Carry Over Perks/Items/Level/etc. To A Replay?

[Dandys]

Hi, I'm Dandys

 

It might seem obvious but I'm kind of fond of replayability. I've created a mod that I still work on called the New Vegas Replayability by Dandys and I think it does a pretty good job. The thing is, there is one aspect of replayability that I would like to explore but which right now is very hard to think of accomplishing.

 

Replayability in Fallout: New Vegas is interesting. Some people say that it's simple - just start a new game. You get to make different choices and pick different perks, which adds countless possibilities to the amount of time you can spend enjoying new content. It even makes it OK that the game has a definite ending, after all, you can just do it all over again.

 

I have a problem with that. One of my favorite parts of the game is the aspect of looting and scavenging, building up collections and exploring the world of loot available to the player in all of the hundreds of locations in the game. If you just start a new game, all of that progress in terms of items is lost, not to mention any levels, perks, completed challenges, or completed quests. For some people that's okay, and it's surely the simplest solution, but that doesn't make it the best.

 

My idea is to have an option to carry over progress from an endgame save (where it usually kicks you out of the game) in terms of items, perks, level, and completed challenges to a brand new game. This would mean playing through the story again, exploring different choices, etc. without all of that extra time spent exploring seeming like a waste, because after all, if you're just going to re-start fresh, what is the motivation for picking up that extra pre-war money or doing that minor side quest that could actually be really fun?

 

I am calling out to all experienced modders to give this a try and help me create the ultimate replayability mod

 

I see two ways this can be accomplished - both with their own strengths and weaknesses

 

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1 - Reset the main quest or all quests, dialogue, etc. in the same save file without going to new game, just teleporting the player to doc mitchell and getting the chargen to run again

 

Pros:

 

Easiest way to have items/level/perk carry over

 

Could probably use resetdialogueflags or whatever the command is

 

Cons:

 

Would have to script for replaying every quest, resetting all quest variables and variables set in speech, which would undoubtedly be extremely difficult

 

No easy way to make containers re-lootable, they would probably end up having the same exact items in them as before

 

2 - Somehow save the player's progress and restore it in a new game

 

Pros:

 

No need to worry about quests and things getting reset - it's a guaranteed fresh start

 

Cons:

 

I have no idea how to store one save's progress and apply it to another, maybe editing the save file itself to delete everything besides the inventory, level and perk but have it think it's a new game???

 

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Please, if anyone has any idea about how this can be accomplished reply here and tell me how

 

I'm sure this mod would be a huge success

 

Thanks

 

Dandys

Edited March 20, 2011 by Dandys

[bfg10k17]

Like, say, in Mass Effect ? I really like that aspect of that game. And I would appriciate it in New Vegas too, but I don't even know how to use GECK not to mention scripting. I think it's a really good idea. I'd use such a mod if it where one. I'll keep an eye on the progress of it, and if you need a tester I'd be more than happy to help, but keep in mind I don't have NVSE or modded FOMM so if that would be in the requriment I'd be unable to play test. Good luck with finding some experienced partners for this mod you have in mind. Cheers ! :thumbsup:

[Dandys]

Thanks and yeah I haven't done Mass Effect really but the game I was thinking this would be like was one of the Ratchet and Clank games where you carry over all your weapons/money/etc. to a replay but you just restart the story, and in that it even shows you how many times you have replayed the game which is cool

 

I don't have NVSE or FOMM either and I honestly wouldn't really consider getting either of them unless someone told me that they knew how to make this mod a possibility using one of those things

 

Realizing the limits of the GECK though I'm thinking it's more and more likely that the only way to make this mod would be to use one of those programs

[Dandys]

I've looked into this more and so far the best option is looking like some kind of a save file edit.

 

Trying different things with a regular mod, I found that making one mod reset the game would be effectively impossible - it would require reviving all NPCs in the game, setting all variables on everything to 0, resetting all quests and dialogue, etc.

 

If anyone is good at modifying saves, is there a way to delete all of the progress (like make it think you haven't even started the tutorial) but keep all the level/perk/challenge progress and keep the inventory?

 

If so we could make this maybe an application for people to download.

 

Just some thoughts thanks

[bfg10k17]

I really think you should move this topic to the "Mod talk" section. Maybe there you'll get the kind of attentioin you want from some skilled people.

[Dandys]

Sorry but can you tell me how to move the thread I don't know how

 

or just create a new one?

Edited March 24, 2011 by Dandys

[bfg10k17]

I think if you contact a moderator it'll help a lot, but if you're not that patient you can just copypast this whole topic and create one with the contents in the proper place.