» Fri Feb 18, 2011 11:34 pm http://fose.silverlock.org
RobCo Certified v2.0 adds a perk of the same name, that lets you fix up robots to form an army of metallic minions that will obey your every command.
The Aquisition of Robots
Like 1.0, if you take the perks you can repair any bot you find with a fusion battery and some scrap metal, and their stats are dependent on your science and repair skills.
Shops will now carry broken robots, spare parts for them, and rarely even fully-working robots you can buy and use even if you don't have the RobCo Certified perk. To get RobCo characters off to a flying start, there's a broken Mister Handy, parts to repair him and notes on one upgrade on the roadside in Springfield, and Moira's guaranteed to carry a broken Protectron, an upgrade for it, and parts.
The Control System
It's plugged into the Companion Core system used in http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1086069-relz-companion-share-recruit/. The upshot of this is you can order all your companions around through one interface, and any companions with Repair as a tag skill will rush to aid heavily damaged robots. You can order them all to follow, wait, hold positions in combat, and change their engagement distance individually as a group, or order each to specialise in one weapon. In addition, you get a spanner you can use to repair your own robots, so you don't have to keep picking them up and dusting them off.
Companion Core also automatically disables your companions if you lose your gear, so you don't clank through Tranquility Lane with a horde of robotic death machines, and re-enables them when you leave. You can toggle off your companions at any time too, if you'd rather they keep their mechanical noses out of things for the moment.
You can also deactivate robots yourself for storage purposes, to save the old problem of Minefield houses full of clanking, shouting Protectrons- now they sit quietly in the corner until you press the On switch.
The Malfunction System
If your bots take too much damage in a fight, they're liable to develop malfunctions, crippling one attribute until you find the bits to repair them with. Hopefully this stops huge robot armies being an upkeep-free I Win button, and makes some of the less commonly used items in the environment helpful. Now as a mechanic you don't just need to carry 3-4 fission batteries; whilst your repair wrench means bots are far less likely to get downed, you'll need to keep a stock of spare parts to hand if you want to keep your party on top form, and hunt for more. Wolfgang's junk shop becomes a lifesaver.
The Upgrade System
Now you can upgrade bots. You can give each one 1 upgrade per rank you've been able to build them for- rank 1 bots like Mister Handies can have 3 upgrades by rank 3, for example. Upgrade schematics can be found in shops, and can give your bots new/more powerful abilities.
The available upgrades are:
T1: Mister Handy
- Handy Holder: Can use any 1h weapons, melee or ranged. Replaces circular saw.
- Sticky Flamethrower: Ups flamer damage, and damage over time.
- Power Vacuum: Adds a vacuum that can be set to blow away nearby enemies or svck in distant ones.
T1: Protectron
- Sheriff's Snare: Adds a slow effect to the hand laser, and lets you see anyone struck by it through walls
- Protectron's Gaze: Turns the head laser into a head laser shotgun, a la the namesake pistol.
T2: Mister Gutsy
- Mine Launcher: Does what it says on the tin.
- Plasma Cannon: Ups plasma damage, gives it a blast effect.
T2: Robobrain
- Helping Hand: Can use any 2h rifles, like Brainbot. Replaces hand laser.
- Rage Inducer: The Robobrain's mind-beam frenzies on a crit.
T3: Sentry Bot
- Gamma Gatling: Ups the damage of the laser, lets it punch through multiple enemies.
- Hotshot Minigun: Adds flame damage to the minigun.
Zeta Integration
If you're sick of running out of bots on the Mothership, a Zeta addon is available. If you take the Xenotech Expert perk, you can repair alien robots (and normal ones) with Alien Epoxy and Large Crystals, as well as upgrade them with shields and improved weaponry. Plus, when you get back to earth you can use Fission Batteries to turn ham radios into temporary teleportation relays, to bring down more Alien Robots from the mothership, or beam down some alien parts or ammunition (for if you're a tad low on Alien Power Cells).
http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/985/mechanistsedition.jpg
Is an add-on module allowing you to find a lost comic book inspiring you to make your own Mechanist's Armour (and upgrade it to Mechanist's Power Armour). Whilst wearing it, you can buff your robots by pulling heroic poses, and wasteland robots won't attack you or will even come to your aid.
Video of the addon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK1ivQLucKE.
Impervious Armour
Another addon is available that integrates the effects from my Impervious Power Armour mod with RobCo, making bots immune to weak attacks- a la Damage Threshold in New Vegas.
Compatibility Addons
Plus there's addons for FWE, and a FWE-EVE-ZETA Omnipatch.
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Anyway, very belated but it's done! Questions, comments, suggestions in the thread.
If you notice anything I've left in accidentally in my attempt to pack and release when I can't really remember what I was last doing to the mod, please tell me.
) and even more excited to find out what the updates are here. A HUGE thank you! Is Companion Share and Recruit update next? 
), it's already relzable.
