I was hoping someone else would reply to this, as I really don't know how compatible it is, since I'm not using Phalanx in my own game. I'm guessing (totally) that the two mods would work mostly ok together, but that there would be some minor incompatibilities. Without installing Phalanx and taking a very close look at my active mods in FO3Edit, I have no way of knowing how great any possible conflict might be.

I don't know for sure, but I haven't noticed any issues myself.

I started a new game with Phalanx and your mod. I havent noticed a single problem so far. They seem to work together perfectly.

Hey Zenball, I'm glad that you're enjoying my mod so much.

I finally had some free time to get back to Fallout. I have not yet worked on my weapon skill requirements script, but I have done some play testing with RH_Ironsights, as you suggested . . . and I do really like it.

RH_Ironsights is mostly compatible with v.4.3 of my Realism Tweaks, but with the loss of my weapon effects on a few weapons (as you mentioned), but also some minor damage / spread balance issues. But the biggest problem is that there are some animation conflicts with some weapons, which can mess up the animations working correctly.

I've been able to make some minor edits to my Realism Core module so that Version 4.4 of my mod should be 100% compatible with RH_Ironsights (based on what I'm seeing with my v.4.4 beta). And you won't even need a patch . . . just as long as you load RH_Ironsights before my Realism Core module.

Good news! I haven't noticed any animation problems myself - when I made a patch I made sure that all animation settings were from RH_Ironsights (don't use first person IS animations needs to be unchecked) and all weapon damage/spread settings and effects settings were from yours. What else are you planning for v4.4? I can't think of any suggestions other than what would probably be a huge and possibly unbalanced change to loot whereby you find stuff in appropriate containers - mentioned it in a previous post (more ammo in ammunition boxes, less in filing cabinets etc.)

Initial GOTY year patches would be nice!

Arwen, I absolutely love the mod and reading the stuff on your site seems to make you more human, making me enjoy it more. Odd really. Anyway, I'd just like to ask for you to put the version number in the file of the next update. I keep forgetting if I need to download a new one

And maybe it's because I'm not too good at games, but, the whole small guns skill level threw me for a loop when I tried to equip an Assault Rifle. It takes so long to get to a higher level and doing any of the quests is very very very difficult with just a set of armor and an old baseball bat at hand. Could you give me a tip or... something, anything to help me out? Every NPC is using a 2 handed weapon, so I can't find any ammo at all. Was it really meant to be this difficult?

Thanks! I'm glad you are enjoying my mod.

The version number is given in the second line of the ReadMe [Arwen_Tweaks_ReadMe.txt], and in the archive file [Arwen_Realism_Tweaks_4_3.7z]. I don't put the version number in the esps, so that they will be overwritten when a new version is installed (even though you should always remove my previous version before installing a newer one).


In one word: YES.
I intentionally made it very difficult to survive when your skills are low. When I first played Fallout 3 (without using any game play mods), I made it through the entire Main Quest with just Butch's leather jacket for my armor, and the Overseer's 10mm as my only weapon, and I felt that was way too easy. I wanted the Wasteland to be a much harsher place, where you had to use strategy to survive (instead of being able to slaughter entire groups of Raiders, while barely getting a scratch.)

You're a 19-year-old who has spent his or her entire life growing being sheltered in an underground vault, where your only combat experience has been killing an occasional Rad-Roach with your BB gun. You're not suppose to be very competent at combat when you enter the Wasteland. So you have to be cautious about taking on more than you can handle, which means that sometimes you'll need to retreat (as in run away). And you'll have to be careful about wasting bullets, so use a melee weapon unless you really need a ranged weapon. And pick up guns that use different ammo . . . yes, even the lowly 32 pistol. Don't try to complete quests that are beyond your skill level, but wait until you are better prepared for them (this was never really much of a problem in the default game). Explore, scavenge, trade, keep your gear repaired, and make sure that you have a well stocked first-aid kit (especially if you are using a mod like Real Injuries). Most of all, take your time and enjoy the challenge of the game.

Arwen. Don't get me wrong, but anyone is able to pick up an automatic assault rifle and fire it. It's not hard. You only need two hands and being able to pull a trigger. But it requires skill and training to master. I know this from my own time serving in the military when I was 19. So in my opinion the weapon restrictions are a little too harsh in your mod.

I don't mind the criticism, and I get quite a bit of it about the way that I have enhanced the role-playing aspects of Fallout 3. Yes, my weapon restrictions are harsh, but there's a reason behind this . . . and I personally like the harshness. In the default game, skills are not really all that important, because they really don't alter your gameplay all that much. One of the main goals of my mod is to make stats and skills a much greater factor. For instance, increasing your Small Guns skill from 10 to 50 only results in a 50% DAM increase in the default game (with my Realism Tweaks, you'll be able to inflict more than twice as much damage with a small gun, when you have a skill of 50).

My skill requirements for weapons is just another way to make your skills more meaningful. Now you actually have some real incentive to increase your weapon skills. When you exit the vault, your weapon skills are really low, so you're going to be pretty limited in combat. Yes, in real life, anyone can pick up most any gun and shoot it. But Fallout is not a real life simulator . . . it is a RPG (and, in real life you can't heal a crippled limb with a stimpak injection either). One of the main aspects of a RPG are skill requirements. I considered all sorts of alternatives (such as increased spread, and not being able to reload the weapon), but disabling the weapon seemed to be the best way to handle this.

My Weapon Ability script is only in my Less-Is-More module . . . which makes the game much more hard-core than what you get with just my Realism Core. The reason why I have an optional Less-Is-More module is that not everyone wants the degree of harshness that I do. If I was just making this mod for me, there would only be a single esp.

Just checking - ART also tweaks the death physics of NPCs/Creatures, right?

I just thought http://fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=12306 was interesting but it's possible that ART has already done something similar.

Arwen. It makes sense when you put it like that. Anyway it makes it even more important to distribute your skill points wisely right from the start if you want to use small guns. And that's a good thing.

Hm. I suppose I'm not as good at games as you are Arwen. Guess I'll need some more practice...

Hey Arwen, I've been wondering. Do you know if the mod Stealth Kills Enabled would work with your AI tweaks?

Stealth Kills Enabled and my Realism Tweaks should be 100% compatible, as they don't touch any of the same game settings.

I see you uploaded an EVE patch. What ART weapon tweaks was I missing out on without the patch?

edit: Nevermind.

I just added a new optional file: Arwen_Realism_Tweaks_EVE_Patch.

This is a compatibility patch for my Realism Core module and http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=8340 This patch REQUIRES that you have both my Realism Core module and EVE installed in your game. My Realism Tweaks mod has always been compatible with EVE (in the sense that there are no real conflicts, since my Tweaks does not alter energy weapons). However, there were some minor conflicts with a few explosions (where you lost my tweaks for these explosions, if you used EVE). This patch makes all the explosive tweaks in my Realism_Core module 100% compatible with EVE:
- Plasma Explosion (Grenade)
- Frag Explosion (Ammo Box)
- Plasma Explosion (Mine)
- Now the three explosions will have both my Blast Effect and my increased explosive force and radius; plus EVE’s visual effects.

I'm working on version 4.4, which will be a minor update. There doesn't appear to be any bugs that have popped up in v.4.3, so my next update will likely just be some minor tweaks to improve compatibility.
So far I've added 100% compatibility with RH_Ironsights - FOSE, which I've just begun using in my own game.
I'm also working on my weapon skill requirements script, to improve the skill requirements for some of the energy weapons.
So let me know if you feel that anything else need tweaking, as v.4.4 will be my last update for a while (at least until my GOTY patches are released).

When I release v.4.4, I'll also be adding a compatibility patch for my Realism Core module / EVE / RH_Ironsights.

just how well is this mod compatible with MMM and WMK ? is there a plug-in in MMM that i should avoid? is merged patch really necessary?

ART is compatible with MMM and WMK. The merged parch is necessary if you use the WMK files for the DLCs, I've made a merged parch with just the WMK files selected, since Martigen insists that MMM should not be included in a merged patch.

MMM is 100% compatible, but I recommend that you use my optional compatibility patch, when will ensure that my Smarter AI changes are not being overridden by MMM; and load my Realism Core module after MMM.
WMK will work even if you don't make a merged patch, but you might lose some WMK features for a few weapons, if it loads before my Realism Core module; or you'll lose some of my weapon effects if you load WMK last. Once I finish my GOTY patches I'll see what I can do about making things more compatible; probably with a small patch.

Tanks, i'm loving your mod Arwen, one tip for people who want to use MMM with Realism Tweaks, be careful with Increase Spawns plugin, in the begining of the game you will die a lot

I'm glad that you're enjoying my Tweaks. I'm using the Zones Respawn esp, but not an Increased Spawns esp, and that feels pretty balanced to me (for how I play).

====================================

Here's an update on my progress so far for v.4.4:

Besides the 100% compatibility with RH_Ironsights - FOSE, and improving my weapon skill requirements script to improve the skill requirements for some of the energy weapons (which I'm still working on), I just wrote a new script that will make your amount of Luck a factor in how much loot you will find. I've been trying to figure out a way to make the LUCK stat have a greater effect on your game, and I think this might work well (this will be added to my Less-Is-More module).

What this does is finally make Luck an important stat!
Now the higher your Luck, the more loot you will find . . . and I have it set so that you'll find roughly 36% more with 10 Luck than with 1 Luck [4% less for each point below 10 Luck].
And 5 Luck will give your roughly the same amount of loot that you have with my v.4.3 Less-Is-More module.
So, you'll now have to make sure that your Luck is at least at 5 if you want to find a decent amount of loot (same as you're now finding with v.4.3 for any amount of Luck).

After I release v.4.4, I'll add a compatibility patch for my Realism Core module / EVE / RH_Ironsights.

Again, I need to know if any users of my mod feel that anything else need tweaking, as v.4.4 will be my last update for a while (at least until my GOTY patches are released, which are taking me longer than I hoped).

NOTE: I'm going to be away from home for a few days, so it will be late Tuesday before I'll be able to reply here.

There was this one thing I wanted to mention, but I keep forgetting what it was. I should play some more and maybe I'll come back.

Today I was picking a fight in the Meresti Metro Station. I was on the top of the escalator, near a ledge. I threw a grenade, but it bounced back a little, and with ART's increased blast radius I was still hit. The blast didn't kill me, but it knocked me over the ledge and when I hit the ground (head first.) I was dead anyway.

The fall damage sound was very appropriate because it did sound like breaking my neck.

Without ART I probably wouldn't have gotten any falling damage, and the grenade probably wouldn't have hit me or knocked me over in the first place. Hurray for ART!


By the way RI Primary Needs modifies the Cannibalism perk to allow you to satisfy your hunger by eating corpses. ART also modifies this perk. I don't know if it changes exactly the same things but with both mods active would RI's changes to the perk be ignored since I'm loading ART later?

Edit 2: Looks like you only modified the level requirement, whereas RI changes the attached script. Does that work together?

edit: Oops double post.

My intent is to have the two work together. I'll have to look into this again. I may have to just remove my changes to this perk entirely, which means that you would not be able to take it until Level 12 (default). BTW: Thanks for your story on being creamed by a grenade blast! I'm glad that you like what I've done to explosives.


================
Version 4.4 Progress:
I'm hoping to release this by this weekend. I completed my Luck Quest script tonight, and totally redid my ArwenReduceXX modifiers . . . they are now called ArwenMultXX, which should make how they alter values a bit clearer. For instance, when my ArwenMult75 is attached to a specific type of ammo in an an ammo box, the number of rounds will be multiplied by 75% [*0.75]. I also rebalanced how much some items were reduced.

Here are the basic changes: I have it set so that you will now find roughly 45% more with 10 Luck than with 1 Luck [5% less for each point below 10 Luck] (although this will very quite a bit for some items, due to my rebalancing changes). And 5 Luck will give your roughly the same amount of loot that you have with my v.4.3 Less-Is-More module. So, you'll have to make sure that your Luck is at least at 5 if you want to find a decent amount of loot (same as you're now finding with v.4.3 for any amount of Luck).

I also expanded the loot that my mod reduces, by adding chems and a few misc. items that my mod did not previously reduce.

I'm really happy to see you're actually using Luck for a good use, like older RPGs. I guess I should make a new character with high luck...

Speaking of which, I'm trying to roleplay. Any ideas? I always end up stealing things I'm trying to stick to the character the next game.