Posts: 3350
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2007 5:19 am

Post » Tue Feb 09, 2010 5:24 am

Sorry for taking so long to post a new thread (after my previous one reached its post limit), but I was away for the Holidays for a number of days and did not have any Internet access.
But I'm back home now and my repaired computer has been returned, so I'm hoping to be able to get back to work on completing Version 3.2 as soon as tomorrow (it's going to take me a while to get myself organized here).
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Ron
 
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Post » Tue Feb 09, 2010 8:35 am

Yay!! :clap:

I was running the previous version after getting my behind handed to me with FWE..
Thank you :)
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Averielle Garcia
 
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Post » Tue Feb 09, 2010 4:08 pm

Good to hear you can finally type (and read!) on the big screen again.
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+++CAZZY
 
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Post » Tue Feb 09, 2010 6:43 am

Good to hear you can finally type (and read!) on the big screen again.

It's REALLY good to be back! It was a rough month for me. After backing up a bunch of data last night, I started working on finishing up v.3.2. It still looks like I'm going to need at least a few more days to wrap this up.

Kai, what would I have to do to make a patch that would disable all of MMM's AI scripts? If it is not too difficult for me to make, I'd very much like to include it with my v.3.2 release.


Yay!! :clap:
I was running the previous version after getting my behind handed to me with FWE..
Thank you :)

Give me a few more days, to get this svcker wrapped up.
But you may find that you'll still be getting your behind handed to you . . . this version is my most challenging one yet! (Both for me to make, and in the way it changes game play.)
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!beef
 
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Post » Tue Feb 09, 2010 12:40 am

Very nice to see you back Arwen. :wave:
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Kim Kay
 
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Post » Tue Feb 09, 2010 9:55 am

Sorry for taking so long to post a new thread (after my previous one reached its post limit), but I was away for the Holidays for a number of days and did not have any Internet access.
But I'm back home now and my repaired computer has been returned, so I'm hoping to be able to get back to work on completing Version 3.2 as soon as tomorrow (it's going to take me a while to get myself organized here).


Great to hear you are back up and running! I eagerly anticipate the release of your new version. I'm itching to start a new game with it!
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Melissa De Thomasis
 
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Post » Tue Feb 09, 2010 4:48 am

Yeah, lets rock! :) Im glad that you got your computer up and runing, and i am realy looking foward for 3.2 gameplay changes, more immersion and challenge. )
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STEVI INQUE
 
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Post » Tue Feb 09, 2010 2:00 pm

Thanks guys, it's great to be back! :dance:

I made some pretty good progress today, doing a lot of small bug fixes.

Plus I made some tweaks to my Less_Is_More module (mostly in my bartering calculations).

And I completely redid my Localized Damage Module, to work better with my new damage calculations. This module now includes a new change that reduces dismemberment to 5% (from the default 50%).

Still a lot to do to wrap this up, but it feels good to finally get some of these major changes done, especially the ones that take hours to finish.
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luke trodden
 
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Post » Tue Feb 09, 2010 7:47 am

Great to have you back, Arwen.

gothemasticator
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Ysabelle
 
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Post » Tue Feb 09, 2010 2:50 pm

Thanks for the tweaks Arwen, and glad your back.
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Nicole Coucopoulos
 
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Post » Tue Feb 09, 2010 5:25 am

Fantastic mod, love the economic plugin. I do have a question regarding game balance.

I have all the plugins installed and I can't honestly say that the game is more challenging, granted I have not progressed much, but still. With a vault armoured suit and a Chinese assault rifle, I can plough threw all of Megaton with minimum tactics while barely taking damage until Jericho arrives to the scene. With that in mind, I easily finished off all the raiders that attacked me but had to run away from a radscorpion the other day because it was practically bulletproof.

Is that supposed to happen?
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Chantel Hopkin
 
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Post » Tue Feb 09, 2010 8:14 am

Great to have you back, Arwen.
gothemasticator

Thanks!

Thanks for the tweaks Arwen, and glad your back.

You're welcome, and Thanks!

Fantastic mod, love the economic plugin. I do have a question regarding game balance.
I have all the plugins installed and I can't honestly say that the game is more challenging, granted I have not progressed much, but still. With a vault armoured suit and a Chinese assault rifle, I can plough threw all of Megaton with minimum tactics while barely taking damage until Jericho arrives to the scene. With that in mind, I easily finished off all the raiders that attacked me but had to run away from a radscorpion the other day because it was practically bulletproof.
Is that supposed to happen?

My Realism Tweaks will definitely make the game more challenging. Just read through my opening post in this thread.
If you are not getting these changes, it is likely due to some kind of mod conflict.
If you are getting these changes, the game will be much more challenging than the default game.

But, with v.3.2, I'm cranking things up another couple of notches . . . my beta version of 3.2 (which I'm using in my own game) is MUCH more challenging.
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michael danso
 
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Post » Tue Feb 09, 2010 10:13 am

One thing that results from Arwen's Tweaks, FWE, and most other gameplay mods is that the increase in global damage means that if you are a good and fast player from an FPS standpoint you can plow through many enemies quickly, provided you take them out before they start to return fire. In the original game, you can't kill everyone in megaton at level 1 because it takes sooooo many bullets to kill someone, by the time you drop 2-3 people the entire down has you surrounded and shoots you up. With the overhauls, this isn't the case.

But . . . in all fairness . . . killing the civillians in megaton is really not a good indicator of how well the overhauls are functioning. They aren't balanced around people killing the megaton population =) Try taking your vault suit and chinese rifle and play with a big pack of super mutants or talon mercs, you'll see a difference =)
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P PoLlo
 
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Post » Tue Feb 09, 2010 6:43 am

Can you make the explosions-knock-people-unconscious feature optional? Not being able to shoot someone while they're unconscious seems unrealistic to me, and having someone jump right up and start shooting at me after being knocked out doesn't seem very realistic either. Maybe if they staggered a bit first ... Also, while they're lying on the ground unconscious their eyes are open and they look exactly the same as when they're not unconscious, which looks a bit odd ... I love your mod but this one part is a problem for me.
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Jennifer May
 
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Post » Tue Feb 09, 2010 1:21 am

Well, I am using the realism tweaks. I doubt I have anything that conflicts with damage, armour and HP. I played a little more and it seems to me that weapons are a lot more deadly, and armour is very effective at shrugging off that lethal damage.
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Beat freak
 
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Post » Tue Feb 09, 2010 6:07 am

Can you make the explosions-knock-people-unconscious feature optional? Not being able to shoot someone while they're unconscious seems unrealistic to me, and having someone jump right up and start shooting at me after being knocked out doesn't seem very realistic either. Maybe if they staggered a bit first ... Also, while they're lying on the ground unconscious their eyes are open and they look exactly the same as when they're not unconscious, which looks a bit odd ... I love your mod but this one part is a problem for me.

I'm not making my Blast effects optional (at least not with v.3.2), as I have way too many other areas that I need to focus on the get this update wrapped up.
The thing is I've already completed an overhaul of all my weapon effects:
- Push Away effect: no longer knocks out the victim (this was causing some gameplay/immersion problems, when your character was on the receiving end.; and it was being exploited in ways that made combat too easy for the PC).
- Reduced time for other knockouts: Blast effect from 45 seconds to 35 (and from 15 to 12 for supermutants); Whack effect from 35 to 25 seconds
- Removed ghost/protection from unconscious victims (note that this works both ways . . . so expect to be attacked at times after you have been knocked unconscious.)
- Reduce Blast script force from 5 to 4
- Blast effect: remove robotic type creatures (so Liberty Prime won't become unconscious) . . . should now result in just a very brief stun effect.

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lydia nekongo
 
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Post » Tue Feb 09, 2010 7:58 am

- Reduced time for other knockouts: Blast effect from 45 seconds to 35 (and from 15 to 12 for supermutants); Whack effect from 35 to 25 seconds

Last time I checked I was unable to find this effect/script or whatever it is. Where do we need to look to be able to change the blast effect duration ourselves if we want to?
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Peter P Canning
 
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Post » Tue Feb 09, 2010 2:15 am

Last time I checked I was unable to find this effect/script or whatever it is. Where do we need to look to be able to change the blast effect duration ourselves if we want to?

Right now it is not all that easy to change, but I may be doing this through a global modifier in the near future (as Mez suggested).
But all my scripts and effects are prefaced with my name, which makes them really easy to find in GECK ... just put 'Arwen' in the filter and select 'All'. I don't have GECK running, but I think you need to look in the ArwenBlast Effect under conditions.
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Casey
 
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Post » Tue Feb 09, 2010 9:15 am

Hey Arwen, how is going progress on the new version?;)
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sunny lovett
 
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Post » Tue Feb 09, 2010 7:38 am

My to do list is a LOT shorter than it was on Monday morning, but I still have a number of things to do that will take some time to complete. (Remember, I'm doing most of this entirely on my own.)

Most of my biggest changes are pretty much done. I've completed v.3.2 of my Localized Damage module (which was pretty much totally redone) and my Less_Is_More module is also done (as of last night). But I still have a number of small tweaks to do in all the other modules. The biggest thing I have to do is finish my new Skills module. (The Book Skills part is done, but the Perks part still needs a lot of work.) I was able to do a good amount of play testing last night . . . and was able to get all the new changes balanced to the point that I'm pretty happy with them (although I'm sure they are still not perfect, as it is impossible for me to check everything by myself)

I'm hoping that I can wrap this up soon, but it all depends on how much free time I have in the next few days.
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[ becca ]
 
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Post » Tue Feb 09, 2010 1:02 am

My to do list is a LOT shorter than it was on Monday morning, but I still have a number of things to do that will take some time to complete. (Remember, I'm doing this entirely on my own.)

Most of my biggest changes are pretty much done. I've completed v.3.2 of my Localized Damage module (which was pretty much totally redone) and my Less_Is_More module is also done (as of last night). But I still have a number of small tweaks to do in all the other modules. The biggest thing I have to do is finish my new Skills module. (The Book Skills part is done, but the Perks part still needs a lot of work.) I was able to do a good amount of play testing last night . . . and was able to get all the new changes balanced to the point that I'm pretty happy with them (although I'm sure they are still not perfect, as it is impossible for me to check everything by myself)

I'm hoping that I can wrap this up soon, but it all depends on how much free time I have in the next few days.


Great news Arwen. :) And since i know that you are doing everything alone, i am more amazed what you achieved with your mod. Keep it up :).

PS.
You can always count on me regards testing, just tell me on which part of your mod i should focus.

Cheers
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hannah sillery
 
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Post » Tue Feb 09, 2010 1:26 am

Just a little progress report:

Version 3.2 is my most ambitious update yet, but it is now getting really close to being ready for release . . . I just need another day or so to wrap things up.

I'm currently working to improve my sneak tweaks (part of my SmarterAI module), by making sneak a bit more difficult (especially at lower Sneak skills).

But the main thing I have to finish up are my Perk changes, which I'm doing in order to better balance the Perks with all my other Realism Tweaks.
I have always felt that a number of the default Perks were over-powered . . . especially when they are used with my other changes. I also felt that requirements for many of the Perks were not high enough.
The end result is that I'm making changes to roughly 50% of the default Perks. Some of my changes are pretty minor, but others are quite major in what they change.

Also new to v.3.2 is my own unique version of Book Skills, which is tied in with my changed Education and Comprehension Perks.
Initially I was going to make new Skills module; which would have included my Derived Skill changes (which was part of the Main Tweaks module in v.3.1), with my new Perk changes plus my new Book Skill changes.
But the changes become much more extensive than I originally planned. So for version 3.2, I'm keeping my Derived Skill changes as part of the Main Tweaks module, and including a new Perks module (which includes just my new Perk changes plus my new Book Skill changes). My Full_Tweaks.esp will still have everything from all the modules.

I'm also releasing a MMM compatibility patch, which Kai Hohiro made for me, which should prevent Martigen's scripts from unbalancing my SmarterAI changes.
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ijohnnny
 
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Post » Tue Feb 09, 2010 12:29 pm

Hi Arwen. I just wanted to chime in and say great job with the modding! I used XFO on my last playthrough but switched to your realism tweaks for the new game I started a few days ago (I'm using the main, survival, AI, Localized Damage, and Less is More modules). However, I'm using my own weapon and armor rebalances, which may alter my experience significantly from what you intended (though with the exception of how they handle explosives, they sound similar in concept). I'm also using MMM (and a quick self-made compatibility patch that seems to work so far). Your mods, particularly the AI changes, are making a third playthrough of this game surprisingly fun. Beginning the game with so few skill points really increases the challenge and makes you think hard about your level ups! And the low carry weight makes deciding what to take with you very important.

Now for a bit of hopefully constructive criticism (only on the early game, my character hasn't gotten very far yet). I've used FO3edit to tweak a few things on my own (such as increasing running speed... slower speeds may be realistic, but I'm just not that patient). I also increased the barter base very slightly in order to make money a little bit more available in the early game, but it looks like you're rebalancing barter for your next version anyway. However, the one major change I made to the survival module is to remove the increases in Raider equipment condition (all the cond...Raider leveled list changes). Including the changes makes their equipment in such good condition that early-game repair skill becomes completely unnecessary, which I don't like.

Out of curiosity, are you planning on doing much SPECIAL rebalancing? This is one thing I really liked about XFO: it made perception much more important, and to a lesser extent charisma too. With your mods as they are, strength, endurance, and intelligence seem way more important than the others.

If you like, I'll provide more feedback as I continue with my game. Thanks for making these mods!
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Sheeva
 
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Post » Tue Feb 09, 2010 12:48 pm

Now for a bit of hopefully constructive criticism (only on the early game, my character hasn't gotten very far yet). I've used FO3edit to tweak a few things on my own (such as increasing running speed... slower speeds may be realistic, but I'm just not that patient). I also increased the barter base very slightly in order to make money a little bit more available in the early game, but it looks like you're rebalancing barter for your next version anyway. However, the one major change I made to the survival module is to remove the increases in Raider equipment condition (all the cond...Raider leveled list changes). Including the changes makes their equipment in such good condition that early-game repair skill becomes completely unnecessary, which I don't like.

Thanks, I welcome any constructive criticism, as that's one of the ways I know what still may need some tweaking. The biggest problem I seem to run into is that there doesn't seem to be a perfect solution in making everything balanced over all skill levels. What works well with a lower to middle level character, often becomes unbalanced at higher levels. So every setting becomes a bit of a compromise. Plus I sometimes make mistakes in interpreting how some values effect various parts of the game. For instance, in v.3.1 (and for a number of earlier versions) I totally misunderstood the formula calculations for Armor Encumbrance, which resulted in a movement penalty way too high (making characters wearing heavy armor move way too slow). I've now corrected this so that the penalty is now only twice as high as in the default game (the worn armor weight penalty in the default game was barely noticeable . . . wearing 50 pounds of armor only slowed you down 10% over no armor at all).

If you only made slight changes to my Barter settings, I think you'll like how I have Barter set in v.3.2.

I made improvements to all most of the NPC equipment, so that they would have a more equal chance against the PC. The problem with the default settings are that the PC (who often had weapons and armor in very good condition) was battling NPCs who were using weapons and armor in poor condition . . . which is just not realistic or balanced. For instance the "Raider Painspike Armor" was set at 70 to 80% damaged (which I changed to 40 to 60% damaged). And the Raider 32 Caliber Pistol was set at 65 to 75% damaged (which I changed to 40 to 50% damaged). The problem is that with my Realism Tweaks increases the penalties on weapons in very poor condition, which meant that the Raiders didn't stand a chance with their worn out weapons. If you understood all my weapon changes, you would see that Repair skill is more important than ever . . . especially early in the game.

Out of curiosity, are you planning on doing much SPECIAL rebalancing? This is one thing I really liked about XFO: it made perception much more important, and to a lesser extent charisma too. With your mods as they are, strength, endurance, and intelligence seem way more important than the others.

Yes, but I'm doing this indirectly . . . such as the way that I made Endurance a greater factor in the number of HPs you receive, and Strength a much greater factor in your carrying capacity.
The biggest change in SPECIAL rebalancing in v.3.2 will be found in my new Perks module, which increases the requirements for many of the Perks. For instance, many Perks now require a minimum of 6 or 7 Perception; or 6,7, or 8 Charisma; or 6 or 7 Agility; or 5 or 6 Luck; or a certain minimum Strength, Endurance, or Intelligence. My intent is to make the player's point spread in SPECIALs have much more impact on how their game plays out.

If you like, I'll provide more feedback as I continue with my game. Thanks for making these mods!

Please do, but I'm not going to be changing too much more in version 3.2, as this release is WAY over due. And you're very welcome. :)
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Monika
 
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