Arwen's Realism Tweaks:

Thread #6 [previous thread http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1073216

Current Version 4.2 (April 11, 2010). Requires FOSE, v.1.1 or later. This is a Major Update:

Here are the major changes:

• Total overhaul of my Tweaks into just 3 modules (from the previous version's 9+ modules).
  
• Rebalanced and optimized my Smarter AI module before merging it into the Realism Core module (reduced the code quite a bit, and tweaked a bunch of settings).
  
• Carrying Capacity is now reduced much less in the Realism Core module (but is further reduced in the optional Less-Is-More module).
  
• Reduced HPs were redone to be quite a bit less harsh in the Realism Core module (but are further reduced in the Less-Is-More module).
  
• Jump changes are now also gender based (females jump 20% higher/further than males).
  
• Readjusted Damage Skill Bonus values, with a lower base than v.4.1, but a higher multiplier . . . less DAM at lower skills, but more at higher skills.
  
• Unarmed Damage increase now only applies to male characters (male gender bonus – part of the Less-Is-More module).
  
• My Gunshot Effect was removed from all the Assault rifles, since I found that it made automatic weapons too powerful. It is now only attached to 11 different weapons (all Shotguns, Hunting rifles, Railway rifles, RockIt launchers, Sniper rifles, Lincoln's rifle, and the Reservists rifle).
  
• Reduced the amount of 10mm ammo found in Vault 101 (Less-Is-More module) . . . but you'll still be able to exit the vault with around 70 rounds (instead of up to 240 rounds).
  
• Further reduced the amount of generic food (loot food) in the game. (Less-Is-More module)
  
• Bottled drinks (loot) have now also been reduced (which were untouched in my earlier versions) . . . this includes both liquor and non-liquor drinks. (Less-Is-More module)
  
• Bartering was totally rebalanced (Less-Is-More module): items now cost 10 to 25% less, but selling prices are now 3 to 30% more (than in v.4.1) and the value of all items is half the default value.
  
• Repair has had a major overhaul (Less-Is-More module): items used for repairs will now inprove the weapon or armor a bit less, your repair limit is now gender-based (male bonus), and merchants will now be MUCH better at repairing.
  
• My weapon skill requirements are now part of the Less-Is-More module . . . and are now also gender-based.
  
• Gender Bonuses/Penalties (Less-Is-More module): even though this may appear to be a bit sixist, it is generally true that males and females are different, so I felt that there should be some differences in game play, based on which gender your character is. (see Less-Is-More module 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 exactly . . . due to changes in Object Effects and my new scripts (see Installation section). If you do not follow these procedures, you can permanently mess up you character's stats. (The only exception is if you will be starting a new game.)
  
• My expanded Less-Is-More 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 Less-Is-More 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 all three of my modules, along with ALL the mods in my FO3 Journal's 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.

I made this modular: it now contains 3 different esps, which are all meant to be used together for the full Tweaks to take effect.:

The 3 Modules (esps) - [For the more details on the 3 modules, please visit the http://amito.freehostia.com/Fallout/FO-mods04.htm]
Major changes from the default game:

1.) Realism Core (Arwen_Realism_Core.esp):

• Required Core Module (necessary if you want to use Less=Is-More module).
  
• This is basically my former FULL Tweaks, without the Skills and Less_Is_More modules (but some changes are now less harsh or have been moved to my optional Less-Is-More module).
  
• Global tweaks that affect PC, NPCs, and Creatures. For more immersive and better balanced game play, with improved role-playing aspects.
  
• Reduced Carrying Capacity and fewer HPs for PC (both are further reduced by Less-Is-More module).
  
• More immersive and more balanced VATS.
  
• Smarter AI: combat with NPCs is now much more challenging, and sneaking is now much more realistic
  
• Includes my Dynamic Stealth where time of day, weather conditions, and being in an interior cell factors into your ability to remain undetected.
  
• The Wasteland is now a much less forgiving place. Your character is now weaker and much more vulnerable, and the NPCs are stronger and healthier.
  
• Weapon damage is much greater, and weapon skills are now a much greater factor. Some types of weapons will not be usable when an arm is crippled.
  
• Balances armor/clothing values, weight, damage resistance, and "enchanted" effects. Includes my 1.5X AR global modifier.
  
• More realistic explosions, projectiles, grenade physics, and death force effects. Unique weapon effects: Gunshot knock downs, Whack and Blast knockouts.
  
• Enhanced repair lists for both weapons and armor.
  
• Changes the localized body damage effects in a way that balances out game play, while making strategic hits more effective (such as crippling shots, and head shots now do a LOT more damage). Super Mutants are now VERY hard to kill.

2.) Less-Is-More (Arwen_Less-Is-More.esp):

• This module is totally Optional, but it does Require that my Realism Core module is installed!
  
• This is basically the merged version of my Skills module and my Less-Is-More module (but with a few additions).
  
• Further expands the difficulty and challenge of the Realism Core module, by further expanding how your character's stats affect the game and by totally changing the economics of the game.
  
• Adds much needed balance to skill points. You will now begin the game with half as many skill points, and your skill points should increase roughly half as fast as in the default game. Reduces amount of Derived Skill Points.
  
• Changes Skill Books and 95% of the default Perks (and adds a few of my own unique perks).
  
• Overhauled Bobbleheads and reduced initial SPECIAL points.
  
• Adds Gender bonuses/penalties, including gender-based weapon skill requirements.
  
• Makes caps, food, weapons, and ammo MUCH less abundant in the Wasteland.
  
• Bartering was totally rebalanced: the value of all items is half the default value, but merchants will charge LOT more for items, and you'll get a LOT less for what you trade with them (based on your Bartering skill).
  
• Repair has had a major overhaul: items used for repairs will now inprove the weapon or armor a bit less, your repair limit is now gender-based (male bonus), and merchants will now be MUCH better at repairing.

3.) Reduced Quest XPR Module(Arwen_Reduced_QuestXPR.esp):

• This module is totally Optional, AND completely independent - It was made to complement my other two modules (and my Reduced XPR mod), but it does NOT require that my Realism Core or my Less-Is-More modules are installed.
  
• I released this as a separate independent module (instead of including these changes in my Less-Is-More module), as it needs to load early, before any mods that modify any of the default quests
  
• 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.

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.
  
• Do NOT use my Realism Tweaks with other balancing mod that make changes to the same game elements, as this will unbalance the game play (by making some things too easy, while making others too difficult).
  
• My Realism Tweaks are not compatible with mods that alter the specs of default armor/clothing (but should be compatible with mods that ONLY add cosmetic changes).
  
• My Realism Tweaks are not compatible with mods that alter the specs of default weapons or default projectiles . . . although it should be compatible with mods that only make cosmetic changes to weapons (the exceptions are non-blade melee weapons, shotguns, and the few ranged weapons that my mod alters).
  
• My mod is NOT compatible with FOOK or FWE ((even though my earlier Smarter AI 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 near the end of your load order (generally AFTER any mods that make changes to same portions of the game).
  
• The Arwen_Realism_Core.esp MUST load BEFORE the Arwen_Less-Is-More.esp. And the Arwen_Reduced_QuestXPR.esp should load before the Arwen_Realism_Core.esp.
  
• Also, the Arwen_Reduced_QuestXPR.esp should BEFORE any other mods that make changes to any of the default quests (otherwise, the other mods will not work).
  
• See compatibility section for load order with some specific mods.

Known Issues or Bugs:
Credits:

• Bethesda Softworks, for making Fallout 3.
• The Fallout Script Extender team for making http://fose.silverlock.org/
  
• IAR80 and taylorsd for http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=6860, 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

From the end of the previous thread:

Aloyse,


There are major limits to what can be precisely with damage from weapons. A head shot is a head shot, whether it grazes an ear, or hits between the eyes. And there is no difference in how close you are with a gun (as long as you are in range). What I've done is use your small gun skills to change the amount of damage from each hit, but even with a SG skill of 10, your guns will still do 91% of their maximum default damage. At level one, a one-hit kill will not happen, unless the victim's health is already pretty heavily damaged.


If you have less than 4 CHR, and Barter is not a tagged skill, you're going to have a really difficult time earning caps. If your Barter skill is only 6 (a 3 CHR), you'll only be paid ~15% of what an item is valued at (15 caps, for an item valued at 100 caps).

Arwen,

I realize this is a bit of a strange question - it is b/c it relates to another foraging mod.

Does anything in your mod affect the amount of Scrap Metal in the game? Just checking.

I have the option to put in a mod that allows me to strip cars but it feels like a cheat if the normal game levels of scrap are in game and not affected.

Thanks.

J

My Less_Is_More module does not reduce Scrap Metal.
The only items that I reduced were ammo, weapons, and food.

I caught a small taste of that slow motion scenario in the citadel a few days ago. Strange but amusing. I noticed when I started a fire fight in with the BOS. Everyone was normal and taking cover or what have you. All the npc's were fine except this one guy in slow motion. It was pretty funn. Everyone else seemed at least to move at normal speeds except him. I walked right up to him and shot him in the head. Where by he resumed normal speed upon dying. IE- hit the floor like a ton of bricks.

Only thing I noticed was he had been taking cover a far amount of space from where I was and he was squatting. I notice (not using you tweaks) the game will have the characters that are far away from me not use as much animation. So the whole body moves but not arms legs and that sort of stuff. I'm thinking the distance has something to do with this slow motion effect. Because the fade distance of npc's could shut off certain parts of their ai.

That's what I was thinking. Not a complaint for you to fix this or anything. I just remembered my situation and was fiddling with my fade/distance controls under settings in the game options. Whatever those are called. For grass, npc's, misc objects. Those controls =)

It's not THAT hard to get $$$! You just gotts sell the right stuff, and a lot more of it. It's a good think Bethesda gives us an unlimited number of raiders who are eager to die so I can sell their stuff! While using Arwen's tweaks I set up myself a little combat route that I start at one and end go to the other, cleaning out the bad guys, taking all their gear and repair it all up and head to market. Rinse/repeat a few times and you'll have plenty of caps!

Well, maybe I shot that first raider in the mart several times in VATS, but he went down without alerting the others. Anyway, I've fought a few more raiders and the fights were really quite interesting. One example: at the Arlington station I used my usual tactic, get their attention, retreat down the stairs and wait around the corner. In vanilla Fallout3 this was like shooting fish in a barrel, with your mod the first one that came down the stairs started to shoot at me in the usual spot, however the other raiders sprinted over to the other side of the yard and started shooting at me from cover. :thumbsup:

Concerning the barter, the situation is even worse (1 CHR, barter not tagged) but I'm not complaining, I've decided to build the ultimate sneaking sniper and I had to sacrifice some skills to be able get the perks I wanted, that's what role playing is about.

I had a 2 Charisma and no barter skills (I think is 7?) .... I get mmm 2 caps for a grenade... lol. BUT I've slowly added 1 or 2 points a level and now have around a 20 barter.... I have about 2000 caps and am level 8... what is cool is it now makes what people offer me sound like good money. I remember when I got offered 100 caps per person in "shoot them in the head" and I laughed - who needed that petty cash. Now, 400 caps sounds great! It's a slow crawl for caps but I'm really really enjoying it and, hey, I asked for it by making a combat heavy character.

Thanks for all the GREAT comments . . . and most especially for posting your own game play experiences, while using my mod!
This is the sort of stuff that makes all the effort that I put into my mods all worth while.

I'm glad to find out that my Bartering Tweaks are working exactly as I designed them to, as selecting a below normal CHR, now has a much greater consequence. One of my goals in enhancing the RPG aspects of FO3 is to make your stats have a much greater impact in your game. Hopefully this is also true for all the other stats/skills, as I've tweaked just about every skill, so you should now see a much greater impact on how your character is able to do things.

Agreed. When you have a low charisma attribute or barter skill bottle caps are harder to come by and more easily spent, making the caps offered for quests a much bigger motivator for doing them than before.

Hi Arwen :cake: Bump of respect and a report.

In my last game in the Super Duper Mart i came across a mostly female group of raiders and they were almost all carrying sawed off shotguns. When i took a hit and got knocked down at least three of em started blasting away on my still alive fallen body. It was a great moment only thing is i didnt die. Once they stopped shooting my unconcious character he eventually recovered enough stamina to get back up then all it took was one hit from a sawed off shotgun to finish him instantly.

Dont know if it was some invisible meshes getting in the way of the bullets maybe from all the shopping carts around me or if damage is less at some angles.

Thanks.

Would be hard as hell to not die a lot. But I'd like to see a small module(or an on/off switch) on its own to allow for enemies while knockedout/down to attack you...at their leisure. If they were attacking your character at all. My two cents of what can add to it. As I write here because I like your mod arwen. I am not complaining. =)
*whispers; But it would be a neat extra feature having that as an optional for us hardcoe fans ^_^*

Great mod arwen!!

Some things in the game do stop bullets, that you'd think would not . . . I'm not sure about shopping carts, but it would not surprise me.



This is already a part of my mod . . . in my Smarter AI module, but I only increased the chances for certain classes (and actually reduced it for others):

"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."

This is a random event, so all I have done is tweak the chances of it happening. This is a really tricky thing to balance . . . if it is set too high, your enemies will be too intent on attacking unconscious victims, while ignoring other threats. It seems to now be about the best I can tweak it, as I'm finding that Super Mutants and Raiders do indeed attack me when I'm out . . . not most of the the time, but enough that it can be a real issue in my chances of surviving.

Something I've noticed, but doubt can be changed...

As stated, NPCs have the capacity to attack and possibly kill me if I'm unconscious... however, I've noticed that I can beat a NPC, that I've rendered unconscious, like a drum and not really do any damage to them until they wake up.

A minor nit-pick, but hasn't stopped or lowered my love of this mod.

Can't wait for 4.1 and your updated Vision FX

I remember reading about that. But I only tested things with raiders and talon company so far. I have been working (yay I got a job) and I'm in the mddle of moving to a new apartment. So at least this will give me more to look forward to other than raiders and talons. If thats how it is, then don;'t change it. I just haven't fought through the whole game again yet.

So this changes everyone to have a random chance to continue attacking unconscious people? I do think this is a most excellent thing. I keep finding more reasons to keep playing with your mods arwen ^_^

Thanks again.

PS-And the BOS...I nearly forgot I use them for target practice when I need to test a battle scenario lol

Okey doke I thought it might be something of that nature. Thanks Arwen :foodndrink: Everything else is playing great and am really enjoying how believable FALLOUT 3 has become even to how npcs react to my character as mentioned by others with charisma and bartering. It adds a virtual sense of appreciation to the world when finding or earning things like caps not to mention another level of interaction with npcs since they feel more alive in their reactions towards my character.

Congratulations WackaMacka on the new job and apartment. Best wishes on a flowering new begining of much success :trophy:

The one hit kill happened to me when I started a new game with just your mod installed. It happened with a hunting rifle in the super duper mart and i was in sneak mode and the raider was just about to spot me when I aimed at his head and killed him in one shot. But I'm mentioning I was in sneak mode, so that probably made a difference.

Oh and by the way, I love how you made the slower reloading times. When I killed the raider with the headshot, there was another raider beside him and noticed what I did, and the reloading was slower than vanilla, but it felt so right since I shortly began using that rifle!

EDIT: guys lets start putting up video's of our experiences, show the community how BADASS this mod is. This is what Fallout should have been like.

Had this issue myself. Since I don't tend to go for combat-heavy characters, any way of getting rid of my enemies quickly is welcome - even if that means blowing holes into an unconscious foe.

Damn, is the game hard now! Ever the masochist, I've got the ol' RI/PN stuff all set up, so end up bleeding a lot. Since tourniquet cuffs were so expensive and the schematics way above my price tag (hey, I've only just hit 5th level and most of my caps go on ammo and a bed for the night) I've ended up tweaking the cost of schematics just to be able to make my own. After all, anyone with a smattering of medical knowledge should know how to make and apply a tourniquet, amirite?

Big Town/Germantown Police HQ was a total nightmare. The first time I played the game, I waltzed through this with a few minor bruises. This time I was out of ammo (except for a bunch of disarmed frag mines from Minefield - I was on one of Moira's mad quests too), out of medical supplies and hoping that I'd make it back to Big Town without encountering anything. I managed to sneak back, mined the bridge twice (the second time between the two waves of Super Mutant attacks) and prayed. Fortunately the mines did their job; only one SM managed to break through and he was dispatched by my baseball bat and Bittercup's knife before any of the others realised just what was happening!

After a brief trip to Megaton to stock up on supplies I was off once more, this time to deal with those pesky ants at Greyditch. Damn, am I glad I took the Child at Heart perk - without the extra ammo I would have been screwed. Still, it's easy enough to pick off the ants at a distance, though once again I was running out of ammo and med supplies by the time the ants were all dealt with. So it's back to Megaton for rest, recreation and resupply.

Now I'm preparing to enter DC for the first time (ever, unless you include Greyditch and it's environs - I've only had the game for a couple of weeks and started adding masochistic realism mods after a couple of days). I'm aware that it's full of Super Mutants, to which I'm not looking forward, but after four game days sneaking around the wastelands avoiding raiders and blowing the heads off molerats from a distance I think it's about time I made some effort to look for my angsty teenage-abandoning father, damn him to Oblivion...

Once more I cannot praise enough the efforts of the modders of the community, and special thanks to Arwen whose travels I have followed since the days of the Nerevarine and without whose load order list I'd have still been fighting with mod incompatibilities.

When i first came across the bleeding effect in RI/PN i was startled and laughing as the feeling of safety after defeating some tough Talon Company mercs disappeared quick! I told myself oh snap am gonna frigging bleed to death. Fortunately i either healed up or slowed down the bleeding enough to get medical attention at Megaton. Which is another great thing about ARWEN'S REALISM TWEAKS it makes the npc professions even more important especially the doctors who have the skilled know how.

Greetings,

I've recently re-installed the game and ALL of the downloadable content 'expansions' and I'm at level 8 now... I would like to use your mod, it looks very impressive.
Can I install it over all the expansions, MMM, and a coulple of small mods?

Thanks ^_^

Hi,

I've recently re-installed the game and ALL it's expansions, now I'm playing at level 8, with a couple of mods installed, including MMM.
Can I install your mod on top of the others? is it compatible with all expansions and MMM?

Thanks in advance

Yes, it will work just fine.

But it is always a good idea to make a backup of your latest save before installing (which is something you should do with any overhaul mod), and be sure to 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.

But you should probably not want use my Skills module, as it is really made to use with a new game. Activating it in a current game will cause your skills 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).

Ups sorry, I've read that it IS compatible... lol

I'm going to download it

Thanks

I pulled this from the previous thread, but my question doesn't relate to the GNR discussion there, I don't think.

I was just wondering if the non-zero fConfidenceFoolhardy value introduces a small chance that a Foolhardy character or follower will flee? For example, if you have a follower set with confidence 4, aggression 1, assistance 1?

Thanks

Actually it adds a very small chance that any NPC who is labeled "foolhardy" will flee . . . which is what I want in my own game.

If you don't want that in your game, just edit my mod with FO3Edit as you suggested. I'm not sure why you feel that I should change something in my mod back to default, when I intentionally changed it.