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):
- 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:
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):
- 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):
- 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):
- 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):
- 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):
- 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):
- 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):
- 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):
- 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):
- 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:
- 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:
- 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:
Known Issues or Bugs:
Credits:
- IAR80 and taylorsd for CombatEnhanced-Package
- 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