Fallout 1 mod Fallout Fixt - next release will be some time in Jan 2020

[Muttie]

I had a look at the options to fix ammo (sfall 1.8), trying to figure out what option I would like to use and the following are thoughts and points I came across - some general and some regarding to Fixt specifically:

- F2balance adjust BB's to 2/1 and 50 DR. This keeps the ammo the same versus “naked” but is a nerf versus armour. This may make sense in FO2 (not sure) where the LE is more common, but definitely not in FO1. The Red Ryder LE can only be found in a special encounter. And making that gun less attractive (through the ammo), would make the special encounter less attractive. Which is not good. I really like the option to play a LK 10 character that plans to find the Alien Blaster or Red Ryder LE. Changing BB's would remove that character build somewhat. Besides, BB's are already rare in FO1, aren't they? So a nerf would make even less sense.
Second, the adjustment to 12.ga shotgun shells (to 3/2 and DR 35) is a nerf throughout. And, honestly, I don't understand why 12.ga weapons needed to be nerfed (?).

- YAAM has improved 9mm (1/1 & DT 2) and the 9mm ball (3/2 & DT 2). However, that is a FO2 adjustment in which 9mm was weak (1/2 & DR 10) and 9mm ball the better version (1/1). FO1 only uses 9mm ball. Which raises the question if FO1 should use the improved 9mm ball (3/2 & 2), or scale it back to 9mm (1/1 & 2)?
If there is only the Mauser I would say go with (3/2 & 2), if it includes the Uzi, it's more tricky. Currently the role the of Uzi is that of a special weapon (and the ammo for it really seems to be scarce, which means maintained bursts should be a short lived fun). In this scenario, with the Mauser being underrated, and the Uzi ranking among weapons like the Alien Blaster & Red Ryder LE, i.e. an unique and powerful weapon, with a drawback in limited ammo supply, I wouldn't mind if the 9mm ball uses the buffed version (3/2 & DT 2). If the ammo situation changes it may need another look, but even then it's not an obvious decision imo.

- Last, I thought that using no ammo modifiers (FO1 default) is also a legitimate option, especially as many NPCs have very low HP and adding more damage output to Small Guns may upset the game balance somewhat. But then again, not using ammo modifiers is a nerf to Small Guns, making them even worse compared to Energy Weapons (which have no ammo modifier). Adding in ammo modifiers restores balance between those weapon types somewhat. However, not sure, really.

Small points:
- Rocket Launcher may need rolling back. The adjustment from 35-100 damage to 75-100 is basically making up for the lack of ammo modification. But when using F2default/balance or YAAM, the 35-100 modified by the ammo, is similar to an unmodified 75-100.
- Ammo will nerf the flamer (F2default/balance & YAAM) and after I saw so many companions die to it, I actually like this. Some mods (like Resurrection) buff the flamer, but I'm not sure I would do that in FO1. Especially, as Resurrection is based on FO2 where NPCs have in general more HP than they do in FO1. So a buff to the flamer may make less sense, and the nerf (+20 DR) may actually be needed.
- Minigun will still struggle to beat the DT of power armour. In fact, neither ammo mod seems to favour AP over JHP particularly. The main difference appears to be that AP is almost as good rather than useless. An option may be to give the Minigun Penetrate (like the Gatling Laser), but giving mutants another one shot weapon sounds scary, besides the Minigun could become extremely deadly in many scenarios. Perhaps it would be better to increase the damage ever so slightly instead. For example, changing it to 7 to 13 starts to show differences versus power armour. Not much (1 point of damage in average) but it's 40 bullets, which may add up. But it's also important that it doesn't start to shred Combat Armour into pieces. Last, I do think mutants should have a “weak weapon”, that can be ignored while trying to focus down gatling laser and rocket launcher.
- Last, but not least: Neither ammo mod version appears to add any in-game information. Which may need adjusting, especially when tinkering, as the player may need the disclaimer of what solution Fixt is using and if there had been any changes made to it (BB's, 9mm etc.).

I have three spread-sheets I use to calculate weapon damage (roughly) (but I'm no expert) there may be errors in the formula (I'm not sure if YAAM applies penetrate first (DT/5) and then subtracts the DT mod, or the other way round (which would make a difference). I assume it does, but I may be wrong) and the design of the spreadsheet itself is a bit amateurish (some results (especially Penetrate) are calculated by hand (as it was faster than trying to figure out the formula) and there are no fancy features), so it may be prudent to check occasionally. Anyway if nothing else it may explain why I'm talking nonsense (lol): http://www.filedropper.com/fo1weaponaverages

 

[dudejo001]

Did you factor in the different formula used by YAAM?

 

[gustarballs1983]

@Muttie
AFAIR Sduibek switched Gatling Laser perk back to Weapon Long Range from Penetrate in last test release as Penetrate on Gatling Laser was just too OP (given Sduibek also made changes to Laser DR on all armors). Not sure wether minigun should have penetrate or not. Seemes that if you pick 2x Bonus Ranged Damage (and have proper fix set in Sfall) Plus Sniper perk and high Luck you still oneshot evrything with it. the only problem is, mutants do no damage with it to you. As for BoS Palladins their damage thresholds are not reflecting they are wearing Power Armor. I mean their stats are still somewhat high but AFAIR only Rhombus armor stats make him durable enaugh to whithstand a minigun burst the rest have their DT like 10 or below which is behind standard T-51b.

 

[Muttie]

Did you factor in the different formula used by YAAM?

Yes…? I think I did.
Unless I haven't, ofc.

But I assume you mean that YAAM reduces DT, instead of DR. Until it reaches zero and then every point below zero reduces DR by 10%.
That I've included. I was just not sure anymore if penetrate applies first (i.e. DT/5). I think Penetrate does apply first. And then the ammo modifier applies. At least, that's how I calculated it.

AFAIR Sduibek switched Gatling Laser perk back to Weapon Long Range from Penetrate in last test release as Penetrate on Gatling Laser was just too OP (given Sduibek also made changes to Laser DR on all armors). Not sure wether minigun should have penetrate or not. Seemes that if you pick 2x Bonus Ranged Damage (and have proper fix set in Sfall) Plus Sniper perk and high Luck you still oneshot evrything with it. the only problem is, mutants do no damage with it to you. As for BoS Palladins their damage thresholds are not reflecting they are wearing Power Armor. I mean their stats are still somewhat high but AFAIR only Rhombus armor stats make him durable enaugh to whithstand a minigun burst the rest have their DT like 10 or below which is behind standard T-51b.

I'm not fully up to date.
However, I did calculate the damage of a Minigun with Penetrate, and that should become too devastating. Then I tested to increase the damage slightly from 7-11 to 7-13, and that starts to make a difference versus “player power armour”. And at the same time it stays somewhat moderate versus lower tier armour. So I thought a slight buff to the damage could be enough to make mutants with Miniguns a bit stronger. You can test that in the spreadsheets just copy the minigun row, paste it in a new row and adjust damage in column B.
The result is the average versus player armour. And that's also what I was mostly looking at "damage of mutants versus player". Not so much at player damage. The player is OP anyway. Using a Turbo Plasma Rifle with Bonus Rate of Fire and Fast Shot is extremely OP. I think weapon balance is only in regard to “enemy” vs “player”. Not so much the other way round. And in that regard I liked the idea of an OP Gatling Laser (with Penetrate), it gave the mutants something to be afraid of.
A Minigun with Penetrate would also be a problem as it would make the standard weapon of mutants too powerful. And they can already one-shot companions in combat armour. Scouting the Military Base for the Brotherhood can be dangerous for companions. In my experience they fall rather easily to mutant-patrols (flamer and minigun).
And that was basically my take. An adjustment to the Minigun needs to break the player's power armour without becoming too good versus the combat armour of companions. I think that could be a good orientation.

 

[gustarballs1983]

Yes…? I think I did.
Unless I haven't, ofc.

But I assume you mean that YAAM reduces DT, instead of DR. Until it reaches zero and then every point below zero reduces DR by 10%.
That I've included. I was just not sure anymore if penetrate applies first (i.e. DT/5). I think Penetrate does apply first. And then the ammo modifier applies. At least, that's how I calculated it.


I'm not fully up to date.
However, I did calculate the damage of a Minigun with Penetrate, and that should become too devastating. Then I tested to increase the damage slightly from 7-11 to 7-13, and that starts to make a difference versus “player power armour”. And at the same time it stays somewhat moderate versus lower tier armour. So I thought a slight buff to the damage could be enough to make mutants with Miniguns a bit stronger. You can test that in the spreadsheets just copy the minigun row, paste it in a new row and adjust damage in column B.
The result is the average versus player armour. And that's also what I was mostly looking at "damage of mutants versus player". Not so much at player damage. The player is OP anyway. Using a Turbo Plasma Rifle with Bonus Rate of Fire and Fast Shot is extremely OP. I think weapon balance is only in regard to “enemy” vs “player”. Not so much the other way round. And in that regard I liked the idea of an OP Gatling Laser (with Penetrate), it gave the mutants something to be afraid of.
A Minigun with Penetrate would also be a problem as it would make the standard weapon of mutants too powerful. And they can already one-shot companions in combat armour. Scouting the Military Base for the Brotherhood can be dangerous for companions. In my experience they fall rather easily to mutant-patrols (flamer and minigun).
And that was basically my take. An adjustment to the Minigun needs to break the player's power armour without becoming too good versus the combat armour of companions. I think that could be a good orientation.

By the time One goes to Military Base (assuming cowboy approch), One should really invest in sneak and lockpick to open that BoS armory to get extra 2 PA's (until Sduibek provides another way to aquire PA's from armory [perhaps buy them] We all have to rely on that).
Besides In latest test release Miles and Smitty do their Magic tricks more than once (how many is dependant on gvar setting in V13 doors [spoilers.exe line] ). So i see no excuse not to use 4 HPA for party.
NPC's in HPA, turboplasmas and adjusted HP at lvl 3 tycho=100 ian=90 katja=71 are doing pretty damn well aginst random mutant spawns especially that at lvl3 they have +10% crit chance and +20% Better criticals. which seemes to do the trick

I'm working on a new version of my addon mod for Party NPC's so that it would reflect Vanilla stats as base (this time with the fixed Cubik2k editor, so no more messed up skill points) and skill points distributed normally without any triats and no tag skill 2x multiplying. Skill distribution is already made just need to apply base skill formula from Fo1 instead of the one from fo2 Plus strength and bonus hp changes to PA and HPA protos as Darek pointed out few posts up.

EDIT:
Okey dokey.. so I'm done with the NPC modifications.

Base rule of thumb they get 4x HP they would get a level (since they levelup every 4 yours) based on their endurance/2+2 formulae. They get skillpoints distributed over gun skills mostly and they get skillpoints based on Fallout intelligence formulae 25 at int 10 minus 2 for every point in IN less, x4 per level (agin it's four your levels so why would they benefit only once). they also get incremental bonus critical chance and better criticals, to help them be less behind the player and his/her perks.

Several bugfixes Leftover from TeamX (changed str bonus from PA to main stat and decreased bonus hp by 3 for PA protos [as noted by Darek few posts up], removed bonus carry weight so PA gives them only +75lbs as it should be, Fixed several mismatches of graphics and armor stats [ain't sure if I got them all], removed over the cap bonus EMP DT and DR for power armor protos so now they get as should 500%DR and 0 DT.

I hope I won't have to go through it agin. However if anyone willing to try this finds bugs I'll try to fix'em.

One more thing Mr.Handy got No Block flag set in Mr.Stalin's ProtoManager. Hope it does what it says and darn robot won't corner anybody anymore.

 

[badon]

THESE FILES ARE FOR TESTING ONLY - THIS IS NOT TO BE CONSIDERED A PATCH OR RELEASE

With any luck however, it should be more stable than the previous release (since these files fix several bugs and crashes).

It also includes Sfall1 (ddraw) v1.7.6 by Crafty! Lots of new stuff with it, check out ddraw.ini

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EznLws1nHJ2dee3dTeqpOdwZwXgLLpc2

1) Back up your current Fallout Fixt installation.
2) Drop these into your Fallout Fixt folder.
3) Say yes when asked to overwrite.

@TONYGAN
However I do of course understand the convenience of playing it directly through Steam or GOG Galaxy rather than running my shortcut, which is why I'm working to support both

@TONYGAN Here you go https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Gm06WJryzk31vRJfDdVrnw75JuGoqXcF

Just put those in your Fallout folder (back up the original files first obviously) and it'll pull from Fallout Fixt data folder but you can run through GOG or Steam interface.

I'm new to Fallout, and I decided to start with Fallout 1. I have been struggling to get Fallout Fixt to work, off and on, for a year or so. I have finally made some progress, and feel motivated to figure out the latest problem. I tested the special files for GOG Galaxy, but GOG support provided me with a better solution, to configure Galaxy to launch Fallout Fixt. Instructions follow.

Look for this file in the GOG Fallout directory:

goggame-1440148836.info

Find the line that says this:

"path": "FalloutLauncher.exe",

And change it to this:

"path": "Fallout Fixt/FALLOUTW.exe",
"workingDir": "Fallout Fixt",

Now you can launch Fallout 1 with GOG Galaxy and get time tracking, achievements, etc, with all the features Galaxy offers.

Now for my problem. When I run Fallout normally without Fallout Fixt, the resolution patch GOG is using works fine. When I run Fallout Fixt, resolution changes have no effect, and I'm stuck with 640x480 screen size. I have tried randomly twiddling with things, but after a year of doing that, I think it's wiser to check with experts for some direction before I spend another year of not playing Fallout. Any ideas?

I have attached a screenshot with 2 error messages that might be helpful. Note I have tried both the latest test release, and the older release, with the same results.

 

[Foxx]

Now you can launch Fallout 1 with GOG Galaxy and get time tracking, achievements, etc, with all the features Galaxy offers.

Do you have achievements in Fallout 1? If there is, you can see the screenshot.

 

[gustarballs1983]

I'm new to Fallout, and I decided to start with Fallout 1. I have been struggling to get Fallout Fixt to work, off and on, for a year or so. I have finally made some progress, and feel motivated to figure out the latest problem. I tested the special files for GOG Galaxy, but GOG support provided me with a better solution, to configure Galaxy to launch Fallout Fixt. Instructions follow.

Look for this file in the GOG Fallout directory:

goggame-1440148836.info

Find the line that says this:

"path": "FalloutLauncher.exe",

And change it to this:

"path": "Fallout Fixt/FALLOUTW.exe",
"workingDir": "Fallout Fixt",

Now you can launch Fallout 1 with GOG Galaxy and get time tracking, achievements, etc, with all the features Galaxy offers.

Now for my problem. When I run Fallout normally without Fallout Fixt, the resolution patch GOG is using works fine. When I run Fallout Fixt, resolution changes have no effect, and I'm stuck with 640x480 screen size. I have tried randomly twiddling with things, but after a year of doing that, I think it's wiser to check with experts for some direction before I spend another year of not playing Fallout. Any ideas?

I have attached a screenshot with 2 error messages that might be helpful. Note I have tried both the latest test release, and the older release, with the same results.

As for resolution settings try finding F1_res.ini In Fixt main folder and set correct resolution in it. But remember if You set resolution unsupported by your monitor/screen You will have to run it in window mode. Make sure Dx9 mode is set *eigther* in F1_res.ini *or* ddraw.ini but never both at the same time as some similar settings are not compatible with each other.

as for the screenshot mine's pretty similar with the erors but i use non-HD background image (i use the vanilla one) and Your's is cut from right side since it does not display sfall version.
check it out Yourself below.



@Sduibek

I'm curently power leveling my toon to 99 lvl unfortuneatly every few deathclaw runs i get memory can't be read from error. lowering Art_cache_size from 256 back to 64 and setting Large Adress Aware flag for FalloutW.exe seemed to reduce the error quite a bit and now only memory adress triggered is: ffffffff. I think the memory can't be read error can occour for anybody that 1. is running 64 bit system and 2. has more than 4GB of ram. As x86 bit systems shouldn't be triggered as they allow max 2GB of memory per application. The problem is I think ddraw.dll allows more memory acces than FalloutW.exe hence after some time ingame at FHD res and high amount of Art_Cache_Size in fallout.cfg one reaches the point where ddraw.dll points to an memory adress which FalloutW.exe can't read from, because it is a non-LAA (non 4GB patched) application. So I think You should know this.
I don't know wether it matters but in GPU app settings i forced 8x adaptive-antialiasing 16x anisotropic filtering, HQ texture filtering, and enabled morphologic filtering for FalloutW.exe. Can't say if it isn't responsible for the crashes but the game sure as hell looks way better this way at Full HD res.

EDIT:
I just Found out about this NPC:

https://fallout.gamepedia.com/Zark

Does anybody know how to convince this guy to join your party for cathedral invasion? I can't seem to be able to do this, and there is no info anywhere how to do this? Anybody?

 

[badon]

As for resolution settings try finding F1_res.ini In Fixt main folder and set correct resolution in it. But remember if You set resolution unsupported by your monitor/screen You will have to run it in window mode. Make sure Dx9 mode is set *eigther* in F1_res.ini *or* ddraw.ini but never both at the same time as some similar settings are not compatible with each other.

as for the screenshot mine's pretty similar with the erors but i use non-HD background image (i use the vanilla one) and Your's is cut from right side since it does not display sfall version.
check it out Yourself below.

View attachment 11685

I checked ddraw.ini and I have this in it (automatically configured by Fallout Fixt):

Mode=0

I checked f1_res.ini and I have this in it (automatically configured by Fallout Fixt):

GRAPHICS_MODE=2

That seems to be configured correctly by Fallout Fixt. I don't know anything about the right side being cut off. My screenshot is from windowed mode. If I go to non-windowed, the screen is stretched out bizarrely, as if one dimension of my resolution settings is taking effect, but the other is not.

 

[Foxx]

EDIT:
I just Found out about this NPC:
https://fallout.gamepedia.com/Zark
Does anybody know how to convince this guy to join your party for cathedral invasion? I can't seem to be able to do this, and there is no info anywhere how to do this? Anybody?

I have not found it in the script, join the team player.

 

[Muttie]

By the time One goes to Military Base (assuming cowboy approch), One should really invest in sneak and lockpick to open that BoS armory to get extra 2 PA's (until Sduibek provides another way to aquire PA's from armory [perhaps buy them] We all have to rely on that).
Besides In latest test release Miles and Smitty do their Magic tricks more than once (how many is dependant on gvar setting in V13 doors [spoilers.exe line] ). So i see no excuse not to use 4 HPA for party.
NPC's in HPA, turboplasmas and adjusted HP at lvl 3 tycho=100 ian=90 katja=71 are doing pretty damn well aginst random mutant spawns especially that at lvl3 they have +10% crit chance and +20% Better criticals. which seemes to do the trick

I'm working on a new version of my addon mod for Party NPC's so that it would reflect Vanilla stats as base (this time with the fixed Cubik2k editor, so no more messed up skill points) and skill points distributed normally without any triats and no tag skill 2x multiplying. Skill distribution is already made just need to apply base skill formula from Fo1 instead of the one from fo2 Plus strength and bonus hp changes to PA and HPA protos as Darek pointed out few posts up.

EDIT:
Okey dokey.. so I'm done with the NPC modifications.

Base rule of thumb they get 4x HP they would get a level (since they levelup every 4 yours) based on their endurance/2+2 formulae. They get skillpoints distributed over gun skills mostly and they get skillpoints based on Fallout intelligence formulae 25 at int 10 minus 2 for every point in IN less, x4 per level (agin it's four your levels so why would they benefit only once). they also get incremental bonus critical chance and better criticals, to help them be less behind the player and his/her perks.

Several bugfixes Leftover from TeamX (changed str bonus from PA to main stat and decreased bonus hp by 3 for PA protos [as noted by Darek few posts up], removed bonus carry weight so PA gives them only +75lbs as it should be, Fixed several mismatches of graphics and armor stats [ain't sure if I got them all], removed over the cap bonus EMP DT and DR for power armor protos so now they get as should 500%DR and 0 DT.

I hope I won't have to go through it agin. However if anyone willing to try this finds bugs I'll try to fix'em.

One more thing Mr.Handy got No Block flag set in Mr.Stalin's ProtoManager. Hope it does what it says and darn robot won't corner anybody anymore.

I've been over it and it looks OK. You basically rolled it back to vanilla (SPECIAL & Skills) and then build up skills sensibly. Seems sound.

(Possible?) errors:

- Katja (302) is still in Combat Armour (DT & DR), while her AC is that of a Leather Jacket (8). As this is her outside of the party, it's probably the AC that is false.

- Katja (371). Her Sneak bonus is too high.

- Ian has an Unarmed bonus of +24 & a Melee bonus of +19. In vanilla it was the other way round. Perhaps a switch error because of the order in ProtoManager?

- Both Katja & Ian have their SPECIAL rolled back to vanilla. However, Tycho has still the SPECIAL of Fixt (improved PE & LK). Error or on purpose?

- Fixt 1.0 has increased the AG of Mr.Handy from 6 to 9. And the AC adjusted to 20 (9+11). Which may be used?

- Ian basically jumps from level 1 to 3 (Small Guns & Big Guns). And from level 2 to 3 only Energy Weapon improves. Is that intended or should his Small Guns and Big Guns numbers be lower on stage 2? Like for example 105 Small Guns and 75 Big Guns? Or is Small Guns supposed to go up to 125 on stage 3?


The rest is a matter of design philosophy

- I think 39, 55 & 71 HP is still too low for Katja. I would prefer 40, 60 & 80, to get her more out of that one-shot territory. And again she is the last to be picked (and level) up, which means in several play-throughs her stage 2 may be her final stage. And 55 is less than what Tycho starts with!

- And the rest is a definition of companions: Should they assist the player (add damage), or help the player (score kills). The first needs companions to focus on survivability, and in the second case it's basically your design: Ian & Tycho use Energy Weapons. And the Better Criticals bonus. Personally, I see companions as noob helpers (early game, especially Ian (scorpions) and Tycho (Gizmo)) and late game they basically drop out of the quotation (couldn't wear armour, too low HP). Adding the ability to carry them through the late game is something I like (armour & HP), but having them beat the late game (4 dudes in Power Armour with Turbo-Plasma Rifles) is something I feel less good about. I see companions more as an entourage that add a few points of damage here and there. Something they can achieve with Sniper Rifle & .223 Pistol basically. They only need to survive. Also an ammo mod will make Small Guns a bit stronger, and companions are wearing the vanilla version of armour not the fixt version (i.e. laser resistances). Idk, but I don't think FO1 is designed for strong companions. And consequently, upping their damage is something that may upset game-balance. For example, in Fixt 0.81 Ian killed the mutants at the Military Base in one turn (two shots with the 223 pistol). The problem was more that companions died rather quickly to Minigun, Flamer and Explosions. Sometimes they got one-shot, sometimes they got killed by two shots, and their AI isn't good enough to counter-heal appropriately. That's why I see most issues with survivability, less with damage (i.e. Energy Weapons and Better Criticals). But it's a matter of opinion.

 

[gustarballs1983]

I checked ddraw.ini and I have this in it (automatically configured by Fallout Fixt):

Mode=0

I checked f1_res.ini and I have this in it (automatically configured by Fallout Fixt):

GRAPHICS_MODE=2

That seems to be configured correctly by Fallout Fixt. I don't know anything about the right side being cut off. My screenshot is from windowed mode. If I go to non-windowed, the screen is stretched out bizarrely, as if one dimension of my resolution settings is taking effect, but the other is not.

scroll down and change:

; Set the Fullscreen resolution here.
SCR_WIDTH=640
SCR_HEIGHT=480

I have not found it in the script, join the team player.

Zark seposedly joins only the cathedral fight than leaves. I only found mentions of this in two wikis so i thought WTF? should give it a go but don't know how.

I've been over it and it looks OK. You basically rolled it back to vanilla (SPECIAL & Skills) and then build up skills sensibly. Seems sound.

(Possible?) errors:

- Katja (302) is still in Combat Armour (DT & DR), while her AC is that of a Leather Jacket (8). As this is her outside of the party, it's probably the AC that is false.

- Katja (371). Her Sneak bonus is too high.

- Ian has an Unarmed bonus of +24 & a Melee bonus of +19. In vanilla it was the other way round. Perhaps a switch error because of the order in ProtoManager?

- Both Katja & Ian have their SPECIAL rolled back to vanilla. However, Tycho has still the SPECIAL of Fixt (improved PE & LK). Error or on purpose?

- Fixt 1.0 has increased the AG of Mr.Handy from 6 to 9. And the AC adjusted to 20 (9+11). Which may be used?

- Ian basically jumps from level 1 to 3 (Small Guns & Big Guns). And from level 2 to 3 only Energy Weapon improves. Is that intended or should his Small Guns and Big Guns numbers be lower on stage 2? Like for example 105 Small Guns and 75 Big Guns? Or is Small Guns supposed to go up to 125 on stage 3?


The rest is a matter of design philosophy

- I think 39, 55 & 71 HP is still too low for Katja. I would prefer 40, 60 & 80, to get her more out of that one-shot territory. And again she is the last to be picked (and level) up, which means in several play-throughs her stage 2 may be her final stage. And 55 is less than what Tycho starts with!

- And the rest is a definition of companions: Should they assist the player (add damage), or help the player (score kills). The first needs companions to focus on survivability, and in the second case it's basically your design: Ian & Tycho use Energy Weapons. And the Better Criticals bonus. Personally, I see companions as noob helpers (early game, especially Ian (scorpions) and Tycho (Gizmo)) and late game they basically drop out of the quotation (couldn't wear armour, too low HP). Adding the ability to carry them through the late game is something I like (armour & HP), but having them beat the late game (4 dudes in Power Armour with Turbo-Plasma Rifles) is something I feel less good about. I see companions more as an entourage that add a few points of damage here and there. Something they can achieve with Sniper Rifle & .223 Pistol basically. They only need to survive. Also an ammo mod will make Small Guns a bit stronger, and companions are wearing the vanilla version of armour not the fixt version (i.e. laser resistances). Idk, but I don't think FO1 is designed for strong companions. And consequently, upping their damage is something that may upset game-balance. For example, in Fixt 0.81 Ian killed the mutants at the Military Base in one turn (two shots with the 223 pistol). The problem was more that companions died rather quickly to Minigun, Flamer and Explosions. Sometimes they got one-shot, sometimes they got killed by two shots, and their AI isn't good enough to counter-heal appropriately. That's why I see most issues with survivability, less with damage (i.e. Energy Weapons and Better Criticals). But it's a matter of opinion.

-Katja's DT and DR were left in on purpose not everyone wants change armor component in their fixt and purists would freak out if katja all of a sudden would switch to leather jacket.. as it goes for me i was in favour to change those stats properly but staying true to vanilla won.

-Katja sneak bonus is definetly a bug i did not increase it as it has no purpose (she doesn't use it).

-indeed i started out to modify their stats in proto manager so IAN's Melee and unarmed might be an oversight..

-Damn that Tycho.. got to look into this the purpose was to set all base protos to vanilla ones.

-The only thing i did with Mr.Handy was to set no block flag in proto manager (because i thought it would prevent him from cornering player aginst a wall).

-Ian's skill upgrade is just a matter of preference.. when i did the upgrade i was focusing to fit into Intelligence formulae x4 to be met (68 skill points to spend per level 17per level x4) instead of what goes where and when just tried not to set everything to high.

- Katja's HP increase is not pulled out of ass but she as well as Tycho and Ian is based on what they would get per single level times 4 tycho and ian have EN 6 and katja has EN 5 so to match EN/2+2 formulae tycho and ian get 20hp/lvl and katja get's 16hp/lvl.

-Their survivability is not an issue anymore just get all 4 of those power armors and upgrade all 4 at miles and equip them.this plus boosted hp would only render them weak aginst rocket launcher mutants, but even player is weak aginst them. besides it's not the question of how long they will stay alive tickling enemies but how quickly they kill them off to prevent soaking up damage, as dead enemies don't deal damage. You really need to have a shitload of stimps to carry around and stimp them often while in military base. Pro tip. use ControlCombat=2 in sfall to prevent dumb ai from causing NPC's to stand in a middle of shitstorm like rocket laucher mutants. Use walls as cover and finish tough enemies one by one

-Wether you want them to play the role of suppot or killer replacements for pacifist playthrough you now have both. If you want them to just be support choose option to use vanilla weapons i fixt installer, if however you want them to deal more damage choose all weapons animations for NPC and give them turboplasmas.

-That Ian's mutant finish off in two shots must've been two lucky criticals or even second one insta kill critical. With .223 pistol Ian on avarage non critical shot deals like 15 points of damage most of the time all 3 of them npc's must contribute to kill one mutant while i down 3-5 more with all those perks and triats. Besides with the changes to crit chance and better critical stats tycho can now do wonders with sniper rifle and targetted shot to the eyes he's got like combined 75% chance to score a critical 60% from eye shot and 15% from luck and crit chance bonus.

-If you're afraid they hurt themselves avoid giving them big gun weapons, rocket launcher minigun and flamer in their hands is a big no no.

 

[Foxx]

Zark seposedly joins only the cathedral fight than leaves. I only found mentions of this in two wikis so i thought WTF? should give it a go but don't know how.

In NPC scripts that follow the player, there is a line: party_add(self_obj);
ZARK doesn't have it.

The Cathedral was carved out of a possible partner is a mutant: https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Rae
I restored it in my Russian Assembly:

 

[badon]

scroll down and change:

; Set the Fullscreen resolution here.
SCR_WIDTH=640
SCR_HEIGHT=480

It's already configured automatically, and it appears to be correct. It's set to whatever I set it at. It's not set to 640x480, but that's the resolution the game is at. Current settings:

; Set GRAPHICS_MODE=0 to enable Basic mode which supports resolution change only.
; Set GRAPHICS_MODE=1 to enable Direct Draw 7 mode.
; Set GRAPHICS_MODE=2 to enable DirectX9 mode.
GRAPHICS_MODE=2
; Set SCALE_2X=1 to scale the game x2.
; Note: This will increase the minimum resolution to from 640x480 to 1280x960.
SCALE_2X=0
; Set the Fullscreen resolution here.
SCR_WIDTH=1280
SCR_HEIGHT=720
; Set the Fullscreen colors here.
; 8 for 8bit color output (original)
; 16 for 16bit color output (set only if you're not using Sfall with graphics modes 4 or 5)
; 32 for 32bit color output (set only if you're not using Sfall with graphics modes 4 or 5)
COLOUR_BITS=16
; Set the Fullscreen refresh rate here.
; Set REFRESH_RATE=0 for driver default.
REFRESH_RATE=0
; Set WINDOWED=1 to enable windowed mode.
WINDOWED=1

Again, resolution settings in the GOG version work fine without Fixt. It's only the Fixt resolution that doesn't work. I don't know what is different.

 

[gustarballs1983]

It's already configured automatically, and it appears to be correct. It's set to whatever I set it at. It's not set to 640x480, but that's the resolution the game is at. Current settings:

; Set GRAPHICS_MODE=0 to enable Basic mode which supports resolution change only.
; Set GRAPHICS_MODE=1 to enable Direct Draw 7 mode.
; Set GRAPHICS_MODE=2 to enable DirectX9 mode.
GRAPHICS_MODE=2
; Set SCALE_2X=1 to scale the game x2.
; Note: This will increase the minimum resolution to from 640x480 to 1280x960.
SCALE_2X=0
; Set the Fullscreen resolution here.
SCR_WIDTH=1280
SCR_HEIGHT=720
; Set the Fullscreen colors here.
; 8 for 8bit color output (original)
; 16 for 16bit color output (set only if you're not using Sfall with graphics modes 4 or 5)
; 32 for 32bit color output (set only if you're not using Sfall with graphics modes 4 or 5)
COLOUR_BITS=16
; Set the Fullscreen refresh rate here.
; Set REFRESH_RATE=0 for driver default.
REFRESH_RATE=0
; Set WINDOWED=1 to enable windowed mode.
WINDOWED=1

Again, resolution settings in the GOG version work fine without Fixt. It's only the Fixt resolution that doesn't work. I don't know what is different.

I meant that line i mentioned earlier needs to be edited in order to change resolution, However it apears as if FalloutW.exe from fixt is not compatible with HRP from GOG Launcher, or GOG Launcher is not compatible with HRP from FIXT.

@Foxx
I've read somwhere that Zark party support was cut by some patch or perhaps something incorporated into FIXT, otherwhise why two wikis would say that Zark can temproarliy join player?

 

[Foxx]

@Foxx
I've read somwhere that Zark party support was cut by some patch or perhaps something incorporated into FIXT, otherwhise why two wikis would say that Zark can temproarliy join player?

I don't know, maybe because of the texts in msg. There are still many inaccuracies in the Wiki. Maybe somewhere there is a substitution of its real script import variable;
I'm original 1.02 with a cheat character, could not join.

 

[naossano]

I never knew about Zark. Thanks for the update.

 

[gustarballs1983]

@Muttie

add on bugs patched up

Previous post updated with never version as well.

@ all

Now I'm on to Merchant barter skill.

My internal testing provided info that prices don't scale up infinetely in Fo1. Merchant can have a price increase of only 10x initial value so a 100$ stimpack can cost up to 1000$ and metal armor for initial 1100$ can be max priced at 11000$. and very little skill increse changes the price dramatically at maximum item values and almost nothing changes after medicore skill investment.
If Merchant is given max barter of 200% than only around 80-90 skill points is nessecary for the player to reach 100% item value. above that and you sell for more than you buy said item so for example a 100$ stimpack woul cost below 100$ and can go as low as 33$. charisma modifiers do not work it only counts as low barter skill increase (at least for Killian Darkwater). Mrs.Stampleton at 200% barter holds up at 10x value cap a while longer and if one invest skill points price still remains 10x value intill you hit a breakpoint at which it starts to dramatically drop from like 1000$ to 909$ after a single skillpoint put in barter.

Conclusion
In order to fix trade in fallout 1 one would have to change price formula as:
1. item price changes per skillpoint cannot be that dramatic at low values
2. there is very little usefull barter range of about 135% barter between you and merchant to be usefull for trading because above that range prices don't change until you hit barter breakpoint by investing in barter skill and below that range after like 90 points spent in barter prices drop below 100% item value which i think is lame.

So without smeone knowledgable in scripting show up to fix this trading formula Fo1 trading will be down someone's colon.

 

[Foxx]

So without smeone knowledgable in scripting show up to fix this trading formula Fo1 trading will be down someone's colon.

Some traders barter through the dialogue/script is running (discounts/surcharges) and edit proto, it is possible to get any worse.

 

[Muttie]

add on bugs patched up

Previous post updated with never version as well.

Three Points:
- There was a misunderstanding. I wasn't sure if you wanted to roll all back to vanilla (some was, some wasn't), so I pointed out that the test version of Fixt (1.0) gave Mr.Handy AG 9. And that that is an option. However, in vanilla it is AG 6 & AC 16 (6+10). If you want to go with vanilla that's the numbers you have to use.

- When fixing Katja's AC (302) it appears you have added an error. All her bonuses have changed to that of Mr.Handy.

- And a (possible) bug I've discovered while doing the spreadsheet is that Katja on stage 3 (all of them) have 10 (8+2) AP. That's from Fixt, and as most is rolled back to vanilla, this is probably an oversight and not intended (i.e. I assume that all her stages should have 9 (8+1) AP).


Here is a spreadsheet with your changes: http://www.filedropper.com/falloutcompanionstatsforfixtnpcaddon

Having it all at one glance should be helpful. I also added the original versions (1.35 and Fixt 0.81) for comparison. So people can get a better idea of what it does and if it makes sense etc.

I assumed the three points above are bugs and I've already included them.


Rules & Creative Design
Going by a rule is a very good way to keep structure and automatic balance. But you shouldn't be ruled by it. That way you lose your creative abilities, and the option to fix the rules should they stop working. It's a balance act.

I like the idea of basing it on a system (EN & IN), it helps to keep it reasonable, but it is only a foundation. Looking at the numbers it seems Ian's Small Guns comes out too short (he should be the best shot, but Katja eventually overtakes him). To me that suggests that he should end up over Katja (at 125%) and it is strange that he doesn't improve on stage 3 at all (small guns & big guns), but is significantly better at S.Guns than anyone else on stage 2. From that perspective there could be a better spread of his points. Even if it breaks the rules. My instinct is to give him Small Guns (85, 105 or 110, 125) and Big Guns (60, 75, 90). if you wan't to keep balance you may reduce Energy Weapons to 85 (make him better with the .223 while Tycho & Katja focus on Energy).

Same with Katja's HP. The amount of HP the system gives her can be considered too low, and perhaps it is better to break the system, and give her a few more HP, then live with the system's quirks.

I would consider 40, 60, 80 as the minimum. But her HP could also cap at 40, 55, 75 HP. That would keep the visual distinction that she has the lowest HP of all characters (i.e. maintain background). It's just a small amount anyway, but the whole original design of Katja is flawed (melee focused, last to level, low HP) and I feel it needs addressing.


Power Armour
Breaking into the BoS armoury can not be considered part of a normal play-through. That is extreme min-maxing. There is no hint or clue that the player can find more power armours in there. Nor is there a prompt to break in there. Nor is it obvious to increase Sneak and Lockpick to do so. Most new players will completely miss that option. And what about lawful characters who don't want to steal from BoS?
All those would be screwed when the design expects them to steal from BoS and get 4 sets of PA. That's not good.
Getting a second power armour is already min-maxing. Originally the player is supposed to have only one: either lawfully (Talus) or through ill-means (Kyle).
I think it's very problematic to assume a very advanced and specific meta to be the norm. Especially as this will never apply to new players.
For this reasons companions must be balanced based on wearing Combat Armour. That's how it will normally play out.

Besides, buying Power Armour may make no sense background wise. The BoS is very protective regarding their gear, I'm not sure they would sell it. The armour is rather earned (Talus quest). And you would need to find some scoundrel (like Kyle) to get more sets. In fact, that's how the player gets the second one.

Consequently, I don't see much options to balance companions based on 4 sets of Power Armour. But the basic design probably has to be: 1 PA and the rest in Combat Armour.