So Arwen

Are there any mods that you feel are still missing from the game and would like someone to make?

Not anything specifically, although there is still a LOT of room for improvement in many areas. And there are a number of mods that I'm hoping will be improved (such as the way RI/PN is slowly being improved through Orfevs' Real Injuries Patch).

Once I actually am able to play Fallout for a while, I'm sure that I come up with all sorts of things . . . but I have been spending most of my free time just modding, for like the past 7 months. I began a new game last month (until my graphics card died). I didn't even get out of the Vault before I was back at modding, as there were some things that I just wasn't happy with (mostly with sneak and my weapon effects) . . . which I'm fixing (hopefully) in version 3.4.

Hi Arwen.

Reading your Mod load order I see your Not using The Unoffical Patches.

Why is this please?

Regards,

James.

I was finding the the Unofficial Patches were causing some minor issues in my own game, so I disabled them while play testing my own mods. They kept giving me conflict errors in FO3Edit, which made it sort of difficult to make sure that my mods were compatible with other mods. The unofficial patches seem to fix some things, yet do a bit too much in some ways, which can sometimes cause problems. I'm still a bit torn about using them.

I have a problem with your mod: If I leave all SPECIAL attributes at 5 and play normally, I can't choose a perk at level ~15 anymore. Every perk is grayed out and I am forced to increase a SPECIAL attribute with setav.

Are you telling me that you reached level 15, and you still only have 5 points for each SPECIAL?

This is a RPG, you're supposed to get better as you progress through the levels . . . and one way to do that is by picking up Bobbleheads.
So, you made it to level 15, without finding any Bobbleheads at all? Part of the reason that I've reducced the initial SPECIAL point is to make finding Bobbleheads more necessary.

But I'm adding/changing a few Perks for lower level characters in version 3.4:

So far I've added one more rank to my new lower-level character perks (Target Practice, Speech Class, and Petty Thief now each have 3 ranks).
Plus I created a new Medic Perk, reserved for characters with INT <= 5; which adds +5 points to Medicine per rank (3 ranks).
I also reduced requirements for a couple (lower SPECIAL requirement or changed multiple requirement to an and/or requirement).

This will expand perk choices for characters with average or below average abilities (with SPECIALs <=5), and fill in some perk gaps for some character builds.

Perhaps this could use some tweaking. Overall I like the idea but it has some issues. Basically it means that every time I enter a quest related conversation I have to remove my Talon armor in order not to get huge speech penalties. I have hotkeys for it but it's a bit annoying nonetheless. I couldn't choose the charismatic answer to finish a Wasteland Survival Guide quest because I forgot to take off my armor.

So, what do you suggest?

I guess I could reduce them a bit, to be a little less harsh. But the whole idea is that you're not going to be exactly popular if you go around dressing like a Raider or a member of Talon Company. Let's face it, Fallout really lacks consequences, and this is one of my attempts to add a few.

Thanks Arwen for the continued work on your staggering brutally fun mod work. Also thanks a million for the amazing compatible mod list and load order you have at your website for us to sink our attention into. It really enhances FALLOUT 3 while saving us the headache of first hand trial and error thanks to you sharing your experiance.

True, true. I'll see if I can come up with a better alternative but that seems unlikely.

Just found Bobbleheads for skills, not SPECIAL attributes.




That's nice, thank you.

Hello Arwen hope all is well and your looking forward to a better Valentines Day then last year :celebrate: :icecream: :cake:

I just started a new game with the latest version of your fantastic work and i ran into some situations am not sure were supposed to happen such as:

1. In the vault, Officer Mack is coming after me in the room near the man screaming behind a window. In vanilla i dont meet Officer Mack til i get to the room where Amata is being interrogated by the Overseer.

2. After the rad roaches kill Officer Mack i see the Overseer running towards me and acttacking me right away in the same room instead of the interrogation room. He never initiates conversation and just starts acttacking.

Am using the following mods in the following load order:

Fallout3.esm
Anchorage.esm
ThePitt.esm
BrokenSteel.esm
PointLookout.esm
Zeta.esm
RI_Core.esm
Auto Aim Fix v1.1.esp
Brahmin Dairy Products.esp
WeightAmmo.esp
DAV_weighted_ammoweight.esp
eye_hair_en.esp
Explosive Entry.esp
RI_Base3.esp
RI_PNeeds2S.esp
RI_PNAnchorage.esp
KBATRadio.esp
Existence2.0.esp
Board Games - Monopoly.esp
WastelandTV.esp
Level 2 Some More Color.esp
Announcer.esp (gives UNREAL TOURNAMENT announcements after a kill)
Arwen_FULL_Tweaks.esp
EVE.esp
EVE Operation Anchorage.esp

Total active plugins: 25
Total plugins: 25

you're very welcome . . . I'm glad that you're enjoying my Realism Tweaks . . . and my FO3 Journal.

I've never experienced what you are describing in my own game, but I've just begun a new game myself, so I'll see what happens this time.

I FINALLY have my computer up and running again . . . after installing a brand new graphics card (that arrived late this afternoon). So I'm back at putting my final touches on version 3.4 now.

Yes very professional FO3 Journal but with a personal touch. Great Kayak boat pics. Cool sleek design like a sixy sports car as you mentioned. Must have cost a bundle but that is part of the passion :nuke:

Congratulations on the new graphics card and hope it only needs replacing for a faster one when the next generation of games arrives.


As for the odd npc behaviour i'll keep looking out for anything else odd. Maybe it was due to me clicking on the npcs during mid conversation instead of letting them finish their dialogue which is the only unusual thing i did to get through the start of the game as fast as possible. Also the Overseer and Officer Mack didnt finish me off once i was knocked out.

Going unconcious is a great effect and very realistic. Makes me want to be lethal with hand to hand or a gun.

Thanks for the quick reply.

Just found out it was the Announcer.esp (gives UNREAL TOURNAMENT announcements after a kill) which was making the game act all wonky bonky :flame: :nuke: :wacko: At one point the vault guards were even half stuck in computers. It also leaves a hidden perk one has to remove with a console command instead of just removing the plugin. Glad the mod author made it known how to remove it in the readme.

Now to start another new game. Ugh its been one thing after another since Super Bowl weekend. Guess thems be the dangers of using mods. Sometimes things just fall apart while other times it all comes together masterfully to create poetry.

I just put my own version 3.4 beta through several hours of testing . . . and am really happy with the results. I cannot guarantee that there won't be any issues, as I can't possibly test everything on my own, but this is now looking pretty ready to release. I posted a comparison screenshot composite on FO3 Nexus of my Time-of-Day (TOD) stealth changes http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/images/7565-1-1265836906.jpg. The screenshot were taken as soon as I was detected while trying to sneak up on the Raider in the building. The upper two images are without my TOD script and the bottom two are with my script. This shows the difference between being detected at 9:00 am, compared with 8:00 pm.

As the screenshots show, you will now be able to get MUCH closer at night before being detected. The script also includes weather sneak bonuses (for cloudy, rainy, and snowy conditions).

I noticed (with 3.3) that the standard Recon Armor has -10 to radiation resistance. Maybe I'm not understanding something but isn't that supposed to be +10? I don't see why the suit would weaken your radiation resistance.

EnchReconArmor has a radiation resistance with a magnitude of +10. I'm not sure what you are looking at.

Nice repair list I love how i can use parts of the pistol to repair the hunting rifle. Nice work for something that was done mainly on intuition Arwen :foodndrink:

I'd swear it said -10... But I'll check again, you're probably right.

Awesome mods, have a question though, my game I am reading a -5 to my perception, but I am totally unequipped of any gear at all. The only mod I am not running is the skills one. I have gone through and disabled all of my active mods one by one, but I still have the hit to my perception. Level 5, fully healed, no addictions, 15 rads, neutral karma. any ideas?

Thanks!

Have you been whacked, blasted, or knocked down by a ranged weapon lately? All those will temporarily reduce your perception, for up to 10 real minutes (which will be changed quite a bit in v.3.4).

The only other thing that might cause this is not installing my mod correctly . . . did you follow my exact Installing (and Updating) instructions in my ReadMe? My mod alters the object effects of nearly every piece of default armor and clothing. This is why you have to do a clean save (which involves removing any clothing that give an enchanted effect), before you install my mod (or install a newer version).

Version 3.4 progress:

Earlier today I ran into a bit of a snag during my final play testing of my stealth changes. The problem popped up when I was testing sneak at various skill levels during the darkest time period. Actually it was a two-fold issue. First of all, I could get pretty close to my enemies, without even realizing they were there, because my compass perception markers were not showing up until they were practically on top of me. The second problem, which was probably related, was that the NPCs were not aware of me either . . . even when I fired off my gun nearby. Only the closest ones even searched for me, and then just for a few seconds.

I finally figured out that the problem was that the game was just never designed to use the type of dynamic visibility changes that my mod had now added. So I was running into conflicts in the way my dynamic values were interacting with some of the fixed sneak values. The solution took a while, but what I ended up doing was replacing two fixed values with two more dynamic values. It's a bit complicated, but my Stealth Quest Script uses my exterior Detection Multiplier, which changes, based on time of day and weather conditions. Then this is used with my global Sneak Distance to determine the minimum distance your will be detected at. Now my dynamic Detection Multiplier also changes the Sneak Base Value, the Sneak Sound Los Multiplier, and the Detection Sneak Light Modifier. The end result is that four sneak settings that were set values in the default game are now dynamic values that all change together as your sneak conditions change . . . which is really cool (in my opinion). My solution is not perfect, as it just simulates changes in detection ability, due to conditions . . . so it can be a bit quirky (and even funny) at times . . . but it is so much better than the default stealth.

Oh, I even added a few changes that I had not expected would make it into this release. First of all, I was able to further improve my new Gunshot effect (formerly my PushAway effect), so that it takes roughly the same number of consecutive hits to affect an NPC as the PC; plus, when an NPC gets back up after being knocked down, it will take at least three more consecutive hits to knock them down again.

The last item is minor, but it has been driving me nuts since v.1.0. Today I finally came up with a simple solution in making the PipBoy Light into a decent light, where you should now be able to find your way . . . even on the darkest night (even when using Fellout). My solution increases both the magnitude and the radius of the light, while reducing the HDR harshness . . . so you'll be able to light your way outdoors, without being blinded by an indoor light that is way too intense.

So I'm getting very close (no more play testing). All I have to do is clean up my esps and merge a couple; finish up my new Reduced Quest XPR module, and write the ReadMe. I'm going skiing tomorrow, but I may be able to release this by late Saturday (unless I ski both days).

Yep, mine is -10 also.

Arwen, great stuff.
Your load order tips etc are really helpful.

Keep up the good work

Cheers

Ok, I figured out what I did, by checking again in the GECK again . . . the magnitude IS +10 for EnchReconArmor, which was throwing me off. My mistake is that I used ReducedRadiationResistance, instead of IncreasedRadiationResistance. It was that pesky double-negative thing that threw me off. It will be fixed in v.3.4. Thanks for the heads up!