Arwen's Realism Tweaks:

My Fallout 3 Gameplay Overhaul, focused on making the Wasteland a much harsher place, where your stats and skills are MUCH more important.

Thread #10 http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1096923-relz-arwens-realism-tweaks-thread-no10/

Current Version 5.0.1 (October 12, 2010). Requires FOSE, v.1.1 or later. This is a Major update.

Here are the major changes in v.5.0:
Realism Core module:

• Fixed the scripting error that made it impossible to enable my Visual Effects from my In-Game Options Menu.
  
• Increased the condition of some Power Armor and some weapons a bit more
  
• Increased exterior detection distance by 25%. This will be have the most effect at night,for better balance with of Fellout's current darker nights.
  
• Redid how my mod checks that FOSE is installed (and running).
  
• Removed negative modifiers from melee strength and crippled arm formulas. This was originally done as an attempt to extend the range, but ended up causing too many other problems. The new range is a bit less, but never seems to cause any bugs when the formula is run.
  
• Adjusted backward running speed's agility multipliers. Now not quite so slow at lower agility levels, and a bit slower at the highest levels.
  
• Increased Assault Rifle and Chinese Assault Rifle spread from 0.7min to 1.0min [default is 1.5]. This was done for better balance.

Hard-Core module:

• Reduced the Intimidation timer considerably (having a weapon unholstered, during non-combat). Now the effect penalty only lasts for about 10 seconds after you holster your weapon.

New Med-Tec module:

• My own Injuries/Needs mod, made especially for my Realism Tweaks. It provides a simple, single esp solution.
  
• Began this as a Injuries/Treatment overhaul, but was expanded to include Needs (eating, drinking, and sleeping), as the module just did not feel complete without the Needs part.
  
• Comprehensive overhaul of injuries and treatment. I do not know of any other FO3 mod that overhauls injuries to this degree; and the Treatments and Needs part is also pretty extensive.
  
• See Module #4 below, or http://amito.freehostia.com/Fallout/FO-mods04.htm.

IMPORTANT!!!.

• PLEASE follow my installation/update instructions carefully, EVEN if you are updating from v.4.9! My modules are now packaged a bit differently, all the patches are now included, and initiation scripts have been added to my Realism Core module. If you don't uninstall correctly or reinstall correctly, you will likely severely mess up your game.
  
• If you installed my Encumbrance module, you also NEED to follow my "Encumbrance module's Strain Meter HUD Setup" instructions or my Strain meter will not appear in your HUD.
  
• My Hard-Core module is best used in a new game (not required if you are just updating). If you add this module to an existing game (beyond Level 2 or 3) your skills are going to take a major hit. How much depends on what perks and skill books you have used.

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 a MUCH more challenging game. 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.

Modular format: My Realism Tweaks now contains four different esps, which are meant to be used together for my full Tweaks to take effect. Plus there is now an in-game Options Menu, that allows you additional control of several of my Tweaks:

• My Realism Core module (required) is more streamlined and balanced, while my Hard-Core module adds much harsher effects, reduced skill/stat points, tougher economics, gender bonuses/penalties, and my repair overhaul.
  
• For instance, my Realism Core module reduces your carrying capacity quite a bit. But this is reduced even more by my Hard-Core module's Gender Quest script. The same is true for my reduced Hit Points.
  
• What I am attempting to do is to address the two types of gamers who make up the bulk of my Tweaks users: those players who want most of my changes (but do not want my hard-core changes), and those who want ALL of my changes. So even though there are only four modules, the combination of the Realism Core with the Hard-Core module will give you a very different gaming experience than what you would have with just the Realism Core.
  
• Plus my expanded Encumbrance module makes the game even more challenging, by making your encumbrance much more realistic . . . you will no longer be able to run or overload yourself without having to stop and rest.
  
• And my new Med-Tec module (introduced in version 5.0) adds an extensive Injuries/Treatment overhaul, along with a comprehensive Needs addition. No longer will you be able to just shake off being shot, burned, whacked, or chewed upon. You will now sustain Wounds, Burns, Blood Loss, Trauma, and Infections. And you will have to eat food, drink water, and get enough sleep every day to survive. You also have to monitor your Rad Damage, as this module also adds Radiation Sickness, when can make it impossible to keep food and water down. Finally there are major consequences to having Rad Damage.
  
• My expanded Options Menu allows some things to be configure within the game itself . . . such as the ability to control how fast you level up, by selecting which one of my global Reduced XPR Multipliers you want to use (at any time). You can also select from a number of different Timescales. Plus you can toggle on and off each of my three Weapon Effects, my VisionFX (which are attached to all default eye wear), and my Dynamic Visual FX (the ones that add visual penalties when your Agility or Perception stats are damaged).

The 4 Modules (esps):
(The full details on all my changes are listed in 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.
  
• "Arwen's Option Menu" is added to your inventory (in-game selection of Timescale and XPR Multiplier; enable/disable my Weapon Effects and my Visual FX; and toggle my Crippled Weapon Penalties).
  
• My Global XPR Multiplier slows down how fast you level up by reducing ALL experience points rewards. Your current total XPR will NOT be reduced . . . just the amount of points you receive from this point forward. The XPR Multiplier is initially set to 20% (1/5th default amount), but is easily changed in my Options Menu (from 5% to 100%).
  
• Reduced Carrying Capacity and fewer HPs for PC (both are further reduced by my Hard-Core module).
  
• More immersive and more balanced VATS.
  
• Smarter AI: combat with NPCs is now much more challenging, and sneaking is now much more realistic
  
• Dynamic Stealth, where time of day, weather conditions, and being in an interior cell factors into your ability to remain undetected. Your PipBoy Light will now make you very visible; and other player actions (such as jumping and opening doors) will now alert your enemies.
  
• 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.
  
• When an arm is crippled, some types of weapons will no longer be usable, and VATS will be disabled.
  
• 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. Some explosions were rebalanced: frag grenades and nuka grenades now take one second longer to explode, and nuka grenades now do much less explosive damage, but inflict a much greater burn damage (that damages health for 30 seconds after the blast) and bottlecap mines now have a blast that covers a much greater area, but inflict less damage (but still 50% more than a frag mine or grenade).
  
• Unique optional immersive weapon effects: Gunshot knock downs, Whack and Blast knockouts (enabled by default).
  
• Optional Dynamic VisualFX created for loss of Agility and Perception . . . adds visual feedback/penalties and increased immersion (disabled by default).
  
• Optional VisionFX adds a bit of immersion when wearing default sunglasses and reading glasses; plud you can now wear eye wear in combination with most default helmets and hats. (My VisionFX are disabled by default).
  
• Enhanced repair lists for both weapons and armor.
  
• Changes the localized body damage effects to balance out game play. Strategic hits are now more effective (such as crippling shots, and head shots now do a LOT more damage). Super Mutants are now VERY hard to kill.
  
• Improvements were made to NPC's armor and weapons, across all levels. Most of your opponents should a be quite a bit more challenging. But the NPC's armor (and sometimes their weapon) is now damaged upon their death (making Repairs more inportant).

2.) Hard-Core (Arwen_Hard-Core.esp) (see my http://amito.freehostia.com/Fallout/Arwens_Hard-Core.htm):

• Optional module, but requires that my Realism Core module is installed.
  
• Expands the difficulty and challenge of the Realism Core module, by making your character's stats have a much greater impact on your game play, 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.
  
• Much Fewer HPs than with Realism Core, which are now gender-based [30 less HPs for females, and 45 less HPs for males].
  
• Greatly reduced carrying capacity, which are now gender-based [for 1 to 10 STR: females: 45 to 135 lbs; males: 50 to 185 lbs].
  
• Makes caps, food, weapons, and ammo MUCH less abundant in the Wasteland. But you will now find more ammo on your vistims, based on what guns they have, and toughter opponents will have more ammo.
  
• The amount of spawned loot is now based on your Luck stat. For each point of Luck less than 10, the average amount of found loot decreases by 5%.
  
• 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). Plus merchants will now have much more ammo for sale.
  
• Repair has had a major overhaul: items used for repairs will now improve 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.
  
• Outcasts Rewards are now more balanced (you'll now get less stuff in trade).
  
• Intimidation Spell: when a weapon is out and the player is not in combat, their Charisma is reduced by 5 points.

3.) Encumbrance module (Arwen_Encumbrance.esp):

• This module is totally Optional. (It was balanced for the Hard-Core module, but it can be used with just the Realism Core).
  
• You now suffer from Strain (similar to fatigue, but totally separate from the default fatigue). Your Strain increases when walking with more than 100% encumbrance, and whenever you are running (at any encumbrance).
  
• Strain is based on game time, so Strain increases faster with faster Timescales [Note: divide game minutes by your Timescale setting for real time.]
  
• The higher your encumbrance limits, the shorter distance you will be able to travel, and the more you will hurt yourself if you reach your limit.
  
• With an encumbrance of less than 60%, you will be able to run for roughly 24 GAME MINUTES before your Stain reaches 100%, but at 100% encumbrance, you'll only be able to run for about 5 game minutes.
  
• When walking with 110% encumbrance, you will last about 12 game minutes before you need to rest, but with 150% encumbrance, you will need to rest every 3 game minutes.
  
• But Strain increases faster when you are injured: 30% faster when one leg is crippled, 60% faster when both legs are crippled, and 30% faster when your torso is crippled (in addition to the cripple leg penalty). Jumping and melee attacks (swinging a melee weapon) will both increase Strain.
  
• If your Strain exceeds 100% you will collapse, injuring yourself (the amount of HPs you lose is based on your current Strain/second), and dropping your weapon (if you have one out).
  
• Your Strain is displayed as: "Strain: xx%"[The Strain meter is movable by just holding down the grab key for 2 seconds, and then by using the arrow keys to move it.]
  
• When your Strain is over 45%, your character will start breathing hard. Your Strain percentage will turn red when your Strain reaches 70% and your character will start breathing harder. At 85% Strain, the text starts flashing, warning that you are near your limit.
  
• Your current Health is factored into your Strain increase rate (25% slower at 100% Health; 50% faster at 25% Health).
  
• Strain decreases when you rest (when you stop running, or when you stop walking with over 100% encumbrance). Strain also decreases while you are in menus (at the walking rest rate). How fast your Strain decreases depends on how encumbered you are.
  
• During a walking rest (after running, or when in menu mode) it takes about 6.5 game minutes at 0% encumbrance for Strain to decrease from 100% to 0%, but over 9 game minutes at 100% encumbrance. For non-moving, standing rest, it takes a bit less than 4 game minutes at 0% encumbrance. Plus your Strain will decrease 60% faster when you are sitting or crouching (non-moving sneak mode).
  
• During combat your Strain will only be reduced when you are not moving (as in hiding). And Strain will not be reduced during combat when in menu mode.
  
• Dynamic Jump (how far and how high you can jump) now changes, based on your character's current Agility AND on their Encumbrance. The default game's jump height is roughly 3 feet. A 25% ENC + 5 AGL, or a 80% ENC + 7 AGL, results in roughly a 3-foot jump height. With a 25% ENC + 10 AGL, you'll be able to jump up to 5.4 feet. But you will not be able to jump at all when your AGL is really low, or when either leg is crippled.
  
• Dynamic walking and running speeds: movement speed is now affected by your encumbrance . . . the more you are encumbered, the slower you move. But you also gain a running speed bonus when your encumbrance is less than 60%, as long as your health is no lower than 50%.
  
• Armor Encumbrance has been greatly increased, so you will now move noticeably slower when wearing heavier armor. (The default movement speed difference between wearing 1-pound armor and 50-pound armor was only 8% . . . there is now a 20% difference.) I just gave it more of an impact, to balance things out . . . heavier armor protects you more, but you will not be able to move nearly as fast when wearing it.
  
• My Encumbrance notes are also added to your inventory, for easy reference.

3.) Med-Tec module (Arwen_Med-Tec.esp):

• This module is optional, but was balanced specifically to be used with my complete Realism Tweaks. My Med-Tec Quest will begin roughly 5 game minutes after you have escaped from Vault 101 (or after you load a post-escape saved game).
  
• Your Med-Tec Scanner monitors 9 of your vital stats when you press the Scan Hotkey (M by default). It also assists in self-treatment of injuries; but treatments are not possible during combat (you can still manually inject Stimpaks to restore 30 HPs, but healing is now gradual).
  
• The Injuries Part greatly expands the injuries that you will suffer. You will now sustain Wounds, Burns, Blood Loss, Trauma, and Infections. To make injuries easier to monitor and treat, they are done by Levels (with Level 0 being no injury).
  
• Wounds increase in severity up to Level 10, with Moderate Wounds beginning at Level 2 (when your health regen stops), and Severe Wounds beginning at Level 5 (where you suffer from loss of blood).
  
• Burns increase in severity up to Level 12, with Severe Burns beginning at Level 8 (Third-Degree Burns).
  
• Trauma injuries (bruising and tissue damage) increase in severity up to Level 9, with Severe Trauma beginning at Level 6 (Torso Trauma).
  
• Wounds above Level 5 result in Blood Loss which increases with the severity of the wound (faster at higher Wound Levels). Your health with slowly decrease when you have a bleeding wound (and you'll cry out in pain when this happens).
  
• Your blood level is tracked in Units of Blood Lost, with 8 units lost being excessive, and 12 units lost being severe. Your blood slowly regenerates (+1 unit every 2 game hours). Blood Transfusions (+6 Units of Blood) require a Blood Pack and a some Surgical Tubing.
  
• To stop Bleeding, use your Med-Tec to apply bandages. If no bandages are available, a stimpak injection will speed up clotting.
  
• Wounds higher than Level 2 will slowly become infected. Once an infection reaches Level 6, it will damage your health, and the only cure will require an injection of Antibiotics.
  
• Injuries are not random, but are based directly on how much you were injured, type of weapon used, and on your Armor Level. Animal bites will result in a different injury than a bullet wound, which is different than what you receive from a laser or plasma weapon.
  
• Health Regenerates slowly, with the rate of regen equal to your Permanent HP amount every 10 game hours. But your Health Stops Regenerating when your Wound Level is above 2, have Severe Burns, are Sleep deprived, or haven't had enough Water or Food.
  
• Wounds slowly heal on their own (-1 Wound Level every game hour); and Trauma injuries (below Level 6) slowly heal; and Burns (below Level 8) slowly heal.
  
• Damaged limbs slowly heal, but only when the limb is not crippled. Crippled Limbs need a Medical Brace applied in order to heal (it takes roughly 12 hours for a Crippled limb to heal completely). Braces can be used multiple times if your medical skills are high enough.
  
• Doctors no longer fully heal moderate or severe injuries. What you get for your caps is treatment, not instant health restoration.
  
• You will no longer be able to instantly heal yourself will your personal infirmary, but can now only treat your injuries.
  
• Higher Medicine Skills are factored into how effective some treatments are (with both your Med-Tec & your Infirmary).
  
• The Needs Part: All your Needs are set to 0 when this module is first installed.
  
• You require 48 Water Units every 24 game hours. Beverages contain one of four water types (displayed with the items in your PipBoy). Water1 (4oz water), Water2 (8oz), Water3 (12oz), Water4 (24oz). Beverages no longer have any healing effect, and all but Purified Water now contains Rads. A Sanitizer will reduce the Rads a bit. You cannot drink anything when you have Radiation Sickness (drinking will just make you sick). Only Empty Water Bottles can be refilled with water, and the end result is a bottle of Dirty Water, regardless of the water source.
  
• You require 9.6 Food Units every 24 game hours. There are 4 Food Levels (displayed with the food item in your PipBoy): Food1 (Snack Food, 0.6 Food Units); Food2 (Light Meal, 2 Units); Food3 (Normal Meal, 3.0 Units); Food4 (Heavy Meal, 4.0 Units). Food no longer has any healing effect, and most contains Rads (the exceptions are Fresh Fruit and Vegetables). A Sanitizer will reduce the Rads a bit. Eating fresh fruit and vegetables will reduce your Rad Damage by 10 points, and some types of Red Meat will reduce your Blood Loss.
  
• When you eat, your Digestion Level increases by the amount of Food Units, and then slowly decreases over time (1 game hour to drop 1 Level point). If you eat anything when you are not hungry, you will get sick. Whenever your Digestion Level is 1 or higher and your Rad Damage is 100 or greater, your Rad Sickness Level will slowly increase. The higher your current Rad damage, the faster your Rad Sickness rate. If it reaches Level 5, you will develop Radiation Sickness, and will not be able to eat or drink anything.
  
• You require 1 hour of Sleep for every 2 hours that you are awake. When your Sleep Need is 0, you won't need to sleep for 16 hours before you become Sleepy; after 20 hours you'll be Very Tired; after 24 hours you'll be Exhausted. A one-hour nap will no longer fully healed you, but you will slowly heal while you are sleeping, at exactly the same rate as when you are awake (and with the same restrictions). Your Sleep Need must be at least 4 before you are tired enough to sleep at all; you cannot sleep or wait when you have excessive bleeding; and the longest you can sleep is 9 hours
  
• Use the Med-Tec Options menu to Pause/Resume the injuries and needs (before and after entering simulators); Prepare to uninstall; Restart the Med-Tec Quest; or Change the Scan hotkey.

Bundled Compatibility Patches - Select the ones you need on my Realism Tweaks Setup menu (when the mod is activated with FOMM):

• GOTY/Realism Core Compatibility Patch (Arwen_GOTY_Realism_Core.esp): REQUIRES that you have All 5 DLC (or GOTY edition) installed, and loaded BEFORE my Realism Core module. This patch extends my Realism Core changes into all 5 DLC, which will bring the DLC expansions more inline with the changes that my Realism Tweaks makes to the default game. See the ReadMe for details (Arwen_GOTY_Realism_Core_Patch.txt)
  
• MMM Compatibility Patch (Arwen_MMM_Patch.esp): Requires Marts Mutant Mod (RC5 or RC6) installed in your game, and loaded before my Realism Core module. This patch prevents Mart's Mutant Mod's AI scripts from conflicting with my Realism Core module's Smarter AI. See the ReadMe for details (Arwen_MMM_Patch_ReadMe.txt).
  EVE Compatibility Patches (two versions):
  
• EVE Patch (Arwen_EVE_Patch.esp): Makes all the explosive tweaks in my Realism_Core module 100% compatible with EVE. REQUIRES that you have EVE - Energy Visuals Enhanced installed in your game, and loaded before my Realism Core.
  
• EVE/RH-Ironsights Patch (Arwen_EVE_RH-IS_Patch.esp): Makes all my explosive tweaks 100% compatible with EVE, PLUS makes EVE compatible with RH_IronSights - FOSE. Requires that you have Both EVE and RH-Ironsights installed in your game. All the energy guns can now be aimed in 1st person with Ironsights. Some of EVE's models were replaced with RH_Ironsights models, but you still get all EVE's effects and sounds). My patch is not a perfect solution, but this newest version is perhaps the best EVE/RH-IS patch currently available. See the ReadMe for details (Arwen_EVE_Patch.txt).
  RiPnO Compatibility Patches (Requires my Hard-Core module) (two versions):
  
• RiPnO - Real Injuries Patch (Arwen_RiPnO_Patch.esp): Enables your Luck stat to alter the amount of RI's spawned loot . . . stuff like stimpaks, Morphine, Healing Powder, bandage packs, and water. Requires Real Injuries, Primary Needs, and Orfevs' RiPnO-Real Injuries Patch all installed.
  
• RiPnO - Real Injuries/BLTC Patch (Arwen_RiPnO_BLTC_Patch.esp): This version also includes all BLTC's (Better Living Through Chemicals) spawned chems and alcohol. Requires that you have RI/PN, RiPnO - Real Injuries, and BLTC all installed and activated. See the ReadMe for details (Arwen_RiPnO_Patch.txt).

Compatibility:

• I've attempted to make all my mods compatible with all the mods on my FO3 mod list.
  
• Fully compatible with MMM (with my compatibility patch)
  
• Fully compatible with EVE - Energy Visuals Enhanced (with my compatibility patch)
  
• Fully compatible with RH_Ironsights–FOSE
  
• DLC and GOTY Edition: Fully compatible with all the DLC, in that they should not cause any conflicts. Most of my mod's gameplay changes are global in how they alter the DR of weapons and the AR of armor. So ALL DLC-added weapons and armor will also be affected by my Tweaks. If you have the GOTY edition installed or have all 5 DLCs, you should install my GOTY Realism Core patch (just select then when you install my Realism Tweaks).
  
• 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 Med-Tec module is not compatible with ANY mods that add injuries, treatments, or needs (or that modify food, beverages, or chemical/medicine).
  
• My Realism Tweaks are 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).
  
• Load order of the 4 modules:
  1.) Arwen_Realism_Core.esp
  2.) Arwen_Hard-Core.esp
  3.) Arwen_Encumbrance.esp
  4.) Arwen_Med-Tec.esp

Known Issues or Bugs:
Credits:

• Bethesda Softworks, for making Fallout 3.
• The Fallout Script Extender team for making http://fose.silverlock.org/
  
• 'DarN', for making the http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1085562-wipzbeta-darnified-ui-f3/ mod
  
• 'Imp of the Perverse', for his http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=12977 and for personally helping me add my Strain stat to DarN's UI.
  
• 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 - no longer needed with my Realism Tweaks.
  
• 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 - now integrated into my Realism Core module as a toggleable option.

only got to play for a couple of hours, but I think the amount of radiation you get from dirty water is a tad too high in my opinion. With sleeping its odd at times, your mod will tell me that im tired and then I go to sleep and when I wake up it tells me I a sleep of 4 to be able to nap.

Thanks for the feedback!

You should not be getting a tired message until your Sleep Need reaches 8 hours. When you load a game, it takes a minute to two for all the globals to get set properly, so you may get a faulty message or two at this time. This will happen most often when you have been playing for a while and then jump back to an earlier game, since the game hours are now way off (sort of like time is going backwards). The globals should all reset ok, but it takes a minute.

You cannot sleep if your Sleep Need is less than 4 hours. If you try to sleep, the sleep menu will still open, you can still set the number of hours you would like to sleep, and the screen will still go black (like you are sleeping). But then you'll receive the "You are not sleepy enough for a nap!" message; and if you check the time, no time has actually passed.

As for the Dirty Water . . . it is the same as the Nuka-Cola. If you have the Sanitizer in your inventory, both will have less Rads.

This link has a ')' after the .htm part which breaks it.

Thanks, and fixed. I'm still updating my website (which has been neglected for a while).

I bought the My First Infirmary add-on for my Tenpenny home, but the trauma/burns healing option doesn't seem to work. When I select it, even though I have a trauma level of around 3 (burns at 0), nothing happens. No stimpak is removed and the trauma level isn't reduced.

Is this a bug, or because my trauma level isn't high enough to be worth treating? It doesn't seem to be high enough to show up in the med-tec scanner, so maybe that's the case.

All the other options do work.

You should be able to treat your trauma, as long as your Trauma Level is above 2.
And you should be able to treat burns above level 3.

There is however, a bug that I just discovered that will remove 1 stimpak from your inventory, even when your trauma or burn Levels are lower than what can be treated . . . so make sure that your injuries are high enough to need treatment, or you'll waste a stimpak. (This will be fixed in v.5.1).

Where do I get bandages? Besides buying them from doctors, I guess. I haven't talked to one yet. I've opened at least 20 medical supply kits so far and I have found no bandages in there. Surely it should be possible to find some in those? My luck is 4.

It may take a day to so for bandages and antibiotics to start showing up (which is why you were given a couple at the end of the quest). And your Luck will affect the amount that will be found. My own Luck is only 3, but I seemed to be finding enough in my own game. This is a tough thing to balance . . . I may have to hand place some medical supplies with some of the vendors, if they are not showing up often enough.

I understand bandages being around for while as cotton does not simply "go bad" per say. But is there a way to make a make shift bandage? So long as the material used is sterilized I would see a hardened waste lander out on the land being able to make stuff from the local area.

A list of miscellaneous stuff that could be turn into something useful:

-Clothing could be cut into bandages.
*Straight could cause disease %. Disease could be a spell that would do small increments of damage over time. The only way to cure it would be some sort of antibiotic or a doctor recovery.
*Sterilized would soak blood a small amount but heals better. Causing a small wound. A blood pack would rectify this. Morphine to stem the pain and a brace to slow the damage.
*Using liquor on cloth first or after could sterilize it. Cutting it with a scalpel to get it just right.

-Antibiotic Preparation using the Lab table to field kit for lesser versions based on medial skill.
*Various plants, items and byproducts of kills etc could allow for interesting combination's to then craft these products of curing an infection or disease.

I appreciate the feedback, but I have no intention of making my Med-Tec into a mod that would require that much micromanagement.

But the bigger problem is one of balance.

If you can just make your own bandages, and antibiotics out of stuff that is lying around, you won't have to buy them . . . and buying means spending caps . . . and having to visit a merchant. That is part of the problem that I had with some of the other Injury/Needs mods . . . treatment was too easy/cheap.

Thank you Arwen.

Hey Arwen. I'm thinking about upgrading from using just your core tweaks to using all four modules. If I do this on an existing character, I guess my SPECIAL points will be 5 points too high, right? Will the hardcoe module find this automatically and fix it, or should I fix it manually? I'm comfortable using the console modav down my SPECIAL points, if that's what it's gonna take to get balanced with the hardcoe module.

You're most welcome Koldunic.


Yes, removing 5 SPECIAL points should balance things out. You do understand that if you add my Hard-Core module to an existing game (beyond Level 2 or 3) your skills are going to take a major hit. How much depends on what perks and skill books you have used.

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To Everyone:

I need to know if users of my Med-Tec module are finding enough Bandages and Antibiotics. These items may be a bit scarce at first, but they should be spawning with other meds (in first aid kits), and in merchants, and doctors' inventory within a few days. If this is not happening, please let me know so that I can try to fix it in v.5.1. Also please let me know if anything else feels unbalanced or doesn't seem to be working correctly. I'll be adding MMM's meat and GOTY additions as patches in v.5.1.

Some thoughts for the Encumbrance Module.

In an earlier version I thought the strain was pretty balanced, but back then the script ran slower so sometimes it would not detect some swings or something like that, so I think you wouldn't actually get all the intended strain increases. Now that the script runs faster it is much more accurate.Overall it's nice to have it be more responsive, but I think the strain increases a bit too fast for some things.

Melee and jumping are the biggest issue I'm having.

The script feels much more sensitive to the keypresses now, so when I'm using a melee weapon if I don't let go off my left mouse button the moment I've held it long enough for the power attack to start, I get a larger strain increase than I should get for one power attack.

The strain increase from pressing the left mouse button is so quick now that melee weapons that need you to hold the left mouse button (the Ripper, or the Auto Axe from The Pitt) are simply impractical to use. Maybe the strain increase from using melee weapons could be reduced a bit?

For jumping it's not so bad since there's no reason to hold the jump button for a longer time. I do hold it too long occassionally, but nowhere near as much as with power attacks. My problem is with the jumping in the game itself: Lots of things can be difficult to jump into. I try to jump into one of those trucks on the road with goods in the back, but because something is blocking me I don't jump at all. So I have to jump again, and again have the strain increase. Or I'm having trouble jumping through a window hole in a building, and have to do it several times to get it right.

I get this all the time, and my strain increase for all the jumping just to get through the window is much higher than the effort it would realistically take to get through it. Considering half of my jumps aren't even real jumps I thought the strain increase from jumping could be reduced as well. Any thoughts?

In all of these situations I'm playing with non crippled limbs.

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I'll let you know about the bandages when they start popping up.

This character's level 2, so no worries there. I just don't want to run the face generator again.

Arwen, thanks for once again for releasing an amazing mod! Truly, I wouldn't be playing FO3 to this day if not for your realism tweaks. Loving the newest med-tech addition!

Now on to my thoughts concerning bandages and antibiotics...


I started a new game, fresh install (all my mods are on your list), everything loaded correctly and in order etc etc. After playing a while and getting into some conflicts I admit, I was overwhelmed. Combat was crazy hectic with all sorts of trauma, wounds, bleeding, etc going on. Problem was, I burned through bandages and antibiotics quicker than I could find them. Not good. At first I wanted to just say "Oh they aren't spawning enough, that needs fixing." But I first loaded up my older save (converted to new mod after clean saving). Level 16 on this save and I wasn't having as bad a problem.

It's not that on my higher level character I was finding any more med supplies, its simply that I wasn't suffering horrible wounds, bleeding, infection, etc so much. Then I remembered in the readme "armor is very important now". Ah-ha, so I went to my new character, got him some better armor, and bingo, not having such a problem now.

Okay, so to clear up my point here (yes, I'm a bit long winded):

I think the current amount of med supplies spawning is fine. I do wonder if maybe others, like myself, simply forgot that this is one of those mods that really changes the game, and thus you really must approach the game differently. It's a step up from Real Injuries and Primary Needs. Getting shot in the arm won't kill you outright, but it sure will make your life a living hell until you can treat it. So my plan? Don't get shot! When you're afraid of getting hit, you start playing much differently, you start planning, you start trying to survive and you start wearing thicker armor if you plan on going into a bullet-fest zone.

Sure, it'd be nice to have more supplies. I think that each time I get stuck in a bad situation. But when all is said and done, and I manage to pull through with just what I have, I feel like I accomplished something heroic.

If you were to make medical supplies easier to obtain, I think how bleeding out works should be changed in accordance with it. Right now bleeding out seems pretty slow. In combat it's not likely going to be a problem before I can kill everything. Then I can med-tech/bandage it up after. The challenge is of course having bandages. If bandages are suddenly aplenty, then that challenge needs to be replaced by fear of bleeding out quicker, and during combat, before you can med-tech it up.

Antibiotics should be rare I'd think for obvious reasons, and expensive if put into shops.

And on a last note, infections seem to spread and impact you rather quickly. I would think infections would work a bit slower and take a bit more time before you really start feeling the negative effects.


Thanks for the wonderful mod in any case, and keep up the good work!

I just updated ART from 4.8 to 5.0.1 and started a new character, and so far medical supplies have been fine, since the doctor in Megaton sells enough to keep me going (though it does put a sizable dent in my money supply, which is a good thing for balance). I needed quite a lot of antibiotics in the beginning, maybe because I kept getting bitten by dogs, and because infections spread quickly. Overall, I like the changes a lot, much more than I liked Real Injuries and Primary Needs. This is much simpler and straightforward, but has actually has more impact on the game. A few minor quibbles: I liked it when alcohol had benefits (+1 str, +1 cha), and it doesn't make sense to me that hard alcohol would reduce thirst (if anything, it should increase thirst). I also don't understand the logic behind red meat reducing blood loss.

Unfortunately, I'm now having problems with strain. First, as povuholo said, holding down buttons or accidentally pressing twice can have pretty drastic consequences. Second, and more importantly, when I collapse from jumping, my character does not get up. I've waited until strain goes back down to zero, but nothing happens, so I have to load an old save. It's easily reproducible by just holding down the spacebar for a few seconds. If I'm not pressing the spacebar and collapse from strain while running, then my character gets up fine.

Also a quick question. Have you been using MMM5 or MMM6 in your balances? It feels like I'm being detected by enemies much more easily when out in the wasteland during the day (I'm using MMM6). When running from house to house in Arefu (level 2 character with ~20 sneak), I had a Mirelurk see me from the river below, and run all the way up into town to attack me. However, I'm not sure if this is due to changes in your mod or Martigen's, or if it's just bad luck on my part.

Okie dokie.

But something else did catch my eye I should point out. Alcoholic beverages should not add to ones water unit in any increment at all. Alcohol is a dehydrant. You should lose points when imbibed.


Another factoid. Females can retain more water than a male can in real life. Something to think about. Males will dehydrate faster than a female. Lucky you, ladies. ^_^

Started playing, after a few game hours needs and injuries stats stopped updating. Restarting med-didn't work, had to re-install it. So far so good except I can't sleep off the last 4 hours of my sleep debt. I had 10 hour debt, went to sleep and after 6 hours woke up with a message that I'm not sleepy enough for a nap.

Also, I do think that infection spread rate is out of whack.

Try opening the console (~) clicking on yourself and type 'getav fatigue'. I've had it happen a couple of times that the large fatigue hit from reaching 100% strain was doubled, increasing the time it took for me to get up. IIRC it restores some of that fatigue after a couple of seconds so you can stand up but if you get a large fatigue hit twice it's going to take longer to get up. You won't get up until your fatigue is no longer negative. Have you tried waiting an hour (or using the console command RestoreAV Fatigue) when you're down and can't get up?


True, but I guess Arwen wanted the alcohol to have some kind of use. Without a strength/charisma bonus, if you'd also remove the water unit (or even made it a negative one) then all alcohol would be useless to the player other than for roleplaying.

Or there'd have to be an alternative advantage. Like being able to use alcohol on your wounds in the Med-tec menu to slow down the infection level rise a little bit? That would be pretty cool.

Woah, I went to pick up some alien power cells near Fort Banister, but instead of 8 stacks of 12 cells I've got 8 stacks of 255.

@Povu- Now your thinking. =)

It would make more sense to give a positive and match it with a negative. short term gain of lowering wounds / Flip that and get intoxicated. This would be interesting because knocking back some booze would get the imbiber drunk and get sloppy with shooting. BUT the upswing being you not bleeding as fast and not taking a few points of damage from something else as per being lucid. Like when a drunk gets into an accident but survives the situation where a sober person see's this happen and screams OOOHHH SHHHHHH********** !!!!!!!!!!!! *splat like a bug on a wind shield* lol

Thanks povuholo, using the console fixes things. The fatigue can easily get down to -200 levels with just a short depressing of the space bar, which takes a very long time to return to zero. Using the console is definitely immersion-breaking though, so I think this could use some sort of fix. It's not urgent though, so for now I'll just work on being more careful with my button presses.

If you'd choose to apply the alcohol to the wound you probably wouldn't drink from it as well, so it wouldn't make much sense to get drunk from doing that. Or that just drinking the alcohol would clean wounds.