FO3 Phalanx
Fallout2-Inspired Follower Overhaul + Misc Mod for Fallout 3

Version 1.03 released on October 8, 2009

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* FO3MasterUpdate updated by Elminster on *
* September 29, 2009 (http://http://www.finhosting.fi/~fallout/downloads/FO3MasterUpdate2_5_5.7z) *
***********************************



FO3 Phalanx is a comprehensive Fallout 2 - themed mod for Fallout 3. Phalanx' main strength at this time is as follower overhaul mod. It is working toward these goals:

1) Bringing back to Fallout 3 the levels of follower sensibility and control that was offered in Fallout 2. or exceeding it.
2) Adding back some of the content that feels 'missing' from Fallout 3.
3) Additional objectives (related to ongoing Enclave warfare) after completion of the vanilla Fallout 3 Main Quest..

********************************************************************************
* The current release version is 1.03.
*
* Download location: http://www.finhosting.fi/~fallout/downloads/FO3-Phalanx-1.03.zip
*
* Download if you already have the 22meg "voices.bsa" or don't want it: http://www.finhosting.fi/~fallout/downloads/FO3-Phalanx-1.03-NOSOUND.zip
*
*A video of a level 23 fight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1bRZt0k4SQ
*
********************************************************************************


***************************
*
* Like with all mods that are new to you, you should keep a savegame around from before you loaded the mod
* in case you do not like what the mod does.
*
***************************


Mod characteristics (some of the below listed characteristics can be adjusted or overridden by the player):

----------------------------------------------------
New Followers
----------------------------------------------------

Phalanx introduces 3 new followers at this time:

Malcolm is inspired by Cassidy from Fallout 2. He is voiced by Andr? D. Cox" aka "Mr. CoX" (cox@x-o-c.de). He's not identical to Cassidy however, and works out with characters of any karma (Cassidy was good karma only). Malcolm is intended to be picked up in Megaton when the player's character is young. He is is integrated to help the player through the young-player quests.

Deisha is implemented as the flip-side to Clover, and is not voiced at this time. She is hired in Rivet City.

K-9, a cybernetic dog follower, is inspired by K-9 from Fallout 2. K-9's mesh and texture were made by Drag0ntamer with thanks to Andrew Gardiner and TheDamned (arsailor89@yahoo.com). K-9 represents a later version of the same K-9 unit that existed in Fallout 2. He is your dad's follower in the vault, and then you get to have K-9 for yourself later in the game.

There are more new followers planned for the future. They would become available after completion of Fallout 3's "main quest" (MQ11).

----------------------------------------------------
World changes and additions:
----------------------------------------------------

There are two camp sites that the player can come to own and use for important follower functions.

Sometime after the player reaches level 16 and visits Rivet City a few times, a new small town becomes accessible. The small town is not yet finished (only has one vendor at this time) but it is generally usable. See the notes at the end of this description about "FO3MasterUpdate.exe" in regards to this area.

There is an indoor military headquarters that the high-level player can come to own and use for important follower functions. After the player completes the Fallout 3 main quest MQ11 (using either the Free-Play-After-MQ mod, or, Broken Steel), a quest is offered in the new town that makes it come available. Use of this player-owned area with all versions of Fallout 3 released to date (1.7) requires the FO3MasterUpdate.exe tool to be used (see the notes at the end of this description).

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Follower characteristics and changes:
---------------------------------------------------


- - - Like in Fallout 2, you get to work with a group of followers. Follower maximum number in Phalanx is not, however, based upon "Charisma", because Fallout 3's game balance does not use the SPECIAL points the way that Fallout 2 did and it does not work properly as a game balancer.

- - - Like in Fallout 2, you can apply stimpacks to all followers except for the robot.

- - - Like Fallout 2, you can tell which weapon skills a follower has. You can actually see all of their stats on demand and observe them leveling with you over time (no Fallout 2 equivalent).

- - - Like in Fallout 2, you control what weapons your followers use, and they try to use them sensibly. There are three aspects to this.

• You get to choose the weapons and give them to the follower, without the interference of Fallout 3's invisible, "default" weapon being there.
  
• Followers choose from weapons in their inventory based upon target distance sensibilities. They don't waste all of your good ammo for dumb reasons. They make an effort to use their weapons the same way that you would. For this to work, it requires you to not use mods that change which ammo the followers' weapons use. This weapon selection mechanism can be turned off within each follower's tactics dialogue menu, if necessary.
  
• Like in Fallout 2, you have to manage your team's ammo. The only one who gets a free ride on this is the robot (RL-3).
  
• Like in Fallout 2, followers generally must have the corresponding weapon skill for what you give them.

- - - Like Fallout 2, you can see followers' approximate health by looking at them ("Wounded", "Severely Wounded", etc).

- - - Followers apply stimpacks to YOU if you are in trouble, as long as they themselves are not in trouble (no Fallout 2 equivalent).

- - - "Make a hole" group command exists to ask them to get out of your way if they are trapping you (this exists in Fallout 2 as an individual command).

- - Like in Fallout 2, you can accumulate a squad with any karma. The karma requirements for followers are:

* No karma restrictions: K-9, Charon, Jericho, Malcolm, RL3, Butch, Dogmeat
* Neutral or Positive karma for hire, re-hire at any karma: Deisha
* Negative karma for hire, re-hire at any karma: Clover
* Positive karma for hire and re-hire: Fawkes, Star Paladin Cross

- - - Like in Fallout 2, follower deaths in combat do not sneak up out of nowhere. The turn-based nature of Fallout 2 automatically prevented this. In Phalanx, this effect is achieved through the Leader's Sense perk, available from level 3. This perk gives you advance warning when one of your followers is losing HP and drops below two pre-defined thresholds.



- - - There are powerful group-at-once combat commands that do not have a Fallout 2 equivalent, and exist because Fallout 3 has an FPS element that Fallout 2 does not have. Currently, those commands are:

- Retreat to my position!
- Fall back to my position!
- Push to my position!

Four special, strategic attack modes:

- Wait, then charge when I enter combat.
- Follow at a long distance, then charge when I enter combat.
- Hold position here, and shoot at any enemies you can see.
- Hide here, and try to stay out of the fight.

- - - Like in Fallout 2, a follower's death THEORETICALLY gets a similar treatment to the player's death.

In regular Fallout 3, when the player dies, the game immedietely reloads to the last save, which has no Fallout 2 equivalent. But then, regular Fallout 3 lets the followers 'die' with no consideration at all. This is a difference that Fallout 2 players may perceive as being wrong.

With Phalanx, both the player and the followers are considered 'essential'. Followers who take too much damage in combat are not allowed to simply die. Instead, they survive the fight but become useless for a while. For low-level player characters, the useless period only lasts until the fight is over and the player discusses the fight with the follower afterward. For high-level characters (14 and up), the follower stays unusable for longer, and must be given recovery time at the player's owned camp site or military base.

- - - Like in Fallout 2, followers do not tend to wander off without you realizing that they wandered away. During fights and for 60 seconds afterward, followers are in "Follow-Combat" mode and are eager to investigate nearby enemies. Regular Fallout 3 followers are always in this mode. With Phalanx, once that 60 seconds are up, they switch to "Regular Follow" mode, and are much less likely to break out of your group and wander off in search of enemies.

- - - Some followers can have different weapons skills based upon your choice when you hire them. This has no Fallout 2 equivalent.

- - - Like in Fallout 2, there is no magical auto-heal to non-robotic followers after combat. During combat, stimpacks heal followers for the regular amount, and if not in combat, a single stimpack will bring a follower back up to full health.

- - - Like in Fallout 2, the robot (RL-3) is able to repair itself after combat, but is not repairable during combat.

- - - Like in Fallout 2, an equivalent of "Rest until party is healed" exists. When you sleep at one of your player-owned campsites or your military base, followers auto-heal with you.

- - - Like in Fallout 2, your Super Mutant follower (Fawkes) has certain characteristics:

• Is talented at unarmed skill and uses it well, achieving occasional knockdowns and doing good damage.
  
• Can equip and use all the expected weapons for a Super Mutant from Fallout 2, with the exception of the power fist (game cannot animate him properly with it). His unarmed damage amounts have been adjusted upward to match what you would expect him to do if he had a "Super Power Fist".
  
• Fawkes has been statistically tuned to have the same success rate against Deathclaws with his fists that Fallout 2's Marcus does with a Super Power Fist.
  
• Fawkes is reckless and suicidal in the high-level game, which is like Fallout 2 (remember what happened to Marcus when you tried to take him to the oil rig? Same deal). He can be great if managed carefully and stimmed through his take-on-all bull-rushes against enemies.

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Miscellaneous characteristics:

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Followers don't let the Evergreen Mills Behemoth out of his pen by opening the gate.

Followers do not auto-fire to their hire locations when Vault 87 deal happens, they instead do something much more sensible.

Most of Butch, Charon, and Jericho's Phalanx-related voice lines have audio. Additionally, the "Let's trade equipment" responses of Star Paladin Cross, Butch, and RL-3 have been replaced with shorter lines.

Human and Ghoul followers have a chance to spawn "fingers" and "ears" on appropriate enemy corpses if you have the Lawbringer or Contract Killer perk (code used from CK LB & EXP partner support).

Powerful follower-problem-solving NPC "Gary" lives in a trailer outside of megaton. He has a variety of functions:

• Can help you work out various emergency situations with your followers, such as if one got lost or is broken by another mod scrambling its variables.
  
• Adjust some of Phalanx' gamsettings if you don't like them, such as, he can enable "take a break" behavior in any area you ask for it,
  
• Turn back on the post-combat auto heal, and other gameplay changes
  
• Can help resolve mod conflicts by reporting which items are being overwritten by another mod.
  
• Can answer a number of questions and is able to explain how some things work.

Followers come to you on-command and ask for the ammo they need, which you can supply within the same dialogue.

RL-3 has 2 storage compartments, handles itself more sensibly in fights, and has had its "let's trade equipment" response shortened.

Dogmeat is much more sensible.

The robot-dog follower K-9 has two sensibility settings.

OPTIONAL .ESP FILE: Stimpacks heal more damage than usual, to balance for the fact that you use them on followers. Also, Fallout 2 did not scale stimpack heal amounts with Doctor or Medicine skill, so it may feel more intuitive to Fallout 2 players.

OPTIONAL .ESP FILE: Adds some cross-repair between weapons and prevents against accidental loss of uniques.

OPTIONAL .ESP FILE: Overhauls the vendors in the game to have more caps and ammo. Where there is demand, there comes supply, right? Also adds ammo reload kits to the game (conventional ammo only).

Group command exists for telling your followers to take-a-break, and they will unequip their helments and wander around. This is limited to pre-set areas that are configured to be safe from follower malfunctions, but, it can be enabled to work anywhere by talking to "Gary" as mentioned above.

You can tell followers to remove their headgear as a group command (this makes it easier to see who is who if you have them all in the same armor and need to find a certain one). Does not work with Broken Steel helmets at this time.


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Future direction:
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Phalanx will have its own quest lines after the Main Quest is completed (game does not end). Among the things these quest lines will work with are:

- - Ability to communicate with some followers remotely. Will not be overpowered, but will be powerful planning tools when used well.

- - The "Intelligent Deathclaws" from Fallout 2 are planned to be reintroduced

- - A race of Super Mutants that are more intelligent, like fallout 2's Marcus, are planned to be re-introduced

- - Ongoing warfare with the Enclave, with challenging raid and defensive situations, will happen

- - The new areas in Phalanx right now are unfinished, and will be completed later.


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Installation Overview: (details included in zip file):
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Step 1: FALLOUT.INI FILE PREPARATION
------------------------------------
For this and many other mods, it's necessary to change a few settings in your
"FALLOUT.INI" file for them to work properly. FALLOUT.INI is in a strange location.
c:/Documents and Settings/your-username/My Documents/My Games/Fallout 3/ .
The two changes you need to make in the file are:

#1: Find the line that says:

bInvalidateOlderFiles=0

and change it to:

bInvalidateOlderFiles=1

#2: Add this line below the [General] statement:

bLoadFaceGenHeadEGTFiles=1


Step 2: File Installation
-------------------------------------
Put the .esp and .bsa files into your c:/Program Files/Bethesda Softworks/Fallout 3/Data
directory.


Step 3: Verification and optional FO3MasterUpdate.exe
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Run the game, see that your load order seems correct, and use FO3MasterUpdate if you're going to do it.

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Notice: In-game follower reset procedure
--------------------------------------------

If you are not starting a new game, Phalanx will auto-detect this, and offer to move
you and your followers to a helper NPC who will help reset your followers so that
they are fully compatible with Phalanx. If you decline to move at that time, the NPC
can be visited later, outside of Megaton along the left hand wall.
---------------------------------------------

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************************************************
* MOD UNINSTALLATION PROCEDURE
*
* Remove all items from your followers, and save your game.
*
* Restart the game, and uncheck the boxes in the "DATA FILES" menu that were specified
*in the installation procedure.
*
* Check the Phalanx-Uninstall.esp box, and run the game.
*
* After that .esp has completed the follower reset, save your game into a new slot, and then
* restart the game without any Phalanx .esp files loaded to check that you are happy with
* the results.
*
* delete the .esp files if you want.
*
* Unless you used the "Phalanx-Not-Recommended-PerksAndStims" .esp
* nothing further is necessary.
*
* If you did use the nonrecommended version, I don't actually know how to get the perk out of
* your savegame. I could not get it out of mine. Hence, the "Not Recommended" name on the file.
*
**************************************************

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* KNOWN ISSUES for version 1.1
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(Updated September 29) - - If you are using Broken Steel and Phalanx' integration module, you must use FO3MasterUpdate against your mod list or the scene where you are leaving Adams Air Force Base will break.

Followers will have bright white body skin if Fo3MasterUpdate.exe is not run against Phalanx-MainFollowerModule.esp. This is a game problem, not a problem with Phalanx.

BROKEN STEEL FAWKES/DOGMEAT/RL-3? ISSUE: If you started your game anew with Broken Steel loaded and Phalanx NOT loaded, your version of Fawkes, Dogmeat, and possibly RL-3 are bugged with excessive hitpoints. Phalanx cannot repair these characters. The only solution at this time is to start a new game with Phalanx loaded, as Phalanx automatically overrides the problem when used this way.

The new quest in the new town area will fail to work properly if you do not use FO3MasterUpdate.exe. It culd be visited for ammo perhaps, but followers should be parked elsewhere if FO3MasterUpdate.exe is not going to be used.

Followers will be unable to walk around and do things in the the player-obtainable base unless FO3MasterUpdate is used.

When you get your first "Ammo Reload Kit" in Vault 101, you might drop it on the ground and at first it will be invisible. This appears to be a game problem, not a problem with Phalanx. It should start to work properly after a few savegames are settled.

A follower who is in combat has a small chance of becoming frozen in place and unable to draw a weapon. This is related to a fallout bug with weapons. If you see this, you can fix the follower by opening trade, noting that the follower has two of the same type of weapon but should only have one, and remove/replacing that doubled-up weapon in the follower's inventory.

Followers were only intended to be "trainable" once, but this menu option is being seen more often than once. Not sure what's up with that.

Somewhere in the "come get your ammo" code, there might be a debug message accidently left in a result script. If you see it, please tell me which follower has it. KTHX!!

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Contributor list for version 1.0
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Bethesda made Fallout 3

Super Mutant Animations created by TalkieToaster

"Malcolm" follower NPC is voiced by Andr? D. Cox" aka "Mr. CoX" , email address: cox@x-o-c.de.

The Phalanx Headquarters interior cell is dual-authorship by FO3Phalanx and Liath (liath.ww@qmail.com).

PhalanxK9's texture and eyes mod created by Drag0ntamer ()
with thanks to Andrew Gardiner and TheDamned (arsailor89@yahoo.com).

Ammo reload boxes originally from ReloadAmmo.esp by "b3w4r3", at
http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1899.

Follower integration of Lawbringer/Contract Killer perks uses code from "CK LB & EXP partner support."

Part of the vendor changes .esp utlilizes "richvendors" by Ravioli (xfire - jackalking12)

Elminster made FO3edit and FO3MasterUpdate.exe. FO3edit was necessary to make
Phalanx viable. FO3MasterUpdate is needed to make it work properly with Fallout3.exe
versions 1.7 and earlier (current version at time of release). Elminster also assisted with
esp file cleanup and management.

TGBlank optimized the "caps on" code, and assisted with mod compatibility issues.

Cipscis provided help with scripting, including code optimization on the weapon-selection system.

The script on the underworld door was made by QZilla.

Echonite made the vertibird script.

Other stuff is by FO3Phalanx
-------------------------------------

Modification usage terms:

K9 texture/mesh: contact Drag0ntamer ()

Questions about Malcolm's voice acting material should be directed to
Andr? D. Cox" aka "Mr. CoX" , email address: cox@x-o-c.de

Super Mutant Animations and CK LB & EXP partner support are modders resources.
Contact their respective authors if there are questions about use of them. Situation is
similar for the content of other mods listed above.

Rest: do whatever, but it would make sense to credit Phalanx if you use a lot.

************************************
Broken Steel Compatibility Notes
************************************

Use the Phalanx-BrokenSteel-Integration.esp in the file listing to create proper behavior and follower handling during Broken Steel's main quest line. Side quests have not been addressed at this time. Load this .esp AFTER Phalanx-MainFollowerModule.esp. If you don't use FO3masterUpdate.exe, the scene where you are exiting Adams Air Force Base is known to fail.

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FO3MasterUpdate.exe - - - - Fallout 3 Version 1.7 (current) and earlier notes
*************************************

FO3MasterUpdate by Elminster is included in Phalanx' zipfile, or can be downloaded from here: http://fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=637

Gary was able to fetch Dogmeat for me.

Charon doesn't seem to be staying so far away.

So far so good.

Thanks

Have little problem, not related fully with mod.
I have mods installed (FWE and Wasteland Wisperer) which make me friend of some factions in the game, such as Robots, Yao-Gai and mirelurks. Seems to me- companions not able fully handle my relationships. For example- Fawkes make massacre to the robots.
In comparison such mods as Kelsey and Jessy companions more accurate in this questions. Any advice?

Well, I did not knowingly change Fawkes' relationships to such things. If you've used the game editing tools before, you might open up Wasteland Whisperer in the GECK or in FO3edit and check to see if MQ08Fawkes has had any adjustments made, including to his factions. That would be the place to start in seeing what's happening and which direction to take this.

I'm near the end. Remain only Jefferson Memorial interior. Fawkes show yourself as valuable companion- he die only before the doors
Spend all stims and chems, which I give to him. Now will check how he will activate purifier.

hmm, did he actually consume drugs? That's straight out of the .exe, I didn't do anything to force that.

????????

qucik question/ unsubtle bump

what does

bLoadFaceGenHeadEGTFiles=1

actually do.

Seems to me- yes. At list- I give buffaut to him, and he don't have it after while. As well as stims.


After this heads fit with bodies more precisely- in color

So like, i added that b4 but a few mods that added new NPC's, specifically Megaton Outskirts or whatever, i still saw NPCs with, for example, a Black neck/head and white body?? maybe since later update to mods have been made, this is gone? including yours? ^___^

bLoadFaceGenHeadEGTFiles=1 makes the faces display with color.

There's a bug in the game that makes the bodies display white, however. Until and unless Bethesda patches for it and fixes it, the resolution for it is use of Fo3MasterUpdate.exe - - check the INSTALL file in the zip for all the details on that (in fact FO3MasterUpdate is in the zipfile too).

I finish main quest. From the second attempt meet with man from the hole- at the RC entrance. Find hole, meet this guy second time, receive new quest, accomplish it, receive living space, take a tour- seems to me all work just fine. I take only first look at this place, but I really impressed with your work. All work just fine. All triggers work as intended, excellent navmeshes, very good performance. The place seems to be not in my liking in the whole- I prefer little spaces with easy access and many lockers in one place, but this is not important. And it is possible I don't learn something So later I can reconsider.
Great work, thank you for it, very much!
Seems to me- I need to begin new game, with FWE adaptation of Foes Reworked to enjoy all this stuff from the beginning.
And phalanx will be in my load order from now and forever

yay it works! Great to hear, hehe. Glad you like the mod in the end, too.

BTW.... You've got a sick typo in your post - - - check my quote for the "???" spot..

I mean- ??? of course, my mistake


Beautiful song, damn it!

does this mod work w/ the custom companions too?

This mod not manage other companions itself, it work only with vanilla companions and with it's own. But as I can see- it not interfere with them
Such companions as Jessi, Kelsey, Malika, Bittercap, slave raider, Shared and Cared- work absolutely flawlessly.

hm you must mean custom followers from other mods? All depends on how the other author put theirs in. If they unnecessarily overwrote the quest scripts and form lists that are associated with the regular followers, then no. Gary near Megaton can check for this and tell you if it's happening, in most cases.

Ah well that's good to hear.

I used to get complaints all the time actually about some follower mods and Phalanx fighting for stuff. Maybe the single-follower authors changed what they were doing (I didn't... can't).

This Gary is most advanced live companion's check&recovery program in the world
I want to try- will he be able to rise my followers from goo?

It might work. Give it a try sometime.

The normal resurrection system may be able to do it too, if I configured for it. HOWEVER IT WOULD LOOK RIDICULOUS TO THE POINT OF OMG.

Seeing your follower be visually emulsified in front of your eyes and then magically re-form after the fight would have been too much. I tried like HELL to interrupt the process - prevent the process - - tried lots of stuff to stop it. In fact I can even detect the moment the process starts (thats why you get the message box when it happens). But once it starts, it's like, it's going to finish no matter what.

Saddenly- I don't use vanilla companions often before, so I can't say about how they work in vanilla game for sure. But in Phalanx they periodically have troubles with path finding. If they meet with obstacles, they may get stuck between rocks, bushes and so on.
The game at this time is choppy. Fast travel or location change will return things back to normal, but if gamer use some sort of No Fast Travel mods- this may be unpleasant for him.
Maybe it is possible to create a safety mechanism, that will teleport companions to player, if they are significantly lagging behind?

I recognize the symptoms you're talking about. It rarely happens to me, although it did happen once today. It was an area near Clifftop Shacks, and based on what I saw, I think it had a map problem in one spot :/ . I tend to see this when something's broken the followers' ability to navigate to me, either a map problem or the navmesh broke (couple ways that can happen). Phalanx can't cause it directly, it doesn't do anything special with the pathing. But, it's a bigger impact on everything when a heap of followers have their navigation malfunction and not just 2 or so.

They made followers able to clip through solid objects to get to you, which helps with this, but yeah, it doesn't fix all.

I wasn't planning to do a teleport deal on them, but thats not saying that nothing at all should be done. Might be interesting to open up every bad spot we find in the editor and see what's really wrong. I opened up Falls Church Metro lately just out of curiosity (it was having crash issues) and found a buncha stuff that needed fixing (released mod earlier today).

Although - I don't think Phalanx will ever be completely happy with no fast travel at all, even Fallout 2 had that, ya no. Constantly making them path along with you is surely going to bring out every little map glitch and navmesh screw-up there is in the game, ehhhh..

Is ANYONE's copy of RL-3 essential???

Mine was. I don't know how it happened, and I can't make it happen again. The only time I essential flag him is a short moment during death, then I pull the flag - in fact I pull it several times to be safe, since he's essential in his base object.

hmmmmm.

What is the command that we use to check essential?

Obviously I haven't read every post in this thread...

console..

click RL3 where he is in front of you

type

isessential

hit enter

and you got it.

I can confirm that my copy of RL-3 is also flagged as essential.