» Sun Jun 03, 2012 6:46 am Release 1.0 (officially out of beta!)
The following utilities are required for CCO to function properly:
New Vegas Script Extender (NVSE)
http://nvse.silverlock.org/
Fallout Mod Manager (FOMM)
http://www.newvegasnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=36901
>> http://ooccommunity.com/media/cirosans-classic-overhaul/
Welcome to Cirosan's Classic Overhaul! The goal of CCO is very simple: To make a player's choices matter by introducing a variety of new content designed to encourage careful decision-making and roleplaying. However, what makes CCO unique is that it is modular - that is to say, each file can be used independent from one another. Of course, they're all designed to be used together, but for the most part everything's up to you. Everything that CCO does is designed to make for a more interesting and fulfilling New Vegas experience.
CCO follows several design philosophies:
- Choices and consequences - Core game formulas and mechanics have been altered to discourage min-maxing but still augment your character's design. Putting points into something shouldn't just marginally improve it - you'll see immediate, qualitative changes.
- Compatibility with other mods and old saves - CCO is designed to play nice with as many other mods as possible, and can be integrated into an existing save painlessly.
- Customization to suit your needs - Don't like it? Don't use it! Pick and choose what you like in CCO to customize your New Vegas experience to your liking!
- Quality over quantity - CCO may not be the most sizeable mod out there, but what it does, it should do uniquely and interestingly.
- Gameplay Changes – The crux of the overhaul. Many game formulas are changed and the function of V.A.T.S. is different altogether.
- Classic Perks – Reintroduces many classic perks and traits from Fallout 1, 2, and even from Tactics. Note that this can be used independently and was made with compatibility in mind, so even if you despise the rest of what this overhaul does, you can still use just this and have all the extra perks you want!
- Follower Tweaks – Overhauls the impact of companions. Followers now only do half-damage, but only take half-damage as well. The maximum number of followers you can have at once is now based on your Charisma, instead of always being two.
- Damage Resistance – Reimplements Damage Resistance into the game to you and to all NPCs. However, they follow strict formulas and can never rise above 25%.
- Perk Rebalance – Intended to bring vanilla perks more into line with Classic Perks, above, this module reduces many erroneous requirements from several perks and alters the effects of others.
All compatibility, patching, and load order information can be found in the readme included in the download. CCO is compatible with Project Nevada.
Classic Perks
The Classic Perks module does exactly what it says on the tin: It adds more perks to the game! Well, not just perks, but quite a few traits as well. Many of them are inspired by similarly-designed mechanics in Fallout 1 and 2, but there are a considerable amount of original creations too.
Traits
Adrenaline Junkie
You're hooked to the sudden rush you feel after you end some other poor bastard's life. You regain 10 Action Points whenever you kill something in V.A.T.S., but you regenerate Action Points only half as fast.
Bruiser
You hit like a mack truck, but your swings are also a little on the slow side. Unarmed and melee attacks do 20% more damage, but your attack speed is 20% slower.
Determined
Nothing can stop you when you put your mind to something. You have a permanent Damage Threshold bonus of 15 and your limbs are twice as hard to cripple - but all chems (including Stimpaks!) have no effect on you.
Fear the Reaper
Live hard and fast, that's always been your plan. You gain a perk every level instead of every 2, but your starting health is halved and you only gain half as much health when leveling up.
Gifted
You were born talented. However, because you were so gifted, you never spent time learning new things. You gain 7 points to raise your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats as you see fit, but only get perks every 3 levels instead of every 2.
Jinxed
You live in fortune's blind spot, often failing in spite of all probability and reason. The good news: your enemies only critically hit half the time. The bad news: you only critically hit half the time, too.
One Hander
One of your hands is scarily dextrous and quick, but the other is practically a useless lump of flesh. When using one-handed weapons, you're 20% more accurate, but you're 40% less accurate when using two-handed weapons.
One in a Million
You don't get lucky often, but when you do there's hell to pay. You're much, much less likely to score a critical hit, but your critical damage is far higher than normal.
Precision
You're not one to attack mindlessly. Putting a lot of thought into your hits, you have a 10% higher chance of scoring a critical hit, but your total damage is 30% lower.
Tactical Bombing
Relying on splash damage is for amateurs - a skilled individual will always destroy the right target at the right time. The radius of your explosives is halved, but all explosives do twice as much damage.
Notes:
If you take both the Gifted and Fear the Reaper traits, they'll cancel each other out and your perk rate will be set to 2, same as in vanilla. The other effects still work as normal though, so if you want 7 S.P.E.C.I.A.L points at the cost of max HP, don't let me stop you.
The complete list of chems that won't work on you if you have the Determined trait: Ant Nectar, Ant Queen Pheromones, Buffout, Jet, Dixon's Jet, Mentats, Med-X, Fire Ant Nectar, Ultrajet, Cateye, Tobacco, Fixer, Hydra, Rebound, Steady, Super Stimpaks, Turbo, Party Time Mentats, Psycho, Radaway, Rad-X, Rocket, Slasher, and Stimpaks. However, food, alcohol, Doctor's Bags, and herbal remedies (i.e., Healing Powder) still work just fine.
Your sneak attack criticals do not have their damage raised by the One in a Million trait, just the random criticals you score in live combat.
Perks
A Solitary Soul
Level 10
Introvert. Loner. Misanthrope. Call it whatever you like, but you prefer being alone over the company of others. When not accompanied by any companions, you run faster, recover more health from healing sources, and gain more experience.
Artful Dodger
Level 12, AGI 7
You had enough fists swung at your face and bullets fired in your direction to know when to duck and where to keep yourself in one piece. While wearing clothing, light armor, or no armor, you gain 5 Damage Threshold.
Born Leader
Level 16, CHA 8
You speak with a voice that radiates determination and fearlessness to everyone around you. All of your active followers gain bonuses to their Hit Points, confidence, and critical chance.
Bracing
Level 8, STR 6
Wandering throughout the Mojave, weapon drawn, you're no stranger to moving while at-arms. With this perk, you suffer no movement penalties while your weapon is drawn.
Cautious Nature
Level 10, PER < 10
When your blood gets pumping and your heart starts pounding, your senses become almost super-human. You gain three to your Perception while you're in combat.
Cinematic Technique
Level 12, PER 6
You're a master at lining your shots up perfectly, whether behind the camera or behind the barrel of a gun. With the Cinematic Technique perk, you gain a flat bonus of 5 to your critical chance while using V.A.T.S.
Dermal Impact
Level 14, END 7
The piercing sting of bullets might as well be drops of rain to you. With this perk, you gain 5 Damage Threshold against Guns and a permanent Damage Resistance bonus of 3%.
Devil's Advocate
Level 14, CHR 6
The devil can cite scripture to suit his purpose, and so can you. With the Devil's Advocate perk, you gain 25 points to Speech - but don't bother with redemption, because this perk becomes useless if your karma rises above Very Evil.
Evasion
Level 20, AGI 7, Sneak 75
Nothing to see here. With the Evasion perk, whenever you are about to be detected by an enemy, you will automatically become invisible for a few moments. This effect can only be activated once every five real-time minutes.
Get the Lead Out!
Level 10, AGI 6; 2 Ranks
You'd think people would be slower and more nervous while fighting for their life. Not you! With each rank of this perk, you move 10% faster when in combat.
Hide Behind Numbers
Level 22
Chalk it up to endorphins or black magic, but once the comforting numbers and targeting reticles of V.A.T.S. appear you suddenly feel tougher. You take 25% less damage from all attacks while V.A.T.S. is active.
High Roller
Level 8, LUK < 10
For some reason, whenever you sit down at the tables, Lady Luck seems to smile on you. You gain three points of Luck while you're gambling.
Human Lexicon
Level 20, INT 8
There's not a word that exists that you can't pin down the meaning and syntax of. While hacking, the range of possible passwords that can appear is decreased.
Innocent Bystander
Level 10, AGI 6, Sneak 50
You just don't look to be the thieving type. With this perk, while your karma is at a level of Good or higher, your chance of successfully pickpocketing from someone is significantly increased.
Into the Past
Level 8
You yearn for a gilded age long since past - and you're willing to walk through hell to drag the world back to it. While wearing a piece of Pre-War clothing, you gain 5 Damage Threshold and a 3% bonus to your critical chance.
Itchy Trigger Finger
Level 16, AGI 7, PER 6
Shoot first, ask questions later. What could possibly go wrong? With this perk, your firing speed with Guns and Energy Weapons is 10% faster, and it costs you 10% less Action Points to shoot in V.A.T.S.
Karma Beacon
Level 10
Actions speak louder than words. With the Karma Beacon perk, your karma has twice as much of an effect on how people react to you - for better or for worse.
Knock Out!
Level 10, STR 6, AGI 6; 3 Ranks
When you get up in your enemy's face, nothing can stop you from dishing out a little extra damage. For every rank of the Knock Out! perk, you do an extra 10% damage with unarmed attacks.
Life Support System
Level 26, Science 80, Medicine 80
Through your substantial knowledge of science and medicine, you've reprogrammed your Pip-Boy to automatically administer Med-X, Stimpaks, RadAway, Rad-X, or water whenever you need it.
Lucky Break
Level 18, LUK 7
Once you first catch a break, the good times seem to keep rolling in. When you score a critical hit on an opponent, the chance that your next hit will also be a critical hit is increased.
Harmless
Level 16, Sneak 50
People don't expect a saint like you to hit very hard. Their mistake. With the Harmless perk, your sneak attack criticals do 25% more damage. Be good though, because this perk becomes useless if your karma drops below Very Good.
Master Trader
Level 12, CHA 8, Barter 75
When you have a value in mind for something, you get what you want, no matter what. With the Master Trader perk, the buying price of all items is decreased by 25%. The value of your own items are not affected, however.
Monkey Wrench
Level 12, Repair 60
You're familiar enough with robots that taking them apart is a snap - doubly so if you don't care about putting them back together again. You deal 50% more damage against robots when using unarmed or melee weapons.
Munition Connoisseur
Level 18, Repair 90
You're only interested in the finest instruments of death. With this perk, all weapons do an extra 15% damage if their condition is 90% or better.
Mutate!
Level 12
Wasteland radiation has changed something inside you. You can change one or both of your traits, if you have any, to something else - or just remove them altogether. If you have no traits, you can choose some.
Observer Effect
Level 16, PER 6, Energy Weapons 60; 3 Ranks
Observing first-hand the disintegration of your many enemies, you know exactly what to hit and where to make your shot count. With each rank of this perk, you can bypass 3 points of Damage Threshold when using Energy Weapons.
Overwhelming Odds
Level 16, INT 4
You've learned how to tilt the odds in your favor when outnumbered. Your weapon damage and accuracy are increased and you can bypass 5 points of Damage Threshold when fighting groups of six or more enemies.
Personal Space
Level 14, Guns 50 OR Energy Weapons 50
Nothing like a round of buckshot to teach people that you like your space. With this perk, while using ranged weapons, you have an increased chance of scoring a critical hit against enemies that are within spitting distance of you.
Preemptive Strike
Level 16, PER 6
When in doubt, kill everything in sight. You can never be too sure about who's going to hurt you, after all. Your critical chance and weapon damage are increased when attacking someone who isn't actively hostile towards you.
Presence
Level 4, CHA 6
Call it pheromones or raw six appeal, but you've got that way about you that just makes people want to like you. The initial reaction of all characters is raised by 10%.
Scout
Level 4, PER 7
Your home has always been in the wilderness, exploring new places and finding new things. With the Scout perk, the experience reward for discovering new areas is tripled.
Screen Used
Level 18, PER 6
Fire it, swing it, or smash it, you've seen enough through the lens of your Pip-Boy that you know what to avoid to keep weapons intact for longer. Your weapons degrade half as fast as normal when used in V.A.T.S.
Second Wind
Level 26, END 8
Call it tenacity or plain ol' stubbornness, but sometimes you just won't stay down. Once a day, when wounded below a third of your health, there is a chance that you will instantly recover some of your health and limb status.
Six-Shooter
Level 14, Guns 50
If you can't drop someone in six shots, then you deserve to die. While using revolvers, your weapon range and attack speed are increased.
Smooth Talker
Level 2, INT < 10
You've mastered the art of pretending to know what you're talking about. With this perk, your Intelligence is increased by one - but only when you're in a conversation with someone else.
Snake Eater
Level 8, END 4
They told you not to eat it, but you did anyway. So what if you were laid up for weeks, severely emaciated? Your dogged self-exposure to the toxins of the Wasteland have made you completely immune to all forms of poison.
Soft Tissue Expert
Level 14, PER 6, Guns 60; 3 Ranks
Practice with firearms has taught you a very important life lesson: where the squishy bits on things are. With each rank of the Soft Tissue Expert perk, you can bypass 2 points of Damage Threshold when using Guns.
Steady Aim
Level 12, AGI 6, PER 6
Your hand-eye coordination borders on clairvoyance. With this perk, the spread of all ranged weapons is decreased by 25%.
Survivalist
Level 10, END 6, Survival 55, Must be playing in hardcoe Mode
Convenience and comfort are for the weak - you've learned how to make do with less, surviving with scarcer supplies than most would think possible. With the Survivalist perk, rates of thirst, hunger, and exhaustion are slowed by 20%.
Thermodynamics
Level 12, END 6
Those fancy lasers and plasma shooters can't keep you down. With the Thermodynamics perk, your Damage Threshold is increased by 5 against all Energy Weapons, and you gain 25% Fire Resistance to boot.
Torque
Level 20, STR 5, Lockpick 50
Jamming countless locks in a feat of brutish clumsiness has taught you how to best pry things apart. While lockpicking, the chance of a Force Lock attempt succeeding is increased.
Walk Without Rhythm
Level 24, AGI 7, Sneak 90
Moving soundlessly through the shadows, you almost seem to disappear at will. With this perk, you gain an invisibility effect if you stay undetected for long enough, and the effect grows stronger the longer you stay hidden.
Notes:
If you have the Steath Suit Mk. II from Old World Blues or the Prototype Medic Power Armor from Project Nevada (and their compatibility patches loaded), their Med-X and Stimpak functions will override the Life Support System perk's. However, your Pip-Boy will still administer Rad-X, Radaway, and water to you even if you have them on.
The Walk Without Rhythm perk in more detail: For every 20 seconds you stay crouched, you gain 15% invisibility, up to a maximum of 90%. If you leave Sneak mode, you instantly lose all active effects from this perk and have to start over from the bottom tier. This effect does not stack with Stealth Boys; while you will still gain benefits from this perk while using a Stealth Boy, you'll only get 1% invisibility every 20 seconds, which, coupled with the Stealth Boy's effect, takes you to a maximum of 99% invisibility. If you use a Stealth Boy while the original 15% effect is active, it will dispel itself and you'll start again from the 1% tier. If you're using Project Nevada and have the compatibility patch loaded, you'll get 15% invisibility like usual, but there will only be four tiers, for a maximum total of 90% invisibility.
Errata regarding the Evasion Perk: The Evasion effect will only be triggered if you are in Sneak mode when spotted. Once the effect triggers, you can leave Sneak mode without penalty, however. The effect lasts for approximately three seconds, and is comparable to using a Stealth Boy.
Non-standard (Hidden) Perks
Slight spoilers about the mod follow: If you want to be surprised about what other stuff there is hidden in here, skip this part!
Follower Inoculations
The advanced medicine of the Followers has boosted your immune system. You gain a permanent +10 bonus to your Rad and Poison Resistances.
You can't select this perk from leveling up; you have to earn it elsewhere. Julie Farkas at Old Mormon Fort in Freeside as well as Doctor Usanagi at the New Vegas Medical Clinic can give the inoculations to you for a price. You get a discount if you're a friend of the Followers; between the two of them, Julie Farkas has a slightly better deal. You can also get them for free if you're a Follower yourself. Finally, if you don't want to screw around with any of that, you can hack the Auto-Doc in the New Vegas Medical Clinic to inoculate you for free if your Science is at least 50 and your Intelligence is at least 4.
Rodeo Clown and Auto-Doc Wrangler
Raises your maximum HP by 10 and 20, respectively; if you get them both you get a total bonus of 30 HP.
If your Intelligence is less than 4, however, while you can't hack the Auto-Doc for the inoculations (you can still pay for them) you can get a new, different perk. Examine the Auto-Doc in the New Vegas Medical Clinic and you'll be presented with an option to ride it like a horsey. Do so. If you pass a Luck check (the check is if ((your Luck * 5) + 50) is greater than a random number between 1 and 99), the Auto-Doc will heal you somehow and your HP will be raised by 10. You can try as many times as you want until you get it. If you ride the Auto-Doc again after getting the first perk and make a second Luck check (the second check is if ((your Luck * 5) + 25) is greater than a random number between 1 and 99), you'll get the second perk and your HP will be raised by 20, for a total of 30.
Liver Let Die
Your copious consumption of alcohol has somehow raised your maximum Hit Points.
You'll notice a new challenge has been implemented with the mod: Liver Let Die. Drink 100 alcoholic beverages and you'll finish it. If at the very moment you finish the challenge your Luck is equal to 9, your max HP will be raised by 5. If at the very moment you finish the challenge your Luck is equal to 10, your max HP will be raised by 10. Note that each Liver Let Die perk is mutually exclusive; you can't get them both. If your Luck is too low, you still get XP for finishing the challenge.
Rad Regeneration
Your limbs regenerate slowly when irradiated to a level of 400 rads or above.
This is tied to another new challenge, Triple Helix. To obtain the perk, you must become severely irradiated (have 600 rads or above) three separate times. So you can't just have over 600 rads and get it – you must have over 600 rads, be healed to a radiation level of 0, and then become irradiated over 600 again.
Wasteland Saint
Your selfless refusal of violence in a ruthless world has granted you one S.P.E.C.I.A.L. point to use as you see fit.
This one is simple, but difficult to achieve. If you reach level twenty (20) without killing a single person – even in self-defense – you'll earn it. A quick way to monitor your progress is to check the “People Killed” miscellaneous stat in your Pip-Boy – if the number there is anything but zero, you won't be able to get this perk. It should go without saying that this is here to reward pacifist playthroughs.
A few other challenges relating to the new perks and traits have been included for fun, but they're pretty self-explanatory.
Gameplay Changes
The Gameplay Changes module consists of two core components: formula changes and follower tweaks. In following with CCO's design philosophy, base scores for player formulas have been drastically lowered or zeroed out entirely, but bonuses conferred by your S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats have been greatly improved. They're calculated to scale evenly, and will equal vanilla settings if your stats are average (i.e., equal to 5). The end result is less “gimme” points – while you won't get as much stuff handed to you, you'll get more out of the stats you choose to invest in.
Formula Changes
- Base action points have been lowered from 65 to 30. The Agility multiplier for action points (the AP you get per point of Agility) has been increased from 3 to 10. This means that the new formula for AP is:
If your Agility is 5, you'll have the exact same AP as you would start with in vanilla.
- Base carry weight has been lowered from 150 to 75. However, the Strength multiplier for carry weight (the carry weight you get for each point of Strength) has been increased from 10 to 25. This means the new formula for carry weight is:
If your Strength is 5, you'll have the exact same carry weight as you would start with in vanilla.
- The bonus health multiplier you get per level has been lowered from 5 to 2. However, the Endurance multiplier for health has been increased from 20 to 25. The new formula is:
If your Endurance is 5, you'll have marginally more HP than you would start with in vanilla, but your HP will scale much more slowly. Also, the maximum
possible HP you can have is decreased.
- NPC health settings have been raised. Like you, NPC health will scale slowly, and be much more dependent on their stats than on their level. The new formula is:
Effectively, their health has been increased, but you won't see the full range of their health until you're higher-level. When you first start out, NPC's health
will be higher than it was in vanilla, but only by about 20%. This range will increase as you grow.
- The base skill points per level have been decreased from 11 to 6. However, the Intelligence multiplier for skill points (the skill points you get for each point of Intelligence) has been increased from 0.5 to 1. Disregarding an engine quirk in the calculation, the new formula is:
If your Intelligence is 5, you'll gain one or two less skill points per level than you would in vanilla, of course. However, just as in the original game, the
maximum possible skill points per level is 15 (or 17 with the Educated perk).
- The rate at which you regain Action Points has been changed. Rather than be a static value for every build of character, the Action Point restore rate is now dependent on your Endurance and Agility. The new formula is:
1 / ((Endurance * 0.006) + (Agility * 0.006)) seconds
If the sum of your Endurance and Agility is 10 (as in, both stats are average at 5, or one is high enough to compensate), you'll regain AP at the same rate
as in vanilla. If both Endurance and Agility are maxed out, you'll regain AP twice as fast. If both of them are abysmal (both at 1), it will take nearly a full
minute of real time to regain all of it.
Mechanical Changes
- Agility now directly affects your movement speed. For every point of Agility below 5, you move 2% more slowly; for every point above 5, you move 1% more quickly. An Agility of exactly 5 is normal speed.
- Perception now affects your accuracy. For every point of Perception under 5, you lose 4% accuracy with all weapons; for every point above 5, you are 2% more accurate with all weapons. A Perception of exactly 5 is normal accuracy.
- Perception also has a small effect on your critical chance. For every even-numbered point of Perception above 5, you gain 1% critical chance. So, a Perception of 6 is a 1% bonus; 8 is a 2% bonus; 10 is a 3% bonus.
- A weapon's condition now has a much more pronounced effect on how often it will jam. The exact rates are detailed in the chart below.
- Starting skill values have been changed. Rather than all starting at a base of 2, skills will start at a level approximate to what experience an average person in the Mojave would have in them. The bonuses are very small, however, and are more for flavor than anything. Note that no skill's base exceeds 6.
- Barter starts at 0
- Explosives starts at 0
- Lockpick starts at 0
- Melee weapons starts at 4
- Sneak starts at 0
- Unarmed starts at 6
- All skills not mentioned still start at 2
- Barter starts at 0
- Tag skills have been revamped to behave more like they were in Fallout 1 and 2. Tagging a skill no longer provides a flat bonus of 15, but each point invested in the skill counts for double. The Tag! Perk's description and loading screen have been altered to reflect this change.
- Experience requirements for leveling up have been increased. In general, you'll now require about 30% more XP to level up than before.
- The base values and multipliers for items while bartering have been changed. Caps are now much harder to make in the game if your Barter skill is too low, and merchants may frequently pay you much less than what an item is really worth. However, if your Barter skill is high enough, you'll find that selling items is much more profitable. Investing in the Barter skill is now a much more worthy choice.
- The penalties for having a limb crippled are much more severe. You'll find your accuracy is middling with one arm broken, and piss-poor with both broken. With one leg broken you'll move very slowly, and with both you'll crawl along at a snail's pace. The impact on throwing and penalties for a crippled torso have also been increased, of course.
- The effect your karma has on an NPC's disposition has been increased. Making friends might be much easier (or harder!) for you, depending on the choices you've made.
- The effect of your Medicine and Survival skills on ingestible items has been increased. You'll see big bonuses to the stats you recover if your skill is high enough.
- Similar to the above, the Repair skill now has a greater effect on the condition you recover when repairing something.
- You now receive much less karma for killing an evil character. Similarly, you lose less karma for stealing. Collectively, this is intended to make it more difficult to become very good or very evil too quickly.
- Essential NPCs now stay down for longer when knocked unconscious; the exact length of their incapacitation has been raised from 10 seconds to 45 seconds.
- You now have a lower chance of dismembering an enemy on a random critical hit or on death. Dismemberment chance from sneak attack criticals is unaffected.
- Lower-level enemies have had their HP slightly decreased, and the range of what counts as "low level" has been expanded. This is to compensate for increased early game difficulty, given that enemy HP health has been virtually doubled.
- A larger number of NPCs are now allowed to fight you at once in combat. Previously, only a maximum of 10 NPCs were allowed to be in combat against you at once; if there were more enemies nearby, they would politely wait. This cap has been raised to 20.
CCO fundamentally changes the function of V.A.T.S. In the vanilla game, V.A.T.S. reduced the damage you took by a percentage and added a flat bonus to your critical chance. This is no longer the case. Instead of magically protecting you from damage, V.A.T.S. now makes you more accurate. Specifically, your accuracy is increased by 15%, weapon spread is reduced, and the distance at which you start to lose accuracy is decreased. Rather than opening V.A.T.S. to score a critical hit or protect you from damage, you can now open V.A.T.S. to increase the chance of landing a shot when you need it. Given the concept of V.A.T.S. (it is an assisted targeting system, after all), this made far more sense.
To break it down:
- You now take full damage while in V.A.T.S.
- Your critical chance is not affected whether or not you use V.A.T.S.
- Your base accuracy is increased by 15% while using V.A.T.S.
- Your weapon spread is decreased by 25% while using V.A.T.S.
- You are more accurate over long distances while using V.A.T.S.
Follower Tweaks
CCO also changes the impact of followers on the base game. There are three extremely consequential changes made:
Followers now only do half damage, but also only take half damage themselves. This is done to increase the longevity of followers during intense fights as well as decrease the player's dependency on them. Rest assured, followers are far from useless even with the reduction – they are still very capable of holding their own during a fight and pulling your ass out of the fire. In addition, their damage resistance ensures that they live a long life in your service. In practical terms, this is done by multiplying a follower's weapon damage by 0.50, multiplying enemy DT by 0.50 for a companion's attack roll, and giving followers a Damage Resistance of 50 (meaning that only 50% of all damage is absorbed).
Because the impact of followers has been drastically decreased by the above change, follower calculation has been returned to the system it used in Fallout 2. What does this mean? Basically, rather than just having two followers no matter what, the number of active companions you can have at once is now based on your Charisma. The formula is:
Maximum companions = (Charisma / 2)
This means that you can have a maximum of 5 followers at once, if your Charisma is a perfect 10. If your Charisma is only 1, however, you can't have any followers. You need at least 2 Charisma to have 1 follower. Mix and match as you like – you aren't restricted to ED-E or Rex and one humanoid anymore.
However, there is a new perk you can take, Magnetic Personality, that increases your companion limit by one. However, you still can't have more than five companions, even with this perk, so it's only useful if your Charisma is below a perfect 10.
Finally, followers now have to be supplied with ammo for their weapons. Instead of having magical ammo that never gets used up, you have to keep them armed yourself. Followers start with their normal ranged weapons (but a version you can interact with) and have a small amount of ammo right off the bat (10 clips for their weapon, approximately). So Cass will still have her Caravan Shotgun when you get her and Arcade will still have his Plasma Defender, but they'll have a limited amount of ammo and it will be on you to keep them combat-ready. All followers still have their normal melee weapons too, by the way, but you can replace those as you see fit. The only follower who still has infinite magical ammo is ED-E; since you can't equip him with different weapons, it was only fair to let him use his one weapon without hindrance.
Other miscellaneous follower changes:
- All followers now have Water Breathing, so they don't clip into a wall and drown senselessly while you're off exploring.
- Similarly, all followers are now immune to poison, due to their AI not always detecting when there was an Antivenom in their inventory.
- All followers' maximum carry weight has been decreased by 75. Again, this was to decrease the player's dependency on companions.
- Veronica no longer starts with a 10mm Pistol, but instead has a Laser Pistol. This is to compliment her high Energy Weapons skill.
Damage Resistance
When Obsidian made the move from Fallout 3 to New Vegas, they zeroed out all Damage Resistance values on armor, replacing it with the Damage Threshold mechanic. The original Fallout titles, however, used both mechanics at once: Damage Threshold to calculate your evade chance and absorb low levels of damage, and Damage Resistance to reduce the damage that still got through. In many ways, the two new games exist on two different extremes: Fallout 3 removed Damage Threshold and only used Damage Resistance, and New Vegas removed Damage Resistance and only used Damage Threshold. This module returns the system to its old method, and lets you to use both Damage Resistance and Damage Threshold at once.
How is Damage Resistance calculated? Damage Resistance is derived solely from your Damage Threshold, and scales depending on the class of armor you're wearing, equal to:
Light armor:
Natural DR = (DT – 5), but never exceeding 25%
Medium armor:
Natural DR = (DT – 10), but never exceeding 25%
Heavy armor:
Natural DR = (DT – 15), but never exceeding 25%
Understand? So if you have Desert Ranger Combat Armor on, which has a DT of 22, your natural DR will be equal to 12 (22 – 10, the medium armor derivative). If you have on a full set of Remnants Power Armor and your DR is 50, your DR will be equal to 25. Why? Even though 50 – 15 is 35, your natural DR cannot exceed 25%. Ever. Period. No matter how high your DT goes. Now, you can still take Med-X and such to raise your DR, but as far as your natural, derived DR goes, 25% is the limit.
So what if your DT is below 15? Does that mean you have negative DR? Of course not (though that would make for an interesting add-on)! As far as natural, derived DR goes, it can only help you. If your DT is below 15, you won't be penalized; it'll just be 0 until you get your hands on some better armor.
And why cap it at 25%? Simple: An excess of DR is overpowered. Once you start getting into high numbers, ridiculous things like tanking Deathclaws naked or taking seven Mini Nukes to the chest start happening. DR isn't like DT: It's a universal deduction from all damage taken. A 25% reduction to all damage is pretty damn powerful, and it was all I could safely give the player. You'll survive large bursts of damage more easily, like explosions, but rapid and small bursts of damage, like gunshots, are pretty unphased.
Finally, these DR benefits apply to all NPCs and creatures, not just you. However, NPCs use a modified formula. NPC and creature DR use the same calculation (-5 for light, -10 for medium, -15 for heavy), but their DR is capped at 15, not 25.
Why give NPCs a lower cap? Simple: Unlike you, many NPCs already have some natural DR. From guards at the New Vegas Medical Clinic to Deathclaws, certain NPCs were given an actor effect that raises their DR by the developers to make them tougher. To compensate for their natural bonus, they have a lower cap than you.
Perk Rebalance
The Classic Perks and Gameplay Changes modules introduce a lot of sweeping changes to the base game; as such, it was only appropriate that vanilla content would have to be rebalanced in turn. The Perk Rebalance module revamps many of the vanilla perks to play nicer with the content introduced by the modules above. Changes include:
- The Intense Training perk has been disabled. It was simply too overpowered to be able to raise your stats starting from level two as many times as you want. In their place, the Gain Attribute perks have been introduced, which largely absorbs the function of Intense Training.
- The Gain Attribute perks allow you to raise each of your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats by one – but only once, and only starting from level 12. Again, this is keeping in with the design of Fallout 1 and 2.
- The Finesse perk has been adjusted. It now only provides a +3% bonus to critical chance, but has 3 ranks, so you can increase your chances by +9% total.
- The Demolition Expert perk has been adjusted. It now only provides a +15% bonus to explosive damage per rank, and only has 2 ranks, allowing for a total of +30%.
- The accuracy bonus given by the Gunslinger perk has been lowered to +10%.
- The level requirement for the Travel Light perk has been raised from 4 to 6.
- The Lady Killer, Confirmed Bachelor, Cherchez la Femme, and Black Widow perks now only grant a +5% damage bonus to their respective six.
- The critical chance bonus for the Laser Commander perk is now multiplicative, rather than additive.
- The critical chance bonus for the Set Lasers for Fun perks is now multiplicative, rather than additive.
- The Chem Resistant perk now grants complete immunity from addictive chems; it was not worth choosing with just a partial resistance. In addition, the level requirement has been raised to 20.
- The Swift Learner perk now only grants a +5% bonus to XP for each rank.
- The Guns skill requirement has been removed from the Rapid Reload perk to allow more character builds to take advantage of it.
- The Cowboy perk can now be taken with a 45 in Guns or Melee or Explosives to allow more character builds to take advantage of it.
- The Melee Weapons requirement for the Super Slam perk has been removed to allow more character builds to take advantage of it.
- The Piercing Strike perk can now be taken with either a 70 in Melee Weapons or Unarmed.
- Unstoppable Force can be taken with a 90 in Melee or Unarmed; the Strength requirement has been removed.
- The Center of Mass perk can be taken with a 70 in Guns or Energy Weapons.
- Concentrated Fire can now be taken with a 60 in Guns or Energy Weapons.
- The Melee Weapons requirement for the Ninja perk has been removed.
- Slayer can now be taken with a 90 in Melee or Unarmed; the Strength requirement has been removed.
- The level requirement for the Rad Absorption perk has been lowered from 28 to 18. Due to the wide availability of RadAway and the ease of purging radiation at a doctor, this perk's use was pretty limited at such a high level.
- The XP reward for deactivating a robot with the Robotics Expert perk has been raised from 10 to 50 to encourage stealth builds.
- The Bloody Mess perk has been converted into a trait, like it was in Fallout 1 and 2, and provides no damage bonus.
- The accuracy bonus given by the Commando perk has been lowered to +10%.
- The Better Criticals perk no longer boosts the damage of sneak attack criticals; just the random, lucky criticals you score in live combat.
- The Gunslinger and Commando perks now work with all one-handed and two-handed weapons, respectively. This corrects an oversight by the developers where they would only work with one or two types of weapons (for instance, Gunslinger wouldn't work with one-handed melee weapons, just one-handed guns). Now they do!
- The previously broken third rank of the Machine Head challenge perk has been fixed.
- Of course, the descriptions and loading screen teasers for all altered perks have been changed to match their new functions.
Dead Money:
- The previously broken In Shining Armor perk has been fixed.
- The recipes added by the Junk Rounds perk have been revised. Instead of costing 5 tin cans for each type of ammunition, the cost is based on how heavy the ammo type is. For instance, a 9mm only needs 1 can, but a heavy .50 MG needs 4 cans.
- A new recipe has been added that allows you to recycle two bent tin cans into one regular tin can.
- The damage bonus granted by the Eye for Eye perk for each crippled limb has been raised from 10% to 15%, to compensate for increased limb penalties in the Gameplay Changes module.
- The Fight the Power perk now allows you to bypass two points of DT on applicable targets.
- The chem resistance bonus and DT multiplier have been removed from the Brainless/Big Brained perks. Instead, Brainless now grants a 5% critical hit bonus and Big Brained grants a Perception bonus of 1.
- The poison resistance bonuses have been removed from the Heartless and Cardiac Arrest perks.
- The Strength bonus has been removed from the Spineless perk.
- The Strength and Damage Threshold bonuses granted by the Reinforced Spine perk have both been lowered from 2 to 1.
- The movement speed bonus granted by the M-5 Implant has been lowered from 20% to 10%, so as to not overshadow a similar perk from Lonesome Road.
- The Y-7 Implant now only reduces radiation absorbed from irradiated food/water by 50%, instead of negating it completely. However, combining the Y-7 Implant with the Lead Belly perk will make you completely immune to radiation absorbed from irradiated food/water.
- The critical hit bonus granted by the Certified Tech bonus was broken and did not do anything. This has been fixed.
- The level requirement for the Irradiated Beauty perk has been raised from 22 to 26.
- The Walker Instinct perk would sometimes not properly activate when the player was outside, if they were in certain worldspaces. This oversight has been corrected, and the Walker Instinct perk will now function in every outdoor area. However, DLC areas are still unaffected.
Contact Info
Official thread (the fastest way to contact me):
http://ooccommunity.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=391
Modding thread on Something Awful:
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3376713
