pkleiss

NPCs will choose weapons they are best at. So, if your weapon is an energy weapon (for example), the Raiders won't really use them unless their energy weapons skill is higher than, say, small guns or unarmed AND they have ammo for the weapon.

You don't have to do all that to test if it's a mod issue. You use FOMM or NMM, right? If so, just untick all your mods and start a fresh game. That shouldn't take but a couple of minutes on top of the 5...(well, now that I think about it, that won't remove any loose files like hi-res textures or meshes that may be at fault. So yeah, I guess leave that as a last resort...) After reading your last comment, it now sounds to me like you may have a corrupted save. If you don't get the blur when playing older saves, that is a strong indication that the problem lies within the save data itself. It still could be a mod issue though. If you start with an older save where the blur does not occur within that 5 minute time frame, does it then appear when you reach a certain point within the Statesman? If it were a mod issue, I would look at those mods which add hi-res textures first.

Does it occur if you don't go to the Statesman Hotel? I mean, does it occur no matter where you go after 5 mins? For kicks and giggles, start a new game, completely mod free (only Fallout 3 & DLCs) and see if your games blurs 5 minutes in. If it does, then you know it's not a mod issue. Just because 'it was working fine yesterday' does not preclude it from being mod related. Aside from that... I had an issue once with cyclical lag that started to occur in my game after a period. The game ran fine, then one day I stated to get about 5 seconds of lag every 55 seconds or so. It was very predictable and cyclical. I spent an enormous amount of time trying to figure it out (weeks to months). In the end, it turned out to be that my CPU was dying. A quick fix I learned was to under clock my CPU. This resolved the issue for a few weeks, but the problem would eventually return and I had to lower my clock speed again. Eventually, I just bought a new CPU. If your issue is replicatable between graphic-intensive games, you might have a CPU or GPU issue. If it only happens with Fallout 3, this has probably been a waste of text.

The console commands that will mess with quests are listed here. (Yes, GECK functions and console commands can be one in the same.) Especially the ones that don't start with get. I doubt that you have ever used these. That said, there are other ways to mess up the game. Plus the game can just go bonkers on its own from time to time.

Now this makes more sense to me. Thanks for explaining your mission. As has been stated, there is a minimum skill set that limits how inaccurate the AI will be. To counter that you can try these suggestions: 1) Use a script to lower NPC Skills below their minimum (as previously stated). 2) Increase spread on weapons. 3) Lower damage of weapons. 4) Boost the players health, thus allowing him/her to take more damage before being killed (probably the easiest solution).

Personally, I don't see the issue you do with AI accuracy. Perhaps NPCs hit you often, but their damage is comparatively weak and the players ends up with more stimpacks than he/she will ever use in a hundred years. Another advantage the player has is running for cover versus standing out in the open taking fire. NPCs will miss if you are crouching behind a garbage can. I say all this because, from my vantage point, the game is already far too easy. And lowering AI accuracy would just make it that much less challenging. Just my opinion...

2) If I want an NPC to be melee class, which one to pick then? RaiderMelee? That was question #2, so I don't understand this new question: 1) So in other words regarding question 2 at page 1, its more or less the health that the given item has, when I loot it off the dead body But if you are asking how is the health of a weapon calculated when looting, the answer is it depends. If the weapon is a reference (it exists in the world) then the health is what it is when you loot it from the ground. If you are looting a weapon from a form list, the health is calculated based on the defined Health %. Note that reference weapons have their health stored on the Extra tab. Find a weapon in a cell and click on it to see what I am talking about. This does not include weapons in lockers or in NPCs inventory (unequipped weapons). 2) That also means that every NPC has each their own default body armor at 100% health, even tho you cannot see it. But when looted off their dead body, it wont be in 100% health condition anymore? And thats what my two screenshots actually showed? Nope. It does not. NPCs have armor ranging in health as defined by the health % of the armor form, modified by how much damage it has taken. I am fairly certain that when you see the armor on an NPC, it is a reference object with its own health. It may have started with a specific health value based on the health %, but it can be damaged. Your first screen shot showed that one inventory object was made up of a leveled list. The second image showed that leveled list was made up of two objects, one 50% health armor and one 60% health armor. That means half the time you encounter this NPC, he will have armor with 50% health, the other times, he will have armor with 60% health. To know the actual health, you have to actually take the armor for yourself. You won't know which you'll get until that time. It's like Schrodinger's Cat.

You can always add a script to an NPC which uses the ModAV command to lower their stats further than the level minimums, or use SetAV to set a stat permanently to what ever you want, like 1. But again, why would you do this? If you are having problems playing the game because the NPCs are hitting you too often, lower the difficulty. If you have another reason, specify it.

You can also lower the game difficulty setting.

I'm just glad to hear that after spending such a large amount of time on this, you have got it working!

1) I don't know, I have never done that. I can't imagine why you would want to anyway as a skill of 100 is perfect and level for an NPC doesn't really do much after skill are 100 anyway - maybe add a few more health, but you could do that from the get go if that was your goal. I know that if you have the DLC Broken Steel, the level cap of 30 is removed. 2) Any class that affects melee weapons will work. Class doesn't really effect much in the game, factions are more important. Remember, you don't HAVE to set the class to an exact match, you can just modify the stats. 3) Neither. In both cases you are looking at health percent on a leveled list/leveled item form. That field tells the game to give that object that percentage of health when it is spawned, based on it's base health. If you want to see the base health, keep clicking on the list objects until you get the base form to pop up. Note: leveled lists can be made of items AND other lists. You clicked on an entry in a list that popped up another list. 4) There is no reason why you can't do that other than the fact that NPCs don't have editable tagged skills. It is the class that effectively gives NPCs their tagged skills. But there is no reason you can't use a random (or default) class and then just edit the stats/skills yourself. Of course, doing so will preclude the use of using the stats tab of a template. Remember, you can't use a template's tab and edit those same tab values of the NPC at the same time. They are mutually exclusive.

I think what you seem to be missing, is that the caravan guards are using the template, just not all of the template. An NPC has several data tabs: Traits, Stats, Factions, AI Data, AI Packages, Inventory, Actor Effects and Scripts. These caravan guards do use the caravan template, but they don't use all of the template. They are only using template data from four tabs, namely: Stats, Factions, AI Data and Inventory. The guards ARE NOT using the template data for Traits, AI Packages, Actor Effects and Scripts. I didn't say the guards are not using the template, I said they are not using the traits tab of the template. If you look on a specific NPC that uses a template, there is a boxed area in the lower left of the page that is called Template Data. If a tempalte is specified, then this actor is inheriting data from a template. But, and this is a big but, the check boxes in the Template Data area determine which tabs will be filled by the template and which ones won't be filled by the template. If you want all the guards to have the same equipment, then go ahead and edit the template inventory and make sure the Use Inventory box is checked on all the guards - like you've said. That is correct. earlier I thought you wanted each guard to have different skills and thus, different weapons - which would preclude them from using inventory template data. But if they are all going to have the same energy weapons, then yes, edit the template only. I also saw that you were editing the guards stats with an offset to add to their energy weapons skills. While that will work, I was saying that you could also just edit their class and have the same effect without having to remove the Use Stats flag. So, in summery, what I am saying is this... If every guard is going to be skilled with energy weapons and only use energy weapons, then you should only edit the template inventory, adding energy weapons & ammo (and removing their default weapons & ammo) and edit the guards to modify their class, setting it to soldierenergy. Everything else I said was just to show you that there were more than one way to accomplish your goals.

The way dialogue works in Fallout 3, what you are asking would require a new link to an exit dialogue option for each dialogue response in the game. My guess is that would take someone working 8 hours a day about 10 months to finish. There might be a way to add a top-level branch to every speaker in the game, but in the end, this would cause the game to go bonkers as often times game states/quests update through dialogue. If that dialogue were skipped, the game would break. Though... if any one else has any ideas, I am all ears.

What I am sating is that none of the caravan guards actually use the traits portion of the template. No matter what is entered on the traits tab of the template, none of it will be used on the traits tab of the guards. That is becasue the use traits flag on the guards data page is not checked. Even when using a template, there is no rule that says you must use every single tab from the template. You can mix and match. In the case of the guards, they all have different voice types so there is no way they could share the same traits. Among the other traits on the traits page is the class. On every single caravan guard, the class had to be assigned manually. That means you don't edit the template, you edit the guard. Change the class on each guard to energy weapons and give him an energy weapon and ammo on his inventory tab and you are done. One problem with this is that the use inventory flag has been checked. It must be unchecked to alter the guard's inventory. If you look closely as the flags checked on the data pages of the guards, you'll see that only 5 boxes are checked. These specifically refer to specific pages on the template. Use Stats is checked, and lo and behold, the stats tab is shaded out. Use AI Data is checked and the AI Data tab is also shaded out. For each lag that is checked, that tab on the character sheet will be filled in by the values from the template specified. When a flag is not checked, that page is open and must/can be edited by hand. The only caveat to this is the Use Base Data flag which refers to some of the basic flags at the top of the form such as essential and respawn. As for your images, the first one isn't wrong, it's just irrelevant. The reason it's irrelevant is because none of the traits info from the template is passed to the guards (because the Use Traits flag is not set on the guards data page). So any information on the traits tab of the template is unused and basically useless. The second image is also not necessarily wrong. You can modify the template to manually give each guard the energy weapon skill becasue the Use Stats flag is set on the guards data page. However, you can accomplish the same thing by just changing the class of each guard to soldierenergy. That will automatically bump the energy weapons skill without having to manually alter the stats in the template. The less you alter the template, the better, IMO. In the end, it's six of one and half a dozen of the other, both methods will give your guards energy weapons skill over big/small guns. It's just cleaner to do it by setting the proper class than overriding their stats.

First, your images look fine. Remember that the PC level mult flag sets the level of the NPC based on what level the Player is when he first encounters that NPC. For example, if the player meets Doc Hoff when he is level 5, Doc Hoff will have a level around 5. If the player first meets him at level 20, Doc Hoff will have a level around 20. The stats don't change much, but the skills and the health will increase with level just like the player. So, if you set the NPC level manually, setting it higher is better for that NPC's livelihood later in the game, as a level 5 Doc Hoff won't stand much chance if a level 20 player brings a random encounter Death Claw into combat. As for the template, you did not need to set the class on the template specifically because the NPCs that use that template DO NOT have the use traits flag set. If an NPC is using a template, only the features that are flagged with be shaded out - they are set from the template. The unshaded ones (which correspond the the ones not flagged) can be edited by you. If you want to edit something that is shaded out simply uncheck the corresponding template flag. Alternatively, you could have set the class on the template then checked the use traits flag on the actual NPCs data page. But them you'd be using ALL of the traits from the template, not just the class - which would mean all the NPCs would use the same voice type, etc... Not what you want. Also remember that if you make your NPCs skilled with energy weapons, you'd better change their inventory and give them energy weapons and ammo or they will still fight with their default weapons and now crappy skill levels.

Duplicate post from another forum....

For me, that is not enough information. 'the NPC' is too vague. Do you mean a specific NPC? If so, which one? Do you mean all NPCs in the game? Do you mean a specific follower? If so, which one? If it is a follower, just take their default weapon away and give them a single fire weapon with plenty of ammo. If it is a specific NPC, you'll have to edit their inventory in the GECK or use console commands to remove their default weapon and then add a new one with ammo. If it is all the NPCs in the game, don't bother doing this - is my advice.

Auto calc stats will set the NPC's stats based on the class set on the traits tab and level set on the template. Even though you have not been specific in regards to what you actually want to do (you've only said what you don't want to do), I suspect what you need to change is the specific class on the specific NPC. The CaravanGuard1TEMPLATE is used by only four NPCs. Just type 'cara' in the filter for NPCs and you will see all four plus the template. They are the guards for Crow, Harith, Hoff and Wolfgang. If you want to make Crow use energy weapons instead of his default big and small guns, for example, just change his class to SoldierEnergy. Since the template is not setup to use traits you can do this. If you want to change a specific stat, you'll have to uncheck the Use Stats flag and auto clac. Then you can use the newly appearing offset field to add values to specific stats.

Yes. You must create a new merged patch without the mod you removed.

I seem to recall seeing that mod, by a guy named radiohead (I think), on the fallout underground - a website that no longer exists. Not much help, sorry.

I don't think there is anything you are missing with the video tutorials. I started out with them myself years ago. Using the 1 key to hide objects in the render window works no differently than using the M key to toggle markers or the A key to toggle lighting. I agree that having the same issue on two separate machines most likely implies you are doing something wrong. So let me give you some steps to follow.... First, have you ever installed Fallout 3 on these machines in the past? If so, the old Geck ini files might still be in use. If you've never installed FO3 before, this is a moot point. But if you have, delete (or just move or rename them, just in case) GECKCustom.ini and GECKPrefs.ini from your C:\Documents and Settings\{user}\My Documents\My Games\Fallout3 folder or where ever else they are if you are not using Windows XP like I am. When you start up the GECK, they should be recreated for you with default settings. With that out of the way, try this.... 1) Start the GECK 2) From the Menu bar, select File then Data. 3) Locate the Fallout3.esm at the top of the TES file list and double click on it such that an 'X' appears in the box to the left of the file name. 4) Click the OK button on the lower right of the Data window. 5) Let Fallout 3 load, answer Yes to All if any messages pop up. 6) Once loaded, you should have three windows: Cell View, Object Window and Render Window. 7) Locate the Cell View window and double click on the second entry from the top: AlexandriaArms01 - let it load. :cool: Click anywhere inside the render window or along its blue border at the top of the window to make it active. When a window is active, its border will be a darker blue color than the inactive windows and it will be on top. 9) Press the A key. Does the cell get brighter? 10) Press the M key. Do the light objects vanish (along with other marker objects)? 11) Press the M key again. Do the light objects reappear? 12) Click on one of the the two light objects - the transparent circles with the large white + inside them. 13) If the light object is highlighted, it should be surrounded by a 3-D box made up of green, red and blue lines representing the X,Y&Z coordinates (but not necessarily in that order). 14) It might be hard to see the blue lines since you are looking straight down at them. 15) With the light object highlighted, press the 1 key once and then twice. You should see the light object become more transparent and then vanish. If you get that BINK sound, then all I can think of is that feature is somehow disabled on the version of the GECK you have. Why that is I can not say. Do you live outside of the USA? Where did you get your version of the GECK? I assume from Bethesda. Weird. NOTE: The 1 key on my numeric keypad does not work for this, only the 1 key atop my keyboard - the one just above and to the left of the Q key. I don't get that bink sound either, just nothing happens. Did you use the same keyboard from your first machine when you installed FO3 on the other? Or, are your keyboards identical? If so, maybe you have some kind of non-standard keyboard that uses numeric keypad keys for the number keys. I am just guessing here, because i would expect the same ASCII code from either the keypad or the keyboard, but I see that the GECK does seem to differentiate them, so maybe that is it??? Have you tried using the 1 key on the numeric keypad instead of the keyboard 1 key?

From my point of view... I have never needed to create a merged patch with any mods I have installed because I either load them correctly or don't use poorly written mods. There is no debate about the fact that creating a merged patch that is master updated is nothing but a work around for poorly written mods. Of course, whether one wants to use buggy mods or not is completely up to the individual. For me, my game never crashes and the expansive mods I create cause zero conflicts. I use FO3Edit to fix broken records within a mod, but not to master update a merged patch. If you think about what is happening, creating a merged patch can still lead to conflicts. When multiple mods want to alter the same vanilla record, only one can 'win'. While it may be true that one record will cause less errors than another, there are plenty of cases where choosing one winner will cause one type of problem and choosing another record will lead to different problems. I could give example after example, but I think I've gone far enough with this wall of text.

I just had a new idea. Why not try setting the show/hide selected objects key to something other than 1. Set it to a key that you know already works for some other function. You can always set it back later, but this way you can discern whether it's a keyboard/mouse issue or an issue with the GECK/feature itself.

JK - IMO all you really want from your actors are the voice files in the proper format, which I believe is 44100HZ mono (OGG is best, but WAV or MP3 will be fine). Get a sound program called Audacity. With it you can convert .wav or .mp3 files to .ogg (which are very small in data size and optimal for Fallout 3). You may have to locate/install a plugin for Audacity to export as OGG, I can't remember if it comes with it or not. in the end, you have to open your dialogue in the GECK and use the GECK's own voice file recording feature to create a dummy file, even though it won't work. The main thing here is that using the GECK's native voice file recorder will create a specific file name associated with the particular dialogue you are recording. You then need to overwrite that specific file with your corresponding voice file made by your voice actor. It's painstakingly time consuming, but that is the gist of getting voice files into the game. If you get that far, I will explain how to generate lip files later, as that process is also a bit convoluted.

I am sorry to hear that. As it stands, I have little in the way of new ideas for you. I also use a wireless mouse, but on a PC. You are using a laptop, right? Regardless, maybe try updating your wireless mouse software/drivers? Using that wired mouse sounds like a good idea as well. I dunno.... Something is peculiar, that is for sure. There is little doubt from my point of view that hiding objects is one of the most useful functions in the GECK.