Wearing a Stealth Boy makes you invisible but adds rads

[devinpatterson]

I mainly wanted to see stealth boys that actually fit game lore, which specifies they're already widely used and re-used by nightkin, but not by vanilla humans (because, we say, RADS!). So, ours should replace the MK I, and be an equippable item instead of an ingestible, and so forth as we've discussed.

The problem is though, that you are wanting to replace a form type with another that I'm not sure is compatible. I mean I can create everything were talking about with an armor type, but I'm not sure I can with a ingestible form, and that is the ID we'd be stuck with if we replace the stealthboy base form.

As a common example I don't think ingestibles have a armor model, just a world model, so there's no place to reference something one could equip.

 

The game already has graveyard whispers--with cumulated use (while surviving with Radaway),

It does? I never knew that, but I rarely use stealthboys.

 

I'll try to address your other points as soon as I have some free time and I'll try to look into the ingestible form to see what's possible (get up to speed on them).

[darlingg]

devinpatterson, instead of keeping the same ID, couldn't we remove each instance of the ingestible Stealth Boy from the game (such as the one in the Goodsprings schoolhouse safe, etc), and place instead our own armor version at all the same locations? Also have it on vendor lists, and carried by dead nightkin. Though I don't know what to do about mods that place further vanilla Stealth Boys... maybe, instead, a script that switches them whenever the player picks one up, or uses the ingestible for the first time?

I mean, the vanilla sound file that's played whenever the PC enters a graveyard. In principle it could also be repurposed as a side-effect of too much Stealth Boy use.

[devinpatterson]

There is the option for a script which could swap a different version when added to the players inventory. I'd guess about 30 instances of stealthboy (just by eyeballing) in the gameworld.

 

Yes, I think visual and audio hallucinations would reinforce the stealthboy lore of driving the wearer off the deep end.

[darlingg]

That would be even better, since it would avoid the Stealth Boy first appearing in the Pip-boy's Aid menu, and then the Apparel menu after being used for the first time. Can an "add this to inventory" script indeed be intercepted like an "ingest this" script? Or would the game have to keep checking the player's inventory to see if there's a vanilla Stealth Boy to switch, which would waste cycles?

[devinpatterson]

That would be even better, since it would avoid the Stealth Boy first appearing in the Pip-boy's Aid menu, and then the Apparel menu after being used for the first time. Can an "add this to inventory" script indeed be intercepted like an "ingest this" script?

Well usually that's a onAdd block, which does function in object scripts and the ingestible has to accept object scripts (it can't be accepting quest or effect) so I would think it would work. I'll fire up the geck and see as soon as a have a few minutes free in front of the pc.

 

Or would the game have to keep checking the player's inventory to see if there's a vanilla Stealth Boy to switch, which would waste cycles?

Cycles wouldn't be too much of a problem since if it was done as a quest script it could check every .1 of a second and have a negligible effect on the cpu (I mean really really infinitesimal).

[devinpatterson]

OK did a quick script, don't have time to test it on my pc, could you? Pick up a stealthboy anywhere from the gameworld (not via console commands) and it should remove the stealthboy and add a party hat without any messages.

Here is hte esp

[darlingg]

I'm reading elsewhere to minimize such checks for best FPS etc - they add up. How about each 1 sec instead?

Glad to actually do something useful for this project.

My character happened to actually be carrying a Stealth Boy. I installed this .esp and loaded that save: Stealth Boy was still in inventory. I dropped it or put it in a desk then picked it up again: Stealth Boy gone, Party Hat appers. Magic!

[devinpatterson]

I'm reading elsewhere to minimize such checks for best FPS etc - they add up. How about each 1 sec instead?

it's a little bit academic since we have this alternative object script to handle things, but since a quest script will come into play sooner rather than later to simulate some of the other effects we've discussed (visual and audio hallucinations) I thought I'd mention a few points on them.

You already have tons of scripts running every second or fraction of a second and most are pretty efficient. In fact object scripts run every frame to check to see if conditions in their begin/end block are met. Most of the code (quest or object script) is only fired off after a condition or check is made, so most of the time they'r only running a single line of code, even if it's every frame. I wouldn't worry too much about them (unless your using some crazy cpu intensive functions) and instead focus more on how the frequency affects gameplay. Basicly let it's frequency be dictated by the effect your trying to achieve.

On the other hand I do understand the desire for efficiency and speed for our game, so I do get where your coming (the sentiment) from.

 

 

I dropped it or put it in a desk then picked it up again: Stealth Boy gone, Party Hat appers.

OK good deal, I'll start cobbling together the armor addon/piece then.

 

Quick question, was the initial 40 rad burst upon equiping the stealthboy a gameplay mechanic for balancing the stealthboy's power or is it to recreate a fallout 1/2 effect (I'm embarrassed to say I'v never played the originals).

If it's from FO1/2 does it have any visual effect associated with the rad burst? I can include the glowing one's rad burst upon equiping if that is appropriate.

[darlingg]

I thought so, since the switch didn't happen on the Stealth Boy in my inventory until I had dropped it and picked it up again.

Could we somehow use the game's existing addiction scheme to manage these eventual side-effects? Though with the understanding that this "addiction" can't be cured the same way as those from chems.

The Stealth Boy in Fallout 1 just gave a 20% bonus to Sneak: see http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Stealth_Boy_(Fallout).

See my July 12 post above about the 40 rad burst. Yeah, basically to balance.

[devinpatterson]

OK here is a quick esp, I didn't have time to test it for more than a minute, but it seems to be pouring out the correct amount of rads. give it a shot and see what you think. I did a higher bonus for stealthgirl perk (125), but it's more of a placeholder for the perk. I think you had mentioned a lower per sec rad count for stealthgirl? Let me know how you'd like the perk handled and I'll add it in.
beta 1 link

 

You will have to do the same procedure (drop then pickup a standard stealthboy) to swap out the new version. This only works for the player, other NPCs will use the standard version, although that can be changed as well, if desired.

 

Also I don't know if this was a graphical glitch, but it looked like there was something over my pipboy when the stealth field was active. I used the world model, but no armor model (don't see any reason to rig it since you can't really see it when invisible anyway), so I don't think it's displaying a stealthboy on the arm. Might have just been a glitch with that load/save.

 

*If* the animation is implemented (I have to ask about flipping an animation along the x axis) then it would make sense to rig the model.

 

Anyway let me know if it's working as intended so far.