So you consider the armored vault suit and leather armor (each being 15 lbs) to be heavy armor? Otherwise I agree with your evaluation of good sneaking practices and follow then religiously, but I still feel I get detected too easily when I'm unseen. I also agree that MOBs should be alerted by the gunshot (from non-silenced weapons), but at the same time I'm uneasy about the idea because when I don't get a sneak attack I can unload a full clip of 10mm into head and torso and still fail to take down simple raiders. By way of perspective, I'm at L6 with 62 sneak and 70 small guns, and I always keep my guns between ~2/3 and 3/4 repair.


Can you give me some examples of what factors you are referring to, beyond what I already mentioned about my character? Assume I'm using your Survival mod.



I was actually referring with how head crippling will affect MOBs. Like I said, it doesn't seem to have any effect in Vanilla.




For the most part I agree with regard to bullets, though I strongly disagree regarding melee, especially since I have 4 STR and only Grognak has done anything for my melee skill. Based on your experience though, do you think it would be possible (to extend sneak attack into caution mode)?

Edit: My game experience.

I loaded the full mod into a game in progress. The only other mods I was using originally were http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=518, the Cross-Repair set (http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1838 and http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=183) and some texture and music replacers. I'm L6 with 62 sneak and 65 SG (70 was with the Armored Vault Suit buff). My primary wep is the 10mm, which is reading 17 damage in it's current condition. Secondary is the hunting rifle which reads 44. On the path between the Minefield and the train station is where I did my testing; three Raiders patrol there. For me, two had SMGs and one had a knife or something. I tried my pistol first. Sneak attack crit to the head was at best around 1/3 HP. On average, it took a sneak crit plus 10 more shots, mostly torso, to take him down. When I managed mostly head shots it was 6-7 more rounds. Either way, by the time I accomplished this the other two were hot on me, and I got owned. So I tried the rifle. I took him out in one sneak crit, and I was barely able to escape at the slightly brisk walk which is my run speed. But I only tried that once, and I'd count it more as luck than anything else. Down to two now, I went for the one with the SMG. This one was about as tough as the first, taking between 5-11 more rounds after a crit sneak head shot. I was actually worse off when I went with the SMG the first raider dropped, which was quite a surprise considering how effective that weapon was against me. I did like how the guy with the knife went for the second guy's gun, but either way he was much weaker and went down in only 2-3 shots even without a sneak crit.

First, the good. There were a few times when I probably would have been detected in Vanilla, but wasn't with the mod. I was definitely made to take a more strategic path than I usually would (ie going for the gunners first), which is pleasing. And the melee raider grabbing the SMG on his way to attack me was fantastic. Good stuff indeed.

Now, the not so good. The penalty for wearing heavy armor is great in theory, but the cut-off is too low. I've not seen anything I would call armor below 10lbs; maybe the Tunnel Snake outfit, but it's a stretch to call that armor. And the penalty is definitely noticeable. I did a mere sidestep while wearing the Armored Vault Suit - I'm not even sure I actually moved position - and was detected at a much greater range than when I was when 'lightly' armored. Otherwise I wore a pre-war outfit.

I had mixed results with re-hiding, but generally one false move and any chance of surprise (or for that matter, survival) was out the window. And after being detected, forgeddaboudit. There's no running away since I can't, ya know, run. It's a stretch even to call it jogging. I remember how much trouble I had when I encountered the Talons at the metro. Essentially, I ran away and lost them. I can safely say that there is no way I would have survived that encounter with this mod enabled.

Moreover, the increased response of other MOBs generally ended as I suspected, ie. in a painful death (for me). It's definitely realistic, but I can't imagine actually playing through the game like this. The increased difficulty due to this aspect alone is not balanced out by any practical benefits that I can see. My pistol is still effectively obsolete even with well placed shots against raiders, which means so much for a silenced pistol regardless of how it might change the dynamic. I don't even want to imagine what it would take to kill a mutant. Not that I'd ever take on a mutant with a pistol, but if it scales I'm thinking at least the same number of rifle shots, all to the head. While on the subject of weapons, I hadn't paid any attention to Vanilla but the damage for a 10mm SMG (49 damage at ~40%) seems incredibly excessive when compared to the pistol, if it is damage per shot. If anything an SMG should do slightly less damage per shot than a pistol with the same ammo. If it is damage per second, though, maybe it makes sense. In any case, if it had been nearly as effective for me as it was against me I might have packed one for tight spots; but the severe decrease in carrying capacity (190 -> 70) means that carrying a wider variety of weapons (much less looting much of anything I come across) is out.

So there you have it, for what it's worth. The short of it being, this mod will not be remaining in my load order, at least not in its current state.

No. I don't consider those two types of armor to be heavy armor. In reality, there is no actual line that you cross between light and heavy armor ... it is progressive (it uses a multiplier), in that sense that the heavier the armor, the more difficult it should be to sneak in it. The 10 pound armor weight was just the line that is crossed, concerning the sneak/weight penalties ... between the default setting and my mod's settings.

Personally, I feel that the armor in FO3 was not thought out very well, and the armor weight doesn't always make much sense to me ... there is NO way that that Badlands armor should weigh 15 pounds! I wasn't totally happy with my setting, but they were a compromise ... and you're actually the first person who has actually complained that my armor weight/sneak changes were too harsh ... so I sort of felt that, since everyone seemed happy with my changes, that they were ok. This is exactly why I need feedback here! I just reevaluated my settings and have come up with new settings that are a bit less harsh. With version 2.5, you'll be be quieter wearing armor that is under 15 lbs (than default), but noisier over 15 lbs.


I actually listed the main ones in my last reply: "ALL weapons now do 2.5 times more damage (but will not do nearly as much damage if they are not in good condition); and everyone (including creatures) have considerably less HPs; but All armor has 50% more DR (but much less DR when not in good condition). If your weapon is in good condition, and your arms are not crippled, and you have some decent skill with small guns (like 25 or higher) you should find that it takes fewer shot to kill both NPCs and creatures. Of course your character will also be easier to kill." There are a LOT of settings that are used in factoring in how many HPs are removed by each bullet ... and some are based on chance, with a random value being selected (from a range of values).


My mod changes the Perception Magnitude setting ... which, as far as I know, should also affect the NPCs.


If you want to be better at melee, you need to create a character that has a better than average STR, instead of using a lower than average value. STR=5 is average. A character with STR=4 is a weaker than average character, who should not do nearly as well at melee as a strong character. Whacking someone with a baseball bat doesn't take all that much skill, yet a stronger person would be able to hit harder (do more damage).

My understanding is that you receive the Combat Sneak Bonus as long as you were undetected, and I know no way to change this.


Thanks so much for taking the time to give such a full report of your experience using my mod! This is the type of stuff that I've been begging users of my mod for! I can't fix things if I don't even know that they need fixing. So thanks ... I really appreciate it.

My first thought was that one of your previous mods had left changes behind in your saved game (which I discovered can happen). With my level 2 character, with a Small Gun skill of only 26, using a 10mm I can kill most Raiders with just 2 or 3 shots [I just tested it to make sure, with regular combat (not VATS) and I only used 10 bullets to kill 3 Raiders ... and I'm sure that I missed at least once]. My 10mm was at +90%, with a DR of 18, so our weapons are nearly identical. So something is messed up, if it is taking you 3 times as many shots as me to kill Raiders. It could still be that old mods are messing this up some. Your skill is like 3 times as high as mine, and that is still factored in with my mod (although to a lesser degree than with vanilla). The only other big difference is that you are at level 6 and I am at level 2. So I took a closer look at my Health Level Modifiers values ... and I discovered that the modifier for the NPCs was set at a higher value than I intended (this sort of thing happens when you play test will as many changes as my mod uses). I wanted NPCs to gain more HP than the Player as you level up ... as a way to make the higher levels more challenging (which has always been an issue for me). So I thinking that the problem is that the NPCs are getting too many HPs as you gain levels. With my mod; at level 6, an average NPC, with END=5, was supposed to have 190 HP ... what they were actually ending up with is 215 HPs! This makes them more difficult to kill than I meant them to be. I've corrected this in version 2.5 (which should be done in a few days).

But this error isn't enough to account for the difference, because even with the higher HPs, your Level 6 Raiders should only have 39% more HPs than my Level 2 Raiders, so they should not be able to survive more than 4 or 5 bullets from your 10mm. Did you do a clean save between the time that you uninstalled your previous mods and installed my Tweaks? If not, this could be part of your problem.


Re-hiding is not impossible ... I do it all the time in my game. You have to get out of the line of sight of your enemies and remain out of sight for a while (involves a random timer).


My mod actually makes it easier to out run your enemies. All my movement changes affect the NPC just the same as they do the player character. The advantage now is that NPCs often don't holster their weapon when they are chasing you ... and I've increased the speed bonus for having your weapon holstered ... all you have to do is remember to holster your weapon.


All my weapon changes are global ... I didn't change any settings for any individual weapons. Buy a backpack, and you'll be able to carry more (comes with RI/PN, or install the http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2553 mod. Or make a stronger character, so that you can carry more.

problem is the weapon_holstered_speed_bonus doesn't allow you to run faster... it makes weapon equipped running slower(!), but running is slow enough to begin.

That's just not true.

Character's movement speed is based on fMoveBaseSpeed, which is multiplied by fMoveNoWeaponMult when your weapon is holstered.

My mod increases fMoveBaseSpeed from 77 to 80; and the fMoveNoWeaponMult from 1.1 to 1.3. The net result is that your character will walk 4% faster with my mod when your weapon is out, and 19% faster when your weapon is holstered.

Your running speed is determined by the fMoveBaseSpeed and multipling it by the value of fMoveRunMult (which is then multiplied by fMoveNoWeaponMult when your weapon is holstered).

The default walking speed was a bit slow (which is why I increased it). But running is NOT slow in the game. In real life, people in armor do NOT run over rough terrain 4 times faster than they walk (my mod changes this to a factor of 3). Both running and walking LOOK slow, because the default turning speed was set too low (which is why I also increased it.)

Hi Arwen!

First let me say that I LOVE your mods lists, both the Fallout 3 and the Oblivion one.

I want to know something, I had some issues with some mods listed in the Oblivion list (mostly the sound disappeared, because I have a non English version) and I would want to know if there are any incompatibility with a non-English version of the game. If there are, is there any patch that can solve those issues?

Thanks for all your work

Right, I was referring solely to stealth melee attacks. As I'm sure you are aware, often such attacks are modified by agility rather than strength, and for good reason. I'm pretty sure it was so in OB, but I'm not so sure about FO; I've seen nothing that specifically says so, but then I've never gotten nearly close enough to do a melee attack while stealthed, so maybe I shouldn't even be worrying about it.


Yes, you only get the multiplier when undetected or 'hidden'. In OB, if I recall correctly, you also got it when you were in the equivalent of 'Caution' mode. I was hoping there was a way to make it so in FO.


Your appreciation is much appreciated. I was a bit harsh on certain things (armor weight and run speed) but I did intend for the critique to be constructive. And speaking of armor weight, I can see how it must be a tricky issue due to the poor way it was implemented. It's not that I think it is necessarily too harsh - admittedly, the vault suit is not ideal sneaking gear - it's just that in my experience, besides clothing there is nothing save the Tunnel Snake outfit that meets your cut off. To put it another way, it is the armor weight (and selection) that is unreasonable, not necessarily your method.



At lower levels (in Vanilla) my experience was more like what you described. In S-D Mart, for example, I took out most of the Raiders with one crit sneak head shot (CSHS) from my 10mm. Those that didn't fall needed only a smack with the baseball bat, which I counted as acceptable if not ideal. Then I began coming across the occasional Raider that required a CSHS with the rifle to take down; now even that is usually not enough. Part of the problem, admittedly, may be that I'm still using the same weapons I was using at L2, but I simply haven't found a replacement for the pistol, and the ammo for the basic sniper rifle is still too scarce. Regardless, I don't think anything human should be able to survive - or at the very best continue to pose a threat after - so much as two shots to the head, even from a small pistol. I'm all for a challenge, but having to stop and mull over how many times I may have to shoot a Raider in the head to get a kill is rather immersion breaking, not to mention phenomenally unrealistic. That isn't directed at your mod specifically, but at Vanilla as well. It was my first encounter with the three Raiders mentioned that drove me to look for some kind of modification to begin with. The problem is (from my perspective), your mod didn't make them any easier to kill, but it definitely made me so.



I've never added anything this 'big' to an existing game, so I may have gone about it wrong. Here's what happened, as best as I can recall. I added the mod to the end of the load order (I did not touch the existing mods) and loaded a save from an interior cell (a house in Minefield). There were still mobs in the house for that save so I loaded another one since I needed to wait until nightfall. I waited until night, then left the house. I got my bearings wrong on the trip to my test ground so I fast traveled back to Minefield and started the journey again. I had had my sound off but when I neared the Raiders I decided to turn it on. I only mention this because it was then that I noticed that all my SFX were gone. GNR was out of range, so the only sound I got was from Enclave Radio. Even the DLC radio signals and main menu sounds were missing. I didn't think much of it, then a bit later my mouse clicks stopped working in game. They worked in the menu, and I think in the PB, but I could not fire or aim my gun. So I quit and reloaded (a new save I had made near the Raiders) and I didn't have any further problems. It was at this point that my previous account began. I probably should have mentioned all this but, frankly, I wasn't sure how open you would be to criticism so I wanted to keep it to the point. And, as I said, it didn't seem to me very likely that my mods could cause any conflict. Though it just occurred to me that I am also using all the DLCs except MZ.



I admit I didn't holster my weapon when I was trying to escape, but I from my experience I don't see how it would have made much difference. Several times I had quite a bit of distance between myself and a Raider and got behind a rather large outcropping of rock. To little effect, as he found me forthwith each time. And he seemed to know right where I was, rather than happening across me while searching. Don't get me wrong, I think the run speed is reasonable for 'casual' travel, but when being chased by several goons with guns it just seems ridiculously slow. If there was some sort of a 'Sprint' ability with a cooldown period I would be of a different mind.



Don't get me wrong, again I think your weight change is realistic, but just not reasonable within the game; I never go into battle with more than 40 lbs of equipment, and of all the various and sundry garbage I pick up along the way, never have I made use of any of it such that I would be 'using' more than 70 lbs. So the only effect this has on my play is that it forces me to waste more of my real-life time traveling back and forth from cleared areas to gather up everything. I gather you are rather set in this, so I'm not looking for an argument, just making an observation.

I like realism - though perhaps not so much as some - but it seems like this pushes all the hindrances of reality onto the player, but none of the benefits. By way of benefits, my particular qualm is that it should never take more than two - and rarely more than one - head shots to 'decommission', well, pretty much anything, though I'm willing to give the super muties a pass on this. Again, this isn't directed at your mod specifically, though that being said all the 'hindrances' would be more acceptable if only head shots were realism-ized as well. However, one thing I hadn't mentioned before (because I hadn't really considered it throughly) was that I seemed to get crippling hits when out of sneak more often, and the effects of crippling were much more pronounced; with the exception of head crippling. I still saw no practical loss of effectiveness from the Raiders with crippled heads. To be fair though, I also saw no loss of effectiveness in my character in such a state either.

All that being said, I could stand to re-evaluate my tactics a bit more, particularly going for the useful crippling shots rather than the head for a (presumably-but-in-fact-not-so) quick kill. And maybe there is something nasty going on from other mods, or due to the way I (mis)loaded the mod mid-game. I don't want to start a new game right now, but otherwise if you have any suggestions for getting set up right I'm up for another go at it.

A small tip I have for testing these kinds of things, assuming you have plenty of disk space.... When I do a Bethesda install (aka Oblivion or Fallout and anything else that coming down the line), I load up to a certain point - In this case with Fallout I load the main game, patch to 1.7, add GECK, patch GECK, add DLC's, run the game once, tweak the ini files, add Unofficial Patch and DarnUI. After all that I make a copy of the game's Data directory and the ini files. Now if I want to test other mods I can rename my current active data folder and copy the other "fresh data" folder back into the main game and start a new slew of mods, or if I just get to the point where I want to do a complete mod reinstall, viola.

Having said all that, my style of play is to shoot with no crosshair and no VATS. I can't say precisely how reliably I land head shots, but I've seen criters go down with a single head shot, and raiders with 2 or so (I can see where the blood particles sprout to tell where I've hit). Combat currently "feels" right to me with Arwen's tweaks. I've just started so I'm still fighting noob mobs for the most part, but I do have to wonder if another mod is causing your fights to be more difficult then mine. Fights seem to be pretty quick, and as Arwen has stated her changes are global, so they should effect everything at once. Would head armor be a factor here now that DR is upped by her mod? I know the guys with welding helmets seem to take much more punishment.

Holstering my weapon is indeed a good means for escape, it's the first thing I do when my fight or flight toggles to the latter.

I definitely think upping the stealth modification limit to 15 armor is a good catch, but I do feel other elements "feel" just right, including stealth and melee. I managed to hide from three raiders in broad daylight behind a rock. The moment I moved one of the raiders that had fallen back spotted me, and came after me. I managed to take her down quickly, and the other two raiders who walked down a steep hill side came up some time later in a search mode. I don't know if vanilla would have magicly alerted all the raiders, but the whole encounter seemed very real.

The weight limit is perfect imo. One of her suggested mods adds backpacks that THEN allow you to go scavenging, and I love this element. I set off on little excursions during the day to either get a quest done or explore, and try to make it back by nightfall (using Fellout with it's pitch black nights and a very slow timescale setting). Often pre-backpack when I'm coming back with a haul I'm over my weight limit, so I'm hoping nothing's come along between me and safety since the time I set out. It's a slow paced way of playing, but I love it as I'm svcked into the game's world.

I'm not trying to defend the mod against any criticism, I'm just offering the other side of the coin from someone who started off right away with Arwen's mod list and her tweaks. I play another game that's got the same kind of mod community (OpFlash / ArmA series) and one thing I've learned is you get used to a certain style of play and you build these little mini-strategies in your head as you adapt to the game. When something comes along that shakes it up, the changes can seem more radical at first then they are while you acclimate to the new environment the mod creates.

Thanks! Unfortunately I don't know of any patches that solve these type of sound issues. Maybe someone else here can help you if you make a separate topic for it.

That was my intent ... to make the NPCs tougher to kill as you level up ... but, as I stated in my previous reply, I mistakenly had the NPCs getting way more HPs as you level up than I intended. This will be corrected in version 2.5 (which should be done in a few days, with any luck).


Think of holstering your weapon as a sprint toggle. You move 1.3 times faster with your weapon holstered ... which is 30% faster. This makes a HUGE difference in being able to out run your enemies, when they have their weapons out (like when they are shooting at you). If your character is running the equivalent of 10 mph (jogging speed), holstering their weapon will enable them to run 13 mph (a fasting running speed). The best way to get away from any NPC is to aim at their legs ... with my increased crippled leg penalty, this will really slow them down.


The idea is to make it more difficult to clear entire areas of loot. Pick up only what you need and, the next time through, there will still be some good loot worth left. The default game makes it too easy to just take everything, which enables you to earn caps too fast, which enables you to upgrade your weapons and armor too fast, which eliminates much of the game play challenges.


I'm guessing that you have some residual effect from older mods causing balancing issues. You could try going back to where you first uninstalled those mods and do a http://amito.freehostia.com/Fallout/FO-tips.htm#Clean_Save.

Version 2.5 is nearly ready (just have some more testing to do, and if things look good, I'll get right to work on the Readme.) If all goes well, I might be able to release it late this evening. This update only changes about 20 game settings, but the results in gameplay is still pretty dramatic.

I'm testing some changes that may improve the way that NPC flee during combat, which I'm hoping to include in v.2.5.

I'm also trying to improve the way that NPCs look for better weapons, by changing some of the distance and timing settings.

Other changes in v.2.5 will include:
- longer cool down time for automatic weapons (which should now also affect NPCs)
- Better calculations for my reduced HPs (restores default END multiplier, and reduces the HP level bonus for NPC to what I had intended ... they will still gain twice as many HPs per level as the PC).
- Pain will have an even greater effect than it did in v.2.4
- Corrected an error that I made in the gun spread settings when your arms are crippled (affects PC and NPCs) ... both should now be less accurate at shooting in v.2.5 with damaged arms; but more accurate when arms are not damaged.
- Adjusted armor weight penalties for sneaking ... so that armor < 15 pounds makes less noise (than in default); and armor > 15 pounds makes more noise (than in default).

Most of this version's changes are in direct response to the feedback that I have received here and on FO3Nexus ... so please keep the feedback coming, so that I can keep improving my Realism Tweaks.

Version 2.5 is now available! This update makes some changes to only about 34 individual game settings, but the results in game play is still pretty dramatic.

Major changes in Version 2.5:

1.) Better calculations for my reduced HPs (Survival module). Restores default END multiplier to the PC (results in 10% more HPs than with v.2.4); increases the END multiplier slightly and sets the HP level bonus for NPC to what I had intended ... they will now gain twice as many HPs per level as the PC (this was mistakenly set at 3 times more).

2.) Improved the way that NPC flee during combat (Smarter AI module). Fleeing involves a number of settings, including some that are randomly picked from within a range of values, making the decision to flee random. So you may not initially notice any difference from my previous version. But you should notice a marked difference after playing for a while. Overall, NPCs should now be more aggressive during combat, and the ones that do flee, should attempt to take cover further away and stay hidden for a bit longer ... but they should eventually get up enough courage to return to combat (that's my theory for how it should now work).

3.) NPCs should wait longer before looking for a better weapon (Smarter AI module). NPCs should now immediately engage in combat, and then attempt to grab a better weapon when one is available nearby. You'll still find that NPCs will loot ammo boxes for grenades, when the ammo boxes are within their seeking range.

4.) Adjusted armor weight penalties for sneaking ... so that armor < 15 pounds makes less noise (than in default); and armor > 15 pounds makes more noise (than in default) (Sneak module).

5.) Pain now has an ever greater effect on player than in version 2.4 (Survival module)

6.) Automatic weapons now take 5 seconds to cool down (default was just 1 sec.), and this should now also affect NPCs (Survival module)

7.) Corrected an error that I made in the gun spread settings when your arms are crippled (affects PC and NPCs) ... both should now be less accurate at shooting in v.2.5 with damaged arms; but more accurate when arms are not damaged (Survival module).

8.) A number of small tweaks ... mostly in the Smarter AI and Survival modules.
I've updated the first post in this thread to reflect the changes that Version 2.4 makes [see opening post for more details].

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=7565

Update sounds awesome.

My one meh area currently in the game is with lockpicking. It was obviously designed for a less precise controller set up than a mouse and keyboard. Does lockpicking ever become.. difficult? I find either I can pick any lock or I'll get a message that my skill's too low. I hardly ever actually break a pin, and I probably have enough to melt down and build a helicopter with... well ok, maybe a toy helicopter.

Doesn't seem to be any real lockpicking mods on the nexus, so I have to wonder if it's even tweakable..?

Thanks! If last night's play testing is any indication, this update is pretty awesome! It has been difficult to get things balanced the way that I want, but I'm now getting much closer than in my previous versions. I was play testing the new NPC flee settings and was really happy with how much better this now seems to be. It was a huge improvement over my previous attempts at tweaking this. I just hope that my game play last night is typical of what others experience . . . if it is, I think most people will really enjoy the changes.

Most of this version's changes are in direct response to the feedback that I have received ... so please keep the feedback coming, so that I can keep improving my Realism Tweaks.

Same time I dropped in your new tweak file I had updated to the newest nvidia drivers, the 190.62's. Still buggy as heck for F3, lots of hitching.. stick with 186.18's for now for best F3 drivers if anyone's having problems.. but uh yeah, in my frustration I decided to go on a Megaton rampage >.> The AI put up one heck of a wild west shoot out. Coming at me in packs, back peddling when I was on the offense.. just needed some Juno Reactor playing in the background. <.<

Good stuff.

BTW here's a simple little mod I found that I really like, I'm using the +25% radius.
http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1303

First time I've tried out these tweaks and already it's a must have mod. AI is MUCH better, fighting is really down and dirty. The fleeing behaviour seems quite realistic. The chinese stealth suit doesn't seem to be as effective as in the vanilla game - is that deliberate? Based on an hours play the mod seems well nigh perfect, hard to think of any suggestions to improve it. 10/10

Thanks too for the Fallout 3 (and Oblivion) mod recommendations on your site - improved my games immensely.

Thanks so much for posting your report on doing a rampage with my mod installed. Not really what I had considered it being applied to when I designed it ... but still good to know that it can works well, when the AI is really being pushed.

I tried Realistic Explosions for a while, but found it a bit harsh after using it with my Realism Tweaks, especially since I am also using http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2917 ... but anyone who wants things a bit tougher should consider giving it a try. I'm now using http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=6439, which adds some immersive realism to explosions, while not increasing the explosive radius. It adds a knockdown effect that affects both NPCs and the player character, if they are within the blast radius ... which extends out further than the blast-injury radius.



Thanks for posting your mini-review of my mod here. I didn't touch the chinese stealth suit, so I'm guessing that its reduced effectiveness is the result of my global stealth changes . . . which I view as a positive result, since it keeps my changes more balanced.
And you're very welcome ... that's what my mod lists are for.

I've just started using this mod. I'm using all of the modules except for the VATS Tweaks (because I made my own ).

So we'll see how this goes, so far it looks pretty balanced!

I'm working on what has become my weekly update . . . and thought that I was pretty much finished with this mod. My problem is that I'm too critical of my own work . . . and I have a really bad habit of wandering into other areas of gameplay and messing around with the settings to see what things do.

This week I've been working with the way that different parts of the body receive damage and how that damage impacts the HPs. I've been using Mefiu's Location Damage in my own game for a while, but I'm not totally happy with the way his mod meshes with mine. My own version is similar, but has a slightly different slant and changes twice as many game settings (so far).

I'm not sure if I'll release this as a separate module or just add it to my Survival module. Anyone have any preference? Are there any parts of my Survival module that you would like separated (to be combined with this new one, if I end up making it into its own module)? If I have time I may also include a few other things in this update that I'm messing around with.

Also, I need more feedback on how my latest version (v.2.5) is working out. I can take criticism . . . honest . . . ok, so I may whine a bit. But I need to know if there are any bugs, or if I've messed up the balance in any way. I'll try to fix anything that is broken, just as fast as I can.

Realistic Fall Distance - Awesome
Need for a backback to carry weight - Awesome
Walk / Run / Injured speeds - Awesome
AI Module - Awesome +
Weapon Spreads - Awesome (I can actually crouch and aim and get head shots and I'm not even using a crosshair)
Almost falling unconscious from head injuries - Awesome
Uhm... It was 100 degrees out over the weekend and your tweaks didn't come with a rootbeer float? - *shrug*

My one complaint I had early on when I first tried out your mod / tweaks doesn't seem to apply anymore, I was constantly taking damage to the head. From the vault security guards to the bloat flies, it must have been that red cap that guy gives you on your b-day, everything thinks it's a bullseye. I read a complaint about that somewhere else too (I think it was tied to Real Injuries on the Nexus comments), but either through tweaking, or it was just bad luck that one time it's not been the case as of late.

Now that I'm thinking on this I have to wonder if the game already decides what's injured based roughly on where you're struck. Melee attacks especially - if it's tweakable and not already set up this way I would say melee attacks should favor limbs. Even a four legged creature you're gonna put your arm up or kick at it instinctively to guard any attacks to the chest when you can.

Your AI module is a big hit -everywhere- by the way. I've seen it mentioned many places now.

I've started a new character with the full version of this mod instead of FWE and I really like it.

The tweaks are really good and the AI is awesome
NPCs are dangerous but still a couple of bullets can take them down. :goodjob:

Only problem I've seen so far : it looks BoS soldiers are running in slow mo (the animation is really slow). Running speed of the player and others NPCs I've met is fine thought.

Anyway, thank you for this great mod

Thanks for the feed back guys ... I really appreciate it.


Well, it was cool up here . . . so if my mod was bundled with a beverage, it would have been hot chocolate.


I don't see how my mod would have anything to do with an increase in receiving head shots, unless that is just a byproduct of the improved AI (but I seriously doubt it).

The body damage tweaks that I am currently working on will make head shots even more deadly (equal to the head damage that an NPC receives), but will also reduce the VATS chance of a successful head shot. So, if anything, my next version could make this worse (not the percentage, but the damage you'll be getting) . . . but I'm hoping that my other changes to NPC (and creature) body parts will keep things fairly balanced.




My guess it that the BoS slow down is being caused by my Power Armor Tweaks ... as it reduces agility a point (to offset the carrying capacity increase). There's another setting that might be causing the problem. I'll see if I can find a way to fix (or at least reduce the slow down) . . . thanks for letting me know about this.
And you're very welcome.

I may possibly have figured this out and found a way to reduce the high percentage of head shots being inflicted on the PC (and on NPCs).

But I need to know if you are using a mod like Locational Damage (that changes the way body damage is calculated).

If anyone has notice an increase in the percentage of head shots, please reply to the above, so that I can solve this.

Wow, do share! I've been remaking the game's damage system to go with my Shooter mod and have noticed that NPCs always aim for the head. It becomes quite a problem when they just whittle away the condition of the helmet until an incapacitation can occur, regardless of other armor. They may not always hit the head, but if you increase their accuracy you can see that it's always the target--even with melee weapons. The iCombatTargetPlayerSoftCap setting seemed most promising but I didn't see any change when its value was modified.

can someone create a video and upload it so we can see how this mod changes the game similar to FWE? would love to see this mod in a video

Arwen,

Just wanted to say that I've been using your AI tweaks (and urging others to try it) on top of FWE . . . really adds a lot to the experience!

I'd be curious to see what you have come up with regarding accuracy tweaks (i.e. getting hit in the head all the time). Combat Enhanced Tactics used a game settings that was like fNPCMaxGunWobble or something like that (filter for wobble in the gamesetting GECK list). He doubled the original value and it definetly seemed to reduce their accuracy overall a bit, which works well alongside mods like FWE and your tweaks that adjust the global accuracy values. Did you come up with anything else?

I don't know if any of your tweak users have reported it either, but I've been struggling with FWE's changes not giving the most consistent / accurate results in VATS. Many times with only 1-5% chance to hit, all the bullets seem to hit, or a much higher percentage than should be. I'm not sure if this is a problem with VATS related gamesettings or the general accuracy gamesettings.

Cheers!


EDIT: This is purely speculation, but I feel like the VATS hit % numbers you see on screen are not based on the same thing that the actual hit %'s are reporting. I of course have no way to verify this =)