F2 Mod request - NPC Burst Mode: NEVER!

SkuLL

SkuLL

Chad McRealman
Orderite
Hi!

As the title says. I'm sure I'm not the only one who at times found it beyond frustrating when one of your NPC's would accidentally mow down an innocent bystander, only to turn them hostile.

This is particularly frustrating during large combat scenes, such as the ones in New Reno casinos or any fights that spill onto the streets. If one hooker gets as much as clipped by Cassidy's combat shotgun, they ALL get angry and I have to finish them off, losing karma (and patience) with each one.

So I wanted to know whether there is a mod where under COMBAT OPTIONS -> CUSTOM -> BURST, one could select "NEVER".

If not, would it be particularly hard to code?

If yes, is there at least a way to full-on disable NPCs burst mode? (maybe some sort of a ON/OFF toggle would do...)

Thanks very much for your time, you guys are doing a wonderful work - I've been silently sampling most of the mods here and it's good to see people out there still understand what makes a good game!
 
You know, killing the hookers in Reno actually gives you karma, not takes it. :)

That said, while I'm not a modder, I have the feeling something like that would be nearly impossible to implement, given it's probably hardwired into the engine to be as is. Which is a pity if so, that'd be a nice mod.
 
Recon Rover Rick said:
You know, killing the hookers in Reno actually gives you karma, not takes it. :)

That said, while I'm not a modder, I have the feeling something like that would be nearly impossible to implement, given it's probably hardwired into the engine to be as is. Which is a pity if so, that'd be a nice mod.
Click to expand...
Ha! Should have checked... Somehow I just felt bad for the hard-working girls ;)

Yeah, I was afraid it would be hard to code. But then I know nothing about coding, it was worth a shot. 'Bad news, ladies...'
 
Looking through the NPC scripts (though looking for something else), I do not recall anything related to combat mode, though I am not certain. I'd have to check and I'm quite short on time right now.
 
It's in the engine. Timeslip might be able to work his magic on it; the relevant function (ai_pick_hit_mode) is fairly straightforward, but adding it to the interface could be harder.

The entire burst setting doesn't work as I expected. Since the same function is used by all critters, not just party members, it doesn't check if the player is in the way or not. Three of the options relate to how accurate the critter is. If set to "be careful", the critter will only use a burst attack if it has at least a 50% chance to hit. "Be sure" requires a 85% chance, and "be absolutely sure" a 95% chance. The function combat_safety_invalidate_weapon is then called; as far as I can tell, that considers the chance of injuring a friendly critter or itself (with an explosive weapon), and may prohibit using a burst attack. If set to "sometimes", the 'secondary_freq' value from ai.txt is used (as a 1/N chance), regardless of accuracy or friendly fire. "Always" uses a burst attack whenever possible.

There's actually a test for the setting being outside the valid range of [-1, 4], so it's not necessary to modify the function at all, just add another option to the combat settings dialog.
 
Kanhef said:
The entire burst setting doesn't work as I expected. Since the same function is used by all critters, not just party members, it doesn't check if the player is in the way or not.
Click to expand...
Awesome info, thanks! Knowing at least roughly what each setting means in the game is useful enough in itself :) I was pretty sure there was more to it than just a simple "to hit player"% calculation.

Thanks again for taking time to check it out, maybe someone will consider coding it into, say, NPC dialogue.
 
It's really easier to not give burst weapons to companions instead.
 
Then why telling them to use single fire?

In Fallout 2 are more than enough other weapons, that you can give companions. As example, Sulik always get a 14mm pistol from me, Cassidy a sniper rifle, etc. Never felt anything wrong with it.
 
Sometimes, the best weapon choice is a burst-fire weapon. For example, H&K CAWS is stronger than the single-fire weapons that you acquire at the beginning of the game. Also, Pancor Jackhammer and H&K G11E are the strongest small guns after the gauss weapons.

Burst-firing isn't the only purpose of the weapons with burst mode.
 
I love the unpredictability of Sulik and his trusty submachine gun…burst all the way I say. Remember you must have done something dubious in the city if people are attacking you…maybe a little stealing… :twisted:
 
I think you are refering to:

Code: 
;Set to one to directly control party members in combat
ControlPartyMembers=1

This feature apparently is discontinued in v3.0 and above.... (cf. here)
 
Last edited:
davor said:
I think you are refering to:
Code: 
;Set to one to directly control party members in combat
ControlPartyMembers=1
This feature apparently is discontinued in v3.0 and above.... (cf. here)
Click to expand...
No, he's referring to the correct option.
There are new settings for controlling party members in 3.2, but you have to add them to INI manually.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top