drivebymessiah Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 All the Bethesda games since Morrowind (and maybe morrowind too since I just can't remember) have featured hilariously short durations on the player's ability to hold his breath underwater. It irks me to no end that the New Vegas wanderer (title I'm currently playing) starts the journey with a full recovery from a shot to the head, gets shot at least every other day, can truck around the Mojave desert carrying more gear than a pack mule, and some how can't stay under water for more than 20 seconds without instantly dying. I don't get it. Maybe the shortness of breath is for balance reasons to condense underwater portions but honestly its totally ridiculous. I probably have no real aerobic conditioning whatsoever and I can hold my breath for at least 45 seconds through exertion. I just held my breath for a minute and a half while typing this post. I haven't had any luck finding a mod that extends the underwater breath duration with a series of relate-able searches. Perhaps someone knows of a mod that extends underwater endurance? If not - feel free to at least sound off on the matter. It'd make me feel better to know I'm not the only one who feels the its so bizarre all Bethesda game characters can only hold their breath as long as someone with black lung. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devinpatterson Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 I don't know how/where the drowning effect is implemented. But I do believe I can add a hidden perk with VMS15WaterBreathingActual and a timer to the player. I can even base the extra time on endurance. Say base 10 seconds * endurance == your bonus time, before the O2 meter comes up. The only thing I'm fuzzy about is how to trigger it when you hit water, but I'm sure that can be figured out. Did you have a specific amount of time you think the courier should have (or prefer it based on endurance?)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devinpatterson Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 (edited) dupe post Edited September 20, 2012 by devinpatterson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devinpatterson Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 Strike that, found it. Just let me know how many extra seconds you want before you begin to drown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drivebymessiah Posted September 20, 2012 Author Share Posted September 20, 2012 (edited) The simplest model would be to start at 10 seconds and at 10 seconds per point of Endurance. 20 at 1 Endurance and 110 at 10 endurance. These durations would be long enough to alleviate the "OMG. Large caliber bullets 'ain't but a bee-sting' but water is my cryptonite!" reaction, but keep durations short enough to prevent you from idling too much in underwater areas. On the other hand free-divers are known to hold their breath for very long periods of time while swimming. With the caveats to breath-holding that come with extreme conditioning it might add a better feel to increase the scaling of breath holding bonus above 6. Looking something like this: 6END: 70 seconds // 7END: 90 seconds // 8END: 120 seconds // 9END: 180 seconds // 10END: 240 seconds Maintaining the 10 based scaling from 1-6 would maintain improvement over the current breath timer, add greater impact to the detriments of negative endurance effects (from an average value of endurance) and give additional merit to high endurance investment and, maybe most of all, average/above average endurance characters real practical effect to popping a Buffout before underwater exploration. The non linear scaling, though, might be problematic. In any case, as it stands, in fallout 3, New Vegas, Oblivion, and Skyrim it always struck me as profoundly odd when I found a way to (easily) die underwater I'd think: "This character is kind of a bad ass... yet I spend all day in Hammocks eating soft cheese and I can still hold my breath for longer while doing jumping jacks than he can without dropping dead." Edited September 20, 2012 by drivebymessiah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devinpatterson Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 (edited) OK I'm changing the setting directly (no water breathing spell). This should give you double the time. I have to jet for a couple of hours, let me know if you need more or less and I'll whip it up tomorrow. AquaticStaminaX2 Edited September 20, 2012 by devinpatterson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drivebymessiah Posted September 22, 2012 Author Share Posted September 22, 2012 OK I'm changing the setting directly (no water breathing spell). This should give you double the time. I have to jet for a couple of hours, let me know if you need more or less and I'll whip it up tomorrow. AquaticStaminaX2 Thank you, friendly passing wizard. Not as lengthy as the aforementioned "ideals" I was musing over but certainly a treatment for swimming-rage. I'd endorse this in its current form. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devinpatterson Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 Thank you, friendly passing wizard. Not as lengthy as the aforementioned "ideals" I was musing over but certainly a treatment for swimming-rage. No problem, but it is a multiplier based on endurance (the full range of the stat, 1-10). If you like I can tweak it even further to match your specifications. I can give a 10 second base and 10 extra seconds per a point of endurance as per your first suggestion. What I can't do is only apply a bonus to part of the endurance range (ie 6+ as per your second suggestion), they have to be applied to teh whole range. Any just post if you want your first suggestion implemented or have a updated preference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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