[RELz] Arwen's Realism Tweaks [Thread #5]

Post » Sun Aug 22, 2010 12:19 pm

Arwen's Realism Tweaks:

Thread #4 [previous thread http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1064654

Updated Feb 14, 2010: Version 4.0 This is a Major Update! (which is why I decided to jump to v.4.0)
*** Now requires FOSE, v.1.1 or later (due to my new Stealth Quest Script)
- The PipBoy Light is finally now a decent light, but turning on your PipBoy Light greatly reduces your ability to remain undetected.
- Includes my Dynamic Stealth where time of day, weather conditions, and being in an interior cell factors into your ability to remain undetected. Made a LOT of tweaks to detection and search settings to balance with dynamic stealth changes.
- New sound adjustments, so that guns with silencers will not give away your location.
- Your sneak skill level is now a much greater factor in your ability to remain undetected, and your Perception stat is now a much greater factor in your ability to sense enemies further away.
- 10% increase in crouch bonus, which results in 50% less spread when firing a weapon from the crouched (sneak) position.
- Fixed a number of little things in the Armor module
- Totally redid all three of my weapon effects: No longer based on a random chance, but now every hit reduces the victim's fatigue, and when fatugue is low enough the victim is knocked unconscious (or just knocked down with the Gunshot effect).
- Tweaked a few perks and adde a new Medic Perk, for more flexibility for low level characters.
- New Reduced Quest XPR module (see Module #9 below for details).

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 9 different esps. Each module is totally independent, so you can use all 9, just 1, or any combination.
Note: there is also a FULL esp version (included in the download) which contains all the first 8 modules, merged into a single esp.

The 9 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.
*** 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 during the brightest time of day).
- Turning on your PipBoy Light greatly reduces your ability to remain undetected.
- But the PipBoy Light is finally now a decent light, where you should now be able to find your way , even on the darkest night. The light is now more than 3 times brighter, illuminates twice the radius, but has much less glare (so you will not be blinded by an indoor light that is way too intense).
- New SteathQuestScript: Uses separate stealth values for interiors vs. exteriors
- The time of day dynamically affects your ability to avoid detection (finally makes it just as hard for the NPCs to see you in the dark).
- Weather conditions now dynamically affects your ability to avoid detection.
- New sound adjustments, so that guns with silencers will not give away your location, unless NPCs are very close (they will focus their search on where the bullet hit, which you can use to distract them).
- Your sneak skill level is now a much greater factor in your ability to remain undetected.
- Your Perception stat is now a much greater factor in your ability to sense enemies further away.
- 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 (< 15 pounds); but much more difficult when wearing heavier armor (> 15 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 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).
- 10% increase in crouch bonus, which results in 50% less spread when firing a weapon from the crouched (sneak) position.
- 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.]
- Maximum Armor Rating increase to 90% (default is 85%)
- Improved ability to Repair Armor/Clothing: expanded default armor/clothing repair list.
- Raider armor now gives -3 Charisma and Talon armor now gives -5 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 Whack Effect is now attached to all non-blade melee weapons, but relies on the player's strength and their 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. Under the above conditions, every hit will reduce the victim's fatigue by 40 points, and when their fatigue < 0, they are knocked out. The player character has 200 fatigue by default, so it will take at least 5 good whacks before you will be knocked out, and your fatigue regenerates at about 1 point per second (as far as I can tell). The victim will also suffer from a loss of Perception (PER knocked down to 1), which will last for 5 minutes; and a loss of Agility (-5 points) for 3 minutes.
- 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, their fatigue will be damaged by 80%. When the victim's fatigue < 50, an explosion will rendered them unconscious (most victims will remain unconscious for 20 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 6 minutes(real time); and a loss of Agility (-5 points) for 4 minutes.
- My Gunshot Effect is attached to all the default shotguns and to most ranged weapons (but not hand guns), with every bullet reducing the victim's fatigue by ~25%; when their fatigue < 0, they are knocked to the ground. My Gunshot effect does not work on Super Mutants (you will not be able to knock them down with a shotgun blast). It takes roughly the same number of consecutive hits to affect an NPC as the PC, and when an NPC gets back up after being knocked down, it should take at least three more consecutive hits to knock them down again.
- 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 some 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

9.) Reduced Quest XPR Module(Arwen_Reduced_QuestXPR.esp):
- New for v.4.0
- I released this as a separate independent module (instead of including these changes in my Skills module), as it needs to load early, before any mods that modify any of the default quests
*** Note that this is NOT part of the FULL Tweaks merged esp . . . so if you want to use it in your game, it also needs to be activated.
- In-game activation message explains what module does:
- Reduces the experience points rewards (XPR) for all default quests by 90%. For instance, you will no longer instantly level up to Level 2 when you escape from Vault 101, but will now only gain 20XPs (instead of 200), so you won't level up until you earn all 200 XPs.
- Changes Timescale to 4 after you exit Vault 101 (since a Timescale faster than 8 or so, does not work very well with my new dynamic stealth). But also includes instructions on how to set it to the Timescale you prefer.
- Gives the player character a little reward for making it out of Vault 101.

***Single esp Version (Arwen_FULL_Tweaks.esp):
- Included in the download.
- Included only for convenience. (Do not use this unless you want ALL the tweaks from my first 8 modules.)
- This single esp contains the first 8 of my realism modules.
- Use this INSTEAD of using these 8 separate esps.
- Note that my Reduced Quest XPR module (my 9th module) is NOT part of my FULL Tweaks merged esp . . . so if you want to use it in your game, it also needs to be activated.

Compatibility:
- I've attempted to make all my mods 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.
- My Reduced Quest XPR module should be fully compatible with most other mods, just load it BEFORE any mod that makes changes to any of the default quests.
- 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.
- The Fallout Script Extender team for making FOSE
- IAR80 and taylorsd for CombatEnhanced-Package , which my Smarter AI 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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NIloufar Emporio
 
Posts: 3366
Joined: Tue Dec 19, 2006 6:18 pm

Post » Sat Aug 21, 2010 10:38 pm

Does this mod add easier crippling and such? (I.e I get shot in the leg, I instantaneously get cripple and have trouble walking. Hit in the head = blurred vision. And so on, and so forth. Or that I get hungry/thirsty regularly.)
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natalie mccormick
 
Posts: 3415
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Post » Sun Aug 22, 2010 12:57 am

My mod does not add Hunger/Thirst/Sleep needs (I used Real Injuries / Primary Needs for that in my own game).

You will not become crippled as easily when shot with my mod, since I've greatly reduced limb damage (loss of HPs). But when you are crippled, your movement speed will be slower than in the default game.

With my mod, there is 30% less chance that the NPCs will shoot you in the head (but head damage is now 4 times greater than in default).
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Kaylee Campbell
 
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Post » Sat Aug 21, 2010 11:59 pm

With my mod, there is 30% less chance that the NPCs will shoot you in the head

Which GS affects that?
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Marie Maillos
 
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Post » Sun Aug 22, 2010 1:29 am

Kai, I'm still without my computer, so I'm not able to look up the exact game setting, but it is under Body Part/PlayerBodyPartData. If I recall correctly it is under hit chance, or something like that.
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Stryke Force
 
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Post » Sun Aug 22, 2010 2:49 am

Kai, I'm still without my computer, so I'm not able to look up the exact game setting, but it is under Body Part/PlayerBodyPartData. If I recall correctly it is under hit chance, or something like that.

Oh that's right, I forgot but thanks I'll just check through the files when I get home from work.
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le GraiN
 
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Post » Sun Aug 22, 2010 9:43 am

Kai, I'm still without my computer, so I'm not able to look up the exact game setting, but it is under Body Part/PlayerBodyPartData. If I recall correctly it is under hit chance, or something like that.

Alright I now see what setting you mean, but that doesn't actually influence NPC accuracy, those are just VATS settings.
I think awhile ago this rumor popped up that NPCs use VATS settings for their aiming, but that isn't true.

NPC aiming is very simplistic actually. They always aim at the center of your visible body. If they hit is only influenced by their spread and if the weapon is hitscan(if its not you can still dodge the projectile).
But changing body part data doesnt influence this. I verified this awhile ago. Basically you can just give an NPC a weapon with 0 spread and give him 100 weapon skills. If you (and they) stand still on even ground they'll always shoot you dead center in the torso.
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Oyuki Manson Lavey
 
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Post » Sun Aug 22, 2010 2:54 am

Kai, well I respectfully totally disagree with you, because changing this hit chance does change the percentage of hits to the head. Try it yourself . . . the frequency of head shots to your character will indeed decrease. Others have verified this for me . . . and we're not just imagining this, as it is pretty noticeable.
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Leticia Hernandez
 
Posts: 3426
Joined: Tue Oct 23, 2007 9:46 am

Post » Sun Aug 22, 2010 4:48 am

Kai, well I respectfully totally disagree with you, because changing this hit chance does change the percentage of hits to the head. Try it yourself . . . the frequency of head shots to your character will indeed decrease. Others have verified this for me . . . and we're not just imagining this, as it is pretty noticeable.

Nope.
Set head to 100%. Set everything else to 0%.
They wont shoot you in the head 100% of the time.

My test above is accurate.

To describe the entire test:
I gave a NPC a Hunting Rifle with 0 spread at full condition and 100 weapon skill and made him immovable. Had him face me straight on an even plane. Then I tried changing all kinds of settings, even the bodypart data. Nothing makes a difference, they will constantly shoot in one straight line.

FO3 uses for NPCs the same targeting engine as Oblivion. That's why you also will never see an NPC look down and aim at your legs for example, eventhough they have a certain "hit chance" in the body part data. Whatever they hit it simply due to spread, positioning and movement, there are no hidden calculations that tell them what to target.
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sarah taylor
 
Posts: 3490
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Post » Sun Aug 22, 2010 12:46 pm

Whatever, I don't want to argue about this. All I know is that my changes significantly reduced the amount of head shots my character was receiving. Before she was getting shot in the head in almost every battle . . . now it only happens once in a while.


As far as version 3.4 goes, I'm afraid it's going to be awhile. My new Sapphire Radeon HD 5850 card arrived yesterday . . . but it would not work for me so I just sent it back. Now I have to order something else . . . probably a Nvidia, as my MSI motherboard seems to like them better.
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An Lor
 
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Post » Sat Aug 21, 2010 11:14 pm

Nope.
Set head to 100%. Set everything else to 0%.
They wont shoot you in the head 100% of the time.

My test above is accurate.

To describe the entire test:
I gave a NPC a Hunting Rifle with 0 spread at full condition and 100 weapon skill and made him immovable. Had him face me straight on an even plane. Then I tried changing all kinds of settings, even the bodypart data. Nothing makes a difference, they will constantly shoot in one straight line.

FO3 uses for NPCs the same targeting engine as Oblivion. That's why you also will never see an NPC look down and aim at your legs for example, eventhough they have a certain "hit chance" in the body part data. Whatever they hit it simply due to spread, positioning and movement, there are no hidden calculations that tell them what to target.


Actually, NPCs with Missile Lainchers don't target your torso. They target your legs. Do the test again with a Missile Launcher.
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katsomaya Sanchez
 
Posts: 3368
Joined: Tue Jun 13, 2006 5:03 am

Post » Sun Aug 22, 2010 11:34 am

Hey Arwen,
just had a little funny moment.
Realism got the best of the game.:P

I was busy with the first quest of Point Lookout, clearing the house of incoming vermin.
When I drop three stories down.
Now, normally, my character would have stood up, shaken her head and gone about her busyness.
This time she just doubled-over dropped from full to zero health and died a quick death.
Very realistic, but breaking both her spine and the quest.^^


Edit:
Oh yes, in the same assault, I yanked a grenade into a room, clearing it of movement.
So, I carefully walked through it, checking for survivors, finding none.
Then suddenly a guy gets up from behind a pile of trash and starts shooting me with his rifle.
I am able to get him down a gain with a few shots, but get passed by the girl who got caught in the blast I left for dead at the entrance.
She picks up the rifle and starts shooting it at me again.
Lovely stuff.
I can't thank you enough.
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Hearts
 
Posts: 3306
Joined: Sat Oct 20, 2007 1:26 am

Post » Sun Aug 22, 2010 5:31 am

hello i have some questions that hopefully someone can answer.

Does this mod work with dlc?

Does this mod reduce ammo and stimpak?

is this mod change anything with food and water?

Does this mod change timecale?

Did you change anything repair (like metal scraqes repair weapons)?

thanks in advance
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El Goose
 
Posts: 3368
Joined: Sun Dec 02, 2007 12:02 am

Post » Sun Aug 22, 2010 11:47 am

This never occurred to me till today but with boot weight influencing npc's detecting you, whether or not this is just the weight of armour/clothing or does this weight include all apparel that is equipped like hats and helmets and quite possibly the backpack. I've only ever been looking at the weight of armour for sneaking. I was having trouble getting past a small army of ghouls in metro station, I unequipped some gear and got past a little easier (only a little easier though, but it was noticeable).
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Sweet Blighty
 
Posts: 3423
Joined: Wed Jun 21, 2006 6:39 am

Post » Sun Aug 22, 2010 2:46 am

Actually, NPCs with Missile Lainchers don't target your torso. They target your legs. Do the test again with a Missile Launcher.

They aren't actually aiming at your legs but at your base(ie your feet). That's because explosions need to touch an actors base to do any damage.
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Manny(BAKE)
 
Posts: 3407
Joined: Thu Oct 25, 2007 9:14 am

Post » Sun Aug 22, 2010 9:13 am

hello i have some questions that hopefully someone can answer.

I'm a "someone" . . . and I happen to have have all the answers to your questions. :)

Does this mod work with dlc?

Yes. But it doesn't change any of the DLC added stuff (such as weapons and armor unique to DLC) . . . but I do plan to eventually create a GOTY version of my mod.

Does this mod reduce ammo and stimpak?

Ammo, yes . . . a LOT. Stimpaks, no . . . I'm using Real Injuries and the RI Patch already does this.

is this mod change anything with food and water?

It makes food found in containers more scarce, but it doesn't change anything about the actual food or drinking water. I let RI/PN do that, and I'm keeping my mod 100% compatible with RI/PN.

Does this mod change timecale?

Not at this point, but I'm thinking of adding that, even though it is very simple to change with the console. I have Timescale set to 4 in my own game (just open the console and enter: set Timescale to 4).

Did you change anything repair (like metal scraqes repair weapons)?

Yes. My mod greatly expands the repair lists for weapons and armor.

thanks in advance

You're most welcome.
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scorpion972
 
Posts: 3515
Joined: Fri Mar 16, 2007 11:20 am

Post » Sun Aug 22, 2010 3:32 am

This never occurred to me till today but with boot weight influencing npc's detecting you, whether or not this is just the weight of armour/clothing or does this weight include all apparel that is equipped like hats and helmets and quite possibly the backpack. I've only ever been looking at the weight of armour for sneaking. I was having trouble getting past a small army of ghouls in metro station, I unequipped some gear and got past a little easier (only a little easier though, but it was noticeable).

Hey Katnap,

There's like nothing about this in the GECK Wiki about boot weight other than the equation. But in Oblivion this was based on the actual weight of the boots you were wearing . . . so (and I'm totally guessing here), since in Fallout footwear is attached to the armor, I'm thinking that it is the weight of the armor that comes with the boots, and does not include separate items (like helmets). Currently my mod makes it easier than default to sneak when your armor weighs less than 11 pounds and more difficult when your armor weighs more than 11 pounds. (In v.3.4, this will be increased to 16 pounds: under 16 pounds will be quieter than default, and over 16 pounds will be noisier.)
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Nathan Hunter
 
Posts: 3464
Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2007 9:58 am

Post » Sat Aug 21, 2010 11:45 pm

[quote name='Arwen' date='Feb 5 2010, 08:33 AM' post='15613727']
I'm a "someone" . . . and I happen to have have all the answers to your questions. :)



Aha! So you are THE "someone". I have been looking for you!!!;);)

Arwen, sorry to hear about your continued hardware challenges:(:( I hope it all gets corrected soon!

Mahalo,
Nemesis.
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Genevieve
 
Posts: 3424
Joined: Sun Aug 13, 2006 4:22 pm

Post » Sun Aug 22, 2010 3:35 am

It's a tough job, but Someone has to do it. :)

Thanks, what's really made this difficult is that the company who made my computer seems to have gone bankrupt, so I've totally loss my online tech support & my warranty.
My computer and I spent most of yesterday afternoon at my friend's tech business (fortunately I have a local friend who has his own computer tech support and repair business). He gave me an old GeForce 7300 LE, so I can at least run my computer, just not most of my newer games. I ordered an EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Video Card - 896MB GDDR3, which I'm told should be a good match with my system . . . it should hopefully arrive by the middle of next week. Hopefully this one will work, and it was 30% cheaper than the Radeon card that wouldn't work. The Radeon card is a touch faster, but I pretty sure that my CPU is the bottleneck at this point, so I'd likely end up with the same FPS, even if I bought the fastest card made. So, in the end I should come out ahead . . . but what a PAIN this has been!
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GEo LIme
 
Posts: 3304
Joined: Wed Oct 03, 2007 7:18 pm

Post » Sun Aug 22, 2010 12:29 pm

So, in the end I should come out ahead . . . but what a PAIN this has been!

Yeah, hopefully this'll be the end of those computer problems. Enough is enough! ;)

:brokencomputer:
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Antonio Gigliotta
 
Posts: 3439
Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2007 1:39 pm

Post » Sat Aug 21, 2010 10:50 pm

It's a tough job, but Someone has to do it. :)

Thanks, what's really made this difficult is that the company who made my computer seems to have gone bankrupt, so I've totally loss my online tech support & my warranty.
My computer and I spent most of yesterday afternoon at my friend's tech business (fortunately I have a local friend who has his own computer tech support and repair business). He gave me an old GeForce 7300 LE, so I can at least run my computer, just not most of my newer games. I ordered an EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Video Card - 896MB GDDR3, which I'm told should be a good match with my system . . . it should hopefully arrive by the middle of next week. Hopefully this one will work, and it was 30% cheaper than the Radeon card that wouldn't work. The Radeon card is a touch faster, but I pretty sure that my CPU is the bottleneck at this point, so I'd likely end up with the same FPS, even if I bought the fastest card made. So, in the end I should come out ahead . . . but what a PAIN this has been!



Hey Arwen, that is the exact card I have in one of my rigs! It has been doing a very good job for me. (Just be sure to use the very latest Nvidia driver and do a clean install. This card series (260's) and FO3 has some random stutter/Frame drop issues with older drivers)

Too bad about your pc's company going belly up, but it's great that you have a tech support friend nearby! Sounds like you are in good hands. You are right about the bottleneck possibility: if you don't have a fairly new proc, then getting the latest high end video card is a bit of a waste. It does give overhead for the future tho, but then who knows what will be out then;);) Good luck!!

Mahalo,
Nemesis.
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Samantha Jane Adams
 
Posts: 3433
Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2006 4:00 pm

Post » Sun Aug 22, 2010 10:01 am

thank you Arwen for answering my questions.two last questions

does this mod change the karma system or do you use a separate mod?

Do you use any mods that add weapons? If you do can you list them? I was thinking about weapon mod kit, does this mod work with your mod?
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Robert Jackson
 
Posts: 3385
Joined: Tue Nov 20, 2007 12:39 am

Post » Sun Aug 22, 2010 1:47 am

Hey Katnap,

There's like nothing about this in the GECK Wiki about boot weight other than the equation. But in Oblivion this was based on the actual weight of the boots you were wearing . . . so (and I'm totally guessing here), since in Fallout footwear is attached to the armor, I'm thinking that it is the weight of the armor that comes with the boots, and does not include separate items (like helmets). Currently my mod makes it easier than default to sneak when your armor weighs less than 11 pounds and more difficult when your armor weighs more than 11 pounds. (In v.3.4, this will be increased to 16 pounds: under 16 pounds will be quieter than default, and over 16 pounds will be noisier.)


I was hoping that would be the case, I'd hate to have to go without the backpack. I'm using smarter ai plus a couple of other modules, I do like the concussion effect. On another note, I had a confrontation with a raider armed with a shotgun in a doorway of a ruined building. He was very hard to kill as he kept ducking back behind the wall to reload after firing off a round it took a while to get him as I kept missing him and he kept missing me, in the meantime all the gunfire was attracting attention. It was very entertaining.

I'm looking forward to your update too.
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Jon O
 
Posts: 3270
Joined: Wed Nov 28, 2007 9:48 pm

Post » Sun Aug 22, 2010 4:50 am

thank you Arwen for answering my questions.two last questions
does this mod change the karma system or do you use a separate mod?
Do you use any mods that add weapons? If you do can you list them? I was thinking about weapon mod kit, does this mod work with your mod?

My mod does not affect karma. I'm using Karma Revamped in my game. All the mod that I'm using in my own game, as well as my recommended load order is http://amito.freehostia.com/Fallout/FO-mods-order.htm
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kiss my weasel
 
Posts: 3221
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Post » Sun Aug 22, 2010 8:16 am

nevermind i found the answer
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Assumptah George
 
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