Unlimited Followers Damage Balance

[Sawducum]

Hey, so I'm looking for an addon, either to be made or existing.

 

I'd make it myself, but I can't find how to do it.

Basically, it makes it so you have the combined damage of a single companion.

1 companion = 100% damage

2 = 50%

3 = 33%

4 = 25%

5 = 20%

etc.

 

While a companion doing 20% damage is definitely lackluster, it still puts a lot of stress on the player and having multiple companions would give a sort of tactical advantage, even though the AI is absolutely worthless at times.

I always found the whole lone gunman who had to be helped with killing geckos single-handedly wiping out Cesar's Legion a few weeks later to be kind of unrealistic, so I usually like to sit around 4-5 companions to sort of make a squad.

However, having that many people makes most things too easy to be fun, so I get a bunch of difficulty mods, but a lot of things are super annoying, like getting one shot as soon as you walk in a door that you just saved in.

So if I can dial down companion damage a lot and only raise difficulty a little, I can get the same overall feel of panic as your group gets ambushed by a bunch of nightstalkers, but won't get one shot by a powder ganger when you open a door.

 

Plus.. I can pick up everything..

 

It should be relatively simple. I just can't figure out how to do it myself. Someone who knows their way around the geck could probably set it up in a couple of minutes.

 

Thanks.

[2much4l1]

I'm looking for something like that too. All the increased difficulty mods buff enemies, but they also seem to buff all NPCs, including your companions. That actually can make the game even easier if you can stay alive for 5 seconds.

 

So the mod you're proposing would always give you and your party the DPS of your PC. I think that would be a great mod.

 

Hmm, thinking. Another way to lower party DPS might be to use a mod that slows the rate at which you level because most companions level with you. Hmm, but I think enemies level with you too...

 

You could use the GECK to manually set your companions DPS potential. If your not familiar with the GECK there are a ton of character creation videos that will show you how to change your follower skills, attributes, and stats.

 

I roll with 3 or 4 companions on very hard too, and vanilla encounters are not very challenging although modded enemies can lead to epic battles.

 

Well thanks for your great idea Sawducum. Hopefully someone will make a mod like that. And thanks for giving me ideas on how to keep the challenge up in my own 4 companion game.

[Sawducum]

I wouldn't mind having to set the reduced damage rate manually, either.

I just can't figure out how to set a global modifier for all companions.

[devinpatterson]

There are a couple of game aspects you can use for this. Nerve does something similar based on teh players charisma, but essentially it could be as simple as a tiered perk (based on number of companions) modifying the damage entry. A glob (or a script var) for the number of companions would be the condition determining the tiers. When I get a chance to start modding again (hopefully this sunday) I could probably work up a example or maybe even kludge together a full solution for you.

 

But I do have a daunting backlog of projects to attend to so I don't have any realistic eta :sad: and I tend to give less priority to mods I believe serve a smaller niche or narrow focus. That's not to say it's a bad idea in any way, shape or form, it's just that I prefer to leverage my time in a way that will do the most to give back to the FONV community.

 

But if you want me to take a crack at it, post and I'll see what I can do. In the meantime another modder can use that method (that I mentioned above) to put it together for you with fairly little work.

[2much4l1]

There are a couple of game aspects you can use for this. Nerve does something similar based on teh players charisma, but essentially it could be as simple as a tiered perk (based on number of companions) modifying the damage entry. A glob (or a script var) for the number of companions would be the condition determining the tiers. When I get a chance to start modding again (hopefully this sunday) I could probably work up a example or maybe even kludge together a full solution for you.

 

But I do have a daunting backlog of projects to attend to so I don't have any realistic eta :sad: and I tend to give less priority to mods I believe serve a smaller niche or narrow focus. That's not to say it's a bad idea in any way, shape or form, it's just that I prefer to leverage my time in a way that will do the most to give back to the FONV community.

 

But if you want me to take a crack at it, post and I'll see what I can do. In the meantime another modder can use that method (that I mentioned above) to put it together for you with fairly little work.

That sounds like a good solution. It would affect just the players party and no other NPCs?

[Sawducum]

Like I said, Devin. To someone who knows how to properly use the GECK, it should be fairly simple.

But, like 2much said, I couldn't figure out how to access damage tables for a whole faction. It was either globally or for individual NPC's, and nothing to modify them with a percentage, but there was opportunity to load custom scripts, which I don't know the first thing about writing.

[devinpatterson]

That sounds like a good solution. It would affect just the players party and no other NPCs?

Just the NPCs that are assigned the perk (your vanilla companions)

 

Like I said, Devin. To someone who knows how to properly use the GECK, it should be fairly simple.

If your not familiar with the geck I'm not sure how you'd have the knowledge to proclaim it a simple matter. I believe the method I outlined is the simplest choice, but it's not a simple perk.

 

In modding there is often more than one way to accomplish the same goal. But in this case I think the perk's damage entry point (calculate weapon damage) is the aspect to focus on. It's not a simple perk, and there would be a bit of record keeping for it in a separate quest script or a few extra lines in each companion's script (hired/fired vars) to add or subtract to a glob (although if you do it the latter way you'll have to fire all your companions before you load the mod, to start at a base of 0). Essentially it would operate as I outlined it in my previous post, a perk with conditions based on a script var or glob (which is hte number of companions hired), and the perk could be added or removed in the same section of the script where companion perks are added/removed.

 

 

But, like 2much said, I couldn't figure out how to access damage tables for a whole faction.

Damage tables were used in fallout 1 & 2, I don't believe that term has any meaning in FO3/FONV, nor is there any function to change a faction's damage.....rather a perk would be used with the condition of a particular faction.

 

It was either globally or for individual NPC's, and nothing to modify them with a percentage, but there was opportunity to load custom scripts, which I don't know the first thing about writing.

What I have been describing, a perk that modifies damage (entry point, calculate weapon damage) allows a bonus or penalty % to whoever (and only) has the perk, which fulfills both of the concerns you listed....it's why I suggested it in my first post and have reiterated it in this post.

 

In regard to the editing the companion scripts or a separate quest script, their purpose (if you followed the method I outlined) would simply be to keep a tally (as a script var or glob) of companions, so the perk's conditions can test against it.

 

There are other ways to do it, I'm sure, but I believe this is the most efficient and least problematic. But of course your free to take my advice or follow your own path.

[Sawducum]

I've worked in the GECK. I've done items, dialogue, and companions before.

But I genuinely don't have time to work on a mod of any complexity right now.

I'm rebuilding my cylinder head, building an ECU, reworking my suspension, and working full time.

[devinpatterson]

I've worked in the GECK. I've done items, dialogue, and companions before.

K, thanks for the mini resume, but I assume you'd still want to know if your heading down teh wrong path on a project. I don't know what to tell you, other than what I'v said above, there are no damage tables in FO3/FONV for factions but what I wrote in the previous posts are a workable strategy.

 

But I genuinely don't have time to work on a mod of any complexity right now.

I'm rebuilding my cylinder head, building an ECU, reworking my suspension, and working full time.

Yep, I work (last couple of weeks I'v been pulling overtime) and up until the semester ended, spent a fair chunk of time in school. In fact I'd wager *a lot* of forum members are pretty busy IRL. No one is twisting your arm to make the mod, but it's nice to have the *option* if you or someone else wants to (and if I can't get to it).....and that's why I'v laid out the process.