Comprehensive FO:T Engine Bug List (1.27)

Melindil

It Wandered In From the Wastes
This post is intended as a place to collect information on all known and suspected engine bugs in Fallout Tactics 1.27, as well as known fixes or workarounds for each.

Note that this list does not include map or entity errors, broken quests, etc., as these are fixable with the game editor tools. A separate thread can be created for these (or take a look at the FOT Redux project, as it fixes a large number of these).

The list is almost certainly incomplete. Submissions are very welcome - include as much detail as you can on the conditions where the bug applies, known effects, and any research done on either extent, workaround, or fix.

Bugs are categorized as:

Confirmed: Means that the conditions for the bug are well-defined, and frequent/visible enough to be seen easily. This also includes bugs which have been thoroughly investigated, or those for which the actual game code has bee studied.

Unconfirmed: Bugs which have been reported at least once, but for which the effects are either not fully known or studied enough to be well-defined.

Balance Issues: These are cases where game engine behavior is greatly affected by game mode (CTB or turn-based). To make this list, the bug must render a skill, trait, perk, or other game element useless (or nearly so) in one mode but not others, and where that effect can not be assumed from the description of either the skill or the game mode.

Not Bugs: These are reported bugs for which there is evidence that the effect is actually intended. This includes instruction manual errata, unless substantial enough to mislead a player on selecting a skill, trait, or perk.

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Confirmed bugs:

Bug: Sniper perk
Details: The game loads an incorrect value for the attacker's Luck stat, resulting in only a 9% chance of succeeding the roll regardless of Luck.
Fix: Hex patch available at:
http://www.nma-fallout.com/threads/list-of-hex-based-fixes-changes-in-bos-exe-file.202858/
Also included in FTSE 0.20 or later, and FOT Redux 1.2 or later.


Bug: Team Player and Loner perks
Details: The game does not properly set a flag with nearby team members, resulting in behavior that no team member is nearby for all cases. The result is that Loner bonuses are always applied, and Team Player bonuses never are.
Fix: Hex patch available at:

http://www.nma-fallout.com/threads/hex-patch-for-team-player-loner.215497/
Also included in FTSE 0.20 or later.


Bug: Burst attack secondary hits
Details: Burst attacks have a very high chance of hitting nearby targets, even with a low chance to hit the intended target.
Fix: Unconfirmed hex patch at:

http://www.nma-fallout.com/threads/list-of-hex-based-fixes-changes-in-bos-exe-file.202858/
Also included in FTSE 0.20 or later, and FOT Redux 1.2 or later.

Bug: "Tagname" issue
Details: Certain conditions cause the Tagname for entities to be erased or replaced. This can break some scripting.
Fix: Hex patch at:

http://www.nma-fallout.com/threads/list-of-hex-based-fixes-changes-in-bos-exe-file.202858/


Bug: Goto Mission trigger
Details: When re-entering a map with a Goto Mission trigger, sometimes that trigger will become stuck on.
Fix: Included in FT Improver 2.0.0.1.


Bug: Night Person trait
Details: The bonus from the perk never turns off once applied.
Fix: None at this time.


Bug: Vat Skin trait
Details: Penalty is incorrectly documented (-2 PE instead of 1). Penalty only applies to allies, not enemies.
Fix: None at this time.


Bug: Vehicles with crouch/prone
Details: Entering a vehicle while crouched or prone makes the stat adjustments from those stances permanent.
Fix: None at this time.


Bug: Cover calculation on chance to hit
Details: The game gives an AC bonus for being near cover (sandbags, walls), but this calculation is biased to certain directions over others.
Fix: None at this time.


Bug: Disarm critical effect
Details: One possible outcome from critical hit is to disarm the target. An incorrect flag check in weapon entity prevents this from working, leading to a critical hit no better than a normal hit.
Fix: None at this time. Root cause determined, fix coming soon.


Bug: Critical effects for melee and unarmed
Details: A lookup table is used to determine effects of critical hits. This lookup is broken for melee and unarmed, leading to oddities like punching left legs being extremely deadly.
Fix: None at this time. Root cause determined, fix coming soon


Bug: Bonus H2H Damage perk
Details: A 15% damage bonus is given to the Bonus H2H Attack perk, but by perk description (and intent) this should be applied to Bonus H2H Damage.
Fix: None at this time. Root cause determined, fix coming soon


Bug: Invisible attackers
Details: In some locations, the player may be attacked by "invisible" entities (commonly seen in the mutant base of St. Louis).
Fix: None at this time.


Bug: Changing weapon mode during attack
Details: Switching between burst and single shot modes on a weapon can, with proper timing, result in burst hit effect, but only a single ammunition unit used.
Fix: None at this time. Easily worked around by just not exploiting the behavior.


Bug: Firing with insufficient ammo
Details: Burst shot attacks are allowed even if a weapon only has a single ammunition unit loaded. The burst attack only uses that one unit, but applies full effect.
Fix: None at this time. Can be worked around by not exploiting the behavior.


Bug: Broken exit grids
Details: Some situations cause exit grids to break, resulting in an inability to leave a map.
Fix: None at this time. Can be worked around by modifying map and/or trigger conditions in many cases.


Bug: Random encounter crash
Details: Game crashes frequently when all random encounters are uncovered.
Fix: Hex fix in this thread:
http://www.nma-fallout.com/threads/hex-patch-for-special-encounter-crash.217648/
Workarounds in FOT Redux 1.2 and other campaigns can limit the ability for the player to uncover all random encounters. Can also be worked around by not uncovering more than one encounter per map square.

Bug: Electronic Lockpicks
Details: "Unfortunately Electronic Lockpicks don't work correctly in the game. There is an option to tag doors as "Electronic" as well as the Lockpicks themselves, but it wasn't actually enabled. So it looks like we're stuck w/generic lockpicks."
Fix: None yet. Can be partially worked around with triggers on doors.

Bug: Give item from human to NPC
Details: "The give item from human to npc command doesn't like multiple tagnames.. From NPC to human will work with trading umpteen tagged items but from human to npc will only trade one item and won't move equipped items, even using multiple preserved triggers."
Fix: None.

Bug: Chems on machinery
Details: Using chems on turrets, machines, etc. can kill them via overdose.
Fix: None. Workaround is to not use the exploit.

Bug: First Aid, Doctor skill use during combat
Details: "In turn based play, when using the First Aid or Doctor skill during combat your medic must have fewer AP than he needs to use the first aid kit or doctor's bag. For example, if Stitch has a use cost of 8 AP for a First Aid kit, if he has 8 or more AP he can't use the First Aid kit. He will appear to use it, but will do nothing-- he will repeatedly play a "use item" animation and no healing will occur. If he has 7 AP or less, everything will be fine."
Fix: None. Partial workaround of using AP prior to using the skill.

Bug: Items not removed from inventory
Details: "Quest items don't disappear from inventory if the character holding them is inside a vehicle when leaving the map."
Fix: None.

Bug: AP costs of consumable items are not displayed
Details: "All consumable items (food, drinks, drugs) do not display an AP cost in when placed in a character's active item slot, yet they have a use cost of two."
Fix: None yet.

Bug: Vehicles cannot be deactivated
Details: "something that doesn't work is deactivating vehicles by deactivating their Player Index or moving them to a deactivated PI."
Fix: None. Unknown if a workaround exists.


Unconfirmed bugs:

Bug: Night Person trait and NPCs
Details: Reports of Night Person not being applied to NPC recruits.
Fix: Unconfirmed hex patch at:

http://www.nma-fallout.com/threads/list-of-hex-based-fixes-changes-in-bos-exe-file.202858/


Bug: Ghost perk
Details: Reports that Ghost does not apply stealth bonus. Need to check internal functionality to see if it's applied to stealth check rolls directly.
Fix: None at this time.


Bug: Drunk status effect
Details: Reports that Drunk status doesn't have intended effects.
Fix: None at this time.


Bug: Bonsai perk
Details: Reports that the perk does nothing.
Fix: None at this time.

Bug: Super Toolkits
Details: "There is a bug w/vehicles needing an item to Repair them. I seem to recall having simply used a Super Tool Kit on one once and the vehicles was repaired. That's why I only have standard Tool Kits available on the map."
Fix: None yet. Need to confirm if this is intended behavior (e.g. if critical repair can happen like critical heals).


Bug: # alive in a zone
Details: "it appears that the "Quantity Team" and "Quantity Player" triggers don't work for # alive in a zone other than anywhere."
Fix: None. Still needs to be confirmed.


Possible balance issues:

Bug: Sneak in turn-based modes
Details: Stealth checks appear to still occur on a time interval even in turn-based modes. This makes it much more difficult to stay hidden, as the character must continue to pass stealth rolls during all other characters' turns.
Fix: None at this time.


Bug: Bonus Move perk
Details: Reports that Bonus Move is not useful in CTB mode.
Fix: None at this time.



Not bugs:

Bug: Bend / Break the Rules perks
Details: The perks do not show up in the game. Considered not a bug, as the removal of the perks appears intentional when looking into the game code. Reports that this may have been done for balance reasons.
 
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Bug: Sentry mode bug after changing Player Index

blkaddr: "If you move an entity from a non-human playerId>1 to a playerId=1(human) the player will not be able to adjust the sentry mode for the unit until a save/reload sequence. Kind of a pain. I tried starting the npc on the human team and switching them at startup to a playerId>1 team, the sentry mode problem goes away! BUT now you can't make these units walk waypoints..."

JJ86: "The quick way is to put a disclaimer at the beginning telling the player to save and reload the game after making the switch. This is the only way to get the newly recruited NPC's to change modes."

Info by TwoEyedYum about the same bug:
"No, it intented to be so. By default, all game actors (NPC, enemies) have "non player" sentry settings - they are controlled by AI and their minimum accuracy is 0%. By the way, this hardcoded thing causes Burst Bug to appear. As you know, "player" actors can't have minimum accuracy lower that 1%. You can shoot manually with inaccurate burst weapon, though, and get same bug."
 
Unused content: RepairBot?
There's a nature mode called "RepairBot" and a demeanour named "MiscAssistHeal" see aitable.txt
Also something is mentioned in the exe file about link to C:\dev\bos\game\entity\ai\base_ai_dem.cpp and the text "AI: Non reapir bot attempting to call assist heal" can be seen there.
The question for you: Is the routine missing, incomplete, broken or just unused?
Workaround for auto healing (already present in several new mods): a deathtrap with a negative damage + some triggers

OnTheBounce: There is a sprite for something called a "Robot Repair Bay" in FoT along w/the option to set an entity's sound to "Robot Repair Bay". Evidently the designers were thinking of allowing the 'Bots to use these in lieu of medics. (Medics themselves were never implemented for either the BoS Bunkers, or the enemy, unfortunately.)

A complete thread here: www.duckandcover.cx/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3742
 
Bug: # alive in a zone
Details: "it appears that the "Quantity Team" and "Quantity Player" triggers don't work for # alive in a zone other than anywhere."
Fix: None. Still needs to be confirmed.
It does work (at least in FT Improver), but the "alive" mode counts even dead characters.
 
Hi there!

I thought it might be usefull to all of us, so I create an online spreadsheet to follow in real time all engine new features, bugs and balance issues, with colour indexes to show which one is solved, confirmed or not! Anyone should report there new engine issues or features they would like to see added to the engine, and we'll always be on the same page.

Thanks for this! It'll be a lot easier to manage as things are fixed/found.

I did make one modification - as of FTSE 0.30, assigning perks with triggers should mostly work. For perks that are attribute-boost-only, the skill/attribute must also be added as a permanent attribute bonus along with adding the perk - perks with attribute bonuses only seem to grant them when the perk is selected from the character window, and the window closed with the normal button (this explains why some perks don't 'work' when added in the editor tools). Could maybe include fixing this limitation as a 'bug' for the time being.
 
Ah! Good news. I'll implent this to my mod as soon as your new .3 version is released then, as I am and will be making a lot of quests at this time and in the next versions.
 
1) BUG: Wrong TB mode activation condition.

Turn-based (TB) mode should activate after an enemy decides to attack the player (same as in Fallout 1-2), NOT after the enemy attacked the player.


2) BUG: Real time in TB mode.

Enemy OVERWATCH (in TB mode) acts in real time - WHILE the player performs some actions. An example: it's the player's turn, he moves the main character 1-2 steps forward, encounters an enemy in overwatch and stops, deciding what to do next. When that enemy spots the player, he cancels overwatch and attacks the player. The problem is that the enemy doesn't attack immediately - the time to spot the player is random: it can take 1-10 seconds until the enemy uses his overwatch and attacks. If the player is quick enough (again, during TB mode), he can order the main character to attack the enemy and kill it, preventing enemy from acting.

In other words, enemy overwatch should happen immediately after he spots the player - turn-based mode should NOT have any real time in it. Right now overwatch in TB mode acts as if the game was in Continuous Turn-Based (CTB) mode.

Maybe the real reason the enemy doesn't attack immediately is that it doesn't spot the player immediately, because the process of spotting others isn't deterministic (it's random). However, the spotting should not progress while the player does nothing in TB - only after the player takes some action (spends at least 1 more Action Point).

Possible solution: remove randomness from the spotting process (make it instant during TB mode).


3) BUG: Broken barter formula.

Abbreviations:
  • Sell to NPC (STN) - the money the player gets (+) when selling items TO a trader.
  • Buy from NPC (BFN) - the money the player pays (-) when buying items FROM a trader.
  • Delta - difference between player and trader barter skills.
  • Delta is influenced by Reputation (+-20 rep = +- 1 D; max change is +-50 D) and is capped at [-300;300].
  • Delta = min{max[-300; (Player_Skill_BARTER-Trader_Skill_BARTER) + min(max(-50;roundDown(Reputation/20;0));50)]; 300}

Problem #1: STN depends on BFN: min(STN; BFN*0.9).
Consequence #1-1. High Delta lowers STN.
Consequence #1-2. "Master Trader" perk (BFN*0.75) not only lowers BFN, but also lowers STN.

Problem #2: "Quarter Master" NPC status not only lowers STN, but also lowers BFN.

Solution to both problems: implement a new barter formula (and make it much more simple than original). There are 2 propositions.

Version #1:
  • STN price = 0.25 * Base_item_price * (1+Delta/600) * (if npc_is_QuarterMaster then 0.80 else 1)
  • BFN price = 1.00 * Base_item_price * (1-Delta/600) * (if buyer_has_perk_MasterTrader then 0.75 else 1)

Version #2:
  • STN price = 0.33 * Base_item_price * (1+Delta/600)
  • BFN price = 1.00 * Base_item_price * (1-Delta/600)
  • MasterTrader is disabled (removed from the list of available perks)
  • QuarterMaster multiplier is set to 1 (for STN and BFN)

I recommend using v2:
  • Compared to vanilla, both versions lower the player's income from selling items, but v2 does it less.
  • FT is a tactical simulator, non-combat perks shouldn't have been added to the game in the first place.
  • If QM pay less money than non-QM, all it does is force the player to seek non-QM shopkeepers to maximize his income.

NB! Unlike F2, FT barter prices are also influenced by the NUMBER of items in player/trader inventory. It could be tweaked as well (unfortunately, no ideas how right now).


4) BUG: Skill books past 12th behave incorrectly.

Note: max skill book bonus (after consuming 12 books) = skill_value_at_lvl_1 + 98.

Problems:
  • every skill book after 12th, although not raising the skill, still gets consumed
  • the log window still shows "Char_Name learnt something new"

5) BUG: Reloading resets Chem counter to 0.

Maximum amount of chem points before becoming:
  • overdosed = 50 + EN*15
  • dead = 100 + EN*20
Each consumable has its own chem value (for example, Voodoo has 80 chem points). Using consumable increases the counter by said value.

This bug makes it possible to consume unlimited amount of drugs without getting overdosed/dead, since the counter is reset after game load.


6) BUG: Chems and wrong Log window messages.

If item has
  • "Consumable - Addiction - Chance of Addiction" > 0
then Log window shows "Char_Name gained addiction to Drug_Name" because it thinks that
  • "Consumable - Addiction - Addiction Enabled" = 1
  • "Addiction Effect - Chems - Addiction" = 1
even if:
  • they're set to 0
  • the player uses drugs on another object (not on himself)


7) BUG: Consumable items behave incorrectly.

Problem #1:
  • Values entered in "Consumable - Random Effects" are multiplied by 1.1 (it's harcoded). To compensate for that, the entered value should be divided by 1.1 by the modder.
  • Example: if we want to have a consumable item (Super stimpak, maybe) with random effect = 180, then we should set random effect to roundUP(180/1.1;0)=164. Otherwise the game'll produce higher value than intended: roundDOWN(180*1.1;0)=198.
Problem #2:
  • If consumable item has values entered in "Effect[x] - ActorStatus - hitPoints", then healing isn't displayed by the log window (log_) and by the event notification (floating text) above the character (ent_).


8) BALANCE: "Kamikaze" trait should increase initial damage.

Bonus Dmg from "Kamikaze" trait (+25%) works AFTER piercing armor DT, increasing final damage. That's pretty useless, because:
  • it doesn't help in piercing DT
  • it's 25% only if the target's DT=0 (usually it's 10-20%)
BUG (Unconfirmed): The real bonus seems to be 24,5% instead of 25% (only knowing the full damage formula will show if it's a bug or intended rounding down).

Solution: change "Kamikaze" bonus to 25% and make it behave the same way as "Bonus Ranged Dmg" perk (that increases initial/weapon damage and, thus, works BEFORE piercing armor DT).
 

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1) BUG (Unconfirmed): No loot on death.

If 2 or more enemies have the same death sprite on the same spot, then it's not possible to loot the bodies at the bottom.


2) BUG (Unconfirmed): Reloading for 0 AP.

It's possible to reload a weapon for 0 AP by droping it from one weapon slot to another.


3) BUG (Unconfirmed): Wrong burst-mode stats.

Switching the weapon mode in a burst-single-burst manner makes the player shoot burst with single shot stats (higher dmg, longer range).

Similar to (or even the same) "Bug: Changing weapon mode during attack".


4) BUG/BALANCE (Unconfirmed): Temporary raising CHARISMA can affect player rank.

Player's CH affects:
  • rank promotion after completing a mission
  • recruits availability in the recruit master pool
It's possible to temporarily boost CH with drugs:
  • before reporting to a questgiver - to get better promotion
  • before talking with a recruit master - to get better recruit pool
I'm uncertain about the info above, since I've also read that rank is calculated retroactively: rank = CH + mission bonuses. Meaning that:
  • temp CH bonus doesn't affect promotion, but temporarily raises rank
  • the rank reverts back to normal when the drug stops working
Solution - the game should check the base CH value instead of current value when determining player's rank/promotion.


5) BUG/BALANCE (Unconfirmed): Incorrect Extreme Haymaker stats.

Extreme Haymaker (7th unarmed punch attack) does electrical type of damage instead of normal. It's possible it was made that way to make unarmed viable vs robots (so maybe shouldn't be changed).
 
Is the OP still up to date regarding to which bugs are fixed in FTSE and which aren't?

The latest status for bugs is in the Google Docs document Hugo created earlier in the thread:



Link:
Code:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14Z7Bw7CEIgA1VKu5TDaGiQI9kV1LAJpWGk_TNWa9p0I/edit?usp=sharing

(Edit to add: that Google Docs auto-linking thing is .. interesting .. but is there any way to bypass that and make a clickable link?)

It's a lot easier to keep track of things there versus modifying the original message. It might also be a good idea for me to copy that doc into the FTSE GitHub, so that we can keep it there too. (Maybe that doc belongs as part of the FTSE documentation too?)

There are also a few potential new bugs in the previous couple of messages on this thread - I need to check if they are duplicates, and add them to the list if not.
 
Linking to the doc in the github is definitely a good idea.

One unconfirmed bug I've seen mentioned in a video is that the HtH Evade perk does nothing in CTB mode. Also, there seems to be an issue that some perks (Silent Death, Slayer?) only apply to unarmed attacks, not melee.
 
One unconfirmed bug I've seen mentioned in a video is that the HtH Evade perk does nothing in CTB mode.

I haven't checked this perk yet, but I could see how that might be the case. Not sure how best to fix this to an expected, beneficial behavior - the little I've played of CTB seemed to have many characters sit at low AP due to executing requested attack(s), so the effect would rarely be that strong.

One thing that isn't documented in the manual that I found in my last check on hit chance (documented in the FTSE wiki on GitHub) is that there's already a built-in evade chance for unarmed/melee skill. From memory (and the notes in the wiki), it basically works as an invisible boost to armor class, of 1/3 of the character's melee or unarmed skill (depending on equipped weapon) when at point-blank range to an attacker. The effect drops off linearly with increased distance, and disappears entirely at distance of 3 units or more. I'll have to double-check that code when I get a chance to confirm my notes are right. If so, then maybe a good change to HtH Evade would be to provide a further bonus to this calculation?

Also, there seems to be an issue that some perks (Silent Death, Slayer?) only apply to unarmed attacks, not melee.

This is confirmed - both are unarmed only in the code. Don't know if this was intended - I lean towards not intended, because otherwise there's very few perks that really apply to melee weapon users.
 
One thing that isn't documented in the manual that I found in my last check on hit chance (documented in the FTSE wiki on GitHub) is that there's already a built-in evade chance for unarmed/melee skill. From memory (and the notes in the wiki), it basically works as an invisible boost to armor class, of 1/3 of the character's melee or unarmed skill (depending on equipped weapon) when at point-blank range to an attacker. The effect drops off linearly with increased distance, and disappears entirely at distance of 3 units or more. I'll have to double-check that code when I get a chance to confirm my notes are right. If so, then maybe a good change to HtH Evade would be to provide a further bonus to this calculation?

I've seen that mentioned in an old thread here too. It explains why you can take out the turrets at Peoria with melee characters.

Honestly, what this game needs is comprehensive documentation of how each trait, perk and skill works in practice. The Fallout wiki is nearly useless for explaining actual game mechanics and differences from FO1&2. Some of the modders have uncovered a ton of bugs and oddities, but I haven't found a central repository of all these findings, except to sift through individual threads here. The FTSE wiki is a great start, but I wouldn't even have known to look there if you hadn't told me just now.

https://github.com/melindil/FTSE/wiki/Critical-hit-chance-and-effects

This is fantastic info, it should be pinned in the Help & Tech thread!

Does the Action Boy perk also increase the rate you regenerate AP in CTB, or is that purely a function of agility? Is repair used for anything but fixing vehicles (and bot recruits)? Last I checked, the only confirmed effect of driving was to reduce damage from crashing into obstacles.

I've also seen references that different damage types on energy weapons don't work because they all use the same ammo? That sounds odd, is this bug real, and does it also apply to powered melee/unarmed weapons? What about using different types of ammo in the punch gun?
 
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The FTSE wiki is a great start, but I wouldn't even have known to look there if you hadn't told me just now.

A lot of the info there came from my (large) notes file. Much of what's there should be considered at least a little skeptically, because it came from when I was still analyzing things an assembly instruction at a time, and I have found occasional mistakes in my notes as I've made progress. Probably consider it about 80-90% accurate. Now that I'm using Ghidra, and have a decent amount of my info plugged into there, I intend to re-analyze these areas to confirm they're correct.

Honestly, what this game needs is comprehensive documentation of how each trait, perk and skill works in practice. The Fallout wiki is nearly useless for explaining actual game mechanics and differences from FO1&2. Some of the modders have uncovered a ton of bugs and oddities, but I haven't found a central repository of all these findings, except to sift through individual threads here.

That's definitely part of the goal for FTSE. I always saw the project as a 3-step process:

1. Analyze the existing code to see exactly how everything works internally.

2. Fix anything that's an obvious bug, to the degree possible.

3. Put in hook points where behavior can be modified for use in a larger mod. (This part also helps with #2, since I can choose whether to implement a fix in either assembly code or scripting, depending on complexity.)

Does the Action Boy perk also increase the rate you regenerate AP in CTB, or is that purely a function of agility?

Not 100% sure on this, I haven't yet looked at CTB behaviors or much of the TB end-of-turn processing yet. One clue I did find is that TB mode does increment the game counter by 7 "seconds" (if I'm remembering correctly) over the course of all character turns (or squad turns for squad TB). Given all AP is restored for a turn, that would kind of imply that AP recovery is strictly a function of max AP (and hopefully CTB would work similarly). But it may be better to not assume this until I can check the real code to confirm.

Is repair used for anything but fixing vehicles (and bot recruits)?

In my notes, I have a comment that Repair skill actually runs through the same code as First Aid and Doctor, just with differing initial requirements and maybe a different multiplier. I haven't yet seen anything else the skill was used for, but that's not yet a guarantee that it isn't used for some random purpose elsewhere that I haven't found yet.

Last I checked, the only confirmed effect of driving was to reduce damage from crashing into obstacles.

Pilot is one skill I haven't found any code for at all yet. If you're right, I may need to look around in the vehicle collision code to see if I can hit a breakpoint on the pilot skill memory location there.

I've also seen references that different damage types on energy weapons don't wokr because they all use the same ammo? That sounds odd, is this bug real, and does it also apply to powered melee/unarmed weapons?

I could believe this. I'd need to walk through that code again, but I do seem to remember ammo damage type overriding any primary damage type from a weapon. Weapon secondary damage effects still apply, though (things like knockdown, poison, etc.).

What about using different types of ammo in the punch gun?

If the previous item is correct, then I would assume this one would correctly apply the ammo damage type. Being an unarmed weapon, though, I assume it uses the "straight" firing arc, so you don't get the same spread damage and multiplier as the shotguns give.
 
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Pilot is one skill I haven't found any code for at all yet. If you're right, I may need to look around in the vehicle collision code to see if I can hit a breakpoint on the pilot skill memory location there.

Don't take my word for it, I read it from another poster, but he might be some sort of shady character for all I know! ;)

I've been searching through the FoT program code for areas related to character skills. I've found all of the expected behaviors for skills, except one - the Pilot skill doesn't seem to do anything really useful. The only effects I've found are:

1) When a character enters or leaves a vehicle, make sure the character with the highest Pilot skill is made the driver.

2) There is a very minor damage reduction when the vehicle runs into an obstacle. Low pilot skills appear to do 4-10 damage, average (50-100%) does 2-10, and >100% does 1-5.

From that post, it isn't entirely clear if this applies to all obstacle collisions, or only to destructible ones.


I could believe this. I'd need to walk through that code again, but I do seem to remember ammo damage type overriding any primary damage type from a weapon. Weapon secondary damage effects still apply, though (things like knockdown, poison, etc.).

If the above is correct, then I would assume this one would correctly apply the ammo damage type. Being an unarmed weapon, though, I assume it uses the "straight" firing arc, so you don't get the same spread damage and multiplier as the shotguns give.

It should be straight-forward to test - load the punch gun with EMP shells, and go hit a robot with it.
 
Don't take my word for it, I read it from another poster, but he might be some sort of shady character for all I know! ;)

Yeah, that Melindil guy. Probably shouldn't believe anything he says.:smile:

(Funny enough, I did have this in my notes file, along with a partial formula. Looks like the Pilot skill is used both in determining damage taken by a vehicle when it hits any obstacle, and damage inflicted on a character when they're run over. I'll try to check more into the exact calculation for each.)
 
Any information about what rolls are for choosing what body part will be injured on a critical hit in an unaimed attack?

From the code, it looks like this was intended as a fully equal random chance for each body part. But, like in so many other areas, there's a bug.

For injury critical hit cases, if the shot is not targeted, the game rolls a random number from 0 to 7 (equal chance for all values). It then uses this to index into the body part table for the injured entity. The problem is, the body part indexes are handled in the rest of the code as a value between 1 and 8, not 0 to 7. Luckily, there is a safety check, where a roll below 1 is reset to 1, so no worse error occurs. But it means that body part 1, Torso, has a 2 in 8 chance of being injured. And since 8 can never be rolled, body part 8, Right Leg, will never be injured in an unaimed attack.
 
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