The Staging Mod

[avianmosquito]

About a month ago, I started work on a realism mod. I had almost everything under control, but I couldn't figure out how to do the bleed scripts. I turned to the forums, and it fullfilled my expectations entirely. Unfortunately, that's not a good thing. The few responses I got essentially amounted to "wow that looks hard your should check out my mod hey look at me im helping!!!"

 

The realism mod has been indefinitely postponed due to complete, and unfortunately expected, uselessness of the community.

 

So I've decided to just do everything I can without getting any help from somebody who actually knows what the hell they're doing, since that's clearly not going to happen. PROVE ME WRONG, I BEG OF YOU.

 

This is meant to be a stepping stone between vanilla Fallout and the realism mod. It's a painful transition, so to use this mod you'll need to make a new character. Thankfully, the realism mod will be a single .esp with this mod as a parent, and it'll be a painless transition, so if the realism mod ever actually comes to be (more wish than chance, I'm afraid) you can just turn it on and continue playing. It will conflict with pretty much every other mod in existence, ask me WHEN IT'S DONE and I'll try to resolve such conflicts.

 

I'm going to go into detail now in an orderly manner. I will cover each area, first how it was in vanilla Fallout, then how it is in the staging mod and, if applicable, the realism mod. In most ways, the staging mod and realism mod are the same, so that won't happen much.

 

Chargen:

Vanilla:

 

The race selection screen allows you to choose african american, asian, caucasian or hispanic, serves no concievable purpose other than to seperate the "races" as if they were actually seperate entities. Face presets are set on the next screen to provide each race with some variety, which accomplishes... nothing. All selections are purely asthetic, leaving the player's common sense to put a rifle in its mouth and the player to recite the MST3K Mantra.

 

Staging/realism:

 

The race selection screen is replaced by the age selection screen. Four age groups, (six in the wild wasteland version) are available: adult, adolescent, youth and child for the basic version, toddler and infant are added with the wild wasteland version. All of the age and sex options have an impact, changing the player's starting stats. The player's stats can still be modified at the vigor tester, but stats cannot be increased to more than twice their starting value or +3, whichever is lower. For instance, an adult male starts at 5555555, so he can go up to 8 in any one stat, but a female child starts at 2736575, so her strength cannot be brought above 4, but her perception and agility can both go to ten right at the start.

 

Traits:

 

Vanilla:

 

Two traits may be selected, the list is too well known to bother with.

 

Staging/Realism:

 

Any number of traits may be selected. Wild wasteland is removed from the traits list, (now being a seperate version of the mod) while cannibal is added. Another new trait, speedster, is available to all players who choose "youth" or "child." It double move and attack rates, but also doubles spread and cuts carry capacity in half. No other changes.

 

Health:

 

Vanilla:

 

Health is dependent on endurance and level. Health is typically 100-500. Limb health is several hundred percent of player health.

 

Staging:

 

Health is dependent on endurance only, level is no longer a factor. Specifically, it is End*1000. The only way to increase it is to increase endurance or get the lifegiver perk. Limb health is a 100+(10*End) to 850+(85*End) With an endurance of five, that's 150hp on the head, 375 per arm, 525 per leg, and 1275 for the torso. Crippled limbs are also far more punishing.

 

Realism:

 

Identical to staging, but health regeneration is implemented at a base rate of 0.01*(100-dehydration)*(End³)/day. Limb regeneration is implemented at a rate of 0.01*(100-starvation)*(End²)/day. While sleeping, this formula applies per hour. For example, with an endurance of five, you regenerate one hit point every 11m, 31.2s and one point to each limb every 57m, 36s. One hour of sleep will restore 125 hit points and 25 to each limb.

 

Shot placement:

 

Vanilla:

 

The vanilla game only distinguished between the head and torso, giving the former twice the damage of the former, completely ignoring that the torso is filled with extremely vital organs and massive blood vessels. It gives all limbs equal damage save the head, and sets the entire torso to one big part.

 

Staging:

 

Organs are now positioned within the body. They determine damage done, the heart getting the highest multiplier. Arm shots do half damage, leg shots do 70%, headshots do normal damage. (Unless you hit the brain, which gets the second highest multiplier.) Major blood vessels can be hit for multipliers as well, causing massive health damage over time when ruptured.

 

Realism:

 

Organs now work with the bleed system, with the bleed script recognizing organ damage done and using it to determine bleed.

 

Weapon damage:

 

Vanilla:

 

Weapon damage is determined arbitrarily by the whimsy of the staff, in an irritating manner that makes no sense and throws gameplay balance out the window.

 

Staging:

 

Weapon damage is determined by the size and type of weapon, all of which is based on a simple formula. If requested, I will publish the damage formulas. Damage types include blunt, (ignores armour, standard damage type) concussive, (ignores armour, done by all weapons) energy, (affected by DR and DT, can set the enemy on fire for greater effect) puncture (affected by DR only, standard damage type) and incisive. (Affected by DT only, standard damage type.)

 

Realism:

 

Weapon limb damage is identical, but health damage is dealt over time and ten times the amount.

 

Armour:

 

Vanilla:

 

Armour DT is the sole form of protection, armour cannot block more than 80% of a hit. Affected the entire body.

 

Staging:

 

Armour now has DT, a number of points taken off all incisive and energy attacks, and a DR, a percentage of damage taken off all puncture and energy attacks. It also provides bonus hitpoints

to all limbs affected. Body armour does not affect the head, helmets do not affect the torso. Armour can block the entirety of a hit.

 

Realism:

 

DR and DT no longer affect energy weapons, instead EDR and EDT take that role over. Otherwise identical to staging.

 

Hardcore:

 

Vanilla:

 

Hardcore is an optional mode that brings in new needs and alters the player's medical supply effects. Any need passing 1000 is instantly lethal, although less only imparts negligible status effects.

 

Staging:

 

Hardcore is mandatory. Needs now inflict much larger status effects, can kill the player long before 1000 comes to pass, and 1000 is no longer instantly lethal.

 

Realism:

 

Hardcore is mandatory. Needs now have effects, a delay counter, and a script that kicks in to cause health/limb/fatigue damage in proportion to the number of points.

 

Medicine:

 

Vanilla:

 

Stimpacks heal health, blood packs are drank, morphine reduces damage, doctor's bags heal limbs, and sleeping instantly heals all wounds. Somewhere a physician is crying.

 

Staging/realism:

 

Stimpacks give a temporary health boost, blood packs restore health, morphine alleviates damage/illness affects and fatigue damage, doctor's bags provide a temporary health boost to a limb, and sleeping does nothing. (Except in the realism mod, where it heals small amounts of health.)

 

Enemies:

 

Vanilla:

 

Enemies appear in small bunches of mismatched single fighters. They pose no real threat to the player.

 

Staging/realism:

 

Enemies appear is coordinated, balanced squads built to support one another. They are a serious threat the player usually cannot handle alone.

 

Difficulty:

 

Vanilla:

 

Difficulty settings modify damage tables.

 

Staging/realism:

 

There are no difficulty settings. It's locked at normal.

 

Children:

 

Vanilla:

 

There are less than 30 children in the wasteland. They are invulnerable and cowardly. This is rediculous on all counts. A society with so few children would be completely extinct, children are made of flesh like everyone else, and an invulnerable child has no reason to be a coward.

 

Staging/realism:

 

Children are common, many are randomly generated in cities and the wastes, and exist in all ages from infant to adolescent. They are vulnerable, but no more so than others, and are no less aggressive than adults. (Possibly a little more so, actually.) Most children wandering the wastes are prospectors, and they can have some pretty good merchandise, so keep your pocketbook ready.

 

Melee weapons:

 

Vanilla:

 

Melee weapons were frequently the least damaging weapon type, and had no advantages over other weapons. This throws both logic and gameplay balance out the window, because real melee weapons are devastatingly powerful and power is a good way to balance such a weapon. (Obsidian, what in the hell is wrong with you?)

 

Staging:

 

Melee weapons are devesatingly powerful, instantly crippling their targets, instantly killing as well if placed properly. With a high strength score, even the humble fist, (which cause the least health damage) can turn a target's head into splatter.

 

Realism:

 

Melee weapons work well with the bleed mechanic. Instantly crippling, and always guaranteed to turn lethal given time, but beating on your opponent to make them die faster is still a viable strategy. Even fist fights quickly turn in the stronger combatant's favour quickly, as the weaker one is quickly crippled, broken, maimed, and savagely beaten until the victor's rage has been satisfied. A melee compatant will completely overwhelm a ranged combatant, leaving them broken on the ground, bleeding to death. It's not pretty.

[NorthWolf]

Honestly, mate, you won't like this reply, but it's a slice of reality:

 

Insulting the community at large is not a good way to have it help you. Both your post and your signature basically bemoans the community not being more "useful" to you, but the community is a bunch of volunteer modders who are here to have fun. :confused: No one here is obligated to help you, and when they do it's a big favor that you should be thankful for.

[avianmosquito]

Honestly, mate, you won't like this reply, but it's a slice of reality:

 

Insulting the community at large is not a good way to have it help you. Both your post and your signature basically bemoans the community not being more "useful" to you, but the community is a bunch of volunteer modders who are here to have fun. :confused: No one here is obligated to help you, and when they do it's a big favor that you should be thankful for.

 

Not helping is one thing. Pretending to help without actually doing anything productive is another.

 

I'm not trying to increase the help I get with that signature. I'm trying to reduce the amount of nay-saying, self-promotion and self-congratulations in the responses I get. If that's all that's in the responses, I would prefer not to get them than to keep getting my hopes up only to find defeatism, spam and back-patting where I was needing help.

 

I tell you what. When I recieve my second piece of usefull information, I'll change my signature to something humorous.

[NorthWolf]

I'm not sure how many people are being self-congratulatory so much as they're trying to help. Part of being a modder is seeing how other people do things so you can do it for yourself. But I haven't read your thread that thoroughly, except to post small bits of advice twice. Regardless, check your other topic; I've posted the function you need to make time delayed events.

 

If it'll make you change your opinion, the way I would implement bleeding is to create a criteria of wounds that a creature can receive. I.e. left arm artery cut. Make that into a token item with a script attached. The script would have a GameMode block with a timer, as per the link in the other thread, that caused the player to lose a pre-determined amount of health.

[avianmosquito]

I'm not sure how many people are being self-congratulatory so much as they're trying to help. Part of being a modder is seeing how other people do things so you can do it for yourself. But I haven't read your thread that thoroughly, except to post small bits of advice twice. Regardless, check your other topic; I've posted the function you need to make time delayed events.

 

If it'll make you change your opinion, the way I would implement bleeding is to create a criteria of wounds that a creature can receive. I.e. left arm artery cut. Make that into a token item with a script attached. The script would have a GameMode block with a timer, as per the link in the other thread, that caused the player to lose a pre-determined amount of health.

 

I've actually got it all worked out.

 

I've got a body part script that detects the damage done to a body part, then checks the weapon that hit it to determine type. Then it adds 1000 to a variable used as a counter (added to by each hit) 1 to a "hit counter" that controls the rate it decreases at, and the damage (times a multiplier) to a third variable. The second variable is subtracted from the first, and the third from the actor's health. Then it waits out an interval and repeats until the counter or the actor's health reaches 0 and ends.

 

It's simple, it only takes one script per weapon type, and it stacks.

[Glenstorm]

WOW! That looks hard! Good luck with that! There is this thing called GECK wiki. You should check it out sometime. If this is published, I'm totally gonna get it. Hope this helps.

 

 

Sorry I couldn't resist. On a different note, you cannot code in more than five parts in VATS to target in. I remember seeing this particular mod which added the groin area as a possible target, but then it had to merge the legs into one target to make up for it. In that case, that was good enough. What you are proposing is to add a heart and a brain, not to mention an arbitrary number of blood vessels. I don't know about you, but from where I'm standing there seems to be a shortage of limbs.

 

Health:

"Yay, I have 5 END and I have 5000 HP! Oh wait, the enemy got 5000 HP too. Guess I'm gonna have to treat every wastelander like a deathclaw". Case closed. I'm really hoping that you meant Endurance*100. Coz it's just ridiculous otherwise.

 

I commend the idea of more children in the wasteland. But I would like to suggest that they remain in close proximity to adults. If you were a kid, in a world where everything wants to eat you, would you be travelling the wasteland as prospectors unattended?

[Thasic]

Personally, I know very little about modding, so take my input for what it is. Most modders are likely working feverishly on their own mods. Do you think some top notch modder is waiting around for someone like you to come along and help out with a HUGE mod? Come on. Also, you're kind of going over well trodden ground. There are several very good realism mods already and lots of bad ones. Again, why would a top notch modder want to redo what has already been done. Best bet, I would think, is if you want to collaborate on a mod is offer YOUR services to the modding community. I am sure there are lots of those top notch modders that could use a hand on THEIR mods. Then you can learn to mod from a master before going off on your own. Just a thought.

 

BTW, saying, right up front, that your mod is going to make using any other mod difficult is not likely to win many hearts and minds. Some of us have mods we will not play the game without. It is a bit arrogant to assume everyone will give up all their favorite mods to play yours' neh?

[adman85]

Hey I'm just happy when someone comments on my post at all.. Gets it back to the top of the list right? :D

 

Wait whoops.

 

So you can't just reduce weapon damage and add effects to bullets or projectile data? (effects that stack and are conditional obviously)

Edited July 22, 2011 by adman85

[avianmosquito]

Sorry I couldn't resist. On a different note, you cannot code in more than five parts in VATS to target in. I remember seeing this particular mod which added the groin area as a possible target, but then it had to merge the legs into one target to make up for it. In that case, that was good enough. What you are proposing is to add a heart and a brain, not to mention an arbitrary number of blood vessels. I don't know about you, but from where I'm standing there seems to be a shortage of limbs.

 

 

There's actually six, first off, and second off VATS doesn't recognize them. You have to either just go for the torso and hope it hits something good, or aim manually. I recommend the latter.

 

Health:

"Yay, I have 5 END and I have 5000 HP! Oh wait, the enemy got 5000 HP too. Guess I'm gonna have to treat every wastelander like a deathclaw". Case closed. I'm really hoping that you meant Endurance*100. Coz it's just ridiculous otherwise.

 

When guns do 40-400 damage, and there are organs that can multiply the damage by as much as 100, that's not much. More importantly, in the realism mod guns do ten times as much health damage over a long period, so that much health is neccesary.

 

I commend the idea of more children in the wasteland. But I would like to suggest that they remain in close proximity to adults. If you were a kid, in a world where everything wants to eat you, would you be travelling the wasteland as prospectors unattended?

 

"Oh, they're children, so they clearly must be helpless! Why would they ever leave the presence of adults?"

 

Really?

 

They travel in groups and carry guns like everyone else. There aren't many wasteland critters that are a serious threat to a single person running around like an idiot, so the prospector teams, armed to the teath, will be perfectly fine. The fact that they are children actually doesn't make much difference, and it's not like they're ever alone. You'll see four-person prospector teams now. A child prospector team will consist of one child organizing and managing inventory, (who also does sales) two children that do the searching, and a lookout. The kid with the inventory will have a lupara, a pistol, a knife and a baseball bat. The two searching each carry a rifle, a knife and a spear. (Not the throwing kind.) The lookout carries a rifle, a submachine gun, a revolver and a sword.

 

A deathclaw couldn't get past all that. First it would be shot a couple dozen times, then while two children hold it away using the spears, (why else would they have them?) the other two beat and stab it until it stops moving. Of course, that would never happen because deathclaws are intelligent enough to know 4-1 is not good. The only thing that would be a threat would be a larger group of humans, and they're pretty rare.

 

As for why they don't hang around the adults all day, most of them are orphans. The rest simply decided it was better to be out on their own than to starve to death at home. They're better off anyway, an old alcoholic or jet-head is a worthless burden, even if they are your parents. Leaving them to die of their own devices is simply better than going down with them.

 

EDIT:

Of course, the fact that children, due to being smaller and not needing as much food, make better prospectors is probably a factor. An adult would be an uneccesary burden, because they don't search as well, fit into as small of places, or provide any real benefit to the group other than carrying capacity, and for that they've got a brahmin. Worse, an adult would eat far more than a child, straining rations and cutting into their profits by quite a bit. A child is simply a better choice for such a team.

Edited July 22, 2011 by avianmosquito

[avianmosquito]

Personally, I know very little about modding, so take my input for what it is. Most modders are likely working feverishly on their own mods. Do you think some top notch modder is waiting around for someone like you to come along and help out with a HUGE mod? Come on. Also, you're kind of going over well trodden ground. There are several very good realism mods already and lots of bad ones. Again, why would a top notch modder want to redo what has already been done. Best bet, I would think, is if you want to collaborate on a mod is offer YOUR services to the modding community. I am sure there are lots of those top notch modders that could use a hand on THEIR mods. Then you can learn to mod from a master before going off on your own. Just a thought.

 

BTW, saying, right up front, that your mod is going to make using any other mod difficult is not likely to win many hearts and minds. Some of us have mods we will not play the game without. It is a bit arrogant to assume everyone will give up all their favorite mods to play yours' neh?

 

I'm not doing something that has been done before. While people will throw around the idea of a realism mod, and make a list of changes that cause it to feel more real, they NEVER actually make it more realistic. This is not some idiot trying to make the game more believable, this is someone who knows what they're talking about making the game conform to reality better.

 

And, by the way, it only conflicts with mods that alter vanilla weapons, armour, actors and settings. Anything else will be fine, so just check for conflicts before using it with anything else. Unfortunately, most other mods for weapons and armour are also useless in this environment, which is a bigger problem. I can adjust other people's armour and weapons, (with their permission, of course) to fit into the mod. I'm willing to do that much, be glad for that.