Dark Souls type save system - how to go about implementing this?

[Nexusmodsaccountno2]

 

I have used the geck to change a variety of options in New Vegas but the closest I came to scripting was to cut and paste existing scripts and add the odd word here or there.

 

That is to say - scripting is not my strong point but I do have a basic grasp of how it works. Now to change the way NV saves and what happens when you die (such as determining respawn location and the pause save menu options) I assume I would have to use NV Script Extender? I am just wondering how difficult such a process would be and what chance someone at my level of understanding would have to achieve this?

 

Any advice (or active help please and huge thank you for someone with scripting experience actually helping me do it) would be MUCH appreciated. I believe a more immersive save system (with a coherent and lore worthy explanation) would add a lot of atmosphere and make NV a much greater and truly a survival experience.

[dubiousintent]

Suggest you read the thread "Trigger teleport on death" in the "GECK and Modders" sub-forum about some of the difficulties involved.

 

-Dubious-

[Nexusmodsaccountno2]

Thanks. Good news that someone is working on a similar mod. Just thought I'd outline my mod in a little more detail, it will take a lot of imaginative scripting to get up and working...

 

On death you are transported to a special room created for the mod with a "clone o matic" machine. script for respawning needed.

 

The machine is located next to your starting point but you will not encounter it until your 1st death. (this means you can potentially finish the game in a pseudo iron mode with not even a single death as an extra challenge). on your 1st death and respawn the "clone o matic" game mechanic of respawning will be explained in a lore friendly way and a new quest arc will be introduced where you will be given the opportunity to find several clone o matic machines throughout the wasteland so you won't be forced to travel too far on death if you go to the trouble of unlocking these other respawn locations. Extra locations have to be created (i can do that) quick travel will have to be disabled and a teleportation script from each clone o matic location (once unlocked) will have to be written.

 

All your inventory will be dropped where you die in a backpack and you will have to trek back to it if you want your stuff. script needed, this one might be difficult, lots of potential issues.

Edit forgot to specify the most important part, each time you die a new backpack is spawned and the old one is destroyed making recovery of your items a very stressful experience and that is where the dark souls comparison comes in...

Also a quest marker would need to be attatched to the backpack so you actually have a chance of recovering it...yet another script...

 

There will be no manual saving, pause menu needs to be altered to reflect this. ui script and new pause menu needed. on each exit from the game your progress will be automatically saved so you do not have to play through the entire game in one sitting ;). script needed.

 

To guard against crashing, save corruption and the potential for losing progress the game will have to be auto saved once a minute or so and staggered so at least 2 (probably 10 to be sure) saves are retained to guard againt a corrupt save making you lose a whole runthrough, of course this means you could just exit the game when you are in trouble to "cheat" death but that would just make you lame ;). another saving script.

 

Some editing of quest items will be needed to stop players carrying a laser gun all over the wasteland ;). geck will do it.

 

Issues: dlc needs a lot of work or may have to be exempted from this mechanic, some of them are easier to deal with than others but it might work if you are just transported to the start location of the particular dlc but don't think it will be that simple... dlc specific scripts would be needed.

 

The last mission on the damn dam will have issues but again it might be enough to just respawn where you first enter that area not sure. script needed.

 

Any vanilla main game set piece and scripted event may be broken by the respawn mechanic if you die while they are occuring...this can only be resolved through testing...

 

I would also like to make pipboy interaction (inventory access) a realtime mechanic instead of a pause mechanic. to make this more practical i would like to increase the viewing area of your surroundings so you can see what's going on around you while you are accessing your items and won't get ambushed. another script.

 

These are the mechanics and issues i can think of so far.

Edited November 12, 2018 by Nexusmodsaccountno2

[Danneyo]

Sounds like a huge undertaking that I honestly wouldn't recommend as someone's first foray into scripting since it would require a ludicrous amount of changes to pretty much all aspects of the game. If you can figure it out, more power to you, but I'd really suggest starting on something a lot smaller to cut your teeth on.

[Mktavish]

Ya pretty big undertaking ... maybe not as big as the onset suggests ?

 

But I have to say Nexusmodsaccountno2 , You sound like you have a pretty good grasp on mod development managing.

 

A nessacary skill that is commonly overlooked I think :ninja:

[Danneyo]

I'd actually argue that it's a far greater undertaking that it seems at first glance. You're talking extensive editing of quests, items, UI elements, the save system, FOV, the PipBoy, the Inventory, etc. And lord help us if this becomes adaptive to work with mods.

[Nexusmodsaccountno2]

Ya I was pretty sure this was gonna be a big headache to achieve...but I really want this system in place. It would make fallout the game I want it to be. I always wanted to be worried about travelling the wasteland instead of having the safety of a save to get me through, it would completely change the way the player approaches exploration. But yeah I really was hoping to get some kind soul to help me out with A LOT of advice. Or...ahem...do it all for me...heh

 

I remember whenever I was modding with the geck there was always someone in a forum somewhere to help me out either directly or someone else had gone through the same issue already. Of course I was asking for much simpler stuff... This is basically a hopeful cry for help. I am serious about this but as for scripting ability I am seriously underskilled.

 

Thanks for the sobering assessment. But I still wanna do it or at least try. But I am going to need help. The most I can offer is a lot of play testing, any geck work I will be all over that, to try and learn basic scripting and edit any scripting templates anyone out there is willing to offer and a lot of thank yous to anyone willing to help. But if enough experienced scripters tell me it is not going to happen well then I will give it up. Modders have managed to warp and cajole Fallout to do all sorts of interesting things that I never thought they could so I thought I would throw the idea out there and see what response I got.

 

Do you think a lot of quests would be affected? I was pretty sure some might be broken by a teleport out of the area if you die in the middle of a set piece. My thinking was get the death mechanic in place and then just play through and test it. It might not be as devastating a mechanic as first thought? Or it might totally break everything...

 

Oh and thanks for the nod of support Mktavish if thinking about this mod was enough to create it, the mod would have been made ten times over. Ever since I first played through NV I was trying to think of how to get this done but figured out pretty quick that it was going to need a lot of scripting which made me throw up in my mouth a little. I thought I'd give it another shot...bleurgh

Edited November 12, 2018 by Nexusmodsaccountno2

[Danneyo]

Ya I was pretty sure this was gonna be a big headache to achieve...but I really want this system in place. It would make fallout the game I want it to be. I always wanted to be worried about travelling the wasteland instead of having the safety of a save to get me through, it would completely change the way the player approaches exploration. But yeah I really was hoping to get some kind soul to help me out with A LOT of advice. Or...ahem...do it all for me...heh

 

I remember whenever I was modding with the geck there was always someone in a forum somewhere to help me out either directly or someone else had gone through the same issue already. Of course I was asking for much simpler stuff... This is basically a hopeful cry for help. I am serious about this but as for scripting ability I am seriously underskilled.

 

Thanks for the sobering assessment. But I still wanna do it or at least try. But I am going to need help. The most I can offer is a lot of play testing, any geck work I will be all over that, to try and learn basic scripting and edit any scripting templates anyone out there is willing to offer and a lot of thank yous to anyone willing to help. But if enough experienced scripters tell me it is not going to happen well then I will give it up. Modders have managed to warp and cajole Fallout to do all sorts of interesting things that I never thought they could so I thought I would throw the idea out there and see what response I got.

 

Do you think a lot of quests would be affected? I was pretty sure some might be broken by a teleport out of the area if you die in the middle of a set piece. My thinking was get the death mechanic in place and then just play through and test it. It might not be as devastating a mechanic as first thought? Or it might totally break everything...

 

Oh and thanks for the nod of support Mktavish if thinking about this mod was enough to create it, the mod would have been made ten times over. Ever since I first played through NV I was trying to think of how to get this done but figured out pretty quick that it was going to need a lot of scripting which made me throw up in my mouth a little. I thought I'd give it another shot...bleurgh

 

Like I said, you should cut your teeth first before jumping into something like this. I've seen too many modders, including myself, that get in over their heads and drop out before they're even close to completing what they set out to do. Working on something smaller would also get you better acquainted with the community since not many people are willing to throw in on a big project led by someone with 4 posts. Someone with projects under their belt and released mods makes for a much safer bet that the project will actually get done.