As for hunting rifle - IMO it's just too powerful for an early stage gun. In general I think that there are too many guns in Fo2 and they are way too easily accessible (the same goes for ammo and armor). This game is kind of challenging only till you find 10mm pistol in Klamath (that would be first 3 levels or so). And after The Den it becomes very easy - I didn't have to worry about anything (ammo, guns, money) after leaving Den. And at some point I have feeling I'm playing some hard sci-fi game - but definitely not a game set in a post-apocalyptic world where you have to struggle for almost everything (even rotten apples) to survive in the wastelands. And that's why I asked you if you could make a special version of your mod where some guns (like for example: Desert Eagle, Magnum, Shotgun, Hunting rifle) would be replaced with those from Handmade Weapons mod (including ammo). Zip gun or spring gun would be very nice early stage weapons for ranged combat. Crossbows are very nicely done and I'm not sure why you can't use normal gun animations for them?
Anyway, such a mod would probably need lots of work and that's why I only was curious if it's even possible to change all these things.
I'm sorry, but this is outside the scope and ideas of my mod (rebalance existing weapons mostly, make weapon selection more interesting, make small additions only to make existing content more usable). Of course what you want is possible. You can easily replace weapons (change icons, descriptions, etc.) using wonderful f2wedit tool. Adding new weapons along with old ones is a bit more tricky. Making weapons more scarce is a hell of a task (that will require redesign of the whole game, every map and encounter). You can also try to merge his mod with mine, if there is only weapons that changed. Both my mod and RP does not change weapons much (replacing, etc., except swapping Mauzer and .223 Pistol), so it should be doable.
I can argue about having guns makes game easy. At my last play through (when I started this mod) I didn't noticed that. The enemies are still giving me nice ass-kicking once in a while (I'm playing a small-frame smooth-talker with small guns and throwing as primary combat skills). When you get your first 10mm pistol, the enemies are using SMGs and shotguns against you. It's a fair play (damage resistance and weapon damage are equal in both sides). Having all guns more effective than early melee weapons is a nice design, IMHO (makes you feel uncomfortably "tribal"
). In my mod, I made some melee weapons stronger and throwing weapons much more effective exactly to counter that.
About too much money and ammo, this is one of the main points of this mod, just read the full description
I'm trying to make player actually buy ammo instead of swimming in it (with mixed success). Reducing pack sizes more than 2 times is bad, and only other way I see is to make less ammo in all containers on maps. Making less ammo in NPCs may screw the balance, as they will be using melee mostly.
EDIT:
To give you a big picture of changes in weapons here's progress on guns' accessibility:
1. early to mid stage (Arroyo - VC) - main combat skill should be unarmed and melee. Guns and ammo very rare and only pipe rifle plus those handmade (excluding sniper rifle of course) and/or crafted. Prices set very high for them - difficult to buy.
2. mid stage (New Reno and nearby towns) - more powerful pistols, some basic rifles and shotguns start to show up here and there (in short - all those guns that are available in Den in vanilla game).
3. late mid stage (NCR) - advanced rifles and shotguns, some big guns and very limited amount of energy weapons
4. final stages (San Francisco) - the most powerful guns available but prices should be set also very high for them
p.s.
The same would go for armor of course.
I like the ideas you are talking about, but such things should be done in new games or TC mods. A lot of design and redoing many stuff, and end result will most likely be as unbalanced as vanilla game. You have to be realistic.
Crossbows could be crafted from Spear and Rope with Knife, ammo for crossbows - plant spikes from plants in Hakunin`s garden or from disassembling Spear with Knife. Zip Gun could be crafted from Pipe Rifle (maybe 3 AP to make Zip Gun more appealing?).
Crafting obviously inferior ZipGun from more powerful pipe rifle seems strange... 3AP for a gun is out of the question (there certain perks..). As for crossbows, they are good for post-apoc world, but the lack of animation... I'll have to consider it... These alone can make a good alternative to a traditional 10mm pistol stage. But there is already a LOT of weapons in the game.. And having certain skill in this game does not mean this skill should be usable from very start to the end (look at big guns and energy weapons, those are completely useless in first part of the game), it's just the way Fallout is made
Also I have one question to you. According to
http://falloutmods.wikia.com/wiki/Building_a_Better_Miria_Mod "Also keep in mind that in many cases if a party member has a higher skill level than the player-character, the player-character will perform a skill-check at the follower's skill level rather than his or her own (for example, when Vic offers to repair things for you since his repair skill is probably higher than yours when you first pick him up in the Den)."
So... can I use Vic as a crafter for MrFixit? (Sorry, cannot check it myself for now.) If not, maybe you can implement such behavior?
By the way, don`t give up traps craft.
No, there is no such option in Mr. Fixit. It can be done. Would certainly make crafting more appealing to players who don't want to invest much in Repair, Traps or First aid... Would it not make crafting too overpowered?
As for traps.. I'm thinking of second type of trap kit for melee traps, for early game (I think it will not require arming with item, just drop it and use Traps skill; armament made sense for explosives but don't fit here). If someone could help with some icons and/or craft rule ideas, that will definitely help. But please, keep ideas simple.
