Bodies. Live & Dead, Gib From High Enough Falls

[japanimater]

[Text size 18 for easier reading]

 

One of the things I love about the Fallout games is how the bodies are torn or blasted apart from attacks. However, one thing that has always bothered me is how a body could fall from heights tall enough to kill them thrice over, yet their physical bodies remain unscathed.

 

I'd like to request a mod that enables it so when a body, both alive and dead, fall from a high enough height, they gib. Granted, I don't know how to mod nor do I know what kinds of triggers/conditions are available to modders, but I had some ideas as to how it may be implemented.

 

*Bodies that are alive:

1. For a body that is alive, when it dies from a fall where the damage is less than the victim's total health, only the legs should gib and maybe the head and/or torso.

2. For a body that is alive, when it dies from a fall where the damage exceeds the victim's total health, the effect of the Bloody Mess perk should be applied.

 

*Deceased Bodies:

1. When the ragdoll body hits the ground where the damage is less that the victim's total health, the extremity of the body that makes contact with the ground, the torso, and maybe the head should gib. If the torso is the one that makes contact, only it and maybe the head should gib.

2. When the ragdoll body hits the ground where the damage exceeds the victim's total health, the effect of the Bloody Mess perk should still be applied.

 

 

I would think deceased bodies that gib from heights would be the most challenging seeing if the games references them differently than living npc's. If they are referenced to as just physics-based destructible props, there may be a work-around via some similar objects.

1. Cars can occasionally be seen spawning mid-air far enough away as they're being drawn by the engine. I've heard in forums that they explode when dropped from a high enough height. If that's true, then perhaps that script could be used for rag-dolled bodies.

2. Vertibirds, when shot down will crash and explode when they hit the ground, yet when they glitch through it, they maintain their tailspin beneath the ground's geometry. This tells me either their crash trigger is physics based or conditioned that it happens when they so much as bump the ground. If it's the former, then perhaps that script too could be used.

3. I was thinking about Power Armor, but since it's a static object until mounted, the fall animation may just be a character/npc animation instead of being a physics-based prop script.

 

*Something I just realized after writing everything else is that from my understanding, there are two main ways bodies gib that should be kept in mind while scripting.

1. Minimal gibs is when the body breaks apart at fixed points being the neck, both thighs, and both shoulders. Though, from what I recall, along the arms and legs, where it is severed depends on where it is struck hard enough to make it do so.

2. Messy gibs is when you can hardly make out what the body used to be. When the body takes enough damage, instead of separating into neatly defined body parts, it explodes into a pile of non-descript bloody/meaty gore chunks.

 

*Another thing I realized, and am annoyed at, is when there are too many bodies/npc's/objects/etc. loaded, bodies won't gib at all. This is mostly seen at settlements and I suppose large towns. Even though it is probably done to prevent a dip in performance, I would greatly appreciate it if the mod had an option to disable this no-gib safeguard.

 

Thanks!

Edited May 31, 2016 by japanimater