Well that's practically divine providence then! I guess I'll be playing FO3 with 4.9.

One other question, for anyone to answer. When I first played Arwen's mod about 6 months ago, the way she did the XP tweak was to reduce quest XP only by I believe it was 90%. I thought that worked out very well, because the mob XP never really felt excessive to me. It was those quest rewards of 1000, 2000, etc., that had me plowing through levels too quickly. It looks like now she's changed it to reduce ALL XP awarded by a default 80%. What are the thoughts on the comparison between those two approaches?

Personally, I'm a completionist, so I try to go everywhere, do everything. I'd like to reach level 30 during the game, but hopefully with no more than about 5-10% of my playtime in the game remaining. Do folks generally think that her current global XP modifier is the best way to achieve that? Thanks again.

My current XPR reduction is actually much more inclusive than my older technique (meaning that I now reduce ALL XPR in the game). Plus my Realism Tweaks now include an in-game Options Menu, which allows you to select the XPR Multiplier that you want to use: from 5% [1/20 of the default amount] to 100%; and you can change this at any time, if you're not happy with how fast you are leveling.

It's also a lot less likely to cause conflicts, because no vanilla quest entries are altered anymore to reduce the XP rewards by hand.

I think it would be nice if there was a separate multipliers for XP gained from quests, and for XP gained from killing/hacking/lockpicking things, but I don't think it's possible to detect the difference.

Edit: Ah, I'm noticing activity in my Nexus tracking center...

Version 4.9 of my http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=7565 is now available.

Version 4.9 is a Major update. Here are the major changes:

Realism Core:
- PipBoy light: reduced magnitude and adjusted color of light to better match Fellout's latest version.
- New Illumination spell is cast on the player when PipBoy light is on (reduces sneak)
- Improved Stealth Quest: includes above Illumination spell, plus a detection event is now run on the player's location while the PipBoy light is on. New detection events are also run for other player actions (like jumping, or opening a door).
- Eliminated firing delay bug with shotguns (set number of projectiles back to default and rebalanced DAM).
- Rebalanced a lot of the default weapons (DAM, spread, criticals)
- Whack Effect: added to Spiked Knuckles and to The Tenderizer.
- Gunshot Effect: added to Scoped .44 Mag. 32 Cal, Chinese Pistol, and 10mm pistols. Also rebalanced fatigue damage/shot for player to equal same amount of shots required for both player and NPCs.
- Rebalance of (Damage) Skill Bonus (applies to all weapons): Skill still has more impact on how much damage a gun (bullet) does, but lower skills result in a bit more DAM. Still results in maximum of a 3X multiplier at 100 skill.
- The remaining changes should now make weapon repairs much more important:
- Gun condition now has more effect on how much damage it does (actor's small gun skill is still a much greater factor): A bullet from a 10mm pistol that is worn down to 10% condition (90% damaged) will now inflict less than half the amount of damage (than from a weapon in perfect condition). [Default was 2/3s the damage.]
- Weapon deterioration was increased a bit for melee weapons [now deteriorate 2x faster than default].
- Armor deterioration was also increased a bit.
- NPC's armor is now damaged upon their death. My Tweaks greatly improve NPCs' weapons and armor, and this change means that their recovered loot will be in poorer condition. In some cases their equipped weapon will also be damaged (this only happens when the weapon was not flagged as 'dropped').
- Crippled Weapon Penalties: not being able to equip 2-handed non-melee weapons when an arm is crippled can now be toggled on and off in my in-game Options Menu. You may want to toggle the penalty off when you in the Operation Anchorage simulation.

Hard-Core module:
- Reduced the amount of spawned ammo loot (does not affect ammo found on NPCs).
- Redid Luck formula for amount of items spawned.
- New Intimidation Spell: when a weapon is out and the player is not in combat, their Charisma is reduced by 5 points (lasts for ~ 3 minutes after the weapon is holstered).
- Finesse perk: you have a higher chance to score a critical hit on an opponent in combat, equivalent to 5 extra points of Luck. But your agility must be at least 6, and your Permanent AV Strength cannot be greater than your Agility.
- 'Here and Now' perk: now my XPR Multiplier is factored in (based on your XPR Mult setting). You should now level up correctly after selecting this perk.
- Barter overhauled: I've made some major changes to Barter to balance things out (I needed to get the economy more in line with my less abundant loot changes, such as the way that looted armor won't be worth nearly as much, and when my injuries module is released in v.5.0, you're going to have to purchase more medical items, like bandages):
- At 10 Barter: Buy: females will have to pay a 185% markup for goods; and males will have to pay a 200% markup (was 230% and 240%). [default was only a 50% markup] Sell: females will only receive 20% of what an item is valued; and males will receive 25% of the items value (was 14% and 9%). [default was 49% of value]
- At 100 Barter: Buy: females will still only have to pay a 5% markup for goods; and males will now have to pay a 20% markup (was 5% and 15%). [default was a 10% markup]. Sell: females will now receive 65% of what an item is valued; but males will receive 70% of the items value (was 50% and 45%). [Default was 90% of value].
- Female characters still receive a Bartering bonus overall. But in v.4.9 this is being done a bit differently (in my earlier versions females had a 10% buy bonus AND a 5% sell bonus): females now have a 15% buy bonus, BUT males now receive a 5% sell bonus. This was done to help balance out the fact that male characters generally as stronger, so they can carry more stuff, which results in males selling more items and also buying more; so this should keep the average male characters' wealth more in line with the wealth of the average female character.

Encumbrance module:
- Encumbrance script now runs 10 times faster, so jump and melee combat Strain increases should now work as intended.
- Your Health is now factored into Strain increase rate (25% slower at 100% Health; 50% faster at 25% Health).

I'm hoping to have my first GOTY Patch (just for my Realism Core) ready in another day or so. I know a lot of users were hoping that I would be releasing this with v.4.9, but please bare with me . . . I'm doing the best I can.

The download didn't work for a second but now it does!

Nice changes as usual.


So that's why I wasn't whacking anyone.



I felt it was pretty fast already, but we'll see how it goes!


Edit: The readme in the download seems to be the old 4.8.2 one. The MMM patch readme too. The main esps seem to be the updated ones so I assume the MMM patch is too.

(Uploading new versions and updating readme's... Bah. Modding doesn't get much more boring than that. It's also the part where it's easy to make all sorts of mistakes )

I've only just come back to FO3 after a few months of other things (I was heavily into grand strategy games over the summer, but watched "The Book of Eli" a few days ago and got my desire for post-apocalyptic stuff back). Of course, first port of call was to the ole Nexus to see what was new and what had been updated. Well, what can I say?

ART has been part of my game pretty much as a constant. Sure, there were times when I had wished I'd left it out, but now... it feels like it's matured from what it was back in May, almost to the point that it's a completely different mod! The encumbrance/strain idea is simply inspired, and I had to pick and choose my loot from the old Super-Duper Mart, making three or four trips to gather all I wanted with which to barter. I spent about 2 hours in there (on a timescale of 1:1) just trying to move around without getting seen and without building up too much strain - it's also the first time I've come away from there without a scratch! However, the two Super Mutants near Big Town utterly slaughtered me, and I ended up going in a completely different direction following a quick reload. I'm also saving far more often than I used to - on average now about once every five minutes, instead of once every session...

I guess now I need to update, since there's a new version available, but sadly that will have to wait until tomorrow evening (it's way too late here and I need some sleep). Thanks, Arwen, for sticking with the development of this wonderful addition to the world of FO3. I look forward to running away from combat a lot more in future!

Edit: Hold on a second...


Are you sure you included the latest realism core esp? I couldn't find the option to turn the Crippled Weapons Penalty off in the menus, and I'm still getting the firing delay both with combat shotguns and the Terrible shotgun. I also checked in the GECK and the whack effect was not added to Spiked Knuckles or to The Tenderizer. Same for the gunshot effect to the chinese pistol, 10mm pistols, etc.

The other esps are fine.

Some thoughts.


Intimidation effect: It's not applied during combat so that's good, and it is applied when not in combat. But the effect does not last 3 minutes in my game, it always disappears immediately when I put away my weapon. I like it that way though, it's a bit like in Morrowind/Oblivion where putting your weapon away makes people like you more.

And 3 minutes would be pretty long. I could probably arrive at Megaton, put my weapon away, head inside, run up to Craterside Supply and speak with Moira in much less than 3 minutes time. Then Moira doesn't like me because I'm very intimidating, even though I put my weapon away before I even entered Megaton and Moira's store, which would be weird.

Strain: I'm not getting my strain level reduced from sleeping, at least not in the sleeping bag from the Blackwolf Backpack, or random beds. No matter how long I sleep it doesn't reduce my strain by any significant amount, only a little bit for the time spent in menu mode. Is it only supposed to work in beds where you can get the Well Rested perk or is something wrong here?

Hmmm, I'm wondering if I mistakenly uploaded my v.4.9 Beta, which is a very early version of v.4.9. I have a backup zip of it on my computer, but it is saved in a different directory.

I was still recovering from a health issue that left me totally exhausted on Sunday, and should probably have been resting instead of trying to wrap up v.4.9.
So it is very possible that I grabbed the wrong zip (the beta one has the name: Arwen_Realism_Tweaks_4_9_Beta.7z and the correct one is: Arwen_Realism_Tweaks_4_9.7z).
If this is so, you're not getting most of my intended changes, including me Barter changes in the Hard-Core module, nor the changes to my Encumbrance module.

Unfortunately FO3 Nexus is down today, so I cannot do anything about it until the site reopens (in like 12 hours).

The Intimation effect should last about 1 real minute after you put your weapon away (I just timed it).

Strain is not supposed to be reduced by sleeping . . . I didn't want sleeping to be used as an easy way to zero out your Strain.
I may be doing something different in v.5.0, if I end up including the need to sleep in the first release of my injuries module. (I just don't know how much the first version of my new module is going to include.)

Thanks! But I never said that there was anything "wrong" with my brain . . . only that it is pretty strangely wired, which is the truth.

My injuries module is going to be dependent on my Realism Core, so it will not be an independent mod. The main reason that I'm putting all the effort into making my own injuries module is that I want to build on my mod's core changes. I don't have any plans to release a stand-alone version at this point . . . but it could happen . . . eventually.

The VATS setting that you want to change is ?'fVATSPlaybackDelay' Default is 0.17; and my Tweaks uses 0.08.

Nexus is back up so I downloaded the file again. The 7z file did not have the word beta in it, but the realism core esp is still missing at least some of the changes mentioned in the first post.

For the other modules it's more difficult to tell, but the hard-core module has the intimidation spell at least so that seems alright. Still, maybe I do have a beta version of that too, because the spell disappears immediately after putting the weapon away and not after a minute.



Okay, that's fine. For some reason I thought it was supposed to do that.

I hope you're feeling better now. :icecream:

Well, it wasn't that comment specifically, but some of the stuff you said implied that sometimes people think there's something wrong with you because of whatever happened to your brain (I hope whatever it was wasn't too bad). But enough about your bain, it's off topic and I don't want to intrude in your personal matters.



Fair enough. Maybe I can turn it into a stand-alone myself.



Thanks. I had my suspicions that was the one as it's the only one with "playback" in it's name, but I wasn't sure.

IMPORTANT!!! If you downloaded v.4.9 on Sunday (09/06), you do NOT have my latest version!

I mistakenly uploaded a VERY EARLY Beta version of 4.9 on Sunday.
The correct file is now available.
The modules and ReadMe should be dated 9/06.
(Sorry about that.)

Thanks Povuholo, for noticing my error before too many people downloaded the incorrect archive. (And I'm feeling much better today, thanks.)

New update is working well. The fire delay bug with the shotguns is gone and I'm looting crappy armor!

One disadvantage of the quicker strain script is that you really have to tap the spacebar to jump and not keep it a second longer, or the strain is doubled. I'm not sure but this might actually increase the amount of strain you get from power attacks too... On the plus side, it's much more responsive.

I had one idea for the Injury module, now that you're going to be adding new items anyway. Poisons normally weren't a big deal, but with ART they deal quite a bit more damage. What about bringing the http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Antidote chem from the previous Fallout games back?

It always puzzled me that there was poison in the game just like in the previous Fallout games, but they didn't add the antidote item. And using an antidote to cure the poison is more sensible than using stimpaks to restore the lost health, and waiting for the poison to wear off. I checked in the GECK, and the cure poison 'effect archetype', though never used in any base effects, does exist.

It's a little involved, but if you want to only apply the strain penalty once per jump, you can keep track of when the player is in the air - use a variable to store the player's z position (getpos z zPos). Then, in the next frame, compare the new z position to the stored one. As long as zPosNew - zPosOld is positive, the player is moving up. When it stops increasing, or turns negative, you either landed or are on the way back down. That could be used to prevent the strain penalty from being applied twice in a row (or you could just wait a few frames after applying it before checking to see if it needs to be applied again).

I was thinking about Arwen's Tweaks incorporating needs/sleep tracking. You'd be able to have how hungry/healthy/tired you are effect the rate of strain accumulation, which would be sort of cool. If I had the time I'd whip up an ART/IMCN compatibility patch incorporating that.

Hey Povuholo, I'm glad that v.4.9 is now working well for you (sorry about the 4.9 Beta thing). I haven't had any problem in my own game with double jump / Strain penalties. I have my E-key configured for jumping, but I don't see how that could make a difference. I hit the E-key . . . my character jumps . . . and it costs me 5 Strain.
The Power Attacks may costs double, depending on how long you hold down the attack key/button . . . but that is how it should be, since a power attack should take more out of you than a regular attack.

I definitely have plans to expand poison in my injuries module . . . I was thinking about creating a long term effect, that slowly drains your HPs . . . sort of like what I'm currently working on for blood loss (as in bleeding wounds). I was also wondering about making poisons only curable by doctors, but I like the antidote idea MUCH better . . . I'll see what I can do about using the cure poison 'effect archetype'. THANKS!

Hey Imp,
the tracking part combined with additional strain penalties, is a cool idea, by it might be a bit much, as with version 4.9, your health already factors into your Strain rate. But I'm messing around with a few other ways of expanding the way injuries and healing works, and may end up creating another Strain-like stat for Hurt, although it should be much simpler than Strain. Currently Hurt is created whenever your health drops over time . . . the greater the HP loss, the greater the Hurt. Hurt is then factored into increases in wounds, bruises, and bleeding . . . and your Armor AR reduces Hurt. This is the way that I'm handing my expanded injuries that are caused by weapons (and things like falling) which are not in my Form lists.

I'm hoping to have time tomorrow to complete my GOTY patch (or at least get it semi-complete) . . . if things go well, the Realism Core / GOTY patch should be available sometime Friday. Then I get to go back to work on my Injuries module, which has been pretty much on hold for over a week now. Since I have it currently running in my own game, I really need to get things more balanced before adding too much else (and I still need to get the key-binding part working).

By "healthy" I meant how well taken care of your character was, i.e. malnutrition, or maybe the cumulative effect of always staying well fed, not actual HP. But HP should definitely factor in.

I understood what you meant. My point was that the player's Strain rate is already being increased now as their health (HPs) decrease, and you receive Strain penalties for being crippled, for jumping,and for swinging melee weapons. So adding additional Strain increases when you're sleepy, hungry, and thirsty might be a bit too much on top of everything else (even though it may be realistic).

To everyone: I've made a LOT of progress on my Realism Core/GOTY patch in the last two days . . . which turns out to be both good news and bad news. :ahhh:

The Good News part: the first version of my GOTY patch is now going to affect a LOT more than just weapons and armor.

The Bad New part: I still need a couple more days to complete the patch.

The thing is that I've already completed all the GOTY Armor; Object Effects – Armor; Object Effects – Weapons; Localized Damage; Explosions; and Combat Style. Trying to balance all 5 DLC at once, so that they mesh well with all my default game changes/additions is extremely tedious work . . . but I'm getting very close to having a very extensive initial release ready. At this point, I'm aiming at Sunday (probably late . . . unless I have a LOT of free time tomorrow).

No offense. I'm kinda glad I was tired and past over the new version =/

The intimidation lasting 3 minutes instead of immediately removed wen the weapon is put away seems way to strange.

Besides being somewhat curious about the injuries aspect. My concern is that of the ripno ending up broken or some bad interaction.

I wanted the shotgun fix....but I can live with it if it means keeping a stable game, for now.

Thoughts?

Sounds like mostly good news to me.

What I've been working on this week (and hoping to release by late Sunday) is NOT the next version of my Realism Tweaks, but is my GOTY compatibility patch for my Realism Core module. It will be available as as optional download. Version 5.0 is not going to be completed for at least a few more weeks.

The intimidation effect only lasts 1 minute . . . not 3 minutes. And I think I'm being pretty generous making it that brief. Why should intimidation instantly end when you holster a weapon? I mean, if you have a gun out when you were dealing with a merchant, don't you think they might still remain sort of intimidated for a while after you holstered your weapon? In real life you're not going to walk up to a merchant with a weapon out.

As far as my injuries module goes: I'm not designing it to work with RiPnO . . . the whole idea is that my Injuries module will be an alternative to Real Injuries, which will be MORE compatible with the rest of my Realism Tweaks . . . so it definitely will NOT be compatible with RiPnO. At this point it looks like the new module will require that you are using all three of my current modules . . . but you don't have to use it, if you want to stick with RiPnO. Like the rest of my Tweaks, my primary motivation for putting all the effort into creating my own injuries/needs module, is because I wanted something in my own game that works differently than what is currently available . . . and I have some ideas that I want to try out. So far, even though my injuries is still not much more than an Alpha version, I'm having fun using it in my own game.

I don't understand why you think that v.4.9 would be any less stable than v.4.8.2 . . . if anything, it should be more stable, as it corrects a couple of issues.

excited to hear this!! as this is one of the things that is really keeping me from playing FO3 at the moment, well that and I have discovered STALKER for the first time, been playing the hound out of it

if I might mention one idea for the injuries mod, please make the blood packs usefull as it is at the moment they are not and really should be- imho-

maybe have a blood pack, surgical tubing, and a stimpack, work as a blood transfusion or something? a powerfull healing method but the player would be unable to move or attack or defend while using it?

so it would have to be used after combat when you were completely safe from enemys

but anyway I'm sure you have your own ideas, and have things worked out well, just had a brain fart hope you don't mind

can't wait to try this new injuries- needs mod out!!

I love getting suggestions from people who use my Tweaks . . . so I don't mind at all.

Blood packs will not only be usable, they will be rather necessary, unless you're willing to pay a doctor to heal you. Plus I'm adding bandages . . . probably in two different sizes (or in combination), depending on how bad your wound is. And you won't be able to use either during combat . . . but I am working on a temporary way to stop bleeding . . . like a quick patch, that you can apply during combat (probably with some restrictions) . . . as it is no fun to bleed to death, while you're waiting for the combat flag to go away.

I'm also looking at way of making poison much more deadly. Plus medical braces are going to be the only way you will be able to heal crippled limbs (and I'm hoping this will include doctor care) . . . and there will be penalties while you are wearing the brace. So crippled limbs are not going to be a quick or easy fix . . . so I'm also working on a way to make them happen a bit less often.

I don't want to make injuries a pain to deal with, as that could get old in a hurry . . . but I do want them to be cumulative. My feeling is that minor wounds should slowly heal on their own, or with a quick stimpak injection; but if you don't tend to your minor wounds (or give them some time to heal), that getting injured again will happen much easier . . . and the wounds will more severe. For instance, bleeding wounds won't happen that easily,; but when you get a bleeding wound, you're going to have to tend to it pretty quickly . . . and you will need a bandage (or two) . . . and if you lose too much blood, you're going to need a transfusion (unless you're willing to wait a long time for your blood supply to recover).

I still have a ton of work to do on my injury module . . . so my initial release (hopefully as part of version 5.0) is not going to happen for a few more weeks . . . and I doubt that I'll be able to include much beyond the injuries/healing part until a later release, when I'll expand it to include the Needs part.

You could also add in the possibility for wounds to become infected, and provide antibiotics (a new chem) for treatment or prevention of infection. It'd be great - stumbling around with a fever of 104, with blurry delirium visuals, ransacking first aid kits for penicillin. Bathing occasionally and re-dressing your wounds might not be a bad idea either.

Vodka? High-proof alcohol makes a pretty fair antiseptic.

Pun intended?