Is FWE too hard to start with MMM? : Fallout 3

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 3:05 am

I'd recommend the default Increased Spawns level (1-3) over the slightly increased spawns option (1-2) if only because a number of features depend on Increased Spawns, such as Soft Unleveling, Ghoul Raising and so on. That is, due to the way spawning in Fallout 3 works, these features can only be applied to the 'extra' spawns at a point. Now when you consider that the range of 1-3 or 1-2 must include the original vanilla spawn, this means the effects of unleveling, raising etc are only applied on at most 2 (with 1-3) or 1 (with 1-2) respectively. And of course the smaller the maximum spawn range, the less chance there is of these appearing.

So between difficulty slider and increased spawns, if the game is hard, I'd reduce the slider and keep the spawn count at 1-3 as a minimum. The only good reason to run with a lower spawn range is if your PC is having trouble rendering the extras actors on screen.

This should be fixed now in RC6.

Thanks again mate. Now tell me in english, lol, Soft Unleveling won't work with Slightly Increased Spawns because like.. that's basically vanilla, or something? aaaaaaaaa
(yes, my computer isn't great, so when i'm a higher level i don't want 7-10 supermutants doing their thang)

Edit: actually after rereading I think i understand. as long as there's more than 1 (vanilla) monster, the effects of unleveling and raising will apply. So with slightly increased.. it's less common. the differences based on the chart don't seem to vary all that much late game anyways. (with DPS)

Editx2: [censored], so DPS is Increased Spawns reliant as well. Well that's okay. It's gonna be a whole new game for me ^_~

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 6:24 am

Thanks again mate. Now tell me in english, lol, Soft Unleveling won't work with Slightly Increased Spawns because like.. that's basically vanilla, or something? aaaaaaaaa
(yes, my computer isn't great, so when i'm a higher level i don't want 7-10 supermutants doing their thang)

Edit: actually after rereading I think i understand. as long as there's more than 1 (vanilla) monster, the effects of unleveling and raising will apply. So with slightly increased.. it's less common. the differences based on the chart don't seem to vary all that much late game anyways. (with DPS)
Editx2: [censored], so DPS is Increased Spawns reliant as well. Well that's okay. It's gonna be a whole new game for me ^_~

Martigen wanted to say- with slightly increased spawn, chances of such features as ghoul raising, DPS and soft unleveling will be minimal. But they will.
Hope I'm correct, but in my game I'm able to see all of this.

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 8:40 pm

Martigen wanted to say- with slightly increased spawn, chances of such features as ghoul raising, DPS and soft unleveling will be minimal. But they will.
Hope I'm correct, but in my game I'm able to see all of this.

Yes, basically

Though the other reason I recommend 1-3 over 1-2 is that the increased spawns equations were built around 1-3 as a minimum, keeping in mind it weights to the average. So with 1-3 you actually get 25% chance of 1, 50% chance of 2, and 25% chance of 3 -- as opposed to 33% each. This way, even if you have an increased spawns of 1-5, the average is still actually 3. 5 is possible, but not common. Anyway, because of the equation 1-2 works but it's not actually 50/50. It's more like 65/35, since it rounds down from 1.5 to 1. So you actually get a little less extra spawns than what you might expect 1-2 to give. Of course, you can always now use the menu to set Ghoul Raising and Soft Unleveling to higher values, so that when you do get those extra spawns, you're more likely to see these effects.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 6:41 am

I wanted to add my experience with MMM+FWE.

I started a game using default settings and the 1-3 spawn option. The game is decidedly more difficult in that what I would normally call starter areas are very dangerous. The Springvale school, which I would normally play right out of the vault is highly dangerous to low level characters. There are many raiders, and some are very well armed. A unprepared character won't likely last long. Might be better to do a few non combat quests before tackling that place. You might try the weapon Burke has, but it's probable you will get zerged in there.

However, after the first few levels, I'm feeling rather good with the combat balance. Combat is more challenging, but there are many more powerful weapons around. I did use the slowest speed setting though, since I like to sight fire and not use VATS.

The combination is working very well together, and I'm pleased with the performance of the game. I would highly recommend this combination of mods.

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 6:17 pm

Will FWE be too easy without increased spawns?

I found it far too easy with MMM, along with some hardcoe realism mods and such. YMMV, of course. No, not bragging. Perhaps I just play in a different way than some/many. Who knows; I don't. EIther way, you can but try, hey?