IWS: Increased Wasteland Spawns
UPDATE!
==Version 1.9==
Heeding the call for a FNV MMM This mod gives you the ability to configure how active you want the wasteland to be. Want more creatures? How about faction warfare? Want the roads to be defended by those who own them? Want huge battles or do you want just a slight increase to what is already in the game? The choice is yours!

Version 1.9 is mostly cleaning up and bug fixing in preperation for the search and destroy system to be included with version 2.0. This is also the first version to include original variations of creature types using the active spawn system in the form of 2 new mantis types.

Death Scythe Mantis ( Larger faster and more deadly )
Hardened Mantis ( This Mantis has an extremely tough exoskeleton. It moves slowly but takes a beating. )

Get the mod http://www.newvegasnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=38623

==Instructions==

=================================================================
=Core Module==NVSE NOT NEEDED=
Increased hand placed spawns in the wastes.

IWS-Core.esm
Increases the number of spawn points in the wasteland by hand. If you run just this module alone it will be the light version of IWS only slightly increasing creatures in the wastes.

-=Optional=-
IWS-Core-Guards.esp ( Enable Faction Guards )
Enable this to allow for NPC Factions to guard owned land. With this active you will see factions war with each other. This module also helps protect important quest giving NPCs.

IWS-Core-Patrols.esp ( Enable Faction Patrols )
Enable this to allow for NPC Factions to patrol roads and owned land. With this active you will see factions war with each other.

IWS-Core-Civilians.esp ( Enable Faction-less Town guards and Civilian travelers )
Enable this to allow for wasteland civilians and town guards in Novac. These NPCs are often well armed enough to protect important quest givers from danger.

=================================================================
=Active Spawn==NVSE NEEDED= ( Active Scripted spawns )
Active scripted spawns is a customizable system that further increases the number of spawns beyond what is provided by the IWS-Core modules. Active Spawns will also effect interior cells unless you tell it not to so keep that in mind.

IWS-AS-LowSpawns.esp ( 0-1, cap 8/50 )
IWS-AS-MedSpawns.esp ( 0-2, cap 16/75 )
IWS-AS-HighSpawns.esp ( 1-3, cap 32/100 ) WARNING! High spawns pushes the engine to its limits and can cause issues if you push your PC to hard.

*Explanation*
( 1-3, cap 16/75 )
Random chance to spawn 1-3 additional creatures/npcs
Active Spawns will stop adding additional mole rats once the system counts as many as 16 are already present
Active Spawns will stop adding additional Spawns once the system counts as many as 75 total references are already present

-=Optional=-
IWS-AS-NoInteriorSpawns.esp ( Do not allow active spawns to function on Interior cells )
Enable this if you do not want the active spawn system to function on interiors. If enabled active spawns will only function in the wasteland.

IWS-AS-EnableDebugInfo.esp ( allow you to turn on debug text )
Enable this to turn on debug info on the console. It lists the number of creatures currently spawned by the active spawn system.

=================================================================
change list for version 1.9

-A major inefficiency with the active spawn system has been addressed....

-Issues regarding Schoolhouse in Good Springs have been addressed.
*The following changes have been made to Mantis spawns with the active spawn system:
**Larger scale mantis spawns will not begin to appear until level 5
**In addition to the above change after level 10 you may encounter 2 new deadly mantis variations

-Issue where the Active spawn system does not update fast enough allowing you to visibly see creatures spawn has been addressed

-Issue where a Brotherhood of steel patrol was active when it should be dormant has been addressed

-Issue where the legion sometimes overrun the 188 trade post has been addressed

-Removed sentry bot from the Grub n Gulp

-General spawn density found around Goodsprings has been reduced

-The following modules have been updated for efficiency and consistency. As a result High spawns always provide the highest spawn density. ( In version 1.8 this was not always the case )
IWS-AS-LowSpawns.esp ( 0-1, cap 8/50 ) was ( 0-2, cap 8/50 )
IWS-AS-MedSpawns.esp ( 0-2, cap 16/75 ) was ( 1-3, cap 16/75 )
IWS-AS-HighSpawns.esp ( 1-3, cap 32/100 ) was ( 2-4, cap 32/100 )

-Issues where dead bodies would disappear too soon should now be addressed.

-The NCR and the Legion should now be much more evenly matched against each other.

-Slightly reduced the number of Legion spawns and patrols by Cottonwood cove.

-IWS-AS-EnableDebugInfo.esp is now included in the full release as apposed to an optional download

=================================================================
Unresolved / Unimplemented

-IWSNoAttack Faction to help prevent creatures from attacking important quest npcs.

-In game menu for spawn density and interior spawns toggle.

-Setup optional infrastructure for new creature variations ( Iguanas will be proof of concept )

-Examine what is going on with the random 8 foot tall NCR soldier in 188 outpost

-( unknown if I can fix ) Sometimes when reloading a quick save all dead bodies come back to life?

-More face variations requested ( Starting phase to increased variations of random spawns )

-Chem addicts at a campfire being attacked by a rad scorpions up towards Nellis AFB, by the RailRoad tracks

-Pull back Great Khan patrols as to not conflict with important quest related fiends.

-Vipers on the highway 95 Encampment sometimes spawn inside a rock ledge

-Hardened mantis DT 10 points too high and HP 200 too high

-Merchants will attack player if they witness you attacking the legion

-faction relations for NCR, jackals and vipers are all neutral.

-Examine Nightstalker behavior ( Player faction is neutral in the nightstalker faction )

Is there any way of having med increased spawns for npc's and not for creatures, just thought I'd ask.

not at the moment. Right now Active spawns is both npcs and creatures or not at all.

DLed and BOSS-reported. thanks! :goodjob:

*claps hands together*
Oh goody!
*rushes to download*

Question: would 'low spawns" be kinda equivalent to what 1.5/ultraspawns is doing or...?

High spawns is closer to ultra spawns but it effects everything. I recommend medspawns as it is a better balance of sanity and craziness. High spawns borderlines on comical at times.

Sorry if this is a dense question, but do you still need to have the more-spawns files used/checked together, or do they work if used alone. I'm not seeing an easy-to-tell difference either way, like I could/did with 1.5, so I'm guessing the latter?

My confusion non-withstanding, I'm liking it so far. Still feels chaotic w/plenty of extra baddies, yet in areas like the main roads w/the faction warring, not quite as much chaos as in 1.5...so a better balance in that regard, imo. But will have to play longer to notice other differences. Fun stuff.

In 1.8 you pick between one of the low med or high modules and it will do its thing. They all modify the same global values.
If you are feeling saucy its perfectly safe to load up one of those modules and change the global values yourself to better suit your needs.

Good Job :goodjob:

I have a question....

In locations like Prim after you have defeated the escaped convicts, are they still re spawning there?
If so...that is not a good thing because you are supposed to help the town defeat the bad guys and set the town free with a new sheriff, in plain English it will ruin the lore and the mission.

Primm is hooked up right now where there are increased convicts but if you have already completed the quest to save the town those spawns are shut off.

Thanks for the answer!
"feeling saucy", hehe, I like that. I'll leave it alone for a while, but I may just do that eventually....since I often like goofing with multiple companions.

OK...maybe you should exclude that area in the next version, is it something i can change my self in the GECK?
Maybe delete the (reference) IWSPrimmSpawn??

Lucky for me that i id not enabled the mod before i finished that quest

They don't respawn in Primm, there are just more spawns.

Ahaa...so after you kill them there is no more spawns of convicts in Primm then?

Correct, if it is not the case then it is a bug.

Any chance on a module that shuts off Robot spawning in the general wasteland (places that are supposed to have robots in vanilla would keep them there)? I am currently just dealing with it, but it just annoys me that there are robots roaming the wastes for no apparent reason other than for the sake of having robots roam the wasteland. I just got the new version after having a really outdated version, so I don't know if there are more, less, or no more robots in the spawns.

Perhaps a FOSE menu would be the next step after the module system, too.

Or... this http://newvegasnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=35786 can work with IWS. Personally, I'm using the Improved version but I can't be sure whether or not it is compatible with IWS. I know that IWS does work when the Timer is loaded after, as Mole Rats appeared in packs a few times as well as a good group of Fiends and a good old Fiends vs. NCR mini-war, but I'm not sure if that's the correct order it should work. Could you check into it Castle if you can? I would really love for that mod and this to work in unison. Imagine the amount of carnage you can get. :celebration:

Latest version has very toned back robot spawns. I believe they only appear randomly in very hard locations now.




I don't modify the game settings for respawn timers so as far as I know changing the respawn timer wont conflict with IWS in any way. I imagine that loading before or after should not matter.

Just downloaded the latest version and tried it out, some comments:

1. Using the Medium spawns esp, many large groups of enemies to the point where it's kinda immersion breaking. Meaning many monsters spawn on top of each other and clip into each other before moving off on their wander packages. This isn't really a complaint, mind you, more of an observation. I'm going to step down to the low version and see how things play out in this aspect of the mod.

2. Patrols are a bit large and too "regular" seeming. Meaning they look like a computer placed them all in a single file line: http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/1272/screenshot529e.jpg

If you're willing, you might want to try and randomize it, put a patrol of say 4 soldiers and give them a basic start point but a wilderness end point to a patrol. Make them go offroad so to speak. Or have the occasional faction only wilderness spawnpoint. With a moderate-to-large size wander package for a small group it'd do something similar. Like say an NCR patrol from Camp Golf that ends at the NCR Ranger Safe House. They'd follow the main roads for much of it but they'd also continue offroad to give the illusion of an actual patrol route that might be militarily useful. The big patrol line of 15 soldiers is kinda off-putting I have to say as it stands now.

3. Faction areas/guards can be a bit wonky at times. Case in point, I was doing Veronica's quest and so was heading up North on US 95 to a certain well armed Vault. Passed the Grub n' Gulp Rest Stop and the place was absolutely swarmed with NCR troopers walking by, on guard or just chilling and hanging out on the bar stools and even the ground. There was even an NCR Sentry Bot proving massive overkill of security. All fine. On the way back post-quest, however, I passed the same way and not a single NCR soldier or bot or patrol was present.

Instead, there were two Lakelurks (???) beating the you know what out of the shop area. I managed to pull off 2 bullet-time assisted very long range head shots to save the two shop keepers from an imminently gory death (2 and 4 health bars left for the two of them) but that won't happen every time. There should be some fixed defensive spawns at wilderness shops/neutral NPC points that are always present instead of being randomly not there. Realistic perhaps, but gameplay wise those types of places need the strong defenses to always be present.

4. Vault 34 with this mod installed was an absolute blast. Tons of Ghouls all over the place, constant radiation, spooky triggered spawns behind you, really some great stuff. All dungeons should be like this in the game. If you haven't been there yet in your game while exploring or for the various related quests, you need to do it with this mod installed.

5. Could you maybe pull back the spawns around Goodsprings a bit? I have a modded house in the abandoned Schoolhouse and everytime I return I have to fight a ton of Mantis and Coyotes that are chasing the domesticated Big Horners. Not a problem really, more of an annoyance. Goodsprings should in general be "safe" as the starter area in my mind.

There's more I'm sure I'm forgetting but that's all I can come up with for now. Very fun mod TheCastle, highly recommended to everyone. :goodjob:

How in the heck did lake lurks spawn by the grub n gulp?
Are you running other mods that increase the wander radius of creatures and npcs because that will really mess with this mod. I think that what you saw with the grub n gulp having no NCR the second time you visited it is a bug that I have had a heck of a time tracking down. If you visit a location once walk away then walk back sometimes all of the npcs I have placed simply vanish....

edit: ill get back to take a look at your other points later today.

Very Hard and hardcoe playthrough

HighSpawn:
Started a new playthrough and got killed by geckos doing the first quest in Goodsprings/ then restarted and got killed by giant manits at the schoolhouse - restartet and didn't do the quest just to "clean" out the area of geckos and giant rats.
Grenades work wonders. But you need much more ammo and powerful melee weapons then before.

Another thing - the goodsping school interior had like 4 small mantis in it - when i entered - 2 secs later there were like 14+ giant mantis's -> killing me in two hits at lvl 4. I think the ones in and around goodsprings are a bit too high lvl. I'm going to deactivate the interiorSpawns for the time being - until I get some sort of power armour and companions. And HP ammo


One thing that really helps is the http://www.newvegasnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=37871 that makes the giant rats leap at you and generally make your life hell with dodging enemies and animals.
I love it

Thank you for this update btw.

I really appreciate the large post and honest feedback. Sorry if my previous post did not elude to that.



I think I can easily offset the spawns better. right now they do actually physically spawn on top of each other. Ill put that on my todo list.
I agree that medium spawns is a bit over the top for what one would consider medium. Remember though, the base esm alone already increases spawns by a decent amount. Once you go with active spawns I suppose I should more clearly say that it means you are activating the super spawn mode.



I want to change the follow package they use to an accompany package. This should make them follow the leader in a clump rather than a straight line. I do agree that it tends to look mechanical especially on high spawns.



Agreed. I think this can be fixed with some tweaks though.



This is a bug I have seen pop up sometimes where if you visit an area leave it then come back a moment later for some reason all of the spawns will be gone. I have been told that this is related to the "No low level processing" flag that is on the npcs however given the large number of NPCs I don't think its a wise simply set this flag on as it can impact performance considerably. I guess in the end I may have no choice if I cannot find a better solution for this problem.



I have no idea how Lakelurks got there.. I am puzzled as heck by that...
I fully agree with your point on this though, if that bug did not strike I am sure that the lakelurks would have been stomped out. One of the reasons I have so many NCR and civilians there is simply due to the sheer number of nasty creatures I see wandering that area.



:)



Both you and JediAce have good points on this front.
Ill put this on my to do list.



Thanks.
Keep the feedback coming ill try and do what I can.

A short question. I am working on my slavery mod in the moment and I recognized that you are disabling your spawns if they are no longer needed. Am I correct if I add a faction check on enslaved NPCs spawned by your mod in IWSNullSCRIPT to prevent this? And should I check other places for my compatibility esp?

It would be a bit strange for the player if he isn't able to enslave NPCs added by your mod.

I need to better understand your question.
The mod you are working on is detecting these null self deleting NPCs when it shouldn't? And detecting these ghost npcs is causing an undesirable effect?

The null self deleting npcs that I spawn do not have any real factions and cannot be enslaved to my knowledge. If you load the core esm without any other modules the null npcs should not cause any issues at all.

The actual npcs that are spawned by IWS should have inherited any factions that will allow them to be enslaved. If not I may need to fix that on my end.