FO2 Mechanics Overhaul Mod

Did this mod die?

Not dead, on hiatus ;). Will get to it again end of august when I get back from holidays. You have to realize that bug hunting in FO2 is about as entertaining as having your nails methodically removed with pliers, so it takes some mental preparation to get to it.
 
Sorry for the long delay guys, but there's a new version up! @Glovz, will put up the source codes tomorrow. Also, could a mod please change the thread title to Fallout Mechanics Overhaul Mod?


DOWNLOAD VERSION COMPATIBLE WITH RESTORATION PROJECT HERE


DOWNLOAD REGULAR VERSION HERE




List of fixes/changes/additions to version 0.6:

Version 0.6:


Additions/Changes:


-Completely overhauled the sequence changes to fix a bug which caused melee critters to keep from charging at the player. The system now works as follows:


*if the player is both invisible to AND outsequences the opponent he is aiming at (and his teammates) then the player gets an extra turn to attack after the first.
*if the player is either invisible or outsequences the opponent then sequence proceeds as normal (first the player can attack, then the rest of the combatants, then the player, etc.).
*if the player is neither invisible nor outsequences his opponents then he loses his first turn and combat starts in the regular order of sequence (so starting with the opponent with the highest sequence, which isn't the player).


As mentioned before, these changes are to make sure that A) sequence actually determines who starts combat, and B) that stealth plays a larger role in combat sequence as well.
To make the new system apply to enemies trying to ambush you as well, set the SequenceChanges in JimsMods.ini to 2, note however that this means ANY non-player attack assumes the player is the one being attacked for sequence determining purposes. So, if a critter is attempting to attack another non-player critter in a random encounter, sequence will most likely not make any sense. SequenceChanges is set to 2 by default, but can either apply exclusively to the player with 1 and also be disabled by setting it to 0.
Because these changes threatened to make Perception somewhat overpowered (a low perception character could be A) unable to spot an enemy ambushing him and at the same time be B) outsequenced by him, meaning the difference between starting off combat and having the enemy have 2 turns to start off with), sequence is now determined in equal measure by agility and perception. This way sequence properly represents reaction speed.


-Because of this mod's new non-linear weapon system, the starting equipment of a spear can make the beginning quite difficult if you don't start out tagging the Heavy Melee skill. In case you feel this is a problem, you can now enable StartingEquipment=1 in the JimsMods.ini to have your starting equipment be based on your highest starting skill and attributes (so, a high STR + light Melee character gets a club, while a Rifles character gets a pipe rifle with some ammunition). Note that you will also need to change your sfall ddraw.ini in this section:


;To change the default and starting player models, uncomment the next four lines.
;The default models can also be changed ingame via script
MaleStartModel=hmjmps
;MaleDefaultModel=hmjmps
FemaleStartModel=hfjmps
;FemaleDefaultModel=hfjmps


This is to make sure that your starting character actually has the animation set to use the new weapons provided.


- Added key bindings for (almost) all the new UI options, see the image added.


gVE8KtE.jpg



- Added the option to see the DT and DR of the critter you're aiming at (for the damage type of the weapon you're using) by pressing the V-key after having aimed (or attacked, it remembers the last enemy you've aimed at). This option is mostly for testing purposes.
- When using the V-key after aiming at a party member, instead of DT and DR values, you get to see their skill levels, allowing you to see how the new npc-levelling system is working.
- Similarly, you now have the option to view the chances of getting a certain status effect (e.g. knockdown, crippled limbs, etc.) against the target you've aimed at by pressing the J-key. You get a list of percentages corresponding to each bodypart.
- Cleaned up JimsMods.ini so that all the old variables that didn't do anything are gone. Whatever is there can be used to change the mod.


Fixes:


- Removed old AP cost numbers from appearing underneath the new ones in the interface.
- One- and two-handed melee are now correctly denoted in the skill list.
- unarmed enemies will no longer "drop their weapons" when hit with a crit in their arms.
- fixed a bug where the weapon of the attacker was read as that of the target.
-fixed movement ap cost bug (after attacking or using inventory every hex moved after the first one erroneously cost extra, without even displaying that)
-fixed a problem with evasion bonus from movement periodically stacking incorrectly.
- Fixed a bug where you could still invest an additional AP to aim when the bonus was already at its maximum.
- Fixed a bug where the AI would spend too little AP aiming, and wouldn't spend its AP aiming in a stupid way generally. Now high Agility critters will more often max out their AP spent aiming to account for it being relatively cheap for them.
- Fixed a bug with checking the remaining safe drug times causing a crash sometimes.
- For some reason the Localization system (where a missed attack on, e.g., the eyes still has a chance of hitting the head, etc.) was removed from the mod to a large degree, restored it.
- Corrected the skill stat bonus descriptions on chargen.
- Fixed an inexplicably stupid issue with critters not getting 10 AP to spend as they're supposed to.
-fixed bug in damage formula that decreased the importance of crit chance.
- Corrected the companion skills list in JimsMods.ini (i.e. the list which determines which skills are prioritized by NPC's on leveling up).
- Removed the old npc levelling system, which was interfering with the new one.
- Fixed a bug in the npc levelling system which had broken the entire thing.
- Fixed a variety of bugs in the knife attack mode switching mechanic.
- Fixed a bug with the burst amount changing system where sometimes the attack mode would switch to something weird.
- Fixed the miniburst system (for bursts below 4 rounds) so it would actually work.
- Fixed some compatibility issues with killap's RP (him releasing the source code has made it easy to update the one conflicting script, namely the OBJ_DUDE.int one).
 
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New version chockful of new perks!


Version 0.6.5: (Downloads in the first post, including an updated version of the Perk & Trait changes doc)


Additions/Changes/Fixes:


- 9 new perks added.
- Fixed Needler pistols doing poison damage, had become broken at some point.
- While adding a perk that adds a small amount of poison damage to each spear and knife the player attacks with (see the "Perks and Traits" doc), I've given one rank of this perk to each "primitive" critter. All this in a bid to make poison damage a bit more relevant (remember that it deals damage much quicker with this mod than in the original).
- To "solve" the issue where kicking progressively lags behind punching for unarmed combat characters because it can't equip anything, and is generally just boring mechanically, it now represents grappling or sweeping unarmed attacks. What this entails is that "kicks" cost more AP than punches, but carry with them a larger chance of status effects (disarms, knockdowns, etc.), and as the only attack in the game ignores the requirement of doing any damage to be able to cause such status effects. So, while kicks will do little to (probably) no damage to armored opponents, they will still be able to cause status effects.
-Implemented the molotov cocktail fix by phobos2077 (in vanilla FO2 molotovs do explosion damage, now they finally properly do fire damage).
-Fixed a bug in the Mobile Attacker perk: now it properly only applies for only one attack per turn.
 
For the next version I'm going to change the way healing works (again). The system I have now essentially forces you to A) invest in healing skill/get a party member with that skill AND B) invest in/collect healing resources, while the latter should probably be an alternative for the former to make sense from a gameplay point of view (it's less intuitive maybe from a simulation standpoint but whatever).

For the moment I'm thinking in these terms:

-Resting in cities heals you up to a certain percentage based on your party's highest combo of Doctor and First Aid skill (e.g. 100% Doctor and 100% First Aid results in full healing)
-Resting in the wastes heals you up to a certain percentage based on your party's highest combo of Outdoorsman and First Aid skill.
-First Aid kits get "consumed" while resting just like they do now, but result in a flat increase of the percentage healed rather than one based on FA skill.

Crippled limbs I was thinking of handling in the following way. The actual cripple you can heal instantly by resting, but you now get a residual effect that lasts for a long time after, and which decreases in severity based on the highest party Doctor skill. E.g. you'd heal the worst of being blind by resting, but you'd still have a THC penalty for the next week or so. Again, Doctor's bags would give a flat bonus to healing.
 
Methinks I'm going to try this out. Kudos.

UPDATE: Heh...is it a common problem for The Chosen One to enter the Temple of Trials, attempt to punch an ant, and instead punch himself?

All my attacks are against myself instead of my target, which is kind of funny but probably not intentional.

I installed the RP2.3.3 over a clean FO2 install, then followed the installation instructions for the RP version of the mod with the exception of marking the files in the PatchDat folder read-only, because there were no files in that folder.

I also tried installing the new version of sfall, but there was no apparent change to the "punching myself" problem.
 
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New version up, check the first page for version 0.7!


Version 0.7:


- 8 new perks added.
- Healing system has been revised: the new resource-based healing system has been removed in its entirety, and doctor's bags and first aid kits now work as in vanilla FO2 again, while rest healing is the same effective auto-healing as in the original. Healing powder now works the same as the new stim paks, so you can use them to heal, but only once every 30 minutes. To give first aid some kind of purpose, you can now use 7 AP's to heal yourself or someone standing next to you with the J-key (note that the reduced AP doesn't show up in the UI immediately). The amount healed is based on the FA-skill and whether you have a First Aid kit in your active hand.
- Fixed a problem where "oops! hit the wrong target" was occuring a bit too often and randomly.
- Fixed issue with the message that the "this weapon can't be used properly" message appeared incorrectly.
- Fixed a bug in perks that cause critters to switch teams, so that if they are forced by their scripts to still attack the player on sight, they switch teams again.


Next version will probably take a long, long while. Will try not to add any new content and just do some balancing/bug fixing for that one, but again don't count on it any time soon.
 
Methinks I'm going to try this out. Kudos.

UPDATE: Heh...is it a common problem for The Chosen One to enter the Temple of Trials, attempt to punch an ant, and instead punch himself?

All my attacks are against myself instead of my target, which is kind of funny but probably not intentional.

I installed the RP2.3.3 over a clean FO2 install, then followed the installation instructions for the RP version of the mod with the exception of marking the files in the PatchDat folder read-only, because there were no files in that folder.

I also tried installing the new version of sfall, but there was no apparent change to the "punching myself" problem.

Only just noticed this update of yours, I'll check it out.
 
I notice you use some of Phobos' changes... how compatible is this mod with his economy/rebalance mod?
 
I notice you use some of Phobos' changes... how compatible is this mod with his economy/rebalance mod?

Not at all, we're both doing a lot of mechanics modding using sfall, so you'd get a mess of conflicting hookscripts. Mods focussed on content shouldn't be much of an issue (tho, to get a bit technical, this depends on how much they do with the OBJ_DUDE script, which I've only really made compatible with the Restoration Project, being the most popular mod around; though even this is an iffy proposition as UniversalWolf's problems show, I'll start seriously testing it soon tho).
 
New version, 0.7.1, on the first page, but it only corrects me idiotically leaving in the testing script in 0.7, so you can also just manually remove it from the script folder (gltesting3.int).

Also, I've updated the installation instructions for RP (and added an important clarification for all versions, namely that you should always use the Fallout2.exe in the mod folder). Previous RP instructions were incorrect and needlessly complicating, because all you have to do is have RP regularly installed for the mod to work.



This should fix your issues @UniversalWolf (I tested it, and there was none of the self-punching).
 
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0.7.2 up already, sorry about that, but just found out the Gifted trait changes were applied to Sex Appeal for some reason, fixed that. Also added instructions for more easily updating to a new version of the mod without doing clean installs (just delete the scripts folder then overwrite).
 
And turns out a lot of the traits were a complete mess. Fixed these now in 0.7.3, and made a couple of changes to them while I was at it to make it a bit more balanced:


- Jack of All Trades now puts the skill cap at 125 instead of 100 (actually, it didn't do this at all yet, so this is also a fix)
- Fast Shot now also increases your critical failure chance on top of the decreased critical hit chance.
 
Fast Shot now also increases your critical failure chance on top of the decreased critical hit chance.
Why is this being done? Both of these penalties I mean. Balancing unnecessary IMO. There's already quite a big penalty, can't aim.
 
Fast Shot now also increases your critical failure chance on top of the decreased critical hit chance.
Why is this being done? Both of these penalties I mean. Balancing unnecessary IMO. There's already quite a big penalty, can't aim.

You can aim with Fast Shot in my mod. Always thought that was a lame penalty (essentially the trade off was just a more boring playstyle), so instead you get penalty to crit chance and crit failure.
 
You can aim with Fast Shot in my mod. Always thought that was a lame penalty (essentially the trade off was just a more boring playstyle), so instead you get penalty to crit chance and crit failure.
Well, I really liked your mod so far, but this Fast Shot change is unnecessary IMO. I think you should leave it as it is. The reason being too boring to play without aim is bad reason for me. The devs wanted it that way. You shoot fast so you don't have time to aim - makes perfect sense.
 
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You can aim with Fast Shot in my mod. Always thought that was a lame penalty (essentially the trade off was just a more boring playstyle), so instead you get penalty to crit chance and crit failure.
Well, I really liked your mod so far, but this Fast Shot change is unnecessary IMO. I think you should leave it as it is. The reason being too boring to play without aim is bad reason for me. The devs wanted it that way. You shoot fast so you don't have time to aim - makes perfect sense.

Chief, I'm not sure if you get precisely how much my mod deviates from what the devs wanted. Aimed shots don't work remotely the same as in vanilla FO2: they cost the same AP as a "regular" shot (which is basically just an aimed torso shot for all intents and purposes), a slight miss can lead to another bodypart being hit (so a shot aimed for the torso can potentially become a headshot), and aimed shots are no longer the exploit they are of vanilla FO2 in generating automatic eye crits in the mid-late game due to some very serious changes in the THC system.

"What the devs wanted" doesn't really cut it for me; as utterly brilliant as FO2 is, the mechanics that Cain had to come up with in a couple of days when the GURPS thing fell through are creaky as hell, and should be deviated from freely by modders imho. And with regards to a trait that has as a penalty taking away a tactical option in a game that is already desperately lacking in tactical options and essentially makes the game purely about hitting the shoot button, then that's to me obviously just a bad idea for a trait.
 
Just a bit of a heads up, I've been working on a lot of fixes for the mod, and I think I've found the bug that has caused the game crashes for a lot of people but which had been eluding me. So, um, don't download it for now I guess.
 
Oh my oh my.

I really, really like what this mod sets out to accomplish. Understandably it's still in the production stage, but it is extremely impressive nonetheless.
I particularly like the stat and skill changes, they just make sense.

However I do hate the loot randomization, with a passion, and a vengeance. Is there any way to turn that off?
 
However I do hate the loot randomization, with a passion, and a vengeance. Is there any way to turn that off?

Not at the moment, but I could introduce such an option at some point. I'm wondering tho, why do you hate it so much? I've personally always felt that loot allocation was one of FO2's weakest points, it's kind of boringly homogeneous which results in a lot of weapons either not showing up at all or too late to be of any use, plus, this homogeneity (e.g. Metzger's 10mm pistol hordes), while making sense from a cramped development time, doesn't seem to jibe with a PA-setting built around scrounged together pre-war gear.
 
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